Cosy days in the English Countryside | Dog walks, baking, crafting & time with friends 🍃

I am literally on my way out with the dogs. It's pouring it down with rain, I'm gonna have to tie my hair up I think, but my sourdough has just come out the oven. I've been doing sourdough for a couple of months now and this is my first one. I've done two little like mini loaves, that feels quite good. I'll cut them open later when they've cooled down. We're going to have them with some soup and then this is my second one. So I've done two, it's a bit floury on the bottom, but that feels amazing. Oh my gosh, it smells amazing. I'm very excited to cut into them and see what they look like inside. This one has a little, this is what kind of like you want, it's not quite pronounced enough. But yeah, for an amateur baker who has been trying this for a few months, I think they're pretty good efforts. I did burn myself on the Dutch ovens that I use as I was taking it out with my oven mitts. Can you see my wrist is exposed and I put it into the Dutch oven and I shouldn't have done that. So I need to buy what I don't have, which is these like silicone things that you just like lower it down into and it's like hangs over the sides and then it doesn't burn because the baking paper parchment that I've been using, it just like frazzles away in the oven because the temperature is so high, which is a bit annoying for me to say the least. But I thought why waste the money and spend the money on them until I know, hi Daisy, that I actually want to continue this and keep making them. So yeah, I might invest in some, you can get these little baskets that you do the bread in because at the moment I'm doing the bread in a, like I made some cash bowl, they're like, they're quite like old school, big kind of like baking bowls, I guess you'd mix your stuff in and then I just put a tea towel like in, dust it with flour, but then I can't tip it out properly. So I'm doing it a little bit differently. Anyway, we're off for a walk now, aren't we? Because you guys need a walk and then we're going to go and sort out the greenhouse, aren't we? So tell me what you've been doing. Well, uh, I've laid the foundations, laid the concrete footings for the greenhouse side now, that's all done. I've just filled it, levelled it, I need to neaten up some of the overspill, but that's okay. And it should, in theory, be all level because the wooden... The wood that you've put in has made it level that you then redid with your dad the other day? Exactly. And what did the chickens do? They came and ran on it, messed it up, got concrete on their feet, so they got caught and dunked in a bucket of water and washed off and they're all good now. I did go and just see them and ask if they were naughty chickens. Yes, they've been locked away in chickens now. And they said they were not naughty, they're very well-behaved chickens. They've laid two eggs and it's January. I just, do you, I don't know, is this a good thing? I don't think they're going to stop laying this year. No, they didn't lay for like a while before we got them, my friend said, um, but they then started again like, we got them January and they started like March. Well, this looks great. And then what are you going to do around the edge? Put the bricks round and then the greenhouse, in theory, goes up. Neaten it up a bit, obviously get rid of some of that overspill concrete, run another layer of bricks around the edge, which will be the same as is hiding under there from the frost. Yeah, using these bricks and those ones. And then that's the foundation done and we can build up from there. Amazing. And this pile of sand is going to be the path in the middle. With some little things on. So that'll give us stability and then I'll dig the earth around it to get rid of all the I have had every intention to share our exposed doorway, um, with you and it just hasn't happened. So this is kind of the part two to the part one of just showing you the new doorway that we've got and what's there and how it looks. I am, I'm just beyond happy with this. It looks amazing. If you remember before, it was a lot lower. It came down to about the top of this picture frame here and it, yeah, it was not really accessible for anybody. Um, and the lintel that was there was really dangerous and it was rotten and it was basically, yeah, the wall was going to fall down. So this looks so much better and we've uncovered this up here and I think it is just stunning. Um, and it really brings the character to the cottage and the room and it's restored it to its kind of former glory, which I love. Um, it looks, yeah, it's just so beautiful. Um, we've had to raise the clock up again. There is a screw in the wall at the base of the clock, which we will use for our reindeer that we have at Christmas. Um, but yeah, it's a lot more centralised now, which I think is great. Um, it makes the clock look quite small actually when you're in the room. Um, but this is the finished section and I love it and think it looks just absolutely fantastic. Decided in