Monday, March 14, 2011

Family Sunday... The Cotswolds, Gloucestershire

On Sunday Grant decided to surprise us with a day out... not so much a surprise of that we could leave the house, THAT we frequently do, but as in he wouldn't tell me where we were off to.... ok, that he also frequently does!

As usually I started the day with a little sleep-in as my Sundays usually go (Grant will do the 5am shift) and then a skype and webcam call with my parents in Australia.

The weather was looking pretty rubbish so I didn't hold high hopes for what we would be up to, I admit that on drizzly days, instead of just dressing for the weather and braving the elements I tend to hibernate indoors under the duvet feeling warm.

So, I found out we were headed for The Cotswolds, a 2 1/2 hour drive away from us in Hampshire.

Grant had done a little research and looked into some of the villages that make up the area, today, we were headed for Broadway.

It was so picturesque I fell immediately in love with the area, luckily for us the day got brighter as the sky cleared,  even I whom hates long drives, found myself enjoying the journey; it is amazing what scenery of rolling hills and a Starbucks will do... a little Dutch Metal in the CD player and we were good to go.

Avalon snoozed pretty much the whole way and awoke as we made it into Broadway...

What a beautiful place, gift shops, independent pubs and cafe's, antique stores, B&B's... my sort of place.

We stumbled upon a beautiful old church and graveyard, as well as visited the somewhat famous Broadway Tower and saw the deer.

Here are a few snapshots of our family Sunday...


Unfortunately as we left there was a bit of a dampener on our day; my camera had ballsed up and DELETED all my photos (never fear, as you can see they were recovered.) In the ensuing stress, we decided we will return again, hopefully soon.

There is so much more to see of the area, one day will not cut it.

I love our family Sundays...

HOPE in Farnham

Last Thursday I had 4 baby-free hours to myself. 

My dear friend Becky and her husband Denny will be look after Avalon one day a week when I return to work, so I decided to get my haircut, have a look around lovely Farnham and finish some preparation for Avalon's 1st Birthday Party in April while they had her~ a trial if you will for me and her and being apart.

I take Avalon to a baby group every Monday at the Baptist Church in Farnham and knew the church was holding an art competition in conjunction with Farnham UCA

The exhibition centred around the idea of 'Hope' and what it meant to each of the artists. I had 30 minutes to kill before my hair appointment and decided to have a look at the exhibition.

I must say I was quite impressed with the work displayed and loved that 'Hope' had a myriad of meanings to the featured artists.













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