Belton House National Trust | 12 Trusts of 2020

It seems forever since I started my #12trustsof2020 challenge (this was the first one) and to be honest I don't think I will complete it now either- thanks covid! Despite being unable to currently look around the stately homes, I'm chuffed that I am able to now visit another National Trust sites albeit just the parkland and gardens. So, the second site I opted for this year was Belton House.

A colleague had recommended it to me as it has lots of open space which is great for social distancing and it's conveniently located close to some of my family too, making it a great place to meetup outside.

Set in the Lincolnshire Countryside close to Grantham, Belton House itself looked stunning from the outside and had plenty of space to sit and enjoy a picnic, which many people were when we visited. I was a little bit in love with the greenery growing in the courtyard area too!

If I hadn't had Harry with me, I'd have been able to wander round the formal gardens but there's a strict no dogs allowed in this area which I can understand. Harry loves to sit on flowers and stick his head into shrubs so the gardens wouldn't stand a chance! Instead we walked around the beautiful fields, taking in the views, fresh air and also spotting some deer.

The grounds are a lovely place to walk around and the dogs absolutely loved it, with wooded areas and grassland too.

I'd have loved to have gone inside Belton House itself but for obvious reasons I couldn't. What I can tell you from looking at the NT website is that inside is an accredited museum; with a range of family portraits dating as far back as the 16th century as well as 17th century furniture and much more. I'd love to come back another time to have a peek inside but on this occasion it wasn't meant to be!

We did however get to peruse the gift shop which had lots of lovely bits including plants and garden bits.

All in all it was lovely to visit this National Trust site. It's definitely one that's perfect for summer time picnics and long walks. I'll definitely be packing a my picnic hamper in preparation for next time! It's also worth noting that whilst Covid is going on, you need to book your visit online as you will be turned away otherwise. It's really simple and easy to do and will guarantee there is no disappointment.

Have you been to Belton House?

The Autumn Food and Country Fair 2015

On Sunday 11^th October,  the East of England Showground in Peterborough held its annual Autumn Food & Country Fair. Previously known as the Autumn Show, this great day out has been running for roughly 38 years and after visiting the event for the first time I can see why! It was my first time at the fair and I was shocked at how huge it was. When we thought we’d been round everything there was to see, we’d find another area to explore. The fair is a fantastic day out for all the family, with plenty to do and with around 10,000 people attending I think it’s fair to say its rather popular so I thought I’d share it with you!

If you have little ones in the family, there was the opportunity for them to meet their favourite TV characters such as Paddington Bear and Bob the Builder. Meanwhile in the barns there were plenty of animals from pigs to pigeons to pet and ogle at. I particularly loved the ducks and funky chickens!

Around the fair there was plenty to view and take part in. I particularly enjoyed entering Harry into the Companion Dog Show with categories from the most handsome dog, to the waggiest tail! In case you’re not aware, we rescued Harry whilst living in Cyprus so he had quite a story to tell and ended up winning the Best Rescue category and coming sixth in the Dog the judge would most like to take home category! Such a proud doggy mummy moment for me and he trotted around wearing his rosettes for the rest of the fair. 

Over the far side of the fair were the dog agility competitions which were wonderful to watch. Most dogs were very disciplined, sprinting around the course and showing  off how well trained they were whereas a couple were a bit mischievous, running off the course altogether and one even doing their “business” part way through which I couldn’t help but find hilarious!

From fluffy friends onto cooking, Paul Hollywood was the celebrity guest chef in the brand new cookery theatre of the fair. After all the excitement that week of The Great British Bake-off final, I was very excited to watch cookery demonstrations from the artisan baker as well as hear some amusing stories from behind the scenes of Bake-off. Paul was so wonderful to watch and really interacted with the crowd, making the lesson a fun and enjoyable experience as well as educational.  He gave us lots of tips and tricks when it comes to cooking and we even got to sample the freshly baked delights which were a Bakewell tart and flatbread.  I came away feeling very inspired and I’m really keen to get back into baking at home! Some lucky people got to meet him at his book signing too which was a highlight for many.

The fair was both inside and out, with lots of food stalls indoors with things for you to try from cheese to chutney and live demonstrations showing you how to cut and cook different types of meat, filling the room with a heavenly smell of good cooking. I was particularly drawn to the pastry produce, in particular the handmade pies whilst Chris was eyeing up the local craft beers from Nene Valley Brewery.

It was really great to see so many local businesses showcasing their wares and I found myself very drawn to The Boot Room’s indoor stand, selling handmade boots! They were absolutely stunning and unfortunately my photographs don’t do them justice. All the boots are handmade in Spain, with a bespoke service being offered for made to measure boots ensuring a flawless fit. This is particularly perfect for those of us with wider calves and struggle to find long boots to fit so the service proved very popular. The boots are such good value too as many generic boots retail for the same if not more yet these are made far better than any you’ll find on the high street. I was very impressed!

Also inside was the giant vegetable competition. I couldn’t quite believe just how enormous and peculiar the vegetables were, with some easily feeding several families I’m sure!  Many of the people taking part hold world records in growing large vegetables which were certainly something to be marvelled at.

With lots of stalls to be looked around, I could see lots of handmade beauties that would make for great presents, especially with Christmas coming up. I particularly adored the array of wicker hampers and these outdoor chicken ornaments. There were again lots of local sellers and plenty of things to shop for with anything from shoes, to hats, homemade beauty gifts to pet accessories.

