Maria Runs

Be warned, there are quite a few photos!

On our way to Bath we stopped at a place called Avebury. We decided to join The National Trust (not just for the tearooms), and this was included and looked interesting. It is made up of lots of stone circles which were excavated and re-erected in the 1930’s.

There are loads of these massive stones everywhere, so we spent quite a bit of time wandering around different fields and taking photos.

Having some fun with them:

And having a rest in them:

That stone had a perfect “seat” in one side, so of course I had to have a go.

There is also a manor house which you could look around. They have made it interactive, and on entry to the house were told we could touch anything except the wallpaper in one room, but if we were to jump on the bed please remove our shoes first.

They had made an effort to make it interesting, with each room being set out for a different time period, and even dressing up clothes and hats, and a little hunt/quiz thing for children. I don’t normally like going in houses that much, but it was more interesting than most.

We had a stop in the tea room, and I bought a few bits in the shop (including some lime curd), had a banana at the car and then drove to Devizes. It is a pretty little market town, so we had a little wander (I found a shop selling that lovely Zest pesto), and then went for a walk along the canal, as there is a famous section of loads of locks as the canal has to go up and down a hill. I was getting quite tired as it was about 4.30pm, but luckily we found a tearoom so shared a teacake with cinnamon butter (did not want to spoil our dinner)- the nice sit down and tea recharged the batteries.

Then we walked back along the canal, had a little wander around the shops, and then decided to go to Pizza Express for dinner (and shock, I had a “new” salad with roasted veggies, lentils and goats cheese, instead of the usual goats cheese pizza).

The next day we headed into Bath (on the train as we stayed a little way out)- first up was Prior Park gardens, a mile uphill behind the station. It started off not too steep, but soon it was hard work! This was another National Trust place, and was worth the hard walk.

It was full of pretty gardens and water, and had amazing views of Bath.

Lots of woodlands:

They even did an Easter Egg hunt for the children.

But the views of Bath could not be beaten.

 

At least we had walked up to the entrance, so we got to walk downhill through the fields and gardens.

There is also a very impressive bridge (which you can see in the first photo- shows how high up it is).

Now, although I was tempted by the tearooms, Lucy had recommended to me Sally Lunn’s, so we headed straight there as I was in need of a sit down.

When we got there we only had to wait a few minutes for a table, but by the time we left (when we took photos) the queue was out of the door.

I could not resist trying one of the buns, which was like a brioche- I had mine with lemon curd, plus an Earl Grey tea (which I love but have not had for ages- then I kept seeing Phil have them and now I remember why it is the Queen of Teas). Now I am not sure if the photo does it justice, but the bun was huge- that is a dinner plate not a side plate. You can see my cup next to it to give it some scale. Anyway, it was delicious. The tearooms were very touristy, and sort of twee- the staff were all in old fashioned costumes, and we were in the Jane Austen room, but I liked it. Tea and cakes: what’s not to like? Plus it was proper loose leaf tea 🙂

After we left we went downstairs to the cellar, where they have a tiny museum which tells you the history of the bun (based on brioche, but with butter instead of lard- although I am sure now brioche is made with butter)- the lady who worked there told us some interesting facts, including that the pavement height was raised so suddenly all the ground-floor rooms were turned into cellars. You could also buy the buns to take home, but we resisted!

Pretend prize for spotting me in any photos stood around waiting for Andy to take loads of pictures. 

After that we had a nice walk around Bath, to the park. We sat by the river for a bit, and I did a spot of shopping (while Andy checked the football news on his phone!) and then had dinner at Giraffe.

The next day we drove to Southampton to watch the football, before heading home for Saturday evening. Even the journey was great as the fields were full of lambs gambolling about. It was a lovely couple of days- Bath is one of my favourite places to visit in the UK. It has a great mix of touristy things (on previous visits we have been to the Roman Baths, or up to the Royal Crescent, and we have yet to visit the spa), pretty buildings, little cafes, shops and restaurants. We were also lucky with the weather- it was cold and windy the first day, but the second day was lovely and sunny, and we had no rain at all.

Where do you like to go for a weekend away? 

Hey peeps

I forgot to take photos of one day this week, so again I have a little collection of what I have been eating.

Breakfasts:

After seeing grapefruits on Lucy’s blog recently, I decided to buy some. I love them, but have only eaten them on holidays for some reason. I do need to wear safety goggles however as they squirt all over!

I have also been loving fresh fruit and muesli combos- this was fig, pear, fruity muesli and coconut milk.

And of course lovely overnight bircher muesli- this was tinned peaches, chia seeds, almonds, fruity muesli, almond milk (all left to soak overnight) then topped with cinnamon in the morning.

Lunches:

(Broken) ryvita with red pepper hummus, spinach and fig salad with balsamic dressing.

A lovely wholemeal wrap (these are the discovery ones which are smaller than normal, and I freeze them which is why it is a bit broken), with hummus, rocket (arugula for our US friends), roasted butternut squash, baby avocado, basil and a fig, red pepper and rocket salad. MMMmm.

Another wrap with hummus, rocket and basil. Yum. Plus apple and more figs. Can you tell I have been eating a lot of figs recently?

