Book reviews by Amy

I know, I know, I promised more house updates but you know when you’re just itching to talk about something? Well, as is often the case with me, it’s a book. Specifically it’s The Sudden Appearance of Hope by Claire North. 

Jousting at England's Medieval Festival

We're having an amazing time at England's Medieval Festival although I have to admit that wasn't my  best night's sleep in the tent 😉⛺️

Anyway I only have phone photos to share so far and you may have seen some on Instagram but I wanted to share this video here as I had trouble uploading to Instagram.

It was so exhilarating to watch, I had actual goosebumps when they came cantering into the arena!

I'll be sharing photos soon once we're back home in the land of wifi and my laptop!

Pink house kitchen / dining before & after

Before:

Don't Let Go by Harlan Coben - Book Review by Bex

It's been months since I read a book!  Life's been so hectic lately I just haven't had the time or inclination to sit down to read but when I saw a new book by Harlan Coben (one of my favourite authors) come up on NetGalley, I decided I had to make time for Don't Let Go and was immediately sucked in as is usual with Harlan's books! 

There are twists and turns, tension and likeable characters which just made me want to keep reading. The kind of book that makes you want to go to bed early to read! I was constantly trying to think of conspiracies and work out who did what, I was suspicious of various characters, it's a great fast-paced read.  It's out in Hardback and on Kindle on 26th September.

The floodgates have opened and I'm loving reading again so watch out for some more book reviews coming up, Amy has a few recommendations for you next week too!  AND, even more exciting news, she's sharing her kitchen transformation tomorrow!!

Rainbow Dress from Honest Miracle - Toddler Fashion

I absolutely adore Priya's new rainbow dress!  You may have already seen me raving about it on Instagram, it's from Honest Miracle, an ethical family company with organic and environmentally friendly products.  The long-sleeved rainbow dress is made from 100% organic cotton which is lovely and soft and just £14.97, we love the bright colours.  If you like it as much as we do, the lovely Kim has given Olive Dragonfly readers a discount code for 20% off so keep reading...

Eastbourne's Hot Air Balloon Festival - review

Sadly due to continued high winds, we didn't actually see any hot air balloons at the Air Balloon Festival on the Sunday but there was still plenty of entertainment.  They had a fun fair and a few stalls, pony rides, dog show, live music, a Harvey's bar with their beautiful and ever popular Dray horses and The Brighton Kite Flyers were there displaying some of their epic kites (at least they were glad of the wind).

Wakehurst's Kew Science Festival - day two review

I already wrote about our first impressions of Kew Science Festival at Wakehurst but we also went back the following day for more educational fun.

On the Sunday, Kalyan's first thought was for the duck in the puddle we'd seen on our way out the day before.  He was so excited to see it and luckily the same duck was in the same puddle again!

Ringmer Steam & Country Show - review

A couple of weeks ago we planned to go to Eastbourne's Hot Air Balloon Festival but we'd heard due to high winds the balloons probably wouldn't be flying so we decided to check out the Ringmer Steam & Country Show instead.  We thought Kalyan would enjoy seeing all the steam engines and tractors and we weren't wrong!  There were loads of engines to see and the kids loved watching them all moving and chugging, especially the big steam rollers driving around every so often.  Kalyan found a row of tractors and made sure to touch every one and the vintage big red bus was super exciting, they ran right across the field for that one!

Beachy Head

After Eastbourne's Hot Air Balloon Festival a couple of weeks ago, we decided to try a local place for a Sunday Roast.  A friend recommended The Ship Inn in Meads and our review will be featuring soon as the first in my Sunday Lunch review series.  When we got to Meads we noticed signs for Beachy Head very close by so after lunch we drove up there for a walk.

Thai Terre Uckfield - review

Uckfield is buzzing with news of a Thai restaurant opening in the High Street.  Thai Terre already has a restaurant in Eastbourne but we heard they were coming to Uckfield in the recently closed down Pepper Dining.  People have been waiting for weeks for news of its opening and we were excited at the thought of more variety in Uckfield's food scene too.  Tonight was opening night and we booked a table, it was perfect timing since the twins are enjoying a rare sleepover at their grandparents!

As soon as we arrived at 7:45pm, we noticed the place was busy but there were still tables free.  We went along with open minds, expecting there may be a few teething problems on the first night and we may have a wait for food so we were relieved it wasn't completely full and hoped all would go well.  It did, we loved the food and the staff were very friendly.