It's lavender season in England; early Autumn is when they harvest the fields of sheaves and dry, distill and do a myriad of other clever things to them to make the lovely scented oils, incense sticks, soaps, sachets and so on.
I talk about London a lot, but I actually live a little outside the city, in Surrey. My home town, Carshalton, is relatively famous (at least, in the lavender industry) for growing the stuff - we have fields and fields of lavender here, and there's even a rather monstrous statue of some lavender sheaves in the town centre. (That may seem an odd choice of statue, and it is, but in actual fact, that's really Carshalton's only claim to fame - apart from having a well that Anne Boleyn was said to have stopped at once on her way to London, and being the birthplace of Bradley from S Club 7. Yep.)
One of my favourite summer Sunday afternoon pasttimes is walking in the lavender fields - they're planted in December and generally flower from July to late August, when they get harvested. This year, it's quite late - they're not harvesting until next weekend, the second weekend of September - and so I went for one last little walk in the fields.
Have you ever been walking in lavender fields? If so, you'll be able to understand me when I say I can't describe the smell. We're most probably all familiar with the scent of lavender, but when you're laying in fields surrounded by it, it's overwhelming - and gorgeous! It's so calming just to go for a slow wander or lie in the gaps between the rows in the afternoon with a good book.
If you're after some lavender products, may I suggest having a look at Mayfield Lavender's online shop - they're my most local lavender fields and their products are all local, organic and really, really lovely.
Walking in the countryside is one of my absolute favourite things to do. I love the greenery, I love the wildlife, and I love just wandering and thinking and getting lost. Unfortunately, living in a London suburb and commuting to London everyday, I don't get much time to go for many picturesque walks - but Brighton, where I used to go to uni and where I go back to visit every few weeks, is surrounded by pretty countryside and the perfect place to explore. One of the loveliest places near Brighton is the Seven Sisters area - a series of seven chalky cliffs which are very high up and have fantastic views all around.
On Sunday, I went down to my old university town to visit friends and, in the mood for a walk in the countryside, we drove over to Beachy Head - the biggest and most impressive of the Seven Sisters cliffs - for a nice walk. Unfortunately though, it was more than a bit windy up there -we walked for a while but it all got a little too much and we ended up sheltering by a lighthouse at the top of the hill, eating chocolate muffins that one of us had brought along - I felt like something out an Enid Blyton story!
When we got a little bit sick of getting battered by the wind - see the last photo, above, with my crazy hair! - we decided it was time for some afternoon tea.
Have to say it was a little creepy in the café we found though... it was tucked away at the top of the cliff, looking out to sea, and it was getting battered by the wind, creaking like crazy, cobwebs everywhere, draughty, windows that hadn't been cleaned in years and some interesting characters in there too... Still, we managed to look quite cheerful enjoying a cup of tea anyway!
In the evening, four of us girls went to see amazing stand-up at Komedia, Brighton's comedy club and my absolute favourite place to watch comedy. Stephen Grant was the MC - as always, and he's a brilliant MC - and we saw two hilarious acts: Doc Brown and Chris Ramsey. Chris Ramsey is one of my absolute favourite comedians - I've seen him a few times now and love him, so I knew what to expect and certainly wasn't disappointed. I'd never seen Doc Brown before, though, and he was absolutely hilarious too - a new addition to my top 5 favourite comedians! We all laughed til our sides ached and we cried actual tears of laughter. Amazing.
Check out Chris Ramsey here and Doc Brown here - and let me know what you think!
Oh, and the rest of my weekend looked like this - my favourite lazy weekend breakfast :)
As promised, here are a few snaps from the mini-break my boyfriend and I took in the New Forest recently. Located in Hampshire, Southern England, the New Forest is a gorgeous little place and perfect for a few days escapism from the real world.
We arrived on a Saturday; a lovely, bright, bracing but refreshing day, and as we settled into our little hotel we decided to switch off our communication to the outside world: we would only check our phones once a day, if that, and would try and stay away even from news reports during our little trip. I think, and I hope you can agree, that when you're working in a fast-paced environment in the middle of London, with everything going on, sometimes you just need to run away and isolate yourself. And the New Forest really is the perfect place for isolation; so quiet that it's surprising to see five other cars on the quiet country roads and filled with sleepy little villages and warm country pubs.
Our little four-day trip consisted mainly of a lot of walks in the countryside, finding New Forest ponies wandering along the roadside (like the ones above!) and quiet pub lunches, lasting two hours each - the food we had while we were away was, in fact, so amazing that it warrants its own post, coming shortly!
It's the second year running that Richard and I have been to the New Forest for a few days getaway; and going back has just made us realise how much we love the place. We're already planning our trip for next year! ;)
Yummy food post coming up; until then, say hello to my new favourite little pony friend:
