Buxted Fun Day & Oast Farm Cafe

Oast Farm shop - picnic

Nik had a day off last week to do some admin work from home so we all ventured down to our local cafe, forgetting that it's closed on Tuesdays, oops!  Luckily Judith was in the shop and happily made us a cup of tea and coffee when we bought some things from the shop to have an impromptu picnic outside.

Chailey Windmill

Our visit to Chailey Windmill was a totally random stop on the way home from a play-date at a nearby garden centre.  It was such a lovely sunny day and I spotted a windmill sign as we drove home so I turned round, parked the car and off I went with the twins to try to find the windmill.  It was just a short 5 minute walk away and looked glorious in the big blue sky with not a cloud to be seen!

The Hurstwood - review

Oast Farm Jaunt

We went for a little jaunt down to our local cafe recently.  It's a lovely little walk along part of the Wealdway for us to get there and the kids always love hunting for sticks and apples as we go.  Currently enjoying beating the nettles back so we can get past without being stung.

Cafe 212 - review

You may or may not have noticed, there's a new cafe at the top end of town.  Cafe 212 opened quietly a few weeks ago.  Opposite Thai Terre, they've transformed the old angling shop into a bright, spacious cafe offering a large menu of breakfast and lunch choices.

I took the twins along for brunch one Sunday morning to check it out and we had a lovely time.  It has a bit of a European flavour with some dishes having a Turkish style to them but there are all the usual suspects too.  I chose the 212 breakfast for the twins to share and I went for the Eggs Royale.

The 212 breakfast includes toast, sausage, bacon, bubble & squeak, fried egg, tomatoes, beans and mushrooms.  I tasted a little of everything and it was lovely, especially the bubble & squeak!

My own breakfast was nice too, a simple but yummy eggs benedict served with a little salad.  The coffee was also nice and much needed (I had a large latte)!

The twins loved their babyccinos too, especially the Lotus biscuits that came with them!

Overall I would say they serve no frills, tasty food.  There's an extensive menu with something for everyone from pasta to baked potatoes and a few European options, even catering for those with allergies as I saw they have gluten free options, it all seems to be freshly made which is great!

They even have a kids corner with loads of toys and a lockable gate so you can supervise your kids from one of the back tables while you eat in peace knowing they can't get out and cause mischief.  We really enjoyed our morning there and will be happy to go back again and give some other items on the menu a try.

Family time exploring local places

My brother came to visit from Darlington with his partner and my nephew.  It was so nice having them to stay and of course my furry nephew too, I loved having a dog in the house!  We showed them some of our beautiful countryside with a nice walk near High Hurstwood.

Tinkers Park Steam Rally, Hadlow Down - review

We had another busy weekend after Granny had flown back to Malaysia.  My in-laws came for the weekend as it was Nik's last weekend of studying all hours before his exam.  It was lovely for the kids to see them again as they'd been away the whole time Granny was here so we enjoyed a lovely weekend at home and had a couple of outings as well as getting some more work done at home and in the garden (thanks Dadaji)!

Saturday turned out to be a lovely day after a cloudy start and we enjoyed a brilliant morning at the Traction Engine Rally at Tinkers Park in Hadlow Down.  We'd never been before so weren't sure what to expect but there was lots going on and the twins loved it.  Unfortunately we did run out of cash pretty quickly as the entry fee of £24 for three adults took half our cash (they don't accept cards and we'd forgotten to go to the cash machine) so we only stayed for a couple of hours before we had to go for lunch elsewhere.

We did manage to have some fun on the rides but the majority of our remaining cash was gone on just two rides though as the twins wanted to go on the vintage carousel with Ma & Dadaji so that was a tenner for a fairly short ride.  They loved it though and the vintage style fair looked beautiful.  They had a turn on the little vintage cars (£4 for two of them) which they thoroughly enjoyed in their cute little yellow car.

As for the steam engines themselves, there were so many to see with their dedicated owners polishing and oiling them as well as plenty of real vintage cars and tractors to delight Kalyan.

We had just enough cash for some ice-creams and a few toy cars for their rainbow collection (which inspired me to finally finish building their display shelves (tutorial to follow soon, I promise!)

