What wonderful weather.....

This summer has been the sunniest we've had for a long time. It's wonderful to wake up and see blue skies and sunshine. I'd  feared the good weather wouldn't continue once we were back from holiday, but I've been happy to have been proven wrong

The sunflowers are enjoying the sunshine too.

Poor Sam has been having to drive to Weston every day for Jury Service. Thankfully the M5 has been kind and no hold ups so far!! He finished midday on Thursday, so he and Poppy headed back to London, to start packing up her student digs. He returns this evening to continue with his jury service this coming week. Let's hope he is given something straight forward and he can complete it this week.

Jeff's been working his way through all the 'outside' jobs!

He always has to make the most of his time off, as once term starts, his own time is short.

We've been making the most of the cooler evenings and have going out for a walk. 

The ground is soooo dry.

The blackberries have been ripening earlier due to all this lovely warm sunshine.

I took Jeff blackberry picking, making the most of his height and picking potential!! 

Getting to places I can't reach

We got a reasonable haul. Will go again next week if I can.

 I've frozen all from this lot, perfect for breakfast or a crumble!! 

I'm desperately trying to be good/focused before Sophie and I go to Corfu, so maybe a crumble is not such a great idea!! I've been trying to establish some good routines, which I can continue with once work starts. I've been doing so much reading around hormones and the menopause and am trying to help myself, with...... 

* a regular wake up time * first drink - hot water with lemon and a pinch of salt * go outside first thing, to kick start my circadian rhythm * no screens for the first hour * daily exercise with weights * shower * protein rich breakfast * reduce my coffee consumption (none after 2pm) * increase my water intake. Food focus on * protein, fibre and good fats * no snacking * but no restriction 80/20 approach * no eating after 6pm * walk after meal times * no screen time an hour before bed * reading a book instead of scrolling through my phone * regular bed time * aim for 8 hours sleep!! 

I need to be consistent and make these habits a routine that just becomes the  norm. I'm going for the long game instead of short bursts/countdowns to things. I'm actually going to try and be reasonably focused whilst in Corfu (good intentions!!!) but will see how that pans out! I'm 2 weeks in so far and it's been reasonably easy to keep to and I can see how I can tweak things when I have to go to work. Consistency will be key!!

Full house!

It's been lovely having Sophie home for a few days. She met up with friends a few times, read lots, relaxed and we got to do a few things together. She got her hair cut on Monday, then her car was in for it's MOT on Tuesday, which thankfully passed!! And then we headed over to the Newt together.

I've not been for a couple of months. 

Every time you go over there is something different to see.

A day of treats.

 Coffee and pastry for breakfast, ice-cream before leaving!!

On Wednesday we were up and out early and headed over to Bath, as she wanted a few holiday bits. It was sooo busy, didn't help there there was lots of work being done. If I'm honest, I thought Bath looked really scruffy. I think I would have been a little disappointed as a tourist visiting. It wasn't Bath at it's best.

We're still enjoying good, sunshiny, dry weather. Jeff is doing his best to keep things watered. We're in for a bit of another hot spell over the next few days, so will be making the most of the sunshine.

Sam and Poppy arrived here late on Wednesday evening. 

Back for his birthday!!

I LOVE this photo x

I still find it hard to think that I have a 23 year old!

Cake made as requested!!

He's back home now for a couple of weeks, doing Jury Service. He got called up during the end stages of Uni, so he got it delayed. Annoyingly the court in Taunton, where is supposed to be, is closed. So he's been told to go to Weston-Super-Mare!! If he went by public transport, it would take him 3 hours to get there!! Luckily for him, we've insured him on the car so he can drive in every day, but it's still a fair commute and having to navigate the M5 during the summer hols!! Then he needs to find a job and start earning some money!! The joys of no longer being a student!!

The holidays are whizzing on by. On paper Jeff still has 3 more weeks off but in reality, he'll be back into school mode a week on Wednesday, when the GCSE results will be arriving into school. Once you start having to do school stuff, the holidays are pretty much over and next up, it's INSET days! I'm actually going in for a couple of days too, to start hanging the next exhibition and help get things set up.

Sophie and I then head off to Corfu for a week. She wants a week of reading and relaxing! So a very different holiday to Jeff and I. I will have to learn to do nothing!!

29 years of being Mrs Peabody!

Happy Anniversary to us x

29 years married xx

I carried a bouquet of sunflowers and sunflowers will, forever, be associated with our wedding.

An easy gift for Jeff to buy every year x

Our cards to each other x

A day when it's always lovely to look back at photographs from our special day. 

