July 2014 in pictures

Wow. I can't believe it's August tomorrow.  We go away on holiday in the morning and I feel woefully unprepared.  I should really be packing rather than blogging.  Ah well, that's what the morning is for!!

It's been a busy old month...

♥ it was our eleventh wedding anniversary
♥ so we went strawberry picking.  As you do.
♥ I foraged for elderflowers with a friend and made my very first bottle of elderflower cordial.  It was awesome!
♥ the end of term came and went.  Lucas will be a junior in September!  I feel so very old.
♥ we went to the Foodies Festival at the Harbourside and ate an astonishing amount of freebies!
♥ I bought an ice-cream maker and have been churning all sorts of deliciousness.  I need to learn how to make my own waffle cones next.  They're ridiculously expensive!
♥ I baked a birthday-slash-retirement cake for my lovely Father-in-Law.  You can see Bob the Bass peeking out of the collage above!
♥ the boys spent last Saturday at the Yeovilton Air Day while I chilled out at Jekka's Herb Farm.  Such a lush place.
♥ I shared how I made my summery front door wreath.

I've been pinning loads this month--the gorgeous weather is lovely during the day but it makes it really hard to get to sleep at night!  So I've been pinning away happily until my iPad falls on my nose and lets me know that it is finally time to sleep...


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August, once the suitcases are all finally packed, looks like being fun, fun, fun!  We're having a huge family holiday, Doctor Who is coming back, the Balloon Fiesta will fill our skies with bright and cheerful balloons.  I'm hoping that we'll get to the kite festival this year as I've never been... We just need the weather to stay sunny, now!

So, how was your July?  Did you do anything awesome?

May 2014 in pictures

I can't believe it's June!  How on earth did that happen?  It seems like last week that I was at Blogtacular, but no, after checking the calendar several times it turns out that it really is June.

I've got a fun month ahead...the South West Blog Social is on Saturday and I'm meeting up with Louisa and Michelle which will be awesome.  I'm also painting pottery with the WI and thinking about entering a cake into the local show.  Always wanted to do that...

Here's to a fabulous (and sunny) June!!

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April 2014 in pictures

April was a bit of a lazy month blog-wise, but we managed to cram lots of lovely offline things into the month.  I will get around to blogging about them--promise!

We had a lovely (and thoroughly gluttonous) Easter with all of the family and had several jaunts to National Trust properties.  There was baking galore, and plenty of crafting, and a surprising amount of sunshine.  Naturally this was followed by a week of rain, but for once I wasn't bothered as we had new turf laid and all the rain saved me from having to remember to water it!

In May, I'm going a bit crazy and blogging every day.  I've succumbed to peer pressure and am joining Louisa and Michelle in Rosalilium's Blog Every Day in May challenge.  Given how patchy my blogging has been over the last month, this will be a massive kick up the bum for me, and should also help me drag all those unfinished posts in my drafts folder, blinking, into the light of day.  I'm looking forward to it!

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February 2014 in pictures

As it's a short month, February always catches me out.  I only realised it was March at about 10am, half-way through my first cup of coffee!

This month has been fun, despite the constant rain that plagued us for most of the month.

♥ We visited Hogwarts (I still need to write this up) and Lucas had his first butterbeer.
♥ Dave and I strolled around Bradford on Avon on a rare sunny and child-free day.
♥ I've been reading 'Stiff'.  Nice to read a bit of non-fiction for a change!
♥ Lucas had a dressing-up day at school, so I wound up weaving a bull whip out of brown duct tape for him so that he could be Indiana Jones.  (He looked super-cool, but no photo as we were running late.)  There's another dressing up day next week for World Book Day: he wants to be a rhinoceros. Weep with me, internet. Weep with me.
♥ I started knitting a Fourth Doctor scarf.  I'm having so much fun with all the stripes.

How's your February been?

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2013 in review

The year is drawing to a close, so like 99% of the blogging community I've been reflecting on the happenings--both good and bad--of the year that's passed.  Without further ado, let me present my highlights of 2013:

January
♥ I've got to say that January did not have the brightest of starts.  Christmas Eve had been spent in hospital having a biopsy on an "interesting" lump in my nose to see whether it was cancerous or not and I spent most of the month in a hideous limbo before the all-clear came.  Still, I'm told that my post-op ramblings were fun on Christmas Day!

♥ We were Romans for a day at the Corinium Museum in Cirencester.  Amazing statues and mosaics!

♥ Later in the month, we woke up one morning to find that it had snowed.  Lucas was incredibly excited as it turned into his very first snow day from school (as the teachers couldn't get to work)!  I was less excited as I am like Bambi on ice when it comes to snow!

February
♥ We geeked out this month and went to the London Super Comics Convention.  2014 will be its third year and it's managed to zoom to the top of my list of favourite cons!

The standard of cosplay is always incredibly high at this con.  Aside from admiring all the costumes we caught up with some friends and creators that we know, and had a wonderful weekend!  Definitely the highlight of the month.