Snacks:

Shake (? Smoothie?), with Good Hemp strawberry flavour and coconut milk.

Chocolate tea, persimmon, fig, and a carob and cherry cookie. This was part of what I made for the cookie exchange, and it broke, so of course quality control meant I could not send it!

Dinners:

Sweet potato, hummus, roasted veggies (peppers, aubergine, onion, courgettes) with hemp sprinkles.

Another wrap (obsessed?), roasted butternut squash, hummus, baby corn, spinach, avocado, basil tofu and fresh basil.

Home-made sourdough (I put some chia seeds in the dough and it was lovely) which I had with some bean and veggie bake, and cheese. I only took a photo of the bread as I was so proud of how it looked 🙂

Desserts:

Chocolate frozen yoghurt. This was OK, not as nice as the fruity flavours.

Blueberry frozen yoghurt- this was lovely, although I thought the pumpkin seeds were a strange topping. I really want to try the tropical stuff but have not seen it in the shops. So the strawberry flavour is my favourite.

Thoughts:

My meals have seemed quite repetitive this week. The thing is, if I buy something I have to use it up- so things like the hummus were going out of date quickly, so I had to use the tub up in a few days. I roasted a butternut squash, but it was too hot for soup, so I had it in wraps and in salads for a few days to use it up. With the theme for this month being add in an extra cup of veggies, I think I have been doing this OK. My lunch can lack veggies (pb on something toasted and an apple being my fave) so having wraps has been good as I have loaded the veggies in them. Also fresh basil makes anything taste ten times better.

Improvements:

Less frozen yoghurt! And a bit more protein is needed.

Thanks to Jenn for organising it as usual. Anyone doing anything lovely over the long weekend? We are off to Bath for a few days (glad we did not choose the Lake District after all the snow- we were looking at somewhere up there), so I am looking forward to visiting a tearoom or two 🙂

Afternoon peeps.

I am in the middle of a bit of a spring clean today. I had to wait in for a delivery, so I decided to do some cleaning, sort out the recycling and then attack the piles of stuff that seem to build up. Anyone else find this? I think when I tidy I often just put things in neat piles, but today I went through some of the piles- found some great stuff including a load of travel brochures for Norway (from 2010!).

After the delivery came, I popped out on a walk (but had to be back because our shopping is coming) but I might have another one later.  I have taken a few photos from my walks in the past few days.

The other day I went around the lakes. I used to love running around them, and had to go to the leisure centre to get some vouchers, so I decided to treat myself to a walk.

I saw several herons, and a rabbit! 🙂

I have also been doing my usual walk of the fields behind my house, and have made the walk a little longer. It is so lovely to see everything coming to life over the past few weeks.

I love the blossom that is around at the moment!

And I saw a little rabbit by the side of the path. I stood and watched it for ages, but then I felt a bit bad because it did not seem to see or hear me, and it’s eyes looked like they were shut, so I don’t hold out much hope for it surviving.

I was only about a metre away and it was hopping about, eating grass and things.

On my walks I usually listen to my mp3 player- I like to download podcasts to listen to, and usually use my running headphones. Last week I was sent some to try, so I have been using them on my walks.

These are in-ear headphones, whereas my usual ones have a band that goes around the back of my head. I tried them at first as they were, but they kept popping out while I was walking, which was very annoying. They come with 3 sizes of ear buds, so I swapped to the smallest size, and they stay in much better. I like the clip too.

It can also attach to a phone (side point- as my contract was up I decided to go for it and get a phone that can go on the internet! My transition to living in the 21st Century may well be complete! Oh, except my car only has a tape player…), and as there is a little microphone in the earphones you could take a call while out and about (although I have not tried that because I hardly ever phone anyone, and also only just got this phone and have no music or anything on it). I think they are meant to be more for an iPhone, because I suppose you would have music on them? Anyway, the earphones have been great for me, because to wear my running headphones I have to tie my hair up (the band gets in the way otherwise). The sound quality was very good too- I had to turn the volume right down. I could still hear what was going on around me, but the buds did fill my ears, so they did take a little getting used to as the sound was different.

Because the weather was so warm, I also moved away from normal hot tea, to iced tea.

This was with an apple and cinnamon teabag– part of my last i-herb order. I brewed the teabag in a little hot water (in a cup), then took the teabag out, added cold water and poured into the glass with some ice. It was lovely- so refreshing, so I will be trying that with some different teabags soon.

I have also been adding some fresh mint leaves to my morning mint tea- yum.

Although I did see on the weather today that it is getting colder and that it might even snow! Craziness!

Right, off for some more sorting out. 🙂

Is anyone else getting on with spring cleaning at the moment? Anyone else get a bit upset by poorly wild animals? When I was little I watched a lot of nature documentaries, and I remember watching one about penguins. One baby penguin was dying and I was so upset and I was saying to my Dad “why can’t the cameramen save the penguin?” and he had to explain to me that humans should not be getting involved in wild animals- the baby penguin might end up being food for a baby seal or something. Same with that rabbit I suppose, but it is still not nice thinking about it.