Apple pressing at Oast Farm, Buxted - Adventures by Bex

I have a HUGE amount to catch up on with this blog (I feel like I'm always saying this and never managing it).  It's been neglected for far too long.  I've been so busy which is a good thing and I'm feeling much happier in general these days but I miss sharing our experiences have so many plans including another new guest blogger and continuing to improve our content and photography.  On that note, please see my new photography website - Bexphoto.com.  Apologies that the photos in this post aren't great, they're all iPhone as I hadn't expected this adventure and my jet lag addled brain/body wouldn't have coped with the heavy Nikon anyway!

We just got back from a couple of fantastic weeks in Malaysia visiting my parents for the first time with the twins so I have plenty to share about our adventures abroad.  It will take a while as November is already looking majorly hectic with the twins' birthday, my niece's naming ceremony and 1st birthday party and lots of meetings for my various clubs!  For now though, I want to share our jet lag fuelled walk to refresh us all and enjoy the crisp outdoors of Sussex again after our humid tropical escapades!

With a combined issue of jet lag AND the clocks changing, we were awakened by K at a not very bright but very early 3:30am!  I had some lovely snuggles with them downstairs for an hour before Daddy joined us and we all ate eggs (the only thing in the house, after our super tired arrival home at 8pm last night we regret the decision not to go to the supermarket!) for breakfast at 4:30am.  We unpacked and Daddy took the twins to the shop at 6:30am while I went back to bed for a couple of hours.  Shift change at 9 and Daddy went to bed so I took the twins out for a walk and some fresh air (and plenty of daylight which apparently helps with jet lag).  I decided to take them down our track as it avoids all roads and leads to our awesome local farm shop (where I could get coffee in their cafe!)

We had a lovely walk through the leaves and rotting apples en route to the chorus of "apples" (K) and "dabbles" (P) until I said not to touch as they were bad apples on the ground so the chorus then became "bad, bad bad" with a mixture of the above apple related exclamations!  They were, as often, super cute, holding hands and giving each other cuddles (these are usually one way from K to P) and when I asked them to stand over there for a photo, K put on a smile - the first time he's ever done this before they both proceeded to only look at the ground in front of me for some reason!

Anyway, we continued down and they walked all the way with only a little persuasion at the end as they were about to give up, demanding to be carried.  Turns out a friend's husband was there with the twins' friend Seb so we had some lovely company for our coffee and flapjack before Alan took Seb over to see the tractor which arrived with some apples.  The little ones (and big ones) were then invited over by Bob to help with apple pressing.  We jumped at the chance and the twins loved throwing the apples into the pulper and then catching the juice from the presser!  Bob was SO lovely and great with the kids, they had a blast!

Not to mention getting their first taste of juice (we are a fairly strict household when it comes to sugar with only water or milk being the usual) and it doesn't come fresher than this!  Needless to say, they wolfed it down and Bob very kindly gave us the first jugful to take home.

Of course, they both wanted to be carried back up the hill but I'd come prepared with slings so strapped them on and away we went with our spoils.  K was happy looking at me and looking at the leaves above us.  P was happy being bounced on my back as we hiked back home.  Phew, knackered is an understatement but I'm wide awake now so making the most of some peace to catch up on a few things.

Poor Daddy hadn't even managed to sleep so he missed out for nothing and is currently snoozing away while the twins nap but he was delighted with the juice and has frozen some to keep it fresh.

I'll be sharing a proper review of the new Oast Farm Cafe soon as my new brunch club is heading there for our next outing!

The Pink House - guest room before and after by Amy

I absolutely LOVE our first before & after peek inside Amy's amazing new house!  It's inspired me to want to sort out our mish-mash of a spare room soon.  I love what they've done with this space, so calm and stylish.  Over to Amy...

The room we decided to make our guest room had previously been the master bedroom.  It's got a lovely river view and great inbuilt storage but is on the corner with the road so we decided it was better for occasional rather than regular use.

The final result

You can't really tell from the before photos but the whole room, including the ceiling, was covered in woodchip, which was a real effort to remove!  And after we had removed it we were pretty scared the ceiling was going to fall in as it was covered in large cracks.  All of the plasterwork is lathe and plaster so it would have been a massive and very messy job to redo the ceiling so instead we elected to fill the cracks and paper it. One piece of advice for you all - papering ceilings is bloody hard work and WILL lead to arguments. 

BEFORE:

The ceiling:

We decided to go nautical in this room but we wanted it to maintain a high end look and not feel tacky or themey.  There were a few bits from our old flat we'd originally intended to go in here but have decided they don't quite fit.  James found this AMAZING Cole & Son wallpaper and that really set the tone for the rest of the room.  It's an original wallpaper pattern from the 1900's and is based on Hokusai's Great Wave which I'd studied at uni so it was perfect in lots of ways.  We decided to tie that through with other nods and added the Hokusai print and book.  We also decided to have a bit of fun with our ceiling ordeal and frame this vintage Puffin postcard.

AFTER:

We've still got a few bits still to do - I'm looking for a mirror for above the fireplace (I'd seen a lovely white wooden round one in The Range but it was too small) and once we've found one we will hang the frames currently on the mantle on the opposite wall. My uncle has also given us a lovely curvy old wooden chair that will go in the corner by the door and I'm trying to find a nice fabric to reupholster the seat pads that will go well with the wallpaper in a complementary clashing sort of way.  Overall though we are so pleased with this room and it has turned out exactly how we wanted it to, which makes all the blood sweat and tears worth it!

Where we shopped:

• The chest was left for us by the previous owners and we think was home made. 
• The fireplace and floorboards were both original features that we uncovered. 
• The blue wall is painted in B&Q Valspar Sea Swirl, the white is just Crown trade matt brilliant white, and the gloss is Wilkos own brand one coat brilliant white (which is ace!)
• The bedside tables were from ebay and also we added brass knobs from The Range to those and the cupboard doors which were just painted white.
• The bedside lamps and the glass ombre lightshade were both from Dunelm. 
• The white frames are from Poundland and the wooden ones were BHS.
• The bedspread was from Homescapes and the cushions are John Lewis and Primark.
• The bed is our old one from John Lewis bought in the sale a few years ago but with an ebay headboard.
• The wallpaper is Great Wave from Cole & Son.