A True English Country Garden

So the last week saw us scouting out areas for our up coming house move and boy did we find some beautiful places... we'll ignore the not so pretty ones!

Staying at my Auntie's allowed us three days surrounded by the stunning Somerset countryside in the village of Pitney. With it's winding roads, apple orchards and village culture, it just had to feature in this blog. Every garden seemed to epitomise an English Country Garden right down to the climbing roses encasing the fronts of houses. With my farming roots, it was heaven, tractors sitting in the fields, horses hacking (safely!) on the road... did I mention 'The Half Way House'. An Inn screaming with country character! Award winning Ale says it all! So after a few days of waking up to singing birds and horse hooves on the road it was time to embark on our mission... MI6 styley! 

True Country Garden in Pitney, Somerset

On our journey we came across Clovelly, a cobbled village that's too steep for cars so every house has a sledge for groceries... cute! In times past, donkeys were used to take things down (literally!) the village, but now the clovelly donkeys only come out when it's not raining! The gallery is definitely worth a visit, affordable pieces that are so unique and pretty, it allows you to take the seaside home with you! And the sea food shop! Yum... so much yum! 

Personally, I think we completed our job pretty well! We have found the area that we will eventually relocate to! It's stunning, fields around, and around a quarter of an hour from golden sand and surf beaches! Beautiful.

Cobbled Streets of Clovelly

No one would think, it's taken me over three hours to write this... whoops, maybe ladies... we can't multi task after all. I definitely can't learn song words for a cabaret with Melodia on Wednesday, (this sentence alone took a while... I got side tracked watching Jonathan Pryce's American Dream), sort out a farrier visit, and make dinner! 

Common Sight in the Fields of Somerset

Anyway, I better go and do one job at a time... I've disappointed myself with my inability to not get distracted...

Speak soon my country lovers!

With 

Summer's On It's Way

Well with Uni work put to one side, it's time to use this sunshine as inspiration for another blog post! 

Beautiful weather over the last bank holiday weekend could really only mean one thing, an impromptu trip to the sea side. It was a lovely day. I don't know what it was, the weather maybe,  but people seemed to be enjoying the simply things; long walks along the beach, puppet shows and each other's company. Some people were even in the sea... At Easter... Is it wrong to say I was tempted myself? But after careful consideration I only dipped my toes in (and ran out screaming due to the onset of frostbite).

After our sea side escapade, Monday was spent soaking up the sun with a cider in Buxton, a beautiful peak district town with local culture oozing from every corner. Brass bands playing, food and craft fairs... Safe to say I purchased and ate a traditional Buxton pudding within two days! They're just so yummy! We came home to find that we've had our first few lambs, just in time for Easter, who were up and playing within hours. Milo wasn't quite sure what to make of the mini sheep...    

Lamb's First Peak Of The World

It's definitely safe to say that summer is on it's way, finally! Milo's enjoying saying good bye to his New Zealand and hello to green shoots and sunbathing, one of the many past times we enjoy together! However us equestrian's know what summer really means... flies, swarms of the buggers. I managed to get through a whole bottle of fly spray within three weeks and at £13 a bottle, it soon adds up. So here is...

A Kiss From The Country's Homemade Fly Spray

You will need:

1/2 Garlic Clove

300ml Tea

100ml Cold Water

1 tsp Tea Tree Oil

A Few Drops of Lavender

1 tsp Citronella Oil

Millie Bee's Tea Tree Oil

Firstly, in a plastic jug, brew the tea allowing it to stew for a minute or two, then remove the tea bag and add the cold water. Finely chop and crush the garlic adding it to the tea (this bit doesn't smell to great but stick with me). Then add in all your oils, giving the mixture a good stir.

Home-made Fly Spray

Now, a good tip so you don't waste anything, place the hot mixture in your horse's stable while he's turned out, as the scented steam that is given off helps rid the flies from your horse's bedroom as well. Once the mixture has cooled completely, remove it from your horse's stable, mix once more and then place in a spray bottle. Once you've added the citronella your horsey will smell beautiful so stick through the garlic stage, trust me this is an effective and cheap method of keeping those flies away. 

I also tend to feed my horse a tiny bit of garlic through the hot weather as well, this also helps rid those flies as the horse sweats. Since Milo eats anything, I don't have a problem feeding this to him, but you can always hid the garlic in feed or hay should it prove more challenging. 

We Do Love Sunbathing Together!

Well, I hope everyone had a lovely Easter and enjoyed hearing about my countryfied time. Equally I hope the above recipe will prove useful for those horsey folk out there.

Bye for now, blog soon, with