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!

A Little Lipstick Goes a Long, Long Way.

First of all, Happy Easter to you all. I hope you have had a lovely weekend; full of family and love (and lots of food & chocolate). On Thursday, I finished my last ever hospital placement and hopped onto the train back to the South-West. Seasoned readers of my little blog will be aware that I grew up in Wiltshire, just eight miles from Bath, but that I now reside in the steel city of Sheffield. They couldn't really be more different from each other, but I adore them both. Bath is steeped in history; an immaculate postcard of Georgian England, whilst Sheffield is an effervescent regeneration of a city which was almost lost when its heart of industry was ripped out. I rarely get to spend time in Bath, due the heavy demands of my course and minimal holiday time. I have therefore become very good at telling myself that I prefer it up in Sheffield. In many ways I do. On Thursday night, however when I stepped out of the train station into the Bath twilight and walked through its perfectly aligned streets; the pale stone luminescent in the moonlight, a chord struck inside of me and I felt at home. This feeling got all the stronger when I stood outside the majestic abbey and its locked side-door opened just for me, because I was expected (my parents had been running a pilgrimage for children, which ended with a service there). The choir was singing Palestrina, my mother was washing people's feet and I just got to sit down and take it all in. It was beautiful. At the end of the service, it was cuddles galore and we have since then spent a wonderful family weekend together, although we are very much missing my darling sister, who is currently visiting our family in New Zealand (hello and so much love from all of us)! Our time has taken us to many of my favourite places; Jika Jika, The Glove Factory, The Holburne Museum, not to mention all the effortlessly beautiful streets and little galleries featuring local artists (including a best family friend, of whom we are very proud). I hope you enjoy my snaps of these places and that I might inspire you to visit them yourselves. I may get to move back to Bath one day, but in the meantime, you should all enjoy it for me! Speaking of inspiration, I have recently fallen in love with the adorable Rachel Khoo and have thus been wearing red lipstick during the daytime. It is delightfully liberating and makes you feel ultra-feminine (it even gave me the guts to have my picture taken and show it to you, which hardly ever happens). If you've got some scarlet lippy stashed away, dig it out and give it a go. I guarantee you won't regret it! Anyway, I have rambled on for long enough. Buckets of love to you all.  

Home on the Range

Blimey, it's been ages! I have been computer-free for the past couple of weeks, whilst I took some lovely time to go on holiday. The Ginge and I spent a blissful week in Sussex - more to follow - and I am now at home with my family in sunny Wiltshire. I am so happy to be back with team Treacle, especially as I have hardly been able to spend any time at home this year. Life is very rose-tinted in the aftermath of my hand-in and I feel utterly spoiled by the simplest of things. I have been munching homegrown red currants, cooking tasty garden meals, getting my hair cut (for the first time in months, thank god), browsing through antique shops in Frome, lunching at the Glove Factory (wishing I could be an artist so that I could own a studio there), being silly with my sister, finding new places to drink coffee and moseying around the gorgeous Walcot and Broad Streets in Bath (more here). I love Sheffield, but it is wonderful to be at home. 

Easter Sunday

 Big holidays, like Easter are very much seen as sacred(in the literal, rather than religious sense of the term) family time in our camp. We have lots of lovely traditions, most of which revolve around baking and eating as well as some less fattening ones such as the decoration of our easter tree. 

This year was slightly different, though no less delightful, as most of the weekend was taken up with the preparations for and celebration of the wedding of some very close family friends (more on that later), but we did manage to squeeze in a day of Eastery-loveliness on Sunday.

A scrumptious dinner in the garden.

Lamb roasted for four whole hours, with garlic, lemon, parsley and mint (fresh from the garden) and heaps of delicious homemade salads. 

I wish we could eat outside every day! 

Praline Easter Eggs - in a real egg box - for pudding!

My mum's beautiful flowers were in full-bloom...

...and there were tadpoles in the pond, growing very fat indeed! 

I couldn't resist taking a photo of the perfect summer house, my Dad built, complete with a great-grandma-special: crocheted blanket (I bet she'd love to know how in-vogue it would be now)... 

...and the tiny flowers around my favourite tree. 

We were so sad to have to leave, but made a final stop for a cup of tea in Bath... 

...not forgetting a very important slice of cake. 

Bring on the next Bank Holiday!