The end of Summer

The summer is nearly over. In fact, the weather has turned from glorious sunshine to grey and rainy as if to remind me my time of freedom is coming to an end. Naturally, this means I have been trying to fit all the things I planned to do into a few days but it was worth it!

At the weekend Morgan and I travelled back to Wales once more. His mum had very kindly bought us and his sister Genevieve tickets to see the Globe Theatre's touring production of Hamlet. We all thoroughly enjoyed the performance which was surprisingly witty and of course the beautiful setting of St Donat's Castle. I foolishly forgot my camera but here are some photos I found on google, which, by the way, do not do this place justice!

 

I will definitely be looking out for their tour again next year!

 

 

The following day I was finally able to make a visit to my beloved city of Bristol. I spent a lovely morning with University friend Jo and finally got to meet her gorgeous 10 month old son, Elijah. I hadn't seen Jo since she was heavily pregnant last summer but despite her claiming months of sleepless nights she was looking fantastic as always. It was nice to catch up on how our lives had changed in the past year; Jo's delightful addition to her family and my second year of teaching and Morgan's move to Surrey. Coincidentally we are also both house hunting at the moment too, although the house prices slightly vary between Surrey and Yatton, don't tell Morgan!

 

Me and the angelic Elijah!



After lots of cuddles I met up with my host for the night, Miss Kirsty Cooke! Again we spent a long lunch catching up until other customers started arriving for dinner! Kirsty and I used to spend hours talking about everything and nothing when we lived together whilst at University and I think it is a testament to our friendship that despite the distance our relationship hasn't changed at all.

 

That evening we watched one of my favourite ITV dramas... Downton Abbey! Due to social conditioning from watching this programme every Sunday evening with my mum I now must have a glass a baileys in my hand as the credits roll, they go so well together. Roll on series 3 this Autumn!

 

The following day it was back on the train, destination London. After many weeks of leisure it was time I got back to my studies and so to the library I headed. However, my productivity was rewarded that evening when my darling sister took me to dinner before another trip to the theatre, this time to see the musical Mamma Mia! Luckily for us we discovered M&M World first! Here we are with our new friends:

Emma and Sir Yellow

 

 

 

 

Me and Red

 

Finally we made it to see Mamma Mia, which was amazing!!! I think our favourite part had to be the flipper dance, quite the sight to see. And of course the classic Emma moment:

 

Emma went to buy a programme to see who would be performing in the show. She came back and we made our way to our seats. I started to flick through the programme and find lots of pictures and information about ABBA but no cast list. Emma is as puzzled as me but we let it go. Then I spot someone in the row in front with a smaller sized programme. "What's the difference between ours and the smaller one over there?" I asked her. "Oh, that's the programme and this is the souvenir." Yes, Emma was conned into buying a booklet containing pictures of previous casts rather than the programme she specifically asked for and was offered! I'm sure I haven't told you the story right but trust me, it was hilarious at the time!

 

Ok this post is getting on a bit so I will go for now, but thank you friends and family for a really lovely few days!

A Surpise in Surrey...

When driving through the rural landscape that is Wales, Morgan turned to me and said "You don't have sheep in Surrey do you?" Despite my protests that there are sheep in Surrey (although admittedly a lot less than in South Wales) Morgan was adamant that sheep did not exist in Surrey since he hadn't seen any since he moved there a year ago. "And there aren't any cows either!"

Fast forward no less than 48 hours later to today. I had a little spare time before Morgan would be finishing work so I decided to take an impromptu stroll along the River Wey. As children we used to go for lots of walks here with friends and family and I'm not sure why I hadn't been for so long since the scenery is just beautiful!

I even found the little bridge Emma, David and I used to get ridiculously excited over since it was child size only!

But best of all, on my walk I found...

Sheep!

I hope my discovery will help Morgan feel a little less homesick now that he knows the sight of sheep is just a short, picturesque walk away.

P.S. Did you know there are more sheep than people in Wales? According to these statistics there are 3 sheep to every person living in Wales. Of course you did!  However, did you know sheep can dance?

Incredible Dancing Sheep!

A Weekend in Wales

One of the best things about Morgan is that he is Welsh! Which means that whenever we head West to visit his family it feels like going on a little holiday. Morgan's family lives in a really beautiful part of Wales along the coast and we've been on some very picturesque walks there before. This weekend, however, was about catching up with friends and family. We went for a meal with friends Jon and Rob on the Friday evening at Las Iguanas (lovely food, worth visiting!) and followed by a trip to the cinema to see the film Ted. If you haven't been to see it already then what are you waiting for! It was hilarious and definitely one of the best films of the year.

Saturday we spent with Morgan's grandparents, mum and sister. Gramps has been digging out photographs of Morgan and Gen from when they were little which I loved looking at. I will try and post a couple of pictures next time. After a swim with Kirstie and Gen in the morning, Morgan's Dad and Beth took us out for a meal at a local pub/restaurant where the food was gorgeous! I was especially pleased as it meant I could have Welsh Roast Lamb for lunch.

We're back home now but luckily we'll be back again next week to go see Hamlet!

Summer Holidays

I'm feeling a little bit like a child again. We're halfway through the summer holidays and although past experience has taught me the next couple of weeks will fly by, I feel like I still have forever left before it's back to school. In many ways this feeling is amazing. I have the time to catch up with friends, visit places, go to the gym (only once) and restore my energy levels.  At the same time I also feel this pressure to have something to show for my time off work to prove I didn't waste the days away roaming the Internet or watching repeats of The Big Bang Theory (I have).

This pressure is entirely a creation of my own mind. It is the part of me that signs myself up for everything and everything before thinking rationally about the commitments I'm making. Hopefully starting this blog will keep me a little occupied over the next few weeks and help document the moments in my life worth remembering.