the new year to start a new hobby and that new hobby was doing modelling like with like pottery and modelling clay and stuff. I've already done some pottery with John in the past, but I've decided to start making, it's just a bit of fun for me, like these little mushrooms. Um, just out of modelling clay, they air dry clay and then I've been painting them. I did that with John and my daughter the other day. Um, and then I've covered them in glitter. My daughter wanted a snail, so I've made her a glittery snail and, um, Tabitha, my daughter, has also made some little candle holders for her grandparents. Um, and I thought it was just really nice and good fun and something a little bit different to do. I've then put kind of this kind of gloss over the back of the mushrooms, so they look a little bit kind of like gooey, like real, real mushrooms, except obviously these are more kind of fairy tale mushrooms. And I just thought that was something quite fun and whimsical that I would share with you. I haven't really shared it much on social media. I put a post up on my stories when we were doing it on the other app, but yeah, I thought they were really good fun and something you might like to have a go at and try yourself. Hello from the Kennedy suite at Beaverbrook House Hotel. It's kind of surreal to be in here knowing that the Kennedys stayed in here. Um, it's absolutely gorgeous and I'm here for an event for Sondre Fleur and the lovely Leah, who has designed a gorgeous, gorgeous range of dresses and tops and skirts and coats and things for Sondre Fleur. So I'll be doing that tomorrow. So I've arrived the night before and I'm staying obviously in the hotel and I'm going to have dinner. And, um, yeah, I'm here on my own and I thought it would be really fun to show you around the room and a little bit of the hotel because it is, it is gorgeous. So this is my bedroom for the night. I love the headboards on the bed. That is so pretty. It's, oh yeah, I love florals. So that works really, really well for me. And then over here we've got a cute little fireplace and some pictures obviously of the Kennedys. And up here we have a gorgeous chandelier and then we've got a tea and coffee station, a fridge and a gorgeous seating area here, which I'll probably sit on later and read a book. And then if we come through here, we've got super cute sweets here. We've got some mint humbugs. I love those. I'll probably grab a handful of them for the drive home. And we've got those in there, which are rhubarb and custard. Again, I will need a handful of them. And then into the bathroom, which is echoey and gosh, it's huge. I think you could get my bathroom in here probably three times. It's amazing. So there's little book details in here and there's some quotes, beautiful art, picture frames up there. And the bath is absolutely amazing. I'm going to have to have a bubble bath later. And they've got this from Bamford, which is geranium and it smells so lovely. I wish I could chuck the smell through to you because it's just gorgeous. But yeah, this is the hotel that I'm staying in. This is my room. I'm going to go off now and go to the swimming pool before dinner. Japanese sushi for dinner, which I'm looking forward to. I'd actually been saying to John, I really wanted sushi. So it's going to be really nice to finally have some sushi and we're going to make some at home. But then this event came up and I was invited to stay. So yeah, I'm really excited to experience all of that. So I've just phoned down because I wasn't sure, but everything here, everything here is complimentary. That's absolutely insane. And they'll restock it as and when. That's absolutely crazy. So if I need any snacks or nibbles, I've got everything here. Wow. That's amazing. I'm definitely going to have some popcorn. Yum. What do I want? Caramel. I'm going to have salted caramel popcorn. And I think I might have, oh, blueberry. Oh my goodness. They've got blueberry. I'm going to have a blueberry drink. So I've come down to the pool and it's currently empty. There's no one else here. So I'll have a little swim up and down and then head into the steam rooms and yeah, just have a little bit of a relax before I head off for dinner. Outside is currently closed because it's dark, but we will have a look in there maybe tomorrow morning. For the event today, for this gorgeous, gorgeous collection of dresses that the lovely Leah's put together. I've put a link to her socials below and also the dresses so you can see them. I am so nervous. I literally always feel like when I go to these events, like I've just stumbled into the VIP section and I'm like, do they, do they know they've invited me? Like it just, and you know, I just get this really bad imposter syndrome and always just, I like anxiety battle in my head. I'm like, I don't deserve to be here. Why am I being invited? It's crazy. Um, and yeah, my husband's great at like bringing me down off of that. Um, and just, yeah, generally just trying to, yeah, help me with that. Um, I think it probably stems from when I was at school