Thursday 31 July 2014

5 Wall Decor Ideas


Are you looking for something different to decorate your walls other than family portraits and pictures? Something more novel, a bit of a talking point? Maybe you want something more in keeping with a room's theme and design than a painting can lend?  Or maybe you're decorating a property to rent or to sell and want something less personal and more appealing to a wider audience?

There are plenty of other ways to add interest and substance to plain walls than prints or photos, and Graham and Brown is a great place to start.  Better know for their wallpaper designs, they now have a whole section on their website dedicated to wall art at affordable prices.

Here are my five favourites:

Castle Key (currently reduced to £16)



This large solid metal key will add a touch of romance and fairy-tale to your home.  Sized at around 17 inches long, it will add a statement above your dressing table, hall console or in your washroom.  Because it's cast metal you could also mount it on exterior walls.

The concealed fixing brackets give it a clean look when mounted, and it stands proud of the wall giving depth and dimension.  It can be fixed either horizontally or vertically.

The metal casting is good quality and I think this is a great price for this whimsy wall decoration.


Birds on a Wire (currently reduced to £16)


For a more contemporary' crafted look, this wired bird design will bring life to the most neutral of walls.  It's chirpy and fun, I may get one for over my desk to remind me to 'tweet more often'!


Fretwork Mirror (currently reduced to £80)


More of an investment, but we all need mirrors right?  Not only are they essential for checking our lippy as we dash out the door, but they bring light and space to a room.  This fretwork design will bring a touch of faded Moroccan grandeur to your home.  


Tia Sequin Art by Monsoon (currently £40)



This stunning sequin artwork will add Eastern promise to your home.  Graham and Brown's collaboration with Monsoon brings us this intricately embellished piece which will bounce light around.  The gold abstract design will bring a touch of exotic opulence to any room.


Map Art Letters (currently £28)


Offering vintage style to those with wanderlust, you can plot your next vacation with this wall art.  Neutral colours mean it will fit with most decors.  The bold type font, perfect for those who love typography art and these letters can be used free standing or wall mounted.

So which is your favourite?  What do you have adorning your walls?

Disclosure: Thank you to Graham & Brown for sending me the Castle Key for the purposes of this review.

Wednesday 30 July 2014

Coffee and Lotus Speculoos Biscuit Ice Cream

Coffee and Lotus biscuit Speculoos Ice Cream

Now everyone knows that these little morsels of spiced caramel biscuits go with coffee like a match made in heaven - a gazillion coffee houses can't be wrong.

I always used to come home from holidays to France armed with a case full of these biscuits, but now thankfully you can buy them in the supermarkets in the UK.  Even better than that, you can now buy Lotus biscuit spread!!!  I discovered this awesomeness last year, but other than spreading it obscenely thickly on toasted crumpets, I haven't been sure what to do with it.

With the recent heatwave, the ice cream machine's been out on the worktop, so I thought...why not?

You don't need a machine to make it, you can do it the traditional way freezing it in a tub and breaking up the ice crystals with a fork.

This makes the most incredibly moreish ice cream, perfect as an indulgent after dinner treat, or to replace your afternoon cuppa on a sweltering day.

Ingredients:

2 yolks from free range eggs
50g caster sugar
1/4 pint double cream
1/4 pint milk
2 heaped tablespoons Lotus biscuit spread
1/2 cup strong black coffee (I use good quality instant de-caff)
5 or 6 Lotus biscuits crushed

Method:

Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together until thick.

Heat the milk and cream together in a pan, until just below boiling point.

Pour over your egg and sugar mix, whisking all the while, then return the custard to the pan and heat on low flame, still whisking until it thickens - it will take around 8-10 minutes.

Once your custard is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, remove from the heat and plunge the pan into a bowl of ice cold water to prevent it cooking further.  Stir in the Lotus spread and mix thoroughly until it's melted through into the mixture.  Stir in the coffee and leave to cool.

How to make Coffee and Lotus biscuit Speculoos Ice Cream

Once cool, pour into your ice cream maker, adding the biscuit crumbs about halfway through the freezing time.

