It was my better half's 25th birthday today! It has been a very wonderful day, I got to spend the entire day with him doing various things. :)

Ever since going to pick those strawberries and gooseberries, we've been planning on going back there to get some more berries. This time I planned my outfit a bit better, didn't have to hold on to my skirt all the time when we were out in the fields.. It was so nice, it's kinda therapeutic in a way. And being a farm girl my brain seems to be programmed for fruit and berry picking, I just know which berries are ripe and which ones to leave behind.. Please don't ask how I know that stuff, it just comes to me automatically... :D


Our plan was to just get strawberries for the cake I made today, but ended up coming home with a box of loganberries, raspberries and strawberries. Oh yum. Can't wait to dig into those. :D Shame I'm going away tomorrow, I can't really take any with me unless I put them in my big suitcase. And that will only end badly I think, I'm pretty sure I'd just have smushed berries by the time I'd get to them.


And this masterpiece is the cake I made for my other half for his birthday. It was a very simple strawberry cake recipe with butter cream icing. Shame it didn't turn out quite as pink as it is in the recipe, I should've used some food colouring! Oh well, it still tastes absolutely delicious. :D I've never been good at spreading icing on cakes so it doesn't look quite as pretty as it may look in the picture. Other half was chuffed with it so I think I did well.


Anyways, food! We went to TGI Friday's, it's probably one of our favourite restaurants (I think the Angus Steakhouses in London beat everything 100-0 for my other half, he loves his steak) and we do go there a few times a year. It's a ~30 minute drive away so we don't really just pop in when we fancy it. There's one thing on their menu that makes me want to go back - the Jack Daniels Sesame Chicken Strips. I could just have that on it's own and be quite happy for the rest of the evening.

So yeah, chicken strips for starters and then a very lovely French Canadian burger with sweet potato fries as my main. The French Canadian has maple syrup basted chicken breast, melted French brie and bacon (which I always ask to be left out), served with a yummy garlic mayo on the side. And me being greedy and obsessed with their Jack Daniels sauce, I wanted an extra pot of it with the burger.



So yeah, Finland tomorrow! I'm god awful at packing, right now our bedroom looks like someone just went through my wardrobe and threw everything around the room. I've got my suitcase in there, all ready and waiting to be filled up, but instead I just piled all my stuff on our bed. :D I'm so organised though! Got plenty of clothes for exercising, more shoes than I'll probably need, even some jeans and a hoodie in case it gets cold (which I really doubt, it's so warm over there during the summer).. Prepared for everything!

I wanted to go and enjoy the wonderful sea air for the last time before I go. In a very funny way I will miss this so much even though it'll be even more peaceful over in Finland. Oh and climbing up the sea defences is a really fantastic workout, I should just spend an hour going up and down the rocks and see how exhausted I get.




Oh and since this is my progress check week, a small notice. I am doing an early weigh in tomorrow morning as I am not taking my scale with me, however I will not be doing a progress check. Why? Because I need to get up at 5:30 in the morning and I really won't be in the mood to take my measurements or anything (I really hate getting up early). And in a way it'll also keep me in check next week, that thought of a progress check after I come back haunting me every time I'm about to say 'yes please' to another plate of cake.. :D

I will not be posting quite as much during my holiday, I will try to keep in touch though! x

What a lovely Sunday! Probably one of the more eventful Sunday in a while. Instead of sitting indoors all day my other half actually wanted to go out with me. And that's never a bad thing, gives me the chance to dress up and make myself look all pretty!


We keep driving past this pub really close to our house and every time it's sunny, it's absolutely packed. People just seem so happy sitting there in the sun, having a drink and a bite to eat with friends or family. As it's been so sunny, we thought that we wanted to be a part of that. I was very pleasantly surprised actually! Apart from the very whacky wallpaper (even the ceiling was covered in it..) it was a very nice place. I wasn't going to order anything big, but then I saw the organic beef burger on the board and couldn't help myself. I was so glad I went for it instead of a salad, it was one of the best burgers I've ever had. Very nicely cooked and the portion was just big enough to fill me up (without making me feel like I wanted to roll out of the door!).

I ordered pudding simply out of pure curiosity. They make Sambuca flavoured sorbet!! I've always loved liqourice and Sambuca is probably one of my top spirits, for me liqourice is a piece of my childhood.

I am so going back to this pub. Highly recommend The Walnut Tree if you ever happen to pass by.




After lunch we popped into this Pick Your Own garden at a nursery close to where we live. They have so many things you can go and pick is amazing - strawberries, gooseberries, rhubarb, peas, a few different types of beans, apples, blackberries... Unfortunately only the strawberries and gooseberries were in season today, need to go back in a few weeks to get some more stuff! Especially looking forward to getting some peas and blackberries, yum. My choice of clothing was completely wrong for today, though! It was so incredibly windy so I had to hold onto my dress to keep it down. Not a fan of the thought of flashing everyone near me!



Half of the strawberries are just gonna be eaten like that with a bit of sugar, rest will be used to make a pie or a cake. :) Haven't quite figured out what to make with the gooseberries, but I'll most likely end up making jam. Just need to get some jars to store them in.