January and February went by so fast, it’s hard to believe that it is April tomorrow – so 1/4 of the way through 2014 already! How did that happen! The best bit of this however is that the UK is warming up, and April brings us a mini-break to Venice for our wedding anniversary!
So, to March…
The month dawned bright and sunny! The 2nd is my birthday so we started with an outing to Hurst castle with friends (now repaired from the storm damage of February). Mr P then came up trumps for my birthday (he had to really after the spectacular trip we had for his birthday to Arabia!) and took me to 36 on the Quay in Emsworth for supper and overnight in one of their fisherman cottage rooms! A gem of a place, by no means cheap, but really personal and the food was incredible! We had breakfast brought to our room on the Sunday – and what a feast!
The rest of the month continued to include a lot of scuttling between the south coast and Leeds. This meant pancake day was delayed until the weekend, and that we really made the most of weekends at home together – either running in the park or cycling in the forest!
1st – 9th
March is a great month for daffodils – they are everywhere and brighten up even the dreariest areas of Southampton! My flight north on the 12th was exciting, because for some reason only known to the captain he decided to announce to the passengers that ‘we have enough fuel on board’ after take off…. not the ideal thing to say! Having spent weeks in Leeds already this month I eventually noticed I walk up and down a road with ‘Ludgate’ in the name every day – my maiden name, doesn’t seem to be anything to do with us, but interesting to see such a rare name! Stunning view of the London landmarks on the way back into Heathrow – loving seat 1F – it is fast becoming ‘my’ seat!
The weekend we were bathed in sunshine and a lovely sailing breeze! We took a few friends out yachting on a Jeanneau 49 and it was just stunning – Lymington, Cowes, Yarmouth and the Needles – we did them all!
Then back to work – evenings at the dining table eating and working! Then off to London for an amazing course that challenged and stretched – nice to stay in the Aloft hotel – surprisingly good, and for the price! The suite upgrade was appreciated as always!
10th – 19th
A couple of days of charity followed – the #nomakeupselfie and then Sports Relief – plenty of donations! I got some tickets to Sarries vs Quins at Wembley through work so Mr P and I made the schlep up there for the game – very enjoyable, Wembley have crowd control sorted like Twickenham can only aspire to, and it was nice to be seated near to Greg Searle who was trying to enjoy his day out despite the disturbances of recognition! The cold weather continued – hail on sunday and then rain on and off for much of the rest of the weekend. Ended up in London, via Leeds – and enjoyed the rooftop view from DoubleTree Tower Hill – it is a strange location, as the view does not look like the normal view, and there are A LOT of cranes!
20th – 28th
Final weekend of the month and it very much felt like the summer was back – I had a lovely day out at Basildon Park with friends from university. On the sunday I had to do some work – didn’t manage to get up as early as planned due to clocks-changing – but still fitted in some time in the garden prepping for April’s visit to Venice. Rounded off the week taking the car to the garage to be checked for a funny noise it was making – the owner has an R8, couldn’t help but wonder whether it could be a courtesy car for me – I drove one last year at an open day and rather enjoyed it!!
29th – 31st
Sadly they didn’t give me the R8 – the car wasn’t as poorly as I thought!
Looks like spring is there, I would have also loved doing a drive in your area with that sporty R8..come and link up today with us for Travel Photo Mondays!
Unless your year only has 9 months I think we are only a quarter through 2014. Unless I’m missing something?
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Thank goodness, you are right! Thanks Nick – wishing the year a way far too fast!
Enjoy reading your blog. Look forward to seeing you both soon. Much love Pendant Searle
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thank you! you can be my proof reader from now on! Definitely – give us a shout when you are on the south coast, we’ll have to have you over for dinner. PS – Sam didn’t leave his pink shirt at yours did he?
Wow, sound like you’ve been busy – my sister lives near Emsworth and we’ve enjoyed some great walks around there so I must look out for that restaurant – it sounds nice
Author
It’s well worth a visit – not the cheapest by any means, but hard to find this sort of dining – food had the edge on say limewood etc
I love this collection of images in particular very envious that you had a trip to Twickenham earlier this year. We took a tour of the sacred grounds in 2010 and had a great experience but I can only imagine what the atmosphere was really like on game day. I can recall when I was at school that we had an opportunity to go to England vs the All Blacks at Twickenham and I immediately jumped at the chance. Unfortunately the week before we were scheduled to go, the trip was cancelled because of a lack of interest – I mean seriously!
It looks like you really are having a busy 2014 but that’s the best way to be. Looking forward to following you on your travels around England and elsewhere the remainder of the year.
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There’s always the World Cup next year!!! Although I shudder to think what the ticket prices will be!!
I really like the feeling of catching up on your life via the words and photos. I love the contrasts, and on one hand the beautiful photo of the horses and on the other, the R8. Fantastic collage of life footprints here – have a wonderful trip to Venice, really look forward to finding out about it later!
Author
Thanks Jackie! It’s hard finding photos on the 5 office days a week, but I’m often somewhere different each day thank goodness!!
I would imagine this isn’t such an easy challenge – at least, not day in, day out. The horses shot is the pick of the bunch for me! Beautiful lighting and I love the long shadows cast by the trees… lovely! 🙂
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It always annoys my husband when I stop cycling to take pictures! But I’m glad I did!!
I would imagine this isn’t such an easy challenge – at least, not day in, day out. The horses shot is the pick of the bunch for me! Beautiful lighting and I love the long shadows cast by the trees… lovely! 🙂
Author
It always annoys my husband when I stop cycling to take pictures! But I’m glad I did!!
Ohh ambitious project you have going! I’ve always started a Project 365, but never finished it. I think the the furthest I’ve ever gone was 3-4 months and then failed. Maybe I’ll try it again soon haha
Ohh ambitious project you have going! I’ve always started a Project 365, but never finished it. I think the the furthest I’ve ever gone was 3-4 months and then failed. Maybe I’ll try it again soon haha
What a beautiful collection of photos!! Hats off to you for taking on such a task!! I have tried it before but life got in the way. BTW, my favorite photo is the aerial view shot!! Beautiful!!
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I spent a lot of time with my nose on the glass of a plane window in March!! There are days when I really have to look hard to find something to take a photo of!! And then others when I could easily upload 50!! It is tiring!
What a beautiful collection of photos!! Hats off to you for taking on such a task!! I have tried it before but life got in the way. BTW, my favorite photo is the aerial view shot!! Beautiful!!
Author
I spent a lot of time with my nose on the glass of a plane window in March!! There are days when I really have to look hard to find something to take a photo of!! And then others when I could easily upload 50!! It is tiring!
Very ambitious challenge and good job on keeping up with it! I’m not a car person, however – I’d love an R8 – they are amazing!
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I drove one for a day last year, they are indeed amazing!!
Very ambitious challenge and good job on keeping up with it! I’m not a car person, however – I’d love an R8 – they are amazing!
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I drove one for a day last year, they are indeed amazing!!
This is a great idea! I’ve been thinking of doing a 365 but it didn’t happen haha. Love the daffodil picture, so pretty!
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It’s tiring!! Don’t do it 😉
This is a great idea! I’ve been thinking of doing a 365 but it didn’t happen haha. Love the daffodil picture, so pretty!
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It’s tiring!! Don’t do it 😉