Under the Tuscan Sun...

This post is woefully late but looking through my photographs again has cheered up an otherwise dark and dreary November evening!

The second part of our Italian holiday was spent in Southern Tuscany at the most incredible hotel, Poggio Piglia.  We drove up from Rome via Orvietto in our hired Fiat 500 and took the scenic route. Scenic it certainly was.

Orvietto is beautiful and we spent an afternoon wandering, admiring the cathedral and of course enjoying a glass of the local wine!

We arrived at the hotel just as the sun was setting and made our way through the gardens to our apartment.  We stayed in a private suite that was separate from the main hotel with our own terrace and view across the pool and over the valley.  The hotel was peaceful and beautifully decorated.  It was so relaxing that we didn't want to do much more than sit by the pool.  They ran their own restaurant and the food was superb.  We did venture out to explore the surrounding towns and loved everywhere we went.

 

Hello there...

Goodness me it's been a while since I wrote anything on my poor blog.  Two whole months in fact.  And so much has happened, I hardly know where to start, so I shall start at the beginning.

When last we spoke I was just back from part one of my summer holiday and about to embark on part two.  The second weekend of our holiday took us to Italy.  To Rome and then Tuscany.

We only had one full day in Rome and decided to try and fit in as much as we could.  Our hotel was to the north-west of the city and was simply lovely.  We stayed at the Palm Gallery Hotel, a lovely private residence turned hotel. Super staff, prosecco on arrival and very smart bedrooms.  The hotel was near to the Villa Borghese and we began our day with a walk through the park, arriving on the opposite side right next to Piazza del Popolo.  From there we walked on to Piazza Navona, heading south through the Campo dei Fiori and into Piazza Farnese.  We crossed over Ponte Sisto and climbed Gianicolo Hill.  This left us in Trastevere where we wandered around exploring.  It was an excellent route to take as we saw so much of the city without feeling like we were checking things off a list.

On the way we took in the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, the Colosseum and the Forum.  There are still so many things to see and I can't wait to do back.

A perfect day at the seaside...

We are just back from the first leg of our summer holiday, a week in Dorset with friends, staying in a sweet thatched cottage.  We rented Peter's Finger in Chideock for a week and and had the most fabulous time.

One of the nicest days was an unexpected afternoon spent at Budleigh Salterton.  We popped in on our way home and enjoyed a wander along the beach, sat in the sun and envied the families with their pastel coloured beach huts.  We rounded a lovely afternoon off with a fish and chip supper that was nothing short of spectacular!

A very generous invitation...

This weekend we were invited to spend a weekend with some friends at their holiday home in Suffolk.  They are staying for the whole week so we were there to make sure it got off to a good start!  Partridge Lodge is a collection of farm buildings (dairy, granary and the farm house itself) that have been renovated into holiday lets.  We stayed in The Dairy Hall which was lovely, high ceilings, beams and lots of light.

Very near to the barn was the site of Sutton Hoo.  I have recently finished reading The Dig, a semi-fictional story about the excavation and had quite an interest in visiting.  It was a beautiful sunny day and we had a lovely afternoon wandering around the burial mounds and grounds.  The house is also open to visit and has a beautiful 30's interior.  

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 weekend in Penzance...

This weekend Mr E and I took ourselves to Penzance for the weekend.  Neither of us had been before and so it was with some excitement that we packed the car up on Friday.  The drive down was rather arduous so I was immensely pleased that the hotel we had booked was so marvellous.

The Abbey Hotel is a 17th Century town house that has been a hotel since the end of the second world war.  In 1979 it was bought by Jean Shrimpton and is now run by her son.  The hotel describes itself as "grandly quirky", it has 8 bedrooms all of which are decorated with wonderfully eclectic style.

Guests are free to enjoy the walled garden and the drawing room.  We sat by the fire with a glass of wine on Friday evening and took afternoon tea on Saturday.  Amazing scones, clotted cream and jam - all home made.

We stayed in room 7, a lovely room at the top of the house.  Light and airy and beautifully clashing with pale blue walls and red toile de jouy fabric. And the best bit...they let you bring your dog.  Bingo enjoyed a weekend away with us and was even treated to his own sausage for breakfast!

photos from hotel website

Madrid by Instagram...

So I am back from my weekend in Madrid and thought I'd share a few pictures with you.  I was rather hopeless and mainly used my iPhone to take a few snaps, but this being my 12th visit to the capital city I already have photographs of pretty much everything!

I had a wonderful time catching up with one of my best friends, did a little vintage shopping, ate rather a lot of excellent tapas, danced until the wee hours and toured the newly refurbished Post Office.

Mercado San Anton

Tortilla at the market

The market's fish counter

Ivy, the house cat

Post Office ceiling

Tiles from the stairway

One of the many fountains

Hand luggage only...