And luckily a few pennies left to donate for a ride or two on the miniature railway.

And met some lovely friends for a quick catch up too.

The Steam Rally would be a great full day out if you remember to take enough cash for the things you want to do/buy/eat.  We really enjoyed our morning there and would have stayed longer had we been more prepared for all the costs but we had a lovely lunch in town at Hartfields.

Drusillas Park, East Sussex - review

We chose the perfect day to go to review Drusillas last week. It was sunny with just a slight breeze, hot but not sweltering and I can wholeheartedly recommend the park, we had an amazing day out!

Writing for Uckfield Matters

I started my new job as a writer for Uckfield Matters magazine back in February and I'm really enjoying it!  My column is called Bex Blogs which gives me free reign to write about whatever I like although I try to keep it local as the magazine is produced in Uckfield, about Uckfield for local people.  So far I've written a lcoal Sunday roast review, shared a couple of recipes, talked about foraging for wild garlic in our local woods and shared about struggling with motherhood and pnd as well as how I cope using my photography.  I'm donating a family session to another mother suffering from pnd to try to help in some small way as I know how much my photos of the twins have helped me during my low periods.

#wild_child Baby Rave near Tunbridge Wells

We went along to our first ever "Baby Rave" type event run by Mum's The Word today at Salomon's Estate near Tunbridge Wells and had an absolute blast!  Full review to follow but here are a few favourite pics from today :)

My Sunday Photo - Picking Pumpkins at Sharnfold Farm

I have loads of photos from our trip to Sharnfold Farm yesterday to check out this year's pumpkin display but here are a couple of favourites for now.

We were lucky to get some dry spells and even sunshine amidst the squalls and gusts of wind but the twins loved it despite the weather!

Norman's Pond - Local places, hidden gem review

We first heard about Norman's pond from a friend and were then reminded of it at Maresfield Village Fete where they were promoting it's existence.  Last weekend we finally made it along for a walk and it's a great hidden gem!  Had I not been told about it I'd never have known it was there.  It's near the recycling centre by the Maresfield Bypass hidden away amongst the trees.

Hempstead Park, Uckfield - local park review

Hempstead park is one of our favourites in Uckfield.  It's at the end of Hempstead Road, next to the Guide HQ, and has a car park right next to it which I've never had a problem parking in.  Again, it's got the usual things you'd expect - see-saw, swings, climbing frame (they actually have two - a little one and a bigger one), roundabout (again, two of these in different designs) but it also has a tunnel in a little hobbit hill with tree stumps to balance on, a webbed net climbing frame which also spins, a large webbed swing for multiple kids to swing together and a springy jeep and it's all enclosed and has spongy flooring covering most of it, although the bit by the jeep tends to get very muddy.  There's also a big green area next to it which has a very tall slide, a zip line, adult exercise machines and a big rotating swing set.  Kalyan loves to push me on the roundabout and make me feel dizzy!  

The following photos have all been taken over the last year but clearly on different days.

Into The Trees Festival - Event review

After having an amazing time at Elderflower Fields, our first family festival back in May, we were thrilled to be invited along to their sister event, Into The Trees, and it didn't disappoint.  A smaller festival without camping, Into The Trees is focused on kids enjoying nature and the amazing location of Ashdown Forest.  The event in September is two days of fun at the same venue, Pippingford Park, arranged on a smaller scale and with even more focus on being in the woods and getting back to nature.  A family ticket for both days was just £22 and under 5s went free, such a bargain with so many free activities included.

Raystede Centre for Animal Welfare review - Adventures with Toddlers

On Thursday we met up with friends for a play date at Raystede near Halland.  If you don't know it, Raystede is an animal rescue centre with animals ranging from bunnies to horses and it's a lovely place to visit with the kids.  Entry is free but you can make a donation or become a sponsor to give continued help to one specific animal section if you wish or become a Friend of Raystede for just £3/month and as well as helping the animals you also get perks like Friends Only events and discounts.  It's good to have some free activities available in the holidays as it all adds up with various trips out but even if you can't afford to make a big donation, I'm sure everything helps and if you visit the cafe, you're also helping to support the centre.