and I was basically asked when I was about 12 what I wanted to be when I grew up. And I said, I love theater and I love acting and I would like, love to do that. Um, and the teacher was basically like, you'll be lucky if you're not living on a council estate, pushing a pram by the time you're 16. And like, I just, yeah, I mean who basically just knocks down someone's confidence at the age of 12 like that and kind of makes them feel like a, that's it, your life's over and that's a terrible thing, which in actual fact it's not. I have had friends that have had children that young. And whilst I obviously think that is way too young to be starting a family. Um, those individuals have gone on to prosper and done amazing things. There's one girl that I know I can think of obviously offhand. Um, and her daughter is just thriving and she is doing so well. She owns her own home. She's got an amazing job. So I mean, I don't know what that person's problem was, but I think it's probably stayed with me for a very long time and kind of made me have this level of kind of anxiety and imposter syndrome. And I think that's something I'm really trying to get out of. I was just sat in the outdoor pool just now, like, and then went into the steam room and was basically just like trying to calm myself down and really like centre myself and God, I sound like a hippie, but it helped. Um, anything that's not helped, I was hoping the spa would help is, you'll know I've got Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. So I struggle like really badly sometimes, really badly with severe fatigue. And I honest to God, if I had not stayed over, there is not a chance in hell that I could have done the event and then driven home. Absolutely not. Absolutely no chance in hell. So I'm so grateful that I got to experience this and stay here, um, for a number of reasons, but primarily that, um, and my shoulder is giving me such like pain today. It's been hurting on and off for God, weeks. And yeah, I can feel it in there. It's just like I've pulled a tendon or a muscle and it's not to do with the burn. That was a sourdough, uh, sourdough baking is dangerous. It was, yeah. Um, but oh my goodness, I just wish it would go away. I just feel like I'm forever doing this and people probably think I'm a bit weird. Um, but yeah, my joints feel better. Actually going into the steam room this morning helped. Um, and it is the most beautiful day today. So I'll just show you my dress. So this is the dress I'm wearing. I also in the cupboard have a coat that goes over the top of it. I'm going to get the coats. I'm not a hundred percent sure. I'm not a hundred percent sure if this kind of works together as a combo. I was thinking of having it open and doing it up like this and having it kind of like this, you know, cause it is, it is January, it is cold out. And I just kind of thought that was maybe a nice way to style it. Um, I think I probably will end up doing that. Gosh, I look like a princess. Oh my goodness. Oh, I'm literally gonna tear up. I'm literally tearing up at being stupid and emotional. Just thinking of kind of that me when I was younger and how she would like feel about this now. Um, anyway, anyway, uh, the hair is going to come down. I had a bit of a hair drama. I used this fancy thing. I'm not actually going to use one like once or twice before. And, um, it made my hair go like really, really frizzy cause my hair's naturally really curly, but it is more, you can see maybe like ringlets. Um, and when it goes really, really frizzy, it's just not a good look for me. So I then rewashed just the bottom of it and left the top kind of frizzy cause it had like nice volume. And then this is kind of the look I'm Obviously with my hair tied up, I look like a princess with it tied up, didn't I? Um, yeah, I think that's quite nice. I think the look will be good. I've got some black boots as well that I'm going to wear. They're like knee high black boots. Um, I'm so nervous for this event. I know quite a lot of the lovely ladies going that doesn't like diminish the nerves and, oh yeah, I really like admire and look up to a lot of them as well as women and business owners and just generally like creatives. I think some of them are, I haven't met a lot of them, but the ones I do know are just amazing. Um, so obviously there's a few new people that I'm going to meet and you can hear it. And I have, um, I have asked Leah if she'd like any help this morning. She's probably just too busy to even look at her phone. Um, but I am going to pack up my room because it's 10 o'clock the lovely girls actually 20 past and the lovely girls downstairs. I could check out at, um, anytime like between 11 and midday if I wanted to. Um, cause like, what else am I going to do? It starts at midday, which is why I thought if I can see anyone, um, I will obviously go and help if I can. I will show you a little bit more of our, um, day to day. If I feel confident enough to get the camera out, hopefully I do. And, um, yeah, I will, uh, go and get packed and ready. Complete wrong way.