Of Fields and Family

If you asked me 'what is the thing you miss most about being at home?', I'd probably jump to say 'my garden'. I have so many wonderful memories of family meals, summer birthday parties and other events that all happened out there, not to mention the hours of exploration and imaginary games it provided us with as children. It looked stunning this weekend, just like something from the Chelsea Flower Show. Yes, on first thought, I would definitely say 'my garden'. After that, however, a flood of other beloved ideas rushes into my head; the open fields, the cow-parsley-flanked lanes, the melee of different architecture set in Cotswold stone, the railway crossing, the river, the tithe barn. In short, everything that has been so familiar to and loved by me my whole life. This weekend, all I did was soak all of that up with my family and my boy. Heaven. On Saturday, we walked to our local Farm Shop, where we were rewarded for our efforts by delicious burgers and cooling, summery drinks. We picked wild Bath asparagus and spotted butterflies and some of this year's fledglings taking their first tentative flights. We spent the evening wandering through some of the back streets of bath. It was a perfect evening for it; the balmy air cooled by stone walls. We had drinks outside followed by a delicious dinner at Jika Jika. On Sunday, we had lunch in the garden (the Ginge fell asleep) and then spent the afternoon wandering again, this time around my little town. There was an open gardens event, so we got to be very nosey and look around some incredible gardens, which are only very occasionally open to the public. It's amazing that, even after living somewhere for so long, you can still see very different sides to a place, just by looking at it in a different way. Each garden was very individual, but all were full of character and charm, with picture-postcard views. We cooed over their choice of planting and happily sipped glasses of Pimms and homemade lemonade. We even made time to stop for a childhood classic - the cider ice lolly. If you have never tried one, I urge you to do so! I also urge you to visit Bradford on Avon and its surrounding area as it is perfectly lovely, in my very biased opinion. I don't know about you, but I cannot wait for the Jubilee Weekend - I hope you're all planning some exciting things to do, with lots of cake and bunting thrown in for good measure. Love to all!