Monday 30 September 2013

September

Apologies for the silence, I seem to have lost September somewhere. In the end our house  move and clean and finish off loose ends took nearly three times as long as we expected hence we lost most of our free time since moving down. I'm not going to lie and say it was all plain sailing, think it may be best to leave it at that before it annoys me again.

Work wise I am enjoying the challenge so far as the countdown continues until we open the new store. So far I've met some lovely people and it won't be long until I get to meet my staff! I have a list of names and can only imagine how they must be feeling too. 

I think I've used my camera once maybe twice since I last posted due to a lack of being able to go anywhere at a decent time so have only a few shots to share but I like them nonetheless. We have a week off now so if the weather and light are on my side I will hopefully get some autumn shots as the trees have started to turn, the nights are getting longer and the air will soon be smoky with bonfires and fireworks. I am hoping, with the help of my mum, to get on with a spot of crafting soon as I've got lots of ideas in mind. I'd also love to make some prints to sell in an etsy shop next year perhaps. Over the next few weeks I'm going to get drafting some posts as although it's only been a few weeks out of the loop I've really missed writing about things. I am looking forward to October as in just over two weeks it will be our first wedding anniversary! Exciting times ahead as ever. 





Sunday 8 September 2013

Going back to my roots

We survived our first week in the new jobs! Although our jobs are with the same company we have moved regions and discovered a refreshing outlook in the way things are being done. Over the past few years it just hasn't been the same here but moving has made me feel a lot more positive about the future, not only in work but in a better life for us. This is the last blog post I'll write here before the computer gets back up in the great move which we are going to be undertaking later today. I'm surrounded by banana boxes and a vast array of bags full of our treasured little collections, the van is here and so we've got to get loading. I think wholeheartedly we've made the right decision, I perhaps think we should have done it last year or maybe the one before but everything has fallen into place and the time is right. The people I've met over the last week have been nothing but short of fantastic and really inspiring with their knowledge and experience with the same desire we have for a new challenge, I can't wait to spend more time getting to know them and working with them. That isn't to say I'm not going to miss my now former colleagues as I've worked with some for over five years, I hope I feel the same way about my new friends as time progresses. 

Apart from work we haven't really done anything particularly interesting this week. We popped into site and saw how much progress they've made on our house, work is moving upwards and we are told they hope to have the roof on by Christmas! March will soon be here and we'll be moving in fingers crossed as we've got to start applying for the mortgage soon. The allotment is slowly starting to settle down ready for autumn but we've still got lots of beans, blackberries, marrows and tomatoes to enjoy before then. Hopefully after this weekend we will only have to pop up next weekend to finish off and we will officially no longer live in Aberystwyth, the escape will be complete! As I've previously said I might not be around much over the next few weeks or so but I'll be back soon.  









  

Saturday 7 September 2013

Kew Gardens

Somehow between the packing and general hectic times I've been experiencing over the past month I realised I forgot to post about our trip to Kew Gardens! After visiting Osterley in the morning we hopped back onto the Underground to Hammersmith to change to get to Kew. We arrived just after 3 p.m. and the guy at admissions told us if we waited until half past we would get in half price. Needless to say we were more than happy to sit and have a drink in the meantime. Kew has always been on my list of places to visit in London and I'm really glad we did. The big thing this summer was IncrEdibles, a journey through surprisingly edible plants. I did enjoy the Global Kitchen Garden with its array of wonderfully coloured veggies, the chillies were particularly impressive.





Inside the famous Palm house




One of my favourite parts was the Rose Garden Tea Party, beautifully decorated dishes, cups and saucers giving clues to lots of different edible plants.












My absolute favourite attraction would have to be the Water Lilly House, they were stunning in all different shapes and sizes. I also like how they put black dye in the water to make the reflections even more striking.











Time wasn't on our side as the afternoon progressed but we did have a wander around and here are a few highlights, the mushrooms are fabulous














We will visit Kew again at some point to see all the places we didn't get to see this time, especially if we get there nice and early. I think it is well worth the admission price for the full day and very reasonable for the afternoon cost too.