I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I really love Penhaligon's. I love how exclusive their shops feel when you walk into them, I love their pretty, old fashioned looking bottles, but most of all I love their perfumes. I also love that you won't find that every other person in the street is wearing the same smell as you. Both Husband and I are big fans, and we have a little collection of bottles now. Ellenisia has been my favourite for the last few years, but when I got pregnant it didn't smell the same on me anymore, so I haven't worn it for a while. So the other day I acquired a new smell in my collection; Lavandula. A lovely floral smell, not too sweet, perfect for summer!

If you're ever in England I would definitely recommend a visit to one of their shops, it's the perfect way of experiencing a proper British boutique with lots of tradition!

Wishing you all a good start to your week!

Happy things....

Eating strawberries

Playing Scrabble

Baking (and eating) fruit tarts.

Growing..

Only a few weeks left now, and we're getting very excited! It's getting harder to move around and I'm feeling more tired than before. It doesn't help that the temperature has been over 30 this past week, and it looks like it's going to last a while. I'm desperately longing to dip my feet in the sea and to feel the fresh sea breeze on my face, but instead I'm stuck in a valley two hours from the sea and with no water nearby to stick my feet in (except my bath tub). I'm crossing my fingers for a refreshing rain storm soon!

Afternoon tea at the farm

Since it's holiday time we've been exploring the area around us, and we came across this lovely farm where you can buy fresh vegetables, meat and eggs from the farm shop and have afternoon tea in their little tea room next door. When you've filled up on sandwiches, cakes, scones and tea you can take a little walk in their forest or buy some food to feed the animals on the farm.

The perfect little getaway, just a 10 min drive down the road!

Welcome to the village

I'll show some more pictures from our lovely village soon, but I thought I would give you a little preview first. There are so many beautiful old buildings here, an old pretty church and lots of lovely gardens.

And around the village we are surrounded by open fields, and woods where there are lots and lots of brambles and mushrooms. I really like these 'hay towers' that are popping up everywhere at this time of year.

The perfect surroundings for late afternoon walks!

Stripes

I don't know why, but I find striped baby clothes so adorable! So when there was a sale in Baby Gap I couldn't resist..

I love summer, and picking flowers from the garden..

Bump to birth

A nice way of recording and remembering our story from the very beginning...

New old things

We got this trunk really cheap on Gumtree, and it's perfect for hiding things in, particularly toys!

I love these curtains that I got on ebay. It's a William Morris pattern from 1892, and I absolutely love his work!

Sunday

Breakfast

And lovely Wish magazine from Carrie.

Happy Sunday!

Early

I don't know if it is the kicking of the baby that wakes me up, or if it is simply down to the fact that I can't seem to get comfortable in a ny position these days, but I have been waking up with the sun most days lately. I love the early morning light and how quiet everything is..

Holiday time

I like having a holiday at home, it gives you a chance to discover new things in your own area. Since we've only recently moved, there are a lot of things to discover around where we live. Pretty villages, walks in the forest nearby, tearooms and country pubs. We discovered this little gem of a pub the other day, and we spent the whole afternoon there with some friends, having a very long lunch in the lovely sunshine..

Although Cambridge is not new to us, it is nice to now live a lot closer to it, and it's lovely to take a little trip there for some afternoon tea and ice cream!

Preparing..

This last week has been pretty busy, mainly with trying to get settled in our house, redecorating and getting the baby room ready. The room is finished now, and I love sitting in there imagining what it will be like in a couple of months' time..

This summer has been so busy, I can't believe it's August already. Moving into a new house, trying to get everything into place and then a trip to Norway resulted in an unplanned break from blogging. But now I'm back, I have the rest of the month free to prepare and get excited about the little one who's arriving in 8 weeks' time. We've been decorating the baby room, and I've been working on a few projects for the baby. Exciting times!

Summer breakfasts are the best!

Bump is growing rather big these days..