24 Sept 2021
Photo Diary: The Golden Hour Of Summer
9 Sept 2021
Hello September
26 Aug 2021
Postcards From A Slow Week In Coverack, Cornwall
This was the most relaxed week we have had in a long time. Coverack is a small village in Cornwall; on the Lizard peninsula. It’s quite the trek from where we live so we broke up the journey on the way with a couple of nights in the Cotswolds, however, we still got caught in holiday traffic and it ended up being about a six-hour drive. Not the one. But it really was worth it. Coverack is the perfect place to retreat to if you want to do an awful lot of nothing and switch off.
A few little postcards from our week:
We arrived to quiet, the sea gently lapping and fish & chips. What better way to start a holiday?!
The sea was always a crisp, clear blue and we spent plenty of time meandering between cafes with the horizon as our view. There was plenty of people watching; our favourite pass time was watching people learning to paddle board and kids and their dogs jumping off the harbour wall. Not sure who was having the most fun!
17 Aug 2021
A Mini Getaway To The Cotswolds
Back at the beginning of this year, in the depths of a winter lockdown, we booked a cottage in Cornwall that had a good last-minute cancellation policy. In was a stab of hope in an otherwise pretty grim time and I spent quite a long time refusing to think about it. After three holidays cancelled because of Covid, I struggled to believe we’d be going further than our back garden this summer.
However, as the lockdown began to ease and other human beings were allowed back into our lives once again, we tentatively started to consider the idea that we might be going on holiday after all and, with a whole two weeks booked off work and Cornwall being very far away, decided we’d make a bit of a thing of it and bookend the trip - therefore also breaking up the journey - with mini breaks.
With our impending arrival around the corner, we decided to make one of these the opposite of child-friendly whilst we can and booked a luxury foodie break in the Cotswolds based on a recommendation from friends. And then, because of course, less than 48 hours before we were due to arrive, the hotel called and said they had to close due to staff self-isolating.
Remarkably undeterred (a sign of the last 18 months), I was online with minutes and based on little more than some pretty pictures, one room left and price range, we’d found and booked another hotel in a different part of the Cotswolds less than an hour after our original hotel calling. I’m normally one to check out a place online in detail before parting with cash so this could have potentially been a disaster but we got very, very lucky.
Based near Witney, an area we’d stayed in last year, Minster Mill sits alongside the River Windrush in a small, very pretty Cotswold village. It is everything you’d want from a hotel nestled in the Cotswolds; picturesque, peaceful and with plenty of good food on offer. Our room was part of a converted barn and had a gorgeous view from the windows running along the length of one of the walls, a huge bed, stylish bathroom complete with L’Occitane products and - always a way to judge a hotel room - top quality biscuits.
Because we’d booked so last-minute, we hadn’t been able to book ahead for anything else and we were warned on arrival that the spa facilities (yes it had a spa) and restaurant were very busy. Once we’d settled into our room, I thought it was worth chancing our arm so we popped down to the spa and asked if they had any availability to use the facilities during our stay. To which their response was; ‘you could go in now if you want?’ I’d shimmied my pregnant belly into a too-tight swimsuit and was back at the pool entrance within five minutes. They were only allowing up to 6 people to use the spa facilities (pool, sauna and steam room) at any one time and, not going to lie, I very much enjoyed the peacefulness of it. I couldn’t use the sauna or steam room (pregnancy problems) but spent a solid two hours drifting in the pool until I resembled a wrinkled prune.
27 Jul 2021
Pregnancy | The First Trimester
Whilst I (not-so) patiently wait for this second-trimester ‘glow’ I was promised and has yet to show (whenever you’re ready pal), I thought I might get down some first trimester thoughts before they disappear completely; it’s amazing how quickly the details start to fade.
I very much enjoy having this blog as my version of a scrapbook and am keen to keep documenting memories here, but I’ve not quite decided how much of the little one is going to be shared online (both before and after they are born) so there may be certain aspects of this that I’ll brush over - particularly around ‘trying’ for a baby because, quite frankly, there is such a thing as TMI when strangers and family members read this blog.
So, I found out I was pregnant early April time after spending the majority of Easter weekend lying on the sofa wondering why the heck I felt so tired. Peeing on a stick is neither glamorous nor as ‘movie’ like as those clear blue adverts would suggest and whilst I was certain that I wanted a baby, I mostly found the experience underwhelming. Partly because this wasn’t the first time we’d been here and partly because the implications of a positive pregnancy test are so huge, it was almost like my brain couldn’t catch up. So I simply looked at it and went ‘huh, interesting’, waved my (capped) pee-soaked stick in Gary’s face whilst he was chopping veg and then ate dinner in front of the telly.
