Glamping Weekend

 We spent a long weekend at Cosy Under Canvas which is located near to Hay-On-Wye, and is a totally off grid site. As when you arrive you lose phone signal.  There are 7 domes across the site which can sleep between 4-6 people. I love that it's been kept so small as you don't feel cramped in and have some privacy. Each Dome also comes with a wood fired hot tub and it's own toilet. Inside is a bed. futons, bean bags, sheep skin rugs, torches, candles and holders and more. Ours even had a little hammock seat. There are gas hobs in the kitchen area so you can make a quick cup of tea and a very well stocked kitchen, solar powered lights, composting toilets and lovely warm wood-fired showers!

 We cooked every night over the fire and enjoyed roasting marshmallows!

 The girls enjoyed the freedom of exploring the site and spent a long time on the swing.

 We also loved the wood fired hot tub! It takes between three and four hours to get hot but amazingly the tub was still warm in the morning and the girls couldn’t wait to get back in.

We also spent some time exploring the surrounding countryside. We went for a walk from the campside, visited Hay on Wye where the husband enjoyed the rather nice beer shop and we liked the book shops. We also went for a lovely walk in the Black Mountains which included climbing Hay Bluff

Wet walk round Wicken Fen

This afternoon we went for a walk around Wicken Fen. It started off slightly overcast but then the heavens opened and we got soaked - mainly because it hasn't rained for so long we were unprepared.

We enjoyed watching the sparrows near the cafe!

 Then we went for a walk around the fen.

 We found one of the herds of free roaming Konik ponies.

 There were many beautiful flowers out.

 and then we hid from the rain!

Whipsnade Zoo

We enjoyed a fantastic day out at Whipsnade Zoo.The zoo is about an hour and a quarter from Cambridge. You can pay to take your car into the Zoo itself (it’s not cheap (£25 on top of your ticket price) but if you have small children, loads to carry round or little ones who won’t walk too far but refuse the pushchair it would say it’s worth it). However we used the free parking and walked round the site. There is one part where you need to drive through but there is a steam train we took instead!

The zoo is very large (600 acres to be exact, and home to over 2500 animals) and we spent all day wondering round - we had to get back for a dance lesson so there was plenty we didn't investigate such as the children's play area (which P looked at longingly and looked fab), the children's zoo area and the many keeper talks/animal feedings!

You can’t help but look at the views across the Chilterns from the zoo - it’s a wonderful sight. We loved the animals loose round the grounds!

One of our favourite parts was the walk through lemur area. They were very active and jumping around, leaping from one side of the path to the other!

30 days wild - Day 18 Hedgehog biscuits

We used:

For the biscuits:
250g butter, softened
140g caster sugar
1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla extract
300g plain flour

For the topping:
150g chocolate
Chocolate sprinkles
Chocolate drops

Pre-heat the oven to 180C/160C fan. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.

Mix the butter and sugar in a bowl.

Add the egg yolk and vanilla extract.

Sift in the flour.

Form the biscuits. To make the hedgehogs, break off little bits and roll them in your hands to form balls, then shape the snout/nose. If you put your baking trays in the fridge for 10 minutes it should stop your biscuits spreading as much.


Put your baking tray in the oven for 10-12 minutes until they are golden brown.

Remove from the oven and put them on a wire rack to cool (you might want to reshape the noses a little before they cool).

Either pour the chocolate over each biscuit, dip them in your bowl or use a spoon to spread the chocolate on. Sprinkle over your chocolate sprinkles to form the hedgehog spines.

  

30 days wild - Day 13 Penny Walk

Today P and I went for a walk in the sunshine. The idea of a Penny Walk is that every time you come to a junction, one tosses a penny. Heads you turn right and tails left. We had a great walk, although we decided at a certain time we just had to head home!

30 days wild - Day 12 Ladybird Biscuits

We made ladybird biscuits.

30 days wild - Day 11 Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park

Today we went to the Lee Valley Hockey Centre to watch England vs Netherlands. It was such fun to watch amazing hockey! The girls really enjoyed it as well!

  We then had a quick wonder through the beautiful Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, bustling animal habitats, waterways, colourful flowers and insects.