Hyde Hall Photo Walk

Mr Writer and I recently had a week off and took advantage of the lovely Spring weather to get out and about exploring the local Essex countryside. The Spring flowers are in full bloom and there is blossom in the trees- everywhere is looking so pretty at the moment! We were given the very thoughtful gift of an RHS membership and our nearest RHS garden is Hyde Hall in Essex. It's interesting to visit the gardens throughout the seasons to see how they change. Here are some photos from our lovely Spring walk around the gardens...

Check out the Minion scarecrow!

Hope you're all enjoying some Spring sunshine where you are. I'll be back at the weekend sharing a Spring inspired How To- until then, have a great rest of the week!

Weekend Walks

Things are very busy here and I 'm working toward something I can tell you about soon, but in the mean time I've been getting out for weekend walks as it really clears my mind to get out in the fresh air.I don't know about you, but I find it helps to have a change of scenery for a little while when life gets hectic. I live in a little town in Essex near my local park which has the river flowing beside it- here are some photos from my late afternoon walk along the river last weekend where I snapped some of my favourite views...

Beeleigh Abbey Gardens, Essex

I live in a small town in Essex surrounded by beautiful countryside. Not too far from where I live is Beeleigh Abbey and periodically throughout the year the beautiful gardens are open to the public. On Friday my mum and I walked there and I'd like to share some photos from our our visit with you!

The Abbey itself was founded in 1180

I kept saying to my mum as we walked round that I think the Abbey and the grounds have a real Midsummer Murders feel to them- the episodes are always filmed in lovely picturesque countryside locations, so I often wonder if they will visit Beeleigh to film one day!

I've always wanted a pond, I love water and it must be lovely to spend an afternoon sitting here

The grounds are vast but immaculate, so much work must go into maintaining them! 

It was a chilly but bright day

Spring Daffodils

The gardens are open periodically from April to August- it would be interesting to visit in the summer to see the change in the seasonal flowers and plants

There's something lovely and quaint about greenhouses. I had to capture the impressive stack of plant pots over by the shed too!

The gardens back onto the River Chelmer. A peaceful spot

Walking home through the countryside after a lovely morning. Find out more about visiting Beeleigh Abbey here

Happy Sunday everyone!

On Instagram in March

I can't quite believe that here we are in April!This year is flying by so fast! Here's a look at what I got up to in March through my Instagram photos...

Baking...Mr Writer had been asking me to make this Jaffa Cake from Jamie Oliver's Comfort Food book for ages, so when I had a week off from the day job at the beginning of the month I made it! I felt like I was in a Bake Off challenge because you had to grill layers of cake mixture! 

Getting out for local walks by the water

Lunch by the Loch

My Mum works with children and she asked me to knit a hat for this rubber duck to illustrate a story. I wanted to keep him as a mascot!

Sharing some of my jewellery work

Experiments with patching fabric and soluble film 

A sneak peek at some crochet I'm working on for my Small Project Challenge

Mr Writer and I got away for a short break in Sherwood Forest, Nottingham. This was the view from our wooden cabin in the forest, nothing but trees, birds and squirrels!

Walking in Clumber Park

Exploring Sherwood Forest

The friendly squirrelwe met in Clumber park, walking in Sherwood Forest and the grounds of Rufford Abbey   

Visiting The Bead Shop Nottingham, which was bead heaven! I'e been ordering Swarovski Crystals from them online for years now so it was lovely to get to visit the bricks and mortar shop!

I just had to snap a photo of this lovely doggy in the flower shop!

Sleepy Nelson cat in his favourite chair

Watching horse racing for the first time

A visit to the zoo! I especially like to see the Flamingos and Meerkats 

If you'dlike to follow me on Instagram you can find me here! I'd love to check out your pages too. What did you get up to in March?