Feet in the River

Clearing out

noreply@blogger.com (Bec) — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 20:23:00 +0000

Sleeping puppy

noreply@blogger.com (Bec) — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 20:27:00 +0000

Scrabble on the sofa

noreply@blogger.com (Bec) — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 20:59:00 +0000

The weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Bec) — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 20:25:00 +0000

My favourite cookbook

noreply@blogger.com (Bec) — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 19:24:00 +0000

Catching up

noreply@blogger.com (Bec) — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 18:38:00 +0000

Birthday Bear

noreply@blogger.com (Bec) — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 19:56:00 +0000

Sleepy puppy

noreply@blogger.com (Bec) — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 22:42:00 +0000

The place I call home

noreply@blogger.com (Bec) — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 19:22:00 +0000

The remains of a birthday

noreply@blogger.com (Bec) — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 18:55:00 +0000

In the land where the potato grows

noreply@blogger.com (Bec) — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 19:49:00 +0000

And so it begins...

noreply@blogger.com (Bec) — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 20:03:00 +0000

I can't believe it has been a whole year since I participated in last year's August Break hosted by the inspirational Susannah Conway. I'm signing myself up again for August Break 2011 as I loved the challenge of trying to squeeze in some photography after a hard day at work (even if it does take me about three hours to capture, edit, upload and write the post!). I've also finally updated my blog layout, adapting a template by the fabulous Pugly Pixel (who coincidentally designed the fab button on the left).

Very Nice!

noreply@blogger.com (Bec) — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 21:06:00 +0000

The sea in Nice was like nothing I have ever experienced before. The colours were amazing and the millions of tiny bubbles generated by the waves crashing onto the pebbles made it an incredibly refreshing spa-like experience. I could have stayed in all day if it hadn't meant I would have burnt to a crisp!

Getting in and out of the sea was something else altogether. The photos don't really show it very well but you had to desend a 'cliff' of pebbles about 2m high with waves crashing into you and then make sure you timed it right otherwise you could find yourself diving face first into wet pebbles as the sea had receeded. Getting out was more a case of getting washed up onto the pebble 'cliff' and then clinging on whilst the sea tried to drag you back and scrambling back up before the next wave came in. Highly recommend it, despite the bruises!

Happy Birthday Buddy!

noreply@blogger.com (Bec) — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 21:35:00 +0000

My little bun is now a grand old three years of age so we brought him in for some sofa time and tried to snap a few family pet pictures. Animals don't like sitting still though!

Silent Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (Bec) — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 13:50:00 +0000

Silent Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (Bec) — Sun, 15 May 2011 13:35:00 +0000

A veritable feast

noreply@blogger.com (Bec) — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 18:59:00 +0000

The long weekend was very much welcomed and I spent most of it stuffing my face with delicious food, from Nic's fantastic cupcakes washed down with a jug of Pimm's to mum's slow cooked gammon chased down with seconds of this fabulous Jamie Oliver dessert tray-baked meringue with pears, cream, toasted hazelnuts and chocolate sauce. Yes it was as good as it looks....

Happy Easter!

noreply@blogger.com (Bec) — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 11:22:00 +0000

A River Cottage Mother's Day

noreply@blogger.com (Bec) — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 09:16:00 +0000

Last week good old Hugh Fearnley-Whatsit emailed me and told me I had to bake Pam's Zesty Lemon Madeira Cake for Mother's Day. So I did. Here's my masterpiece (the silver balls and the Lindt bunny were my additions) which I still haven't had a piece of yet - there's one waiting for me to with my cup of tea when I get home from work tonight. If you are tempted here's the recipe.

PS. If you haven't yet signed up to Hugh's Fish Fight please make sure you do, he's fighting against the unnecessary and unethical discarding of perfectly good fish.

Silent Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (Bec) — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 16:56:00 +0000

Y Gadlas: an anniversary weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Bec) — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 23:12:00 +0000

For our anniversary weekend earlier this month we had a lovely three nights away in gorgeous converted granary Y Gadlas, one of the lovely Under the Thatch properties. Lots of their properties are dog friendly and they are all really unique and quirky. I drool over them regularly and was really excited when I was able to grab a last minute deal to surprise the boy with. It was only an hour and a half away from home (with pub lunch en route) and we stocked up with food from Rhug Organic Farm just before we arrived. After he had had a good sniff about the place we took Finn out for a walk up the hill and snapped the shot above: Y Gadlas and the Farmhouse are nestling in the middle.

