August 2014 Instagramy Post

I stayed in town for August as I am going away in September.

Staycations are underrated especially in London when August is one of the few months where it is nice to enjoy the park and my new balcony.

I have been rubbish at logging events this month so here are the pics I did take.

We took Millie on a country weekend.

Dogs don't get seat belts and I did what many mothers used to do in the old days.

She sat on my lap.

On the way out of town, we drove by a colorful Hindu wedding.

This was the best I could do but do you see a pointy thing center right behind the white van?

That is an oast house.

It was originally used to dry hops for beer and is now mainly found in the southeast region of England.What you definitely won't see anywhere but the south of England are vineyards. 

 I am not sure if this style of cladding is a Southern thing or an old English thing in general. But one doesn't see this in London.

I would be lying if I said I love the countryside in general but the country roads make a road trip more scenic than a motorway.

The classic white signs indicating hamlets are charming.

 

Our friend has all the country life trappings.

Pigs...

Welsh mountain goats.

An apple orchard.

Lots of very happy dogs.

Walled gardens.

Millie's favorite bit were the chickens that offered daily eggs.  

Her primal instincts were so strong because as a part spaniel - they were the ones to flush out birds from the bushes before a hunt.

There was a special 100 anniversary beam of light to commemorate the first world war.

I had a pretty good vantage point from the balcony.

It made London a bit like Gotham city.

There was the "other" ray of hope.

A double rainbow.

Dude. A rainbow Blue Booby! ;)

While I know it is great to have electric cars I doubt my ability to drive one as I have a neverending battle of charging my phone.

If the news weren't so darn terrible, the headlines would have been about the temperate and consistent summer we had...

It was a gentle summer and the kind poets write about.

I was so inspired that I planted some tulip bulbs 

in the rear courtyard and tried to get all homemaker-y and poured coffee beans into the soil.

Apparently one uses ground coffee but I am sure mother nature is much more understanding than my critics.

This year's Serpentine Pavilion is by Smiljan Radic.

It looks like a crude spaceship on Stonehenge.

Millie turned one last week and she loved that stick so much I brought it back home.

She has been such an unexpected joy in our lives.

I was so dubious when my brother said he was getting a dog but now I shudder to think he could have listened to me and passed on the idea of having a dog in the city.

She is still so curious.  

She is cuter than she is smart. 

I am an honest aunt.  

She tried to get at the birds and tried to squeeze under the rails...

I think she must have had a crook neck because she used my pillow to nap later that day.

Just to let you know I am behind schedule and will be picking two names from the hat this weekend. So last reminder call for any new readers to let me know if they want to enter 

( people who have entered in the past are automatically in.)

Also, I have having an atrocious time commenting on wordpress blogs.  The Gentleman Farmer let me know that some of my comments were in his spam folder.  Mind you my comments are very similar in content to spam.  So if you have a wordpress blog please do check your spam folders as I can't imagine I am the only one who has experienced this.

Have a lovely weekend x