Location Location Location: The Lost Gardens of Heligan.

I used to visit The Lost Gardens of Heligan every time I came to Cornwall on holiday. Now, at only £13 for an adult ticket (and a new option for a locals pass!) it's a perfect place to take a springtime walk without breaking the bank *cough Eden Project cough*.  A genuine lost garden, these beautifully wild grounds were owned by the Tremayne family; during WW1 ivy, overgrowth and brambles took over this estate as the family and workforce joined the war. Unlike many estates, it was never sold or developed in that time; proceeding a further 'sleeping beauty' timewarp to the grounds.  Eventually, in the 1970's the house itself was sold, split into apartments and yet, the grounds were left undiscovered...

It wasn't until the 1990's that Tim Smit (Eden Project creator) and John Willis (Tremayne descent) discovered a tiny doorway, covered in hedgerow and brambles, and began the clearance and restoration of the classical gardens and enchanting landscape. 

You really can get lost for hours in the different areas of the grounds. Acres to walk, Stacie and I headed first for the jungle (like any adventurer would!) This landscape could be anywhere, in reality, it's 20 minutes or so from my house. Do I mention enough how brilliant Cornwall is?

Taking the rope bridge is a novelty experience and guaranteed to have you declaring yourself as the next Indiana Jones. Stacie and I queued for about 10 minutes and as we got closer, shouted at the children ahead of us, rocking and jumping on the rope bridge "You'll weaken it before we get there and we'll die!" We're slightly dramatic adventurers...

Since we'd practically mastered the jungle (Tarzan eat your heart out) we ventured over to the farm area. Squealing at the piglets and having a stare-off with an emu, we rolled around in the sunshine, feeding sheep and lambs, declaring ourself as the first ever 'Farm Jungle Experts'. Every little moment just screamed "SPRING HAPPINESS" in your face. I can sense you feel it right now. 

Farming aced (it really was quite the mastering day) we needed to slow down a little and headed for the Italian gardens and melon yard for a hunt of inspiration and peacefulness. One of the many joys of Heligan is just how relaxed the different spaces are. It's venturing into someone's beautiful home without being pretentious or invasive. It took us a little while to spot the pineapples growing (that's right we grow pineapples in Cornwall) and we were a little early in the season for the veg garden to be fully appreciated but despite being a bank holiday weekend with a queue of genuinely almost 200 people when we arrived, there were plenty of spaces that were empty and serene. 

The scent of The Citrus House was invigorating and fresh, placing my little mind somewhere much more exotic than a corner of the UK. Legs a little tired, hearts filled with sunshine, we headed over to the farm shop for a bit of local produce (honey purchasing- duh) and headed home. 

Thinking of a trip to Cornwall? You may want to have a browse of some other locations that are tip-top! 

Daymer Bay Beach

Charlestown

St Ives

Falmouth

Roche Rock and Hermitage

Pentewen

St Austell Brewery

Melinsey Mill

Polgooth

Dairyland Farmworld

Mevagissey

Eden Project

Lanhydrock

Over & Out 

Sophie

Christmas Tree Oh Christmas Tree.

It's really and properly almost, very nearly Christmas now! To the extent that I'm not embarrassed to show you my tree which has actually been decorated and spreading festive cheer for just over a week.  So snuggle down with a warm or tipsy beverage of sorts and grab a biccie; it's tree time!!

I'm always in charge of the tree. Harps and I always decorate it together but I'm definitely more bothered about him; this is actually the first year he hasn't lay on the floor, throwing the decorations at it, shouting "Christmas!" just to annoy me! (I think it was because he had the camera to keep him distracted.) Our little tree is on it's last legs. This will be the last year that we use it. Bought five years ago, we fell into the whole 'black Christmas tree' thing? Why was that a thing?! It was cheap and did the job with our minimum wage jobs. Next year we'll be going big and going real! Also check out my lovely festive reindeer made by the guys and gals at People & Gardens! That cheeky little fox below is one of the only non-handmade decorations we own but he's just so damn snazzy!

Slowly, over the years we've gathered little homemade Christmas decorations from friends and family. Every year it's my favourite part of decorating the tree. It's become a little tradition that Stacie makes me decorations for Christmas and I can't wait to see what's this years! Most of the above are hers but last year my brother and sister-in-law gave us their little handmade melted snowman bauble which is such a great idea don't you think?! This year our collection has already grown with some friends who are expecting their first baby next year (HUZZAH!) making us a mini Christmas Batman which is so cute and thoughtful and a great use of recycling their tree from last year by gifting it on this year! What a plan for next year ey?! 

So after a day of blanket, film watching and paper chain making. Christmas is slowly arriving in the Harps household. 

Now show me all your trees dammit!

Over & Out

Sophie X

The Sponsor Me Awards: Stacie Clark.

