kids, kids, kids aaaannnnddd Easter!

For the past week we have had fabulous weather.... so I've made the most of it in the park with the kids! ...Effie
and Elliot!
And then today, Easter Monday, we made the most of the sunshine in Saint Peters Square (a smallish park around the corner from where Sam and I live) with a few mates and Sam's family.
Sam even put on an Easter egg hunt...
this is Tom, Sam's youngest nephew...
and Patrick, his older brother.... (with chocolate all over his hands!)
and Elodie... the newest addition to the family (she is 12 weeks old!) we played some quality football.... (soccer!)
and had some yummy bits!
a very nice day :)

another trip to a random pub in the country...

Sam and I hit the open road again yesterday and took a drive to see his Grandma who lives in Ipswitch. It takes about 2 hours from London to get there.... so we popped in for cake and about 5 cups of tea and then on our way back to London stopped in the tiny town of Nayland to go to the Anchor Inn...
Didn't actually get a photo of the outside of the pub which was a bit stupid but anyway, here I am inside it! The pub has a garden where they grow their own veg and a smoke house attached and they pretty much smoke everything. and it was BEAUTIFUL!!
this was my amazing starter. it was just a ciabatta sharer plate (that I didn't really share) but boy was it tasty. There was homemade humous, smoked cheeses, caperberries, smoked sunblushed tomatoes, olives and salad.....
and then our mains.... i had a lamb hot pot and Sam had a pork tenderloin in a bean casserole. And I have to say now that the Lamb was was most tender, most melt in your mouth. most delish Lamb i have EVER eaten. ever. Sam was lucky enough to find some bullet as an extra flavor to the pork. which turned out to be duck! (because they shoot ducks... not pigs!)
and then we made out way back to London town.
All in all we gave it a 8.5 out of 10. Many more pub trips to come....

escaping London...

These photos may not seem super exciting to you.... but Sam and I desperately needed some fresh air so we escaped the hustle and bustle of London and took a drive to the New Forest.
For those of you who don't know, the New Forest is pretty much a forest! I think it is about 140,000 acres of land... it is home to many animals including loads of wild horses, deer, cows and we even spotted a bunch of piglets last time we were there... along side their Mum... who was HUGE!
Anyway, Saskia, who is Sam's younger sister and her soon to be husband Dan have a house there (I'm not sure of the details but there are certain spots you are allowed to get permission to build on I guess) that they live in part time. So Sam and I took full advantage and had a night away. After all that.... here are a few snap of our road trip! .....
YAY sunshine!
Saskia and Dan's house up ahead....
I got a shot of the moon because on this particular night it was supposed to appear bigger than any other night in so many years (how many? can't remember!)....
here I am, cooking up a feast of 'Potato alla Chip.'
Dan has gone very 'earth friendly' with his house and this is his heating system! Sam got it roaring, it takes about a day to heat up the pipes and ta daaaaa.... hot water and a warm house!
....while that was heating up... I made a very nice fire inside :) we were not entirely alone.... here is a not so wild horse that Saskia's kids ride when they are here...
and here is a very relaxed... maybe a little wild... Samuel monster!
the next day we stopped for a pub lunch on our way back to London... at the Queen Inn. If you happen to be passing through the tiny town of...
Dummer...
...be sure to drop in. The roast was fab! (no Mum, not as good as yours!)
and to finish it off a cruise through Farleigh Wallop.
:)

...it's been a while!

I've been flat out busy with my new job and general bits and pieces so here is a bit of an update....

Sam and I did a bit of D.I.Y and painted a feature wall in our living room/kitchen...

we are pretty happy with the result...

Then last weekend I took Bones for a while... we went to the park for a nice run around...
and then he made himself quite at home, taking up most of my living room! and... my new job! Effie and Elliot both turned 1 last month (two weeks apart).
Effie is sweet, quite independent and in the past week has gone from walking to almost running everywhere! Elliot is not as independent, but VERY cuddley! He is still crawling but is blurting out words... door, nose, eyes, ears, up!
So far it has been a challenge, but we are getting a routine now and having a lot of fun :)

that's about it for now!

Slumber Party!

Now that I am living with Sam, I invited the Dunker girls over for the night so they could check out my new place :)
We had a drop in visit from Summerly and Markus (Sam's sister) and their son Tam and we made our own pizza's for dinner!

After dinner we settled in to 'Princess and the Frog', pop corn, too much sugar and some nail painting fun!
... Sloane made herself comfortable....
....very comfortable!
and then she insisted that, after i paint her nails, she paint mine....
and Sam's!...
...leaving him looking extra pretty!
all in all a great night!

Happy 2011

Sam and I drove to Cornwall for New Years and met 11 of his mates. We rented 2 cottages in Tintagel (Tintagel is where the remains of King Arthur's Castle are) and we spent our time relaxing, taking in the country air and, on new years eve, eating a good meal and having a bit of a boogie!

We went on a two hour walk from Port Quin to Port Isaac. Bit of a difficult walk, very steep at some points, but beautiful views!
Our beautiful little cottage (built into the rock behind it)...

New years eve dinner :)all of us enjoying a meal together...

The Flat!!!

Yay! it finally worked!....