Blue Poole, Wareham

Last weekend my mum drove over to see us and we decided to head to the blue pool near wareham, to make sure of a token she had for free entry and a cream tea (she won it at a village fete a few weeks back). 

I excitedly jumped in the car and we started nattering about our week, the heavens opened during the drive but we risked it anyway...

At the end of a long drive way is a field style carpark, at one side there's a gate and a man sat in a shed. We giggled slightly at the innocence of the entrance but excitedly walked on through, past the Wareham bears (no photos allowed) and straight on to one of the many walking trails around the blue pool. Sadly, it wasn't very blue at all and the grey sky made taking nice photos quite tricky which was a shame as when Emma from The Style box went they took some beautiful pictures. 

We also made sure to grab our free cream tea, which was more than underwhelming. Tiny scones and a very modest portion of jam and cream served on a polystyrene plate...not the twee british affair that one would expect.

It was a lovely walk, and a lovely day out...but very underwhelming and rather overpriced - adults are £5.50 each! 

Have you been to the blue pool at wareham before?

lulubelles cafe

Last year I posted about my favourite place to fill my sweet tooth cravings, lulubelles. Since then they've purchased the shop next door and out of the builders rubble blossomed a gorgeous, kitsch little tearoom. You probably don't know much about Canford Cliffs but it's a gorgeous area and was long over due a cosy little cafe for locals and passers by alike and I now find myself battling to not pop in every day on the way past. Louisa has carried the Lulubelle's look through in to the tearoom, it's pink and girly and a little bit shabby chic, perfect for little princesses and wise queens alike (boys are welcome too!), the window seat is my favourite place to grab a drink with friends after a shift and indulge in something naughty. And for those of us who are a little bit too naughty, there's a naughty stool. There's bean bags and colouring in for little ones and a book swap shelf filled with amazing books for grown ups, but if reading's not your thing make sure you browse all the lovely trinkets and homemade goodies for sale.

I feel rather qualified to talk about how perfect the cakes are now, I wouldn't be suprised if I've tried everything on the menu in the past year or two! Today we didn't have long so we grabbed a slice of coconut and lemon layer cake to share & it was amazing as expected, the sponge was deliciously moist and bursting with flavour and the icing was gorgeous. We washed our slice of cake down with a vanilla milkshake and a cup of hot chocolate which was quite possibly the richest cup of hot chocolate I've had in my life, I'm not complaining though!

If you're in the area Lulubelle's tearooms are open Monday - Saturday 9.30-5 & Sunday 10-4
If you dont have time to stop in for a drink you can always pop next door for a takeaway.


xo


p.s lovely readers if you've got a spare moment I'd be over the moon if you nominated me for a cosmo blog award in either the travel or lifestyle category!

Christchurch food and wine festival

This post's got lots of pictures, sorry if it takes a while to load!





For this little adventure we didn't have to go very far at all. Christchurch food and wine festival is now in it's 13th year and had quickly become one of the must visit food festivals in the UK and I'm sure you'll agree from the pictures there's something for everyone. There's a mix of celebrity & local chefs (we spotted James Martin!), cider makers, cheese masters and veggie growers, the cafes and restaurants of Christchurch come out in force to display their best loved dishes and show just how varied this little town can be. There's also classes for kids and adults and a whole heap of events throughout the week, from free chef demos in the marquee to a black tie charity dinner to celebrate the end of the festival. There's tonnes more information on the website - if you're local you should definitely check it out, it's well worth a visit. If you've got a sweeter tooth the last weekend of the festival (18 / 19th May 2013)  is bake weekend & fete on the quomps (what a great word!), the whole quay gets transformed in to a gorgeous little fete and on the Saturday Jo Wheatley from the Great British bake off is coming along to judge to baking contest and do some demonstrations. I'll definitely be front row for that!

We headed down around mid day and the festival was already in full swing, everyone seemed to be braving shorts and sunglasses despite the dull skies, we can wish the sunny weather back surely? After a quick natter with one of my favourite ladies, Marina (check out her blog) we headed through the crowds, enticed by every smell and sign, to the marquee to watch the demonstrations. After a while our taste buds were tingling with excitement so we headed back out to the high street to find something yummy & bumped in to Max and mummy in the macaron stall. We set to work smelling out our lunch, I settled for a hot dog & Dan went for a venison burger then we washed everything down with a summery cup of pimms. We wondered on down to the square where we watched some belly dancing before grabbing an ice cream and heading home, luckily we just missed the rain!

Have you been to Christchurch food & wine festival before?
xo

Durlston country park

Another sunny day, another dog walk. We decided to go for a walk around Durlston country park in Swanage. It was another welcome break from normal life, we were able to lay in the grass and cloud watch with pup running circles around us and frolicking in the long grass (her favourite). We managed to find a lovely little spot from which we could see the sail yachts sailing past, which has just increased our longing for our sailing trip in Greece next month (you'll notice some fitness type posts coming soon as I get ready for our adventures). And after a little while got back up and continued our ramble along the gorgeous Dorset coastline, sadly we didn't spot any dolphins though! When our legs were tired and pup was finally padding along side us instead of bounding in front we headed back to normality.

This week I'm really trying to focus on my essay writing, I really seem to struggle to write anything worth reading now I'm a second year (my grades seem to have dropped 30% - if you've got any tips please let me know!


What've you been up to lately? xo

EAU de VIE, Westbourne

Eau de Vie in Westbourne is our favourite local restaurant by miles, in fact it's so good I've been debating if I should blog about them or not, but I'm being a good little blogger and spilling the gossip as really it's just too good to be kept a secret. Eau de Vie are self confessed foodies and liquor geeks and boy does it show, there's not a cosmo or sex on the beach or glitter bomb in sight. The produce is locally sourced and seasonal and you can tell that all the staff are passionate about where they work through their immaculate service. 

We debated what to have for ages and after some recommendation from our waiter I went for a Ruby punch; a beautiful cocktail made using ceylon arrack, loose leaf breakfast tea and ruby port. You must know how much I love my cocktails by now?Well this one is definitely going on my list of favourites. Dan went for a pint of Estrella, a gorgeously light, smooth beer which washed down his main with ease.

For dinner I went for roast parsnip and fig tart with new potatoes and leafy greens and Dan went for the 8oz Barrel steak with mushroom sauce and chunky chips. Everything was cooked to perfection, my vegetables were mouthwatering and the pastry was crisp and light. Dans steak however was out of this world, it takes a lot to get me to admire meat but it was cooked beautifully it was juicy and succulent, it melted and crumbled in the mouth and was accompanied with light, fluffy centred chunky chips. 

For pudding we shared strawberry cream profiteroles and a banoffee pie and I can't fault either. 

Honestly, it was the best meal we've had out in a long, long time- If only my writing could do them justice.

xo