Lately

I took an unintentional break from blogging, but now I am back and I'll show you what I've been up to in the last month!

We went back home to visit friends and family in the blazing sunshine, and had an amazing time introducing F to everyone.

I loved being by the sea again and I savoured every moment, breathing in the fresh air and watching the open horizon.

I had the first ice cream of the year.

I celebrated my birthday, got some lovely presents and ate lots and lots of cake.

We enjoyed the sea some more.

And when we came back spring had finally arrived, and with it lots and lots of flowers. I was particularly excited to discover that the woods were full of forest anemones, as I didn't think they grew in this country. Oh, so pretty!

First Mother's Day

This Sunday was my very first Mother's Day! And a lovely day it was too. It started with Husband and F serving me breakfast in bed: pancakes and coffee.

I got a bouquet of my favourite flowers.

We had macaroons and Danish pastry for afternoon tea.

And I got a new tea cup for my collection.

What did you do this weekend?

About missing home

It's been six and a half years since I left Norway now. I never thought I would be gone for this long.

I left life as a student in Bergen, where we would stay up all night, drink a lot, go dancing and walk home at dawn, to live as a student in London, where the tube stops running at midnight, you're always looking over your shoulder after dark, going out takes a lot of planning, and I found myself studying at a big, competitive music college where taking care of your voice took precedence over anything else.

I left the open sea to live by a dirty river. I really missed the wide open horizon and the fresh breeze on my face.

I grew up near the sea, next to the forest and the hills, and suddenly I was living in a busy city where there was nowhere to escape the great masses.

The English are not the easiest to make friends with. They are very friendly, and will invite you out for a drink, but it's hard to get past their polite exterior. Norwegian people will invite you into their homes, English people will generally not. It takes time and perseverance to get to know the English well. At times I was yearning for a good old waffle in someone's living room, or a proper Norwegian- style 'vorspiel'.

But then again I met some wonderful new friends, and Husband, of course! I lived in a city with the best shopping in the world (when I had the money for it), wonderful museums and markets, world class concerts and wonderfully tasty food. I had some amazing opportunities and experiences whilst doing my music degree. I would stroll along the Thames on a Sunday afternoon whilst sipping my coffee and holding Husband's hand. I would become bilingual. And most importantly, I would have a wonderful baby daughter.

It is as it is with most things in life: you win some, you lose some. But right now I am really missing home.

Weekend breakfast

I realise I'm writing a lot about food these days, and this might be (or rather certainly is) because I find myself craving sugar and carbohydrates these days, more so than I ever did when I was pregnant. Breastfeeding and sleepless nights will have that effect on you. This weekend I made French toast for breakfast. Not just French toast, but heart shaped French toast, which is even nicer. Served with cinnamon, banana and maple syrup.

My favourite kind of breakfast; pretty and tasty! A very happy Sunday to you!

Bumpy

I can still see my toes, paint my toe nails and put my shoes on without any help....just.

Country Living

It suddenly went very quiet in here again, but there is a good reason for it! I have moved house, from busy London and out to the lovely country side. We moved to be closer to where we work, and we now live in a lovely little village with two shops, two pubs, a butcher and a bakery. Quite a change from where we used to live, but so far so good! We live in a really old little cottage with a big garden and a barn at the back. I'm very excited about this next chapter in our life adventure..

The best things have so far been:

- friendly neighbours

- birdsong in the morning

- peace and quiet

- lovely pub food

- lots of great walks, just outside our doorstep

- picking wild flowers

- having tea in the really lovely tea room in the next village

A very happy Monday to you all!

Wall post

I thought I would show you some of the pictures that hang on my walls. Here's a selection:

Our hallway, with pictures and hats.

An old film poster

Picture of Paris

A Doisneau poster

Homemade pin board with pictures

Another Doisneau poster

Illustration by Arthur Rackham

Art nouveau poster of Tosca

And, of course, the Belle and Boo prints that Husband gave me

Another country walk, a knitting shop, and a tea room

If you've had enough of country walks and autumn colours you should stop reading now, because this is another post about just that.. Although this one also has a little tea room in the middle! It's our second week of 'holiday', so this week Husband and I found time for another countryside adventure.

We started our adventure in this lovely little village with beautiful, old cottages.

A pretty little church.

And some more lovely cottages. I'd love to live in one of them!

I will spare you all the photos I took of the pretty trees we passed, and just include this one that has a little cottage in the background.

After walking for an hour or so, through fields and woods, we came to another village. This one had a wonderful little shop that sold vintage tea cups, jewellery, some plants and lots of knitting yarn.

We then walked along the road to a little tea room nearby..

Lovely little tea room run by two lovely ladies!

I was thirsty after the walk, so I had some tea and lemonade. I absolutely love the little milk jug!

On the way back we walked through fields with horses.

And we watched the sun go down. It's funny how quickly it gets dark these days. For the last bit of our walk it was getting pretty dark, and I was terrified of running into badgers, as there are a lot of them in the area.. We made it back to the car without seeing any, thankfully!

Hope you have all had a good week!

Pictures from a Sunday walk: Shaw's corner and Ayot St Lawrence

We started our walk at Shaw's Corner, which was George Bernhard Shaw's home for almost 45 years. Beautiful house, beautiful gardens. I always love seeing people's houses, what pictures they have on their walls, which books they have on their bookshelves. Shaw had a picture of Ibsen on his wall.

From there we walked along open fields..

We walked past lots of beautiful houses, most of them had lovely names like 'Oak cottage', 'The Old Rectory', 'Rose cottage' or 'Ayot Bury'.

We walked through quiet lanes...

Husband took this lovely photo of an old graveyard we passed. The church is gone and everything is overgrown with moss and ivy, and you can spot grave stones in between the tall trees.

And finally, after a couple of hours, we ended up in a pub dating back to the 14th century. Good selection of ales (I had lemonade, because I was driving. One is still allowed to drive in this country after a couple of pints, but I never take any chances..), nice restaurant and a big fireplace. Can not wait to go back there when it's freezing cold and the fire is roaring!

In the same village there is a ruin of a Medieval church and a graveyard with graves from the 17th and 18th centuries. I love old graveyards.

Hope you all had good weekends!

Polkadotdays

Obsessed with polkadots? Me?? Never!