a long weekend

Well the weather was a bit pants for the bank holiday weekend but we decided to ignore it and make the best of it which resulted in us getting a bit wet but didn't stop us from having fun.

We've driven past the cotebrook shire horse centre loads of times and put it on the list of things to do one day... well that day was bank holiday monday.

We were expecting to see lots of shire horses but there was so much more there and the setting was so lovely. Like a rural idyll.




We were lucky to see the farriers in action. When they were putting the new shoes on the horse the smell of burning hoof was intense. Of course the horse didn't seem to mind but the poor lad with the horse's foot between his legs kept getting a facefull of steamy smoke. Bleurghh!!! The photo below makes me laugh... he probably needed a very long shower before his girlfriend would go near him!

Lots of different characters in the hen house. I would love to keep some hens! Definitely one day!


Lots of cute baby birds and bunnies.

And of course, lots of shire horses! Shire horses are such gentle giants. This one was having a bit of a stretch like a dog does and it made us giggle.


The pub next door has a lovely atmosphere and there was a cozy fire crackling away to keep us warm. It's a proper old traditional country pub, just how I love them the most. I giggled at the photos on the wall of shire horses waiting to be served at the bar!! I think we'll have to go back here for tea sometime.

As I love making lists, some other things we did over the weekend:

• a day out in chester... window shopping mostly
• a bit of gardening
• feeling really really lucky to have a pair of redpolls visiting the bird feeders again
• cake baking
• drinking cider and dancing around to a great local band called the cheeky monkeys
• chatting with friends
• a spot of decorating
• watching amelie... again!
• planning a camping trip for the summer
• getting excited about my birthday, more about this later!!

Bye for now!