Saturday - fake festival

Had a nice sleep in this morning! Then chilled out - we were going to the fake festival and Connor and Emily, Helen and Paul were all coming - the first band wasn't until 6pm so we had all day to be lazy!

At about 12 noon, I was practically in PJ's and sat playing - when Andy came in and said - have you seen the messages? I said no....

Helen and Paul were 5 minutes away - the first band is not at 6pm it is at 1pm!!  Before I could get ready or anything they turned up! lol.  So I got ready - and we chilled for a bit - Andy and Paul in the studio and me and helen just catching up - as we decided that we didn't care about the first band anyway!  We headed off at about 2.30pm and when we got there Blondie was on - didn't sound great tbh....we all got drinks tokens and a drink from the bar and went and sat outside.  Helen and Paul - being helen and Paul - had chairs and blankets etc....we well....didn't lol.  They did share though!!  We csat there having a laugh and could see black cloud looming - them the heavens opened and there was a mad rush to get inside the big tent - got soaked whilst there was grid-lock!  After a while the sun came out again - and we all went back out.  this happened quite a few times during the day!

The Chilli peppers were the next band - and they were alright....then there was Depech Mode who none of us cared about.  At 8pm it was Queen - which was really good!! Was just great to hear Queen songs although they did play - Days of our Lives - which is what they released when freddy Mercury was dying - so that made me cry a bit!  (Mercky and may are named after Queen's freddie Mercury and Brain May) I'm a massive fan!

Who was next? err.....oh yeah Oasis.  I hadn't realised how many big hits they had....

After this - we headed home - in the dark across fields - Helen decided she wanted a wee and fell into a big ditch lol.  She also got stung by nettles - which still hurt the next morning!

When we got back - we sat in the kitchen for ages chatting and laughing and trying to come up with.... well I need to explain first - a couple of weeks ago we were at Helen and Pauls and Paul asked - are you odd or even? we ended up having a big discussion about it - deciding that we were all odd apart from Andy and possibly Emily - who were even.  We laughed about the fact that it had no real definition - anyway tonight we took it way further asking - are you left or right? up or down? smooth or rough etc.  We came up with loads and talked about how it could be made into a board game! haha  My black board ended up looking like this:

Eventually we got too tired and went to bed!

Friday - back home

So...we drove home from the tree house - and almost straight away - did nothing lol.  Andy went down into the studio and I watched the last of Wentworth prison - whilst uploading pics from my camera. 

I had missed the cats so much - so it was nice to get my cuddles from Mercky who is the only one really who cuddles all the time - she also paddy-paws my arms whilst sucking on my skin!  It is so sweet - and sometimes painful! Its a little worrying why she does this - one theory is that she was taken from her mother too soon which I would totally believe because when I went to get her at just 8 weeks old the guy had an even younger kitten - and he didn't have the parents - his mother who lived far away did.  I hate the thought of these tiny kittens being taken from their mother so young...

Anyway - she purrs loads when she does it so it makes her happy - and me - proper bonding time!!

In the evening we played pool with Connor and Emily and were up until about 2am - we knew we could sleep in Saturday morning

Thursday - Tintagel Castle, tree house stay and gin making lesson!

Hi!

Today we had to be up and out quite early - we had to leave the apartment by 10am.  We went and got some breakfast before heading out to Tintagel castle.  It turned out to be a really nice day - but there were so many steps up and down!! I loved it lol.

There was not much of the actual castle left.  But whilst we were looking around - I finally decided what my super power would be if I had one lol.  I would love to be able to see back in time - not necessarily travel in time - but to be an observer.  I got to thinking how awesome it would be to see the whole castle and the people that lived in it...then started thinking - imagine Rome! Or our house in 1790 - and especially how it looked inside - the decor and the people - the land!!  In the end I just got really pissed off because I can't do any of these things and will never be able to!!

Anyway...we left Tingagel at around 2.15pm to head to the tree house we had booked for the night!  We eventually found it down the most narrow country lane I've ever witnessed!  We met with Shona, who had been working making lavender oil - and the smell was amazing!  She led us into a field - along a line of trees and to our tree house!  It looked awesome - with a little table outside and a rope/tyre swing outside (which I was told was 17 years old so not really safe to swing on) - so when she had gone I had a go! lol

The tree house was up quite a few steps - 18 foot high I believe - and inside was small! It was quaint and sweet but you couldn't really spend more than one night there!  Outside (back down steps) was basically a shed with a porta-loo and a shower.  Andy was NOT happy about the loo because, he explained, as a bloke his dangly bits touched the bottom as it was so shallow (he explained how he had to use sanitising hand wash on his bits lol).

Basically it felt like camping!  

So - at 4.30ish we made our way back to where we met Shona - in a wooden building - full of jars of stuff, and spices and all sorts of things!  She explained that they make candles, perfume and gin - and that making perfume was not too different than making gin!

There were four Swedish ppl joining us but they were late - so she took us around - what looked like overgrowness - but she knew exactly what every plant was!  We picked lavender, chives, roses...oh god I am so rubbish - we picked loads of things - all of which could be added to the gin!

Then she explained to us that Gin is basically made from Vodka - as Vodka is basically just alcohol with nothing added!  It was 60% Vodka however as you lose some alcohol in the distilling process.  To that we added juniper berries, cinnamon and angel root?  Then we could choose what other ingredients we wanted.  The Swedish people arrived at about this point - and caught up with us.  

