Wednesday 31 December 2014

Goodbye 2014


I'm pretty sure I say this every year but I'm sure 2014 has just flown by. Some of my highlights from the past year have been:
  • holidaying in New York in December;
  • watching one of my best friends get married;
  • getting half of the allotment fully functional;
  • making my first batch of homemade jam from homegrown strawberries;
  • hunting for toadstools;
  • car booting, a lot;
  • watching Jack grow into an amazing, chatty, even more tractor obsessed toddler;
  • going on bike rides;
  • walking a goat; and 
  • spending time with family and great friends. 
I can't wait to see what 2015 has in store and I'm really looking forward to a (hopefully) successful year up at Pomps Patch, friends getting married and having babies, and so much more.

Heres to a very happy and healthy year for us all.

Sarah
xx


Thursday 25 December 2014

Merry Christmas


Apologies for the quietness over here, with the holiday and now the holidays it's been a busy old time. I'd just like to wish you all a wonderful Christmas and a happy, healthy new year.

Love,
Sarah
xx

Monday 22 December 2014

Christmas Pinspiration | Crafts & Handmade Decorations

Last week I shared a few of my favourite gift wrap Pinspirations and now I'm back with some of my favourite christmas decor photos. I LOVE to see how other people decorate their homes at the best of times, but Christmas is pretty special isn't it? I'm just a nosey bugger so any photos are good in my book.

1 | 2 | 3

4 | 5 | 6

7 | 8 | 9

10 | 11 | 12

I'm currently on a plane home from NYC and no doubt feeling pretty depressed so these photos will cheer me up.

Sarah
xx

Friday 19 December 2014

Gaslight Anthem

Sorry it's been a bit quiet here, the posts I scheduled for while I was away didn't post so I'm playing catch up while I get over the jet lag and sort through photos/prepare for christmas.

The other week we headed up to Cardiff to see Gaslight Anthem. They are definitely up there as one of my favourite bands and I never miss a tour. Shamefully I hadn't listened to their new album anyway near enough but the gig was awesome, and as always they didn't disappoint. I also didn't take my camera because, well I couldn't be bothered to carry it around Cardiff all day, on match day, with 70,000 other people, so thanks for the photos Rich!!


I even managed to get a trip to Tiger which didn't disappoint. I've been wanting to go ever since Erica sent me a parcel agessssss ago. I had to be sensible and limit my purchases though as I didn't want to be carrying bags of shopping into the gig. I LOVE these deer so much, the shop is just amazing!!


Sarah
xx

Tuesday 16 December 2014

Christmas Pinspiration | Gift Wrapping

Whenever I'm thinking of ideas for well, anything, I go to Pinterest. I'm a big fan of having millions of photos in one place that I can go back to at a later date, which is exactly what I did for gift wrap inspiration this Christmas.

I had every intention of buying a massive roll of brown paper and printing it myself, but time hasn't been on my side this year so instead I've headed over to my trusty online steed, and gone a bit over the top with wrapping ideas. Here are a few of my favourites...

1 | 2 | 3 

 4 | 5 | 6

7 | 8 | 9

Do you like to keep it simple or get creative when it comes to wrapping? 

Sarah
xx

Monday 15 December 2014

Exeter Cathedral | Night time edit

While at the christmas market we noticed the doors to the cathedral were open in preparation for the carol concert and we may have snuck inside. I've wanted to go in for a long time but didn't really want to pay, I'm a cheapskate and not afraid to admit it. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for donations but I think £6 is quite a lot for a quick nose around.

Anyway, I admire the magnificence that is Exeter Cathedral every single day. You can see the roof of it from my living room window, that alone makes me happy. Needless to say the inside did not disappoint, the architecture is just phenomenal. As they we were preparing for the concert we couldn't have a proper look, and I really want to go back in the day time to see the stained glass windows, but seriously, how amazing is this building? Another reason I love it is because when Exeter was pretty much destroyed during the Blitz, the cathedral remained unscathed, how great is that?


