Mayochup

Situated on the edge of the South Downs national park is Marwell Zoo and is a lovely place to visit. Unlike most zoos where they try to cram in as many animals and enclosures within the space they have been allocated, Marwell is expansive with animal enclosures dotted here and there. This does mean a lot of walking however, there is a mini rail that links one end of the park to the other for those who are less inclined.

Marwell doesn't have the same variety of animals if you compare it to London Zoo; no elephants for example but the ones they do have are well worth visiting. The giraffes in particular are a highlight.

Took a while to get this shot

We also managed to get a photo of the leopard which was difficult to spot. Luckily it came right to the window.

Had to be quick to take this one

Right at the start, or at the end, of the zoo is the penguin enclosure. Marwell put on a public feeding spectacle three times per day on set time schedule and we managed to catch the last performance.

Penguin feeding time

Our little one is full of surprises and sees the funny side of doing a naughty deed!

Out of the blue, my brother-in-law proposed to his long term girlfriend and to celebrate, we were invited to a pub outing and dinner at The White Horse in Harpenden.

The pub is situated on the edge of Harpenden next to idyllic houses and greens and fits in nicely in the area. The garden area is extensive and well looked after. The inside blends modern with rustic giving it a homely feel so it suits all seasons. As it was a warm evening with a bright blue sky, we opted to eat outside.

So after the chinking of the champagne glasses filled with prosecco, it was time to order dinner. The weather put paid to the availability of the menu, not because it was spoiled, but due to the pub being extremely busy over that weekend.

We both opted for the pork roast with crackling and all the trimmings. As you can see, the portion size is good and you definitely get your moneys worth.

Pork Roast with all the trimmings

My mother-in-law is a little fussy when it comes to ordering restaurant food and not all that keen on English/European food so she had Halibut with Asparagus and vegetables which isn't on the menu but the The White Horse was more than willing and capable to tailor a dish to her needs. 

Halibut with Asparagus and vegetables

Even though we managed to polish off our mains and feeling quite full, there is always room for pudding and we were enticed by the Rhubarb and Almond Pie which was amazing. The almond pie was warm and soft which complemented well with the strips of rhubarb and the dollop of clotted cream.

Almond and Rhubarb pie with clotted cream

Is other bloggers. We all know the ones. It's me, me, me, me, and me some more. Here's a rundown of what irks us.



Facebook groups

We used to be a part of these groups but the constant "must re-post or acknowledge at least 10 other posts" is time consuming and don't have time for this. Also, most of the posts are utterly irrelevant to what you are blogging plus there are the 'fun police' who come at you and snitch if you a) don't do their posts or b) feel you haven't done enough. So I don't post on these groups anymore. Plus the comments you receive in return are nonsensical and clearly other people have not read your post.

Blogging events

We went to one of these in London and it was full of fashion/beauty bloggers who were more interested in posing in-front of random bits of furniture than integrating with others. Furthermore, most actually had no clue about blogging and were listening attentively to a seminar in how to write a blog post. Most were taking notes about basic stuff such as labels, tagging, formatting and the like. We tried to talk to a few people but most were not interested apart from themselves and their next post. The me, me, me, me types. We left after an hour, bored and underwhelmed. We will never attend one of these again.

Instagram/Twitter

We largely have given up on this media due to the follow/unfollowers. You can spot the accounts that do this, the ones with 15k followers and only following 1k. This is the same with Twitter too.

So, in light of this, we are rarely seen on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook however, if we have commented on your post, re-tweeted or liked, we will have read it properly. If the Facebook group in question forces us to comment on eye-liner or something else unrelated, then we just aren't interested.