Mothering Sunday 2014

This morning I made the fluffiest, most delicious pancakes to celebrate mothers day with the family. Served with a homemade fruit compote and mascarpone, they were absolutely delightful. 

We made a Mothers Day trip to Canons Ashby, a lovely little National Trust property near Daventry. We had a little explore before sitting down to the most fantastic lunch. We ordered two sharing plates, a deli board and a cheese board and it was an utter delight. Delicious pate, the loveliest ham, creamy mature cheddar, olives, coleslaw, huge salads and even fruit for afters. 

Happy Mothers Day to all of my Mummy readers! I hope you had a relaxing day and spoiled your own Mums!

In Pictures

Rainy Day

Our plans were diverted today, heading to Calke for its shelter from the rain. We dipped in and out of all of the buildings and the boys still managed to have fun without getting totally drenched. Lunch was homemade flatbreads followed by chocolate cake and an indulgent orange hot chocolate. I even had a lovely sit down in the Riding School, the very place that I will be walking down the aisle in just over two months... (that sounds absolutely weird!) They were showing photographs on the projector, and I couldn't help but envisage and dream about our special day.

Weekend

Tiny Toes

 Making Fudge

Saturday: 

The Big Joules Sale - I do love visiting Rockingham, even if now it is only for shopping! The wind, the noises from the track, it just takes me back to French Car Show 2009 and what a day that was! This time, the sale wasn't as good as it has been, but I did get a few bargains.

Blossom Yoga - Louie has been asking for me to take him to a yoga class for months now and we finally found the right one. In his element, he boldly went into his class and made some friends whilst I waited in the waiting room. He had joined in perfectly with all of the postures and listened contently, he can't wait until next weeks yoga adventure.

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Stamford

 The Cosy Club

Sunday:
Purely You: Unfortunately Becka and I had to cancel our spa day because of my silly burn, so instead, we decided to have a girly pamper day, visiting a salon in Stamford for a manicure and massage each. It was such a relaxing treat for us both, with a perfect amount of wedding talk!
Lunch: After a walk around the shops, we headed to The Cosy Club for a delicious tapas lunch. Lots of gossiping and catching up was well needed, as we don't get to see each other as often as we like. It was the perfect day before we next see eachother, for my super duper secret Hen Party!!

This Week

Being entirely over dressed for all three hospital appointments. Beautiful sunshine all week. Pretty flowers all around. The sofa has been my everything. The Christening of a beautiful boy. The longest, most overdue and beautiful shower ever. Seeing old friends. Baking a Mississippi Mud Pie that didn't have time to set. 

Solo

 This weekend was the North West derby, Burnley v Blackburn. Pappy took Mr Bee with him up and graciously offered me a weekend of rest. I made so many plans for the weekend that was set to be the nicest of the year. A trip to Sunnycroft near Telford followed by a day of baking and cooking a delicious dinner without any distractions.
Saturday started off beautifully. A lie in, a breakfast of a delicious smoothie (see above) and a cup of fresh coffee. The weather was a little gloomy looking so I decided to spend the day baking and venture out on Sunday. I baked some beautiful vanilla and raspberry whoopie pies, to my own recipe. After admiring my handiwork, I sat down with a fresh cup of green tea.
That is when disaster happened. I managed to spill a full cup of fresh tea all over myself causing a terrible scald. I darted into the cool shower and rang mother hen, a nurse who happens to specialise in burns. When she arrived home from the shops half an hour later I was in shock, shaking terribly and she decided I needed to go in to hospital. Luckily we weren't there long, we ran into one of the registrars who took a look at my leg (of which most of my thigh was burned) and cleaned me up and sent me home with an appointment for Monday.

So my sunny Sunday was spent here. With the door open to let in the sun and fresh air of the 18 degrees outside. Playing away with photoshop to my hearts content, working on some new projects, hobbling around and trying to keep he pain at bay whilst I wait for my boys to return home.
I do feel like a silly sausage, having had such an embarrassing accident which looks like it could take a little while to heal! Although a day of rest, watching Dr Who and cookery programmes has been a lovely change!

Lyveden New Bield

This morning started early. I had flatbreads, tomato soup and cheese scones ready and finished before 9am. By 9:30 we were on the road to visit Lyveden New Bield, a National Trust property in Northamptonshire. So many roads were closed, four to be precise, leading to a mildly stressful drive. Thank goodness I have a good sense of direction. I don't know how I didn't give up and turn home. Luckily it was made up for having driven through picturesque chocolate box landscapes and villages I have read about in history books.

 And then we arrived.
The sky was blue and the clouds were beautiful. This amazing, unfinished Elizabethan manor stands surrounded by grass, with an empty moat. Such hopes and dreams. It was amazing.

After our picnic of flatbread sandwiches (which turned out more like pittas), we wandered around, exploring the orchard and pond. We climbed up the terraces and basked in the spring sunshine, enjoying it whilst it lasted. Louie took photos by hanging my camera from a tree, he is a funny thing.

 It was a stunning day. We did plenty of squelching and hunting for signs of spring. Louie played wizards with a stick he found, shouting 'smelly harbours' at everything (he was trying to say 'expelliarmus' from the HP books/films). I think everyone visiting fell a little bit in love with him and his little quirks!

Once home, we baked a birthday cake, had dinner, baked brownies for pappy long after the sun had gone to sleep and tucked ourselves up on the sofa with a film.
A busy, but wonderful day.