The Coles Wedding; My Best Friend Gets Married!

This is a long overdue post but I've spent the past week hardly moving from bed due to a severe case of tonsillitis. It's the most painful I've ever had it and it's completely knocked me for six. I've got no energy, but I've been on antibiotics for a few days now and they're beginning to do their job. My throat isn't so painful, just sore and easily aggravated by eating so I'm resting up as much as I can as I want to get back to work.

Firstly I'll go back to just before the bank holiday weekend when I headed to Suffolk where my best friend Jess lives, to help her set up for her and Robert's wedding. It was great fun, though extremely tiring for all involved but we had lots of giggles and I loved spending a good few days with my Bestie. Robert's a farmer and therefore the wedding theme was rustic/countryside. We did all the flower arranging too which was good fun, but not so much with hay fever which meant I spent more time helping to set things up in the marquee for the reception.

 

The Wedding Day

Jess, myself and one of the other bridesmaids went to a hotel in nearby Newmarket the night before the wedding. We all had manicures & pedicures before having dinner out and collapsing into our beds exhausted. Saturday morning dawned with not a cloud in the sky and the weather was beyond perfect for the wedding day, I like to think Jess' Mum Jan had something to do with that, to make the day extra special for her daughter. There had been a few tears the night before and the morning of, I wish so much that Jan was still with us and could be there to see her beautiful daughter get married, but I told Jess and completely believe that our loved ones are with us the whole time, so she'd have been there beside Jess giggling as we got our hair and make up done, as I helped Jess into her dress and as her Dad walked into the room to see Jess for the first time in her dress. I feel so honoured to have been a big part of the day and to see Jess so happy too. Jess bought each of the bridesmaids beautiful pearl bracelets which looked lovely beside our dainty bouquets of flowers. Jess's bouquet was extra special, with a photo of her mum attached so Jan would be walking down the aisle with Jess.

 

 

The bride, father of the bride, bridesmaids and flower girl travelled in style to the Church just along the road from where Jess and Robert live, in the form of a cute VW Campervan, meanwhile Robert went by Tractor!

 

 

The service in the church was lovely, it's a tiny little Church in Little Saxham, but it made the ceremony feel all the more special and intimate for Jess and Rob with their families. I was Maid of Honour and witness for Jess (I was so touched when she asked me about both roles) and I also looked after her little eight year old sister Millie (flower girl) who was extremely nervous about walking down the aisle, though Millie's Mum (Jess' stepmother) Trish was close by. Millie's so lovely and she held my hand tight which I think I appreciated just as much as she did! After the service it was great to see Jack who had been sat a few pews back from me, he looked super smart in his suit. We headed back to the reception venue where a vintage ice cream van served tasty ice creams and these were followed by Pimms and canapés. It was lovely to be able to sit outside the marquee for a while to enjoy the Pimms in the sunshine and see old friends from where Jess and I grew up. We were then seated in the marquee for a tasty main course of steak pie and mash, followed by a dessert of wedding cake - they had 3; a beautiful rustic sponge tower wedding cake, a tasty fruit cake made by Jess' mother in law and an Italian wedding cake too as Rene, Jess' mother in law is half Italian. The food was all delicious.

 

My place at the table with the handmade favours Jess had done which included a mini jar of homemade strawberry jam, a tea bag and a scone recipe card, cute!

 

Beautiful wedding cakes

 

The speeches were incredibly touching, especially Robert's who made special mention to Jan and the fact she wasn't with us. He had everyone in tears at this stage and it was special to raise a toast to Jan.

 

 

And then the reception began, with lots of music, dancing, evening sunshine outside and artisan wood fired pizzas for supper. Jess and I love a dance and were up on the dance floor a lot! It was an absolutely amazing day and I was so glad to be a part of it. Jess and Rob are now on their honeymoon in the Maldives and probably having a lovely time!

 

 

 

 

Jack and I

 

 

 

 

Back to my bed I go to continue to rest, hopefully I can shake the last of this tonsillitis away soon and feel better. I hate being poorly, I feel so low and sorry for myself. Not to mention to guilt of not being at work eating me up. Being happy and positive when you feel ill is hard!

