It’s the Easter holidays, and I, with my two week school holiday freedom, am mulling over ways to turbo-charge my blog in the limited time available and send me into the stellar realm of the Superstar Blogger; the one who is whispered about reverently in hushed tones on the Internet, the one who is regarded as Queen Bee and all-round blogging guru.
“Shall I start writing some days out posts?” I ask my mother.
We are sat on a steam train, drinking fizzy wine out of those little wine glasses everybody abandoned in the last millennium in favour of the far more satisfying enormous goblets that hold half a bottle that we all drink from nowadays.
My mother is whole-heartedly in approval of the days out post idea.
“Yes!” she exclaims, “you could write about this one!”
I glug my fizzy wine happily, and buy a raffle ticket where the prize is to learn how to drive a steam train, and imagine myself as the first female engine driver on the Isle of Sodor, steering Gordon’s express while he huffs at the indignity.
I never did write that post.
It just seemed too boring to talk about days out, especially if nothing funny happened, and anyway, I never won that raffle, and my dreams of becoming the driver of a heritage railway are as yet unfulfilled.
However, I now find myself in the position of having to write something autumnal, and since the classic 10 Things I Love About Autumn has already been taken by somebody else, well, what is more autumnal than a day out at Westonbirt Arboretum?
During my childhood, it seemed that not an Autumn went past when the name of Westonbirt Arboretum wasn’t bandied about with vague promises of how we really should go one day and look at the trees, and it’s supposed to be lovely you know, what with all those leaves changing colour, and like, Autumn. However, we never did go, and I started to wonder if it was even a real place, or just a piece of Autumnal folklore, like the dragons who supposedly lived in the out of bounds area behind the school.
So when I was thinking about what I could possibly write about Autumn, the ideas were pretty much limited to 1.) sticking some leaves on a collage and calling it “crafting,” 2.) foraging for mushrooms in the back garden and sticking them in a risotto, or 3.) putting on a sturdy pair of shoes and some stylish knitwear and looking at some trees.
Now, I have never been a fan of sturdy footwear, but gone are the days when I would rock up for a nature walk in a fur coat, leopard print catsuit and Jeffrey Campbell platforms and call it a “look,” and I’m not sure that I trust either my crafting skills or my ability to detect non-lethal wild mushrooms sufficiently to Pinterest them up, so Westonbirt Arboretum it was.
Luckily I managed to convince my brother that this would be a great day out for him, and so Piglet and I got a lift. Not so luckily, Piglet has matured sufficiently since his last long car journey in August 2015 to no longer spend the entirety of his sojourn in the car seat screaming blue murder, and instead is happy to snooze right through. Great for everyone when you’re riding along happily drinking coffee, enjoying the countryside and singing along to a bit of 90s pop legend Corona. Not so lucky when it’s 10.30pm and after thoroughly enjoying his two long naps, Piglet decides to spend the night lobbing various metal objects alleged to be toys out of the bed, and climbing over me repeatedly to retrieve them before taking a seat on my head.
Anyway, it was worth the drive, and we obviously saw a lot of lovely trees, and Piglet had a good run around, hiding in shady glades and practising his use of the word “tree,” (one of only a handful of words he can say, the others including the similarly-sounding and infinitely useful “cheers”) although in hindsight I should have taken the backpack to put him in, as there were quite a few times when he wanted to be carried and only Mummy would suffice. It also reminded me of how much I want to live in the countryside. It’s another world out there. At one point, and I am fairly sure I wasn’t hallucinating, a turquoise horse box drove past with the Joules logo above the windscreen. The countryside, ladies and gentlemen, sponsored by Joules. With my Joules bag and wellies, I must have looked like a native.
We didn’t quite get around the whole place, as it was massive and although it seemed to be pretty well organised for somewhere that probably only gets really busy for about one week of the year, and it just happened to be the one we were there, the queue for the food stalls was colossal, and the lure of the seemingly endless supply of nearby country pubs too great, but I will go back now I know where it is. Probably in Spring. Now just need to learn to drive.
