Climb every mountain.

Succinctly put in the Sound of Music.

Sometimes you have to take each opportunity that comes your way and other times you just have to make things happen regardless. The last few weeks have been hectic and if I'm honest I think things had crept up on me more than I'd realised. On a spur of the moment thought a month ago we decided to book a weekend away for a little escape in the gloomy space between the last dregs of summer and Christmas. We love the Peak District for short breaks as the scenery and terrain is wonderfully undulating, so different from flat ol' Norfolk and yet it's within a convenient distance to drive for the weekend.

We hired a beautiful old cottage to spend three glorious nights over a long weekend. There is something so relaxing about sitting in front of a fire while the weather rages around outside. I brought books and writing paper, films and provisions and prepared for the worst; storm Abigail was set to hit.

Fortune prevailed and we found that we were able to get out for a good while. It did feel much colder than at home so I was thankful that my pessimism had insisted I take my hat, gloves and scarf. I also got my first opportunity to test out my new jacket from Mountain Warehouse which not only kept me warm but dry as well when the rain arrived. It's the Bracken 3 in 1 jacket in turquoise – such a gorgeous colour, but it also comes in purple and black too. It's down to £89.99 with the 50% off they are running at the moment,hurrah! The coat has a waterproof outer shell with a removal hood, then a warm inner lining which can be detached and worn alone, so there are 3 ways to wear it. As I prefer my coats to be more on the roomy side I always buy a size larger so I have plenty of space for baggy jumpers and the like underneath. My Merlin rucksack is also Mountain Warehouse and is now just £19.99 in the sale - I could buy one in turquoise to match my coat!

My most trusted Magnum boots kept me sure footed; they are the absolute best for ankle support and comfort, yet to find anything else that compares. Much to C's distaste I flatly wont wear le 'practical trouser', instead staying with the safer territory of a pair of skinny jeans. My super fun bobble hat is one I bought a few weeks ago in support of Masato's beanie collection campaign. They donate a beanie to a homeless charity for each one that is bought (you get to choose out of the four) (which I supported last year too). I bought this Masato snowstar beanie this time as I love the pattern and it's going to keep me warm and I feel guilt free as I know it will help keep someone else warm too this winter.

I'll share more from the weekend soon.

Sophie

Thanks to Mountain Warehouse for their gift voucher with which I bought this jacket. All content and opinions are my own as always.

I'm pretty sure you can take on the world wearing a leather jacket and dark sunglasses. The weather foiled my plans for looking carefree and casual by whistling up a strong breeze forcing me to walk around with a bunch of tunic in my hand to prevent the world from getting a good look at next week's washing. More encumbered than effortless, story of my life.

Dress and jacket – eBay, boots – T K Maxx, sunglasses – QD, earrings – Pretty Cute Jewellery, bracelets - gifts

Aside from taking horrendously out of focus pictures (lets call them arty) and getting my pasty white legs out I spent quite a while in the kitchen this weekend finishing the last of my smoothie recipes as well as cooking a few other things, recipes coming your way soon.

I was feeling a bit sorry for myself looking in the mirror that morning; the dark eye circles never seem to fade and I was convinced that I was looking old and tired. It does always seem to be at these very points that fate somehow kicks me up the arse by me getting ID checked as if to put me back in my place. Maybe I just look like a teen insomniac? Note to self: get more sleep! Stop burning the candle at both ends and in the middle. Easier said than done, eh?

I have so much I want to blog about lately but no time to get it all ready; I seem to be glued to my camera at the moment and less so with the photo editor. If only I could persuade Chris to run the blog jointly – him doing the hard work and me doing the fun stuff! I don't think he'll buy it, funnily enough.

Sophie

On Saturday our whole family headed to the coastal town of Wells-Next-The-Sea for a pre-Mother's day meal at The Crown, somewhere we have all been to several times before.

Unfortunately, as my blog is still something I've not mentioned to my family, photographs had to be taken covertly but I'm pleased I was able to snap a few even if none of them were the food.

I do love a good meal out and savour the opportunity to try something I've never sampled before on the menu; the pigeon salad starter cooed out to me (chortles) which ticked off pigeon and black pudding from my imaginary list of things to try. The dish was delicious and was a great size – not too small with plenty to whet my whistle. Both pigeon and black pudding are very tasty, I'm pleased to report. I asked for my pigeon well done as the very idea of a bloody meat salad frightens me but in future I might actually go with the recommendation (whatever that may be). Chris had some tempura tiger prawns and chilli dip which he said was mighty fine.