 

Em x

 

 

Dog Walking Holiday; Wye Valley, Wales

We're back from a lovely weekend in Wales; this was my first time visiting Wales and I'm completely in love with the scenery, it's beautiful! I understand there's a whole lot more of Wales to explore but we've made a start at least.

We set off early Saturday morning down the M4 towards Wales and looked a little worriedly at each other as we drove through a heavy snow storm! Thankfully as soon as we got into Wales we had nothing but glorious sunshine the whole weekend we were there. It was noticeably chilly, but you could certainly feel the sun's warmth when lugging the camera bag around and striding out on our walks. I'd planned a whole itinerary for the weekend, much to Jack's amusement, but I think he's glad about me being organised.




Walk 1: 'Trellech Beacon'
First stop was just outside of Trellech, to a Forestry Commission car park. Once parked, we donned the walking boots (my new walking boots have been well and truly christened this weekend) and an excitable Barry was very pleased to be out of the car and ready to explore. Our first walk consisted of an easy 3.5 mile walk around woodland and heathland, also taking in the beautiful Cleddon Falls. It was the perfect way to ease us into the Wye Valley, with beautiful views too. Barry loved drinking and splashing in Cleddon Falls and relished jumping from rock to rock too, we swear he's part Mountain Goat!

Our route

Barry the Mountain Goat

I absolutely loved this mossy wall

Splashing around Cleddon Falls

Part of Cleddon Falls

After Walk 1, we got back into the car and drove back into England to a lovely place called Clearwell, where we stopped at The Butchers Arms for some lunch. The staff here were very friendly and it was lovely to talk about places nearby and about Jack Russells too. Barry was more than happy to sit under the table while we ate some lunch, to see if Jack or I would drop a chip! I did come prepared though and he gobbled up a chew pretty quickly. We then got back into the car (much to Barry's disgust - he's been a very good boy with all the car journeys this weekend though) and headed back onto Wales' side of the Wye Valley and onto Penallt, near Monmouth where we were staying on Saturday night.

I booked a B&B room a while back at the lovely 'Inn at Penallt'. It looked like a great location for some walks, was pet friendly and the menu for the evening looked good too (always thinking with my stomach). We parked up the car as it was too early to check in and instead headed off on the next walk I had planned - all walks I found via Google, I'll provide links at the end of the blog.

Walk 2: 'The Penallt-imate' (Jack's name for it!)

This walk was slightly longer than our first walk at 4 miles, but considerably more a 'hiking' route as opposed to walking, with various terrains and hills (my they were hills!). This walk took in woodlands carpeted with Bluebells, open grassland while walking along the River Wye, a couple of pubs along the way (we stopped at one) and a small amount of roadwork (Where we only met one car the whole time). I loved this walk, it was certainly tough in places climbing up through steep woodland, but the views were fantastic and the River Wye looked lovely in the sunshine. I'd certainly like to come back again in the summer when the trees are full of leaves. We stopped at The Boathouse pub for a quick drink part-way around this circular walk before continuing on through beautiful Bluebell woodlands. The climb was tiring on the way up but when you reach the old church at Penallt you're rewarded with stunning views.

Our route

River Wye

The noser/poser

"Come on Mum, keep up!"

Old Church at Penallt

Great views when we had a rest at the church before the final climb back to where we were staying

We finally made it back to the Inn at Penallt feeling a little weary and rather hot in the sunshine and big coats. We checked into our room which was a lovely cosy room separate from the main pub and overlooked the pretty gardens. As soon as Jack had lifted Barry's crate into the room, Barry went straight into it and fell fast asleep, I think we wore him out! We had a little rest for a short while too and a nice shower before leaving Barry with his dinner while we went for ours. I'd had a quick nose at the menu before I booked us in and it sounded great but I wasn't expecting such fantastic food (food in general was good when you're tired and hungry!). I had a lovely leek and potato soup to start, followed by pork belly. Jack of course had dessert too but I was feeling rather tired and full by that stage. The food was delicious and the pub was very popular so a great atmosphere too. You are able to eat in the bar side of the pub with your dog if you want to but as Barry was so tired we decided to leave him to happily snooze in the room.