If you don't have a machine, pour into a lidded container and freeze for one hour.  Remove and break up the ice crystals with a fork or whisk, return to the freezer and repeat two more times.  Add the biscuit pieces in on the final time.

How to make Coffee and Lotus biscuit Speculoos Ice Cream Recipe

Link up your recipe of the week

Tuesday 29 July 2014

Turn Water Into Wine In Just 5 Days!


Yes, you read it right, I'm going to attempt the miracle that is turning water into wine, which actually as an amateur home brewer is something I've done quite a few times already, but never in a week.

I've been testing out the Cantina Pinot Grigio 5 Day Kit from Home Brew Supplies to see if it lives up to its promise.


At £30.60 for 21 litres of wine I guess the idea appeals to those short on time, or those planning a big party - imagine, you could start it on the Monday and drink it by the weekend!

So how did I get on?  Well, the kit has all you need to make the wine, provided you've got all your own equipment (you need a fermenting barrel, an air lock, siphon tube, sterilising tablets, another barrel to siphon of into and of course bottles, corks and a corker).  For this reason, I don't think it's an ideal 'starter' kit.  Personally I'd recommend you begin with an all-in starter kit which includes your equipment.

The Cantina kit has a great design where you can open the box and access the opening to the inner bag easily to pour out the grape juice.  This was a great help - I've often showered the kitchen floor in sticky grape juice before! Simply pour it into your sterilised barrel, add warm water, sprinkle in the yeast, screw on your air lock and leave to bubble away happily for 4 days.




Now to be fair, I was making this in an absolute heatwave with temperatures outdoors reaching 30 degrees on some days.  For this reason I think fermentation took a little longer to complete, and I ended up leaving it 7 days.  In hot weather the yeast can stop working during the hottest times of the day meaning the process takes longer.

After your wine has stopped bubbling, taste to make sure it's not too sweet (you can use a hydrometer at this stage but I never do, I prefer to do it by taste), and then you can siphon off into another (sterilised) container, leaving the sediment behind.  I thoroughly cleaned and sterilised my original barrel, and repeated the siphoning back to there before adding the finings to remove the CO2 gas and to clear the wine.

After that it's simply a case of bottling your wine.  All in all I'd say my kit took me 7 1/2 days from start to finish.

But how did it taste?  Is it, as promised, drinkable straight away?



The colour was more yellow than other Pinot Grigio kits I've made, but I sampled a glass 2 days after bottling and it really was very drinkable. It was fresh, crisp and nicely dry.  Not the finest wine I've ever tried granted, but definitely I wouldn't mind being served a chilled glass or two of this at a party or picnic.

I'd describe it as a BBQ wine - it's made fast to be drank fast.  But for the price and the time it took to make, I was pretty impressed.

If you want a higher quality wine and don't mind waiting a bit longer though, I'd suggest the Beaverdale kits, which make exceptionally good quality wine for about a tenner more.

Would I recommend it?  Well, as a fun product, if you're in need of a large quantity in a hurry - for example you have a party coming up, then yes. If you're not in a hurry, I'd go for the Beaverdale. But certainly I'd recommend making your own wine, for sure!  It's easy and fun and can save you a fortune. Oddly, I seem to have more new friends since I took up the hobby!

Disclosure: Thank you to Home Brew Supplies UK for letting me test out the kit.



Monday 21 July 2014

How to Make: Homemade Cassis

Easy homemade Cassis Recipe

If there's one over-riding theme I've picked up from the Christmas in July grocery events I've been to lately it's that Cassis is going to be HUGE this yuletide.  Warming and fruitifying everything from cocktails to mince pies, from sausages to stuffing you can get ahead of the game by making your own Cassis right now.

This is the time that blackcurrants are ripening and you'll find punnets in the shops if you're not lucky enough to have your own bush in the garden like we do.  It seems to be a bumper year this year.

I've only made a small batch since I'm the only boozer in this house, it would be a bit mean to use them all - the rest will be used to make 'beena' squash for the teetotallers in the household.

