Everyday life – Page 30 – Wattle and Ash

Christmas

December 26, 2016December 25, 2016by wattleandashLeave a Comment

Sometimes the unplanned, imperfect pictures are the best ones. It can be so easy to share images of perfectly stylised celebrations, but for me that’s not what Christmas is all about. It’s about the sitting room floor getting covered in torn wrapping paper, the dog bringing in a half chewed stick and gnawing it on the rug, spilling gravy on the table cloth and sneaky afternoon naps while wearing a paper crown.

So this is what my first English Christmas looked like: Sunny and mild (gasp!), with clumsily held video calls to Australia involving dorky family traditions, gifts to help me adapt to the English way of life, way too much food and magical lights in all the right places.

It was perfect. Who needs a Christmas Day that looks like it should be on the pages of a magazine, when you can have your nearest and dearest nearby laughing, eating and simply being them?!

I trust you all had a lovely Christmas Day and are now in the post December 25th haze, taking it easy… or finding a bargain at the Boxing Day sales!

PS – The Christmas elves came and overhauled the blog over the weekend. Hope you like the changes!

Everyday life, Travel

Let the wrapping begin

December 22, 2016December 23, 2016by wattleandash3 Comments

I find there are two sorts of people in life – those who love wrapping presents and those who’ll happily pawn the task off to others. I’m in the first camp. As a child growing up my mum was always pretty particular about the styling of her Christmas tree. Gifts had to coordinate with the tree and a general colour scheme was adopted every year. I have fond memories of the two of us sitting on the floor in the family lounge room surrounded by rolls of paper and boxes of ribbons and bows, televised Christmas carol special on in background, wrapping presents in the days leading up to December the 25th.

It’s a tradition I continue to keep and over the last few weeks I’ve seen countless images on Instagram and Pinterest of fresh foliage adorning beautifully boxed presents. As it’s so warm in Australia around Christmas, adding a sprig of spruce as part of the wrapping process never really crossed my mind. This year however, I decided to use harness that inspiration and try it myself!

I raided the garden at the front of Adam and my apartment finding holly leaves and a large shrub with red berries, which I believe is cotoneaster horizontalis (budding gardeners, is that right?!) and got busy!

Continue reading “Let the wrapping begin” →

Everyday life, Thoughts, Travel

Reflections

December 15, 2016December 23, 2016by wattleandash4 Comments

Is it just me, or do special occasions often make you think about life? The past, the present and what’s happening right now. Today is my birthday, the first I’ve celebrated abroad (!), and this week I’ve been spending a lot of time just thinking about how much has changed since December last year.

Twelve months ago I was getting ready to host my family for Christmas in Wagga Wagga. This year I’ll be with Adam’s family in England. It still seems slightly surreal that I’m here, in the UK… and not on holiday! I’m still pinching myself, realising this is now my every day.

Continue reading “Reflections” →

Everyday life, Travel

Nesting

December 12, 2016December 23, 2016by wattleandashLeave a Comment

It’s been just over a week since Adam and I moved into our Malvern house and I’m in full nesting mode, trying to turn our new space into a home.

Our apartment is virtually fully furnished, which is great if you’ve only got limited possessions like we do, but also a challenge when it comes to decorating. There is no clean slate, or fresh start, it’s a matter of adapting the already established style and making it your own.

Adam has a small collection of chicken jugs – as soon as we walked into the kitchen I could see the large sill on the window that overlooks the Severn Valley would be the perfect spot for them. We’ve added a string of fairy lights around the window for added festive cheer, and the chooks seem pretty happy in their new glowing home.

As we don’t own a lot of ‘stuff’ we’ve also had to be a little creative in how we fill up the space that now surrounds us.