Fantastic food in the pub for dinner, an added bonus after a day of walking

We slept well on Saturday night and woke up feeling ready for some more walking on Sunday. The breakfast included in our stay was so yummy; we picked from a menu the evening before so it was cooked fresh once you arrived at your table. It set us up for the day and not long afterwards we checked out of the room and drove towards Abergavenny for our final walk.

Tasty Full Welsh Breakfast

Walk 3: Blorenge Mountain

We drove to the 'foxhunter' car park part-way up Blorenge Mountain. Once out of the car the walking route to the top of the mountain is nearby and is mostly over rocky upland, though can be a bit boggy and slippery in places (cue filthy dog and lots of rock jumping too!). It was quite chilly as we set off, although the sun shone which did keep us a little warmer. It was a fun walk to the top; Barry is incapable of walking, he instead chooses to run and bounce everywhere, but he had us in stitches trying to leap over some of the boggiest areas. Sometimes he'd run straight through them covering himself in mud and then other times he'd leap like a Gazelle over them. It didn't take too long to reach the top and front of the mountain where we sat down overlooking Abergavenny below. The views were fantastic as the weather was so bright and clear and we had lots of sheep grazing around us too (as responsible dog owners Barry was back on his lead at this point so as not to scare the sheep and their lambs, even though he didn't show too much of an interest in them anyway). We then headed back the way we came, choosing a slightly rockier route to pretend we too were Mountain Goats! In all this was just under a 3 mile walk.

Our route

So glad we remembered our hats!

Rock climbing can be added to Barry's favourite hobbies

My Two Favourites xx

Barry & I

Wheatear

View from Blorenge Mountain of Abergavenny below

Blurry photo as my shutter speed wasn't correct but it gives you an idea of how Barry chooses to get around!

Flying Jack Russell Again!

We got back to the car, attempted to clean some of the mud off of Bazza before heading back down the mountain and into Abergavenny. We found a Waitrose and bought ourselves a sandwich for lunch to see us through the journey home and ate it in the car park while Barry chomped on a chew I gave him. We then set off home, going back through Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire.

We had a fantastic time and it's shown us just how stress-free it is to pop in the car, drive a couple of hours to somewhere different to enjoy a walking holiday together. We're already looking into some other holidays and I definitely want to return to Wales soon (suggestions of where to go next are appreciated). Barry still isn't massively keen on the car, but there was no sickness at all this weekend and other than a small amount of panting and crying as we arrived at our destinations he was as good as gold. He was so exhausted on Sunday that when we got all the way home after a 2 hour car journey we were amazed as we pulled onto our gravel driveway and didn't hear a peep from him in the boot. When we opened the boot he was squinting back at us with a wrinkled face, he'd obviously been fast asleep the whole way home! I gave him a good bath on Sunday afternoon as the boggy mud was hard to get off, and he then promptly curled up in my lap to dry off and snooze. We all went to bed early on Sunday night!

This is where Barry loves to dry off after a bath, wrapped in a towel on my lap!

Sorry that this post has been so photo-heavy! I have to say it was lovely getting the camera back out again though and the photography bug has returned! I've included a few links below to the walks we completed and where we stayed. It's really worth a visit!

Helpful Links:

The Inn at Penallt B&B; http://www.theinnatpenallt.co.uk/ 

The Butchers Arms, Clearwell; http://thebutchersarmsclearwell.co.uk/index.html

Walk 1: Trellech Beacon; http://www.wyedeantourism.co.uk/system-images/files/Walk3.pdf

Walk 2: Penallt Pub Walk; http://www.wyedeantourism.co.uk/system-images/files/Penallt%20Pubs%20Walk1.pdf

Walk 3: Blorenge Mountain; http://www.abergavenny.org.uk/blorenge.htm

The Boat Inn, Penallt; http://www.theboatpenallt.co.uk/

Em x

Winter or Spring?

