Prizes...

After ploughing through the boredom of holiday washing, I was thrilled to see this little package waiting for me on my recycling bin the morning after we returned from Lincolnshire.

I could hardly believe I'd won another giveaway from Pebbledash. This time from Diana's 100th post celebration.

I have to confess to ripping it open in my excitement, only to rewrap it to photograph it in it's woolly packaging!

And look what was inside: not just one beautifully wrapped package, but 5 beautifully wrapped packages...

Diana - I absolutely love it all. Thank you soooo much. I have found the perfect excuse to send 2 thank you cards already, although really, I could hardly bear to pop them in the letter box.

Nestled in amongst all that papery goodness, was one final tiny little parcel. A perfect little nugget of sea glass, painted with a tiny heart. I LOVE sea glass - how did you know Diana? Have I said thank you?

Looking back over my post listings, I am shocked to find that my 100th post and 1 year anniversary are looming...

Did you hear that? That was me gasping...and putting on my thinking hat...

Glamping...again...

Our rendezvous for the start of our last trip of the holidays was Burghley House. We met up with friends en route to Pettywood Farm.

It was in the throes of preparing for the famous horse trials, so it was hard to miss. Unfortunately, the house was closed, but we had a lovely take-away lunch from the restaurant. The deer in the grounds were grazing without any fear of us walking up to them and taking photos.

The scent from the rose garden in front of the house was intoxicating, filling the air.

I know I did plead for no rain to spoil this weekend, and we were lucky enough to have good weather for most of the time - just a bit of the wet stuff for a few hours on Sunday afternoon, but not enough to have us moping about.

No2 impressed me with his newly-acquired axe skills, learnt at his Scout camp earlier in the year... Building the fire quickly becomes the focus of these glamping weekends, although, for the first time, it was mild enough not to have to sit huddled around it the whole time.

Pip enjoyed the freedom of running free through the woodland surrounding the farm.

And everywhere around us were signs of autumn...

Blackberries were picked and stewed with apples on the wood-burner and eaten in the evening with custard, which impossibly, took about 2 hours to make on the stove...

You know when you've succeeded in making your offspring forget about the excesses of modern life, when they are happy to sit on the step with a candle...

.

..for hours...

2000 miles...

According to my calculations, by the end of the summer holidays, I will probably have driven 2000 miles.

The week spent in the Wonderful Wet Wales clocked up 900 miles on my car - that's 260 miles each way from door to door, plus another 400 or so driving round...and round...trying to avoid the rain.

Last Saturday found me driving to my favourite Cotswold retreat as a pit-stop to carrying on up to Manchester the following morning. We had tickets to see REM at Lancashire County Cricket Club, as part of No2's birthday treat.

We checked into a hotel on Salford Quays and after a quick bite to eat at the Lowry Mall, we joined the crowd and made our way to the ground. I think No2 found it hard going on his feet (bless him!), as we had to stand around for 3 hours until REM came on.

Anyway, in a word, REM were fantastic. They played my favourite song - Electrolite - to which we all had to hold our mobiles in the air. When the camera panned across the ground and it came up on the giant screens, it looked amazing!

We drove home the next day, wearing our gig t-shirts, of course!

The following morning had me off in another direction. This time west, to Cheltenham, to meet up with a friend. It was the perfect opportunity to pay a visit to No.9. I had the absolute pleasure of meeting Anna and Rob, and I can report that my favourite hazelnut latte was expertly made and was delicious when paired with a slice of bakewell tart.

I wish you every success, Anna, it is the perfect space for All Things Lovely. I only wish I lived nearer!

Tomorrow we are off on our last trip of the holidays. Glamping, again! This time we are going up to Pettywood Farm in Lincolnshire. I have only one thing to say: PLEASE DON'T LET IT RAIN...

An Award...

Diana over at Pebbledash has kindly awarded me the Arte Y Pico award. Thank you, Diana. I'm very flattered, especially considering how much I've been slacking in the blog department over the last few weeks.

This award originated at the uruguayan blog Arte Y Pico and the rules are:

1. Recipients must pick 5 blogs they consider deserving of this award for creativity, design, interesting material, and for contributing to the blogging community in whatever language.
2. Each of the 5 selected blogs must include the name of the author and a link to his/her site to be visited by readers.
3. The recipient must show the award and indicate the name and link to the blog of the one that handed it to him/her.
4. All Award recipients must include a link to the Arte y Pico site to inform all readers about the origin of this award.

I'm passing this on to:


Lucy at Attic 24 - for fab use of colour and inspirational crochet projects...

Anna at All Things Lovely - for blogging from the heart...

Mary at Blue Mountains Mary - for blogging with honesty and with the most amazing photography...

Ali at domesticali - for keeping me inspired in the Blogland...

Julia at Marmalade Kiss - for writing a great blog and a loyal supporter of mine!

St Davids and Martins Haven...

St Davids was high on my list of places to visit whilst in Pembrokeshire. It's claim to fame being that it is the smallest city in Great Britain. Needless to say, it was pouring with rain and so this photo of its lovely cathedral looks a bit gloomy, but I loved the way the stone looked purple in the rain. The photo also looks a bit wonky...and I was surprised to find that once inside, the aisles ran uphill and that the whole cathedral seemed to be off square.

The architecture was stunning, particularly the ceilings.

I loved the heralding angels flanking the organ pipes.

There was some wonderful stained glass.

No2 discovered the difference between a church and a cathedral...that is that a cathedral has a Bishops Throne.

The wording on this memorial plaque made me get covered in goose-bumps. I found it very poignant...

*****

We also were recommended to visit Martins Haven on the most westerly tip of Pembrokeshire, with the hope of spotting some seals. We weren't disappointed. After walking along the windswept coastal path we spotted this adult seal having fun in the surf. It's the black thing in the middle of the photo!

While photographing it, we were delighted to have then spotted a seal pup clambering down the beach to the surf - my camera couldn't get a really good close-up, but we could see how velvety his pelt was, all lovely and spotty too! That's him in the middle of the dry bit of shore!

After watching them for some time, with more adults appearing in the surf, we wandered round to the top of the cove only to spot a really tiny pup, still with white fur, protected in a circle of stones, higher up the beach. If you get a magnifying glass, you should be able to spot him!

Happy Birthday...

Happy Birthday darling boy - 12 today.

The boy who loves blue food...

I spy with my little eye, something beginning with W...

Can you guess?

Wet Wales.

We have just returned from a week spent in Pembrokeshire, South Wales...the wettest week of my life, or so it seems. This year, for the first time in probably the last 10 years, I had the brain-wave of staying in the UK for our summer holiday. I did a fair amount of research and came up with Pembrokeshire - taken in by the stunning scenery and the promise of unspoilt beaches. What I obviously neglected to factor in was day after day of rotten weather. Now don't get me wrong - I did take appropriate clothing and provisions for anything our climate was willing to throw at us, but day after day of grey skies and rain dampens the spirit... Never mind... You live and learn...

Back to the W theme then...

We wore Wetsuits to get up close and personal to the Waves on the beach at Broad Haven, where No2 had his first surfing lesson...

The Weather was Wild...did I mention this before? It would go from scary black skies...

...to the most amazing breakthroughs of sunshine...

Wading in the rock pools at Tenby is obligatory for the male of the species...

Wavy rock formations make you stand in wonder at the power of the earth...

Did I mention the Weather? When it was good, it was Wonderful, as were the beaches - this is Tenby...

The Winding lanes would lead you to rows of tightly packed, colourful houses and shops. This is Solva...

...quaint Welsh cottages surprised us everytime we came round bends in the lanes...

The Walks were bracing, the Wind (which doesn't photograph very well!) was Mother Nature doing what she does best...scaring the living daylights out of you! This is at Martins Haven looking across to the island of Skomer.

Wild heather covered the ground, singing with bees...

Woollen mills were visited...

...the Wool is still woven traditionally, and is the least itchy wool imaginable...

...the Woven Woollen throws in the shop were too much temptation, my credit card could never have recovered...

Would I go back? Yes, despite the rain, it was a lovely, lovely place, with loads to do. I'll post about St Davids and the seal pups we spotted soon...