Outdoor Living

We have ignored this corner of our garden for years since we have lived here and I don't really know why! It had a patio built when we moved here, because it captures the last rays of the sun in the evening and with all the trees growing above it, is like it's own natural outdoor room, even without doing anything else to it. Following our outdoor living on holiday we decided to bring some of that home and spend more time outside, and that a bit of investment in this to date unloved space would be no bad thing! So here is the work in progress, so far - some new garden furniture, a wood pile ready for heating, some home made rustic candle lanterns, and pots of hosta's one of my favourite outdoor plants - with a log burning chimnea and fairy lights to follow! I'll take some more in the evening when we have everything in place, but we have been using it loads already, and it will be a perfect haven for my maternity leave which starts at 5pm today! Woo Hoo!!

Last Views

I just wanted to show you HOW far away from everything we were! It's the same view but zoomed in on the one below, surrounded by sheep, cows ad horses and lots of green! Just a fabulous chilled time away!!

Tintern Abbey - Special FX Edition!

It's a cool enough place on its own, but I couldn't resist a little photoshopping for some more dramatic effects :)

Tintern Abbey

 

I loved Tintern Abbey! We came around the corner of a bend in a road and there it was - it's HUGE First built in 1131, it was dissolved in 1536 and I am guessing has just been left to fall down since then. It's very atmospheric and it was nice to see it out of season when we almost had the place to ourselves.

Chepstow Castle

We had a fab day out around Chepstow castle, it's HUGE and I was amazed at how much of it had survived. The stone work was beautiful and I can only imagine what it must have been like when it was complete and full of feasting and people. And the last one is me and the Bump! Getting bigger everyday now - only 7 weeks to go!!!

Now THIS is glamping!

The inside of the yurt was just as cute as the outside! And SO cosy! The walls are lined with wool felt which keeps it lovely and warm when its cold outside and nice and cool when hot. The top photo shows the wood burner in the middle with baskets of kindling and logs, we worked out that if we got it toasty in the evening, and then threw another few large logs in and turned the airflow down it would keep the fire going all night and we could re start it again in the morning. You can also see the skylight in the centre, which meant there was plenty of light in there and you could fall asleep looking at the stars and wake up looking at the clouds floating by, idyllic! There was a king size bed, and then a large mongolian day bed / sofa and two single futons, and lots of lovely extras like little painted tables, solar powered fairy lights, and lanterns for tea lights, it was just the most cosy and adorable place to hang out in!

You're 8 months pregnant and you stayed WHERE on holiday???

 The husband is a big fan of camping, and has been trying to persuade me for ages to at least try it, but I have had many many reservations about the whole experience! So we decided to try a first tentative step into  camping by going yurting, which is really more "glamping" than camping I think! A yurt is one of the oldest portable dwellings in the world, and is essential a lattice wall supporting roof struts, covered in wool felt and then canvas, so kind of a tent!? We found a fabulous yurt site in the Wye Valley, on the border between England and Wales, which was just idyllic!! Here's a few outside shots, our yurt is the green one at the top, and then there are some more shots of the rest of the yurts, and the tented dining table by the campfire, wood burning pizza oven and BBQ's. To be honest I just didn't want to leave! More shots tomorrow showing the cosy inside :) 

Life gets in the way of blogging!?

Wow it feels so weird to post on here!? How did I get from posting daily to dropping to weekly, to sporadically and then not at all? Answer in my case is a mixture of blogging blues and a whole raft of life changing events coming one after the after (and in some cases at the same time!) In the last 7 months, I have planned a wedding & honeymoon (mine!) got married, got pregnant, and got a new job! I am so lucky to have been able to achieve all of these in such a short space of time! But at the same time, MAN my head is in a whirl! I didn't have the most "user friendly" pregnancy to start with, with 24/7 nausea for about 4 months and then just the usual pregnancy tiredness symptoms kicked in. I feel like all I have done for most of the last 7 months is work, and come home and sleep :( BUT surprisingly although I am now only 7 weeks to go til I am due to give birth (here's me and the bump last week above!) I have had a bit of an energy upswing, I have picked up my camera for the first time this year while on holiday last week and thought I'd venture back to Blogger and see if I can remember how to attach a photo! Lets see if I can keep it UP!!