This weather keeps playing with us; one minute we get lovely blue skies and sunshine coaxing the new leaves to appear on the trees and persuading the bees to come out looking for colour in our gardens... then the next minute you can see your own breath again as you walk the dog in torrential cold downpours!


Funnily enough I don't take photos when out walking in the rain, therefore below are two nicer, happier, sunnier photos!

Barry Update: Back To Happy, Boundless Energy Dog!

Hi All,


Just thought I'd give you an update on Barry and let you know he's back to normal now after his recent stay at the vets with sickness problems. He's back to going everywhere at a million miles an hour and back to hounding me to play with him and his toys (Barry's motto is; "if one toy fails to get them to play, bring them another... and another!").

We've enjoyed getting back to lots of walks off-lead again and we can only hope he won't eat things he shouldn't. He's not too bad really, I know some dogs are complete scavengers, Barry is more of a 'taste and continue' kind of dog and you'll never be able to stop them completely! Much to Barry's amusement when I shout because he's just gulped down a little pile of rabbit droppings only for him to almost smile back and open his mouth, tongue lolling and say "swallowed them!". I even went for a run with him the other day; the first run I've done in a long while and reminded me I'm rather un-fit running, but could walk and walk for miles. Barry thought it was great fun running along and every time I slowed down to get my breath back he'd come racing up to me as if to say "why have we stopped?" He's certainly a very fit dog.

He's been a fantastic guard dog this weekend too while Jack has been away. I did sneak him up to bed with me on Friday night seeing as Jack wasn't there to tell me off, but Barry is the most annoying dog to share a bed with! My Nan used to have a gorgeous big Boxer called Tess that would sleep on the bottom bunk bed with me when I stayed there as a young child and Tess used to stay stock still all night, does a small Jack Russell in a big King Size bed do this? No he does not. He insists on sleeping practically in my face, meaning I can't move the covers and if I try to then Barry dives under them quickly because he likes burying himself in the covers. Every time I did manage to nod off I'd get a little lick across my cheek as if to say "thanks for letting me stay up here mum". Needless to say, I got up at 5am to let him out for a wee (little sod laid back on the covers to tell me he wasn't moving!), then returned to bed where he'd already shot up the stairs and snuggled himself in with his head on my pillow!!! For the rest of the weekend he's been sleeping quite happily back on his bed downstairs and I've enjoyed a few peaceful nights of sleep!

Em x

Hello March!

I can't believe it's the 1st of March already, how quickly the past two months have gone despite an extra day in February. I am however excited at the prospect of Spring being just around the corner. There's signs of its arrival already despite the drop in temperature recently; buds on the trees, blossom appearing, daffodils blooming and birds returning. I for one am ready for Springtime!

We had a lovely time on Saturday at Twickenham watching England beat Ireland in the Six Nations rugby game. I was very privileged that Jack took me to watch it, usually I'm last on the ticket list haha! It was a great game anyway and we needed those tries as an excuse to jump up and down to warm up! We then spent all of Sunday in the garden having a good tidy up. We had a big pile of old wood on the patio that we've finally managed to clear ready to replace two broken fence panels between us and our next door neighbours. I've planted some primroses in the patio pots for a bit of colour in the garden. My plants are all looking healthy in the garden though; the Hydrangea is covered in buds and the Rhododendron has really grown since I planted it last year. Jack's Mum gave me a Buddleia that I need to get into the garden and I also bought a Hibiscus reduced to £5 at the garden centre so need to find a place for that to go too where it will get lots of sunshine - difficult in our garden as it sadly doesn't get a lot of sunshine except for in the height of summer when the sun is high in the sky.

I'm in love with these 'raspberry ripple' primroses!

 

And I've also been trying to fit in some crochet in between learning lots in my new job - my brain has been pretty fried by the time I've got home each day but getting home early three days a week is so lovely. I've managed to make two coasters, my first coasters, and I'm pretty pleased with them.

 

 

Anyway, that's just a little blog post update for today; as I say my brain is a little weary so I can't think what else to write at the moment! I'll be back soon though!

Em x