Most of us went for the beef brisket main with horseradish mash, butternut squash puree and green beans which turned out to be one of the most fantastic things I have ever eaten. The meat was so tender and flavoursome, the mash smooth and tasty, beans had a lovely light crunch left and the gravy liquor was little short of heavenly. It was well up there on the top 5 dishes ever eaten. If I'd not been in such a civilised setting a bit of plate licking would have been in order. It's almost rude not to finish off a meal out with a dessert so I nabbed the last special of the strawberry meringue parfait with pistachio. Although it was very pleasant it has to be one of the very few occasions where the dessert was my third favourite of the three courses, such a rarity and testament to the rest of the dishes.

Naturally I indulged in a large glass of red wine to make the meal go with a swing then snuck off to the cloakroom for a selfie. Such a cliché.

To make the most of the day Chris and I took a walk through the town to the harbour then along to the beach not before changing my six inch glitter boots for something a little more practical. Those boots beg to worn at every opportunity at the moment.

As per, the breeze along the front was not insignificant but sporting my leather jacket I thought I'd be fine (nope, was a bit too cold and felt a bit windswept for a while as it turns out). My view was predominantly obstructed by my hair blowing in front of my eyes.

Plenty of people were walking to and fro from the beach with not so many actually making it on to the sand. I love how open the beach is, it's how I imagine the surface on the moon to be, give or take a few beach huts. The sand is flat to start with then dunes seem to rise up with grassy tufts. When the tide comes in it rushes in so fast it's frightening and must catch out plenty of people each year, especially those who venture across to the big dunes; you have to be so careful.

All in all it was a winner of a day really.

Sophie

A little insight into my weekend is what I’m posting today. 
Keeping in touch with friends is always something I vow to get better at yet usually fail miserably with. On Saturday we met up with schoolfriends in our old town for a meal and a good catchup of....six years. It's funny how even though years can pass, when you see good friends again it's like you pick up exactly where you left off last. (Not always the case though, some people change beyond recognition and things don't feel so comfortable).
I got the fear a little bit before meeting up as I was anxious that, knowing me, I might just clam up and be dreadful company but I needn't have worried it was all good. We had a great time, found we still have plenty in common and actually must make it a slightly more regular event.
I wore my favourite vintage Jaeger blouse and trusty old River Island shorts along with my George at Asda polka dot tights and new glitter boots. My feet were in agony after walking around town. OUCH! Just for old times' sake I got ID'd in a pub; "I'm 28!!!" guess I haven't changed much since leaving my old town either.

I've been meaning to try out some wholesome snack recipes and this one for protein flapjacks by Josh Mann  caught my eye for being so simple. I have to admit that I was slightly dubious about how they would turn out especially knowing how disgusting our 'chocolate' protein powder is (so bad that it cannot possibly be drunk as a shake). However, these morsels of goodness are rather delicious and everyone has been helping themselves without coercion prompting. Try for yourselves!

On Sunday we went out for some culture – hearing some wonderful live classical music. In typical Sophie fashion I managed to arrive about a minute before the performance started so didn't have a chance to change my practical driving shoes for my ridonkulous glitter boots (to wear them for driving would need to sit in the rear seat). This glorious dress does demand monster heels in order to prevent me looking dreadfully dumpy.

It was either Monday or Tuesday we woke up to a hard frost which meant we had to wrap up extra warm for our morning dog walk, Lincoln was none too impressed and would have preferred to stay on the sofa instead. He's not stupid!

Chris cooked a yummy dinner of black bean beef burgers with stir fried vegetables and sweet chilli noodles, it was one of the most enjoyable meals I've eaten for quite a while; hot but still crisp vegetables are the best.

Lastly and on Tuesday so technically nothing to do with the weekend, I made myself a completely alien breakfast of 2 scrambled eggs, avocado and cherry tomatoes in an attempt to broaden my breakfast repertoire with something 'clean'. I'm so impressed by Carly Rowena's food posts, she seems to eat such bright, healthy meals and it makes my food look so naughty.
I wonder what this weekend will bring?
Sophie