Beautiful Easter Weekend

Really been loving the weather these last few days, haven't you? I was in need of some serious light therapy and it is doing no harm at all.  We lapped up the sun on Monday after a very chilly Easter Saturday hunting Easter eggs at Clandon House in Surrey and nondescript Easter Sunday.

We spent the afternoon walking through the woods and lounging on the lawns of The Vyne, a National Trust property in Henley-Upon-Thames.  We are frequent visitors, but the light was especially beautiful this last Monday, it was so bright and made everything look really vivid, the green of all the new shoots coming up contrasting against a brilliant blue sky was stunning. 

These smelled absolutely amazing, it really pays to take the time to bend down and smell flowers.  Heavenly. 

A bit on impromptu breastfeeding, I don't often carry Biscuit on the front because I find it a bit of a strain on my back, but for the sake of some mobile breastfeeding I am willing to give it a go.

New blades of grass shooting through the layer of beech leaves,

It's really important to us that the boys get out into nature as much as possible, they learn so much and benefit from it is so many different ways. We love letting them get their hands (and knees and bums) dirty on a regular basis, and they seem to love it too. There was so much to explore in the woods, here they are examining a tree stump, Boris takes a particular interest in fungus. 

Hope you all had a gorgeous Easter weekend. 

My boy turns 1!

Yesterday my little man turned one!  I can hardly believe it has been a whole year since he came bursting into the world; but when I look back it also seems hard to believe that it was just a year ago that we were a household of only two. It seems like he has been around forever, he is so much a part of our lives.
We had a really great weekend with both our families.  On Sunday we had a retro tea party at home with sausage rolls, party rings and jelly!  Then we went to Beale Park which only recently re-opened for the season, it was lovely strolling around in the sun looking at all the animals, my favourite were marmosets, Orren liked the chipmunks. Later we all went our for dinner.  Unfortunately Orren wasn't very well for the whole day so spent much of it asleep or wrapped up in a blanket.  He was much better on Monday so the hubby and I took him to an aquarium and he enjoyed looking at the fish.  He still isn't 100%, had a bad cold that knocked him for 6, and made me think that actually he hasn't ever really been ill, this was definitely the first time he has ever had a high temperature and he had a terrible nights sleep, (which meant we had a terrible nights sleep), but at least now I know what to look for is he seems poorly and it is reassuring that my boobie milk is doing him some good in the immunity department! 
I am trying to not dwell too much on the giving birth bit of him arriving because I still feel pretty traumatised by it, and trying to focus on how lovely he is and how much I am enjoying life with him in it.  It is hard not to think about it though and I am reminded of how much I have changed in the past year, not always in good ways, I have definitely lost a bit of my self confidence amongst other things.  Hopefully time will help heal the emotional scars. 
Anyhoo, here are some photos of our special birthday weekend:

Opening presents from family and friends, he got A LOT of presents, think we might have to have them on rotation!

Everyone listened carefully and bought him some beautiful wooden toys sans batteries.

The fam in our living room, with Orren at the centre of everyone's attention, just where he likes to be!

His birthday cake that I made and iced, he loves balloons and the icing colours I used are those I chose for his bedroom before he was born.

Looking at the Emus, Orren is fascinated by birds.

Pidgy Goat!

Fast asleep.

Enjoying a delicious evening meal.

Scallops with cauliflower puree and pork scratching's, yes please!

All in all and lovely weekend, I felt very happy afterwards, not least because my sister came back from 3 and a half months of travelling, I missed her.

Holiday 2012

Last week we finally went on a holiday!  My first for nearly 3 years, and let me tell you, it was a looong time coming, and it was soooooo good!  I just RELAXED the whole time, wonderful!  And I am afraid I didn't really want to come back home to the hum drum of every day life, doing laundry and endless dished, tidying and stressing about getting to places on time. It was so nice to spend hours reading, and putting my feet up, not worrying about cleaning and tidying, playing with Orren, spending time talking to my husband, doing cross words, visiting lovely old houses and romantic ruins, walking on the beaches, not having to be anywhere in particular.  It was bliss.  

We didn't travel far, just to the North Norfolk coast to a little fisherman's cottage in a village called Blakeney.    Thankfully we had some wonderful sunny, if a little blowy days, and only one day of drizzle.  

On our holiday we:

• Walked along the Quay at Blakeney,
• Visited three National Trust properties; Felbrigg Hall, Blicking Estate and Oxburgh Hall,
• Visited two lots of ruins; Binham priory and Baconsfield Castle,
• Visited three seaside towns and walked on their beaches; Wells-Next-the-Sea, Cromer and Sheringham,
• Ate lunch at the Blakeney Hotel,
• Had lots of picnics,
• Laughed a lot,
• Took lots of photos: