We Will Remember Them

At the going down of the sun,

and in the morning, 

we will remember them.

Autumn | On the Moor

I love Autumn, it is hands down my favourite season, and there is no where better to live than the south west at this time of year. I'm fortunate enough to be surrounded by the seaside and countryside, and I've been enjoying it as much as possible lately. My Dad and I recently went up to Castle Drogo, a National Trust property on the edge of Dartmoor. Typically the castle itself was closed while they were doing some maintenance work, but we headed off into the grounds to admire the autumnal landscape. 

These may seem like boring old landscape photos, but the different green tones were pretty amazing to look at, as is always the way the photos don't do it justice. 

I really love it when you stumble across fungi, the red & white speckles are by far my favourite.

Hope you're all having a great week.

xx

Monthly Review | October

So I'm almost a week late posting my October review, but it was a pretty great month for so many reasons...

I attended a wonderful wreath making workshop, hosted by my lovely friends, Willow and Hay.

Anna & I enjoyed a day of fun to celebrate her birthday.

I started a new Saturday job in NGNG, an amazing indie shop in Exeter.

Lots more yoga fun was had with Anna.

Many walks in the woods were had, foraging for goodies and admiring toadstools. 

And of course to end it in style, Halloween. An evening of great company, costumes, gore themed food, and not too scary films (Hocus Pocus), it was ace!

Here's to a fun November, I'm already feeling so festive!!

Lots of love

Let's get Nakd

You may remember that a little while ago Anna and I started our own attempt at a DIY slimming world type thing, calling it #fudgeitfatclub. Well we've (sort of) been keeping at it, and after a long chat, and kick up the bum, have decided to really have a proper go at it from now. The days of slacking at the gym and going to the beach for a bbq are over and I'm actually pretty excited about it. 

I'd been looking at healthy snack options, as one of my main downfalls with diets is getting bored of the same thing, especially if it's a bit dull or bland, so it was perfect timing when an email dropped in my inbox from Natural Balance Foods, with the opportunity to try out some of the Nakd healthy cereal bars. Despite hearing a lot of hype about Nakd, and a few criticisms of their high sugar content, I hadn't taken the plunge yet so was really looking forward to trying them out for myself.

Pretty much all of the gym classes Anna and I go to start at 6pm, by which point lunch seems like a distant memory. As there's only an hour between finishing work and starting the class, there isn't really any time to eat so I tend to snack on an apple while I'm walking to the gym, although I've found this doesn't really fill me up/give me much of an energy boost (getting wind half way through the class doesn't count, especially if that class is yoga!!), queue Nakd! The healthy cereal bars come in a variety of flavours, my personal favourite being Cafe mocha - yum, are a great size and really give you a good energy boost, as you can see from these photos of Anna and I goofing around before our yoga class.

My original idea for this post was to head down to the playing fields with Anna and take some photos of us doing some yoga in front of the Devon Knows graffiti and then chill out with a can or two of Pimms/Cider. Well that plan went out of the window when we found a load of guys playing football there, so we shuffled to the far side of the park instead. It was a silly idea really, have you ever tried to do Yoga while keeping a straight face, holding the perfect pose and not falling over? Yeah, don't bother. From the moment a small dog literally bounced over to us, Anna screamed and I nearly had an accident from laughing, heading straight for the cans was a far more sensible idea. Here are a couple of the out takes...

Update - Since writing this I have also discovered that the Nakd bars are great for dealing with hanger, you know when you're hungry and angry, and I will be keeping a stash on my person to give to all of my friends when they're having an outburst of hanger.

* A big thank you to Natural Balance Foods for sending me a lovely bundle of bars to try out. I am definitely a Nakd convert. 

Sarah

Monthly Review | September

Well September, what a pretty great month you were. Another month of slacking in the gym, but having so much fun instead. In September I...

Went back to Dismaland and had a fun afternoon at Weston Super Mare.

Celebrated the launch of Bedboat Magazine with great friends.

Embraced the arrival of autumn by foraging in the woods.

Saw some beautiful sunsets.

Had some horrific messages on Tinder. 

Went to my first Shepton Mallet flea market, it was incredible. 

Had a lovely visit from the Griffiths. 

I can't wait to see what October has to offer, hopefully there will be a lot of foraging and more time spent at the gym.