Y Gadlas has a great open plan space on the upper floor with doors onto a huge deck and a pair of comfy sofas in front of the log burner which we used every evening. Even though the property sleeps six it still felt very cosy with just the two of us and the pup. The master bedroom was huge with a nice big bed and there were two bathrooms, one with a great shower and one with a bath that we used as Finn's bedroom. There are more pictures on the website.

There was a great selection of books, DVDs and games and we did battle with this The View from Everest jigsaw - it took us three days but we made it to the bitter end even though there were eleven pieces missing! If I had realised that over a third of it was made up of featureless blue sky then I probably would never have started.

When we arrived we found a pint of milk and a bottle of wine in the fridge, a freshly baked lemon drizzle cake (fantastic) on the counter and a lovely vase of little Welsh daffodils on the dining table. All the little extras we had brought from home (cafetière, nightlights, torch) were already there as well as many more.

We headed out into the Welsh rain in Tank, our old Landrover Defender. We took a Winter Special trip on the Welsh Highland Railway and looked out at the hills through the drizzle which Finn pup enjoyed. After that we headed back via Betsw-y-coed for some fish and chips at our usual spot and spent the rest of the evening curled up in front of the woodburner watching Crufts.

We awoke to glorious sunshine so hit the road and headed to Barmouth Beach (which featured in our holiday last summer). We stopped by The National White Water Centre on the way to watch some Canoe Slalom. It was fascinating and they made it look so easy, and we didn't see anyone fall in! I forgot to take pictures there so will just have to bombard you with pics of Barmouth in the sun, they sort of make a 360° panorama if you join them up in your head!

Ps. pop over to Finn Tails to see more puppy pics from the holiday.

The Gallery: Trees

noreply@blogger.com (Bec) — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 20:38:00 +0000

I love this gnarly beech hedge that runs down the garden at my parents' house and must be very very old. I also love that I no longer have to help with its yearly trim! :D

UPDATE: Couldn't resist adding this one I just found showing that spring is on the way; bud burst really does start to lift my spirits as I find the winter months very hard.

[this is my first entry into The Gallery over at Sticky Fingers]

No. 3 of 101 in 1001: Get a dog

noreply@blogger.com (Bec) — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 21:50:00 +0000

This was one of the things on my list that I really didn't think would actually happen but it did last summer when we made the huge decision to add another member to the family. We've now had our puppy Finn for approaching three months and it sure has been a journey. The first few weeks were far harder than I ever imagined but now he has really started to develop into a great little pup - I say little but it's incredible how fast they grow!

Happy new year!

noreply@blogger.com (Bec) — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 22:39:00 +0000

Our new year's eve was very low key, lots of snuggling up on the sofa and keeping the puppy entertained plus the bunny came in for the midnight celebration.

We didn't have a tree this year as protecting it from the animals would have been too difficult, so we went to town with fairylights and paperchains made from magazine adverts. They have been quite popular and the lounge is going to feel quite dull once they all come down.

We baked a few batches of yummy orangey mince pies (via Mary Berry) for Christmas presents and also the Cheats's Christmas Cake featured on Kirstie and Phil's Perfect Christmas.

Fill In The Blank Friday

noreply@blogger.com (Bec) — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 15:10:00 +0000

I've seen Lindsay at La Belle Vie take part in this series created by Lauren of the little things we do.... for several weeks now so thought it was about time I took part...

1. Blogging is something I love and wish I had more time to do; it's helping me find my feet in the world and work out who I really am.

2. A current fashion trend I wish I was brave enough to wear is I'm not sure I even know what the current fashion trends are!!

3. My greatest accomplishment in life thus far is finding the person I want to spend the rest of my life with.

4. If I had to choose between a mountain or a beach vacation I'd choose right now I need sunshine and heat so as long as it was a sunny mountain with lakes to swim in I think I'd choose that.

5. A talent I wish I had is maybe being able to sing, because I really really can't.

6. A talent I do have is I can read superfast and can easily get through a book a day, I'll read anything and everything but have now read so much I can never remember what I've read (which usually doesn't matter because I can read it again and not know the ending!!)

7. This week I haven't been able to stop thinking about our new puppy; sooo looking forward to bringing him home!