This weekend I am off to Madrid for a few days to stay with my lovely friend C.  I have just finished packing and rather wish that the contents of my suitcase looked like this:

Instead they actually look like this:

I travel fairly frequently and like to feel organised when I am going away. Over the years I have developed a few tricks that make packing easier.  I have a standard list of toiletries that I work from each time and just adapt slightly depending on where I am going and how long I am staying.  I have another list of items that I always travel with like my phone charger, a book, my leather folding photo frame and a scarf.  The rest I work out based on the type and length of trip.

I think having the right sized bag makes a big difference; that way you aren't tempted to take too much or forced to take to little.  I have the perfect cabin sized suitcase that is ideal for this kind of trip.  This weekend's packing includes:

Jeans

Black skirt

Long sleeved t-shirt x 2

Vests x 3

Lace jumper

Sparkly top

Evening dress

Pyjamas

2 x ballet pumps

Trainers

Evening bag

Day bag

Jewellery

Toiletries

Camera

I try to pick a colour palette and stick to clothes in that range.  That way it is much easier to mix and match.  This weekend I will mostly be wearing navy blue and brown.  With a purple dress thrown in for good measure!

Have fun whatever you are up to and what ever colour you are wearing!

Ode to an audiobook...

I think I have spoken before about my love for a good audio book.  This extends to radio plays, documentaries, and interviews but my first love is definitely the spoken book.  When I am at home I invariably have the radio on, I like the feeling of company that you get from it but it can be a little hit and miss.  The perfect solution presented itself in audible.co.uk, an Amazon company where one can buy audio books of all varieties.

I am now a fully fledged member and for £7.99 a month receive credits that I can then exchange for titles.  I started of course with an Agatha Christie, read by Hugh Fraser and I now have seven and a half joyous hours to listen to! For me they improve car journeys immeasurably and prove a welcome distraction when cleaning!

Condensed Christmas...

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and New Year and that we are ready to face 2012 with a smile.

Christmas this year was a busy one, in between packing up our flat we managed to fit in three counties, seven siblings and two dogs!  I didn't manage to take many photos but here are a few that sum up my festive fortnight...

Nails painted and ready to go.

Assembling & serving our homemade blinis...

Walks on the beach...

The M3 motorway (several times!) 

image from here

I will be back soon, hopefully with a little more to say.  I have a feeling that 2012 is going to be a good year.

Bank holiday baking...

Last Monday the husband and I embarked on a bank holiday bonanza of catching up with family.  We packed up our little car and our travels began. We managed to fit in a Friday night supper in Windsor, a farewell BBQ in Watlington, a late afternoon tea in Hampshire and rounded it all off with lunch in Lymington.

Friends of ours moved out to Lymington a few years ago and I am filled with envy when we go and visit. The drive through the New Forest is so beautiful and they have a whole house to themselves.  And peace and quiet.  And they can be at the seaside in minutes.

But I decided to put my envy to one side and bake some cupcakes to take with us.  I opted for Earl Grey cupcakes from the Hummingbird Bakery book.  I had an old box that I did up with the help of the husband's faultless font picking and some tissue paper.  The recipe was very easy to follow and the end result very pretty indeed.  I am not sure that they tasted overwhelmingly of Earl Grey but they were jolly good anyhow!

Les vacances...a round up

Unfortunately I failed miserably to complete my final holiday post before the bank holiday weekend over took me.  And I have so much to say.  About food.

Oh, the food!  We ate so well, cheese and rillettes and croissants and ice cream.  The list goes on, and on, and on.  St. Jean de Luz has a wonderful food market, Les Halles, which was our first stop.  We stocked up on local cheese and pate and piles of crusty bread.  The market is host to around wonderful selection of stalls and an equally wonderful restaurant.  La Buvette des Halles spills out from the covered market onto the street and serves a simple menu of fresh produce directly from the stalls.

We tried some super restaurants over the course of the week and gorged on Basque specialities.  We particularly enjoyed the Gateaux Basque, a kind of pastry cake hybrid filled with an almond custard. I have found a recipe and am going to attempt to recreate it one weekend.

I think that the culinary highlight for me was the tiny cliff top cafe that served the most incredible moules & frites.  I'd happily hop back on a plane every weekend for a portion of them!

And so the holiday posts come to an end, not really because I have run out of things to say, but more because I have so many other things that I want to share.

Les vacances...part quatre

Now, we all know that I love a handbag so I was delighted to finally visit a shop that I have heard a lot about. Laffargue is more than a leather shop in St Jean de Luz, it is the leather shop.  It is where anyone who's anyone buys their handbag!