Sarah

xx

A bbq at the beach

Over the last couple of months I've taken a bit of a break from blogging. As much as I love it, my heart wasn't really in it and it was becoming a bit of a chore. I've been in my new flat for a few months now, I've been making some amazing new friends (you're about to hear all about them and they will no doubt be popping up a lot from here on in) and generally been getting out and about and rediscovering myself. But I'm pleased to say the blogging bug is back and I've got a lot of stories and posts to catch up on. So put the kettle on and get ready for a whole of photos and ramblings about what I've been up to since the move.

So these guys here ^ are pretty ace. Left to right is Willow, Jules and Lewis, my new neighbours and ever so lovely friends. Since I moved to their street they have made me feel so welcome and I will be eternally grateful for that. We've already been on a fair few adventures, including a few trips to the beach, soaking up the last of the summer sun, and pigging out on picnic food, it's been most excellent.

No trip to the beach is complete without a paddle. The water was crystal clear, and flippin' freezing but it was lovely to get in there, well until a few big waves came and we all got soaked. It turns out there isn't a lot that's funnier than trying to climb out of the sea, on pebbles, while hitching your dresses up because I laughed so much I very nearly wet myself. Willows face is in these photos just sums out how much fun we had, she's such a breath of fresh air and pretty much gives me face ache from laughing every time I see her.

I couldn't have wished for a nicer evening, the company was excellent, the food was good, the sea was freezing, and we went home with soggy dress, and knickers, from lots of laughing in the sea. 

Sarah

Monthly Review | August

August has been an amazing month. Part of me is sad to see the end of summer but I'm really excited about autumn and all the rusty colours creeping in. In August I...

Finally met the beautiful Amelie, and caught up with my lovely friends in Cardiff, and their babies.

Had a great month of thrifting, there will be a post on this soon.

Took a week off work to catch up with family and friends, and go on lots of adventures.

Went to Dismaland, it was fantastic.

Had two beach picnics/bbq's, complete with a fire pit.

Took a bit of a break from blogging.

Saw a lot of beautiful sunsets. 

I hope you all had a wonderful month. I'm sorry for the silence over here but I've been really busy settling into life on my new street and making wonderful new friends. I have a lot to tell you about and am hoping to revamp this space a bit over the next few weeks too.

Sarah

xx

Poltimore House

Last month I revisited Poltimore House & Grounds, a derelict building on the outskirts of Exeter that is gradually being restored while fundraising happens. Poltimore House has changed hands a number of times, starting off as a school and becoming a hospital and psychiatric hospital in later years, but it's special to me because my Mum was born there (when it was a hospital, just to clarify...).

I love exploring old and abandoned buildings, the architecture and detail is breathtaking, there's so much more character than modern buildings and it makes me sad and happy to see them. I visited the house for the first time a couple of years ago, so it was great to see how the restoration is coming along. For £10m the house can be fully restored, so all I need to do now is win the big bucks on the euromillions and give them a hand, I can dream anyway. It's a gorgeous building and I really hope that one day it will be finished, it would be such a shame for such beautiful ceilings to go to waste.

To the side of the house is the old chapel, which has been restored to it's former glory, with a modern twist. I loved that the pathway was lined with hydrangeas, they're so beautiful and summery, the variations of colour are fantastic. Our main reason for visiting was to go to Crikey It's Vintage, sadly the weather had sent most of the traders home but there were still a few classic cars dotted around, I'm a sucker for old cars.

Sarah

Monthly Review | July

Another month has flown by, Christmas things are creeping into shops and we're only just going into August. In July I...

Became an honorary aunt to Amy and Stu's baby, welcome to the world, Amelie;

Had a week off work and used it to spend time with family, including a visit to Hubbox in St Austell;

Saw hundreds more Jellyfish washed up on the beach, it was sad but they're so fascinating;

Celebrated Carly's promotion at work, I'm so proud of her;

Went to a vintage fair;

Got back into Body Pump and was a broken women for almost a week.

Sarah

xx

Monthly Review | June

So we're officially half way through the year. In June I:

Could touch my toes after 28 years of trying;
Gave one of my best buds a baby shower, and became an honorary Aunt;
Re kindled my love for Topsham outdoor pool;
Spent some lovely evenings at Budleigh beach with my favourite Slade; and
Celebrated my first month in the granny flat - tour coming soon.

