Sally, Sally - pride of our alley

So says the famous song.





The Sally that I am referring to though is Sally Swannell, and I think she's the pride of our alley in UK. She is a local artist and lives near our cottage in Wiltshire, England. Although I don't know her personally a couple of my friends do and they say she is as lovely as she is talented. I always stock up on her cards when I'm back there and I just love her style. She bases her art work so I have been told, on the muted colours and shades of Farrow and Ball's range.


Take a quick look for yourselves :

The one above is such a LOVELY Christmas card. I would so love a house like that too.

Or what about this Christmas dresser above? Very cute.

Hope everyone's preparations for the holiday season are coming along nicely! Have a lovely weekend one and all.

And about time too!!!

Apologies. Many of them.


I have been reprimanded by my mother who says she is "Fed up with seeing the photo of the Qantas plane on my blog" and contrary to what you may think, that I could be circumnavigating the planet in it, I'm not. Just been really busy since returning to Melbourne. Jet lag..... blah de blah, getting back into work again, blah de blah and generally feeling altogether a little blah. Wondering also - Do I have "Blogger's block?!!"
Oh no, I do hope not. And many apologies that I have not been round to visit other blogs. I will do very soon. Meanwhile here are a few photographs as promised from Poppy's 21st Party which now seems like an age ago on 11/11/11.


First off the birthday girl, and boyfriend. Showing this one particularly as you have to see the dress. It is vintage from the '50's. Lace bodice and a plain black ballet length skirt. She looked stunning but then again I am a little biased on these matters as Mothers tend to be.

Above with two of her friends from school. Keep an eye out for the guy on the right - he will 'be big' one day - currently at Drama School in London.

And yours truly in my 'party dress' - followers of the blog from old will have seen this one before but it's a classic and gets rolled out for special occasions and seems to fit the bill most times!

Promise that I won't leave it so long before another post.......

Kilver Court - a place I'm definitely visiting

Kilver Court - designer bargains, secret gardens, great food..... Well, that info. has got me totally interested and you'll bet that this place in Somerset, England will be on my list of places to visit when I am back there in about a month's time..... (And even better news is that it's only about 45 mins from our cottage in the West of England)

Some "blurb" from their website :

A fresh, new experience, Kilver Court mixes a fabulous discount designer shopping emporium with amazing secret gardens, excellent food from the Sharpham Park Farm Shop and pop-up restaurants, a plant nursery, wellness centre and an ever-changing calendar of events.

Created by Mulberry founder Roger Saul, The Kilver Court Emporium is open seven days a week (Mon-Sat 9am-5pm, Sun 10am-4pm). It offers an ever-changing, exciting mix of discount designer labels including - Margaret Howell, Toast, Cabbages and Roses and Duchamp. The Emporium is filled with gorgeous fashion and home furnishings. Ranges include menswear, womenswear, fashion accessories and lingerie as well as new and upcycled furniture and vintage decor.

Kilver Court provides a refreshing change for those seeking quality designer items and fantastic bargains all presented in an environmentally aware setting. Restoration, regeneration and renewal are the driving forces behind Roger Saul’s vision for making Kilver Court the best designer shopping destination in the UK. In recent years, Roger and his team of craftspeople have transformed a range of historic industrial buildings with great care and expertise.

Can't wait to visit and wait, there's more - Mulberry's Factory shop is also just around the corner from this wonderful place too!

For more information - http://www.kilvercourt.com/

Something to tell you

I am going home.
For a WHOLE 2 months. My lovely work, THE ARK have said that I may go and I will still have my job when I return and I am so excited that I am trying not to think about it in case it all turns out to be a dream. So in September I will be seeing THIS view below when I wake up and look out of the bedroom window from our cottage in Wiltshire. Home to me is UK. Yes, home is also here in Melbourne but HOME No. 1 is the country where you have spent most of your life, have your memories, and most of your family.

So, if you would like you can all come with me via the blog and perhaps it will be a little more interesting and I will be posting with a bit more regularity than I have of late, for which I can only apologise!

Happy weekend to one and all.

September day in the English countryside

Thank you for all your lovely comments on my previous post about my parents' move.


They were very touched....... All is progressing well and whilst I did not come back to UK from Oz specifically for their move - (am here to settle dearest daughter into University in a week's time) I am extremely glad to be here whilst their move is happening. Contracts were exchanged yesterday and it will all happen in six days. In fact I am writing this post from their house after another day helping out. Mr SE has turned his hand to disconnecting dishwashers, washing machines etc. and taking down shelves too. However, Mr SE leaves early tomorrow morning back to Australia (via the Grand Prix in Singapore)..... Phew! On to our day yesterday in the sunshine. Mr SE's mother came to visit and we went out for lunch to a lovely pub in the countryside - photo above.

The food arrived on boards. Mine photographed below and the MIL's above... however, the MIL did not like the fact that it arrived "on a bread board" and declared it to be unhygienic. We told her it was known as "presentation".

Mine were freshly grilled sardines on toast with a green olive tapenade.

Photos above and below of the garden at the pub.

Afterwards we went for a walk alongside the canal.

The canal climbs a steep gradient and a series of locks were completed in 1810. An AMAZING engineering feat which fascinated Mr SE no end.

Each lock is numbered.... love the old fashioned numbering.

