Alresford

When I wake up, I usually think along the sleepy lines of peanut butter > life. 
So, the morning started as any good morning should... 

Blueberries and peanut butter on toast definitely works, fyi.
I met up with some family friends in the very pretty town of Alresford the other day.

I was swiftly introduced to their latest fluffy addition, isn't he a beaut!? And then it was off to the market to pick up some fresh herbs & meat for dinner. 

Fresh peaches in hand, we walked along the renowned river side walk, cluing up on local knowledge about the old Eel House and Alresford's Georgian & Doomsday Book history. 

If you're in Hampshire go have a little look around Alresford. Catch the steam train, go to the tearooms, walk the dogs, head to the pub. Bliss.

Wild Swimming | Surrey

A beach in Surrey? 

Yup.

There's two actually. Well, two ponds. (Stay with me here)

There's the Great Pond & then there's the Little Pond. Always go to the Great pond, the Little Pond is exclusive to fishers - you don't want to be swimming with all that fish bait.  

Once you've made it, walk straight past the first 'beach', up 'n' over the clearing on the common and head down to the second 'beach'. It's always quieter there.

Bring a picnic, a good book & a rubber ring for floating about. 

Satisfied we'd got our last dose of summer sun, we headed down the road to near-by Tilford for another swim & to refuel at the Barley Mow.

When I was a little girl we'd tube down the river & let our feet slip away from the bottom as the river gradually got deeper. We'd jump from the high banks of the Wey & swing from the tyre dangling from the old willow tree. 
When the hunger pangs of swimming settled in, we'd all huddle around a camp stove in fluffy towels and cook fish fingers for tea. 
Those days are sadly over. There's a river warrant now who make sures people, ponies, dogs, cats, whoever, stay between the bridge & the weir.

It's not all bad news though, fish finger sandwiches got upgraded to pub grub & pints. 
We sat outside looking over the cricket green as the smalls ran through the giant sprinkler. 
Oh, Summer, I'm going to miss you!
    

RHS Wisley | Part II

Ya know, sometimes art just doesn't communicate with you. Well, for me, this looks like one side of a twisty broken pelvis? No one else get that, maybe? Maybe a little? 
I guess that's modern art. 
I was more enticed by the giant leaves. I felt like Alice in Wonderland wiggling round them & ducking under. 
Also, when I'm old and grey, this is (part of) the garden I want. 
Manicured & landscaped. With grass that is strictly no bugs. It's not even grass it's a lawn. A lawn for picnics and reading and dozing.  

Swimming With The Jellyfish | Pembrokeshire

We did a bit of a beach tour on Tuesday. 

   

First stop was the National Trust beach, Marloe Sands. 

You drive along these tiny roads, barely wide enough for a mini, with nothing but fields and the odd timber farm building.  

After about 10 minutes, you park up, pay your parking fee (£3 for the afternoon/ £5 for the day) & start a 15 minute walk down the cliff, through a field, past this isolated bungalow-lovers paradise. 

But still no beach insight.

There's a trickle of water to your left, you start smelling the salt in the air & you realise there's nothing sweeter. 

 And then you come to this: 

A perfect rural beach; with such an abundance of rock pools, they cross every walkway to the ocean. 

The trickle of water to your left, continues on its steep climb down, snaking over the fine stones, through the rock pools & shimmers across the sand to meet the sea.

You could spend an entire day at Marloes Sands so effortlessly. There's rock pooling for kids & big kids. 

And a huge expanse of sand & waves! 

Bare in mind, it's National Trust, so there's no toilets or ice cream sheds. In other words, pack a mighty picnic, and maybe wee in the sea.

    

After an hour or so in the waves, C gestured towards a blue squidge in the water, "jellyfish". I swam over to marvel at the blue jelly & notice five other clear jellyfish on the way. One with purple spots & another with brown spots. 

I've already been stung by a jelly. It wasn't too bad, but it was a bit of a hassle. Therefore, shortly after we realised we were swimming in a swarm of compass, moon & blue jellyfish we resigned from the waves & headed to Little Haven. 

We went for a dip, headed to the pub, played Monopoly and ate dark chocolate & orange cake.

And after that we went for a pre-dinner snorkel at one of Pembrokeshire's best diving spots. 

We stuffed our faces at dinner (why does swimming make you so hank marvin'!?) & fell straight to sleep with salt still on our skin & sand in between our toes.

Dale | Pembrokeshire, Wales

Dale has an artsy vibe.

Postcards are painted here, there's sculptors, potters, sketchers and watersport addicts all with perfect tans & sun-bleached manes. 

It's the kind of village-y vibe you only truly get when you're fringed by a calm bay of water & one pub to quench the entire village.

Unsurprisingly Dale is pretty friendly too.  

We stopped off the other morning - where we wiggled our toes in the water, drank big mugs of fluffy coffee & then found ourselves in a village hall come art exhibition surrounded by local pottery & kooky driftwood sculptures.  

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