Continue reading “Nesting” →

Everyday life, Local sights, Travel

O Christmas tree

December 8, 2016December 23, 2016by wattleandash5 Comments

One of the first purchases Adam and I wanted to make when we moved into our new home was a Christmas tree. When Adam was growing up he fondly remembers going to the Leigh Sinton Christmas tree farm, just north of Malvern – the trees are so well regarded they’ve even been used outside of the British Prime Minister’s house at 10 Downing Street!

Leigh Sinton Christmas tree farm — You’d have to have a big house to fit these trees in!

I’ve only ever had a ‘real life’ Christmas tree once before at my brother’s house in Canberra. Growing up in tropical Queensland, humid summers and fir trees just don’t mix, so we always had a fake tree.

I was amazed at the huge variety of trees available…

Continue reading “O Christmas tree” →

Everyday life, Travel

Moving in

December 5, 2016December 23, 2016by wattleandash3 Comments

Blimey, what a weekend! Adam and I moved into our new house over the weekend – it feels like we haven’t stopped. Even though we didn’t have a real lot of ‘stuff’ between us (two suitcases each, plus a few boxes and bags of Adam’s cookwear, linen and knick knacks that his family have been minding in his absence) it’s still seemed like a massive effort.

Front door to house in Victorian-era building — Welcome to our new home!

It’s far from being ‘complete’ yet, but take a peek at our new digs…

Continue reading “Moving in” →

Everyday life, Food, Local sights

The Allotment

November 28, 2016December 23, 2016by wattleandash2 Comments

Allotments are all over England – small parcels of land, often council owned, that are used by keen gardeners to grow fruit and vegetables. They’re a wonderful idea and when Adam and I have been driving around cities and towns, I look out for them. They’re a great green beacon that stand out from the grey sky and muted coloured houses.

My grandfather, who was born in England, often tells stories about the lovely big gardens his family had when he was a child. Tilling the land is a passion he continues to have today, so seeing allotments for myself is something I’ve been looking forward to for some time.

In Adam’s family, the allotment is at his Aunty Lisa’s house and is mainly maintained by her and Grandad Len.

An allotment garden — The family allotment in Malvern.

Although it’s starting to get too cold to grow most things now, I had a good poke around over the weekend.

Continue reading “The Allotment” →

Everyday life, Travel

A picnic with Frank

November 21, 2016December 23, 2016by wattleandashLeave a Comment

It’s been a big few days in Malvern, with a family reunion of sorts taking place. Adam’s brother John, his partner Sally and their dog Frank Cabbage came and visited!

John, Sally and Frank took the train from London on Friday morning for a jam-packed few days of eating, drinking and generally being merry.

Corgi sitting on a train — Frank behaving himself on the train.

Continue reading “A picnic with Frank” →

Everyday life, Thoughts, Travel

Settling in

November 11, 2016December 23, 2016by wattleandashLeave a Comment

One of the most enjoyable (and sometimes scary) things about moving to a new place is getting to know the community you’re now a part of.

Adam has worked for most of this week, leaving me to explore Malvern and the English way of life on my own.

Yesterday I successfully navigated myself from Adam’s mum’s house into town to pick up a few supplies for dinner. Although I checked the weather forecast (10% chance of rain) for the six kilometre round trip, I made the rookie mistake of trusting it and not taking my waterproof jacket. Needless to say, I was damp and rather cold by the time I got home!

It was however the only ‘dressing’ mistake I think I’ve made all week. Continue reading “Settling in” →

Everyday life, Travel

The Worcestershire Way

November 9, 2016December 23, 2016by wattleandash2 Comments

England has the most fantastic network of public footpaths – walking tracks and trails that weave their way throughout the countryside passing through farmland, towns and even back gardens!

Australia doesn’t really have anything that compares, so I’m keen to explore the footpaths around Malvern – it’s also a great way to maintain a regular exercise regime, especially when this cold weather leaves you craving pudding, pasties and pork pies regularly… 😮

Earlier this week I stumbled across the Worcestershire Way – a pretty walk, that almost fulfilled all of my English fantasies.