March
♥ March was all about Dave's birthday.  At the con in February I conspired with one of his favourite artists, the very lovely Ian Churchill, to commission a 40th birthday sketch of the sensational She-Hulk as a surprise.

♥ There was also a R2-D2 cake, which was a bit stumpy, but still recognisable (thankfully)!

April
♥ In April we veered between two extremes.  We zoomed around the annual Bristol Italian AutoMoto Festival, shopping for our dream fast cars, and then took things slower by walking around Oxford for a day.



May
♥ In May we flexed our National Trust membership again and wandered around Dyrham Park.

Lucas is all, "Welcome to my crib."

June
♥ This month I went under the knife again--sigh--and had a small but very fast-growing mole removed from my arm.  Thankfully it wasn't cancerous, but I am much more wary of the sun now.
♥ I'm not sure much else happened!

July

♥ Gromit Unleashed started this month!  I took Lucas to our closest Gromit, Roger, on the very first day.  He was so excited!

♥ It was our tenth wedding anniversary this month!  Ten wonderful, wonderful years with Dave...

♥ We went on holiday in Cornwall, and I had my first--but definitely not my last--hedgehog.

♥ Oh yeah...I also started this here blog.  Hurrah!

August
♥This month, Dave and I were proud as punch as Lucas learned how to ride his bike!

♥ We also helped save Somerset from a Dalek Invasion...You're welcome.

September
♥ We went to a huge family reunion picnic in The Forest of Dean.  I was relieved to learn that it wasn't just me that was confused about who was who in Dave's astonishingly huge and bewildering family tree!  Lucas gave up on names and climbed a tree instead.  Very sensible.

♥ Dave treated me to an extra-special visit to Greenway, Agatha Christie's summer house in Devon.

October
♥ Lucas turned seven this month.  Man, do I feel old!

♥ I was invited along to the Pretty Nostalgic Gathering at Kings Weston House and got to meet some lovely local bloggers.

♥ Finally, I carved my first pumpkin.

November
♥ Doctor Who turned 50 this month and we went to the celebrations in London.  Lucas and I met the utterly fantastic Sylvester McCoy!

Bonus Colin Baker (6) in background!

December
♥ Dave and I started December with a luxurious and relaxing weekend away in Yorkshire at Swinton Park, as a belated anniversary celebration.  I will blog about it properly at some point!

The Drawing Room at Swinton Park

♥ We had a magical Christmas experience at Tyntesfield--probably my favourite NT property--and we all met Father Christmas.

2013 may have started in a stressful fashion but the year has ended on a real high.  I'm hoping that 2014 will be even better for our little family  and that our house continues to be full of love and laughter.

Happy New Year to you all!  May the New Year bring you both joy and prosperity!

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November 2013 in pictures

Goodbye November, hello December!

I can't believe it's December already; November went by in an absolute flash.  We're now counting down to Christmas--well, Lucas is...I'm counting down to the school Christmas fair.

We got our first Christmas cards at the weekend which has reminded me that I need to go on an epic quest to find my stash of Christmas cards.  (Buying cards in the sales is a great idea, assuming you can remember where you stored them!)

I'm really looking forward to getting stuck into Christmas baking.  It's not Christmas until the house is filled with the scents of cinnamon and orange.  Nigella's Clementine Cake is a firm family favourite and I'm also really fond of her suet-free mincemeat recipe, but it might be a little too late to make my own mincemeat... Mulled apple juice and mulled wine are definitely on the To-Make list.  And real hot chocolate topped with mounds of whipped cream.  Mmm...

Christmas is coming!

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October 2013 in photos

Time seems to be flying by since I started blogging.  It doesn't seem like more than a couple of days ago since I put together a collage for September, yet here we are in November...firmly entrenched in Autumn.

We've had a brilliant month.  I've baked a bunch of cakes--which always makes me happy--said goodbye to the Gromits, we had adventures in London, got out and about at Tyntesfield and some other National Trust properties, Lucas had his birthday, and I carved my first pumpkin.  I also got to meet some bloggers at the Pretty Nostalgic Gathering event!

I forgot to mention this at the time...last week the recipe I shared for Elderflower & Lemon Drizzle Cake was featured on the Tesco Facebook page, in their My Kitchen app.  A big hello to anyone who is visiting from Facebook!

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September 2013 in pictures

I can't believe that it's the last day of September already!  These are my highlights of the month, in photographs.  We've had a fantastic month, full of fun!

 

Today also marks the end of #BlogYourSocksOffSeptember.   I've had fun blogging daily--well, almost, I did miss a day--although it is hard work!  Not quite sure how pro-bloggers manage it daily for years on end!

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August 2013 in pictures

This photo round-up is inspired by Sue at The Quince Tree, who puts together beautiful monthly photo samplers.  I wanted to show off my favourite photos of the month, and hopefully as time wears on my skills will improve!

We've had an amazing August...roll on September!