For the men in our lives, there was plenty to entertain them too. Classic cars lined the field along with tractors and a big fire truck. The 3Sixty BMX display was also a great one for the guys with some excellent stunts being displayed outside.

All in all the fair was a brilliant way to spend a Sunday with plenty to see and keep the whole family entertained. With the weather being so kind to us I spent the whole day there and absolutely loved it yet I still didn't manage to get around everything so I'll certainly be returning next year!

Have you been to the Autumn Food and Country Fair?

The Handmade Fair 2015

From the 18th- 20th September at Hampton Court Palace, there was a rather wonderful craft fair held called The Handmade Fair.

The remarkable craft fair was put together by Kirstie Allsopp and her team of experts; bringing buying, learning and making all together for craft lovers alike.

It was my first time at the fair and I was fortunate enough to blog the event and actually meet and interview Kirstie!! Excited doesn’t even cut how I felt about this but that’s for another post- watch this space. All I will say is she was even lovelier than I imagined and it was so nice to sit and talk to her.

I went along on both Friday and Saturday to experience the fair, doing workshops and watching demonstrations with my lovely mummy on the Saturday.  The fair had a festival feel to it with its large tents, live music playing and balloons and bunting strung up at every available spot. Kirstie was there to open the fair and welcome in the first crafters of the day, which was really exciting to see!

On Saturday Mum and I started off by looking around the shopping villages. They were huge! Separated into two tents, there was the East village and West village crammed full of fantastic vendors such as Deathby Tea, Reloved Magazine, Victorious Bee, Sloane,Betty & Dodge, Flossy Teacake  and many more with their products displayed beautifully. The tents were a visual feast of prettiness and there was such a variety of things to buy from craft supplies for all your making needs, to ready-made handmade gifts- making perfect presents.  We came away with bags upon bags of goodies, excited to take on new projects when we got home.

The workshops were great for learning a new skill or to perfect an existing one you know and love. From paper craft to fashion, upcycling to yarning there was something for everyone. We did two workshops on the Saturday, the first being finger knitting and the second was upcycling a photo frame using decoupage.  Both the classes were such fun, chatting to fellow crafters at our table and getting really stuck in with what we were doing, so much so that I was covered in glue when doing the decoupage! Finger knitting was surprisingly simple once you got the hang of it and also very quick, making a bracelet in a matter of minutes. We were actually meant to be sewing with wire but there was an issue with the materials which was a shame but finger knitting was a great alternative. Decoupage was run by Reloved Magazine and using old copies of the magazine, we upcycled old photo frames. The different textures from the bits of paper gave a really nice dimension to the frame and looked really effective as well as being fun to make. Everyone loves a bit of gluing and sticking!

In between shopping and making, we found some fabulous food stalls selling grub that literally made your mouth water. There were lots of picnic benches set up, with everyone budging up to let people sit down. You could happily chat to fellow crafters who were eating, going through their goodies and even crafting in their own little groups. It was such a great atmosphere to be a part of. There was also a rather wonderful collection of cocktail bars… We were rather drawn to the Deco Bar with its airstream prosecco on tap, 20s music, comfy chairs and photo booth! As you can see Mum and I got a bit carried away with the photo boot …Ahem…

In the Super Theatre, we watched Kirstie with her expert and close friend Sof McVeigh give a live demonstration on how to create home-made beauty treats. I didn’t realise how simple it could be to create products in your own kitchen, using some ingredients that you’d have in your kitchen cupboards or growing in your garden. I can’t wait to have a go myself, knowing that what I make isn’t full of unwanted chemicals and also makes for great gifts.

As I said earlier, I was fortunate enough to be blogging the event, being one of the official supporters of the fair this year which meant I had access to the press tent. Here they had the wonderful wedding and lifestyle blogger Louise from B.Lovedblog teaching fellow bloggers to take instragram-worthy shots of pretty things, using the hashtag #InstaPrettyParty . The press tent was styled with all the pretty things from upcycled sofas, a rustic table with props and a huge floral wall with 3d flowers on. It was sooooo pretty! We were given free rein of all the props and Louise showed us some great styling tips to make super pretty Instagram posts. We were also given tips on editing apps, lighting and rules of thirds to give us optimum images. It was really worth going along to her class and I picked up lots of tips and ideas for styling photographs for both Instagram and my blog too! I bumped into a couple of bloggers at the fair such as Victoria from Random Nerdery and strongly urged them to go check out the tutorial!

Here's some of the #instaprettyparty photos I took.

All in all, The Handmade Fair was truly fantastic. For me it was also a wonderful way to spend time with my mum as we’re both avid crafters and both share such an enthusiasm for it. I didn’t realise just how many people were into crafts until I visited the fair and it was so nice to see the age range of people in attendance.

I also vlogged the fair so if you want to see more, click the video below:

If you’re gutted that you missed this years fair, don’t fret as there’s a Christmas fair in November. Once again sponsored by Hobbycraft and Mollie Makes, The Handmade Christmas Fair will be held at Manchester Central as an indoor event. Kirstie commented “This unique event will see craft lovers of all age and ability, join together to share, buy and make. I’m thrilled that we have the chance to bring The Handmade Christmas Fair to Manchester, especially as it is one of my favourite times of year!” So if you’re wanting to get into the festive and crafty spirit, check out The Handmade Christmas Fair for tickets and I’ll see you there!