Picnic Ideas with Roberts Bakery 50 Days of Summer

As the long (and hopefully sunny) summer holidays approach, I’m pretty sure I’m not the only parent wondering how to fill those weeks at home. I’m always looking for fun, budget-tastic things to do to keep my little one entertained.

Thankfully his latest favourite thing is going on picnics. We went to one in Delamere Forest a few weeks ago and he’s talked of virtually nothing else since. The Delamere picnic was organised by Roberts Bakery in Cheshire, it was a grand day with storytelling and many, many excellent sandwiches, but sadly precious little sunshine.

While we were at the picnic we made lots of lovely, tasty sandwiches which we’ve made at home a few times since, our favourite was a healthy sausagey twist on the BLT, but what has been a big hit with both the big and small boys were the funky Nutty Nana sandwiches.

On the Delamere day the bread was helpfully cut into appropriate monkey face shapes, so trying to wonkily recreate these at home has been a fun challenge, I really must try and find a monkey cutter that’s up to the job!

We like the Nutty Nana especially as peanut butter is an excellent source of protein, especially for veggie types like me, with banana and the merest smear of honey it’s a lovely, fun sandwich, great for kids parties or picnics.

Nutty Nana Sandwiches

Ingredients:
8 slices of Roberts 50% White 50% Wholemeal bread
2 small bananas
Crunchy peanut butter
A couple of teaspoons of runny honey

Method:
Cut four of the pieces of bread into the shape of a monkeys head, and the other four into oval shapes for the mouth (sandwich shaping is optional). Spread the monkey heads with peanut butter. Thinly slice the banana and place on top of the peanut butter (we used two slices for eyes and five slices for under the mouth). Put the monkeys mouth on and then drizzle a smile on with the honey.

It’s really fun and it’s really cute as well as being really tasty. It’s a healthy option too; Roberts Bakery’s 50% White 50% Wholemeal bread contains protein, complex carbohydrates, calcium, iron and B vitamins, as well as thiamin, niacin and riboflavin, as well as being a major source of fibre.

The Roberts Bakery 50 Days of Summer download pack is available from 20th June and daily ideas will be shared on their Facebook and Twitter pages throughout the holidays. Fingers crossed the sun shines!

Disclaimer: We were invited guests of Roberts Bakery, we have not been financially compensated for enjoying our picnic.

Days Out: Steam Trains & Tea at Woody Bay Station

Team HodgePodgeDays are currently on holiday in North Devon. With it being a holiday I’d not planned to do any blogging, and only put finger to iPad (the modern day pen to paper) if I felt suitably inspired. It transpires that today has been one of those interesting, somewhat inspiring days.

It started off, a day like any other, being bounced on bodily by the small boy at some unearthly hour. A sneaky peek around the curtains revealed it to be an overcast morning and a fairly unpromising looking day weather wise. We quickly decided to go for one of our pre-selected wet weather days out. A good hours drive from the cottage to Woody Bay Station near Lynton to enjoy a few steam train rides.

We arrived mid morning and in time for the second departure of the day. Woody Bay is a really pretty station nestled in the hills between Barnstaple and Lynton. The mile long track was restored and opened to the public in 2004 and there are plans afoot to extend the track further and hopefully in time bring back the Barnstaple and Lynton line in its entirety.

We purchased our tickets (£7.50 for a ride-all-day adult ticket, and children under 5 travel for free – hurray!) and watched the train chug into Woody Bay Station. We hopped on board and found our wooden third class seats. Our tickets were clipped by the guard and off we chugged to Killington Lane Station. We could get off and enjoy a country walk, but we chose not to as we’d miss all the action.

At Killington Lane we all got out and watched the engine uncouple from the carriages, chug around and couple itself to the front of the train ready for the return journey. We hopped aboard and sped back to Woody Bay for lunch.

Lunch was a massive and very pleasant surprise. I wasn’t expecting much if I’m honest, so we just ordered sandwiches from the station tea room. I went for a Brie and cranberry panini which came with a pile of beautifully dressed, interesting salad. The small boy had a child’s ham sandwich and the bigger boy had a ham and cheese panini. Lunch was excellent and we said we’d be back just to eat there next time we passed.

North Devon: Cream Tea & Steam Trains at Woody Bay Station

We had another ride on the train and came back for pudding. As we were in Devon we each had a massive, still warm, freshly baked scone with some excellent strawberry jam and a generous dollop of clotted cream. Replete, we toured the station shop and came away with a little model train for the small boy. We had one last train ride and then full of excitement and clotted cream we set off home. The sun once more peeping through the clouds.

