After a busy few days, we decided to have a relaxing day out and about in Beaulieu. It's one of my favourite places to visit in the New Forest as there are always donkey's strolling around as well as the odd pony or two, and there are some great little shops to pay a visit to.
Today we bumped into two incredibly fluffy donkey's waiting right outside one of the restaurants, they were ever so friendly and were very interested in my camera!
After a spot of lunch we then walked to Bucklers Hard. Along the whole route there were some lovely vibrant yellow flowers.
The trees were also covered in various types of moss in lots of different shades of green.
I cannot wait to get back out on my bike in the spring and summer and explore more of the forest . . .
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After a somewhat hectic week, I was very much looking forward to going to the Christchurch Food Festival, a celebration of all things yummy from the local area. There were so many stalls all selling delicious looking foods from around the world, all with one thing in common, the ingredients were, where possible, sourced locally. We made a b-line for the Garlic Farm stall and stocked up on some condiment sauces, although they did not have any of their garlic pesto or delicious garlic butter.
I also picked up a soda loaf from the Dorset bread stand, which is currently residing in our freezer for the time being, until I can find a weekend for us to devour it!
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The weather man has been promising blue skies and sunshine for many weeks now, and when it kind-of came true today, we jumped in the car and zoomed off in the direction of Beaulieu for a much needed afternoon out in the New Forest. I made a friend along the way in the form of a very curious pony . . .
After exploring the local shops we then set off for Bucklers Hard, an old ship building village, full of the most beautiful cottages, set a top an idyllic green overlooking the harbour. Hopefully next time we visit it will be a little bit brighter and warmer so we can take advantage of the pub and ice cream shop!
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I ended up in the lovely Molly's Den again yesterday, I was eager for Jason to see the vintage loveliness that is Molly's Den and show him some beautiful pieces of furniture I'd seen on my initial visit. I came out with a lovely vintage jar that is to be the new home for all of my ribbons, as they're currently spilling out of the one I'm currently using.
I'm hoping to get some spray pain or something similar so that I am able to colour the lid in a lovely pastel shade, as it's currently looking a bit tatty, but for £1 one can't really complain!
Jason invested in this beautiful decanter, for our bar, it's already in use, decanting his tipple of choice Amaretto, all for the bargain price of £20!!!
Mollie's Den are holding a vintage market to mark the launch of the new warehouse over the road, unfortunately I'm going to be in London, so we'll have to make a date in the diary for when we are both free to go over and have a look, hopefully we'll be in our new place by then, and I'll actually be able to invest in some of the furniture I've got ear marked!
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Today I've had the whole day to myself (Jason has been off on a chocolate making course) so I hopped in the car and went to visit Molly's Den, a huge warehouse full to the brim with beautiful pre-loved furniture, vintage clothing and bargains galore. There was so much to look at downstairs is full of beautiful wares, whilst upstairs houses the onsite cafe and yet more vintage loveliness. The space not only has items sourced by Molly's Den vintage scouts, but also from local artists and businesses, who can rent a small space to sell their vintage/reclaimed wares.
It will definitely be one of the first places we visit for new furniture after we've moved, I've got my eye on at least two dressers, some dining chairs and a beautiful chest of drawers, as well as plethora of vintage glassware and paisley eiderdowns.
There are plans afoot for the warehouse across from the current site, to hold 70 new sellers from the local area, and I for one can't wait! I couldn't leave without treating myself to one purchase, I couldn't resist this beautiful embroidery sampler, which is currently taking pride of place in our hallway, greeting everyone that comes through the door . . .
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This weekend we stayed at Jason's parents who live quite close to the New Forest, so never one to miss an opportunity we donned our wellies and ventured out to Ashurst route map in hand, however we didn't make it very far before I became stuck in the mud, with Jason having to yank me out, although I almost lost a wellie in the process!
