CAU - Buenos Heroes menu - review by Bex

We were invited along to try out the new menu at CAU in Tunbridge Wells while they're running their #BuenosHeroes promotion which offers diners the chance to win the trip of a lifetime to Buenos Aires.  (See below for more details about the promotion.)

Outside The Box Clothes Winners & Discount Code

Thank you so much to everyone who entered our competition to win one of Holly's awesome unisex items of clothing.  We had 70 entries and I'm very pleased to announce our winners below!

Anything Goes Sale in aid of Our Gambia Project

I had the pleasure of meeting Tanya recently in the lovely Chapter Three shop in town and she told me all about her project to help raise £12,000 to buy land and build a pre-school in Gambia.  She's clearly very passionate about it and is holding an "Anything Goes" sale at the Cinque Ports in Uckfield today (Saturday 29th July) from 11am - 3pm.

Fruit Picking at Oast Farm Buxted - review by Bex

You all know how much we love Oast Farm, it's so handy for us and the ladies who run it are just lovely, it feels like visiting friends when we head down there.  I've been meaning to have a go at fruit picking with the twins and have finally managed it!

I recently discovered a fellow local blogger from Uckfield and we arranged to meet up at Oast Farm for a coffee and have a go at PYO while we were there.  Zoe from Juggling on Rollerskates is also a Mum who blogs about her adventures with her kids, one of whom is just a few months younger than Kalyan & Priya.  We all had a great time playing at the cafe followed by some breakfast and then went off to explore the farm and pick some raspberries.

Kew Science Festival at Wakehurst - review by Bex

We were invited along to Wakehurst to check out the Kew Science Festival in the gardens this weekend and I wanted to get a post up on the blog tonight to show you all how much is going on, we'd definitely recommend it if you're at a loose end tomorrow!  Although it's aimed at older kids, there's still plenty for toddlers to do and keep entertained.

Outside The Box Clothes - review & GIVEAWAY by Bex

To celebrate my first column for Uckfield News today and with the launch of OTB Clothes' unisex shorts, I'm delighted to be running a giveaway with Outside The Box Clothes!  Priya was wearing her dress at the Uckfield Festival Big Day and we went back to Luxford park for a photo shoot to show off the clothes against the slightly roughened bright colours of the play equipment so you may have noticed it in my column today and now you have a chance to win one for your child!

Brighton Kite Festival - review by Bex

We went along to the Brighton Kite Festival for the first time this year and loved it!  It was definitely the highlight of Kalyan's year - he adores all flying things and was yelling constantly about the "flags" - "Look!"  "Look!"  He didn't have enough arms to point in all directions, it was so funny!  We actually had a great time too, helped by the fact it was a gorgeous day.

Uckfield Festival 2017

We went along to Luxford Field for the Big Day of Uckfield Festival (the first proper big day of the week long festival) to check out all of the stalls and entertainment.  It was basically like a giant village fete with lots of local businesses and charities all in attendance with activities, stalls and games to play as well as a stage area for local dance troops to show us their moves and bands to play music throughout the day.  

The kids looked a bit bored on the Teacups after being super excited to go on!

Lemon & Lime Cake with Lemon Buttercream - recipe by Bex

I've made a version of this cake a few times now and it's always a winner!  It's light, moist and super tasty - sort of a cross between a lemon drizzle and a normal sponge cake with buttercream (I use my own buttercream recipe which isn't too sweet).  The original version includes lemon curd which I'm not a fan of but if you want it to be sweeter and even more lemony then by all means add a layer between the slices and mix some in to the icing.  I added the lime when I ran out of lemons and it worked well so here's my version of this delicious cake.

Cafe Rust, Brighton - review by Bex

Last week I took the twins to Brighton to visit Laura and her daughter, Arla.  We went to a soft play first so the toddlers could burn off a bit of energy before we decided it was time for lunch.  The original cafe Laura had planned to take us too was already full so we went to Cafe Rust on Preston Road which she'd planned on trying and we're so glad we did!  It was absolutely gorgeous!  As soon as we walked in and saw the door at the back opening out onto a garden we headed straight through and walked out into a beautiful little walled garden full of flowers and blue chairs and wheelbarrows.  It was lovely!

