Scenes from the Weekend (just a little late!)

This past weekend felt like a full one which hasn't always been the case as of late. As I hit 35 weeks of pregnancy today my life has now slowed down to a snail's pace and I feel like all I can do is wobble and waddle around! I spent lots of time on the sofa on Saturday looking at these pretty pink flowers on the hearth. I am not sure what they are as they were labelled as a 'filler' at the supermarket and they originally looked like heather but turned all fluffy after a few days. Whatever they were, they were pretty and brightened up the fireplace. Soon I am sure the fire will be roaring and there will be no space for flowers on there, if what the weathermen forecast today is true.

Far too much of Saturday was also spent 'pinning' onto my Autumn board on Pinterest but they all look so pretty, those orange and brown tones. I brought a little of the Autumn inside the house and placed some corn and berries on my kitchen window ledge alongside last years harvest of chinese lanterns.

The garden really is autumnal now with the leaves turning and the wind blowing. The hedges are still full of berries though and we even discovered we have cobnuts this year. After building the house seven years ago we bought a 'mixed hedge' from the local plant nursery and are only now truly finding out what we had included. I love the honeysuckle and holly already so it was a lovely discovery to find this new crop this year.

Even if there is a chill in the air we still have signs of life around, the bird table seems quieter but ladybirds are still to be found amongst the foliage and we have had so many white butterflies over the past few weeks fluttering about. We have some bursts of colour in the flowerbeds remaining, even if young trees like the acorn below have turned brown. I have been fortunate enough to have a gardener help out over the last few weeks and he really trimmed all the flowers back, pruned, dead-headed and weeded brilliantly for me. His next job is to dig a huge new flower bed to house around seven hydrangeas among other things along with this tiny chinese lantern plant I have on the patio. 

After he cut back the hedge I unearthed a bumper crop of blackberries right at the bottom of the garden, our only problem is that there is a ditch between us and them and it is very tricky to see where to put your feet. It also looks like it might be a good year for holly too - can you see it amongst the blackberries below?

This very late flowering hydrangea is the only one which has flourished in my garden this year. My mother-in-law has had the same problem and mine have been terrible and really struggled to flower. This one however decided to wait until September to blossom and  makes me smile everytime I see those heavy blooms.

Sunday saw us celebrate my husband's uncle's 70th birthday with a party in their garden. They live in the next house down the lane from us and one of their barns often feature in my photos looking across the field, like the one below. It was a lovely day with family and a few close friends, there were lots of children running around and a delicious bbq to enjoy. He had celebrated earlier in the week in 'grown-up style' with a surprise trip away and a luxurious meal at Raymond Blanc's restaurant in Oxfordshire, so the Sunday party was to make him feel young again! We rounded off the afternoon with a fantastic with a magician who did an amazing job of keeping equal numbers of adults and children entertained.

Amongst all this Autumn I am also trying to think ahead and get organised for the end of the year - dare I mention the 'C' word! But Christmas (too early I know) will be busier for us this year so I have begun preparations in earnest - you might have spotted that on Pinterest too! My absolute favourite craft supplier, in Sweden, had a fantastic offer of 40% off their entire range the other week so I placed a bumper order. It felt like Christmas already when the parcel arrived on my kitchen table.

I couldn't wait to get into it and unpack. I bought wrapping paper, ribbon and all sorts of goodies including two more wooden pigs - as if my house needs more right!

So there you have it, my weekend in far too many pictures - apologies! I have loved seeing this post concept over on Erin's blog for many weeks now and thought it about time I had a go myself. I am now on the countdown for the last few weeks of pregnancy and I plan on washing baby clothes and blankets this week so that the nursery is all ready - still without curtains, photos soon I promise. How about you, did you have a busy or a quiet weekend? Would love to hear what you got up to.