This is such a simple recipe, it really requires little effort, but it does take time to mature so if you make it now it will be perfect for Christmas, either as a gift or for proving to everyone that you're bang on trend in the kitchen this year!  If you've ever made sloe gin or blackberry vodka, it's basically the same principle so you'll have no trouble making this.

homegrown blackcurrants


Ingredients:

400g ripe blackcurrants (wash and remove stalks)
250g caster sugar
500mls vodka (I've used Caucasian Old Vodka)

You will also need a sterilised kilner jar or wide neck bottle.


Easy homemade DIY Cassis Recipe

Method:
Wash and remove the stalks from your blackcurrants.  Place them in a bowl and give them a good squish with the back of a a spoon.
Add the sugar and squish up some more.


How to make Cassis
Tip the purple mush into a sterilised jar and add the vodka.

Shake well, and leave out so you'll remember to shake well once a day for a week or so. After one or two days it will develop into a rich, jewel violet shade.
How to make Cassis with vodka

After that you can pop it in a dark cupboard and leave it for 3 months.
After you've allowed it to steep, strain out the fruit through a muslin and pour the liquid into a sterilised bottle.
You can keep the fruit for dolloping over ice cream or adding to crumbles for a boozy treat.
Leave to mature until Christmas time.
Serve with Champagne for a classic Kir Royal, or add it to your cooking.


Wednesday 16 July 2014

Ethical and Environmentally Friendly School Uniform Solutions


Ethical and Eco-Friendly school uniform

Last year I reviewed some school uniform from one of the supermarkets and it struck me how incredibly cheap the items were.  Now, I'm all for a bargain, but at what price does a £1.50 skirt come?  How on earth is it made and perhaps more importantly to me, who has made it?

With stories in the press of pleas for help being sewn into the labels of mass-produced clothing bound for the UK, the real cost of cheap clothes has been bothering me even more lately.

Ecooutfitters are breaking the mould for school uniforms and assure customers that every worker in the chain, from planting and harvesting the cotton, right through to labelling and distributing their garments are treated humanely and receive a fair wage.  They have signed up to the GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) scheme which assures ecological and social responsibility.

In addition to worries about workplace conditions, more and more of us are worried about the global impact of the clothing industry.  As consumer have 'demanded' cheaper; easy-care; stain-resistant; non-iron garments, the processes and chemicals used on our children's clothing has increased.  Even those of us avoiding man-made fabrics might be surprised to learn that the production of conventional cotton is one of the most chemically intensive farming operations in the world.  Cotton grown in this way uses 25% of the world's insecticides and over 10% of the world's pesticides, having severe and long-term impacts on the soil, water courses and the environment as a whole.

Ecooutfitters use only 100% certified organic cotton, free from chemicals so not only are they better for the planet, they're a better choice to have next to your child's skin.  

Natural cotton allows your child's skin to breath, helps regulate body temperatures in hot sweaty classrooms and the organic cotton has no chemical residues which can aggravate skin conditions such as eczema.

We tried out some uniform items from Ecooutfitters and my initial observation was of the obvious quality and weight to the fabric over cheap, mass produced items.  The fabric to the cotton skirt and pinafore was thick and feels very durable, I'm sure she'll outgrow it before it wears out.  They are beautifully made with little details like ribbon trims and internal adjustable waistbands for a comfortable fit.

Ethical Organic Cotton School Uniform


The skirt costs from £14.95 and polo shirts £8.95 and whilst I appreciate it's more than you'd pay in a supermarket or discount retailer, given what's been said above I don't think it's a huge price to pay.  It's certainly going to last a lot lot longer than the cheap stuff you can pick up for a couple of quid.

Check out their whole range of uniform items including polo shirts, trousers, pinafores, skirts and PE kit.

Ethical Organic Cotton School Uniform Supplier Ecooutfitters

Disclosure: Thank you to Ecooutfitters for sending us a selection of uniform items to sample.

Friday 11 July 2014

Tips for saving money on your overseas holiday



I've written already about how to save money on day trips in the UK and many of these would apply to holidays in this country too.  for those of you heading further afield this summer, here are my top tips for saving money on your trip abroad.

