I haven't been on a picnic for absolute years, so when someone special suggested a day by the seaside and a picnic, I was hardly going to turn him down. We weren't 100% sure what the weather was going to do, but to be honest, to be out and by the sea, I didn't mind if we ended up eating the picnic in the car. In the end, we needn't have worried as the weather turned out to be dry and warm.

We drove down to a place not that far from the Seven Sisters. Although I hadn't been there before, the scenery has been captured so many times in photographs and paintings, I felt I had been there before. Below I've attached my photo's.

It was lovely walking along the cliffs and smelling the "seaness" of the sea! We settled down amongst the rocks, and had a wonderful day of chatting, listening to the gentle sound of the sea against the rocks, enjoying the warmth of sun beating down and just generally enjoying the peacefulness. It was so relaxing, I really wanted time to stand still.

I love being outdoors, be it in the countryside, close to mountains or by the sea. Mountains, I find awe inspiring. They are magnificant, powerful and make me feel humble in their presence. The sea - when it's calm - is comforting, relaxing, and at the same time, invigorating. That's why my ideal home would be a little cottage in the middle of no-where, with the sea in front and mountains behind.

Anyway, time unfortunately wouldn't stand still but it was a wonderful day, spent in wonderful company.

Today has been gorgeous - lovely blue skies, sun shining brightly & not too hot. The irony about this time of year is as much as I love being outdoors, like so many people, I suffer from hayfever!!! Never suffered whilst I lived in South Africa, so it came as quite a surprise to me when the start of my first summer in this country was spent with nose streaming and "panda eyes". Since then, the severity has varied year from year and generally it seemed to be getting less & less. This year, I thought I was going to "get away with it" but then coming back from the gym on Wednesday evening, my eyes and nose started streaming.

It normally doesn't last too long (i.e. by July I should be over it for another year), but I had a great day today mowing the lawn and pottering around the garden!! I'm now paying for it with a really blocked and sore nose. It's all worth while, really.

Anyway, the rose buds are starting to open in the garden and this is my first rose of the season. Love the deep red colour. Not sure what variety it is (I rent the house and inherited the garden).

Thought I might escape the latest round of tag but Sidejump saw an end to that! So, tagged I am....

1. What was I doing 10 years ago?
In 1998 I was still in the early years of what turned out to be a long relationship. My time outside of work was spent learning to sail and finding out what it really means to "do up" a wreck of a house!!

2. Five things to do on today's list:
Don't have a "to do" list - not even at work.

3. Snacks
a muffin with coffee (not a huge snack eater)

4. Things I would do if I was a billionaire
Buy a little cottage in the middle of the country - preferably with the sea on one side and mountains on the other; travel,travel & more travel; set up a healing business where I wouldn't be bothered if it made money or not; handsomely support my favourite charities.

5. Places I have lived: Johannesburg, George, Cape Town, London - all before moving to leafy kent.

Now, in terms of who I tag - methinks most people on my friends list have been tagged already so think it's run it's course with me.

Recently I've discovered an "old" group called Matchbox 20. They're not really old, but were described as such by someone in her mid-20's! Anyway, following on from my post "Here we go again...." in Steppingstones, this song seemed to capture the mood.