You'd have seen me mention Stacie a few times now. Not only a best friend, but an incredibly talented designer, Stacie has been nominated for an award! I'm obviously so incredibly proud of her for the hours of work that go into her design process, she deserves this accomplishment so very much. Which brings me to ask you, my friends, to have a little read of her work and click the little link near the bottom, pop in your email address (you won't be spammed, promise!) and vote for my best friend! Also take a chance to look at the other nominees, there are some other inspiring new designers in the mix.

Plymouth College of Art Graduate Nominated for London Fashion Award.

Stacie Clark, a Cornish Fashion Design graduate from Plymouth College of Art has been nominated for the Sponsor Me Awards taking place at Blackheath Halls in London next month, October 7th.

The Sponsor Me Awards supports emerging fashion designers through providing a prestigious annual event, fashion show and platform for them to showcase their work.

The awards consists of 4 categories, with 1 winner per category as decided by a public vote, as well as 1 lucky designer who will also be presented with the Judges Choice Award on the night.

Stacie’s knitwear collection has been selected to participate in the Urban category which is open to public vote. To vote for Stacie Clark before 30th September when voting will close, please visit  h​ttp://sponsor­me­awards.biz/vote­for­designers/

“I’m thrilled to have been nominated for the Sponsor Me Awards and to have my work as a designer recognised! I’ve spent the last year working on some freelance whilst developing my next collection and winning this award would be great in helping me take those all important next steps forward” Said Stacie.

Stacie graduated last year with a First Class Honors degree in Fashion from Plymouth College of Art with her graduate collection which consisted of 19 garments crafted entirely by hand and after receiving a great response at Graduate Fashion Week Stacie has had her work featured in a number of publications.

Tickets for the Sponsor Me Awards event are on sale now and can be purchased at

http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/sponsor­me­awards­2015­tickets­7351666031

To find out more about Stacie Clark please visit w​ww.stacieclarkknitwear.co.uk​ 

or Stacie’s

Facebook page h​ttps://www.facebook.com/stacieclarkwomenswear 

For more information of images please contact Stacie Clark.

Email: s​tacieclarkdesign@gmail.com​  Mobile: 07805395138

Love Sophie Xx

Two Weeks Of Happiness In Photos.

Let's start by just making this clear. I want to be on holiday forever. I need to invent something incredible that the world buys in bulk for the next 50+ years and I can spend my days frolicking around Cornwall as I'm meant to. Any ideas? The last two weeks have been some of the best this year. Thankfully it hasn't felt like one of those really fast holidays and I've really rejuvenated during the time; ready to crack on for the next couple of months until my next little snippet of joy. 

Funnily, the only time I really did try and do some work during my holiday I managed to lock myself out of my email, phone and calendar. Sometimes life just spells it out for you doesn't it? So, what have I been up to? I know all you nosey badgers love to find out! 

We've been pretty lucky with the weather, for the first week Harps was also on holiday and we spent a lot of time catching up with friends and family, burning reading in the garden, Batman adventuring, pilates on the grass and evening walks just for the hell of it. It's nice when you haven't got to worry about what time you need to wake up or getting the shopping for the week to save time; the freedom of breaking routine is the happiest isn't it?

During the first week we also got a lot of wedding plans sorted; even more excitingly, passing the one year mark until the actual day- there'll be more about this later this week so keep an eye out! I caught up with some friends for the less sunny days, scoffing as much cake and hot chocolate that my body could physically handle before passing said 'one year mark' and venturing into my 'health regime'. (Gonna be honest, week number two did NOT help with that *read didn't stop scoffing cake.*) It was all nicely rounded off with family BBQs and Newquay's Electric Beach Festival where we fought the rain to see Backbeat Soundsystem, Dreadzone & The Cat Empire (awesome bands if you've never heard them!) 

The second week I was flying solo, Harps returned to work and I visited my first ever bridal shop! It was a massive disappointment to be honest and despite trying on three dresses- I wasn't sold on any which resulted in mother and I in M&S cafe people watching and gossiping. More little wedding details came together, exaggerating all of my thoughts with Stacie as we spent the loveliest day at the beach. I also popped over to Plymouth to see Liona & Leopard, after a rather one-sided game of ping-pong, we sat admiring the view and catching up before having the tastiest lunch at Wagamamas where they proceeded to mock my spoon fears and we compared Game of Thrones conspiracy theories.When Harps did have a day off we took a trip for the most delicious and fancy cream tea at Carlyon Bay Hotel, overlooking the shoreline in weather that could have easily have been somewhere much more Mediterranean. I may or may not have got a little confused on the walk back and 45 minutes later walked in a complete circle in the blistering heat, bellies full- Harps wasn't best pleased when we looked ahead and saw the hotel sign again...

So that's it. Two glorious weeks all wrapped up into one. You can see just above how 'great' Leona's shot is... I miss this holiday already. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to iron clothes, set my alarm for an early morning and generally get back into routine. 

Love Sophie Xx