Escaping to The Forest of Dean | #TasteforAdventure with Mud House

The first three months of 2015 have been busier than I could have ever imagined. There's been little time for myself + Hollie to grab a coffee together, let alone escape somewhere for a weekend. With Easter looming I knew it would be the perfect time to step away from work, put down the laptop and disconnect for a few days. We'd planned to stay in Liverpool – as a late 9th anniversary celebration – but something else came up, something I knew was too good to refuse. We were invited to go off the grid for a long weekend, with Mud House Wines, in the beautiful Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire. How would we refuse?

Catch you later 3G!

In fact, four days of absolute peace was just what the doctor ordered. We usually spend our anniversary in busy cities, dashing around endless shops with zero down time. This weekend was going to be about discovery and adventure. What a way to celebrate!

Mud House was founded by a British married couple: John + Jennifer Joslin. They set sail to travel the world and found themselves drawn to New Zealand. On their continuous search for new cultures, the couple fell in love with New Zealand's rich countryside and outdoor lifestyle. It suited their taste for adventure, and they decided to stay put. Two decades on and Mud House are producing award winning wines, recognised across the world.

We were inspired by Mud House's drive and passion for exploration and their craft, and made it our mission to encapsulate their message through our time in the forest.

Zhangye Danxia Landform

Natural rock formation at Zhangye Danxia Landform, Gansu Province, China. 

These images of the Zhangye Danxia Landform not only took my breath away but also got my brain working overtime questioning their authenticity. Read the full story plus more images here. 

I might be a bit quiet this week as I'm chockablock with my 3 jobs, hopefully I'll get some down to at nights to catch up on blogs and maybe squeeze in a workout. My weekend has been a none event, working both days but we did win 1 Milllion Pounds on an online version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire so it ain't all bad. 

Fruit Detox Update - It's been a couple of weeks now and it's going pretty well, I'm not missing bread as much as I'd thought I would (my limit is 2 slices per day). So far so good.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend guys.

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Joerg Marx's Field

Last week me and Hollie took a trip into the countryside, we drove through forests and hills, and passed through numerous small towns and villages. We had a loose plan and stopped off at a nice little pub somewhere in the Forest of Bowland. We had a lovely beer called Double Nelson but sadly the food wasn't up to much. Never the less we did have a nice day.

Joerg Marx's Field project fits in quite nicely with this recent trip into the greens. Marx's work takes you through some of the more simple things in life, be that trips into the woods, farmer's fields, the beach nature. This project takes the viewer through the fields of an undisclosed location via some rolling lines & curves and extreme close ups. The North of England isn't quite like this but it definitely does equal its natural beauty.

In under half and hour from where I live I can be in the countryside, if you drive 20 minutes from where you live where do you end up?

For more about Joerg Marx and his work click here

For anyone reading this that doesn't live in the UK; our country is quite sparse other than the major cities and towns, from my house you can be in the countryside after a 20 minute drive and it has to be said we don't take enough advantage of this.

Trip To The Park

The other day I was stuck for things to do, I had a whole afternoon free and the sun was out in full swing. Thinking back about it I really should have worn shorts, as I clocked the temperature at around 30 degrees. What a wally, well fews a few snaps from the park I visited which is literally 5 minutes away from where I live;

Nice start to the day, right next to the gates.

Unmissable apparently, the sign is better than the village, sadly.

The boating lake, perfect day for it.

Cheeky dude, shame I didn't take any bread to give him a snack.

Steps to the bandstand dating back to the 1920s.

I had a sit down in the woods for a bit, no need to rush around on such a nice day. My whole outfit was made up from different shades of blue. I was probably the least summery person in the park, as it was packed out.

This little scene was probably one of the cutest thing I have seen, a whole duckling family, just catching the rays!

I decided to snap the clock tower, witch does actually chime every hour. I can actually hear it go off from my house, that's how close I am. There's an entrance to the tower, every since I was a kid I always wondered what it was like inside. I'm still wondering.


I really don't take advantage of Stanley Park, it's the biggest park in my town and has some lovely architecture, cheeky looking animals and lots of areas where you can just whittle the days away. I'll be back soon no doubt.


Hope everyone has been enjoying the second wave of heat in the UK and everyone else is enjoying there's too.

Lonely Flower

We only have one plant in our back garden at the moment. I remember when I was younger the place looked more like a jungle, thanks to my Nana. So this guy must be pretty lonely now, when I have more time I'd like to give him some friends to sit next to. Plus I sort of miss all the wildlife that comes with it.


Happy mid week everyone, is everyone having lots of fun in the sun? Makes a change from the English light drizzle.

Inspiration - Tulip fields