Still a wedding many remember, as being a fun filled, relaxed, happy celebration. 

Must have done something right as we're still smiling 29 years later x

I'm not sure where the week has gone. Feels like we've been back from Nice longer than a week. This time last week, we'd got back in the early hours. Took Sam and Poppy to the train station and started on the mountain of washing!! 

We've had good weather this week....

.....so the figs keep on coming!!

And the sunflowers are blooming.

I had my hair cut and coloured on Monday. Met up with a friend for coffee on Wednesday, early birthday celebrations for her. Then on Thursday evening Sophie arrived home  for a week. I met up with my sister on Friday for a long overdue catch up and then on Saturday....

....Sophie and I headed into Bristol.

We did a little shopping, had a nice lunch at Zizzi's, courtesy of my Tesco vouchers!! and then went to see Moulin Rouge. We've waited ages for this to tour and it was worth the wait.

The show was incredible. The main lead performer voices, were absolutely brilliant. The whole show was brilliant. Fantastic!! If you get the chance to go, go!!

And then whilst wandering back up to the car, we spotted Wallace

"that'll do nicely"

and Gromit!

And a Feathers McGraw and a Norbot!

There's a new Unleashed trail on, in and around Bristol. 

Maybe worth another visit to spot a few more!

"A Grand Day Out"

It's actually raining today, not the sunshiny day we had on our wedding day.

We're using the time to start planning out our big 30th wedding anniversary trip, next summer. 

We first holidayed together, in Greece, in 1993 and then each subsequent holiday was spent in Greece, barr our actual honeymoon, as we felt we should go somewhere different. We ended up in Majorca, staying half-board in a hotel with a pool, but wished we'd stuck with Greece. So our plan is to re-visit all the islands where we first holidayed together. Re-visit a few places and explore new parts of each island. We've already booked our flights and are now chunking out the time we spend on each island, depending on the ferries schedules.

Gosh! Don't we look young? 

And I think Jeff still has that same shirt, after all these years!!

One things for sure, I still love him as much as I did then, and marrying him all those years ago, was the single best thing I have ever done xx 

A 'nice' week away in Nice!

BONJOUR!!

Jeff and I have just returned from a bonus week away in the sun x

We spent a 'nice' week away in Nice!!

I last went to Nice in 1992, whilst inter-railing. It was the last stop of our trip. We had no money, we were tired, it rained! so my memories of it aren't great but we rectified that this week. I was somewhat surprised at how much of my O'Level French I remembered, from some 39 years ago!!

We stayed in a small town just over 10 minutes by train, outside of Nice, in Cros-de-Cagnes. 

We booked a studio on the top floor of a Villa, right on the sea front, with the most fabulous views and the perfect spot for Jeff to take his morning swim. 

From there we took the train to the neighbouring towns along the coast....Nice, Menton, Antibes and Ventimiglia in Italy. We had planned more, but it was very hot, the cost of trains added up, and so we struck a happy balance of a few exploring days and a few local beach days. As always loads of info and loads more pics are shared over on our travel Instagram page @hap_pea_travels

Samdi

Travel day and a late arrival.

Dimanche

Cros de Cagnes in the morning and Nice in the afternoon/evening

Lundi

Menton

Mardi

Cros de Cagnes beach day and market day

Mercredi

Antibes

Jeudi

A return visit to Nice

Vendredi

Ventimiglia on the Italian border

Samdi

Cros de Cagnes, beach day, travel home

We had a really lovely bonus week of sunshine and quality time together. 

Would we return? 

Yes! 

But when it's cooler....possibly even an early December trip! I want to go back to Menton when the lemon festival is on, which is late February/early March but that may have to wait until we retire or I do it with Sophie. One thing to consider is food and drink (beer in particular) is expensive. Our morning coffee and pastries, fine, around 10 euros. A supermarket lunch, fine, again around 10 euros for a baguette, salad bits, fruit, crisps from a supermarche. But evening meals averaged around 20-36 euros for a main meal and 9 euros for a beer in Menton!!!! So something to factor in.

We are now home for the remainder of the summer holidays. Although I go away with Sophie for a bonus week when Jeff starts back at school!! Lucky me!

Sam and poppy were home whilst we were away. They dutifully watered the garden, picked figs and emptied my freezer of all the food!!

 My little fig tree is overflowing with fruit this year. The gift that keeps on giving. 

He's been leaving them out for a friend to collect, so now we're home I can enjoy a few too xx