I Love Autumn

I absolutely love this time of year.  I love seasons, which is probably why I love this country so much but I particularly love Autumn.  So, in honour of Autumn I am going to write a list of how I'm going to appreciate the season.

Autumn

1. Autumnal walks & picnics (kicking leaves & making fairy houses in the woods!)
2. Wear (& maybe invest in new) cosy jumpers - I've got my eye on this one
3. Socks - wellie socks, bed socks, walking socks
4. Pots of tea & homemade shortbread (see recipe below), whilst snuggled up in a blanket on the sofa in front of Downton

I love this shortbread mold found here

Shortbread

140g plain flour
25g rice flour
50g caster sugar
100g soft butter
1 tbsp sugar (for sprinkling)

Preheat oven to 140*C
Mix the flours together.  Add the sugar.  Then mix in the butter until the mixture comes together.  I use my electric mixer but you could use your hands.
I then empty the contents into a round loose bottom 7"cake tin & press it down until it's smooth.  You could go around the edges with a fork & prick it with holes.
Bake for 50-60 minutes or until firm & pale golden in colour.
Leave in the tin to cool but cut it into slices & sprinkle with sugar before it cools.

I think this is a Rachel Allen recipe.


5. Pubs & log fires (find a new cosy pub - any recommendations for child & dog friendly ones?)
6. Halloween - decorate the house, make some treat jars for the kids & try some new pumpkin recipes
7. Bonfire Night - enjoy mulled cider & sparklers outside in the cold with friends
8. Do something creative - although realistically this may not happen, pottering in the kitchen usually takes over
9. Sausages & homemade chutney
10. Visit Westonbirt Arboretum - autumn is the best time
11. Home baked bread (my husband bought me a bread maker for my birthday & I love it!)
12. Make a new compote for my morning porridge

Whilst I've been away ......

It's been almost 4 months since I last posted on my blog.  I had so many plans to chit chat away on here & share things with everyone but life took over.

I wanted to share pictures of our trip to Scotland in our beloved campervan.  She made it all the way from the South of England & back again with only a few minor tweeks to the engine.  I can't find the pictures, lost in the mounds of downloaded data to be sorted through.  I have got one of the VW though.

My eldest son managed to severe a tendon in his thumb which resulted in a summer in a post-op cast.  All is now well & working again & he's back at rugby.  We pray there will be no more accidents.

My little girl, aged 6, is worrying about a boy in her class.  Mummy she said, did you ever really like a boy & another girl also really like the same boy?  How do you know which one of you he really likes?  The pressures at age 6!!!!!  I'm happy to say she does still prance around the house in her tutu with her favourite cuddly toy.

The transfer of the allotment to a small manageable corner of our garden has worked very well.  We ate lots of produce from our own garden & I am still cutting sweet peas!

Pinterest has taken over my life a little bit.  I love it, it's so easy but it does stop me blogging.  Which also means I haven't kept up to date on other lovely blogs & all their news.  I've also discovered I have some new followers which is so nice but must be very disappointing for them if I haven't blogged!

So that was Summer & now here we are in Autumn.  My favourite season.  I can feel a list of things I love coming on .......

Power Shopping!

On Saturday I power shopped!  It was great fun & my kids were angels.

First stop was Swindon - not my usual port of call but we needed to return something to a big DIY shop, whilst there we popped into TK Maxx (for lunch believe it or not, before whizzing on to our next stop).  Of course whilst there I had a quick mooch & found one of my favourite brands at a bargain price, so I brought it home!

Au Lait

The wire basket that it's in was a bargain from my next port of call.  We drove through Marlborough enroute to Pewsey & stopped in at a favourite shop of mine - The Antiques & Tat Shop.  It's tiny, so takes me moments to quickly scan & there it was.  I'm hoping my husband will like the idea of it becoming a shelf in our shower room, to match the other basket already in there storing the towels.

Then onto our final destination The Strawberry Fayre at Pewsey.  The kids had a great time here.  They watched ferret racing and Punch & Judy.  They ate delicious ice cream, played in the play ground & looked round the stalls.  Hobbs House Bakery were there too!  My boys loved sampling their bread so much they were given a free loaf!  I was excited to learn that Hobbs are now supplying my local farm shop & also have this wonderful delivery service which I'm very tempted to try.

I was very good, I stayed off the ice creams & treated myself instead to this very sweet spoon engraved by Caroline Green Pottery and some delicious foodie treats.  Bizarrely we missed the strawberry picking which was the whole point of going!

