The word is a very exciting place

 June continued to be the gift that kept giving, The month seemed to go on forever and we did so many things together. An attempt at making a pizza (For some reason I can never ever get the dough rolled into a circle, they always end up in this sort of random square shape. Any pizza makers able to share some tips?) The friendliest bar staff that ever was. Who doesn't love petting and playing with a dog while out for a drink? Maybe more pubs need pub dogs! Came into work to discover this on my lunch break. So toast for me was out of the window then! Our first pot of jam from the blackberries we had picked, mixed in with some strawberries too. It was divine! Perhaps I should be selling it and adding more funds to the holiday pot? We then had a lovely day out at Stourhead park, a beautiful house and gardens in Wiltshire, owned and run by the National Trust. Its possibly one of the most beautiful and interesting gardens and landscapes in the country, its full of beautiful plants, folli...

 June always seems to be a good temperature. The weather is more consistent that May, but the heat is less than July. Its a perfect month to go out and explore. Someone that may disagree, is the many ducks we feed. They don't seem to care what the temperature is, or what the weather is doing, as long as people are coming over to say hello and give them some food. Ducks are very fickle like that! These one's were brave enough to eat out of James's hand, but were rewarded with first dibs on the choice of bird food! There was also some beautiful cygnets there as well, although we gave each other some space, as swans can be very defensive if they think you are getting too close to them! We called in here at Black Dams pond in Basingstoke, we were just on our way home from Basingstoke after going to do some shopping there. Its a lovely little place, and there's always plenty of feathered friends! June is also the month of my birthday, and so we had a little tea party in the ...

 It seemed the holiday was ending faster than I would have liked it to. Actually, I would have preferred if it never ended. But it was time to start heading back home, and the looming concept of returning back to work was on the horizon!  Just remember, no trip to Cornwall is complete without seeing some form of tin mine ruins. Tin mining was a huge part of Cornwall's economy in years gone by, and it was one of the most productive tin producing areas in the world. Now, the landscape is peppered with old engine houses and smoke stacks/chimneys, most of which you are free to wander around in and explore. Wheal Coates is probably one of the most famous ones, I'd seen is several times on the internet and on a TV show, so I figured while we were down there, we would pay a visit. Such an iconic and interesting building. And what always interests me is the contrast between then and now. Back then this would have been a hive of activity, workers coming and going, wagons full of tin an...

 We continued our exploration of Cornwall by heading into Falmouth the next day to grab ourselves some breakfast. Falmouth is a fun and bustling little place, with lots of little independent shops and cafe's where you find new things to try. We had breakfast in a nice little café just past an antique bookstore, where of course I felt compelled to purchase some teach yourself Hieroglyphics books. I'm sure I'll find time somehow to learn them! We then headed out to the Cornish Seal Sanctuary. Its a fantastic place to visit, with seals, penguins, puffins and more living there. The weather was very hot, so most of the seals were basking in the sun. I was tempted to throw myself in the water there it was so hot. But alas, people might have mistaken me for a seal and thrown me a fish, when I clearly would prefer chips instead! There was someone else with an eye on the fish at feeding time, these seagulls don't miss a trick!  The sanctuary is open everyday, and tickets start a...

We love visiting a ruined Abbey. There's something about the fact that these Abbey and Monastery buildings somehow survived the violent suppression from Henry the Eighth and then 500 years as a ruin and are still with us today. Many of the ruins are beautifully preserved and charming, often with dramatic views and snippets of thier former glory on show. So it was surprising to discover an Abbey that is not only working, but thriving and in one piece. Yes, we were visiting Buckfast Abbey. You'd think it would be full of hustle and bustle, but it was beautifully quiet and peaceful. The Abbey itself its rather charming, and has a very Gothic feel to it, but at the same time feeling bright and airy. What perhaps makes it even more interesting and visit worthy, was that the current abbey church sits on the foundations of the original abbey church, and its been rebuilt as close to the original as possible. They stated building in 1907 and was completed just before the start of the se...