GIVEAWAY: Win Tickets to the Royal Berkshire County Show

Happy Monday! Let's kick the week off with my first ever giveaway shall we?

Last year I was lucky enough to receive complimentary tickets to the Royal Berkshire County Show. It was such a great day out and I can only recommend that you make the time to go this year if you can.

There are so many animals to meet (including baby chicks that are due to hatch live) and the food tent is spectacular, if you like your craft and food fairs then this is definitely one for you as it's the biggest in Berkshire and is definitely the biggest I've ever been to.

Unfortunately, I'll be heading over to the Isle of Wight during the same weekend this year but the organisers of the show have been kind enough to donate a pair of tickets for a give-away right here!
So, if you happen to live in Berkshire, are in the area that weekend or just fancy a break to the beating metropolis of Newbury then all entries are welcome and I really look forward to snooping at your pictures once you're there.

Throughout the day there are equestrian displays, classic car showcases, a motorbike stunt show and even a cattle championship. There are lots of places to eat and shop and you're sure to have a fun and action packed day

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway Details ::

• The prize for this giveaway is one pair of tickets to the Royal Berkshire County Show valid for either 20th or 21st September 2014. Car parking at the event is free and the nearest train station is Newbury approximately 10 minutes from the event with regular bus services.
• To enter :: Pop your details in the Rafflecopter above and I will announce the winner on 15th September, the Monday before the event.
• The winner's name and email address will be passed on to Muddy Boots PR who will arrange the tickets to be issued by the show office

Good luck and fingers crossed!

#1Day12Pics :: June

I'm sure that eventually I will get around to taking part in 1Day12Pics with my phone as the lovely organisers Michelle and Emma do but with the all the excitement on Saturday with the driving and the fair, and the fact my DSLR was a temporary limb extension anyway, shooting on one camera just made a bit more sense.

The 7th June 2014 saw me heading down to Kent for the Wealden Times Midsummer Fair with my sister, which you can read more about (and see a ton of more pictures from) here.


1. 9am // Putting my face on and getting ready for a long day.


2. 10am // Setting off for Kent.


3. 11am // Arriving at Hole Park Gardens and taking in its beautiful grounds.


4. 12pm // Catching all-round nice guy and Masterchef, Dhruv Baker,in the Burlanes Chef's Theatre.


5. 1pm // Love a bit of pottering.


6. 2pm // ...and a bit of moseying, our ticket to the fair included access to the gardens so we took full advantage.


7. 3pm // Beautiful secret garden vibes. ♥


8. 4pm // Stopping off at a farm shop we passed on our arrival - a lot of different coloured tomatoes were bought.


9. 5pm // Another necessary pit-stop.


10. 6pm // Ma had dinner ready for us when we got home.


11. 7pm // Latergramming.


12. 8pm // Waiting for the kettle to boil and getting a bit of fresh air post-shower in mum's back garden and witnessing the golden hour ♥
This is the second time now that I've treated this little challenge as a strict 'photo an hour' and I think next time I'm going to allow myself to be a little more fluidity and choose twelve images that sum up my day a little better. Still, I really like the #1Day12Pics project, it's a little more fun to do things like this and see how others are working with it too.

Wealden Times Midsummer Fair

When Rosie (from Cider with Rosie emailed me to let me know I was one of the winners of her competition for tickets to the Wealden Times Midsummer Fair, I was pretty darn pleased. If you've followed me for a while, or even if you haven't, you'll probably be aware that fairs are pretty much my bag - I love testing samples in food tents, eyeing up fancy crafts and of course, if it's a good fair, dog spotting.

Not only was it a chance to spend a day at a fair anyway, but it was in a pretty beautiful part of the country too. My sister is actually at university in Canterbury but I've only been to visit her a couple of times and not for long enough to really appreciate the Garden of England. It's probably the former that made her seem like a pretty good choice as my guest, plus she has to fill her days with something now she's lounging around having 'summer holidays'.

Sweet, Sunny Sunday.

I love that even though we've been in Newbury for over two years now there are still new areas that I'm discovering and able to explore.



A couple of weekends ago we drove up to The Watermill Theatre following a sign, it's set in the beautiful village (probably actually a hamlet) of Bagnor and comes complete with the perfect pub on the green and lovely streamside walk.

I wish it had been drier so we could have walked around a bit more - we came to a dead end thanks to mud - but it's probably all well and good given that despite the fact it was around 4pm at this point and we were only there for around an hour, I managed to really catch the sun. I spent the hour or so before bed huffing and puffing from being so hot and bothered. Definitely not complaining though.








No long afternoon walk for us.










I've been seeing these flowers everywhere, anyone know what they're called? They're such a great colour!




Check out this bold as brass dog, just taking his time in the middle of the road.


I'm hoping to visit The Watermill Theatre for a production at some point, it's in such a pretty spot that's ready-made for a nice summer evening.

On the Farm.

We had a couple of our favourite Londoners visit us over the Bank Holiday weekend, so naturally I went out of my way to find the most country-mouse activity available. This time I picked a lambing day at Amners Farm, where we went to the Berkshire Country Fayre last year and while it wasn't on quite the same scale, as whiling away a couple of hours go, it was pretty great.

Anywhere where I can get my hands on baby animals is always going to be a winner with me but being outdoors in the sunshine and seeing all the baby lambs really was really lovely.






Whadda face ♥



Might regret not smuggling one of these little guys.
All that was standing in my way was the children handing them out!







That's right, chicks and puppies!











I guess I'll stop posting pictures of funny farm animal faces eventually, but I don't think it's going to happen any time soon.