Yesterday we had to pop over to Tewkesbury.  Well actually I had to tag along with my husband to a KTM bike shop in the industrial park.  I agreed to come on the hour long trip on the basis that we would go into the town centre for lunch.

I have never been to Tewkesbury before & due to the heavy rain didn't get a chance to look around but I did stumble across this lovely little deli for lunch!

There isn't much room but we managed on this tiny little table for two right next to all the shelves of fudge, which was fatal!  We enjoyed lovely freshly made sandwiches & coffee & left with a few extra treats.

We did also have some lovely lamb samosas but old dog ate them.

Happy Days!!

I know Fathers Day is meant to be for all the dear fathers in the world but I have to say, I too really enjoyed Fathers Day today.

My husband got up & cooked us all scrambled eggs, smoked salmon & bagels!  Then full of energy off he went with our two boys, a friend & his eldest to Motocross at Foxhill!

The poor wives who were left behind with the 2 youngest (being princesses & far too delicate for motocross), went out for a lovely coffee & cake, followed by a little mooch around some yummy shops!

We then all met up in Cosmo Pan Asian restaurant - where you can eat as much as you possibly can!  I am now lying like a beached whale on the sofa.

Entertaining the Kids....

... for free during the holidays would be nice but that's not always possible.  We nearly always do the picnic & walk to a nearby forest, country park or stream.

My kids don't potter - it's full steam ahead from the moment they wake up, however they do sleep well!

So, today I scoured the internet for recommended playgrounds for us to visit, still with picnic in tow to keep the cost down.  This is what I've come up with.  Any other recommendations?  Please feel free to comment.  I haven't found that many really good playgrounds for FREE!!!!!  Maybe you know of some.

Local to us:
Lydiard Park, Swindon, Wiltshire - FREE
Bowood House, Calne, Wiltshire


National Trust properties with woodland play areas - great to make use of your membership:
Polesden Lacey, near Dorking, Surrey (I've read that there is an outdoor play area called Squirrels Corner hidden in the woods - yet to find images, can anyone confirm?)
Belton House, Grantham, Lincolnshire
Cragside House, Morpeth, Northumberland
Chirk Castle, Wrexham, Wales
Killerton House, Exeter, Devon

Other Adventure Playgrounds
Ragley Hall Park & Gardens, Alcester, Warwickshire
Lower Leas Coastal Park, Folkestone, Kent - FREE
Chatsworth, Bakewell, Derbyshire
Floors Castle, Kelso, Scotland
Harewood House, Harewood, Leeds
Cannon Hall Farm, Cawthorne, South Yorkshire
Princess of Wales Memorial Playground, Kensington Gardens, London - FREE I think
Wilton House, Wilton, nr Salisbury, Wiltshire
Bewilderwood, Hoveton, Norfolk - can voucher for this one, my kids had an amazing time in the pouring rain!!!
Moors Valley, nr Ringwood, Dorset - FREE (sort of, you have to pay to park the car)
Puzzlewood, Forest of Dean - looks lovely, yet to be tried.
Wellington Country Park, Reading, Berkshire

Go Ape - 27 locations, age 10+
Jungle Parc - Liverpool & Wellingborough, age 4+

In Awe of Bloggers

I take my hat off to all you bloggers out there.  I try, I really do, to keep my blog up-to-date with exciting things, places we've been to, things we've discovered, etc.  I even manage to write the posts!  Then they sit there, waiting for me to upload the photo's to make the page look pretty & more interesting - that bit I somehow just don't seem to manage.

It really is a shame as we've done some wonderful things lately:

• We spent an amazing Easter in North Devon in that glorious weather - we pootled around in our dear old camper van.

Travels with our Camper

• We discovered an amazing National Trust Cafe at Baggy Point.

• We've given up our allotment & turned a small corner of our garden into a veg patch.

• My husband has dug a HUGE whole in the garden ready for scalpings, etc - I anxiously await the arrival of the greenhouse!!!

• The kids did brilliantly at their rugby presentation day - we were very proud parents.

• Our poor little puppy was very ill & had to spend a week at the vets.  He's much improved now.  My bank account is not!!!  (This was not so wonderful).

 

Sad Oscar feeling very unwell

• We attended a fabulous wedding of some very dear friends.  I had a fashion crisis but all turned out ok.  My daughter was however better dressed than me!  How does that happen so soon?

• I wish I lived nearer London so I could go to Handmade Nest.  I have been inspired to start knitting a scarf for my daughter though - there's a chance it might be ready for Christmas!!!

I now need to catch up with all of your lovely blogs - so my feet are up with a nice cup of tea & lots of happy blog browsing.  Thank you one & all. x