Good morning - I hope the sun is shining for you on this lovely Tuesday morning! Today I am delighted to introduce my second guest post of the week winging its way from Lucy and her blog From Lucy With Love. Lucy's craft posts always inspire me to get going on my own projects, and her writing style is so positive and friendly that it feels like you're chatting over cake when you read her words. Do check out the blog, and her wonderful 'About' page... Hi everyone! I was so pleased when Eleanor contacted me to ask me to do a guest post for this lovely blog as it is one that I read all the time and look forward to catching up with on Bloglovin’ with a nice cup of tea on a Sunday morning.

Over on From Lucy With Love I am a big fan of documenting all the little things that make my life happier and so, when I was thinking about doing this post, I thought what better way of you getting to know me than through one of my ‘Happy Lists’? I hope you enjoy!

Summertime Happy List

:: Sitting out in the early Wiltshire sun listening to nothing but the birds singing and the trees rustling in the breeze.

:: Bright corals on my nails and lips.

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:: Filling the house with sweet peas. They have grown like beanstalks this year!

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:: Copious amounts of peach iced tea. I just love this drink in the summertime with some fresh mint and chopped up peach too, so yummy and refreshing!

:: Moody summer storms that wake you up in the early hours.

:: Ripped jeans, white t-shirt and converse=my summer staples!

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:: Fresh strawberries (in any form!).

:: Sunday afternoons wandering around the garden centre with my other half, enjoying the smell of lavender and roses.

:: The smell of barbeques in the air.

:: Lazy brunches with best friends. You can’t beat a catch up over pancakes can you?

Wiltshire-skies

:: Country walks with big skies, wild flowers and rolling fields. I love living in the country!

:: Wearing shorts with loose knit jumpers on a cool summer evening, so cosy.

:: That ‘schools out’ feeling that the month of August brings, despite the fact that I left school far too many years ago to mention.

:: Autumn clothing catalogues arriving on my doormat. A girl can plan ahead right?

Why not let me know what would be on your Happy List for summer?

Happy Monday to you all, I hope you had wonderful weekends! All being well, Mr CC and I should be on our way to the Lake District for our camping holiday (!) and I am beyond excited about switching off and leaving any stress at home just for a few days. I am also very happy to introduce the first of my guest posts from the lovely ladies at The Simply Living Blog - they are so positive and friendly and their blog is filled with inspirational quotes and envy-inducing travel photography - do check it out if you can; I'm sure you'll want to after reading their post...

Hi Readers!

For those of you who don’t know us, we’re Suruchi and Hannah, the bloggers behind The Simply Living Blog. We’re so excited to be posting on Eleanor’s lovely blog today while she’s having fun on her trip! Before anything else, we wanted to say a big thank you to Eleanor for thinking of us to guest post for her. We absolutely love her blog and are constantly inspired by her ability to see beautiful things all around her. (Plus she has a super amazing garden filled with the most delicious looking fruits and veggies!)

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If our blog name didn't already give it away, it's easy to guess that we love to blog about the simple things that inspire us and give us a chance to just enjoy life. Though there are lots of simple things we enjoy, there’s just something special about planning a summer picnic. (Suruchi was super excited about this one, as she is just a little obsessed with picnics…) So, we only found it fitting to share with you guys a little "how to" on how we plan the perfect picnic.

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We see lots of people putting together these extravagant baskets full of food and wine and dishes and flowers and everything else they can find. (Really, have you seen the picnic photos all around Pinterest??) We prefer a much simpler approach. You don’t need to bring everything from your kitchen in order to put together a great picnic! Just pack one dish plate per person, a few bowls that you may need for your food, a fun picnic blanket and basket (Hannah found the blanket that we used and it even comes with a handy carrying handle!), and some great friends.

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When it comes to the eats, keep your picnic food simple! It makes things easier when you can bring finger foods and you don’t have to worry about bringing utensils to serve everything. Here’s what we’ve found is the best formula for picnic food:

-A rustic baguette/sandwich -Fruits of your choice -Cheese -Drinks

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It’s a small list, but it covers all the basics and keeps things easier for you! When you’re going on a picnic, it should be all about the experience of being outside and enjoying your company and scenery, not worrying about spooning out food and organizing everything.

