half a term

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all your lovely comments on my jumper. I am wearing it right now and it is helping to keep me warm and snug on this very cold day.

I can't believe that's half a term over already, how the time flies by. We've just had a wonderful break down in Dorset. Did you see the new header at the top of all those photographs? That one was taken on a particularly blustery day, during a long and exhilarating walk at Shell Bay down by the Sandbanks chain ferry. I could never tire of the views along that beach and actually much prefer it out of season, when the place is pretty much all yours for the taking and you can walk on perfect sand for miles.

What did we do? Well, a walk every single day for a start. One day hiking across rolling green hills, another spent tramping through forest land filled with crisp, ochre leaves and the distant call of the tail end of deer rutting season. We savoured the heath land with its large stretches of heather and gorse and fabulous vistas across ever changing seas towards Poole, Bournemouth, the Isle of Wight. And then, of course, there were many hours spent on those beautiful, golden sands.

When I mull over what it is that defines a quintessentially English county, I immediately think of Dorset .. and then perhaps Suffolk. I expect the Brits amongst you may have your own ideas but it's Dorset that I know and love so well. With its thatched cottages and endless patchwork fields, the dramatic coastline and picture postcard villages, it never ever fails to provide the perfect antidote to the fast lane that is London. Arriving down there, often well into the evening, we warm up the house before getting to bed and by the next morning, we are relaxed and ready to step outside, straight into wind-down mode. I feel refreshed from those healthy days and ready for action once again .. only it's a very different type of action now.

We sold our house during the holidays. We'll be leaving London soon, and Dorset too, for that matter, as a new adventure lies in wait for us. I'll tell you a bit more another day .. I just need to take it all in myself first!

Wishing you a happy, sunny week.