Birthday BBQ

It's that time of year again, that we celebrate my Mum's birthday. In previous years, we have had quiet days out and parties but this year, I assembled my brother and sister and we arranged a little get together in one of our local country parks.

There were 13 of us in total, well 14 if you include little Jet, we set up three barbeques and the men made some delicious BBQ grub for us!

 (me and my husband, formally of the Blues Brothers...)

And we finally, finally got everyone together for a family photo, something that we have never managed organise!! 

Happy Birthday Mother Hen! It was a fantastic day!

An Extended Picnic

 Late on Friday afternoon, we decided to pack the car up, put Mr Bee to bed and prepare for a little weekend away.
Pappy chose a little jaunt down to the Cotswolds. As our spring holiday took us to Southwold this year, we missed out on visiting one of our favourite places so what better way to spend a sunny weekend than lazing around in the sunshine?

And so that was our weekend. A little trip to a sweet little campsite with a gorgeous view. Superb food. A fantastic nights sleep. Sun bathing. Football playing. Poirot reading. Perfection.

Catching Up

 As usual, the week after a holiday is a busy one. Catching up on washing and settling back in a home. Unfortunately, back to school and work too. Camilla (the camera...!) has been firmly rooted in her camera bag, but I have been snapping on instagram, so here's what we have been up to.

The new, 'emergency' boots I bought on holiday have become a great pair of garden boots! Easy on and off when the lawn is a litle damp! The basket was giving me a helping hand too, as usual ;) It was so nice to come back to my little (and I mean little) garden empire. It has come on so much from starting out with nothing at all. I can't wait to show you how it looks in a few weeks!!!

We returned from our holiday late Friday evening and Saturday was a fine day, so we decided to have a barbeque, the first outdoor meal in our new house, very exciting! We had yummy (and healthy!) kebabs with a range of salads followed by marshmallows, of course!

Sunday featured a last minute nip in to the city, I was treated to some goodies from lush. A lavender scented bubble bar, very fitting for our wedding anniversary.

And in the evening, we went to a local restaurant to celebrate our first wedding anniversary. They even had wheat and lavender in jars and bottles on the tables. It was far too perfect. 

 And then when we were home, we snuggled up and watched The History Boys, brilliant film!

 Tuesday we made fajitas. Mr Bee was very excited to assemble his own dinner. It was glorious.

 Breakfast on the go. A strawberry and oatmeal smoothie from my new breakfast recipe book. YUM!

Soup Wednesdays. I made roasted tomato and basil soup for dinner and baked a delicious pesto swirl loaf to accompany. It was divine!

Nicer weather! Our afternoons after school have been blessed with a little bit of sun! Three evenings this week we have been able to sit and play in the garden. We have been dreaming about days like these. 

And lastly, a beautiful bit of cow parsley on the school run. Beautiful!

So that is a little snippet of our week. What have you been up to?

Making The Most

This weekend we have gleefully embraced a heatwave. Following yesterdays date day, just me and the Mr, we spent the entire day as a family. The paddling pool was out, fresh fruit ice lollies were made and the barbeque was lit ready for an afternoon of lazy grazing. Shuffle in a four mile walk in the afternoon sunshine and I think you have a perfect recipe for a sunny weekend.