With the bread, we think it would be lots of fun to bring a fresh baguette to rip apart and you could eat it with the cheese or bring along your favorite jams. If you do a sandwich like the ones we had, here’s a little tip to keep the bread from getting soggy: put the filling or dressings in between a bed of leafy greens so that it acts as a separator between the bread and wet ingredients! Fruits like berries (especially in the summer) are super easy to travel with and make for great finger food, and the same goes for cheese! For drinks, we kept it southern and made some iced tea. Grab some mason jars and fill them up with your drink of choice as they make transporting drinks really easy and they even prevent spills! Plus, they keep things super rustic and seriously, it’s just lots of fun to drink out of a jar. (:

Lastly, just have fun! Going on a picnic is such a great experience if you’ve never done it, and if you have been on a picnic, then you know how amazing it is! It’s so great to be outside, eat good food, and just enjoy some time with friends. It’s a simple thing really, but it’s one of those simple joys that just brings a smile to our faces. (:

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We hope we could inspire you to get out there and go on a picnic before the summer winds down! Get out there and enjoy some time with people you love! We hope y’all have a wonderful week ahead of you!

-Suruchi and Hannah

Good morning, welcome to Sunday! Today's lovely list is not only a collection of lovely links for you to peruse at your leisure (with a cup of tea and slice of cake, of course) but also an introduction to the wonderful bloggers who have written guest posts for me for while I am away camping this coming week, and they really are a lovely lot...

Tomorrow is Mr CC's birthday so today we're having an afternoon tea with family to celebrate the fact he's caught me up (he's 8 months younger than me!) and I was so inspired by this easy Eton Mess (complete with coulis) recipe from Lucy (blogging over at From Lucy, With Love) that I've made it for later. I can't wait.

Speaking of recipes, this Aloo Gobi is top of my list to try once I'm back from holiday. We eat Indian food quite regularly and although I've never tried cooking this, Suruchi and Hannah over at The Simply Living Blog have convinced me I must. Any other recommendations for Indian recipes for me to try? I might even make a dinner party out of it.

The lovely Amy over at Slice of Sunny has had a wonderful month if this post is anything to go by. Her visit to Stockholm looks incredible and I really want to try Swedish meatballs now! Scandinavia has been top of my list of places to travel to for a while now and after following Amy's adventures it's still riding high.

Finally Beeta from Fill My Little World lets us in on what's been happening in her week in this post from her series of Sunday round-ups. I cannot believe the Zadie Smith fact; it makes me want to write my novel even quicker. Beautiful image of Paris in Spring as well!

Here's hoping you have a wonderful week, cross your fingers the rainy weather forecast will be wrong, and enjoy the guest posts!

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Lest we forget.

Lettuce can often start to bolt during a hot August, but it’s still wonderful to add to pretty much any meal. If you’ve got a surplus, or the selection in your fridge is past its best, blitz it and add potatoes, cucumber and fresh herbs for a cooling summer soup. If tomatoes are more your glut of choice, try something similar and cook up a gazpacho.

Raspberries are best enjoyed freshly picked from the plant, but you can also preserve them in a number of different ways. Try adding to the juice of lemons to create a cordial or lemonade, or whip up a raspberry vinegar to add to salads in the winter. Or just keep things simple, and freeze ready to make smoothies and desserts later in the year.

The season is short, but if you can get your hands on fresh sweetcorn, it’s a delight and makes such a simple supper dish when served with lashings of butter and slices of crusty bread. To make more of a dinner party dish, add a side of peeled courgettes fried up with lemon juice.

It's strange how something you start on a whim can become all encompassing. I often experience life in this way; whatever new challenge is presented to me will always receive everything I can throw at it, in a somewhat obsessive way at times. Yet I think that often it can be beneficial to stop for a moment and take stock of where you are at in order to move forward. Change is something I've given a lot of thought to this week, and although I believe wholeheartedly in changing (yourself, your daily life etc.) in order to progress, it's sometimes important to breathe for a moment before delving right back in, and often the change and the progress will benefit as a result of this careful thinking.

Sitting still is not something I'm used to doing; once I decide I want to do something that's usually that, and I like to see the progress, the change. Currently I'm taking a moment though, to really understand what I want from this blog and why. I didn't start it with any real ambition or motivation, but I got caught up in the momentum of posting when and what I felt I should. So this is really a call back to my roots, a return to what I love to read myself, despite the knowledge that there aren't as many people out there wanting to reading about countryside living as there are wanting to read about other things. But I didn't start writing here for other people, even though I've met some lovely ones from being here.

So this is a notification of change, and hopefully of progress. You'll see a lot more posts based on seasonal ideas for the home and for living by the seasons, a greater focus on simple living with some creative crafts and recipes thrown in. Some posting themes will still remain (The Lovely List for one) and I'm not throwing all my previous ideas and posts by the wayside, but there will be a definite drifting towards a different goal.