I am not religious in the slightest, but I did light a candle for my Mum because you know, it's Christmas and she would have loved it. It was warming to see people lighting their candles and whispering their sweet somethings to God/their loved ones/whoever they were saying a little prayer for. 


I fully intend to go back during the day pretty soon, especially now I know that Exeter residents can get a pass & avoid paying.

Sarah
xx

Thursday 11 December 2014

Exeter Christmas Market

Last week we had a quick nose around the Christmas market on the Cathedral green. Naturally we waited until it was dark for full festive effect, and it was pretty great. Next time I'm going back on an empty stomach so I can go crazy for the German sausages and garlic potato, the smells were amazing!!


I'm keeping this short and sweet while I'm getting over a stomach bug. If I'd know you could lose half a stone in 48 hours I'd have picked one up ages ago....just kidding, it's been horrendous. Hopefully the end is in sight now though.

Sarah
xx

Monday 8 December 2014

Cotley Farm

It seams to be a new family tradition for us all to tag along with my Dad & Julie when they go to Cotley Farm to get their Christmas tree. Last year was great, Jack squealed his head off & tried to get the sheep to eat his coat, this year he was even more interested and lapped up the cuteness of the animals. 

Like last year, there were plenty of cute baby animals melting our hearts, making us squeal with joy, and making Jack ask lots of questions. He loves all things farm related so was in his element, he even made sure all the animals had extra straw so they didn't go hungry, adorable!


One of my favourite bits of the day was Jack saying "Aunty Sarah, what noise do Reindeer make?" - I had no idea so then came "Aunty Sarah, can you ask the Reindeer what noise it makes?". So I did, and then tried to make up a random neigh/baa noise in the hope that it would be a good enough attempt, it was. He's at the best age!!


I hope that no matter where we all live, we continue this new tradition for years to come. I mean look at those face? They killed me!

Sarah
xx

Friday 5 December 2014

Pomps Patch #12

It's been a while since I did an allotment post, mainly because there isn't much pretty about a plot in winter. We've been doing a lot of grafting; digging up what's left of the summer/autumn crops and preparing the beds for winter. The majority of them have been dug over and covered with sheets, ready for spring.

We also managed our first successful bonfire, with the help of an incinerator, and got rid of a lot of weeds. As we're only allowed bonfires on the first saturday of the month, or every tuesday after 12pm, it's been a nightmare trying to have one, in fact last winter it rained every single saturday we were allowed to burn so I'm making up for it now.


The garlic, onion and broad beans have been planted. We learned from our mistakes this year when it came to the beans, the majority of our crop was lost to black fly so this time we've planted them in November for an early spring crop, fly free.


The best thing about autumn at the allotment has been the sunsets. From about 3.30pm on wards the sky is just magical, I'm so glad Rich finished the decking because it's my favourite time to sit down with a coffee and watch the sun go down over the city.


Hopefully it won't be so long until my next allotment post. We have a lot to do over the coming months, I've even drawn a plan!! Half of our plot is still pretty over grown so the aim is to get it all dug over and put the beds in by February so we're ready for a fully functional year of goodies, who knew winter veg had to be planted in February? Nuts.

Sarah
xx

Monday 1 December 2014

November in Review


So November has been in gone, it's crazy that we're in the last month of the year, how did that even happen? It was a pretty quiet month, work has been crazily busy so weekends have been for relaxing and getting some major graft in at the allotment. We had our first bonfire of the winter, saw the Gaslight Anthem in Cardiff (and caught up with great friends), enjoyed the first frost and the weather turning cooler, and went on a few walks.

I actually went a whole month without going to the boot sale, it's been tough but I've enjoyed the lie ins. Even the charity shops have been neglected while I save my pennies for NYC and Christmas, so no monthly thrift post this month I'm afraid. 

November ended on a high with a trip to Cotley Farm, which I'll be blogging about later in the week, seriously check out those piglets!! It's a great way to kick start the festive season, I've been loving seeing christmas trees pop up all over the place over the last week, people seem festive so early this year.

Cheerio November, you were pretty great.

Sarah
xx