1. Currency

This can be a big expense and it can be all to easy too get caught out on poor exchange rates or high commission charges unless you spend ages shopping around.  Taking a pre-loaded cash card is a great way to take your spending money on holiday. It's much safer than carrying cash, you can use it just like a debit or credit card in stores to pay for items, or withdraw money from ATMs and there's no need to go somewhere special to exchange it.  You can load up what your budget allows for spending money, and stick to it, leaving your other cards at home.  Of course, there's always the worry that you might have some emergency which requires extra money, but with a card like Caxton FX, you can simply add more via a text from your phone. There's no commission and they guarantee great exchange rates, as well as a host of extra benefits.

2. Airline Resrictions

Make sure  you're up-to-speed with the latest airline restrictions.  Getting items confiscated is not only annoying and inconvenient, but it can cost you money to replace them.  I've seen grown women cry at security desks when they've had to ditch their designer perfume or expensive cleanser.  Most of us are aware of the liquid restrictions now - make sure all liquids, pastes, aerosols and gels are bagged separately in a clear plastic resealable bag.  No liquids over 100mls will be allowed.  Rather than buy expensive holiday minis from the shops, buy a travel bottle set (many discount or pound stores sell them) and decant your products from home.  Or use up all those hotel toiletries you've been stashing!

The newest security restriction which may catch some people out this summer is on battery operated equipment in hand luggage.  You may now have to power up your mobile phone/laptop/tablet/camera etc to prove it has a working battery, so if your phone is flat you risk having it confiscated or missing your flight while you charge it.  Airlines are still coming up with policies on how or if they'll return these items for you, but chances are you'll be out of pocket as well as inconvenienced. 

3. Weight allowances

Check and double check your weight allowance if you're flying. Then check and double check the weight (and measurements) of your luggage.  Don't get caught out with unexpected excess baggage charges.  And if you're planning to bring home souvenirs, remember to leave a weight allowance for that on your way home - or you'll be having to wear 4 layers of clothing!  Yeah, been there...

4. Pack Smart

Speaking of weight allowances, try to pack as cleverly as you can.  Minimise your clothes by packing a 'capsule wardrobe' - mix and match clothes that will work hard for you.  A large scarf for example will dress up a daytime outfit, work as a sarong on the beach and a pashmina in the evenings.  Pick one or two key colours, and work your outfit choices around that. We're probably all guilty of packing too many clothes on holiday, but free up space for other items you'll need but which are expensive to buy from resort shops such as sun cream, swimming goggles - dare I say it, umbrellas?!

5. Be Prepared

Nothing takes the shine of a holiday more than being ill or being involved on an accident, but when it ends up with costly medical bills it's even more of a nightmare.  Make sure you have adequate travel insurance for your family.  Shop around for the best deal and policy for your requirements - remember generally cheaper policies have less cover and a higher excess.  Check if you have cover included on things like your general insurance, your bank account, union membership or as an employee benefit.  The Caxton FX card also offers discounted medical insurance.  If you're travelling within the EU, make sure you sign up for the free EHIC card. Use this official link to apply free, and make sure you do it in plenty of time before your trip.  It will allow you access to free or reduced cost medical treatment (check full terms and details).

6. Be Book Savvy

Travel books, guides and maps are expensive and chances are you might never use them again after your trip, so pop to your local library and see what they have on offer for you to borrow for free.  There are also loads of free apps you can download - tourist guides, restaurant reviews, what's on sites etc.



7. Learn the Lingo

It's always nicer when you can say a few words in your host's language, but did you think that it could save you money?  I went to France last summer with a friend who happens to be a languages teacher and was amazed at the deals she managed to get.  I'm not suggesting you mug up to A-Level standard, but being able to exchange a few pleasantries will certainly ingratiate you with the locals and helps no end at markets, restaurants and most especially at boot sales flea markets.  Learn some key phrases before you go.

8. Kid's Cash

Holidaying with children can be expensive.  Constant requests for drinks, ice creams, inflatable beach toys, various bits of plastic souvenir tat and amusement arcades can soon drain your pockets.  If your kids get pocket money, encourage them to save that up and bring it with them.  It's interesting to see how much harder they think about whether they really want something, when they're paying for it themselves!