The small boy is obsessed with trains, so we go on these kinds of days out quite a lot. I’ve ridden my fair share of steam trains in the last few years. I’m by no means an expert, but I really liked Woody Bay Station. I liked the set up, the attention to detail and the quality of everything from the tickets, to the posters at the station to the sandwiches in the buffet.

I think you’d struggle to fill a full day here with a small child or two, but with lunch and a bit of a walk it’s a nice way to spend an afternoon. It’s not horrifyingly expensive either. We will be back.

More information about Woody Bay Station can be found on their website.

Click here to find out more fun things to do in Devon!

A Picnic in Delamere with Roberts Bakery

Ever since spring turned into what passes for summer round here, the small boy has been putting in constant requests to go for a “nicnic”. To those unversed in small boy speak, he wants to go on a picnic. Well if it makes him happy, and if it allows us to eat nice things in the sunshine (?), then who are we to refuse?

We were therefore really excited when Roberts Bakery invited us to a nicnic/picnic in Delamere Forest. There’d be storytelling and fun for the kids, whilst the mums were put to work making some fun, healthy sandwiches.

Roberts Bakery have been baking beautiful loaves and treats since 1887 in Northwich, Cheshire. I’ve long enjoyed their bread, but putting taste aside, I love that they’re relatively local, and I’m all about local products from local businesses.

This month they’ve been busy launching “50 Days of Summer” which is a family guide for the holidays, packed with ideas and inspiration to keep the little ones entertained over the long, long summer holidays. A brilliant idea, and one I’ll be delving into regularly for small boy entertainment.

We arrived by train at Delamere and had a little explore before we tracked down the Roberts Bakery team. Wellies on (for this is England) the small boy had a good run around with some of his new friends, then toddled off to be entertained by Storyteller Ian Douglas.

We then set to work making some healthy sandwiches for us all to enjoy. Roberts Bakery have recently launched a 50% white 50% wholemeal bread which as well as being a lovely loaf, contains protein, complex carbohydrates, calcium, iron and B vitamins, as well as thiamin, niacin and riboflavin, as well as being a major source of fibre.

We made lots of different kinds of sandwich, but the big hit with the small boy was the SLT – sausage, lettuce and tomato. I’ll share the recipe below, but it’s a low fat, healthy sandwich, easy to make and great for those who enjoy a really filling, hearty butty.

The SLT

Ingredients:
4 Roberts 50% white 50% wholemeal rolls
8 low fat sausages (we used Quorn sausages, because I’m veggie)
3 tbsp fat-free Greek yoghurt
1 tbsp reduced fat mayonnaise
4 tomatoes, sliced
2 little gem lettuces
Freshly ground black pepper

Method:
Grill the sausages and leave to cool, then slice them lengthways. Combine the fat-free Greek yoghurt and mayonnaise, grind in some black pepper. Split the rolls and spread with the yoghurty mayonnaise. Lay your sausages on the bread roll (I found three halves per sandwich was sufficient). Top with your tomato slices and then your little gem lettuce leaves, then pop the top of the bread roll on and enjoy.

I really enjoyed the lightness of the yoghurt and mayonnaise mixture and I think you could easily use rocket instead of little gem, though I enjoyed the textural crunch of the lettuce.

We ate the fruits of our labour, whilst Ian the storyteller regaled us with the tale of the giant Finn McCool. It was a really lovely day, a nicnic we will both remember very fondly.

Disclaimer: We were invited guests of Roberts Bakery, we have not been financially compensated for enjoying our nicnic.

Days Out: On safari at Knowsley Safari Park

Last weekend we hopped in the car and visited Knowsley Safari Park, we’d been invited to one of their family workshops, but once that was over we decided to buy a ticket and drive round the safari park itself.

We all have favourite animals, but we were all excited to see the scary lions and the cheeky monkeys. As we drove through the gates we didn’t know what to expect, it’d probably been about 20 years since I was there last and even longer for my husband.

It was Easter weekend and it was really very busy, the cars queued up to look at the ostriches and then queued some more to get into the lion enclosure. We locked the car and closed all the windows, I gripped the door handle, lest the small boy decided to make a bid for freedom at the most inappropriate time. He didn’t, thankfully. The lions were beautiful, majestic and very, very sleepy. I was very much in awe of them, such powerful creatures.

We drove on around the park catching glimpses of rhinos, zebra and an array of antelope; but we were most excited to see the cheeky monkeys. The small boy delighted in them leaping from car to car, running and capering around. Some vehicles had lots of monkeys all over them; we soon realised that despite notices, people were feeding them to encourage them onto their cars. Naughty!