Freddie's Flowers - review by Bex

While at Foodie's Festival I was taking photos of the Freddie's Flower's bicycle with the beautiful rose lilies in the basket and got talking to Kieran.  I had thought about signing up to regular flower deliveries before but had thought when I looked at the website, that you had to get a delivery every week and at £22 a pop that adds up pretty quickly!  Not having £88 to spare a month, I left it but I've since discovered that you can choose entirely how often you receive your flowers.  You can set it to fortnightly deliveries and even then can edit so you only get them once a month if you prefer and you can un-tick all deliveries for the next 6 weeks if you'll be away for a while too.

They're supposed to last well and £22 a month is much more manageable so I signed up.  I love having flowers in the house although I'm a sucker for a £3 bunch of Alstromerias (which last forever!), they're not the same as having a delivery of a proper big bunch of varied and well chosen flowers.  A properly designed bouquet every few weeks will be lovely and I can still get my Alstromerias in between deliveries.  Also, with a referral code from my in-laws, I got my first bouquet free!

(Read on for my code which can also get you a free bunch if you decide to try them out!)

Columnist for Uckfield News

If you haven't already seen it on social media, I have some super exciting news to report!  Following a meeting on Tuesday morning with Cathy, I can confirm that I will be writing a monthly column for Uckfield News!

For those of you who might not know, Uckfield News is our local news website.  Run by Cathy who
has a journalism and PR background, it's a very popular site to find out about all the goings on in and around Uckfield.  I will be writing a summary column of all the places and events we've been enjoying as a family each month along with sharing my photos.  Hopefully it will inspire other local families to discover everything our amazing local area has to offer.

If you're new here, welcome to the blog!  Please check out my About page to learn more about us and I hope you enjoy reading about everything we get up to.

Thanks for the opportunity Cathy, I can't wait to get started!

Blackheath Foodies Festival - Days Out by Bex

I was invited to attend the Foodies Festival in Blackheath over the weekend but we had so much going on in and around Uckfield on Saturday and Sunday that I could only make it on the Friday.  I drove the twins there on Thursday evening and we had a lovely al fresco dinner with Ma in her beautiful garden and a nice lazy (if a bit too early) morning eating plums from the tree before we all headed out to the Festival.

Jam-packed July weekends - Days Out by Bex!

Well July has been off to an amazingly busy start, I can barely keep up with life never mind the blog but I just have SO many awesome things I want to share!  There's so much going on in July, I'm struggling to fit them all in/choose where to go.  This weekend alone I've been to Foodies Festival in Blackheath with the twins and Ma, Uckfield Festival Big Saturday, The Hurstwood Artisan Market and Brighton Kite Festival with Nik and the twins!  

Priya getting her serious "Paint Face" at Foodies Festival

England's Medieval Festival Ticket Giveaway - competition by Bex

I am thrilled to be attending England's Medieval Festival in August this year!  Following the success of taking the twins to Elderflower Fields Festival, we're super excited to be camping at the Medieval Festival over the bank holiday weekend at the end of August.  It's sure to be amazing since it's also the festival's 25th anniversary!  And I'm even more excited to be able to give away a family day ticket to one of my lovely readers!  Keep reading to find out how to enter...

Necklace Storage Cabinet of Dreams!

I am utterly in love with my new jewellery cabinet.  I waited 2 years for it.  After we moved here from Glasgow, I left the majority of my necklace collection packed between sheets of bubble wrap in a small suitcase until I found somewhere to hang them.

As I have so many, I prefer to hang them so they don't get tangled and I can see them all more easily.  I used to store them hanging on the back of a built in cupboard door in our bedroom.  That wasn't an option here so I had to come up with something else.  I have always wanted a specially designed cabinet to store them but I wasn't sure where I could fit one in.

Elderflower Fields family festival - review by Bex

I cannot be more excited to tell you about Elderflower Fields family festival!  This blog post has taken me many hours to put together because of the sheer awesomeness of the event and the number of photos I just had to share to show you all how pretty and fun and exciting and varied and colourful it was!  I mean we really, really loved it!  We were so lucky with the weather, it was