Holywell Road

Holywell Road

When I was a child I can remember being mesmerised by certain streets in my home town.  Generally these streets were on well used routes to various places, like the  local shopping centre or a family friend’s home. To rate highly in my 10 year old mind, the street had to have lots of trees, pretty gardens and interesting houses, each different to its neighbour.

It’s a little ‘game’ that I’ve retained into adulthood and I’ll often drive to places a particular way, just so I can have a peek at my favourite houses. (Please tell me I’m not the only one who does this!)

In Malvern one of my favourite streets, is Holywell Road…

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The engagement

The engagement

Yes.  One tiny word, but it holds so much meaning. On Friday, Adam asked me to marry him. There was a ‘squeak’ and quite a few tears before I was able to vocalise my answer, but we got there in the end!

We’ve talked about marriage for a long time. It was never a scary subject to broach. Even in the very early days of our relationship, we both knew it worked and that together, we’d go the distance. Getting married was always going to be a natural progression in our relationship. I didn’t really know when it was going to happen, but I knew it would.

In saying that, I still can’t quite believe I’ve now got a fiancé! I don’t really feel any different, but when I look down at my left hand at my engagement ring I can’t help but grin rather stupidly and think about how it got there…

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The cool weather kitchen

The cool weather kitchen

The other day as dinner time drew closer,  I began to have a think about what I would make and I drew a bit of blank. It feels like over the last few months Adam and I have got into a bit of food rut – making tried and trusted meals we know we enjoy and can rustle up fairly quickly. We both love getting into the kitchen and trying out new things, but somehow life just got in the way our creativity disappeared.

In a strange twist of fate within a day of me having this realisation, my friend Sonya wrote about food blogs and recipes she’s been enjoying lately, and it got me all enthused about cooking again.

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The mushroom walk

The mushroom walk

It feels like October has been filled with drizzly days which has seen my ‘nesting’ instinct kick into full gear. Pottering around home in cosy jumpers and fluffy socks is so much more appealing than being outside when the weather’s grey!

One morning the other week though I awoke to a brilliant blue sky and decided to get out and onto the Malvern Hills for a lovely, long ramble…

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The flea fair

The flea fair

In my experience there are people who love rifling through second shops or markets and those who are completely nonplussed by the whole venture.  I’ve always been interested in stories from the past, so for me looking at old bits and pieces also invokes questions about the object’s history – who owned it, was it special to them, how did it come into their ownership?

Over the weekend Malvern’s Three Counties Showground hosted a huge flea fair, so I decided to go for a look…

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The sleepy garden

The sleepy garden

Summer seems like a bit of a distant memory now. The days are cooler, shorter and darker and leaves are falling from the sky like giant, colourful raindrops.

I was amazed by our little Malvern garden during the warmer weather. Every week it felt like a new flower or plant was blooming and the air was thick with the sound of bees buzzing about.

Our little patch of green has been slowly falling asleep over the last few weeks, but it’s still proving to be a source of inspiration…

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Quiet time

Quiet time

It’s been a hectic few months. Between my family’s visit from Australia and a few other trips Adam and I had organised earlier this year, it feels like we’ve barely had a weekend to ourselves for weeks and weeks.

After picking up my second cold in three months the other week,  I decided some much needed quiet time was definitely on the agenda…

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36 hours in Glasgow

36 hours in Glasgow

I first visited Glasgow back in 2010. I saw the CBD briefly from a bus and then spent an uncomfortable night in a cheap hotel near the airport. Needless to say, I don’t have any enduring fond memories of Scotland’s largest city.

Last week I found myself back in Glasgow, albeit for 36 hours.  This time around I was determined to see the ‘real’ Glasgow…

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The Eden Project

The Eden Project

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you’ve probably picked up that I’m a bit of a fan of the outdoors and trees and flowers and just the general beauty of nature.

The Eden Project has been on my ‘England bucket list’ for quite some time now, so I was thrilled when it was decided a day trip would be taken to the site as part of a recent long weekend in Cornwall…

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The town of books

The town of books

My mum, dad and brother and are now safely back in Australia and I can hardly believe their six week stay in the U.K. is over. The time truly flew by and at the end of their holiday it felt quite ‘normal’ to have them here with us in Malvern. It was lovely for our families to spend time together and it’s a little sad everyone is back spread out across two hemispheres once again.

In our final few days together we took a little trip to a town called Hay-on Wye, right on the England/Wales border.

It’s known as the ‘town of books’ due to its abundance of second book shops and for hosting the Hay Festival of Literature and the Arts.

It’s an amazing little place…

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