*Chocolate Box Village*

Well here are a few of our holiday photos. Now let me know when you are bored, ok? Tee hee.

We stayed at a place called Waterside between Paington & Brixham and this was part of our view that we woke to each day ~ a wonderful view of Torquay in the distance and this wonderful coastal train line which steam trains ran along a few times a day. We always knew they were coming as you could hear them toot toot before they steamed there way by, so we always used to run to the window and see which one it was!




As we were so near to Torquay of course we had to pay a visit to the ever beautiful Cockington Village.



I'm sure lots of you have visited this wonderful village and I have a couple of times, but for any of you that haven't really make a special visit there as it is a magical fairytale like place filled with adorable thatched cottages & prettiness.



This one above is called Rose Cottage and has tea rooms at the rear.



This is a photo of the tea rooms gardens, so very pretty. It also had a pond with lots of ducks waddling around too.





Here you can see the man playing the piano in the gazebo whilst everyone enjoyed lunch or cream tea's (as in my case, yummy).



Here is the village Inn above in wonderful grounds, how pretty is this pub!



Just on the edge of Cockington Court's grounds is this very very pretty fairytale cottage which I just wanted to live in forever & ever ~ oooohh wouldn't it just be wonderful to live in such an adorable cottage in beautiful grounds.



The cricket hut on the grounds of Cockington Court.



And then Cockington Court itself. It is set in wonderful woodland with sweeping lawned area to the front which the cricket pitch is situated too.
You can just about see the horse & carts that offer rides around the village at the front of the building.

Inside Cockington Court is a Tea Room, a artist studio and lots of little shops one of which was a soap lady who was making the soaps there in her shop room.

Outside at the rear were gardens and in the stable area some workshops.
One was a Iron Mongers, I didn't get to take a photo of this as you had to let them know if you were using a flash so as not to startle them I presume and I didn't want to disturb them.
But I did get a shot of this huge iron spider in a window frame opposite the workshop, eek imagine finding that on a dark night!



Another workshop was a glass blowing room, which I did manage to get a couple of photos of.






This is the side view of Cockington Court, at this point I am stood near to the Norman Church which is next to the house and is still used to this day and if you wish to marry there you will have to wait 4 years!



Here is another photo of the centre of the village where the horse & carts picked people up for trips around the village.

We there is so much prettiness in this chocolate box village you could just faint, I have so many pretty photos that I took, (yes even more than I have shown you here!) and if you cross the grounds of Cockington Court apparently there are some lakes and a ground keepers cottage too which we didn't even see as we didn't know about them until we had left ~ well at least that is another reason to visit again isn't it.

As you can see we had a deliciously sunny & warm day too that day which was so fantabulous especially for photo taking ~ I do hope I haven't bored you all silly with all these photos, and if I haven't I will do another post with some more Devon snaps seeing as this one is basically all about Cockington Village but really who can blame me with such a wonderful fairytale of a place, I know you will all forgive me for being so indulgent, you will won't you?

*wink*

*Home James*

Hallo!
We are home from our week in Devon and I don't think we could have picked a lovelier week.
The weather was warm & sunny with many a blue sky and not one drop of rain all week & really how many weeks like that have we had this summer?
Lots of walking & wandering has been done but unfortunately this doesn't counter-act all the eating and drinking that went on and so I feel about 3 stone heavier, eek!
Will post some holiday snaps very soon.
Hope the week has been lovely for all, ta ta for now
x

*Devon here we come!*

We are off to Devon for a week at the weekend, yipee!
We are both looking forward to a week of resting, walking along the beach, visiting adorable villages and of course cream teas. Yummy!

Shop-wise ~ all purchases made between the 19th of September & the 28th of September will be processed from Monday 29th.

Unfortunately the website won't be updated during this time period and so there may be a rare occassion where an item may be out of stock. All orders will be on a 'first come first served basis' I'm afraid.

Have a great week everyone & see you all when we return.
x

*Longing for those Summer days*

I found this beautiful photo from the House to Home website under the garden section entitled 'Summer Retreat' and then it made me long for those summers days that seem to have flitted by so quickly this year.

Reclaim your shed, paint it mint green and sky blue, then add some classic wicker furniture for the ultimate retreat at the end of your garden. Give it a homely feel with cushions in retro floral prints and a pretty painting. Add a rug for extra comfort, and hang a voile curtain across the door so you can shelter from the sun but still enjoy the breeze.

Oh my how wonderful does that sound, although I don't think we needed to do much sheltering from the sun this year did we? But lets say goodbye to this summer and day dream about next summer for a while before those crisp Autumn days whisk us completely away shall we?

