ADVENT ready!!

Pinch and a punch.....

....hello December!!

Farewell to the fabulous month of November!

What a super busy month!! Sophie's birthday, my birthday, and a mixed month of work and pleasure! Two weeks of work/exam invigilation, then, Mary Poppins, Will Young, Wicked (film) Emily Powell's fabulous 'Arktisk' exhibition 💖 First frosts, beautiful sunrises and sunsets. Trips to Cornwall to see my folks and Cardiff to see Sophie and Sam. A great month x

And an awful lot of that has been packed into this past week!

So, on Monday, I headed down to Cornwall. I last went in June with Sophie, so it was about time I went down to see my parents. As it was dry, I headed all the way down to St Ives, as again, it's been ages since I was last there.

I didn't realise until I was there, just how much I needed to see and hear the sea 

and just breathe in the salty fresh air. 

It was lovely and quiet, just how I like it. 

And there was most definitely a little festive feeling in the air.

On Tuesday Mum and Dad joined me for brunch, out at Tremenheer Sculpture Gardens. 

There is a lovely cafe there, which is accessible for mum.

We then dropped her back home and Dad and I headed over to Trelissick Gardens for a walk. 

Dad can't get out as much as he'd like, as he's really now mum's full time carer. 

So when I'm down, I like to get him out and about in the fresh air for an hour or two.

I headed back home on the Wednesday, taking a slight detour, via Newton Abbot, to see a fabulous exhibition by the artist Emily Powell. I have been stalking her on Instagram for a couple of years now and finally got to see her fabulous work in person and meet her too.

Her work is the most fantastic, colourful, vibrant, uplifting explosion of joy. This exhibition, titled Arktisk, is a result of a painting trip to the Arctic. I LOVED every single inch. A whole room, from floor to ceiling, made up of 100 + individual 1mx1m square canvases filled her studio space.

It was just BRILLIANT

Each square was a painting in it's own right. I could have happily brought  a few home with me but sadly her paintings are out of my financial reach. But I do believe owning an 'Emily Powell' will be of huge value in the future, as she's just been taken on by Banksy's agent.

Thursday morning was stunning!

What a view to wake up to!

I was in school on and off, doing a little internal exam invigilation.

The school grounds were looking lovely and festive as I was leaving.

Friday was 'hair colour and cut' day! Then I packed up the car and headed to Cardiff. It was an horrendous journey. Took an hour longer than it should have done, due to the M49 being completely closed for resurfacing and then 10 mph traffic around Newport. It was worth it though, to see the kids. I dropped off my stuff at Sophie's, then collected Sam and took him food shopping, before heading back to Sophie's to stay, and put up her Christmas tree together.

Then on Saturday my sister came up to visit for the day. She'd not been to Sophie's flat yet and as she's thinking of buying a house soon, if she didn't see it now, she might of missed it completely. 

So after a quick tour and a coffee, we walked over to Snails Deli for brunch.

It was a good idea, as although busy and festive, it was a much better place to be then town!!

We headed in to town afterwards, to do a little Christmas shopping but it was sooooo busy!

Whilst we were in the centre, Sophie and I went and saw Wicked, as Jo headed back to Bath on the train. Two hours and forty minutes went by in a flash!! It's had all the hype and I really enjoyed it. I have seen the stage musical twice, so knew the story but there were so many additions and links to the original Wizard of Oz, although I'm sure I missed enough to warrant going to see it again!!

So here I am now, Sunday evening, home in time to celebrate Advent! 

I have my advent calendar up, Christmas mug out, the chocolate tin is full....

......and my first Christmas card opened!

Christmas can now officially begin and a little bit of festive magic can drip in day by day xx