A Walk In The Wild

Hello and happy weekend! Isn't this lovely spring weather wonderful?! Blue skies, sunshine and warmth just makes me feel so much better about everything.

Anyway, today I've got some more photos of our stay at Fuzzy Orchard to share with you guys - on our first full day there we took a very eventful walk in the surrounding countryside...

I never knew pigs could be so energetic until this holiday!! This pig and her friend are owned by the person who owns the house we stayed at and he encouraged us to feed them our leftovers, so we went down armed with a lovely bag of rotting food. This pig started jumping up onto the fence as soon as he saw us, oinking and snuffling in excitement!

Then the farm's sheepdog (Star) turned up and started trying to fight the pig for his food, barking and biting the poor pig's ear. Sarah, above - the biggest animal lover I have ever met - was the only one not slightly wary of the excitable pig and was even pleased when she got a kiss out of it...

From afar this looked liked a giant tree, so we made our way to it to investigate and on closer inspection it turned out to be sculpted out of a hedge - cheeky little Star accompanied us all the way there and back towards the farm (and was very protective when an annoyed farmer informed us we were trespassing...oops...).

On the way back we were lucky enough to watch the farmer introducing these triplet lambs into the field of sheep with their mum - the poor little white one seemed pretty confused, but hopefully she managed to join the others in the end...

After that we headed back to the house (with Star trying to follow again!) for a relaxing afternoon and a little evening party, surprised that there was quite so much to see in the little patch of country we managed to explore in only about an hour and a half!

Fuzzy Orchard

Just to clear things up, my title isn't referring to some slightly mouldy fruit trees (ew), but a GORGEOUS house in Somerset which I recently stayed in for four nights for my friend Amy's hen do. Fuzzy Orchard is a huge luxury holiday home in the Somerset countryside. It sleeps up to 12 people and has a swimming pool, sauna and hot tub, plus everything is totally modern and tastefully decorated and all six bedrooms have en-suites - definitely the fanciest place I've ever gone on holiday.

Amy's maid of honour Rachel did a fab job of organising the whole week down to the last detail, so we had something to do every day (more on that to come...) and everything went like clockwork. It was all a total secret as well, so you can imagine how amazing it was to arrive here!

Above is the lovely upstairs lounge (those sofas were ridiculously comfy and spacious) - downstairs there was a games room and the huge kitchen/dining room.

The upstairs balcony had stunning view of the surrounding countryside.

You could open the hot tub up to the elements or enclose it with a dome for night time. If you look in the top left of the above photo you can spot a mischievous little photo bomber...more on him to come in later posts too!

This cute little building (excuse the random upturned chair...) above was even a surprise to Rachel, as it's only a couple of months old and she booked the trip last year! Inside was a little fire pit which we roasted marshmallows over on our last night, with a bench all the way around covered with cushions and some of the softest furry blankets I've ever felt.

I wasn't originally going to devote a whole post just to the house, but it was such a huge and amazing place I thought it deserved it! And that means I can share more photos of the rest of our adventure in my next posts ;)

What's the most amazing place you've stayed on holiday?!

Plymouth: Day 2

Hello! I took an accidental blogging break there, but I'm trying not to make them too long these days. ;) But without further ado, onto more from Plymouth! On our second day there (and the first full day we spent in the city) we mainly mooched around the shops and attended the reception for Michael's sister's graduation.

The reception was held in Plymouth city's Guildhall - which was beautiful, as you can see above - and they'd provided a plethora of waiters bearing juices, Buck's fizz and canapés to celebrate. Much more fancy than my graduation! It was certainly interesting to experience how a different place does things (not to mention taking full advantage of the free food/drink).

I guess this shiny purple building might not be to everyone's taste, but I personally love it! I also love the contrast of the beauty of new and old here; especially as modern buildings are so often made for function with no thought to aesthetics. It's nice to know we can still make lovely things if we try, and in special and interesting new ways.

That night we had dinner at The Glassblowing House and I decided to have a night off from taking pictures, which I sort of regretted! It was decorated beautifully and the food was absolutely delicious; all my three courses (The Glassblowing House bruschetta, Cajun spiced chicken breast burger and white chocolate and raspberry cheesecake) were spot on and very generously portioned. I definitely ended that night very happily full and would say it's a must-visit if you're ever in the area.

That's it from me for now, but more on Plymouth soon!

Plymouth: Day 1

Just over a week ago Michael and I went to Plymouth to celebrate his twin sister's graduation from medical school. She's just moved to Dundee to start work soon so it was great to see her one last time before she moved hundreds of miles away. It was a lovely sunny few days, but thankfully not as humid as it was in Guildford so it was a great time to get away.

The lovely train man (conductor? guard?) offered to find us seats when he saw we were sitting on the floor half-way through the journey and when he couldn't find any in standard (we had looked!), he said we could just sit in first, so that was fun - I did feel a bit like an imposter though!

It was so sunny and pretty when we arrived I had to immediately get out my camera and start snapping pictures, even though I was also carrying a giant bag (note to self: take a wheeled suitcase on the next trip...). My boyfriend is so patient!

We stayed in the lovely Grosvenor Hotel, which was comfortable and very well-presented (just look at the décor above!). It even had breakfast included in the price of the room. There wasn't a huge selection of cereal and the toast wasn't great, but the cooked breakfast was lovely and made fresh to order.

After we checked in and sorted out our stuff we headed down to the Hoe to meet up with Michael's family. It's such a beautiful area! I went to Plymouth once before for an underwater hockey tournament but I don't think we saw any of the nice bits. Also it was February so I don't think that helped...

The island above is named Drake's Island because Francis Drake (whose lovely likeness you can see further up) sailed from there for his trip around the world in 1577; it was also used as a barracks in the 1500s when it was needed for defence against the French and Spanish. Y'know, when we were at war with everyone...

After lying around for a little bit we headed along the seashore for some quick dinner before going to see the NT production of Skylight at one of the local cinemas (which was a really good play, go see it if you can!).

This post on our first day in Plymouth was brought to you by me whilst watching season 2 of Orange Is The New Black. Cannot. Get. Enough.

More on Plymouth soon!

Inside Lacock Abbey

A few weeks ago I promised more posts on Lacock Abbey, and finally here's the next one! As well as the older monastic part, there's also the house which used to be home to the Talbot family and run a full staff. It was given to the National Trust in 1944, when times were hard for many wealthy British families and they found themselves having to sell off their great houses (probably a familiar theme to any other avid Downton fans out there!). Here are some of the more interesting bits and pieces I noticed on our tour:

I loved the Household Wants Indicator; I could definitely use one of these for my kitchen! The detail was so ridiculous, with four different types of fruit (dried, fresh, glacé and tinned) and meat (cooked, extract, fresh and potted) and some things I couldn't work out, like isinglass and minerals (vague much?). Trying not to think about what 'meat extract' might be...

So many books! This was just a small selection...

Imagine having that rug in your nursery - I know I'd be too terrified to play in there! That rocking horse looks pretty fun though (if also a bit angry).

This helmet was one of the odder things in the house; it looks like something out of Game of Thrones - has anyone else ever seen one like this? It must be purely decorative, right?

This was my favourite room! I love the blue colour of the walls and most of the pieces (save maybe the ornate 18th century paintings and mirrors...) wouldn't look out of place in a vintage-loving home of today. 

Next up: Lacock village itself - hopefully in less than 3 weeks this time. ;)