Lifestyle, food and drink, and our family life and travel adventures.
Hello! I haven’t written any kind of personal update for ages now; it’s been such a busy summer and I just haven’t really had any time to just write, and I love doing these posts just about life in general so I’ve missed it.
I still don’t really have time but I’m here anyway – I need to just write for me sometimes, rather than it all being about work!
We had such a brilliant summer, but it feels like ages ago already. One of my best friends had a baby (she gave birth on one of the hottest days of the year!) so we got to meet her and have cuddles which made me very happy and I can’t wait to watch her grow up.
Towards the end of July, we spent an amazing week in Cornwall at Trewall Farm Campsite near Looe (I’m going to write a review of it soon). I’ve wanted to go back to Cornwall for years as I just love it so much, but my annoying husband wasn’t keen because of the long drive. I somehow managed to persuade him at last though and we camped in a tent in a field with panoramic sea views and we had the best week.
I knew staying in a tent wouldn’t be the easiest or the most relaxing holiday, especially with our dog but it was absolutely worth it and we really want to go back as soon as possible.
All three of us slept better than we have in forever. I have slept badly for as long as I can remember, but that week I woke up early every day, completely naturally, without an alarm and I actually felt half decent! I never usually feel OK in the mornings and it is an absolute battle to make myself stay awake and get up each day, whatever the time. But that week (actually 8 days – we ended up staying an extra night as we didn’t want to leave) I woke up feeling OK and naturally waking up and it made such a difference to how I felt.
Maybe I should go and live in a field near the sea!
The owners of Trewall Farm are wonderful and we actually made friends with them (and I am most definitely not someone who wants to make new friends or socialise with anyone outside of my circle on holiday, usually!). They took Ava to collect eggs and see the newborn Calves, and absolutely went above and beyond for everyone. When they brought me prosecco and a card on my birthday the friendship was sealed.
I spent my birthday on a gorgeous beach not far from the campsite, with a coolbox full of gorgeous food, a bottle of Cremant and it was a beautiful sunny day spent with my family.
It was perfect other than our dog, Scout being a total pain at the beach – she wants to dig for stones constantly and chucks sand everywhere and ends up eating too much if we don’t stop her and she also grinds her teeth on rocks when she finds one. She also cries like mad when any of us go in the sea because she’s worried about us! She kept grabbing the strap of Ava’s bodyboard in her mouth and pulling it away from the sea! It’s funny but it means going to the beach isn’t as relaxing as it should be!
A couple of weeks after Cornwall I went to a hen do for a couple of nights which was a lot of (drunken) fun. We stayed in a beautiful, huge house in the Derbyshire countryside and had far too much fun. It was my husband’s cousin’s hen do so I was with his family (who are like my own) which was lovely. We had loads of great food, did morning pilates on hangovers, had a ‘sports day’, drank cocktails, had massages and facials and chilled in the sunshine.
I hadn’t done anything like that, whilst not being a parent for years so it was good to just let go and get away for a couple of days.
After that, we headed straight to Whitby for a week (I’m not usually away this much, honestly!), so there was even more sand-eating, more ice creams and even more food and drink.
Then a couple of weeks ago we headed to London for the wedding and had a brilliant time with family celebrating the lovely couple. I also went to my first ever musical – Les Misérables at the Sondheim – which was fun!
Most of that feels like aeons ago now and it’s been back to school and work with a big bang, and a few weeks in I’m still not used to school runs and early nights. Oh well, they break up again really soon (as always) don’t they!?
I’m very grateful to have had such a brilliant summer and to get away so much this year.
How are you? Have you been able to get away from it all this year, or have you just enjoyed the lovely sunshine at home?
Welcome to Birds and Lilies! I'm Lou: mother, blogger and freelance writer. This is my lifestyle blog, where I talk about motherhood, infertility and IVF, beauty, my love for food and wine, as well as my thoughts about stuff, and our real-life and travel adventures.
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