Frills 'n' Spills

I have just spent the last week staying with friends at a darling little cottage in St Ives; beach walks, board games and plenty of food and drink with great company was the best way to finish 2015 and start 2016. The photos speak for themselves about how beautiful a place Cornwall is and I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone looking for a beachy escape in the UK. It really is great, even in the rain!

Although I wish I had had a longer break (doesn't everyone?!) I am excited to see what 2016 brings as I have lots of fun things planned!

What are your plans for 2016?

We have been spending a lot of time recently trying to explore our local area and I always forget how lucky we are to live in such a beautiful part of the country. Considering how close Cheltenham is to  the rest of the Cotswolds, it seemed too good an opportunity to waste. Cirencester is only half an hour away from home for us but shockingly I have never been, so it was top of the list of places to visit when Mark suggested a mini break. We managed to get a really good deal at The King's Head and it was the most relaxing weekend (and the perfect start to my birthday week of fun!) I was so relaxed and it was so nice to spend time together exploring somewhere new.

Everything was super snazzy and I could happily have moved in permanently, if only I could be a lady of leisure all the time...

The bathroom was humongous and everything was very sleek...

We were originally planning to eat in the restaurant but as there weren't any reservations until half nine we went for room service instead. This burger was amazing although I was so full afterwards!

The hotel was right in the centre of town so we were able to start exploring straight away the next morning... 

It was absolutely pouring with rain though so we ended up sheltering in doorways and running between each stop. It really is a beautiful town though, even in the rain!

I was determined to visit the Corinium Museum and I was glad we did as it was super fun. Cirencester is best known for its Roman history but the museum covers from the Neolithic era, right up to the present day. Clearly a lot of the museum was focused at children (it would be a great family day out) but we definitely had more fun playing with all the exhibits than any of the children there!

A reconstruction of the south chamber of the Hazleton Long Barrow- all of the stones are original which is pretty cool!

I really liked the fact that everything felt quite spaced out, there's nothing worse than not being able to move around without fear of damaging a priceless artefact!

The 'Roman Garden' was beautiful, I just wish it had stopped raining long enough for us to go outside!

Mark dressed up as a Roman soldier whilst I serenaded him with a lute...

The Orpheus mosaic was laid in the 4th century AD and was so detailed. Mark and I had a lot of fun making up the puzzle too, who says it's just for kids?! ;)

I told you that there were a lot of mosaics! The Seasons Mosaic was discovered in Cirencester in 1849 and depicts the four seasons and scenes from Roman mythology. It is absolutely stunning and so huge!

A 'sator square'. These are such interesting artefacts and I advise that you read this fascinating article if you have a few minutes spare. 

We also tried writing our names using the Roman alphabet, I told we had you had a lot of fun!

There were so many cute cafes and restaurants to choose from but LB's at Swan Yard was our choice for a hot drink and some shelter from the rain ad we couldn't have picked a nicer spot. Very reasonable prices and such a friendly welcome too, I would definitely recommend it :)

We even got the chance to wander around the park. It was so beautiful, especially with all those gorgeous autumnal colours!

It's weird. I never realised how immersed I was in the world of books and publishing until I moved jobs. It was very strange to go from being surrounded by stacks of books to only having them at home. I have always loved books but I didn't realised how much I missed them until recently. Unfortunately time constraints and a rising level of stress has meant that my reading has suffered massively over the last few years but I have been making a conscious effort to switch off the TV and my laptop in the evening and curl up with a good book instead. My new job also allows me a slightly longer lunch so I'm able to whiz through a chapter (or ten!) during the day too. The best thing though was when my friend Tash decided to start a book group last year, it is super fun when we get together and although I have missed the last couple of sessions, I still manged to read the books. I really enjoy it and it has forced me out of my comfort zone to find new books and authors to love. I'm always on the lookout for new books (don't tell Mark and my poor buckling bookshelf) so please do share your recommendations!

These are some of the books I have read recently and although I wasn't a massive fan of Never Let Me Go (It fell flat for me as I just couldn't connect with the characters) I have really enjoyed the rest, especially The Talented Mr Ripley. Nicky, you will be pleased that I really loved your latest pick for book group, no moths in this one! ;)

Whilst I tend to read fiction, I have a lot of non-fiction on my TBR pile too, including the lovely Farfetch Curates Design book which was sent to me c/o the publishers Assouline. Whilst it is much smaller than you would expect for a coffee table book, I really enjoyed reading it and it is a really pretty package. It's the second book in the 'Farfetch Curates...' series and I am going to have to order the food one too as it looks great! Whilst £16 isn't cheap, the book feels like a lot of care and attention has gone into it (bonus: it smells amazing too!) and it would make a lovely gift for anyone interested in design, especially as it doesn't take up tons of room when you have a tiny flat!

Apologies for the radio silence recently, I have been super busy with work and have been finding things a bit overwhelming so blogging has had to take a back seat. Luckily, our families had something planned to get me out of the house and despite me being super tired, it was super fun! You know how much I love going on little day trips (yes I am already an OAP!) and Croome Court was ideal as it is just up the road from us. It is one of the closest National Trust properties to us and we used to visit a lot when we were kids but it has been a while (last time we went, my 4 siblings and I managed to fit into a hollow tree trunk, that's how log ago it was!) so I was interested to see how much had changed since then. 

We had really lovely weather and the estate looked beautiful. I love visiting stately homes and swanning around pretending to own the place, I definitely could live as a lady of leisure! ;)

Croome was a little different though as it is currently undergoing significant restoration at the moment. 

I mean you can see it in these pictures, there were flagstones pulled up, walls exposed and scaffolding covered the outside of the house. 

The beautiful decorations just made the contrast even more stark...

The Long Gallery was probably my favourite room, it was fairly bare but had loads of cool art in which was apparently inspired by Croome...

I mean, isn't this cool?!

I'm not sure when these tiles date from but they look super 1970s to me!

There were originally some beautiful French tapestries in this room but they were sold off when the estate ran into difficulties. The dominant colour was this gorgeous raspberry pink- I bet they made an amazing feature wall!

A dizzying look up the staircases (this house is huge)

The dining room is amazing, the fruit plasterwork dates back to the eighteenth century but the house was used by Hare Krishnas between 1979 and 1984 and they painted it all in these vibrant colours. It's a bit of a controversial topic but I love how colourful it is, even if others aren't so sure!

Beautiful views along the culvert...

There was a kite flying event on and although we had limited success, it was very very fun!

A look back up the hill towards St Mary Magdalene's Church, Croome D'Abitot.