Country Pubs, Woodland Walks and Cherry Bakewell Gelato

When the weather outside shows even the slightest signs of perking up, us West Country dwellers head straight for the local beer gardens. Safe in the knowledge that there was not to be a cloud in sight, Dad and I decided to take ourselves off for the day with a vague itinerary in mind but, ultimately, intending to let the gentle breeze move us from one place to the next. Livin the dream, eh?!

Firstly, we decided to stop off at The New Inn which is perched right on the end of a little village. If you know me well enough, you'll know that I can't possibly function on a day out if food isn't consumed within at least half an hour of the journey so we decided to order a couple of their burgers and settled down in the beer garden. It was here that we calculated that I passed my second year of university with a 2:1 despite all the horrible illness stuff so, as you can imagine, I was feeling pretty chuffed. We discussed creative ideas and our plans for the future, which was extremely therapeutic because everything gets so muddled in my head sometimes. However, before we got too far into the conversation, a group of dog walkers and their dogs entered the beer garden so my concentration went completely out the window and lovehearts began to form in my pupils. 

After bundling ourselves into Dad's (now boiling hot) car, we navigated the winding country roads to one of our favourite haunts, The Crown Inn. The Crown Inn is a little hidden gem tucked away on a little country road not far from home and,  on hot summer days, locals tend to flock here to avoid all of the tourist ridden traps. The friendly atmosphere is totally infectious, thanks to the fact that the interior of the pub is around the size of a typical front room! Thankfully, there's a sizeable beer garden that acts as the perfect place to bask in the sun whist listening to the birdsong, or drink in the West Country lilts that litter every surrounding conversation. Despite the petite size, you are always bound to bump into someone you know. Why is that always the case, eh?!

The pub was full of groups of elderly West Country men squabbling over who's round it was next so we decided to head out into the beer garden for a little bit of peace and quiet. Dad and I sat half discussing things, half ear wigging our way around  the conversation that was taking place on the opposite picnic bench. Please tell me this isn't just us that have this bad habit?! I find listening in to stranger's conversations awfully addictive, even if it is a little bit wrong of me! 



After a while, we decided that we should probably stop listening to other people's conversations, and should catch a little more of the beautiful birdsong, so we headed up to the woods for a summer's day wander, which quickly turned into a hefty walk because Dad's sense of direction is questionable at times. I am not over exaggerating when I say that everyone and their dog was out for a walk! There was so many friends to make! I managed to coax a little cuddle out of a Dalmation before making an idiot out of myself in the kids play area. There's something unbelievably inspiring about a trip to the woods. I rattled off all of my creative ideas to Father whilst also managing to trip over every rock and twig in sight. 

The sign above is just perfect, isn't it?! I absolutely adore it. Extremely content but more than a little bit exhausted, we headed home...via the gelato parlour in sunny Weston-super-Mare. I opted for the Cherry Bakewell Gelato and thoroughly enjoyed getting the stuff all over me in my vain attempt at trying to eat it before it melted. As you can imagine, Weston-super-Mare was absolutely packed to the rafters so Dad and I spun away quickly in search of home. I had the best day but felt crippled by fatigue and more than slightly arthritic, so I got into my comfy clothes and settled down with my current read (that you can find out about in my 'To Be Read pile' post), a simple dinner and some good music. The most perfect end to the most perfect day.

If you've made it to this point, please pat yourself on the back. You all deserve a Blue Peter badge for that! Have you been making the most of the sunny weather? 

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If you'd like to scroll through all of my adventures then you can do so. 

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