Mock Turtle

Lovely readers, let me introduce you to my favourite tearoom. Regular browsers of this blog will know that I love my tea, and with that of course my tearooms, and go to a lot - and so my favourite one has to be pretty special. Well, the vintage-inspired Mock Turtle in Brighton really is.

Why? Here's a whole list of reasons...

• Its location. It's in Brighton - my favourite quirky town and my old home for three wonderful university years - and two minutes away from the sea, so it's perfect for popping into before or after a trip to the beach. It's also near The Lanes, so perfectly positioned for a bit of vintage shopping around tea time too.
  


• The colour scheme. Blue walls, dark wooden tables, blue and white china - it's a mix of seaside and vintage which works perfectly.
  


• The tea. Lovely teasets and delicious loose leaf tea, and each teapot also comes with another jug full of hot water (and you can ask for more, still, if you want), so you don't have to worry about spending more money ordering another pot of tea if you want to have more than a few cups.



• The cakes. There's a huge selection, from the traditionals like lemon and Victoria Sponge to the more unusual - think banana cake, apple and chocolate, and carrot and ginger. And they're all lovely and light.



• The price - a pot of tea and a cake will set you back about £4, which really isn't too bad at all.



• The atmosphere - finally, and perhaps most importantly, the Mock Turtle has a lovely, relaxed vibe to it; somewhere where you feel like you could sit all afternoon and completely switch off.

If you're ever in Brighton, do pay it a visit.

Where's your favourite place to get tea?

lavender

 

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. 

friday fives / just a minute: september

These images felt quite autumnal to me, and so apt for the beginning of September - the beginning of autumn, already.

5 photos come this week from the amazing photographer Anna Amphigorously.

And it's that time again - here's Just a Minute for  September...

This month, I am...

Reading... The Hand That First Held Mine by Maggie O'Farrell, Everything Beautiful Began After by Simon van der Booy and Caitlin Moran's fantastic How to be a Woman.

Buying... silly amounts of dresses (I blame the bad shopping infleunce of my friend Lauren!)

Listening... to Ed Sheeran. I think I may be a little in love with his music.

Watching... can I say nothing? I hardly have time for TV at the moment!

Loving... exciting thoughts about the future...

Planning... fun weekends with friends :)

Do you want to join in with Just a Minute? I found this on Daydream Lily's blog via August Street, and it's a lovely little monthly activity. Feel free to join in - and make sure to send me a link if you do, so I can see what you're up to at the moment!

left my heart in Lucca

The beautiful medieval walled Italian town of Lucca - now one of my favourite places. On holiday in Italy last week, we decided to take a train inland from Pisa to Lucca - we'd heard good things about the town, and heard it was a little 'undiscovered' and less touristy, but really didn't know any more than that.

It's amazing; I can't put it much simpler than that. We loved it. We liked it so much that we went back a few times over the week, to wander round and soak the place up, try to commit it to memory. We had dinner there on the last night, sitting in a beautiful square, pondering on what a lovely holiday we'd had - and partly because we'd been lucky enough to find Lucca.

Why did we love it so much? Here's a brief guide to Lucca - hopefully it'll inspire you to visit, too...


Lucca was initially a Roman city - an important trading town - so its streets are uniformly laid out in squares and blocks, making it easy to navigate if you know where you're going, or pretty much like a maze to navigate if you're not used to the town, and don't have a map (which we didn't).
There are still many heavy influences from Roman history; Lucca has natural thermal springs, and there are still "Bagni Comunali" (communal baths) in the walls of the town itself, with lots of spas just outside the town, in the mountains.

Lucca is quiet and peaceful; imposing medieval walls enclose the whole city, which means that there are relatively few cars and vans inside Lucca itself; it feels a bit like a secret, and makes it easy to walk around at your leisure. The walls themselves are huge; there are even parks on top of them, which you can relax in, looking at the mountains in the distance, before venturing down into the city.


Inside the city, the buildings are beautiful; very typically Tuscan, with large imposing churches, cute cobbled squares and small rivers with fountains.