9. Dining Out

If you're eating out abroad, try to explore slightly off the beaten track for smaller, better value restaurants. Consult your library-borrowed guides and phone apps. Seek out the ones the locals use rather than the over-priced touritst traps on the main drag.  Generally you'll find better food, better service, less crowds and cheaper menus.

10. Holiday Snaps

Gone are the days of sending off your holiday films to be processed.  Nowadays most of us use digital cameras or our phones, but there's no reason why you shouldn't still get them printed rather than leave them languishing on a memory stick forever.  Check out the latest deals for 50 free prints at Snapfish; Truprint and 100 free with Jessups.

What are your holiday money-saving tips?  I'd love you to share them here.

This post is my entry for the Britmums / Caxton FM #holidayplanmum competition.



The Lorax - our favourite book for Children's Book Week



"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better.  It's not"

- Dr Seuss
  The Lorax
  1971

It's no secret that we love trees in this house.  Much of our spare time is spent in the countryside or at the forest, and I'm proud to be raising a little tree-hugger.  Therefore you won't be surprised to hear that The Lorax is one of our favourite books.

As relevant today as it was when written over 40 years ago, we need people to speak for the trees, to halt deforestation and preserve our planet.  Trees are our lifeblood. I don't think it would do any harm for all our political leaders and captains of industry to read this tale of greed and destruction.

Dr Seuss is famed for his nonsense rhymes; tongue-twisters and fantastical characters, but behind the Green Eggs and Ham was a man with a strong moral sense and political views. In his children's books he's explored such issues as environmentalism, consumerism, over-commercialisation and racial equality.  

Following the publication of a report in 1954 about literacy levels in American school children, in which it was concluded that children were turned off reading because their school books were boring, he was challenged to write a book which would appeal to new readers. He published The Cat in the Hat in response to this challenge, incorporating key words for early years students.                                                                          
His stories are still frequently in the top ten lists of most popular children's book and in America his birthday is celebrated as the national Read Across America Day to encourage literacy.

To us, Dr Seuss is a hero!    
                                                                                                                        
This blog post is an entry into the Tots100/Heinz competition to support Children’s Book Week

Tuesday 8 July 2014

Caucasian Old Vodka - Lemon and Vodka Cake

A funny thing happened this weekend when we were staying at Church Farm in Ardeley.  As I was perusing the liquor shelf in the farm shop looking for a little tipple to watch the sun go down, a chap appeared and popped a 'locally produced' label right under my eyes.  That was in itself not odd - a lot of the products in the shop are produced on site - the vegetables; meat; eggs and plants.  What was odd was that he'd slapped it across the shelf containing vodka!

I joked that I always like to support local, so maybe I should try some, and before I knew it he was beckoning me into his unit to show me the vodka making set-up.

Caucasian Old Vodka, Ardeley, Hertfordshire

The owner from Georgia was happy to show me around, and generously offered tasters.  It was fascinating to learn of the vodka's history.  Old Vodka is made using a 200 year old family recipe, of which you could tell he was rightly proud.  He was happy to indulge my geeky interest in the still and the sterilising and bottling process - somewhat larger scale than my home brewed wine!  We chatted and he let me try some of his latest flavour experiments using spices and fruits.

Copper vodka still


Caucasian Old Vodka, Ardeley, Hertfordshire

Caucasian Old Vodka, Ardeley, Hertfordshire


Tagged 'the taste of freedom' when you hear the history of the family and how they've been making vodka throughout such political turmoil it's easy to see why.  Even as an independent state, small business owners still have a tough time in Georgia, which is why they've come here to produce their excellent spirit.

I have to admit, vodka is not my spirit of choice - especially neat, but this was like none I'd tasted before.  It was smooth and rounded.  They use pure natural spring water from the farm and triple filter to make a pure, clean spirit that's absolutely delicious.  It convinced me and I bought a bottle.

A drink this good deserves some special treatment so I made it a cake!

Vodka and lemon cake

Lemon and vodka seem to be a perfect pairing, and this cake is rich and moist and wickedly decadent.  Try it at a grown-up tea party, or as an after-dinner treat.  The alcohol is by no means overpowering, and the lemon flavour holds it's own, but  slice or two will leave you with a pleasant warming glow in your tummy!