What have I been doing???

So I expect I have lost ALOT of followers over the last 3 months - I mean where have I been and WHAT have I been doing? Well the picture above - admittedly not taken BY me, but of me, gives the answer! I have been growing a little person!! It's been a rollercoaster of a few months, and I have been one of the unlucky 80% of women who have REALLY suffered with morning sickness. Which by the way is a total lie, there is no "morning" about it in my experience, try 24hrs a day 7 days a week nausea for 9 weeks. I have literally only left the house to go to work, and some days even that was impossible, and apparently by what I see of others ladies experiences, I have had it easy in comparison to how bad it can be!! So days have been surviving work, getting home, getting in bed, and weekends have been sleep, rest, bed. I haven't touched a camera in 3 months, and just posting this, I couldn't remember how to upload a photo!!! But I am gradually coming through and out the other side, and am desperate to get some creative input back into my life, so I don't really think the rest of this year will progress with the 365 project I had planned, but I promise to be back and posting now as often as I can! Sorry for being away so long, I hope someone out there is still keeping me on their blogroll!!

57/365 Baking

We are going to a friends house for Sunday Lunch today, so I thought I would make my "famous" chocolate truffle torte to take with us when i got up this morning, the husband came down just at the crucial moment (as if by magic!) where the chocolate covered mixing bowl was about to go in the dishwasher, and he decided he had a much more ecologically friendly way to clean it for me..... :)

56/365 Sundown

The sun goes down so early at this time of year, but it does make the sky some amazing colours, this must have been about 4pm, way too early to be dark! And we even have some snow in some parts of the UK!!

55/365 Barges on The Thams

While I was out shooting the floods we have had here over the last month, I spotted this gorgeous old barge moored up by the Thames. Its like looking back in time and imagining that in those days this river was like today's motorways, the real lifeblood of the country. And the tarmac at the front is actually the footpath, the river level rose so high that it became submerged!!

54/365 More Christmas!

Just one more! This time of my Christmas Table centre decoration!

53/365 Christmas!

My mum would always buy Poinsettias to decorate the house with at Christmas, and I found these 2 HUGE beauties recently and couldn't resist them! According to Wikipedia: The poinsettia is indigenous to Mexico and Central America. It derives its common English name from Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first United States Minister to Mexico, who introduced the plant into the United States in 1825. Who knew??

52/365 Regal

I love the way this swan looks like he OWNS the River and all the expensive houses and boats along it, they are just so haughty and regal, always!!

51/365 My chilli plant thinks it's Spring!

My adorable chilli pepper plant should be having a little hibernate now! but the tropical extremes of our house, have led it to believe it's Spring I think and its grown a flower!! Bless it's heart!! Chilli Turkey for Christmas anyone?? :)

50/365 Cosy cottage

I pass by this cottage on my way home from work everyday, it looks so adorable and quintessentially English, I am imagine it has huge roaring fires and someone inside is drinking a nice warm mug of hot chocolate!!

49/365 Frosty Morning

It was very cold this morning! minus 2 degrees C - which for us here in the UK is pretty frosty! The leaves looked lovely though, all iced in crystals! :)

48/365 Laughing til it hurts!

My hubby and I went to see the awesome Greg Davies at the Hammersmith Apollo a couple of days ago. I haven't laughed as hard as that for years! Great location and venue and just a hilarious evening of a huge crowd of people laughing, very good for the soul... :)

47/365 Mmmmm Malina!

We went out for a date night on Tuesday and found an awesome Polish restaurant in Hammersmith. It was wonderful food and ambience, called Malina which is Polish for Raspberry (hence the raspberry murals on the wall) As you may remember our honeymoon was in Poland, so 6 weeks later it was lovely to have a romantic Polish dinner again and remember it all :)