The main square is in the shape of the old Roman amphitheatre; now updated and lined with medieval buildings and rather more modern restaurants, the square has a unique elliptical shape and is lovely to gaze at and wander round; there are also some beautiful shops in the aptly named Piazza di Amfiteatro.


Markets - every Italian town has them, but in Lucca they're more than just your local fruit and veg stalls. Our favourite was the antiques market, selling anything from old books to furniture to old classical guitars and jewellery. Spreading over a few cobbled squares, it's great to wander around...



And for those of you who are after a bit of culture and music while you're away, Lucca is the perfect town. There are chic cheese and wine bars in squares, museums of contemporary art, and an abundance of music - there's a concert of some kind almost every night, either in a church or outside in a square for everyone to hear.

Lucca, as you can probably tell from this post, really swept us away; it's a beautiful place, and well worth a visit if you're ever in Tuscany. Tempted to go? ;)

mid-week inspiration: lissy elle

Middle of the week already; how?! Here's some photography inspiration to appeal to the child in all of us from the hugely talented photographer Lissy Elle - I adore her work! Particularly love how carefree and relaxing these images are; the perfect balance to a hectic London lifestyle.

I went back to work yesterday after 10 wonderful days off and, of course, an amazing holiday - and wow, the lifestyle change really did hit me. Two delayed trains, a queue of heavy traffic and several rude people meant stress levels were the highest they'd been in a week and a half - and all before 9am, before I even got into the office. A little bit overwhelming! Don't get me wrong, I love London, and I love to be kept busy - but going away and remembering what it is to relax and take life slowly and then being thrown suddenly back into such a hectic mindset and lifestyle is a little bit daunting. I'll get used to it again, and not feel so tired, in a few days time - but in the meantime, I love the photos above for their relaxing inspiration :)

How do you destress from your busy lives, and make sure that you have time to unwind? I've been thinking of trying a bedtime ritual, like burning lavender incense, reading a book, having a bath or doing yoga. Do any of you have pre-bedtime relaxing rituals?

Touring Tuscany...

Quaint little hilltop towns contrasted with large bustling passionate cities, tall medieval mustard yellow buildings with green shutters and iron railed balconies line cobbled streets.
Large, ancient squares with imposing statues and outdoor gelaterias, where locals eat ice cream all through the day and into the night.
Gorgeous medieval distinctive architecture in every cathedral, belltower and any other important building; off-white Carrera marble with flashes of green and white and red Tuscan columns, positioned on top of each other growing the towers further and further skywards.
The best pasta you've ever tasted; sitting in little family-run restaurants with a glass of wine, some buffalo mozzarella, crusty warmed bread and some amazing lasagna, gnocchi or even just simple spaghetti al pomodoro, twirling it around your fork and slopping it into your mouth Italian-style.
Beautiful undiscovered beaches with raked golden sand, bright orange parasols and almost crystal blue water; calm sea with gentle waves that sweep you out to look back at the beach, the hot sky and the cascading mountains in the distance as you float.
Hazy evenings spent sitting in Florentine squares amidst imposing buildings and Roman statues; listening to a man playing classical guitar, watching the night pass by under candelight.

Tuscany. I knew it would be beautiful - but I had no idea just how beautiful. I've had one of the most wonderful weeks exploring Florence, Pisa, Lucca, Tirrenia and the surrounding areas (including a little detour to Rome on the last day of the holiday), and absolutely fell in love with the area - as you most probably can tell from my descriptions.
I'll write a few posts about Italy, over the next couple of weeks - there were so many amazing experiences during my time away and lovely little places and shops that I really do need a good few posts to share everything with you.

Suffice it to say for the moment, then, that the Tuscany region of Italy is stunning, and that you must go there at least once in your life. And as for me? I feel so completely refreshed, re-energised and re-focused on life; a holiday was just what I needed after a hectic rollercoaster over the past 12 months!

friday fives: italia

I'm off to Italia! I leave this morning, and will be spending a lovely week lazing about in the sun and exploring Tuscany - Florence, Pisa and the surrounding areas. I am so very excited!

Just a very quick post today, but hope you like these five photos of beautiful Italy - and more to follow when I get back from there myself! Have a lovely week, everyone.

5 photos

1. One
2. Two
3. Three
   
4. Four
5. Five