We told my immediate family when I was six weeks, my friend Beth at seven weeks and then intended to keep it to ourselves until after the 12-week scan. However, there were a couple of occasions that forced our hand (hard to keep it secret when you're not drinking at your good friend's hen do) so a small handful of people found out earlier but otherwise, we mostly kept to our original plan!
They say the first three months are the worst but seeing as I’ve not yet experienced an entire pregnancy, I can’t really comment on that at the moment. My first few months of pregnancy, though, seemed to fulfil most of the cliches; relentless nausea, tiredness, heightened sense of smell, gagging inexplicably, bloating and a desire to hide in a duvet cocoon until it all passed. What I wasn’t expecting was how all of the above would make me feel like my personality and creativity were being sucked dry. My days essentially consisted of get through work, lie on the sofa all evening, go to bed. Repeat. If I hadn’t been so preoccupied with not throwing up and the fear of baby not sticking around, I would have been incredibly bored. I don’t think it helped that we were still in lockdown when that test popped up with a ‘pregnant’ and we were so done with being stuck at home. I just didn't feel like myself for a long time and, whilst I know it's perfectly normal, I will freely admit that I was wishing for it to pass.
Like with most things though: you do get through it. I know a lot of people worry about those first few weeks of pregnancy and I know some have it really rough but in my so-far-average-experience of pregnancy, a fair few of my worries turned out to be unfounded. I didn’t really enjoy those first few weeks and wished the nausea would let up for just.five.freaking.minutes. but neither did I spend all day everyday with my head in a toilet as I’d anticipated in some of my more pessimistic moments. Low points included lying on the bathroom floor at 2am, aggressively searching the supermarket for a packet of pickled onion monster munch, spotting in a public toilet at a beach in Norfolk, trying to pee into a tiny tube in a medical centre (why do they make them so small, WHY) and the sheer bloody amount of burping (which has yet to pass; I’ve basically accepted I am now Pumba).
High points included seeing our little blobby wriggling around and waving their arm stumps on an ultrasound screen at nine weeks, seeing the reactions of our family and friends, meeting my lovely midwife, marvelling at what my body is doing and being blown away by how much baby had grown when we saw them again at our 12-week scan.
My main learning so far? There is nothing remotely glamorous about pregnancy but it’s a bit of an adventure all the same. I know how lucky we are to be in this position and I cannot wait to meet our little one.
25 Jul 2021
Home | The Utility Room Renovation
Technically, this started back in February 2020 when we had our kitchen done. When they were ripping out the old kitchen, we asked them to rip out the units in the utility room as well, and lay the same flooring we were having laid throughout the rest of the ground floor. It then sat – looking a complete mess – for the best part of a year. We quietly closed the door on it in those brief moments when we’ve been allowed guests round and resolved to get to it at a later date. Hitting the point felt like a bit of a milestone because it was always low on the list of priorities; we’ve made it that far down the list!
The image in my head was white and bright with splashes of gold & green whilst not losing any practical elements and keeping it all as cheap as possible. By chance, we had an almost perfect amount of white worktop left over from our kitchen renovation so that was our starting point. We hunted out cheap-but-nice kitchen units (including one for an integrated washing machine) which Gary eventually found in B&Q (one of their cheapest options but I don’t think you’d know) and I went on the hunt for gold door handles and pastel green tiles. I had images of a counter sink which, again, we managed to find pretty cheap and we spent far too long trying to hunt out a decent gold tap, eventually settling on one with a pull-out hose as we thought it could be handy with future kids/pets (countertop and tiles look pretty but are also easily wipeable).
Gary did all of the installing and I will never not be impressed at the way this man can just start sorting the plumbing and tiling like it’s no big deal. I, meanwhile, focused on the finer details (we both work to our strengths), sourcing out a matching green hand towel, gold towel & toilet roll holders and artwork for the walls (including a round gold Oliver Bonas mirror which I love). We got two command broom grippers to go on the back of the door for our broom & mop and there’s just enough of a gap down the side of the units to squeeze in our small hoover and collapsible washing basket. I sourced a daylight-like bulb and an open ‘lampshade’ (again, gold) to try and bring in as much light as possible whilst Gary painted the room white. It definitely doesn’t feel dingy!
All in all, we love it and I like how it feels like a nice surprise every time I walk in and remember that it’s actually a pleasant place to be in rather than a windowless necessity of a room!
Hey there!