*How Old do I Feel!*

I've been keeping a tiny secret ~ I'm going to be a Great Aunt ~ and that doesn't mean being a really cool and great Aunt, I mean I'm actually going to be a Great Aunt!
One of my neices is having a baby!

I have two older sisters that are quite a bit older than me and so I first became an Aunty when I was only 8 years old and I have 4 neices altogether.
But how weird and fab is it that I am going to be a great aunt at the tender age of 34 (well as I will be when it arrives!)

My lovely neice Hannah as we have just found out today is expecting a baby boy ~ he is expected to arrive at the end of January. *yay*
Ooohhh goodness it really doesn't seem too minutes since she was tiny and I used to call her 'my little pud' as she was just sooo adorably cute and as lovely as pudding.

A Great Aunt, how strange ~ does this mean I have to start starching things and wearing lots of lace, drinking tiny glasses of sherry, taking tea on the lawn & telling people what I really think of them???

Hmmm, anyhoo all I know is that I just can't wait to be a Great Aunt & to meet this little chap who is going to make me feel so old! *giggle*
x

*I *heart* Gok!*

Oohhh have you seen this book? I need need need it!
How to Dress by the wonderful Gok Wan.

I absolutely love Gok and his wonderful style sense for all shapes, I wish he was my bestest friend and would pop round to cheer me up when feeling mimsy, well enough of that day dream this is what the book is about ...


'Sartorial superstar Gok Wan from TV's How to Look Good Naked is every girl's favourite style guru and confidence booster. His fantastic new guide has all the advice and inspiration you'll ever need to look and feel totally fabulous, whatever the occasion. Packed with Gok's advice on how to look good at a party, wedding or on the beach, How to Dress is like having your very own personal styling session with Gok. Loved for recognising that women are beautiful whatever their shape or size, Gok Wan understands how women can work their assets and minimise the part of their bodies they dislike to maximum effect. Every woman deserves a Fairy Gok Mother to help them look their most gorgeous. His new book is packed with fashion tips to help you stay on the style highway and not stumble off into fashion faux pas territory. Choosing the right outfit for a wedding or looking your best on the beach or at work can be stressful and in How to Dress Gok simply unravels the rules of style so every woman can look their best all the time. How to Dress shows you how to look great throughout the year, whatever your lifestyle and regardless of what life throws at you.'


How fun & obviously useful too for those horrid times when you just don't know what to wear, and really with Christmas coming up oh and my birthday in November (yes I know it is a long time off yet but I do get excited) I think this little beauty will be wriggling its way onto my wish list.
I *heart* you Gok.
mwah

*A Wonderful Picnic Day*

Last weekend when it was the Bank Holiday weekend we decided to go out for a picnic on the Sunday and what a day it was, such a beautifully sunny & warm day, such a difference from most of the summer we have been having!



James decided he would be in charge of the food and made us our favourite ~ bacon & brie for him and cranberry & brie for me all wrapped up in delicious crusty french bread, and with a flask of tea and some plain chocolate digestives in our basket off we went.

We didn't know where we were going and just set of to see where the day would take us and after some driving around we came across this wonderfully beautiful English village that we had never been to before called Barningham.



All these photos are taken in the same village and look a green telephone box, how fab is that!?!



It was outside of this cottage which obviously used to be the post office too, I'm afraid I couldn't resist taking a sneaky shot of this lovely window sign.



The village had this wonderful fountain too which worked, either side water flowed and in the middle was a big pool of water, so pretty with the sun shining on it and twinkling.




And not satisfied with a green telephone box and a fountain this village also had it's own stone circle!



I had to take this lovely photo of the apple tree with its branches heavy with fat juicy apples, ready to drop.



This was the village pub at the end of the village, isn't it just a wonderfully typical English village scene. The photo at the top was a closeup of the pub and its wonderful display of Holly Hocks, they were so pretty and vibrant.



We had had our picnic just outside the village over looking fields and the Yorkshire Dales, oh and of course sheep before we heading back in to the village to explore on foot.

There seemed to be a lot of coming and going as we walked around the village and then we realised people were carrying gifts and making their way to the village hall ~ we had noticed a banner on the outside wishing Ann a happy 60th birthday so it seemed that the whole village was off for an afternoon of gift giving and jolly making ~ so lovely.
We couldn't believe we live so near to this pretty village and yet have never been before!

We topped our day off by heading through Barnard Castle then Cotherstone and on to Middleton-in-Teesdale and I even managed to fit in a touch of thrifting before the day was over ~ I managed to pick up a silver plated candlestick holder for only 50p, which I had ideas for ~ but I will leave that for another post!