Here's hoping the great weather sticks around for July so I can spend a lot more time at the beach.

Sarah
xx

#Fudgeitfatclub

So Pilates, something I am very new to and have only done three classes. So far I love it! I have shockingly bad posture, which I blame sitting at a desk for, and it is definitely helping me straighten my back. 

I'd heard a lot of good things about Pilates, and seen some great results and I can see why, it is harder than it looks! It's similar to yoga in many ways, there are a fair amount of similar moves, but the difference is you repeat them a hell of a lot more. Again, we have a lovely instructor, Caroline, who is the bees knees at teaching. She's also told us that she's made a new playlist with a bit of Springsteen, I now love her more than ever! 

The most memorable movement so far, the Clam! You lie on your side and repeatedly open and close your legs like a clam, funnily enough. It sounds easy, but when you're doing it for the 20th/30th/40th time, your thigh and bum cheeks are feeling the burn! 

As with every other class there are some absolute delights who attend with us, the worst being the 'power couple'. Yoga and Pilates are back to back classes, and so as we pack up for Yoga, the pilates lot would come into the room and try and get our spots, to the extent where some people actually put their belongings on top of me, cheers for that! Now these two, they come in after doing Body Pump, wanting our spots and then rolling their eyes when they can't have them because guess what, we do Pilates now too, bitches!! During my first Pilates class power couple decided to keep telling me I was doing it wrong. I appreciate constructive criticism as much as the next person, but it is not YOUR job to try and tell me off, especially when the instructor is already teaching me how to do it. It is now an ongoing joke between Anna and I that we are 'doing it wrong'!

I'll keep you posted with my Pilates progress, and tales of the dingbats who join us!

Sarah

xx

#Fudgeitfatclub

Ah Yoga, my favourite of classes of the week! For a long time I was put off Yoga because of the spiritualness of it all, that and the fact that I have NEVER been able to touch my toes, cheers muffin top! One of my goals for the year was to try new classes, queue Yoga! 

The type of Yoga we practice is Ashtanga Yoga with a very lovely lady called Dawn. After catching Anna and I taking photos of each other doing yoga poses last week, she's become interested in how we share our yoga/fitness stories on our blogs, and is helping us to reach our goals. Anna is perfecting her downward facing dog, I'm trying to touch my toes and have flat feet when I also do downward dog. She's an absolute gem and I'm so glad we have her. 

Now for the fun stuff our fellow yogis!! Anna has described them so well here but I don't think these guys can be talked about enough! So here we go..

Farty Pants - it's something we all fear will happen, we clench our cheeks like there's no tomorrow, but sometimes it just pops out. Maybe it was her mat, maybe it was a bum burp, ok it was definitely a bum burp, but she's never been back since!

Captain Breathy - oh.my.god! Unlike Pilates, with Yoga we practice ujjayi breath which is basically deep breathing through your nose, quietly. Simple enough, no? Apparently not for Captain Breathy who sounds like Darth Vader. No matter how far away you are from him, all you can hear is his breath. He's so loud you end up focusing on his breathing rather than your own. And to make matters worse, he tries to show off by being one step ahead of each move. You'll be pleased to hear this backfired last week as we did a different move to normal, resulting in him losing his balance and falling over, it was amazing!! Even Dawn laughed and she encourages us not to have negative 'thought monkeys', in yo' face Captain!!

Pat the Twat - well he's exactly what he sounds, a twat! He's rude and considers himself a professional because he does yoga every day. Well guess what mate, if you're so good instruct your own class, if not then shut up and let Dawn teach us, yeah?

And finally, the new guy! Now I don't want to be rude, we're all there for the same reason, but most of us try and dress appropriately. By appropriately I mean we wear clothes that fit, but not new guy. No I'm pretty sure he shops in the child section because his shorts do.not.fit. In fact we're pretty sure his little friend has been poking out on several occasions. If you ever read this new guy, please buy some budgie smugglers or something, anything, just keep the mouse in the house!!

Here are a couple of outtakes from our pre yoga fun times, you'll have to excuse the blur from our jumping..

Keep an eye out for more yoga stories coming soon.

Sarah

xx