May recap// Bank Holidays, Logan’s Christening and Delicious Food!

What would I like to be doing right now? Sitting by a pool with a Pimms in hand, sunnies on with not a care in the world. Reality? Its finally the weekend and I’m chilling on the sofa waiting for it to get sunny so I can go relax in the garden! I’m absolutely knackered… I’ve been struggling sleeping recently and waking up shattered as if I’d been out late the night before (which obviously isn’t the case!) I am in need of a holiday!
Sure I’m not the only one dreaming of a holiday right now.

I’m trying to get back on track with blogging – I’d gotten quite good at keeping to my plan of blogging once a week but work became just way too manic and it consumed all my time. Things are still very busy but I need to get back to putting me first and chilling in the evenings rather than doing work. Honestly at the end of the day I feel like all the extra effort at work isn’t recognised so it really makes you think whats the point… So back to blogging, gyming, painting and relaxing in my evenings! Just as it should be!
So what have I been up to this month apart from the daily slog? It’s been a busy one!

Copenhagen

I started this month off in Copenhagen with some friends which was a lovely few days away. (See here for recap/ mini travelog). 
It was such a colourful place, and even though it rained a lot the sun wasn’t far behind! I’m definitely going back with the hubby.

Heidi in Balham

I got back from Copenhagen on the Tuesday evening and then went straight to work on the Wednesday. Again this was a manic couple days at work but it was only a 2 day week for me as I had my nephew’s Christening on the Friday. To kick it all off I went down to London early and met up with some friends on the Thursday evening. We went to a wine bar in Balham called Heidi. I’ve never been before but it was great fun. There are wine taps all across one wall of different wines and you use a top up card (like an oyster card) to pick a different wine and can pick different size portions. I put about £15 on my card and got to try about 3 different wines. We also got some tasty food. We got some steak and then a couple camemberts to share.
I realised I hadn’t seen 2 of the girls since Jan which is just ridiculous as they are some of my closest friends! Since my parents moved out of London we don’t really go down as much anymore. I used to always tag a catch up with the girls onto a trip down to London but these are now a bit less regular. 

Logan’s Christening

After a lovely evening with the girls, I got to my grandparents nice and early to get ready for the Christening. It’s always nice having a family occasion as a chance to catch up with the family. Over the next couple days I got to see grandparents, cousins and aunties and uncles I haven’t seen in ages! I’d gotten myself a new dress from Monsoon (see here) which I absolutely love! It’s a lovely fit and sits really nicely. It’s also food friendly so you don’t need to worry about not being able to breathe in it if you eat too much!
Got a cheeky selfie before we headed off – love the iPhone portrait mode!
The Christening itself was fairly quick and my nephew Logan was so well behaved! My sister, her husband Colby and Logan live in the US and came over for a week. It made it very special having his Christening over here.  Logan’s nearly a year and a half and so much bigger than when I saw him last which was when he was about 8 weeks old.
After the Christening we went to a Toby Carvery as Colby needed to experience all the roasts! (The proper party was on Saturday so more people could make it). I had to take a pic of the pudding I shared with my mum – a raspberry artic role – yum!

Who doesn’t love an artic roll?!
After a very filling meal, we got on the road to my parent’s in Bray. Got to see little Maddy who’s always so happy to see you! Rest of the day was spent playing with little Logan 😍 How cute are those little dinosaur pjs?!
How cute is this little guy?!

Afternoon Tea at Roux at Skindles

Another must do on my sister’s list of things to do during their trip was to do a proper afternoon tea. After some last minute calls we managed to get a table at Roux at Skindles. It was such a tasty afternoon tea and I doubt many people know about it. The Roux brothers head up this restaurant but its so reasonably priced for such a name! We’ve been there for Brunch before (see here) which I’d highly recommend. I’d definitely go back for Afternoon Tea here – the sandwiches were very soft and tasty, the cakes perfect and the scones oh so yummy. My favourite bit had to be the Choux au Craquelin – basically a posh creamy puff – so goooooooood I could have eaten a whole plate full of them!
Safe to say Colby was super impressed with his first Afternoon Tea and is now hooked to tea.

