Connecting with nature

 

Hello again. We’re away at the moment in our campervan in Sussex on the South Downs. Beautiful site, very peaceful and the weather could not be better. Lots of walking and plenty of fresh air. 

I’m not a lover of the heat but I’ll always find a shady spot to relax and read a book or two. My husband on the other hand can’t sit still and you’ll often find him washing and waxing our camper - in the midday sun!! It can’t be done at home as we keep it on a farm several miles away, so he takes the opportunity when we’re away. 

I love the outside life and connecting with nature.  

 

I’ll be back again soon. P

It's been a while I know.....

....... I could say it's my busy life; I could say I've lost my mojo; I could give any amount of reasons. It hasn't helped of course that I re-discovered Instagram and I'm well and truly hooked on Pinterest!  Added to which I'm toying with the idea of creating another blog - focusing on Essex villages, London and a bit of family history thrown in as well. More of that another time.

So - here is a small potted history of the last couple of months.

May saw us getting out and about with our family - boats, camper/caravans. 

So lovely to be out in the fresh air taking in all that mother nature has to offer

To celebrate the hubster's birthday we lunched at the top of London's Gherkin building. The views were stunning. Oh and lunch was good too!

June - our garden is really coming along now that all the pots have 

been filled with bedding plants and given a general tidy up

We've recently returned from a fabulous week in Sorrento 

which we enjoyed very much  

Just a a glimpse of what's been going on, with more to come.

I really will be back again soon. 

Have a wonderful weekend dear friends. 

P x

Some catching up and time out….

I realise I've been very neglectful with blogging of late so here is a small catch up/snapshot of what's been going on.

The final stage of my photography course - on location on the

River Chelmer

A very warm day indeed but I learnt such a lot

Enjoying learning about new techniques

Very soon after John took me away for a few days to a delightful guest  house in Arlington snuggled in the heart of the Sussex Downs

where we had our own little terrace from the French doors

to enjoy a cup of tea and cake

but more often a glass of chilled white wine

where the views were just wonderful

 and where I could put my new photographic skills to practice.





This iconic view of the Seven Sisters was something I was on a mission to capture - whew - it was a bit of a walk but well worth it in the end.

This weekend we went to a local VW rally at Battlesbridge, where we met up with the lovely Sandie from Itchifingers who also owns a V-dub. A fabulous afternoon where we spotted some great camper vans and too many to show here. Plus a selection of  some vintage and retro goodies to buy.

Well that's a bit of what's been going on - more another time. As I'm not going to have access to any broadband and internet for the next week, added to which there's a summer-load of busy-ness coming up - holidays, trips, family do's etc I've decided to take a short bloggy break. I'm going to miss catching up with you all but I'll be back mid August-ish when I hope to see you all then.

Bye for now xx

Back from a blogging break

Well, when I say break it definitely wasn't planned I can tell you. Since the hubster retired one month ago, our feet haven't touched the ground - added to which this glorious weather we've been having of late was simply too good to miss. So, many apologies if I haven't caught up with you recently but hopefully I'm back on track now, just need to be organised and get myself into a routine again. As for housework - Mmmm that's another story. Oh well, live for the day that's my motto!

Anyway I've cobbled together a few piccies of some recent good moments during the last month.

A trip to Rochester in Kent - a place very synonymous with Charles Dickens. Wonderful Cathedral and we used our English Heritage passes to visit the Castle.

A much awaited visit to London's Royal Albert Hall to see my favourite Puccini opera La Boheme - simply wonderful!

Visited a local venue for an Artbookart book fair, where I met the lovely Sandie from Itchifingers who designed and created these wonderful journals - a very awe inspiring morning to say the least.

Several trips out in the campervan - stopping for a brew along the way. Do you like the jar of places to visit that my sister Helen gave me? She'd cut out lots of articles of local beauty spots from magazines - a lovely homemade lucky dip.

and of course it goes without saying that we simply had to partake in the obligatory Monday Munch! Look at the weather too.

Anyway dear friends, I hope to be back very soon. Wishing you all a lovely day today.


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Long time no see...

....but I'm back now and have missed my blogging friends and reading your lovely posts. Thank you for all your comments recently and sorry I haven't responded before now.

We've had several busy weeks one way or another, some of which were  spent travelling  between Essex, Cornwall and Norfolk where I've had neither computer nor internet so many apologies that I haven't been able to view or comment on your posts of late.  Am trying to catch up but inevitably will have missed some of your news. I find it difficult to catch up with just a few days worth of posts let alone a couple of weeks but bear with me.

We spent a lovely time with our son J and his family down in the Cornish town of St Ives in the West Country, where they own a little terraced fishermen's cottage dating back to the late 1800s which is situated close to all of the fabulous beaches that surround St Ives.

Superb weather and it was great to spend some fun time with the children on the beach.

The days on the beaches were sunny and fun-filled

The evenings were stunning and tranquil

 where the wonderful whiff of a barbecue could often be found

All too soon it was time to head for home where we did a quick turnaround before we ventured east in our camper van to the Norfolk Broads where our daughter E and her family had hired a boat for the week. We booked in at a little site at Ludham which was bang next to their mooring for the time we were there. In fact you can see their boat from our pitch.

 A lovely site with spectacular views and open fields all around

 We spent three days with them relaxing on board when they took us out on several day-long trips on the river including Horning and Wroxham

 The boys really enjoyed their holiday and spent a lot of the time 

fishing when moored up for the night. 

So relaxing and lunch could always be found at one of the many riverside pubs you could moor up beside.

or even a little bit of what you fancy from the ice cream boat along the way!

All in all we had a wonderful time with both our children and their families - albeit in separate locations but to be treasured always. 

Be back again soon. Have a great week

Garden, birthday and crafts to make

I don't think I appreciated all the rain we had back in May and June because since we had the heatwave a few weeks ago our poor garden really took the brunt of all that sun and dry weather. Although we have kept it watered (obviously not enough!) our lawn is awful, with large patches of yellow (dead looking) grass and although people say 'it will come back again' I really don't see how. Fortunately we do have a few large paved areas where we plant up shrubs and flowers in pots, so all is not completely lost.

I got the inspiration for this step-ladder display a few weeks ago when I saw it here where Elaine had visited an open garden and posted a photo.
 I loved the idea and was soon on a mission to re-create it in my own garden.

Many years ago I bought this old Singer Sewing machine treadle table. I bought some decking wood and after cutting it to size and varnishing it, attached it to the top to create a display for some of my pots, which takes on a different look from year to year.

 I love potting up old garden trugs, tin buckets and pails, old boxes and birdcages

These potted areas have always been a favourite and again changeable from year to year

My herb garden is also in a large pot just outside my kitchen door - so useful for popping out to snip what I want, when I want

I bought this old milk can in a little local vintage shop which has the letters UN on the front. Not sure what that could mean, so I'm digging (excuse the pun) and delving on the internet to find out its history.

It was my birthday yesterday and I had such a lovely day - a trip out to Sudbury in Suffolk, where my daughter E took me to lunch with grandson L

And in the evening, with the whole family we went out to dinner at a local Tapas bar - very nice it was too!

My two gorgeous boys 

I had lots of lovely pressies and must show you just a couple before I go

This lovely Handmade Glamping book

which features so many fabulous crafting ideas which I am definitely going to make a start on -soon!

and this handy little book which will come in useful on our forthcoming campervan trips

and last but by no means least this gorgeous set of vintage looking china ice cream dishes complete with spoons (from Lakeland) - love them

Bye for now

xx