Post-holiday thoughts

Aled & I in France

My holiday really was relaxing. It was a carefree, easy week of days out, home cooked meals and trips to the beach. I really do love that part of Brittany. Sadly it was slightly faltered near the beginning when we found out Aled's Grandma had died. It was partially expected, but of course, still very sad. It's odd to be removed from your normal environment when something like that happens, especially for Aled. Needless to say, we still had a great holiday were luckily able to go to the funeral as it had been planned for a few days after our return. We were both really glad about this fact, as we were in America when his Grandpa died and therefore unable to attend the funeral. I guess we should stop going abroad, even Aled's Aunt joked she was next in line next time. The weekend was sad and happy in nearly equal parts for me. There were the obvious really sad parts, but, and even though it feels weird to say this, I really enjoyed seeing everyone. We saw family that we wouldn't have seen for ages.

Pembrokeshire coastline

At the moment, I am looking forward to the weekend as we are off to a festival! Lounge on the Farm, to be exact. I love festivals and my summer isn't complete without one. Like last summer, I am photographing this one too - and am really excited to have this opportunity again.

A small part of me just wants a restful weekend at home, especially after the past weekend was mostly spent travelling; Aled's grandparents lived in Pembrokeshire - a short 8 1/2 hour trip from London! Also, I hope the sunshine continues into the weekend, obviously I love a festival without rain, but this is mostly because my wellies are back in Salisbury and really don't want to have to buy new ones.

English countryside - A perk of the multiple train journeys.

Bonjour from Bretagne!

My grandparents' French cottage with an added Grandpa plus a lovely reflection of my legs!

I am here at my grandparents' place in Brittany, France. Aled & I realised we couldn't really afford the holiday to Barcelona we were wanting, but could afford flights to my grandparents. I am very lucky to have relatives that live abroad - always a great place for a last minute holiday!

 I reluctantly went for a run this morning which was hard but I really enjoyed it. It was so refreshing to run outside and in the beautiful, sunny countryside, which makes a slight change from Fitness First in Shepherds Bush. I am currently using my grandparents' French laptop and it's taken me an age just to write this post because the keyboard isn't a qwerty one. It is rather weird not being able to type so quickly as normal.

I am looking forward to a relaxing week. Days with my grandparents usually include country walks, discovering new towns and lots of delicious French food. Heaven!

J'espère que vous avez une bonne semaine et je serai bientôt de retour avec beaucoup de photos!

Christmas at home

I can't quite believe it's already January. I feel like this year's Christmas break definitely went way too fast. I had a lovely week at home, mainly hanging out with friends and family, and eating and drinking too much as per usual. (Bring on the January detox!). I rang in the New Year rather quietly at home with Aled due to being rather ill. We wanted to watch the fireworks but standing in the cold and rain for a few hours didn't really seem like the best idea! Instead we watched a few films, had some drinks (beer for Aled, lemsip for me!) and had a very tame bedtime of 12:05am.  

I am a bit of a perfectionist with my photos, and I was actually really disappointed with the ones I took over Christmas. I love photography and taking photos but I definitely class myself as a very amateur photographer and would like to improve my skills. One of my resolutions for 2013 will be to practice with camera and tripod more. I know there are so many functions I have yet to learn how to properly use! 

Even though I wasn't the happiest with my photos here are a few I did like....

(absolutely starving now after looking back at my Christmas dinner!)

Autumn gatherings

The past few weeks have been filled with family gatherings, nights out with friends, days out in London and back in the country. As you can imagine, I took a lot of photos and thought i'd quickly put together a post with just a few of my favourites....

Belle Bretagne

I had such a lovely, relaxing time in France visiting my grandparents. The holiday consisted mostly of markets, walks in the countryside, home cooked food and not much else! It's a such a pretty quiet little part of Brittany and even though i've been many times, it never gets old! So many little quaint villages and authentic Breton touches. A definite contrast to London town.