I'd love for you to join me through the change.

July is the month of green in our garden. June is for new life, August is a blaze of colour, but July is definitely the lush, green month. Not that I'm complaining! The weather this year has made for a particularly fast growing season and I can't seem to mow the lawn often enough, although this has meant that the borders have been filled with plants. Looking back at this time last year we definitely had a lot more produce on the go, and it makes me a little sad that I've just not had the time to dedicate to growing as much as I'd like, but other things have to take priority sometimes. We have lots of exciting plans for next year, and are determined to set aside small chunks of time each week so that come summer we can be rolling in courgettes, lettuces and a whole range of other delights.

Creative Countryside - July in the Garden

So here's what the garden has looked like over the past month: (from top left) I've let this thistle grow wild in the front border just because I love the shape; an area of solitude to escape the busy day and hot midday sun; beautiful evening sunsets; the tree-lined drive into our little set of houses is a joy to return home to, particularly when the sun falls through the leaves like this; my parents' dogs certainly enjoy the relaxation of these lazy days; the branch is gone (!) - Mr CC got sick of our patio area losing the light so early so one morning he got his saw out...and then it was gone; more spherical, spiky beauty; a few green tomatoes hinting at what's to come; a bright pop of scarlet from the crocosmia.

What's in your garden at the minute? Have you managed to grow anything new this year?

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P.S. Want to see how the garden looks at other times of the year? Check out previous 'The Year in the Garden' posts here!

Happy Sunday all! Yesterday was a bit of a gloomy nothingness in terms of the weather, but today we're back to summer and the joy of being able to spend time outdoors. That's not to say, though, that aren't lots of lovely blog posts to be catching up on in between barbecues and sun appreciation. They might even inspire you to do something a little different with the rest of your summer...

Work from home? Then this post is definitely for you.

I've been trying to increase the number of photographs I take to both document everything that flies past in my busy life, but also to use on this blog. If you've got a busy August lined up, or want to improve your photography like me, then check out The August Break, a series of free photo prompts.

Last month one of my goals was to start enjoying cooking again. This easy midweek recipe and this refreshing summer concoction are next on my list.

I've never been the most confident of women. Admittedly, I can now portray an image of confidence, but it's never been a natural sensation, and I think a lot of people (bloggers particularly) can suffer from bouts of feeling less than their best. Here, Emily shares 8 steps for feeling confident, why not try one today? I'm starting with number 2.

I also have a bit of a confession to make: I am a magazine addict. I tell myself I won't buy anymore, but then catching the front cover leads to browsing, browsing leads to buying... you get the picture. So you can imagine my excitement when Amy posted a haul of the best food mags from around the world. What are your favourite magazines? Which, if any, do you buy regularly?

Finally, as we're now in August and there are only a few precious weeks left of summer, here's a look at my top 5 summer posts that you might have missed:

1. The Big Summer List
2. Shopping List for Summer
3. How to Host a Summer Party
4. Shopping List for Camping
5. Homemade Lemonade Recipe

Enjoy!

August is going to be a good month, I've decided. I am planning to enjoy every last bit of these summer days both on our holiday to the Lakes and at home. It's time I really embraced the season; although I try to live as seasonally as possible it has been more difficult the busier I have got at work, and the garden (and produce) has been somewhat neglected this year. I suppose it's a question of balance; between work and home, house and garden, family and time together. So this month I'm going to try and get that balance just right!

Last month's goals were on the whole successful - I have definitely started to enjoy cooking again (tuna steak, tomatilla salsa and homemade wedges last night!) and doing more has linked nicely with spending time with family. That being said, I could still do with finding a little more space in my life for actual activities rather than just obsessive Netflix marathons. But the less said about those the better.

Goals for August

My goals for August are a little more specific than previous months, which I hope will allow me to focus in on what I want to achieve. Swimming in a lake is something that definitely needs to happen when we go away; the camp-site we're staying at is right next to a lake so it would be rude not to, right? (I am desperately hoping for good weather for this one!)

Sending out save-the-dates is something we've been meaning to do for a while but just haven't got round to. Mr CC has designed them so I'm pretty excited, I just need to send them to the printers now!

Normally I take part in Circle of Pine Tree's The Year in Books, which means I always read at least 1 book a month. Now I have a bit of time to myself, my aim is to read 2, and with quite apt timing a few friends and I are starting a book club to discuss and drink once a month. Any recommendations for future reads?

