From the Mountains to the Shore

Waking up to blue skies and this view makes it easy to leap out of bed (nothing to do with the promise of Reblochon for breakfast...)

After scarfing down industrial quantities of cheese - and more croissants than I care to remember - we set off up the mountain behind the chalet to get our blood pumping and take in the views from the peak.

Annecy and St Jean Sixt.

A trip back home for a wedding and a hen party was long enough to whet my appetite for more time East of the Atlantic so, after a month back in Texas with my nose to the grindstone finishing off the last of the school year, we dropped off the dog with friends for seven long weeks and returned back to Europe for a Summer full of (yet more) weddings, catching up, parties and some weekend trips further afield

Wanting some quality time with my parents we planned a four day trip to the French-Swiss Border.  Planning to meet a family friend at the airport in Geneva for a night in her beautiful St Jean Sixt Chalet before leaving for a road trip round Lac Leman / Lake Geneva.

Well I'll be Dam'ed... 36 hours in Amsterdam

Everyone in the world is getting married this year so life is a constant round of hen parties and weddings. But some of them are worth 5000 mile commutes for and Jess definitely qualifies. I've managed to engineer myself on to the right side of the atlantic for the engagement drinks and the hen do - and I could not be a more excited bridesmaid.

Somerset Celebrations - Wedding season begins in the West Country

My short trip across the Atlantic was mainly for the purpose of a road trip down to the West Country to celebrate the wedding of one of my oldest and dearest friends Tom in Sunny Somerset. Despite British weather being notoriously unpredictable in April - the sun shone, the Somerset sand stone glowed 

and they were led from the village church to their perfect garden party reception by a hairy suited fiddler. 

Have you ever seen such a magic cake? And the blooming magnolia trees inside the marquee were glorious.

We sipped champagne to 'Stomping dave'

Laughed until we cried at the much-too-close-too-the-bone speeches 

And slipped off in to the night to make the long trip back to Surrey before sunrise.

April in England - I'm HOME. The dog is less impressed than he should be.

After a turbulent nine hours in the air and three hours negotiating public transport from Heathrow back to Surrey I was more than ready to collapse. I'm rubbish at sleeping on planes and get horrible jet lag though so the only way to cope is to power through. I was greeted Bertie (the dog) and my sister Alice. Who made me tea (Alice), Sniffed me distainfully (Bertie) and whisked me off on a good stomp through the fields to wake me up (Alice and Bertie).

England is halfway through an April heatwave and absolutely at its most glorious at this time of year, warm enough to enjoy being outside without roasting, the fields are just beginning to develop their first glow of green and the trees are full of bird squawks

We pulled on wellies, whacked on hats and filled our pockets with dog treats and set off to blow away the cobwebs - it is SO GOOD to be home (even if i'm so tired I look crossed eyed - see below!). 

Location: Home sweet home.

A Birthday Bear - Apollo turns one

I have on more than one occasion flippantly suggested that I'd have an actual baby once I'd managed to keep a dog alive for a year. Apollo was one recently. He is exhausting. No part of me feels any more capable than I did when I got him so we're postponing the non-furry-child indefinitely. Or until I get confirmation from a credible source that I am in fact an adult.

Unpleasant reminders of my own age aside, my bat-eared-frog-legged-skunk-scented dream pup is a whole year old - or seven in dog years - which is worthy of some sort of celebration.

I checked him in to Woof Gang Bakery and Spa for a morning nail trim (my steadfastly gender neutral parenting / insistence on buying him unicorn toys means this boy KNOWS about pedicures..) while I perused the doggy pick and mix for a suitable birthday biscuit selection.

Sunny Sunday - Austin Summer 2015 starts.

You know that Summer has truly begun when Nancy's wearing her Raybans - and a quick catch up brunch turns in to lunch, then drinks, then a BBQ  - and suddenly it's midnight and you're still warm outside by the pool.