Country Lanes

When the sun comes out the town and surrounding villages come to life and although the population is made up of a lot of old people, you do get a lot more smiles. This weekend I had a morning to kill so me and my sister, Lucy went on a little cycle in the country side around where we live and explored villages we didn't even know existed.
Our first stop was the castle where on a good day you can see two miles down to the sea and the view over the fields really is stunning. We then traveled through some country lanes, past too many farms to be able to count them and up and down rather a lot of hills. All in all it was around eleven miles and was a lovely way to spend an early summers morning!
Just as a final note, my laptop has broken with my editing software on it and I have had to steal my brothers, so these pictures are raw from my camera resulting in some of the exposure and white balance being off but it doesn't matter too much.
Have an amazing day!

The Start of the Summer Days

This photo was taken on a recent day out with some friends. March is now underway and we have had a burst of good weather here in England which, dispite the earliness in the year, it is long awaited. We all cycled into my village and had a little wander while eating buns from the bakers and talking about what good times this summer will bring.

The Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak

I started reading 'The Forty Rules of Love' by Elif Shadak yesterday as I got it out from the library. That's right, I rented a book which never happens. I got a new card and searched the shelves for anything inspiring as I had just finished 'Lands Beyond the Sea' which was about the discovering of Australia and how the aborigines sacred lands were completely destroyed and taken over by the convict colony, and wanted something equally as deep rooted in foreign history.

This book is predominantly about a middle aged woman called Ella who is wrapped up in her world where she lives without love: as if everything in her life is a chore but one day, she gets given this book to write a report on written by Azziz who couldn't be the opposite and has a fascination with the scholar Romi and the book follows both the stories of Ella and Romi learning and growing as people and changing due to someone entering their lives. 

    I definitely recommend it as it is easy to read and the characters are so intriguing as it is rooted in 13th centuaty cities such as Constantinople, Konya and Baghdad but also the present day and both situations are identifiable. I am about two thirds of the way through and an thoroughly enjoying it!

The Harvester

I went to the Harvester with some friends for their birthdays as they are being greedy and having three party's which I think is a great idea! I'm not going to go into detail but I had the best time I have had in a long time and laughed until I wheezed. Thank you to Sophie and Emily for taking us all out and it's just a shame I didn't photograph more of it.

Exeter Travels

The last couple of days I have been in Exeter with my family. The journey took around 5 hours which wasn't too bad but was definitely long enough for an overnight trip. On the way there, we stopped off in Dorchester and had breakfast in a cafe called the 'Horse with the Red Umbrella' which was lovely. The people there were so nice and food was so tasty and welcome as I'd been up for quite a long time.

This is an image in Exeter of a wedding dress shop and it was either the building or the shop which was called the building that moved, I don't remember. I just loved how the floors got bigger and I am a sucker for old buildings and streets.

We spent the day wondering around the city and I did a bit of unsuccessful dress shopping in a shop called Catwalk where all of the women were so helpful and lovely but I didn't get one. The place we stayed at was called 'Mill Farm Bed and Breakfast' and it was lovely! It is on a farm and the house was beautiful and the couple were so friendly and I would definitely recommend it. 

The place we ate at in the evening was called the 'Anchor Inn' and if you like food, you will love this place! It is a 450 year old pub that is known for their delicious sea food which I was a huge fan of.  As you can see in the bottom image, my sister had enough food to feed at least two people with a huge bowl of muscles, a baguette and a bowl of chips. She didn't manage to eat it all sadly. 

I was a lovely few days out but I'm not a city person so when we got to where the restaurant and the B&B were it was such a relief for me. I definitely recommend going to Exeter as it is a really nice city.

Looking Back

    Change is inevitable and I want to look back on this time and see that I have made the most of being here, now and building things up and letting other things go because they tear you down. 

          


           I wrote a song about this back in primary school: 

"Isn't it funny how day by day, nothing changes,
But when you look back, everything is different;
because when I look back next time, it'll still see life through my eyes
but maybe then, I'll understand this life"
    

    I haven't thought about that song in years, but I can still remember that it was about a girl, a friends older sister who I had known for a few years and was getting into a lot of trouble and was rebelling against everything that she knew and had grown up with, and I found a picture of all of us a few years before and she looked so untroubled and peaceful, and I hadn't noticed her growing up but all of a sudden, everything had changed for her. 
    She was ashamed of her past and if I have learned anything from her it is to accept the past, and not be ashamed of it. That was who you were then and that was what you wanted. Looking back on it, you may see that it was wrong, but it is your history and if you deny that, what will you learn from?
    

A Walk in the Woods

    These are pictures from the walk I went on with my family (minus my brother) after we had gone and bought our Christmas tree which there was some controvosy over as me and Lucy wanted to get the biggest one that we could but alas, my parents were not for our idea. It has been a sort of tradition but more to blame of how unorganized we are that we don't put our decorations up until the week before Christmas but what we have found in the trees that are for sale then really aren't very good so we decided, this year to be super organised.
 The woods were stunning and Autumn is still in flow with leaves everywhere. I did wear my wellies which I was very excited about but I was also wearing a skirt and didn't want to change so was a bit restricted. We found some rope swings which I wasn't very well dressed for but being me, I went on them anyway.
    I am very sorry for the poor quality of the top three photos. My dad isn't used to taking pictures with this camera.