For any readers of UK blogs you probably haven't missed by now the fact that the weather over here has been p-r-e-t-t-y rubbish for May. As a result we've been spending far too many days inside and with three Littlies it can get a lot little bit pressured at times, I can tell you!
This weekend the forecast was for a cloudy but dry day so we decided to Go For It and arrange a trip out. We arranged to meet some family at Audley End, a stately home over in Essex.
First off, there was the important job of packing a picnic. Alongside all the normal things (sandwiches, vegetable sticks, drinks) I decided to quickly make up some banana muffins: for some reason the Littlies seem to go through phases of eating bananas and at the moment they're not! And the result has been lots of too-ripe banana's. I found a recipe on-line ages ago for some banana and sultana muffins that always come out well and as a bonus feel semi-healthy because they have oats and bananas in. They can't be that bad for you, right?!
I'm thinking of writing the recipe up - would anyone be interested?
It was our first trip to Audley End and coming down the drive we were greeted by the most amazingly sculpted hedge
It really reminds me of dry stone walling. I can't help but think about how long it must take to keep it looking this good!
We went for a bit of stroll around (AKA letting the Littlies wear themselves out!) and came across the Organic Walled Garden. I love old walled gardens....something about their vastness and orderliness that makes me feel good and gives me aspirations for my own garden (at about 1% of the scale, obviously!). And this one was no different.
They had so many espalier trees - mainly pear and apple - and all pruned to be just so. There were lots of blossom on them so I'm guessing in a few more months there'll be lots of juicy fruit (hey - there's got to be an upside to all this rain we've been having!)
The grounds were pretty amazing too. Huge trees in expansive grounds. And because we're in the UK a good ol' game of cricket was going on in the background!
We also went for a walk around the house and at the back there were some lovely landscaped gardens. I can just imagine Victorian Ladies taking a turn around the gardens in years gone by!
What you can't see is that just behind me when I took this photo was a sloped garden which the oldest two Littlies had lots of fun rolling down again and again and again! They had so much fun!
It was such a great day out and if you're ever in the area I would definitely recommend a day trip there. Oh, and in case you're interested most of the muffins got eaten although there might be enough left over for a decadent breakfast tomorrow morning!!!
Hope you've all had a lovely day, I'm off to do some more hand sewing on my quilt!
S x
Todays sky ● overcast
Labels: baking, home, out and about