Ingredients:

120g softened unsalted butter
120g caster sugar (plus 1 tablespoon)
120g ground almonds
60g self raising flour
4 large free-range eggs
2 lemons
2 tablespoons milk
50g icing sugar
Old Vodka - depending on taste. I used 3 capfuls.  That's CAPS not CUPS!



Preheat oven to 180 degrees c.  Grease and line a medium cake tin.

Whisk the butter and sugar together until fluffy.  Separate your eggs one at a time, adding the yolk to the butter mix and beating, and reserving the whites in a clean bowl.  Once you've mixed in your final yolk, add the zest and juice of one lemon.  Switch to a spoon now and mix well.

Stir in the flour and almonds until combined and then add the milk.  Don't over work it.

Whisk your egg whites with the spoonful of sugar on high until you form soft peaks.  A spoonful at a time, add it to your batter, gently folding it in.  The rise in the cake will come mostly from the egg whites, so be careful not to knock the air out.

When it's fully mixed, pour into your cake tin and cook in the centre of the oven for approx 40 minutes until it's golden brown.

Leave to cool before removing from the tin. Prick the top all over with a skewer and drizzle the vodka over.

It's best if you wrap in greaseproof paper or foil and leave it overnight before icing.

wrapped vodka and lemon cake


Zest the remaining lemon and set aside.  Then make up the icing using lemon juice and drizzle over.  Sprinkle with zest.

vodka and lemon cake

Tasty Tuesdays on HonestMum.com

Camping at Church Farm Ardeley

We decided to squeeze every last drop out of this weekend, it being one of the very few we've had lately on the calender that was gloriously free of kid's parties, sporting events and work commitments.

A couple of weeks ago I spotted this free diary opportunity and booked a weekends' camping at a local site. It wasn't one we'd been to before, in fact we're still pretty novice campers but I'm determined to get the most out of the investment we've put into our tent and all the paraphernalia.  People laughed at us going on holiday 30 minutes up the road.

I didn't care.  It meant Ruby could do a quick change of clothes at the end of her day, I could collect her from school, scoop her up into the packed car and we could head straight off, arriving at tea time with still the late afternoon and the whole evening to enjoy.

Church Farm at Ardeley is only about 10 minutes drive from Stevenage, not that you'd ever know it.  The countryside is so stunningly beautiful, with acres of cornfields, pretty villages and old churches, we really felt we were in the middle of nowhere.

Camping is offered at Church Farm in one of several fields.  You're free to find your own spot and it was fairly quiet so we opted to pitch at the edge of the field, close to the woods and with a stunning uninterrupted view over the pig sties and onto the pretty church beyond.  The centre of the field is left to grow long and has an abundance of meadow flowers, butterflies floating about and the odd sheep wandering over for a graze.


Church Farm bill themselves as a 'free range experience' and we took full advantage of that exploring the forest, the hedgerows, the various farm walks, as well as saying hello to all the livestock who live there.  We booked an egg collecting session on the Saturday, and it was a chance for Ruby to really get hands on with some farm activities.

On the Friday evening, after we'd pitched our tent and made the beds, we tucked into pasta cooked on the camping stove.  This is pretty back-to-nature camping, and although there are toilets and basic showers they are a long way from where we were pitched.  There's no washing-up station so this was done the old-fashioned way by boiling water and washing in a bowl at our tent.  The water for the site incidentally comes from their own natural spring.  It's also a 'leave-no-trace' site, you have to take all your rubbish home with you and this really made us much more aware of our impact on the planet in our day-to-day life.

As the sun started to set, Ruby and her dad played football in the long grass, while I enjoyed a Fentiman's gin and tonic (oh yes, who knew they made that?!).



Tired from the fresh air and a long day at school, Ruby settled in front of the campfire and we toasted marshmallows and read The Magic Faraway Tree to her as bats skitted above us in the dusky sky.

We slept like logs that night, drifting off with the distant sound of another camper playing his guitar and singing Bob Dylan tunes.

We woke the next morning to pouring rain and the sounds of Easyjets passing over (I'd forgotten that this area was on the flight path to Luton), so popped into Stevenage to try out their swimming pool and escape the rain.  Stevenage would not be high up on my list of places to visit, although the Old Town is quite charming with lots of independent shops and cafes.

In the afternoon it was time for egg collecting and a whole gaggle of children met up to pull the cart loaded with egg cartons and we set off to the Walnut Orchard to greet the chickens.  After feeding them, learning how to pick them up and hold them, the children excitedly set about collecting the eggs. The white chook wasn't very happy about being turned off her nest box so we could rootle about to see if she had any eggs under her.  She gave a few pecks, and when we put her gently on the ground, she fanned herself out and it became apparent why she was cross.  We'd obviously disturbed her business and she promptly laid an egg right there on the floor for us.  Ruby was delighted to pick up this brand new, still warm freshly laid egg. They found a staggering 205 eggs in total plus one duck egg!  Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to keep any of these as they have to be washed and graded (on a very cute vintage grading machine which sorts them into sizes), but we swapped our slightly mucky eggs for half a dozen from the farm shop which were turned into gloriously creamy, sunflower yellow scrambled eggs for breakfast on Sunday.







The farm shop offers an enviable array of fresh, locally produced stock as well as all manner of products you might find in a health food store - eco friendly toiletries and cleaning materials, just about every type of herbal tea you can imagine, a tasty array of freshly baked breads and cakes and an in-house butcher's counter. It also has a small but well stocked off-license section offering vodka made on site from their spring water. There are handmade crafts on sale from their social enterprise 'Rural Care' and you can even buy a shorn fleece from their lambs.

Another highlight of the farm is the tea room, dainty and charming, painted in pretty pistachio green and bedecked with bunting and paperchains.  Old-fashioned homemade cakes are served on vintage fine bone china, and delicate plates, cups and saucers are stacked up all around.  The tables are laid with floral oilcloths and decorated with rustic posies of ox-eye daisies and ears of corn in old green glass bottles. There's also seating outside in the courtyard where you'll find a children's playhouse, ride on toys and Tonka trucks, or in the cosy snug and garden room summer house.  It's a dreamy place to take afternoon tea, or indeed if you don't fancy cooking, pop in for a bacon sandwich or poached eggs for breakfast.

On Sunday we had a leisurely stroll around the circular farm walk, taking in the wood and stumbled on the Bush Man lodge, deep in the forest. A small but cosy and secluded wooden shack, there are several of these lodges to hire, furnished with a double bed and a woodburning stove.  From here you could sit out on the veranda, watch the sun setting and wait for the fallow deer and owls to make their appearance.

We continued around the hedgerows, past heritage orchards growing apples; quince; peaches and medlars and on to the pig sties to say hello to the lop eared pigs and the adorable piglets.  The woodland play area provided a cooling stop, and we sat on tree stump benches while Ruby negotiated the climbing frame.



It was a lazy Sunday with no hurry to pack up our tent and check out, so we wandered into the village of Ardeley to take a closer look at its Grade 1, 13th century church and its thatched village hall; village green and its water lily covered pond and watched the moorhen chicks balance precariously on the lily pads.




Church Farm has so much going on with half-term events and activities; a weekly veg box scheme; its own butchery; a huge range of small businesses leasing on site including a florist, a woodburner salesroom and a garage - this is rural agricultural diversification at it's best! There was even a wedding going on while we were there with the bride and wedding party being conveyed to the gathering atop hay bales in a bunting draped tractor-drawn carriage.

It was a magical weekend, far better than I could have hoped for and has made me all the more determined to squeeze the most out of our free time.

Camping at Church Farm is £7.50 per adult per night and £4.95 per child. Optional extras: £10 for permission to build a camp fire and the egg collecting session including half a dozen eggs is £7.50, bookable in advance. Animal feed is £3 per bag if you want to feed the chickens, pigs or cattle available from the shop.

Church Farm is located at Ardeley, between Baldock and Stevenage in Hertfordshire.

Pop over and say hello to them on Facebook.

Disclosure: We booked and paid for our camping trip ourselves.  All thoughts, opinions and photographs are my own.  Thank you to Church Farm for a wonderful stay.