Summer is my favourite time of year to live in the countryside. No. Wait. All year round is my favourite time of year to live in the countryside. Every season brings joys that you just don't get in the city. Summer is filled with endless sunsets over the hills, walks over the downs, paddles in streams, and beer in pub beer gardens.
Last weekend the girls came down from London for a day in the country, I picked them up from the station with Dylan in the boot getting crushed by mountains of food and drink, and my 'borrowed' *ahem* Veuve Clicquot picnic blanket that I got at Cowdray Polo the other week. We drove to Newlands Corner, a place that has been a family favourite for years. Just look at that view!
When the city girls started getting too freaked out by the bugs and spiders (tch), we headed to Albury to sit in the beer garden of the Drummond Arms, the stream flowing by us and Dylan tugging at the lead desperate to dive in. On the way to the pub we stopped off at the Silent Pool, and I was quite disappointed to find it was nowhere near as scary as it was when I was a child (the silent pool is quite famous for being the place in folklore where King John murdered a young girl. We were taught as children at school that her ghost can be seen at midnight).
Dylan settled down until the food came out, and then he was snuffling and nosying about trying to get up in Dani's grill. He seemed determined to lick her face, which she wasn't too impressed about, so Tiff distracted him with tummy rubs...he seemed pretty happy with this...
We had a complete feast for our summer picnic; scotch eggs, chicken legs, hard boiled eggs, pringles, tomatoes, feta cheese, sausage rolls, mango & cream cheese samosas (homemade, and delish), amongst other goodies. We also had my Summer Lemon Bars and Salted Caramel Brownies for dessert, along with a box of strawberries...just because you need at least a little bit of healthy with the naughty.
Of course no summer picnic is complete without a bottle of Lambrini, and this new strawberry flavoured one tastes exactly like those berry flavoured ciders, but much lighter - delicious! It's just such a cheery drink, and so refreshing for lazy hot summer days.
When the city girls started getting too freaked out by the bugs and spiders (tch), we headed to Albury to sit in the beer garden of the Drummond Arms, the stream flowing by us and Dylan tugging at the lead desperate to dive in. On the way to the pub we stopped off at the Silent Pool, and I was quite disappointed to find it was nowhere near as scary as it was when I was a child (the silent pool is quite famous for being the place in folklore where King John murdered a young girl. We were taught as children at school that her ghost can be seen at midnight).
We had a really lovely afternoon sitting in the beer garden, before heading back to mine for more cake and cups of tea, before it was finally time for the girls to head back to the big smoke. As I'm always in London for work and social, it was really lovely to have a weekend at home with my London friends coming down to visit. Now I just need to persuade more of them to do it!
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