The shop has had pride of place on Rue Gambetta for over 100 years after Joseph Daniel Laffague, the son of a saddler and saddler himself, decided that he wanted to incorporate the studded designs he used to decorate his work onto lady's handbags, belts and purses.  The same methods are still used with each item being hand studded.

I already own one of their purses, a gift from a friend, and I wanted to add to the collection with one of their small handbags.  Unfortunately the price tags were a little too much for this month to cope with so I resisted. Imagine my utter joy then when I found a vintage Laffargue in a local brocante.  It is a beautiful cherry red, gorgeous shiny leather and the perfect size.  And what's more it was less than half the price of the new ones! Fate I say.

Les vacances...parte trois

The weather was rather mixed and so we took advantage of the respite from the sun to indulge in some blustering walks along the cliff tops.  Either side of the bay in St Jean de Luz are beautiful cliffs with stunning views, lovely lighthouses and posh hotels.

Across the bay in Socoa we wandered from the port up to the sweet little lighthouse, past some rather nice houses and out to the cliff edge where you look out over the  endless expanse of the Atlantic.  The rock formations are in strange layers, rather like a millefeuille!

Walking on the opposite side of the bay takes you on a less rugged path, past a marvellous cafe which served the best moules & frites in town!  You end up at a very smart hotel called La Reserve which is perched on the edge of the cliff.  The hotel has a terrace that spills out towards some glorious gardens and an infinity pool that looked super inviting.  I have to say that I would rather like to return as a resident!

Les vacances...part deux

I am a girl who loves lotions and potions and I think that the French do them rather well.  I must confess that I come over all giddy when confronted by the array of creams, shower gels, oils and other such delights.  One of my favourite brands is Le Petit Marseillais, unfortunately not available in the UK, but truly the most delightful shower gel available.

I have to restrain myself when it comes to these products and brought just 4 back with me.  The choice of scents is vast and I opted for Lilac, Orange Blossom and Almond Milk.  The consistency is lovely, creamy and luxurious and the perfume subtle.  They don't dry your skin and transport me back on holiday when ever I use them.  They offer clever refill packs in plastic pouches; these I decant into my Muji dispenser, the bottles themselves have a pretty design and look very nice on my shelf.

Anyone visiting France anytime soon?  Please send supplies!

Les vacances...

We are back from holiday and what a lovely holiday it was.  To stop the holiday blues I am going to post some of my favourite parts each day for the next week.

We start with the beach.  The beach in St Jean de Luz is very pleasant indeed.  Called La Grande Plage it certainly lives up to its name.  Sandy and curving along the length of the town it has clear waters, rock pools and deck chairs for hire.  We spent nearly every afternoon there enjoying the late sunshine.

Little houses and hotels line up along the edge of the beach; a beautiful mix of traditional white Basque houses, Art Deco hotels and grand family homes.  The town stretches back from the beach to a cafe filled square where we sat and watched the world go by.

A bit more packing...

Tomorrow the husband and I head off on our summer holidays.  We are going to St. Jean de Luz for a week and I could not be more excited.

I am so looking forward to a week of lying on the beach, walking along the cliff tops, eating delicious food and drinking a little too much wine.  With that said I am also looking forward to packing my suitcase up and believe I have devised the perfect packing list for a week away at the beach.

Here's what I will be taking:

Two bikinis - the same style, different colours.
Sunhats - one oversized floppy affair for when I want to channel Sophia Loren, one more understated Panama.
Four T-shirts - some plain, some striped
Jacket - an evening cover up. I have opted for a denim jacket. Simple & goes with everything.
Skirt - again denim.
Cardigan
Sarong
Beach cover-up - I have an oversized White cotton shirt that does the job.
Two maxi dresses - perect for the evening and easy to dress up or down.
Chinos - just in case the weather turns!
Tan clutch bag
Navy evening bag
Beach bag
Tan clogs
Navy Birkenstocks
Leopard print flats
Navy ballet pumps
Dress up/down dress - this one is black, goes with all the shoes.
Day dress - I actually have 2 of these, one striped and one geometric print.
Scarf
Jeans
Hoodie

If we had any special plans then I would add to this with one extra dress. And that's the lot!

A weekend in Madrid...

One of my New Year's Resolutions was not to leave photographs on my camera for months on end but to put them onto the computer straight away and label and file them.  So far I am failing miserably.  Which is why two weeks after my weekend in Madrid I am only just showing you these photos!


The husband and I spent Easter weekend in Madrid with some friends of ours who live over there.  We had the most amazing time, we ate lots, walked lots and even managed a gallery or two.  


Here are a few of my photographs...

I have been to Madrid maybe 10 times since my friends repatriated and I just love the city.  I like returning and getting to know a little bit more each time. There is just so much to see and do and eat and drink that even after another 10 visits I won't be bored!