Five Things Friday

Happy Friday!

I’m envious of everyone going on their holidays at the moment – I’d be happy with a stay-cation but with work being the way it is, I’ll just have to make the most of my weekends and be grateful that the roads are less busy.

Here are five things that have put a smile on my face this week.

Family-Moon

So my lovely parents, who have been together 34 years, have decided to take the plunge! They have been engaged for over 30 years and my Mum always said she was never really bothered about getting married, but after both of them having quite serious operations over the past couple of years and everything they’ve been through they realised that they want to be married.

The wedding will be taking place in September on a beautiful organic farm in Bridgwater with just me, the Handsome One, my brother, his girlfriend and my parents.

After the wedding they won’t be having a honeymoon until next year, but it’s going to be the entire wedding party who will be joining them, which we are really excited about! Greece is definitely a top contender at the moment, which is great by me because I love the food!

Swimming

So, I did it, I took the plunge and it feels good! However, what didn’t feel good was when I went to get into the pool, I put my googles over my head and they snapped, I then went to put my nose clip on and that broke. Not ideal. This meant I had to do breast stroke with my head out of the water for 30 minutes, but it was a good way to ease myself in. However, the next I got in the pool (with new googles and nose clip), I forgot how hard it was doing front crawl! I was totally out of puff, but at least I’ve got something to improve on and I’m aiming to get in the pool twice a week.

Cooking

I’m a big fan of food, so naturally cooking is something I enjoy and even more so when I’ve grown some of my food from scratch. What I’m loving at the moment, is a piling a load of veg (peppers, onions, tomatoes, courgettes etc) onto a tray, drizzling them with some olive oil, garlic and sliced chillies cooking them for 20 mins and then adding some feta and olives, cooking for a further 10 mins and hey presto! A gorgeous simple, summer supper.

Also, satay. Is there anything better than a spicy peanut sauce? Mine is super simple and all you need is a little hand blender, 2 x tablespoons of great peanut butter, soy sauce, juice of a lime, chunk of fresh ginger, half a fresh chilli and a splash of water then blend. Perfect for adding to noodles with a load of fresh veggies, pouring over a free-range chicken breast or as a dressing for a salad.

Gardening

Tending to my garden is something that I do everyday in some shape or form. The least I will do is water my tomatoes and hanging baskets (they’re so thirsty!), pick some veggies, to revamping the bed in my front garden. I find so much peace just pulling weeds or planting out my latest round of radish – gardening is definitely my therapy. I plan on spending time this weekend planning out what autumn bulbs I need to buy to make our garden look and smell gorgeous.

Beer

I had never been one for beer or ales until I met my Handsome One; I just didn’t really enjoy them and found them a bit gassy. Then the HO took me to the one of the best pubs in Cheltenham, The Sandford Ale House, which totally changed my mind.

It started with a cherry beer and then before you know it, I’m buying specialist beers for the HO and myself! I love the stronger Belgium beers, which tastes incredibly smooth but definitely need to be treated with respect.

There are so many beautiful ales readily available, so don’t disregard a pale ale that’s on draught – ask the bartender for a sample and give it a try!

Cheers and have the best weekend!

A x