Dorset Tales

During the children’s half term holiday we decided to search for sunshine down south and headed to Dorset.  Whilst we did not exactly find the sunshine we were hoping for, what we did find were beautiful ‘chocolate box’ villages, sandy beaches and quaint thatch cottages in abundance.  We stayed at Greenwood Grange in Higher Bockhampton next door to Thomas Hardy’s birthplace.  The cottage was perfect, set in a courtyard with shared outdoor space with access to a fruit and vegetable garden; where the kids loved picking their own fruit, vegetables and herbs.  As well as an indoor swimming pool, games room and outdoor playground we enjoyed fresh eggs courtesy of the resident chickens!

Weymouth, urprisingly better than expected......

We fell in love with nearby Abbotsbury with a great farm, swannery and subtropical gardens.  The village was idyllic with a beautiful café and a great butchers shop! The beach (pebble) was secluded with beautiful blue water and we met a lovely family from County Durham who showed Tamsin and Jude how to fish! Jude has now added a fishing rod to his ever growing birthday list!

Goat Walking!

A little further a field, Lyme Regis was one of the nicest seaside towns we have ever been to with its quirky shops and cafes and a great sandcastle making beach! A comment from Graham ‘I didn’t realise beaches like this existed in the UK’ (result, England scores a point!)  A truly relaxing and enjoyable break, just what we all needed. 

We stopped off for a night at the Poole Hotel Du Vin and were spoilt (as usual) I love the way they always welcome the kids..love the towel characters! 

On the way home, after visiting friends in Horsham we joined Corey for his 6^th Birthday party ‘Pond dipping at Kingsbury WaterPark’ The kids had a great time searching for pond life, a superb venue and a great party idea!

Happy 40th Bro

On 7^th May 2012 my big Bro turned 40.  We had a fabulous family get together at Peebles Hydro on the Scottish Boarders.  Let’s face it any hotel that is happy to take the kids off your hands while you can sit and enjoy a ‘grown up’ meal in peace gets my vote! (and the kids vote for that matter; couldn’t prise them away from the kids club!)  Thank you Farah for organising everything especially the gift bags, how did I not know that Nige shared my passion for Caramac, must be in the blood!

Now…my Bro is a big fan of the wires! Any latest gadget on the market has to be tried and tested and more often than not collects dust in the garage when the newer model is launched! Whatever happened to that Tassimo?

Nigel’s passion for gadgets over the years has meant that his childhood thriftiness has been put to the test.  Growing up, my brother Howard and I would be counting up our Easter eggs whilst Nigel dusted off his intact Christmas Selection Box! 

In my case pocket money was meant to be spent on 10p mix ups (in the days when you could get mo jos and black jacks for ½ pence each) Howard’s would be spent on a polystyrene aeroplane and be over the fence in 5 minutes and Nigel’s would be saved in his tray wallet purse and transferred to a pound coin dispenser before converting into a five pound note!

You can imagine how difficult it was for him to contain himself when he was showered with money and Apple vouchers for his 40^th. Politely thanking everyone at the table and conveniently nipping to the loo to no doubt count up his good fortune, pity you didn’t dust off the tray purse for the occasion!             

I am glad that your 40^th allowed you to achieve the ultimate gadget of champions the new iPad and would have loved to have accompanied you on your detour home via the Apple Shop!  Happy 40^th Nige hope you are in gadget heaven cheers Bro, love you x           

Oh……I made the cake (of course!) here it is:

 Some of my favourite pics of the weekend:

My Nephew Hadyn, stunt man in the making!

  Happy 40th Gadget Man!

Easter Bakes

The Easter Holidays are in full swing and I love an excuse to bake! Tamsin and Jude had friends over for a play date today so we made Easter Bunny Biscuits.  This is my favourite shortbread recipe that works without fail every time.  It is from an old Sainsbury’s magazine here is the recipe (Page 86)

  

I would definitely follow the tip about piping around the edge of your biscuit first and letting it set before adding some slightly runnier icing in the middle.  This avoids any unsightly drips and dribbles!!

The kids had great fun decorating the bunnies

The anticipation whilst the best bunny was being judged!

 here is the line up…

 My Easter Treat...

Graham just returned from Paris and whilst indulging in lots of wining and dining discovered these….

 Biscuits Roses De Reims, apparently it is customary to dip the biscuit in champagne or red wine (I’ll settle for a nice cup of tea, typical Brit!)

Happy Easter x

Early Easter Spirit

I have been preparing for Easter for weeks now, by that I mean taste testing Cadbury's mini eggs on a daily basis just to make sure they are worthy to use on my cakes!  Yesterday they were put to the test as my students held their end of term event ‘A Charity Easter Fun Day’ where all proceeds went to Devere’s sponsored children’s charity The Variety Club.

The day started with a charity bag pack at Sainsbury’s. To show willing I joined in too.  It made a nice change chatting to all the friendly shoppers as I had a nosey at what they had in their shopping trolleys! I realised that there is a significant amount of diligence required when it comes to bag packing, I thought I was particular! Clearly, throwing in items willy nilly is a no no.  After two hours of turning on my best hospitality charm (trying not to be offended when shoppers refused my meticulous bag packing service) I came away with a whole new insight into to art of bag packing! Oh almost forgot the students did well too….£137 not bad for a couple of hours work.

There was no rest for the wicked, we returned to the Academy to start setting up the event.  Taking advantage of the glorious weather we were able to spill outside into the courtyard area.  The students did a great job at setting up the stands and organising the activities, I provided the cakes (of course!) Here are a few pics of the day. 

Well done Emma on the face painting, great job for your first attempt I’ll be booking you for my children’s parties!!