It doesn’t seem five minutes since we were in Ghent but the weeks seem to be flying by at the moment don’t they? We’ve travelled to Belgium a few times now but this was the first time we’d visited Ghent. Seen as one of Europe’s best kept secrets, it has many medieval landmarks lining it’s mostly traffic free streets.
There are a number of places that are great for bluebells at this time of year. Although we’re a little bit spoilt in Surrey, our favourite has to be Hatchlands Park. Managed by the National Trust and located a stones throw away from Guildford, it’s somewhere we head to regularly. While we mostly visit as a family, on this occasion it was brilliant to meet up with a couple of my favourite people, Mummy Barrow and HPMcQ.
I distinctly remember wandering round JoJo Maman Bebe while I was pregnant. It was refreshing to find a shop that offered a choice of beautifully tailored designs rather than a plethora of pale pink and glitter. We purchased a sleepsuit that day and some other bits as we didn’t know whether POD would be a boy or a girl at that stage. A few weeks after her Christmas Day arrival in 2010, we were back at JoJo Maman Bebe and we’ve shopped there regularly ever since.
Moving from the big smoke to Surrey in 2010 is one of the best decisions we ever made. POD arrived on Christmas Day that year and she’s grown up enjoying the outdoors whatever the weather. She always says she loves it when it rains as she can jump in muddy puddles and catch raindrops on her tongue.
It’s raining and I’m finding it increasingly distracting. It’s not particularly noisy but something has caught my eye outside and I can’t help but look. What I’m excited about is a bush. A bush outside the patio window adorned with purple berries. Like glistening jewels, each berry is momentarily encased by a raindrop before it falls to the ground. What I see however is one berry and a raindrop on the cusp of being separated. That’s what I want to capture, the very thought giving me butterflies and sending me outside.
If you asked me what my favourite programmes were as a child, The Clangers would definitely be up there. Originally broadcast back in the Seventies, it told the story of a family of murine creatures that lived inside a hollow planet. The Clangers consist of Mother Clanger, Major Clanger, Granny Clanger, Tiny Clanger and Small Clanger. Other planet inhabitants included the Froglets, a trio of orange aliens, the scrap metal Iron Chicken, the blue cow-like Sky Moos plus the Soup Dragon and her baby. Speaking only in whistles, they ate green soup, provided by the soup dragon, and blue string pudding!
As soon as you leave the car and head down a pathway lined by the tallest of trees, you know Frensham Little Pond will be a bit special. It says a lot about a place if you instantly feel relaxed the moment you arrive. You can almost sense the tension slipping away from your shoulders while you take a deep intake of breath. Arriving at the waters edge to admire the view, you can’t help but smile at this 13th century gem and the stunning heathland that surrounds it.
Last summer POD wore a Konfidence swim jacket for the first time while on holiday. It made a huge difference to her water confidence having got ‘the fear’ a couple of years earlier. She began swimming lessons in January and this week we had a huge breakthrough in that she submerged her head completely to retrieve a dive stick! Being selected as a Konfidence #swimologist family could not have come at a better time as we’re sure this will be the year POD learns to swim. To celebrate Konfidence is offering one lucky reader the opportunity to win £50 to spend on their swimming essentials.
POD has climbed since she was about two years old so it won’t come as a surprise to learn she loves trees. She’s even attempted to scale those with no branches before in her quest to get up high. Sometimes however she just sits, looking as if she’s in an armchair albeit without anything supporting her. While she has great body strength, I’m sure it can’t be comfortable! That said it’s a rather lovely moment captured on a recent walk.