Looking back at the at the 21 locks up the hill....

Gorgeous old brick bridge over the canal....

We saw this barge (or narrow boat as they are sometimes called) navigate through a lock....

At the end of the day the MIL returned on the train. All in all a lovely day in the sunshine.

Back again in UK

Well, it's good to be back.
I flew into Heathrow airport and have spent the first 36 hours or so with my parents at their house - they are in a little turmoil - well, the house is actually as they are busy packing up as they are moving in a couple of weeks or so. Pictures and photographs are down from walls and I have tried to help a little, jet lag permitting.... I could not resist taking a photograph of these - one of their photographs ready for packing - it was taken just after they were married in the 1950's.... Look at how handsome my father is in his Royal Air Force Uniform as a young Flying Officer - and my mother looks like Audrey Hepburn I think - so glam.

It is a little sad to see empty shelves .....

And boxes all packed up. There has been a lot of sorting to do and 'culling' of belongings as they are "downsizing" and moving to a smaller house in the same area. They have been in the house over 20 years so you can imagine the job is no mean feat.

Everything has been labelled - my mother is very efficient.

And talking of labels these are rather lovely... This is their home made chutney ....

And lots of jam too ....

All in rows in the "Preserves Cupboard". They will be packed up next week. I love that they still make jam and chutney each year.


Am now back in our cottage in the West Country (about 45 mins from Bath)... More photographs etc. from here in the next few days.

Here we go round the Mulberry Bush

This post has been inspired by two of my favourite blogs and their recent posts to do with handbags. The first is METSCAN over in Finland who talked recently about a handbag that she had given her daughter - lucky daughter - see HERE. And the second blog is Thats Not My Age who had the absolute pleasure of meeting, (yes, you heard right MEETING) the actress Jane Birkin and she even took a photograph of her handbag. Click HERE to read all about that. So to the bag in my post... This bag belongs to my daughter - and she has kindly lent it to me for a while - she left it here when she returned to the UK for me to use as we both love it. A classic Mulberry Bayswater handbag in a chocolate bronzey colour which seems to go with everything. Rather bashed about and loved but it seems to get better as it ages (rather like Jane Birkin's Birkin from TNMA's post I like to think).....

Daughter and I purchased this bag together. She had saved up and had some money for birthdays and some money for good exam results and we set off to visit the Mulberry Factory Shop in Somerset. We managed to secure it for a Very Good Price. Not only was it nearly half price but the nice sales assistant gave us another 50 pounds OFF as there was a v. small scratch on it.

If you are in Somerset in England and fancy a lovely day out go to the factory shop - you never know what you might find and there is a little tea room there too. All details below :

Tucked away in the heart of the beautiful Somerset countryside, the Mulberry Factory shop presides in an old school building located on the main A37 Bristol to Yeovil Road. It carries a wide selection of Mulberry accessories and ready to wear, styles varying from classical vintage to trendy, contemporary pieces and all at substantially discounted prices. So, whether it is an idea for a gift, or simply self-indulgence, you are sure to find something suitable at the Mulberry Factory Shop.

New Collection In store with up to 50% off the original RRP. MULBERRY FACTORY SHOP The Old School House - Shepton Mallet- BA4 5NF Telephone : 01749 340 583

I hope to visit soon as tomorrow I am back off to the UK again for a very fleeting visit - all of 3 weeks. Next post will be from England.

Visiting Goose

I think that maybe geese are given less credit than they are due as this one lives in the farm just around the corner from my cottage in UK and obviously had NOT forgotten that the last time I was back I used to feed him/her (?) pieces of bread thrown from out of the kitchen window!! The second day I was back from Oz I heard a loud cackling and honking and a demanding of bread - and so of course I had to give in - see photograph below!

Its quite a cute goose really and wanders around the lane as if he owns the whole area and obviously has managed to avoid ending up as Christmas lunch for many years (and no, that is NOT why I feed him!!)

The joys of the countryside!

This is the 'Semi' part

Tomorrow I leave Australia to wing my way back to UK for a month and a half and this is where the 'Semi' part of my 'Semi-Expat' comes into play...

I always find the transistion so difficult I have to admit and although I do seem to have the best of both worlds - living in both hemispheres, it's the saying goodbye that is the worst part and even as I type this my eyes are welling up at the thought of leaving Mr SE for a number of weeks.... The first week is always the hardest and then we do get into a kind of routine - he leaves me an email for my 'breakfast' and I leave him one for his and then we speak twice a day too via skype.

For me though there is the lovely part of seeing my DDD again - I have missed her so very much. She has been busy over the last few months au-apairing in Italy and then being in Guernsey (Channel Islands) for a few weeks and now she is back in UK working to earn some money for her travelling before she goes off to University next September.

And she and I have lots to do..... Although she knows what she wants to study there are several Unis that offer this degree and so we will be literally buzzing all over UK looking at them including going to Edinburgh University (that is one place I am very much looking forward to seeing again - such a beautiful City) so that when she sends in her final application they will be listed in order of where she would like to be. After that it is a question of waiting to see which of them offer her a place.

So, I imagine that the next time I post something (unless I can en route from an airport lounge) it will be from England - and there will be a different slant on the whole thing with lots of photos of things locally to me there which I hope you will enjoy over the coming weeks...

Au Revoir.