Hazy Summer Sun - An Evening Amongst the Gold

As the evenings get darker and the mornings cooler, I am holding on to the moments of sunshine we've had this summer. Just before the wheat in the field behind us was harvested, we managed to go and spend an evening investigating its golden beauty and the tiny sheaves almost ready to carry on their journey.

It has been magical to watch the wheat grow, from nothing but tiny shoots, to a field of gold, the children and I have loved watching the tractors as they drive up and down the fields.

We were a little miffed to have missed the combine harvesters and the actual harvesting itself, however, we were there to watch as the tractors swept up the leftovers and bundled them into perfectly rectangular parcels.

Late into the night they worked, picking up and building a huge hay castle, it was truly magical and should they go ahead and build on the land, we will miss watching the earth change through the seasons. But for now we will enjoy whatever grows there, last year was a beautiful field of oilseed, it’s bright yellow flowers swishing in the wind and turning into tiny rattling pods.

As the nights draw in we look forward to candle lit evenings and snuggly jumpers, blankets and stews, but for now, I hope I can get a few more wears out of my sandals and summer dresses and the children out of some of their clothes, for next year they will no doubt be too small.

What have you been up to this summer?

Following The Zebra Trail in Southampton

Since we were heading down to Southampton to visit the Royal Caribbean Navigator of the Seas we decided to make a weekend of it and head down the day before, we've never been to Southampton before so we thought it would make a nice little weekend break.

I had seen about the Zebra trail on the Southampton Tourist Twitter page, so was looking forward to visiting them whilst we were there, there are many parks in Southampton city centre, so we decided to walk down through the parks and then on to the City Art Gallery before heading out for dinner.

To be able to walk through some wonderful park land, with plenty of space for a picnic, a huge park for the children and a little fair on for the summer, was a great way to entertain the children and as it was hot we stopped for an ice cream too.

The zebras were everywhere, we found one in the city centre and then they pretty much popped up everywhere we walked after that. This one was by the band stand and it wasn't until afterwards I noticed the delightful bit of rubbish standing with it.

We walked down towards the the art gallery and found this beauty, with zebras eating ice creams it was the perfect zebra for the day, with so many different Zebras and no two alike, they got us talking about the shapes and colours used.

I hadn't realised you weren't allowed to take photos in the gallery but managed to snap this beauty before my husband told me it was no photos, thankfully this meant I side stepped the shame of being asked not to take photos by the staff there.

Outside the gallery was I think one of my favourite Zebras, covered in wonderful bright bees with a hidden Where's Wally style bee, you can just see him hiding behind my sons shoulder.

After our evening stroll down to the quay, we headed back to the hotel but not before stopping to see a few more Zebras, the shark was my second favourite after the bees and such a fabulously zany idea  but every single one of them was brilliant and as beautiful as the last.

I loved this idea, it gets people exploring areas of a town they may not have seen before, looking at other peoples ideas on a different kind of paper. So if you happen to be in Southampton this summer then do check out the Zebras, they are well worth a visit and I only wish we'd had the time to explore more of this wonderful city.

Bluebells at Rufford Abbey

Spring brings us a time when the countryside and woodlands are filled with beautiful bluebells, these enticing blue flowers carpet the ground between the trees and make theses places even more inviting to explore.

With sunshine a plenty, we ventured over to the wonderful Rufford Abbey, it is a favourite spot of ours and as it's just 20 minutes up the road from us, it is a great place to head out for some time outside. With woodland, a ford, plenty of bird spotting opportunities, a park and gardens there is so much to do.

We headed out into the woods in search of some old logs on the woodland floor, they are great places to find bugs and little creatures, especially this time of the year as they start to come out of their winter slumber.

The woods are a great opportunity to explore and capture some beautiful moments, both of my children love to run and jump about, finding old tree stumps to stand on, we even found a tree that had fallen over and it was a beautiful opportunity to capture some family photos.

This time of year, as the trees start to unfurl their new leaves it and a wave of green washes over the land, is a great time to get out into the fresh air and embrace the outdoors.

After we'd spent an hour exploring the bluebells and woodland, we headed down to our other favourite spot, the ford, for a spot of car watching, we had a warm sausage roll for lunch and then headed back round the lake to park.

The park is always a hit with the children, who love to run through the tunnels and play in the sand. We took a wander back up to the abbey itself, underneath, there are rooms which were once home to the monks and staff who lived and worked in the once great house that also stood there. It's a great place to stop and learn about the history of the abbey and its visitors over the years, which included Charles II.

Wherever you live, I would highly recommend a visit to one of this countries many bluebell woods, last year we visited Bunny Wood and that was a true delight, with a vast blanket of bluebells to explore. I never appreciated them when I was younger, even though the woods near where we used to have a caravan were covered in them. Maybe like a lot of things in life they are something to be appreciated as you get older.

Exploring More of Newstead Abbey

Last weekend we visited one of our favourite places in Nottinghamshire, Newstead Abbey. We have been so many times now and each time, we usually walk around the same bits. This time though, we spotted the old cannon fort on the other side of the lake and decided to take the muddy walk over to see the abbey from a different perspective, as well as seeing this wonderful old piece of history.

When you hear about a cannon fort, you probably wonder how much navel defence was required in landlocked nottinghamshire, but the real purpose of the fort was as a play thing for the 5th Lord Byron, along with his fleet of miniature vessels. The lord would fire real cannonballs at the ships. which were crewed by his unlucky servants. According to the staff, none of the servants were hurt but I can imagine it still being a frightening experience.

I only slipped over once as we headed through the muddy forest, much to my husbands amusement. Along the way, my daughter picked up twigs, trees and plants for her nature project which she happily carried in her jelly bag. 

It was fun to explore a piece of the abbey we hadn't seen before, and it would be good to go back, maybe on a less muddy day next time. When we got to the cannon fort though it was well worth the wobbly trek over, you can only begin to imagine what this would have looked like back in its time.

The view from the other side of the lake was amazing and one we've never seen before and possibly very few people who visit do, I absolutely love the idea of this eccentric Lord playing real life battleships here.

Each part of Newstead feels as though it has been made with the view in mind and it is always a pleasure to take pictures there.

Afterwards, we headed to the rose garden to eat our picnic, the children had a quick game of hide and seek and then played on the park, before we moved onto our favourite spot, the Japanese Water Gardens. We love this place, the sound of running water, the shapes of the trees and stone decorations and there is always time for the children to role play some ice cream selling from the wooden hut.

It was great to find something new in one of our favourite places to visit, hopefully this post might inspire other visitors to go in search of the magical cannon fort too.