Thoughts

A photo I took of Mount Taranaki one winter's morning at least 4 years ago. I grew to love seeing this everchanging landscape, dominated by the mountain and its many moods. Autumn and the coming Winter are making me contemplative, it's a time of change. Soon we will move to our new house, put down new roots and have another journey ahead of us to make it into a home. I've also enjoyed working in a job outside of the NHS for the last three months which will come to an end in two weeks. It has been a challenge and a delight, it has tested me in new ways and made me use my known skills. Hopefully another job will soon be on the horizon!

Rob Ryan

One of my favourite artists... he lives in London too!

Bedfordshire Pubs

Two more animal pubs collected while travelling... The Black Horse in Ireland, and the Hare and Hounds from Old Warden.

How's your week going? Britain is steadily heading into Autumn. The days are getting shorter and there are pumpkins in the shops, a chill is in the air now that the last summer heatwave has been and gone.

I got my Life in Britain handbook yesterday, for studying towards sitting the Life in Britain test.

We're still planning our move into our new home next month, but the house buying process is going quite slowly!

Indian Summer

Last weekend, there was an unusual heatwave that made us head out and about to meet our friends. It started off on Saturday, visiting Ottolenghi and using some of our gift voucher from Annette and Flavia to buy a scrumptious morning tea... what a great wedding pressie!

We both had greedy eyes looking around the shop, decisions, decisions.





In the end, the lure of trying fresh figs for the first time made me choose this decadent cake.



Dave went for the cupcake!



Back at home, I was inspired to try an Ottolenghi recipe. This is a Sephardic stew called Sofrito. Using 25 cloves of garlic is not a misprint. My photo is a bit grainy taken under the range hood, but it was tasty! I'll be looking out for more Ottolenghi recipes to try soon.

Cute stuff

Ex-men's shirt as new dress for you from general ink on Vimeo.

Hope everyone is having a great start to the week. We really made the most of the sunshine this weekend, spending our time with friends picnicking and walking in Regents Park. Found this video as a link on Strawberry Koi. I don't think Dave's shirts are in any danger of being pinched by me as the heatwave in England is almost over... but...cute stuff! Love the creativity.

Got to dash, I have my weekly ballet lesson. It's a great workout!

Feathers and Talons

On Saturday I got to live out my Tamora Pierce medieval heroine fantasies and learn the ancient art of falconry for the morning at the Bird of Prey Centre in Bedfordshire. I didn't have Harry Potter in those days, but the Centre is really popular with his fans, who love being able to handle live owls who look like Hedwig. Dave and I had a great day learning about falcons, eagles and owls, including some handling time (holding the bird on your gloved hand) and flying time (having a bird fly to you) as well as watching a flying display.

We met lots of characters including Jamie the falcon and Marshall the owl, who won me over with his serious and slightly sleepy eyes.

I love the plumage on Dawn, the barn owl. Can't wait to pull out the watercolours and see if I can illustrate the amazing colour and texture of his feathers.

Marge the Stork.

Tiny the baby Mexican Condor, will look imposing one day but meanwhile this giant ball of fluff just loves eating shoelaces.

Behind the Walls

We really have made the most of our English Heritage membership this year, we were lucky the second time around in visiting Wrest Park. The gardens of this grand home have been re-opened this year after extensive renovations and replanting. It is all hidden behind an imposing wall.



The de Grey family owned and evolved their family grounds over three centuries, and there are definite touches of French opulence here including a dairy and Le Petit Trianon, like in Versailles.





We had a happy few hours exploring the vast garden and lots of hidden surprises including pavilions, swans, many statues, a Chinese inspired bridge, and outdoor rooms.









I love the rustic Le Petit Trianon, built by Earl de Grey for his grandchildren. Sadly the floor has subsided but hopefully it's scheduled for restoration one day. Our own house plans seem to be coming along, we are a bit closer to our dream of owning our own home.