So far summer has been a washout, we’re hoping it improves but so far it is showing no signs. But still we are managing to enjoy ourself with a busy weekend catching up with friends.  Let’s take a look at the this week’s top five:

One

It is no secret that Calum likes baking! This week he tried his hand at a home made Bakewell tart, following a recipe we found in Country Living magazine. It was really quite simple, and tasted miles better than a shop bought tart.

Two

We have had a couple of failures in the cut flower garden, the rudbeckia didn’t germinate, and Rich’s mum accidentally dug up the Bells of Ireland seedlings. However on the positive we have a good stream of sweat peas that we can have around the house, they look great with a couple of stems of lady’s mantle.

Three

For slightly convoluted reasons we are both a little bit obsessed with American interior design. We love it when we find HGTV shows on British TV, and whenever we are in the states we have to traipse around all the interior shops to get inspiration and pick up catalogues. Between visits statesside we have to make do with American magazines, our current favourite is Country Living.

Four

The home section of TK Maxx is one of our favourite shops, we get lots of cool things from there at really great prices. What is even better is when you go for a quick browse and find a couple of cool things that have been further reduced. We found the above urn and plant pot that work great in our bedroom and cost £10 in total (the picture frames were also for there too)!

Five

Last week was the annual RHS Hampton Court Flower Show.  It is held in the grounds of the palace and in our opinion it is the nicest of the RHS flowers shows. It has lovely show gardens, beautiful floral displays and a wide range of retail stalls Rich got lots of inspiration for our future garden, we just need to find a house now!

It’s July and it seems summer is already running away with us. Mind you the summer weather doesn’t seem to have arrived yet so we’ll hold out hope!

One

The weather of late has been, what could politely be described as ‘Changeable’ it is a bit tricky to plan anything as you never know if you are going to get caught in a downpour.  However Saturday night turned out to be very pleasant so we grabbed the opportunity to have an impromptu BBQ. Calum cooked (as per usual) and we raided the supplies to set a nice table. If a job is worth doing well and all that!

Two

As a bit of an indulgent treat we created a cookie cake for Saturday’s pudding.  It is a very simple but massively impressive desert. It is just a pile of cookies sandwiched with cream, mascarpone and some sugar. It was ridiculously unhealthy but ever so lovely!

Three

We have got into the habit of taking a picnic out with us when we go on our adventures. There is something wonderful about siting in the english countryside to eat our lunch, taking a moment to enjoy our surrounding and to recharge. I feel we could all benefit from more picnics in life!

Four

This weekend’s adventures took us to a couple of inspirational gardens, including Nymans in West Sussex. The house burnt down in the 1940s but the garden remains as grand as ever. In our ongoing quest to visit as many National Trust Properties as possible we have now passed the 5% barrier!

Five

We both love Bees, coincidently they we’re the emblems of both of our schools, and we plan of keeping bees when we have enough space to.  In the mean time Rich found this lovely print  by The Tasty Painter on Etsy, we love it!

We are on our holidays! So this week we might be quieter than normal…. we might also just be posting lots of pictures of France! But first let’s take a look at last week’s top five!

One

By the time you read this we will be holidaying in The Loire Valley. We are staying near to Tours in a little village called Courleon in a cute holiday cottage. The plan is to visit as many chateaux as possible, eat as much cheese as possible and drink as much wine. We’ll let you know how we get on!

Two

France twice in one week? Well that is exactly what Calum has done, his work meant he had to go to the airbus factory in Toulouse.  This is a place that Rich’s grandfather use to visit regularly when he was a production manager on Concorde. As a reminder of Papa we have this awesome picture of Concorde on our wall, it was give to him as a retirement present, we inherited it on his passing.

Three

As a bit of a treat to ourselves we bought this gorgeous Peppermint Tea & Thyme scent. It is part of Wax Lyrical’s range made in partnership with Fired Earth.  It was actually a tough decision which one to choose as the whole range smells gorgeous but in the end the freshness of this scent won out.

Four

It has been busy around the cottage as Rich’s parents are frantically getting their garden really for it’s annual opening. They have been opening their garden for over 10 years as part of a village garden safari and also as part of the National Gardens Scheme. If you fancy coming along to either of these openings you’d be more than welcome!

Five

As well as Annie the cat and Hettie the dog, the cottage has some other residents. We have a dove cote in the garden with population of white fan tailed doves. The dove coot was a 25th wedding anniversary present from Rich’s Dad to his Mum. The Doves are highly entertaining creatures, watching them go about their live gives us all no end of pleasure, especially when the baby doves (know as squabs) arrive!