The Hill Garden and Pergola at Hempstead

I love finding beautiful spaces that are hidden away, London’s secret gems. I recently visited the Hampstead Hill Garden and Pergola, which is a beautiful garden with a walk-through pergola that looks really enchanting. Now that it has hit summer, the garden is blooming with lots of greenery and pretty flowers, and it’s a great place to walk through and enjoy.

Here are a few snaps from my last visit, which was a really enjoyable afternoon. We went during a weekday so it was pretty quiet – perfect for a few isolated shots of a beautful vista!

I’d recommend a visit if you’re ever near the area – it really feels like a secret, hidden away garden, and it’s lovely no matter which time of the year! I visited last year in autumn as well, and the shades of colours look amazing, so don’t worry if you think you can’t see it in the summer season : )

Weekend Pretty….Buzzing Around

I managed to catch a busy bee today among the flowers – a reminder to work hard, play hard and stay bumble : )

Pink Blossoms and Floral Dresses

My sister and I made the most of the 25° scorching sun yesterday and took a trip to the local park (it was packed, so clearly we weren’t the only one with this idea), and both of us being photography enthusiasts, took the opportunity to take pictures of the beautiful scenes. I managed to get a few pretty photos (some of them were a bit bright from the sun!) and also took a good walk around to soak up the scenery.

It was a pretty lovely afternoon out, the park we went to is a pretty huge one with plenty of gardens with flowers, a lake with boats, a play ground area, and also leads to the local mansion if you walk far enough!

We also found some small hidden areas sectioned around the lake which looked beautiful, especially when we were walking through them which had a very private, ethereal feel to them.

One of the things I love seeing in spring are blossoms, it feels like they all fall off too quickly! I’ve been seeing lots of these this spring, thankfully, and love how pretty they look.

We also saw lots of people hiring boats to paddle on the lake, which looked pretty fun, and made for a nice adventure for a lot of the families – I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of this over summer, especially if the weather stays this nice!

All in all, it was a really lovely day out to the park, finished off with yummy cold slushies. I even managed to wear my pretty floral dressed which I had tailored for summer – perfect for matching with blossom trees!

The Beautiful Colours of Istanbul

Hubby and I have been reminiscing over the beautiful things we saw in Istanbul (a sign that we need a new holiday), and it made me think that there’s so much of the countries and cities I have been to which have so many hidden, beautiful parts. There’s a lot of iconic landmarks like the Haga Sofia and Blue Mosque, the Basicilica Cisterns and Topkapi Palace which are of course, a must-visit. But there’s hundreds of other things you can find when you take yourself off the beaten tourist track. One of my favourite memories is walking through winding alleys, past blocks of flats with clothes-lines stretched across the street above us, and bridges and stairs until we found some beautiful rainbow stairs. It was the fact that along the way we saw a lot of beautiful places, which felt so much more real than the tourist spots – grafitti supporting Palestine, the ordinary public on their way to the markets, street-sellers selling cheap handbag replicas and lots of beautiful flowers, buildings and decor.

So here are my top 9 favourite, most colourful photos, each with an accompanying colourful memory. There’s a story behind each photo so make sure you hover over each square to read it!

 

One of the best restaurants during our stay, a restaurant called Fuego. We ordered a claypot dish called Testi Kebap which was cooked on a live fire then poured into our plates. Still one of the best dishes we have ever had til date.

This was along a small road of the city which was a row of colourful houses and hotels. Loved the vibrant colours so had to take a snap (as well as some portraits of some fruit-sellers nearby!)

This is the apartment that my husband and I stayed at, which had a beautiful garden. We spent most mornings here having breakfast and enjoying our view.

This was in the Old City centre of Istanbul, which was perfect for night-time walks. There’s a park to sit and relax nearby, watch the changing colours of the fountain and enjoy the beautiful sounds of the mosques around us.

We found this mosque while walking across the city along the Galata Bridge across the river. At this moment the ‘azaan’ (call to prayer) rang out in a beautiful voice, and there was a short lull while everyone seemed to stop to listen.

These floral wreaths and hairbands were being hand-made by a few women sitting in Taksim Square, which filled dozens of buckets and made a beautiful rainbow. I bought a few for myself and my nieces to bring home.

I’ll be honest – I liked the Grand Bazaar but didn’t love it – purely because it was just too big and busy for me, and I felt a little overwhelmed by it. One of the things my husband and I decided to hunt for was a lamp to take home – we ended up going to a dozen shops to compare colours, sizes and shapes. We didn’t end up buying one in the end because we couldn’yt decide which to get (and we wanted two, which wouldn’t have fit in our suitcase!) but I always look back in fondness to think of two bargain-hunters wandering around like pros!

This was a spice market we found across the city which we stopped at, to smell the different fragrances and colours. Didn’t buy any but did stop to admire all the colours.

We used to stop every day at the fresh pomegranate and orange fruit stalls to get freshly squeezed juice. Both my husband and I have agreed that this is still one of the best fresh juice we’ve had!

Weekend Pretty…Butterflies and Bees

Caught a little wildlife this morning, which I was lucky enough to find in my back garden – plenty of flittering butterflies floating in and out and lots of bumblebees as well. I didn’t managed to get many pictures of the butterflies because they were a little too quick for me, but here are two of my favourite shots : )

Weekend Pretty…Easter Sunday Trees

The weather has been slightly more schizo than lately, but we’ve been lucky enough to enjoy the rain (and hailstones!) from inside with this lovely long bank holiday weekend! I’m sure you know I have an obsession with trees (and chocolate) so naturally I took the chance to take a picture of these today when rushing out to the shops to buy snacks for a lazy Sunday!

Enjoy the weekend all!

xxx

Purple in Macro

A little macro today, I saw this flower in my garden and took a quick shot because the colour looked so pretty – it’s actually a flower from a nettle we need to pull out, but it was a nice flash of colour in a sea of green. Monday afternoon purples 🙂

Journal Your Ramadan – Day #24: X is for XXL

XXL portions of flowers for a sunny weekend : )

A Day Out at Willen Lake

We decided to have a day out this weekend, making the most of the Bank Holiday and not having to go work the next day (yaay!) by taking a picnic and surprising my sister with a day out at Willen Lake.

So we took the kids, made some snacks and nibbles, took some badminton rackets, balls and a cricket bat, and headed up to the park and hid. Meanwhile, my sister’s husband dragged her to to the park with their little daughter and went around in circles in the same part of the park, to her bafflement, while we all hid (I came late so didn’t hide) behind bushes and shushed the kids.

Finally she spotted us and the look of disbelief on her face was something to see – although it was less of a surprise after the toddlers ran towards her instead of hiding!

We had a great day though, and managed to take in the sights (and the kids managed to hijack the children’s play area which made their day). My husband and I wanted to try some boating, but it as too cold and windy so we promised to come back in the summer when it’s hotter to give it a try (that way he won’t mind when I push him in the water!)

Here’s a few snaps of the day, I didn’t take many photos as we were too busy playing games and eating, or chasing little toddlers around – but I do love these shots. The ones of the swans are one of my favourite, there’s something dreamy about them all gathering together : )

 

A New Journey

A dandelion seed picture today, to symbolise the new, and the coming spring. January always makes me think of thawing out, lots of rain and dew on plants and new seedlings – so here’s something to show a little seed on its journey to become a new flower.