Sunday, 21 December 2014

Christmas at Calke

 Apologies for the absence, preparing for Christmas this year has taken its toll and something had to give, unfortunatley that has been blogging! I have been incredibly busy just about every single day of December so far and now I have finished work and Mr Bee has finished school, I am very much looking forward to some quiet time to actually enjoy the festivities!

 This afternoon we made our annual visit to the Calke Christmas event. Our third year in succession, it seems to have become a tradition. I think this year has been the busiest it has ever been and the atmosphere was fantastic! We had a delicious lunch and roamed around the Fine Food Fair, we were very pleased with our artisan fudge purchase!

We made our visit to see Father Christmas, it was the longest we have had to wait (an hour!) but as always, he was fantastic and truly worth the wait in the bitter cold.


Louie had fun amusing himself in the queue, playing on the mounting block, watching the man with the music box and having a turn on the adorable old fashioned carousel, whilst Pappy got well and truly blown away, his hair was a picture!

Mr Bee and Father Christmas got on like a house on fire! Louie warned Santa  not to eat too many mince pies and they had a good old giggle together, it was absolutely adorable.



After another warm cup of tea and a play on the  heaving play park, we headed in to the gardens for the lights and labrynths trail starting from the church and ending in the house. We bumped in to one of Louie's school friends which made the day even more magical for him, as they ran together giggling along the way.
St Giles' was lit up in full glory and was a beautiful place to stand and watch the sun settle behind the trees on the shortest day of the year (whilst Louie spent aaaaages climbing a conifer...)






Another magical day spent at our lovely Calke, stunning as ever.

Tuesday, 16 December 2014

Shepherds Warning


Pastel hues early in the morning. It is taking some time to get used to the sheer beauty of the countryside in the wintertime.

Sunday, 14 December 2014

Weekend in the City

Our second annual work Christmas do in the big city. A special trip to Nottingham for a night spent with Dan's work colleagues, eating, drinking and even a little dancing.

 A very peacful nights sleep was broken by these beautiful skies. We finished up the last of our Christmas shopping, perusing the little Christmas market and even picked out some more furniture for our lovely little house :)



Tuesday, 2 December 2014

Skies



One of my favourite things about the living in the countryside is the skies. When there is no fog, we ge beautiful colours morning and night, usually spotted by quirky cloud patterns.

I took this photograph one day last week when I decided to take my camera to bed with me just to be prepared. Lilac and coral skies with birdies playing on the roof tops, beautiful.

Sunday, 30 November 2014

Advent Preparation





So this year it seems that I am late to the party. I mean, it isn't even December yet and everyone seems completely Christmas crazy already! I can't believe how unprepared I am this year, but this weekend, we have embraced the winter weather and seasonal festivities. We spent the day in and out of our little village visiting the craft fairs, music perfomances, fairs etc in celebration of the Christmas lights switch on. It was a modest affair but we made the most of it!








Winter scenes over Felicity's Wood. 



The rest of our weekend was spent getting all of the decorations ready for our little house. Our beautiful little tree has made its way indoors and has been jewelled with fairly lights and sweet little wooden orniments. Louie and I carefully constructed our first ever wreath, a tradition I hope to keep going. It will do for a first attempt and I love the way it makes our house look so homely! 

Tomorrow begins December, we are ready.


Sunday, 23 November 2014

Insta-Catch Up


6 years with my beau, incidentally not in the photo, but the weekend that it began.
Warm socks in the chilly weather.


School run fun.
Country Homes, Italiano panini and coffee. Me time perfection.


Baked camemebert and twice baked, homemade breadsticks.
Foggy mornings. 


Date night.
Three cheese tart with caremelised onion and beetroot chutney.


A treat from the Joules sale.
From scratch Lemon Meringue Pie for Momma who is in the wars.

Wednesday, 19 November 2014

School Run











Winding roads, views over the countryside, bright sunshine fighting through the fog, even at 2:45 in the afternoon. The sun starts going down, casting its pinkish orange hues over the quiet fields.
I am pretty lucky to have this as the regular feature of my evert day. 
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