More beady inspiration and an announcement!

Well, I was barely back from Spain before I was off on my travels again, this time a few days in London! Simon had a job interview to attend and so we thought we would make the most of the trip and booked a couple of nights in the hotel where the interview was held, in the Bankside area of London. I'm ashamed to say that although I am from the south of England and often travel past it to visit my parents, I have hardly ever visited London and really don't know it very well at all - I think I have to put that right in the future as I absolutely fell in love with it during this visit. Considering it was very early April, the weather was fantastic and I spent a lot of time outdoors - I was even quite brave (for me!) and went exploring on foot whilst Simon was undergoing a gruelling four hour assessment. I ended up sat on a bench by the river Thames, soaking up the sunshine and trying to absorb all the famous landmarks that I could see from that one spot, including Shakespeare's Globe, 'The Gherkin', Tower Bridge, Tate Modern, the Millennium Bridge and St Paul's Cathedral.

The highlight of the trip for me however, was spending yesterday at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. I have been once before, but again, I vowed to be a regular visitor in the future. So much beady inspiration; the cherry blossom avenue, a carpet of Chionodoxa, the magnolia collection and the palm house to mention a few and that's besides the ring-necked parakeets soaring and squawking overhead and the beautiful turquoise winged jays hopping about in front of us!

So, it's back to business today and the first thing I did was to put all the names of everyone who left a comment on my giveaway post into a hat to see who won my daisy earrings. I'm pleased to announce that the lucky winner is Kat of Candles, Crafts and Whatnot - congratulations Kat and thanks to everyone who entered.