Here, there and everywhere

It feels as if November has been a very busy month. I've travelled to Brighton, Dorset, Cambridge and the Cotswolds for a combination of work and family commitments. I like nothing better than being on the move and seeing different places. It's been great. Last weekend was really delightful, we drove to Burford, on the edge of the Cotswolds, for my cousin's wedding. We arrived on Saturday lunchtime, checked into a motel and changed into our wedding clothes ready for the 3 o'clock ceremony. The venue was a very old and beautiful pub just off the historic high street. The whole town is so picturesque, it's almost unreal. It was looking especially pretty as the light faded and shop fronts were illuminated.

A real mix of shops: always good to see an independent bookshop thriving.

The sweetest cottages, and enormous price tags on all the houses in town! This is, after all, David Cameron country....

I'd love to come back with  more time to explore. 

Me and the boy in our wedding clothes. I can't say he was wildly enthusiastic about wearing a suit, but once he'd gone off and chosen one himself, and realised that it made him look older than his 16 years, he came round to the idea. 

Twinkly wedding breakfast. It was a lovely occasion, and so nice to catch up with the wider family.

The following morning was rainy and grey, so I didn't take as many photos as I wanted to, but it is somewhere to return to. Meanwhile, here are a few highlights from my other travels:

Broadwindsor, Dorset. A really flying visit but a spectacular day which started with this sunrise....(below)

Cambridge is close to where I live, but I always love visiting and I never tire of even the most touristy sights. I've been going there since I was a young girl and have always found it an intriguing place. Everyone around town always looks as if they are leading incredibly interesting and cerebral lives!

I went to this beautiful shop, Catesbys, for their Christmas preview. There is a small cafe inside, selling the world's best tasting cheese on toast.

I would like pretty much everything in this shop. 

I bought a few of these bowls as Christmas presents, but now I need to persuade myself to part with them...

Also loving that blue and white plate, although I didn't buy it.

So there we have it, a few snapshots from my travels around the English countryside. Thanks for sticking with me if you're still reading. 

A painting

I had the urge to do some painting last night. I'd had a busy day writing, and then I popped out to see my friend who is not well, and I just felt like coming home and chilling out with my watercolours. I'd loved the Emma Bridgewater Christmas catalogue which dropped onto the mat the other week, and was really inspired by her photo of a seasonal dresser. I decided to merge her dresser image with bits of my own dresser, and this is what I came up with. Usually, I paint a watercolour and then go over the top of it with pen and ink, but I wanted to try and just use paint this time as the other method looks very flat sometimes. I think this is more three dimensional. 
I did this while the rest of the household watched a football match. I get my head phones, plug my iPod in and off I go, painting to music!