A Tuesday surprise

I haven't posted for over a week as I have been otherwise occupied with work, housework, shopping for and sending first aid kits to Uganda, christmas shopping, pumpkin carving and generic house work and cooking. 

But I thought my Tuesday surprise deserved a post of its own. 

Here's some background to the surprise:

I have been begging Luke to let us get a puppy for ages. He has said no. I tried to work on his parents too but they weren't convinced. I gave up asking. 

I've also been dropping subtle marriage hints at Luke but to no avail. 

On Tuesday Luke asked if I could walk home from the station after work as he had to work late. Slightly annoyed (it was dark and the weather had suddenly turned cold) I wandered home, did some housework, still no sign of Luke. 

You've perhaps all guessed from the above what happened but I'll share it with you anyway :)

A while later I hear a knock at the door and I go and see a Luke shaped outline through the glass. 

I opened the door and what did he thrust in my face? Nothing other than a tiny working Labrador puppy called Beau. Naturally I cried. Then he tells me to look under his collar and nestled under the puppy's fat rolls was a beautiful sparkly ring. I cried some more. 

Turns out Luke had planned this for some time. And all my hints had just been a barrel of laughs for him. He bought the ring when we were in Toronto in April. I never noticed. I hid it in the loft for months. Him and my soon to be mom in law drove all the way to North Wales on Tuesday to collect Beau. 

I had little time to believe what was happening, phoned family and friends, cleaned up dog wee, trod in dog wee, and cleaned the house for everyone to come round to celebrate. We ate Chinese and drank champagne. 

29 October 2013 is a date I will remember for the rest of my life. And for perfect reasons. 

Here's to planning the perfect wedding, and embarking on my future with my lovely man and his dog x

The Lakes

For Luke’s Dad’s 50^th birthday in July, we booked for the four of us to go glamping in the Lake District this weekend just gone. We stayed at a National Trust campsite called Low Wray, not far from Ambleside, and rented some camping pods for 3 nights.

We arrived on Friday night and, after admiring the views, set up camp, started the fire, cooked a chilli, drank wine, toasted marshmallows and chatted until the sun went down.

Saturday meant donning the walking attire and tackling the hills surrounding Lake Windermere. We walked about 8 miles, up and down the hills, went up to Wray Castle and stopped to talk to the cows in the adjacent fields. For the dogs it meant paddling in the lake, chasing ducks and other winged animals and collecting stones. (Ollie can smell a stone under the water metres away, and won't move until he has dug it up, strange dog).

We went for dinner at a nearby pub on Saturday evening and had an early night. Even the dogs were tired after their long walk and paddles in the lake

We spent Sunday meandering around Ambleside, a lovely little town, stopping for lunch and wine and cake and icecream. We also went down to the pier and watched the world go byAs Sunday night was our last night, we got our gladrags on and headed out to a restaurant that I’d read numerous good reviews about. The Drunken Duck. 

I’ll do an entirely separate post on this another day, but let’s just say the food was amazing. The menu was small, but well thought out, and changes all year round to ensure only seasonal food is used. It wasn’t cheap, but it was well worth it. With full bellies, we went back to the campsite and set up another fire and had a lovely chit chat.

Monday morning we packed up camp and filled the truck to the rafters (literally, there was stuff strapped to the roof - we ALWAYS overpack), and headed out to Hill Top, Beatrix Potter’s house. Another National Trust gem, which has been completely untouched and left like a house, rather than a museum, at Miss Potter’s request. I’d definitely recommend a visit if you’re ever up that way, it’s free to National Trust members (a year’s membership for under 26s is only £26!). She left over 4000 acres of land to the National Trust when she died, and pretty much every single one of her illustrations is a real life depiction of her house, furniture and surroundings. You can read more about it here 

Beatrix Potter's cottage - Hill Top

The gate illustrated in the Tale of Tom Kitten

This was featured in the Tales of Jemima Puddleduck

 A thoroughly enjoyable weekend of spending time with loved ones and making more memories. There is so much to see around the Lakes, that we will definitely be going back next year.

A perfect summers evening

We've been so busy this week that we haven't had a chance to get out and enjoy the warm(ish) evenings.

Last night we had Luke's parents' dogs for a sleepover and our evening mostly went like this: 

^ raspberry picking     

^ a juicy bowl of homegrown raspberries v

^ and some dog walking

So tell me, how have you been spending your summer's evenings?