Brunch Club 3 at Hartfields - review by Bex

We had a little break from Brunch Club over December and January as we were all so busy, our last one was at Oast Farm back in November!  However we were back with a bang today at Hartfields in Uckfield.  I had originally tried to book Wilderness Woods but it turns out they only do their full breakfast menu on the weekends and we didn't want to be restricted so I went with an old favourite which was on the list, Hartfields.

I've eaten in Hartfields a few times and have always enjoyed it.  Service is always friendly and efficient and nothing is too much trouble.  As there were 5 of us with 7 toddlers between us, they had to shuffle some tables around to fit our booking in so we could be comfortably seated in the window with 2 tables together.  On the day though, 2 of our usual brunch clubbers couldn't make it but we managed to recruit a willing temporary member and Tessa joined us with her son so we still had 4 adults and 6 kids.  There's a big window seat along the front of the cafe which is ideal to contain a few of the children and we had a high chair at either end of the large table.  There is plenty to keep the wee ones occupied looking out of the window (including the occasional photographing Mummy!) so we managed to eat in relative peace.

Hartfields is a deli as well as a cafe and sells local produce and amazing cakes.  Their coffee is lovely and food all freshly prepared.



We got there a bit early (I know, I don't know how that happened either!?) so I ordered myself a latte and the 1st Class Breakfast for the twins to share (and I stole some eggs and a taste of everything else since I knew I'd have vultures at my own breakfast) which came really quickly, ideal for hungry toddlers and mummy, even though they'd had Mini Wheats and banana already at home!  When Zoe arrived I ordered my Eggs Royale and she got the Full Monty to share with her kids while we waited for the others to arrive.  As usual, the food was amazing, I love their homemade beans and the scrambled eggs are delicious.

Too hungry for mushrooms to wait for Mummy to take a photo!

By the time everyone else was eating breakfast, my two were STILL hungry so I got us a piece of Plum Crumble Cake to share - it was AWESOME!  So sticky, rich and sweet and with a yummy crumbly top, I'm hoping they do this one again!

I am so thrilled with Brunch Club!  Since our very first one at The Grove in October, we've enjoyed some yummy food with fantastic company.  The twins have really come out of their shells since hanging out with their new little friends and their Mummies and I am loving having regular catch ups with some awesome ladies, they all go to our playgroup on a Tuesday too.  Both Kalyan and Priya are always asking for "Holly and Ockar" (Oscar) whenever we get in the car these days and get SO excited when I say we're going to see Martha!  I believe K has quite the crush there!

And a few phone pics of the fun, (bottom left pic of Martha taken by Kalyan)

The Cafe at Oast Farm, Buxted - Brunch Club review by Bex

Our second brunch club meeting was at Oast Farm in Buxted, the same place we did the apple pressing recently, in their newly re-vamped cafe.  Since they regained control of the cafe (which I believe was leased out previously), the Oast Farm family have done an amazing job at re-branding it from the rather ramshackle Strawberry Fayre to something more in keeping with the Oast Farm Shop.  The prices are reasonable for cakes and meals which are all homemade using good quality local ingredients (all of which can also be purchased in the shop).  I can also vouch for the tastiness having sampled quite a few things now, I seem to be becoming a bit of a regular and it's lovely when they recognise us and say hello or come over for a chat.

The coffee is lovely but they only have cafetiere coffee for now so you can't get cappuccinos or lattes.  I just have mine with a jug of hot milk as they don't have a coffee machine.

Again, I had an awesome time with my lovely friends and their gorgeous children, and since we were the only ones in the cafe, it was nice and relaxed as we weren't worried about the kids disturbing other customers!  Luckily the ladies who run the cafe are all utterly lovely and apparently like our kids so they didn't mind one bit when we took over the place and the kids got a little rowdy towards the end - licking windows and rolling on the floor!!  (It also meant I could take plenty more photos this time and capture all of the above madness!)

Curly haired M is not only a beautiful model (see further down for one of my most favourite photos ever) but also great with the twins, she was so sweet with Priya, stroking her hair and giving her cuddles, chatting away despite being largely ignored by my daughter!  She also coped well when they both descended on her for tickles after brunch!  (Although, she did teach them this herself at the last brunch club!)

As for the food, the same as at our last brunch club, I ordered a bacon sandwich for myself (with added mushrooms this time) and a full English for the kids.  One of the ladies offered to split it onto two plates for them and when she brought it over said they'd done two eggs so they had one each.  Of course, I tasted everything they had and the potatoes were gorgeous, really garlicky and crispy!  Priya was loving the black pudding and I was pleased at the lack of baked beans.  My sandwich on Flint Owl Sourdough bread was lovely too.

It's also pretty awesome when your kids love your friends, as demonstrated by Priya putting her arms up for Holly to lift her as soon as she walked in the door and then sitting next to/on Kate for the majority of our time in the cafe!

K on the other hand, only had eyes for M, chasing her round the cafe for tickles until he discovered the reflections in the windows.

Tickle, tickle, tickle

It wasn't long before there was some full on window licking!

But also some beautiful wistful gazing out at the trees.