Gardening

This past month we’ve spent time getting our garden just how we want it. It’s looking so much better than when we first moved in 2 and 1/2 years ago. We’ve got a lovely garden centre near us (Melbicks) which is now our favourite.
Recently we’ve gotten a bird bath, a Lupin, a rose climber, Allium, some more lavender and 3 more fuchsias. I don’t think we need to plant anything else as everything is starting to look nice and established. Just in time for summer around the corner.
We also got our solar lights out which we’ve put around the border of the path and along the bed at the back of the garden.
I love it! We just need the nice weather to match it now!
How vibrant are these?! Love them!
Love lavender… makes the garden smell amazing and keep the bees happy!
We got these cute little pots from Wilkos for a couple £ and thought fuchsia hanging out would be nice in the summer!
Ready for summer!
We’d love to get a bird table at some point but are waiting for an offer as the good ones can be a little pricey.

Painting

A few months ago I got back into my painting and painted a few of the places we’ve visited (see here) I’ve finally gotten around to framing some of the paintings and have put the Florida one downstairs. I brought a few more frames for the other ones which I’ve now dotted around the house. The spare bedroom has a bit of an unintentional New York theme to it (all the paintings in the room are of New York!) so the New York one had to go in there! I’ve put the other ones in the hallway for the moment. What do you think?

I’m thinking of doing one of Copenhagen so watch this space! (Also keep an eye on my Insta stories as thats where I put everything first!)

Tasty Treats at Boston Tea Party and The Anchor Inn

Tim’s work is moving into the centre of Bham literally a few buildings down from mine so we popped out for breakfast before work 1 morning. Boston Tea Party is literally 5 mins from my work so we popped over at 7:30am for an early breakfast. We had the most delicious Eggs – I had Eggs Benedict and Tim had Eggs Royale. Of course we both had to have hot chops (mine was normal and Tim had a white choc one). It was the perfect start to the day!

Last week we popped out with some friends to The Anchor Inn on the other side of Brum – I’d been working in London that day so Tim picked me up from Wolverhampton and we drove 20 mins to this gorgeous pub. The weather was perfect so we grabbed a table outside by the canal. It was so lovely catching up – it always surprises me how quickly the time goes by and it was the end of the evening before we knew it!
We had a delicious sharing platter which set the tone for a yummy evening of food!

Delish apple and rhubarb crumble to finish off a lovely eve!

Bear Grylls, Comedy Club and Walk around Lakes

A couple weekends ago, some friends from London came up to stay. We wanted to do something different so we booked a session at Brear Grylls Adventure Base Camp. I think its something you do once rather than go multiple times. It was very busy but we had good fun! There’s an obstacle course which we did last which was good fun but knackering! You do it 2 by 2 so Tim and I did it against each other.

The rest of the day was spent eating all the cheese, drinking Pimms and going to a comedy club. We were in the front row and Tim got picked on which was hilarious!

Sunday was a nice chill and we went for a walk around Ellwood Lakes. It was so pretty and there were lots of little signets and duckings. We were a little pressed for time so only managed a loop around 1 lake so will have to go back and do all 3 lakes!

Final May Bank Holiday

After a what felt like a long and busy week at work the long bank holiday was needed! I spent the Saturday relaxing and got around to writing up the Copenhagen recap. On Monday we went To Le Manoir. It was absolutely amazing and the best meal we’ve ever had! I’m going to write up a separate blog post on it so keep an eye out!

Here are a few pics from the day and the gorgeous gardens! I wore my Monsoon lemon dress again because why not?!

The most amazing raspberry soufflé!
So that’s the round up of last month! June is looking to be another packed one! June is one of my busiest months at work but I’m going to do my best to get back on the exercise wagon – I
Right the sun is finally pocking its head out so I’m heading out into the garden to chill!

Have a great weekend my lovelies!

Until next time,

Cathers xx

Follow: