A month in photos...

This last month has flown by in a whirlwind of visits, visiting, DIY and work.  The combination of all of this makes for a lazy blogger.  My solution is an update in photos.

Learning to bake bread.

Enjoying evening walks.

Taking in the carpet of bluebells in our local wood.

Celebrating my sister's birthday with a cocktail.

Marvelling at the porcelain flowers at the Chelsea Flower Show.

Wild flower envy at the Chelsea Flower Show.

Flower garlands decorate a stand at Chelsea.

A Mexican feast courtesy of Mr E.

Basking in the glorious glow of the gorse on the beach at my parents.

Since we last met...

Blimey, has it really been three months since I last wrote anything?  That really is utterly hopeless but goodness me I have been busy.  There has been lots of getting used to our new home, exploring the countryside around us, lots more DIY, a new boiler...the list goes on.

Life nowadays is rather different to our Twickenham existence in almost every way.  The house itself couldn't be more different and it has taken us quite some time to settle in.  For a long while we only lived in 3 rooms, we had about maybe a fifth of the furniture we needed and most days we would look at each other thinking what have we done?!  I now commute to work, our friends are an hour away, I can't hop on a train to London without considerable planning and the most exciting restaurant within 10 miles is Pizza Express!

All that said I am certain that we made the right choice and I love our new life.  We can walk into amazing countryside from our front door, we have an incredible farm shop on our doorstep, and we have space, more space than we really need but who's counting! The best change has been being able to have friends and family to stay and having the room to relax and enjoy without tripping over each other and playing musical chairs every two minutes!

I've got lots to show you, room updates, DIY projects, country walks and I will.  I promise.  In the meantime I'll leave you with a picture of my favourite little man because I know you'll have missed him!

Home, sweet home...

Well, we've done it!  The husband and I have bought our new home together. Nearly a whole year after selling our flat and rather a lot of house hunting later we are the proud owners of our very own Hampshire residence.

There is rather a lot to do and it is all a bit scary but I can't wait to get started.

A whistle-stop tour...

...of the last two months.

I can't believe that it has been over two months since I last wrote anything.  That is terrible, truly terrible.  In my defence it has been a super busy couple of months - I feel like I've hardly had two minutes to sit still.

June was, in the most part, devoted to work.  I was at the NEC for nearly three weeks working on BBC Gardeners' World Live, it is my favourite shows to work on.  I love the transformation that happens, the amazing Floral Marquee and beautiful show gardens.

My first day back was the start of boot camp part II.  This time it was a two week course, I really enjoyed it and am noticeably fitter.  I also managed to lose a few inches!

My youngest sister came home from travelling in South America.  She has been away for over six months and I have really missed her.  It is lovely to have her back.  She arrived home with some amazing presents for us - I think my favourite is this super bright fabric.  I just need to decide what to make with it.

We've seen a lot of friends and family.  I popped over to Madrid for a long weekend to see my best friend C.  We had a lovely few days of tapas, wandering through the scorching streets and roof top cocktails.

And every other second of spare time has been devoted to house hunting.  We are now searching for our own home and have seen the best and the worst that is on offer!  We haven't seen anything that is quite right yet though so the search continues.  Watch this space...

A walk in the Hampshire countryside...

This weekend Mr E and I headed south to stay Chez Wilson with my parents.


We took advantage of the beautiful weather today to explore nearby Bursledon, with a walk along the Hamble.  Our walk began in an old boat yard and then followed the river for about 5 miles, looping through a wood on the way.


Bingo trotted alongside us as we blew away the cobwebs and enjoyed a tramp through the Hampshire countryside.