We decided to concede defeat and visited the forest instead, it was so peaceful and we had a lovely time exploring. I made a number of new doggy friends, in particular a very cute puppy dachshund, which I'm sure if our limbs weren't quite so cold, could of run off with given half the chance, he was so cute! Definitely somewhere to visit again, there are some lovely pubs that we've ear marked for a Sunday lunch pit stop after a morning out and about . . .
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Winchester market has been at the top of my list to visit for quite some time, and leapt at the chance to go recently, however was left a little disappointed. There were not as many stalls as I was expecting, and a lot of the beautifully crafted items I found to be a tad on the expensive side. The cathedral was the perfect setting for the market, with the grounds and courtyards housing each stall.
There were some gorgeous Christmas decorations that were very tempting, and I would of invested in a few pieces, had I not made a solemn promise to myself to not buy anymore (I don't think our Christmas tree can take any more) unfortunately I didn't manage to get many good photos as by the time I'd finished skating may way around the resident ice rink it had gotten quite dark, hopefully if I get the chance to go again next year I'll get some better snaps . . .
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The finishing touches have been made to my Mum's Xmas tree, just in time too, I left to come back to Bournemouth the next day!
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Today we ventured out into the Suffolk countryside in search of the family Christmas tree. The farm was plonked in the middle of nowhere (Stanningfield to be exact) but it was well worth the expedition. The barn was brimming with the smell of Christmas, there were some lovely decorations and wreaths on display, as well as mince pies, shortbread, teas, coffees and hot chocolate to keep the energy levels up whilst searching for the perfect tree. This years search was significantly quicker than lasts years, which might of had something to do with the freezing cold temperature! Eventually we settled on a 6ft traditional tree, fingers crossed it will last until the big day without dropping too many of it's needles!
There were also some animals housed in the barn to keep the children occupied (and myself) whilst the grown-ups browsed. I ended up spending more time petting the animals rather than helping my Mum look for the tree . . .
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It was a beautiful day along the south coast today, and we decided to take full advantage of the fact that this could well be the last decent weekend we have for the rest of the year and packed up a picnic, jumped on our bikes and went for a bike ride to Hengistbury head, we then walked down to the beach, and then back through the nature reserve back to the bikes.
It was such a clear day we could see right across to the Needles on the Isle of Wight.
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We've not been down to Bournemouth beach in such a long time, on Saturday we took full advantage of the glorious weather and went for a stroll towards Hengistbury Head (didn't quite make it) there were so many dogs enjoying the beach, although not many braving the icy cold water . . .
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After the hectic-ness of this week we decided to head to the calm, relaxing and tranquil setting of Brockenhurst, getting some much needed exercise and fresh air on our 6 mile walk/adventure through the New Forest.
Everything started well, we actually managed to head off in the right direction! And then half way round we hit the cattle farm, where there was a river of deep mud and cow pat covering the alleged 'path', okay if you're wearing wellies but as we were in clean walking shoes it was somewhat of a challenge navigating our way through the 100 metres of poop covered track. However, it was made all the more entertaining by the group of elderly ramblers that we'd recently passed attempting the same mud assault course with varying degrees of success/failure, all whilst one of the owners stood by and watched in her wellies, and her other half whizzing off on a quad bike down the very same track with no offer of a lift!
Despite one minor detour, a very late lunch and being thoroughly exhausted by the time we completed the route, it was just what we needed and have vowed to go on more walks.
Brockenhurst is a beautiful place, complete with village butcher, green grocer, bakery, pub and tea shops a-plenty it's the quintessential village location. It's somewhere I would love to live, namely in this thatched cottage . . .
All of the houses in the New Forest either have cattle grids at the end of the drive or are gated to stop any roaming cows, pigs or ponies from wandering in and eating all of your garden, however they do still try . . .
Wild mushrooms growing in one of the many woodlands we walked through . . .
One of the many wild New Forest ponies, although it was happy to come and say hello whilst we figured out where we were on the map . . .
Beautiful Oak woodland at the end of the walk.
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A Sunday afternoon spent taking a stroll along Poole Quay, beautiful weather . . .
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