A Review of 2014

I can't believe the year is at it's end already, it doesn't seem possible.  But my word, what a year it has been.

I've always wanted to do one of these review posts, but amongst all the Christmas chaos have never been organised enough to do one, but all that has changed this year.  I'm a very organised person but this year I'm aiming to be super organised starting from now.  So here it is my review of 2014.

January

January was a good start to the year.  I bought my wedding dress, visited London with my Mum for a spot of window shopping and to see the Bodyguard, which we both loved.  Country walks were had, time with friends was enjoyed.

February

Sadly February didn't follow suit.  It started badly from the off with the devastating news that our dear neighbour and landlady had passed away.  We had only known her for a year, but in that short time she touched our lives and our hearts and we will remember her always.  The rest of the month wasn't much better with constant rain and flooding.  However, the chickens didn't seem phased and there was progress made with the wedding plans.

March

March saw the start of spring and what a welcome sight it was too.  A visit to my Grandad's bench, lots of daffodils and cherry blossom.

April

April embraced spring time with beautiful apple blossom.  We had our first camping trip of the year complete with little lambs.  I visited my first craft show of 2014.  A weekend was spent apple pressing to make cider.  We celebrated Easter.  I received happy mail from Canada and colour was beginning to appear in the garden.  It was a pretty month.

May

During May lots of time was spent outdoors.  The weather was very kind to us and an early summer was enjoyed.  I began the practical part of my bee-keeping course.  Spent a day at the young farmers country show.  Visited the 2 churches in Willingale with family and enjoyed watching the skies during the occasional downpour.

June

In June we welcomed 2 new chickens to Hensington Palace.  Annie & Clarabel are light Sussex hens (we discovered in September that Clarabel was in fact Clarence, so was replaced by Pip) I made Elderflower cordial for the first time (probably the last, I wasn't keen).  Spent a day with my Mum & my Nan and enjoyed afternoon tea together.  Lots of jam making in preparation for our wedding and lots of lovely flowers and confetti making too.

July

I celebrated my birthday in July.  Me and James spent the weekend camping, we got to try out the Tiny House at the camp-site we regularly visit and James had booked me onto a basket making workshop.  Cream teas were had by myself and Marie and some stunning sunsets were seen.  A very beautiful month indeed.

August

August involved lots of wedding planning with crafts aplenty, bridesmaid hair trials and dress fittings, days out with my girl in London to visit the felt Cornershop, a trip to the seaside with my man, and walks across the fields to sit on hay bales and watch the sunset.  Perfect.

September

Lots of hen celebrations in September.  First with a weekend in Bath followed by my country bridal shower consisting of yet more cream tea and pottery painting.  My new passport arrived.  And lots of wedding preparation took place.

October

By far the best month of my life.  We got married on the 10th of October, it was a truly magical day spent with all of our friends and family, seeing all of our hard work and efforts coming together was a great accomplishment.  We honeymooned at Ragdale Hall health spa and enjoyed each others company for an uninterrupted week.  The end of the month involved Halloween & Firework plans coming together.  

November

We celebrated Fireworks night with our friends and family with a Halloween & firework party at ours.  I carved our giant pumpkin.  Spent time blogging.  Spent a day with Gemma at the Country Living Country fair and met Cherry Menlove.  Another Christmas adventure was had with Marie at Norpar Barns.  Christmas preparations were well under way.

December

December is one of my most favourite months in the year, purely because of Christmas and this year was no exception.  Lots of tree photos, and yummy food, family and gifts, a spot of crafting and lots of candles.  We were even treated to a wedding this year too.

It has been an amazing year, Thank You 2014.  Let's see what 2015 holds.

Happy New Year x

A Country Bridal Shower

Initially I had intended on planning my own bridal shower, but if I'm being honest with you, I spent more time stressing about what everyone else would want to do rather than what I wanted to do.  It was here that my good friend Marie and my lovely Mum stepped in and took over.  

They did an amazing job.  I couldn't have done it any better myself. The whole day was just lovely and the little touches were just right, it was all very me.

We started off with afternoon tea in a gorgeous local tea room in the village called The Secret Garden.  I have been a few times before but have never before had exclusive use of the private function room.  I felt very special.

We ate well, talked lots and even played a few games.  

Once we had all finished we headed off to another local business in the village to take part in another of my favourite activities.  Pottery painting.

It was so nice seeing my friends and family (some who have never met before) getting along with each other and enjoying the afternoon as much as I was.  

I know it isn't everyone's cup of tea (excuse the pun) but I honestly couldn't of thought of anything else I would have wanted to of done.  And I have to say, I loved the country references hehee.

Gem x x x

Hen's in Bath

I've been away longer than I'd planned, but I have a good excuse this time.  I've been busy getting married.  Yes you are now reading the blog of a newly married woman (now I never imagined hearing myself saying that)  I will be sharing with you our special day but thought I'd take you back to my hen celebrations first.  No need for censoring these posts though ladies, it's not really my kind of scene, sorry to disappoint.

I knew I was going away for a weekend with my Mum, but that was all I knew, I had no idea where I was going, I had been given a list of what to pack but had been told that there may well be some red herrings in there so it didn't really give me any clues.  You can imagine my surprise when not only my mum turned up to collect me but also my best friend Marie and my brother's girlfriend Rebecca.  I'd been given the option of a clue, but I figured they had kept it quiet this long so I'd wait until we arrived at our destination.  It just goes to show how well they all know me, We ended up in Bath, somewhere I have always wanted to go.

We checked into out hotel and headed straight to the thermal spa where we were all booked in for a treatment and an afternoon in the spa.  It was lovely and very relaxing.  We had a good gossip in the steam rooms and pools before heading off to our treatments, it was lush.  The evening ended in a gorgeous restaurant  followed by an early night, Very rock 'n' roll haha.

The next day was a proper touristy day sightseeing around Bath.  We started the day off at the Roman Baths.  Such an incredible place, some things in this world never ceases to amaze me.

After the baths we stopped for breakfast and then took a leisurely stroll up the the Circus and the Royal Crescent.

Such beautiful architecture.

Mind you I'm not sure I'd fancy living there, I reckon I'd get a bit fed up with all the tourists milling about the place.

The weekend was finished off nicely with a high tea back at our hotel.

Such a lovely weekend with some lovely ladies.  I was spoilt rotten.

~ Gem x