Countrified Life.

Yesterday, thanks to the wonderful people at Muddy Boots PR, Moon and I were treated to a day out at The Royal Berkshire County Show. We had been umming and ahhing over whether we should go or not for weeks so when I was lucky enough to get a couple of press tickets - taking the strain of the £18 a ticket price tag off - we jumped at the chance!




Moon's dad happened to be with us that day too so we did have to get him a ticket but it was a lot bigger than we anticipated so now we know that it's definitely a lot more worth it than we thought it would be. We thought it may be similar to the Country Fayre we visited in May with Kirstin and Dan but it was like a whole festival for country life, full of livestock, craft and food tents, as well as farming machinery and trade.

My friend, Laura, and her boyfriend also tagged along, Laura's an old friend and they've recently moved to Reading so are really keen to see what Berkshire has to offer - I'm a little stumped at the moment but hoping to come up with some suggestions for them for the autumn - it's going to be good having another friend close by bringing the grand total to two - not bad...

365 before 25 – One.

To come to terms with the fact I'll be hitting a whole quarter of a century next year, I thought I'd make a special effort to document it - I guess even more than usual along with everything else. I did almost manage to do one once before but didn't quite make it, I think sharing it on a monthly basis will allow me to keep up with it a little better.

I feel with practice it can only help to improve my photography further and really like photo challenges, whether it's my Photo An Hours or The FMS Photo A Day, I like the idea of having set parameters and guidance sometimes and even though there's not particular theme with this Project 365, I'm looking forward to carrying on with it as I have been.

Good Cat Parenting and Other Things.

Who would have thought that it's only September, I had to have the light on when baking at 4:30 in the afternoon yesterday, and we've had the heating on. We're definitely ready for a bit of hibernation, as demonstrated by our 11:30am wake-ups on Saturday and Sunday. I feel a little guilty I suppose, but boy oh boy was it good to relax(!)

I'm so glad we decided not to do anything over the weekend, not just because we're saving money and we kind of needed it after packing the last two weekends with returning from a holiday, a family party and a trip up to London, but also because I've felt like a pretty negligent cat-mum.

The cat litter doesn't live there, I was too excited to play with Doll and hadn't put it away yet...

I think I've been forgiven slightly now and I've really seen a change in my sweet Doll in the last few days. I guess that because I see her as independent and she can be a little aloof, it's made me feel like she doesn't care that much, but her sitting with us during the day and curling up with us at night tell a different story. After a couple of treats and some fancier than usual cat food, I feel a little better about leaving her and as she'll have me again next weekend, I'm sure she'll be sick of my over-affection by then and be glad I'm not always up in her face.


We had lunch at The Taco Shop on Saturday. By far the best burrito I've ever had and look at the size of Moon's chicken taco. So tasty and such a great atmosphere for such a reasonable price, it's firmly made itself one of my favourite places to eat in Newbury.


Doll killed her old scratching post months ago, so we treated her to a brand new one. We were almost worried she'd be more interested in the box but she got to using it straight away.



Cute mini-gourds and pumpkin display at Saddleback Farm Shop, a new find from yesterday, it turned out to be the place with the corn maze that Moon had been bugging me about all summer(!)





I gave Rosie from Cider With Rosie's banana cake recipe a go, because drizzly weather is perfect for making something to go with a cup of tea - you should definitely try it, best banana cake I've ever made!



Although it would have been nice to take advantage of the extra time a weekend provides and do a slow-cooked roast, this pizza had been in my mind's eye for days. I do a pretty mean homemade pizza, all following a recipe I found on good ol' Pinterest, amazing what you can do with a little flour, yeast and warm water...
This weekend was about sleeping in, napping anyway, shopping at the market, picking out nice gifts for friends, driving in the rain, new recipes, catching up on TV shows and lighting my candles for the first time in weeks.

Seems to be a pattern with me, I'm either doing to much and forget to slow down or I slow down too much and am mega-lazy - I did get all my chores done though, so I'm totally ready take this week on with both hands, bring it(!)

Snap Happy in London.

Last Sunday saw us being a bit touristy all around London while trying to avoid the rain. We walked along the Thames towards Tower Bridge, along to St Katharine's Dock for a boat show and over to Spitalfields for a nose, here are a few snaps.







Honestly never really been a fan of pigeons, but they did look pretty cute after the downpour.









Spot the slide, so exciting(!)




Mojito and Snickers cupcakes from Flavourtown Bakery, amazing as always.





Same.


Rough Trade was too close by to not give Moon a treat.

Turning Japanese.

Our big treat this month was heading up to London to visit our friends Tom and Matt. I figured I had to share some pictures with you of our visit to Japanese restaurant, Inamo St James. A unique concept in 'interactive shared dining', it really is like dinner in the future, I felt so hi-tech.

We went on suggestion of a couple of people and found out it was somewhere Tom and Matt had always wanted to go too. I invited along my London-oldest-friend, Lucy and she brought her friend Lucy to make up a great gang of six, it was so nice to catch up.


Fancy beer.


Would definitely recommend their house white, Tom and I were a little anxious that we'd get something vinegary for being 'price-conscious' but it went down pretty easily.


Playing around with the design of the table was the best, almost as good as sinking Moon's battleship.



The best way to view a menu.



Enjoying the 'ambiance'. ♥


I shelled out on their passionfruit martini, definitely something I'm gonna try at home - so good!



The food was ah-may-zing, I'd particularly recommend the black cod, the interactive order system sure does make it easy to spend a ton of money though. If we go again I'd definitely eat a little smarter with one large dish and some rice rather than trying to taste everything.

I was surprised to find that Inamo has ignited a total obsession with edamame beans that I never thought would happen. Such a great snack, I've had them with my lunch two days in a row since(!)