Apple picking

Taking of all things autumnal, we have an old apple tree in our garden that I've decked with pretty solar fairy lights and it produces so much fruit! Apples are my favourite so I've been picking bagfuls and stewing them down to freeze for crumbles throughout the winter. 

Just peel them, chop into small segments and microwave for about 7-8 minutes in a bowl with a good sprinkle of Demerara sugar and cover with cling film. Stir after 7 minutes and keep microwaving until they're soft but not too mushy. They'll cook again in the crumble later. 

For the topping I use 100g plain flour to 75g butter, 50g rolled oats and 100g Demerara sugar. You can scale it up depending on the size of your dish and how much fruit you've got. For the size below I doubled it. Then add your topping and bake for 50 minutes until bubbling. It's even better if you bake it then warm it up again later or the next day. Yum! 

An autumn stroll around Chipperfield Woods

Let me introduce you to the second love of my life, Riley. An apricot cockapoo who is 3 years old but to me will always be a pup! 

I could post endless photos of him but this isn't a cockapoo blog so I'll try to keep myself under control.. 

Yesterday morning my fiancé (first love of my life although sometimes he thinks I'm more besotted with the pup than him...) and I took him up to chipperfield woods, one of his fav places to run around and he always tries to jump in the pond. Not this time though, I did not want to bath him when we got back!! 

It was meant to be pouring with rain all day but turned out to be super sunny with pretty dappled light and sun rays that you get at this time of year. 

He wasn't in the mood for posing much yesterday, wanting to chase after sticks the whole time...

Here he is walking 'nicely' with Ben but actually just barking for a stick to be thrown. Oh the life of a pup! 

The leaves are just stating to turn but most have still got a few weeks to be really colourful. Autumn is one of my favourite times of the year. I'm planning a trip to Kew Gardens next week to see the pumpkins. Such a child at heart getting excited for Halloween and all things autumnal. 

R <3 xx 

Hello

I've been meaning to write a blog for about 2 years now, up until now I've been an obsessive blog reader rather than writing one myself. So, on this rainy rainy Sunday I've got a lot of catching up to do. I'm not really sure which direction this blog will go in, but I do know it will feature my favourite things, namely travel, pretty things (think candles, hearts and Christmas things), interiors, weddings, baking and the odd photo or two of my cockapoo puppy. 

I promise to post as much as I can, with as many photos possible and in time get this blog looking pretty. Excuse me for a few weeks while I try and write some posts and then I'll focus on the formatting...

R <3 xx