Finally I'm going to let myself get creative again. I always bake the same things - I'm a pro at sponge cakes and cookies - but I really want to try something new. Bring on the frosting. And considering my craft space is currently non-existent, I am definitely going to get something sorted out, and soon. Charlotte-Heather has been sending me motivational tweets so I am determined it will happen!

What are your goals for August? Are you trying out anything new?

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P.S. How's your Big Summer List going? Check out mine here!

Floral Friday

Red roses always remind me of our engagement holiday from last year - we visited National Trust's Nunnington Hall on the way home and the garden was on fire with the scarlet blooms. We're still saving rose petal from our own flowers to dry and use as confetti for our wedding next year; I've just been leaving them to dry on the table in this intense heat, but do any of you have any recommendations for the best way to dry them?

I always go for the highly scented variety when selecting roses to plant - I find that simply walking past them (particularly late evening after a hot day) is enough to smell their gloriousness, and really there are so many beautiful scented roses, why would you go for anything other?

Flower: Rose

How to Grow: Click here.

For more floral inspiration check out my Pinterest board here:

Follow Creative Countryside's board Grow: Florals on Pinterest.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

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July in Pictures

What a month! I'll be honest and admit that most of these photos are from the second half of the month, but the first half flew by in a flurry of work deadlines and long days. As such, I haven't achieved a great deal in the garden and the house is slowly entering that 'now really needs tidying' stage - I'm planning to blitz everything today so fingers crossed for success! The last few days have been filled with excitement and happiness, and I hope that next month is more of the same. We're got our week away to look forward to but I also really want to work on making some jam and taking time for stargazing; two items on my Big Summer List. Once August is upon us I always feel like summer is slowly slipping away and I find myself frantically trying to fit everything in that I've wanted to do since the start of June. Are you the same?!

Enough of next month anyway, here's what my July has looked like (from top left): drying rose petals for confetti at our wedding; something different to drink when in the city; vintage watering cans that are good enough to display in the garden; tons of pea flies in a beautiful bloom; summer pudding courtesy of my mum - I never used to like it but this year I am a convert; Shakespeare's Globe (finally!); painting an owl mug for a work's evening out; so much more sun now a big branch in our garden has been cut away; seeing The Beatles musical and being happy knowing pretty much every single song.

What have you been up to this month? Have you gone away anywhere or spent summer weekends at home?

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P.S. Want to see what I was up to last month? Check out June in Pictures.

It's amazing how much you can fit in on a short visit to the capital. I stayed in two different areas of London (with friends, then family) over the weekend and managed to fit in a lot of miles over a few days (the sort of break where you need a break again once it's over). We had an indoor barbecue (I brought the rain...), swooned at wedding dresses, sang along to the new Beatles musical - Let it Be - and ate far too many croissants. In short, it was the best weekend I've had in a long while. Our first stop on the Saturday was the V&A for the wedding dresses exhibition - a present from my friend, and also a feature on my Big Summer List. Living down south, my two friends haven't had a great deal of involvement in wedding plans so far, so it was lovely to spend time together as bride and bridesmaids and discuss, dissect and delve into the world of wedding dresses. There were some beautiful fabrics, some rather interesting designs and some that were just downright off the chart (they didn't look anything like wedding dresses for a start).

All that wandering through the world of weddings left us hungry, so we wandered to find something to eat once we were finished and discovered the café Muriel's Kitchen. Located right next to South Kensington's tube station and in the heart of Museum Quarter, it was a feast for the eyes as well as our hungry selves. The decor was simple but styled and I loved the tea cups on the walls in particular - something that matched with the almost vintage vibe of the café.

I chose the butternut squash, feta and spinach quiche with a side of chargrilled summer courgette ribbons and the taste was so fresh and light that I didn't feel weighed down like lunch out can often leave me. My friends also tried the sweet potato wedges which were apparently delicious. We will definitely be returning!

The following day we took my friend's puppy for a walk on Wimbledon Common. It was the first time I had ever visited, and being a country girl it was invigorating to feel so far away from the hustle and bustle for a few hours. The sun was ferociously hot and we got lost once or twice, but it was all part of the fun.

Unfortunately the puppy didn't stay still long enough for a non-blurry shot! How was your weekend? Did you go anywhere or see anything? I'd love to hear about it!

I'll be writing another London-focused post telling the story of the rest of my trip, including a visit to Shakespeare's Globe, very soon, so don't forget to check back!