Stowe and Halloween.

Today we went to Stowe,a National Trust place about an hour and half from Cambridge. It was a beautiful warm (hot even) autumn day. The girls loved stomping through the leaves, climbing trees and balancing in logs. I loved the many follies and temples throughout Stowe. There was also loads and loads of ladybirds everywhere! 

 We also enjoyed taking part in their Halloween trail where we had to hunt pumpkins which told the story of sleeping beauty after she woke up!

 We came home, carved pumpkins, made and ate pumpkin chilli and Halloween pudding.

Halloween train ride + spooky pizzas

This afternoon we went on the rather fabulous Halloween train ride at Audley End Miniature Railway. The train ride itself was through wonderfully spookily decorated woodland with a stop for a chat with some spooky witches who presented all the children with a spell gone wrong (they had made sweets much to the girls' delight!) before arriving back at the station.  There was also crafts and a dance tent - although the girls were content just to go home and eat their sweets!

Then we came home and made Day of the Dead Calavera Pizzas.

Family Halloween Fun @ Wandlebury

Today we went to the family Halloween fun afternoon at Wandlebury. You had to prebook and it cost £10 a pumpkin. The girls had fun picking their pumpkin from a massive selection which we then took to a table outside to carve!  E enjoyed doing her own whilst the husband helped P.

 When the pumpkins were carved we took them and put them on a stake which we then decorated with greenery! 

 The girls then enjoyed roasting marshmallows and some crafts. There was also a walk in the dusk around the ring but we had to leave early so we didn't join with this!

Gingerbread Halloween biscuits

Today we made gingerbread men and then using white icing made them look scary! We used a Delia Smith recipie

Ingredients:

75g light soft brown sugar

2 tablespoons golden syrup

1 tablespoon black treacle

1 tablespoon water

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 rounded teaspoon ground ginger

pinch of cloves

finely grated zest of ½ orange

95g block butter

½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

225g plain flour sifted, plus a little more (if needed)

1 tube of white writing icing (to decorate)

Method

Put the sugar, syrup, treacle, water, spices and zest together in a large saucepan.
Then bring them to boiling point, stirring all the time. Now remove the pan from the heat and stir in the butter and the bicarbonate of soda.
Next stir in the flour gradually until you have a smooth manageable dough – add a little more flour if you think it needs it. Now leave the dough covered in a cool place to become firm (approximately 30 minutes).
Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.
Now roll the dough out to 3mm thick on a lightly floured surface and cut out the gingerbread men. Arrange them on the baking sheets and bake near the centre of the oven, one sheet at a time, for 10–15 minutes until the biscuits feel firm when lightly pressed with a fingertip.
Leave them to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire cooling rack.
To decorate, use the icing to write names or make faces.

Spooooooky Halloween train ride

Today the girls and I went on a spooky Halloween train ride through the woods to visit the witches at their Haunted House on the Audley End Miniature Railway. it was fab - the decorations were amazing and all the staff were in costume and in role!  The witches were brill (and P was just a little bit scared!).  The girls can't wait to go next year!

Halloween

I don't really approve of trick or treating and coming back from our holiday meant Halloween 2015 had to be a small affair.  The girls wanted to carve pumpkins so we stopped off at the supermarket to buy some, which following the unpacking of the car they carved!  We ate tea to the light of the pumpkins (plus the ones painted at Stokesay Castle)

Then I hid some sweets in the garden which they had to find in the dark with the help of some glo-sticks. Followed by a game of donuts on strings!  

Hawkstone Folly

Today we visited Hawkstone folly which is a  wonderfully, atmospheric woodland with different follies, caves tunnels and woods. It is a Grade I listed landscape dating back to the late 18th Century and apparently a fine example of a Picturesque English Garden.  It was not too hard to imagining why in 1988, the BBC filmed an adaptation of The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis.

We walked about 5 miles up and down steep slopes and there are lots of steps and narrow paths to get around and it was very slippery in places and tree roots to try and trip you up. There are numerous health and safety warnings around.

One of the first places we came too was the the monument, which was built to honour Sir Rowland Hill, the first prominent member of the Hill family who bought this estate. He was the first protestant mayor of London during the 16th century. His great great great great grandson Sir Richard Hill had this column plus most of the other follies built after he took over the estate in 1783. There are 147 steps to the top and you are supposed to be able to see 12 counties, although it was rather too misty when we went.

The other follies we saw were: 

• Gothic Arch which sits on top of Grotto Hill overlooking the surrounding countryside.

• Gingerbread Hall which is a thatched, open sided wooden building where originally you could wait for our tour guide and buy gingerbread! 

• The Retreat which is a simple man made alcove carved into the cliff face with seating.

• The Hermitage which is a thatched wooden building.

• The White Tower, although it is now red.

• The Urn which is a tribute to a English Civil War ancestor

We also enjoyed the various tunnels and the grotto (you need a torch) made by the Romans mining the sandstone.

It was a lovely walk, and the girls did enjoy the Halloween trail, although I felt it was a little expensive at £2 for a small gift of a chocolate at the end!