A day off work and a royal day out lined up.  So I started healthily.  Frozen blackberries

1 tbsp chia seeds

1 tbsp hemp protein powder

plus a banana and a mixture of coco nut water and almond milk until I reached the consistency I wanted.  It was delicious.

Then I went to Ascot, as you do 🙂 .

I love this day out, partly because it is an opportunity to dress up and be somewhere glamorous and interesting – fabulous for people watching 🙂 .  But mainly because I spend it with such special friends.  Here I am with Helen and Becky.

BJ and his lovely Mummy.

We have an early lunch and today I treated myself to the dressed crab salad.

Crab is one of my favourite foods and having it prepared for you is the ultimate treat.  I prefer it to lobster which is another yummy treat.

Before the racing starts at Ascot, the Queen and her guests ride to Ascot from Windsor Castle in the lovely Landau carriages.  Here they come.

God save our Queen.  Taken with a standard lens, not a zoom – we really were that close.

How wonderful to see Prince Philip with her too.

Princesses Anne, Eugenie and Beatrice were there too but my photos were too blurry to publish!  Kate Middleton’s parents were there but no Kate or William.  I would like to have seen them, especially since we always stand in such a good spot so we can see perfectly and get so close 🙂 .

After the Royals have entered the parade ring and disembarked the horses and carriages trot back out.

There is so much space in the Royal Enclosure compared to the other areas.

We watch some races from the barrier so we are really close to the horses.

We watched one from the outside lower stands.

For another race we wandered inside the Grandstand which is looking splendid decked out with Union Jacks.

There is always time for a little drink of Pimms.

Check out the view from the top of the Grandstand.

Frankie Dettori rode the Gold Cup winner Colour Vision.  Such a treat to watch this very talented jockey win the Gold Cup.  There’s the horse, Colour Vision in the Parade Ring.

We went to watch the Queen (arriving bottom left of the picture)

present the Gold Cup and congratulate Frankie.

We also looked at the horses in the parade ring.  The Grandstand was really grand this year, with the huge Union Jacks to celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee.

Once all the racing is over we head back to the restaurants and have afternoon tea.  I had a cuppa and this delicious treat.  The base was a chewy flapjack covered with caramel and topped with seeds and dried fruit.  It was fabulous and worth every calorie.

All too soon it was time to head home.  It was a lovely day out – thank you fab friends.

I didn’t get home until just after 9pm so spent some time with Harvey and then popped round to Vicky’s where I caught up with some other lovely friends.  I had some pitta with a yummy goats cheese and walnut dip and half a cup cake for supper.  A lovely end to a wonderful day.