Good Food

On Wednesday morning Nick & I caught the train down to Birmingham for the Good Food show. Neither of us had been to the NEC before, and we were both a bit flabbergasted at the size of it. It was VAST. The exhibition halls were filled with pop up stalls selling all sorts of different produce. There were loads of cheese, chutney and oil stalls, at which we took full advantage of the samples on display. I didn't really take that many photos, my mind was very much somewhere else, but you can get an idea of the scale of it from the ones below.

There were a couple of little restaurants and cafes inside too, however we decided not to sample them. Instead we hovered around the lone oyster stall where Nick tried his first (and 4th and 5th) oyster. They went down an absolute treat, and we both agreed that we should make an effort to go coastal in the near future and locate some more. Fine with me!

Tacked on alongside the Good Food show, was the Good Gardens show which was equally large. It didn't hold quite as much interest for us, but we did stumble across these nice produce baskets of tomatoes and beans. I thought the tomatoes were particularly lovely. 

If you do get the chance, the show runs until Sunday 19th. It's a really good day out.

Last of the Summer

Fruit Picking

Yesterday i picked fresh plums from Rachel's garden, and these apples were grown by her brother. I decided to make a plum and apple crumble which turned out quite nicely, but it got eaten before i could take any pictures of it. I love the idea of growing and picking your own fruit, it reminded me of being young and going out with my Dad to pick blackberries. The plums were just right, a day longer and they would have been too soft. They were so lovely and juicy, and smelt amazing.

Fruit picking is a proper summer activity :)

Grandparents' Garden

Hintlesham Hall

...Or as it's since become known to me, future wedding venue. The grounds were so beautiful and well kept. It even had a fig tree growing up a wrought iron spiral staircase. It's the only place that's ever jumped out at me as a potential wedding spot. In fact it jumped out at me as somewhere a big fancy event should be held, not necessarily a wedding. I think because it was such a warm sunny day i wanted to be floating round in a silly dress drinking flutes of fizzy things, that's all really. How lovely would a big long table, laid with a huge feast look just in front of that enormous tree? I picked up a bookings brochure on my way out just in case.

A Summer Garden

On my visit down south, i spent a hot sunny morning catching up with my Grandparents' old neighbours. We drank strong coffee and ate chocolate chip shortbread biscuits in the back garden. There's a different pace of life altogether there, which was difficult not to get caught up in. You feel a day has been actively well spent if the only thing you've done is water the plants, or if you completed the crossword that was faxed over daily from a neighbour at 6pm sharp. It is nice to let yourself exist in this sort of way for a while, you find you take pleasure in things you wouldn't normally stop to notice, like this garden for instance...

Spring is Springing!

I have gone down south for a few days to visit my Grandparents in Suffolk. It was the nicest feeling this morning, waking up to nothing but blue skies and sun. It's only the 1st of March but spring is seemingly getting its act together. The garden here is absolutely beautiful, so after breakfast i went for a walk round to admire it. It's not too warm yet but when you stand facing the sun it's really lovely. A new addition to the garden (which i'd not seen until now) is the summerhouse at the bottom of the garden tucked away. It's got lovely floral cushions inside and is going to be fantastic in the summer as it really catches the sun.

pansies

irises

I would love to spend a sunny afternoon hidden away in here with a good book and a cold glass of cloudy lemonade :]