Wagga Wagga to Worcestershire & back again
Wagga Wagga is in the midst of a heatwave at the moment. We had three consecutive days above 40ºC (104ºF) last week and after a few days ‘respite’ (35ºC and 32ºC respectively) the rest of this week is set to stick in the high 30s and low 40s.
I don’t particularly enjoy that sort of extreme heat. Warm is lovely… but at the moment it’s just downright ridiculous! It’s making me crave the cool, damp days we had back in England just a few short weeks ago…
Adam and I are now on our way back to Australia after the most wonderful month in England, celebrating our wedding and spending time with friends and family in our U.K. home of Malvern, Worcestershire.
One of my favourite parts of living in Malvern was the town’s proximity to the Malvern Hills and I probably spent hundreds of hours rambling upon them during our 15 months in England. Quite a few of the guests at our wedding spent time in Malvern with us prior to the big day and I was thrilled to be able to share the hills with them…
It’s often said that your wedding day is one of the happiest moments of your life and I can safely say, that very much was the case for me. Adam and I have been married for just over a week now and I’m still smiling at the absolute perfection the day was.
It was over in a flash, but ever so lovely – to be surrounded by so many friends and family from both England and Australia was truly a gift.
The first of what I’m sure will be hundreds of professional photographs have started coming through (and I’ll share those soon!), but I thought today I might show you the wedding through my eyes…
One of the lovely things about being back in England is having the opportunity to visit the dozens of farm shops that surround Malvern.
Farm shops are usually independently run and generally sell locally grown produce and meat as well as baked goods, pantry staples like honey and preserves, as well as regional beers and ciders. They’re like tiny little farmer’s markets dotted all over the countryside and if you love your food, they’re an utter joy to nose around…
Adam and I have been back in the U.K. for a couple of days now and slowly but surely we’re overcoming the jet lag and starting to settle back into life in England…
In the months leading up to my move to England, I spent hours and hours reading and researching about what sorts of things I should pack. A lot of Australia doesn’t experience four proper seasons a year, so the concept of having both a summer and winter wardrobe is a little foreign. I was due to arrive in mid-autumn, and while I had some years of living in an area with a distinct winter and summer, I still was nervous about how I would cope with the U.K.’s much talked about ever-changing weather.
Two years on and back on Australian soil, I’m a lot more aware of what English weather is really like. It’s less than four weeks until Adam and I fly back to England for our wedding and going into this trip, I’m much more confident about what I’ll need on hand…
A few weeks ago I received an email reminding me I had a voucher to spend an online retailer specialising in books, music and films. I’d totally forgotten I’d received the voucher, so it felt like a real windfall – a chance to treat myself to something new to devour.
Scrolling through the pages of items on offer, I came across a National Trust cookbook and was immediately sold. I ordered it and a few days later it arrived…
When I was living in England I quickly became aware of the humble coat-rack. Every house I visited seemed to have one near or around the front door. Some were free standing, others were nailed to the wall but all had a collections of ‘water-proofs’, down filled puffers or boiled wool pea coats, ready and waiting for whenever you left the house…
Wattle and Ash 