The temperatures were pretty hot throughout our America trip, and I definitely didn’t anticipate (or pack for) quite how warm it would be. On one occasion it actually reached 40° whilst we were at Lake Havasu, dropping to a not so cool 37° at night, which let me tell you, is not a very comfortable sleeping temperature. Imagine putting up a tent in that kind of heat – you’re dripping with sweat and hot and bothered before you’ve even started, permanently attached to your water bottle and craving any slight semblance of a breeze. At night I lay awake on top of my sleeping bag (Hungarian Goose Down was not required, it transpires) and dreamed of Autumn in England. Even though I couldn’t tolerate the thought of wearing a jumper at that point I still fantasised about the temperatures that would necessitate woolly blankets, cosy pullovers, soft scarves and knitted gloves. I wrote this post a few years ago – To Autumn – listing all of the things I love about Autumn, and my enthusiasm for wet leaves, woodsmoke, mulled cider and pumpkin carving has definitely not waned. Of course I absolutely loved swanning around in shorts and vests whilst we were in California, but I can’t pretend that I wasn’t more than a little excited to come home and make good on Tom’s and my promise to spend this Autumn getting out in the forest, going for long dog walks and enjoying lots of country pub roast dinners.
We went for two long walks this weekend, one from our house and one a little further out in the New Forest. We were looking after my Mum’s dog Henry so Bodhi had someone to chase around the trees and roll in the leaves with!
Despite how excited I was to don my new fleece-y parka and wear my favourite woolly beanie, it was actually really warm this weekend and I ended up carrying my coat on Saturday and leaving it at home on Sunday. I wasn’t too disappointed though as it gave me an opportunity to wear my new sunglasses, which were kindly sent to me by Smart Buy Glasses. They were supposed to arrive before I left for holiday but I ended up leaving about half an hour before they arrived on my final day at work – oops! So I was pleased that the sun put his hat on this weekend and gave me the opportunity to wear them. I’ve always loved Aviator frames and you can’t go wrong with Ray Bans. I also finally watched a tutorial on how to do a proper top knot on YouTube after about a year of having pineapple hair instead – ha. Not sure I’ve quite nailed it yet though.
// sunglasses: ray ban aviators. smart buy glasses £125.95* // shirt: bellfield, via asos {old}
I absolutely loved being out in the forest again – there’s something about walking until you’re surrounded by nothing but skies and trees and nature that’s very humbling. I’ve had a tiring week being back at work and getting used to my new job and new commute, but getting out in the fresh air and stomping along on crunchy leaves and pinecones gives such perspective and definitely blew of those cobwebs away!
Of course it wouldn’t be a proper forest walk if we didn’t follow it with a pub lunch afterwards! We went to my favourite pub, The Hobler, near Brockenhurst. Tom had a roast dinner and I had lasagne – with chips for dipping in the melty cheese, of course. After a pint of my favourite cider we headed home with full bellies and happy faces for snoozes on the sofa whilst watching Harry Potter (Tom had a hankering to watch Deathly Hallows Part 1). I can’t imagine a more perfect day – roll on the rest of Autumn!