Here are some of the things that I chose for my gin (on the paper) I tried to go for a floral flavour

Then we all took turns distilling the gin - it was simmered - the alcohol would come off first - followed by the water.  I was weird because you tasted the gin and then the water - and then you mixed them.  Everybody tasted each others gin - so it was really interesting - but because you didn't taste them all side by side it was difficult to really compare.  They were all awesome though!!

Andy's turn....

After a really good educational time - that left us determined to buy our own distillery stuff - we went back to the tree house and very soon after we were brought lots of yummity food!!

We then got cozy in the tree house - and drank gin and tonic whilst we had a game of snakes and ladders lol...then I kicked Andy's butt at cards!

We went to sleep quite early - and had a great night sleep!!  The next morning - very soon after I woke up - we heard a 'Hello!' and we had been brought a full English breakfast!!

We polished that off - got packed up - and headed home!

:-) 

Wednesday - New Quay, Cornwall

We eventually decided that we could not be bothered to go anywhere today - not out of New Quay anyway - we went into the town - and played in arcades for a while lol.  It was just 2p machines - but we had loads of fun! Won a few trashy cheap bits of rubbish lol.  This is what we won!

The seagulls were so sweet with their babies!!

I finally got my cornish pasty for lunch - and it was lush!!!!

We went and spent a couple of hours in a bar - sitting outside in the sun over looking the sea - it was so nice!!  We didn't leave there until quite late - we then went on a bit of a pub crawl!!  Didn't get wasted or anything....

Tuesday - New quay Cornwall

So...today we started off with Breakfast at the hotel....and decided to drive out to Tintagel.  The weather wasn't looking so great and it was raining a bit - so when we saw signs for the Eden Project we decided to go there instead.  It consists of large domes - they have a rain forest in one of them - and the other was Mediterranean - there are also gardens and a section concerning planets.  It was so nice!! I loved the rain forest part, it was obviously really hot walking around in there - but amazing...

Here are some pics....

I could put so many pics up here - too many to choose from.  We had a yummy lunch (burritos) and then bought a bottle of Cornish gin (Tarquins) which came with two gin glasses...then we made our way back into Newquay.  

We then went to new accommodation - it was an apartment that we found on airbnb.  It was so much better than a small hotel room - living room - TV kitchen - fridge! proper bathroom - just a one bedroom apartment but pretty cool!!  We ended up staying in and ordering pizza!!

Monday - Newquay, Cornwall

Hi!

After a not-too-bad sleep - we went and got some breakfast and a coffee - and then decided to walk into Newquay again.  Andy wanted some comfy trainers, so we looked around the shops for a bit!  We bought a raven skull (resin) to go with our rather weird collection at home - and it is also a Raven and Andy supports the Baltimore Ravens - so it was pretty cool.  I got a dress and some trousers and Andy got some trainers.  We then went and sat down and got these....

Hehe.

Andy then got fish and chips - I was still full from my eggs benedict at breakfast - although I did nick a few chips and a bit of fish :-)

Then we went in the arcades and played on the 2p machine!  We totally blew £2 each!

We then headed back to the hotel and Andy had a shower and I caught up with this blog!!  It is now 6.20pm - and I guess I'd better get showered!  We are going to head out again and get food and have fun soon!!

Catch up laters!!

Sunday - Exeter 10k - then Newquay Cornwall

So - Andy woke me up when my alarm went off (as I had ear plugs in and didn't hear it!) and I got up - not feeling 100% but not as hung over as I could have been!  I got ready for my run and we arranged with the hotel that I could come back and get showered afterwards.  We went off for the run!

I was a bit nervous to be honest - 10k run - it could possibly get really ot and I might possibly start feeling ill!!  We hung around a bit - and then we were off!  It was a fast start really - first 1k was just under 6 minutes - which is fast for me - and I managed to stay a fairly quick pace for the first 3k or so!  I saw Andy who took a few pics...it was really nice to see him while on the run - and the next time I saw him - Helen, Paul and Eli were there!!  Made me feel quite emotional really!!  Or - as the woman I was sort of running with at the time said - 'totes emosh' lol.  I saw them a couple of times and it really spurred me on!!  I felt okay on the run! I never find it easy and some hills were still too much - but I ran my fastest pace - an average of 6.30 per kilometer.  I didn't get an official time - it was a Race for Life - cancer research UK.  My watch also told me that I had only ran 9.8k but at the pace I ran and from the stats I had - I did it in 1hr 5m.  So I was really happy with that!

So - after that and a quick chat with Helen and Paul - we rushed back to the hotel so I could get a shower - and then we headed off to Newquay in cornwall.  We booked a hotel for 2 nights - as we sat in the car about to leave lol.

We arrived in about an hour and a half - and got booked in no problems!

The room was really nice - the bathroom tiny - which isn't a problem and the view was pretty cool!!

We got sorted and then went for a walk!  Not that my legs were still aching or anything lol.  The beach was amazing - never really seen a beach looking like that in the UK before - sunny for a start lol...big, packed and the sea looked awesome!  

We continued walking around the coast line - taking in the views and just feeling great!  

We then stopped off at a pub and sat and had a couple of drinks - outside watching the people of the beach and the seagulls! We were there quite a while.

We then headed off to another place for a bit where we joined in a pub quiz and bingo hahaha - didn't win either but did discover a new gin - Tanqueray Sevilla (which Andy ordered a bottle of on Amazon).  We then decided to head back to the first place for food as it had looked awesome.  The place was called Bellushi's....we headed back after this - and crashed - I was still feeling so stuffed....