What’s always going to be brilliant about a Min day out post, is that it’s going to be funny, true to life and definitely never boring!
Good luck with the linky! X
#schoolsout
Thank you! x
I always try and claim crafting too! ? You should do more day out posts as they are great! Looks lovely! Xx
Thank you!
Looks like a lovely place! We love going to places like this. #schoolsout
Thanks-it was fab!
Some lovely colours in that pic! I completely get you on not being very good at autumnal themed posts. I’m not the type to talk about what I’m wearing or to do anything involving leaves and, well, going outside much, if I’m honest. You made me laugh with your steam train driver dreams. #schoolsout
Thanks! I definitely won’t be making anything with leaves. They look great but personally I prefer them to stay outside! I do love being outdoors though.
Piglet looks like he had a good time. I do love Autumn for the many colours and those slightly chilly walks through the forest. I look forward to hearing more about your half-term adventures! #SchoolsOut
Thank you! There are definitely loads of great things about Autumn.
Lovely to post to read and sounds like you had fun. Great idea for the Linky too x
Thank you!
I love his hat and the photos are very autumnal! I never do days out posts because I’m not very outdoorsy, I won’t even walk to the shops!
#SchoolsOut
Thank you! I must admit I love a good walk.
I love Arboretums, they are huge though. It certainly looks beautiful. Shame out the two long naps ruining the night time.
#SchoolsOut
Yes-I don’t think we got even halfway round. Thanks for commenting.
Looks like a lovely day! Best time of year for arboretums! x #schoolsout
Certainly is! Thanks for commenting.
Oooh I was a child down that neck of the woods and had some lovely days out amongst the trees. The pub would have for me too though. Seen one tree you’ve seen them all really. #schoolsout
It is lovely there-and there are loads of great villages nearby too. I found myself having a lot of Escape to the Country-inspired country living envy.
Looks like a lovely wee day out! Baby D loves a tree at the moment. Which is handy and free to look at. X #schoolsout
Yes, that’s very true, although this arboretum did cost money to visit unfortunately. It was worth it though!
hehe you had me chuckling all the way through this! Though if all of the place was as beautiful as that final picture, I imagine it really is the most perfect Autumn day out! #schoolsout
Thank you, glad you liked it! It was beautiful. I’d definitely recommend it.
I do like trees, I particularly like Autumn trees, the colours are so vibrant. Piglet looks like he had a fabulous time, I love his yellow wellies, so cute. #SchoolsOut
Thank you. I love those wellies too!
Hee hee I might have know that you could make a ‘days out’ post humorous and interesting. I hope lots of leaves got kicked around too on Piglet’s run round. Love the Joules ref – you are rocking the ‘yummy mummy’ look I have to say. #SchoolsOut
Thank you! They certainly did, although he did end up wanting to be carried most of the way round!
Ahhh I loved this new approach into days out posts! All days out posts need to be written like this. I also knew that Joules sponsored the countryside! #FridayFrolics
Actually the first person I thought of when I saw that horse box was you. I knew you’d approve!
I’d rather sot in a car for 5 hours than attempt crafts with the kids! Love Piglets jumper. Thanks for linking up to #FridayFrolics
Thanks for hosting and commenting! I’m not a fan of crafts either!
I’ve been meaning to do a proper autumn day out too, but now that the Popple only takes one nap smack in the middle of the day, it makes it tricky to drive too far into the countryside, because I know she’s going to scream the entire way either the way there or the entire way back. #FridayFrolics
We were lucky Piglet didn’t do that-but not so lucky at the end of the day when his 2 naps in the car meant he wouldn’t sleep!
Now, that was far from a boring days out post! I really laughed at the part where Piglet sits on your head instead of going to sleep. This place looks lovely and I love the photo of Piglet wearing his fox hat. #schoosout
Thanks! Sitting on my head is one of Piglet’s favourite things to do.