Sunday 9 November 2014

Well Hello There!!

Hello my lovelies, are you still there? I've had a little unscheduled break from blogging for one reason or another but have made the time this afternoon to do a little catch up for you. This may be a long one, are you sitting comfortably?

Back at the end of September was my 42nd birthday - there was pressies, we went out for lunch and had family round for a takeaway dinner.

It was pretty low key because the day after Mr G and I were off in our holidays. We had taken ages to decide what to do this year. Our boys at 16yrs and 14yrs are now reluctant to do anything modest and so we're not keen on the proposed holiday to Ireland (to visit my BFF) or France and so when Grandma offered to come and keep an eye on them (in reality all Grandma and Granddad needed was to be cooked for them and ensure no wild parties took place!!) we took them up on the offer.

We were going to go to France to do the flea markets but had a blip with my anxiety a couple of weeks before we were due to go and as such wanted to stay in huge UK.

A good friend let us use her seaside house in Salcombe and it was to be the first time since we had the kids that we had such a long time on our own together - I did travel to Singapore with John one year, but he was working there so we didn't get much "us" time).

The house was a beautiful cottage in the heart of Salcombe:

Nearby was the church and I loved to hear it chime the hour and on Sunday morning we lay in bed listening to the bells ringing:

Salcombe itself is beautiful, arguably one of the most picturesque places we've been in the UK:

By day we explored the area - we had a mooch over Dartmoor:

After much persuading Mr G started growing me a beard!!


We explored the pretty towns:

We went to a vintage fair in Plymouth:

And the National Marine Aquarium:

We had a traditional british "car picnic" at Bigbury-On-Sea and then walked over to Burgh Island (home of a gorgeous Art Deco hotel , a favourite of Agatha Christie):

We drove along a coast road, including a road that was tidal!!:


By night we ate out and had cocktails:

But mostly we stayed in and snuggled in front of the TV with plenty of goodies to eat and just relished having no responsibilities, no one to look after and nowhere to be:

It was bliss, it really was and we returned home with batteries recharged and feeling very loved up!!

Hugs,

S x

 

Monday 8 September 2014

Finding That Loving Feeling....

Ever since we had the boys (who are now 16 and 14) we have made sure that we get away for a weekend at least once a year to ensure we have some "us time" and so back in August Mr G and I had a night away.

We booked a little B&B in Henley (which is a couple of hours from home) and off we went arriving in Henley at lunch time.

We had a wander around the shops and found Tudor Antiques - the most tiny, jam-packed but well organised little antique shop we've ever had the pleasure of looking around:

All the jugs were placed together in gleaming rows, all the plates on shelves, enamalware balanced in stacks, copper pans on one shelf and jelly moulds another. An entire floor to ceiling bookcase was crammed with vintage tins which had contained all manner of objects, waiting for someone to take them home and fill once more with treasure. There was even a shelf just for gravy boats.

After a good rummage (whilst being incredibly restrained!!) we bought freshly made sandwiches and headed down to the river to eat:
After which we had fun trying to take the perfect selfie:
We walked back into town admiring the pretty baskets:
That night after a lovely dinner and a film in a tiny cinema we had a restful night in the B&B (which was a garden annexe of the ladies house) and in the morning were served a lovely breakfast - retro style - on a hostess trolley!!

After breakfast we decided to head to Eton and Windsor for a mooch.

Eton and Windsor are the kind of places that couldn't be more English if they tried - the kind of place that would strike a little bit of patriotic pride into the heart of even the most hardened cynic:

We parked in Eton and had a wander in a couple of antique and charity shops - I bought a folding wooden yard stick and a pretty plate and then we wandered over the bridge to Windsor stopping for another selfie along the way:

As we walked along the banks of the Thames we saw the boats and thus decided to partake of a boat trip:

We bought our tickets before hopping on for the 40 minute tour along the sunny water.

There were some a-may-zing houses along the way:

And on the way back we got a view of Windsor Castle in all it's glory:

When we got back in dry land I was eager to feed the multitude of swans, so purchased two bags of swan food and hoped they were hungry.

They were!!

All too soon it was time to head back home to Hampshire - back to the messy house and animals and two stroppy teenagers - but the trip had it's desired effect and we headed back happy and fully loved up!!

Hugs,

S x

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday 29 August 2014

Sofa, Sogood!

It's a running joke in our family that Mr G and I have never bought a sofa new. We always have family cast offs. In the 19 years we have lived together we have had three sofas/suites from my sister and two from my Mum.

Luckily, my Mum has a "thing" about her sitting room furniture. She has had four sets in about ten years. I kid you not. Mum always orders her furniture from SofaSofa and so when their brochure drops through the letterbox, it quite often heralds a change!!

When she first changed her sitting room we took on her classic Sienna brown 2 & 3 leather sofas (which in fact are so classic they still sell them):

These sofas (like all settees from SofaSofa) are very well made and sturdy and have taken almost ten years of hard use from us and our brood of boys and animals and are still holding up really well.

Another family cast off used to reside in the conservatory, this sofa was huge and comfy and was shipped back from America when my Sister moved back to the UK 14 years ago:

As you can see in the above pic, the sofa had seen better days but I was still sorry to see it go when Mum changed up her furniture again and offered us two classic striped chairs - the two seater leather sofa came out to live in the conservatory and the chairs created the mismatched look I love in our lounge:

Once again the chairs are from SofaSofa and they are the most comfortable armchairs I've ever sat in. They are super sturdy and have stood up to our two big teenagers flopping down into them.

In fact I like them so much that I think with eventually reupholster them - I've been wanting to do an upholstery class for ages and so I can start big!!

Now my ultimate sofa (if I could choose any) would be a teal velvet chesterfield like the Belvedere:

 

Swoon!! I just love it!! It would look fab with my armchairs re-upholstered in something like this:


Be still my beating heart!!
In the conservatory for my ultimate sofa I'd choose something like the Hampton in luxurious cream velvet chenille to echo the button backed good looks of the Belvedere but with a little twist:
Though for practicalities sake perhaps a darker shade would be more prudent - two dogs and two cats with sixteen muddy paws I don't think the cream would be cream for long!!
Sigh, I do like a bit of fantasy shopping - don't you?
Hugs,
S x