We also found a great way to get the kids to co-operate for a group photo - stand some of them on tree stumps!  They did pretty well standing still although getting them all to look in one direction/smile/face the same way was still tricky, they did look pretty funny as the mummies danced around behind me though!  I really love this gang of ours!

We love The Cafe at Oast Farm and highly recommend it for a coffee and cake or a lovely warming lunch or breakfast, or in this case, brunch!  The staff are delightful and I particularly like their apple cake, served warm with yoghurt and their own honey.  Yum!

They are currently open Wednesday - Sunday and you can find their opening times and more information on the Oast Farm Facebook page.

Brunch Club - My Mum Tribe by Bex

When we first moved here, I struggled finding my people.  The ones who I could call in tears or for laughs.  The ones who "get me" and could catch up over a cuppa with the kids or a glass of wine without them!  These people need to be close by, I've pined over how it would be with the kids in Glasgow - Roz and I and our littles would have been so awesome together and I miss our good times so much.  Although we still call and text (although even that is not often enough, it's hard when life is so, so busy) and we even stay with each other once a year or so, it's just not the same as meeting up regularly.  I struggled to find my new Roz (although, of course, you're irreplaceable Roz!!), someone local to hang out with regularly like we used to in Glasgow, even just round each other's flats to watch a DVD or have dinner.  We even did New Year's Eve together :)

I've made friends fairly easily since moving here via toddler groups and the like but there's always been that little spark missing or they already have a busy life with their current friends so it's never progressed past fun play dates and the odd coffee.  Or in the case of the amazing Katie, Caroline & Fee - really awesome catch ups, but they're just that little bit further away with an hour and a half trip as opposed to 5 minutes.  Ditto with Gemma who is just hilariously awesome but over an hour away on the train (although luckily not that far from my in-laws so we've managed to have a good few catch ups thank god!)  I was pretty lonely for a while down here.

I've certainly tried getting out there.  I joined a book club, I started my own baking club, I joined the new WI and became a committee member.  I met some lovely people but just hadn't found that connection yet to take any friendships outside of a particular group if you know what I mean?  Being on the committee at WI has been awesome as our meetings are a lot of fun and usually involve wine!  Again, though I haven't yet found a close friendship, possibly as the rest of the committee were all friends before, despite making me feel completely welcome and included, I'm not really part of their friendship group, maybe because they all have older children.  (Although there is one who also comes to my baking club and we're getting on really well so I have high hopes there!)

I certainly don't want to sound ungrateful for all of these friends as I do value them and have fun with them, life certainly wouldn't be interesting without them all!  In fact, I thought perhaps I was being unrealistic and should be happy with having a few separate friendship groups for certain aspects of life rather than trying to find someone I could enjoy more than one thing with.  Especially when you add in kids.  I'm pretty sure I could have some awesome nights out with some of my friends from post-natal class but we're all so busy!

Back in February though, I was invited along on a Mums' night out in the pub by someone I had met at twin group but seen little of since as she started a course and couldn't attend any more.  Not only did I hit it off with her but also her next door neighbour with whom I ended up shrieking excitedly (drunkenly) about our mutual love of the same books (and cocktails)!  They also happened to be friends with another lovely lady I met at a different baby group who invited me on another Mum's night out around the same time.

I invited them all (and their husbands) round for dinner and despite me unfortunately being a bit ill on the day, we had a wonderful time and have enjoyed a few more social events together over the last few months.  Recently, however, I feel we've become closer and when I suggested to Holly that we arrange a little book club just for friends, she was up for it and we've now had two awesome meetings and a cinema trip!  That in itself I've found to be much more fun than the other book club as we're much smaller, less formal and drink a lot of wine in each others' houses!  What better way to really get to know people?  (We've actually called it TBCWW - The Book Club With Wine.)  A few of these ladies have made the extra effort to get to know me, include me in things and invite me round to their homes, with AND without kids.

Anyway, getting to the point, I feel like I've finally found my people, fellow Mums with young children who get me and like lots of the same things as me, have the same sense of humour, the same sense of fun.  They love books.  And food.  And wine!  They all live in the next village.  These are the people I can rant to, laugh with, depend on, phone for a chat or phone for hugs.  I mentioned it on instagram at the time but on a particularly trying morning with the twins, all before 8am, I strapped them into the buggy and started wandering the village.  I called Holly for a chat and she bundled all 3 of her kids into her car to drive round and find me just to give me a hug and make plans for later.

After a bit of group chatting among five of us on messenger, I took the plunge and asked if they'd be up for a brunch club, once a month with the kids but just us five so it doesn't get too chaotic.  Luckily they thought it was a great idea and were all up for it!  So once a month, I book somewhere for us to go and we get together for a delicious brunch, catch up and help each other out with all the kids (seven kids under four).

The first of these was in October, at a lovely cafe called The Grove in Blackboys, a village nearby which I'd heard good things about.  I knew they were child friendly with plenty of high chairs and toys to keep the kids entertained.  The food was lovely too.

We all had so much fun, Mums and kids and I can't wait for the next one on Friday!

So there we have it.  My Mum tribe and their awesome ticklish kids.  I love them!