Thursday 31 December 2009
Monday 28 December 2009
Pre-Christmas Christmas !
A festive pre-Christmas lunch at our place on a Sunday before friends dispersed to their respective
families and in-laws for the Christmas period
Friday 18 December 2009
A white Christmas, maybe?
The scene that greeted me at the kitchen window this morning - a week before Christmas day 2009
An evening in London with Jacqui & Jacques
Strolling along the Southbank amongst the Christmas stalls - the highlight - drinking gluwein and tasting chocolate at the chocolate
market....mmmm....delicious
Saturday 3 October 2009
Happy Campers
Camping - Oak trees, a small fishing lake, views over a newly harvested field and open fires - what a wonderful way to end our summer!
St Ives Farm campsite
Monday 28 September 2009
St Ives Camping Trip - The Walk
The campsite owner, David, showed us a walking route which we followed after breakfast on Saturday - we crossed various farmers lands until reaching the village - we worked up a great appetite for lunch. The pub was quaint and served delicious meals which we ate sitting outside in their garden - note the date on pub sign. In addition to the cows, sheep, horses and beautiful scenery viewed while walking, we came across a flower show being held by the local church - outside were the prize-winning marrow and squash entries! Another lovely site was the tables outside people's homes laden with apples / jams for sale and honesty boxes for payment - just one of the many clues to the start of Autumn and the harvest season.
Walking through the Ashdown Forest - a good way to end our camping trip
The famous "Pooh Sticks" Bridge for those who love Winnie the Pooh. The creator of the Pooh stories, AA Milne lived in this area and his stories were based on his son, Christopher and his facvourite toy bear and the enchanting places he played in.
On the way home we parked at one of the many allocated areas which overlook the South Downs and took a stroll in the heathland of the Ashdown Forest
Sunday 20 September 2009
Harvest Festival @ Jimmy's Farm
Delicious tasting hog rolls (fresh from the spit), cold ciders, warm coffees, funky music - wonderful tastes and sounds experienced this weekend when we visited Jimmy's Farm in Suffolk with our friends, Catherine and Duncan. Jimmy's farm is a working farm and open to the public 7 days a week. The farm is the home of the rare breed Essex pig and is well known for its pork products sold from the farm shop. We enjoyed a day of browsing around the farm - we visited the gardens, stared at the mouth-watering looking sausages in the farm shop, watched a cooking demonstration and relaxed on our picnic blankets while listening to the music. The guest artist was KT Tunstall - definitely a highlight of the day. We stayed overnight at a B&B and after a leisurely breakfast took a drive to the seaside village - Aldeburgh before driving home. To find out more about the places we visited, click on
Jimmy's Farm
Aldeburgh
Proms in the Park - Hyde Park Sept09
BBC Proms in the Park forms part of the UK Classical Calendar. Hyde Park is one of the parks that take part - people bring their picnic baskets and enjoy an outdoor concert with a mixture of classical and popular music with guest artists. Barry Manilow and Katherine Jenkins were 2 of the guests this year. For the second half of the evening the park is linked up via big screens to the Last Night of the Proms being held in the Royal Albert Hall. The evening ends with everyone joining in the singing of the National Anthem, Rule Britannia, Land of Hope and Glory etc with a firework display to mark the finale. We joined Nico, Lize and Sue for the evening.
Tuesday 4 August 2009
Monday 27 July 2009
The Birthday Girls
Friday 17 July 2009
Saturday 13 June 2009
Monday 11 May 2009
The garden....after
Wednesday 6 May 2009
Family, Friends & Neighbours
Nico and Lize, Cath and Dunc at The Hand & Scepter in Southborough
Packing, Painting & Planting
That’s what the last 3 weeks have involved…packing, painting and planting. Enjoyment of these 3 tasks is in the opposite order – starting with planting!
We are quite settled in our new place – it’s starting to take shape- the kitchen is no longer a ghastly pink and the 2 bedrooms are nearly finished being painted in more neutral colours – it’s taken quite a lot of white paint to break up the dark colours – but we are getting there…I say “we” but read “Leanne”. I have become quite the “handyman” between preparing and facilitating training workshops… any questions re: paint – just ask me!
The extra space and the warmer weather has been a treat – our best is sitting on the garden bench at the end of the day and catching up.
George took some time off over the Easter weekend and had a good break from his working routine – moving into the house was much more exciting! It was like setting up home again as we needed the basics e.g. kettle, toaster. We were spoilt in the previous place as Max left us his things to use. It was fun shopping for the items- who knew there are so many choices when it comes to vacuum cleaners!
I’m very excited about the garden. Every few days I plant a pot or two with something – so it’s a work in progress. The little bit I have done has already made a difference and I can’t wait until the plants start flowering. I have some ideas for hanging baskets and some evergreens are a must...watch this space...
We are quite settled in our new place – it’s starting to take shape- the kitchen is no longer a ghastly pink and the 2 bedrooms are nearly finished being painted in more neutral colours – it’s taken quite a lot of white paint to break up the dark colours – but we are getting there…I say “we” but read “Leanne”. I have become quite the “handyman” between preparing and facilitating training workshops… any questions re: paint – just ask me!
The extra space and the warmer weather has been a treat – our best is sitting on the garden bench at the end of the day and catching up.
George took some time off over the Easter weekend and had a good break from his working routine – moving into the house was much more exciting! It was like setting up home again as we needed the basics e.g. kettle, toaster. We were spoilt in the previous place as Max left us his things to use. It was fun shopping for the items- who knew there are so many choices when it comes to vacuum cleaners!
I’m very excited about the garden. Every few days I plant a pot or two with something – so it’s a work in progress. The little bit I have done has already made a difference and I can’t wait until the plants start flowering. I have some ideas for hanging baskets and some evergreens are a must...watch this space...
A new season - a new place
Our new rented accomodation in Sussex Road. We're still in Tonbridge - only one street away from where we used to live, in fact. We are very excited to moving as we will now have much more space (2 living rooms and 2 bedrooms) and ... a garden!! Just in time for Spring
A glimpse of the inside spaces
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