We didn’t have any food, nor would we have fed them, so it did take some time to lure a monkey onto our car, much to the screams of excited delight from all of us inside. We saw lots of baby monkeys and lots of mummy monkeys cuddling their babies. A few cars did get a “monkey MOT” which mainly involves removing or damaging windscreen wipes, aerials, mirrors and anything grabby, snappy and bendable. We managed to escape with our car intact.

We loved Knowsley Safari Park, which has much improved in the last 20 years and the small boy has talked of nothing else but the “cheeky monkeys on the car” ever since. It’s a grand day out!

Knowsley Safari Park – Feeding the Animals!

We were invited guests of Knowsley Safari Park. We were given free access to their Family Workshop in return for this review. All images and opinions are our own.

During the gloriously long Easter weekend we hotfooted it to Knowsley Safari Park to feed the boys burgeoning obsession with giraffes and cheeky monkeys.

We went primarily to check out their “Food and Feeding Family Workshop” which is two hours of fun and animal education for just £6.50 each.

The workshop was hosted by knowledgeable rangers, Nicky and Sue. They started by telling us about herbivores, carnivores and omnivores, then we got to meet and touch some. We met a Australian tree frog, some giant land snails, a rat and a pair of weird but harmless hissing cockroaches, as well as looking at some animal skulls and checking out their teeth.

We were then put to work preparing breakfast for the meercats. This involved stuffing fruit, dog biscuits and mealworms into holes drilled in small logs, then plugging the holes with melon. This was great, messy fun. We then carried our logs to the meercat enclosure and watched them eat their goodies. Meercats are really popular and they’re such funny little creatures close up. We watched them for a little while and they seemed to really enjoy their breakfast.

Later moved on to meet the giraffes. We climbed onto the feeding platform and we were set to work feeding Oliver. Oliver was a very handsome giraffe, he’s 14 years old and really very beautiful. We fed him carrots which he ate by reaching his long, black tongue out for, curling it round the carrot, then munching away. The boy loved this, giraffes are one of his favourite animals. I think he was quite taken aback at the size of them though.

Once the giraffes had full bellies we walked back to the safari school. We were soon put to work again making fruit kebabs on ropes for the Egyptian fruit bats. This was sticky, but fun work. Once we’d all made a kebab and washed our sticky hands, we took our bat treats to the indoor bat forest. The rangers hung the fruit kebabs from the trees while we all stood and watched them feed.

Knowsley Safari Park

I’m not easily spooked, but bats brushed my face and hair a few times and I wasn’t keen to stay for long. The boys loved it, so I stayed with them. As our eyes adjusted to the dark we watched the bats swoop onto the trees and devour their dinner.

Then it was back to the safari school to collect our certificates and badges and say goodbye. I think the family workshops are tremendous value and next time we go to Knowsley Safari Park, we’ll be looking to see what’s available. Our boy loved it. He was a bit young though, and the workshops are only really suitable for children aged 6 and over.

The family workshop was so much fun, we all really enjoyed it and we all learned something new. Not only that but we got to get up close and personal with some of our favourite animals. We’ll be back!

Disclaimer: We were invited guests of Knowsley Safari Park and were given free access to their Family Workshop for free in return for this honest review. It was brilliant and worth considering doing if you’re going.

Review: My Spa Day at Last Drop Village, Bolton

Having a day at a spa is a bit of a treat, but as a busy working mum it can be hard to find the time to relax and have some time to myself. Having a spa day is for me one of the best ways to relax, when I was invited to the Last Drop Village Hotel and Spa in Bolton for a spa day with a treatment thrown in I thought it would be rude not to say yes.

I’d been to the Last Drop Village before for a wedding about ten years ago, but I’m sure the spa wasn’t there then. The Spa at the Last Drop Village Hotel is really quite lovely, based around the hotel pool but with a selection of steam rooms, hydro-pools and treatment rooms upstairs. I was with a group of local bloggers on a much needed pamper day. We were given a tour of the facilities as well as fluffy dressing gowns, towels and slippers and sent off to enjoy the steam rooms, swimming pool and the stunning infinity pool.

Last Drop Village

My first stop was the lovely warm hydro-pool which was divine, so warm, bubbly and therapeutic. It led outside to an equally lovely infinity pool (an infinity pool in Bolton, who knew?) which had views across the fields, to the hills beyond and was all very restful. It was really warm in the pool despite the fact we were teetering on the brink of December and it was cold enough outside for us to be able to see our breath.

For keen swimmers there is a very nice 18ft swimming pool which I had to go in. Whilst I was in there part of the pool was roped off for swimming lessons, but I didn’t find it intrusive and I don’t think I bothered them either. I firmly believe swimming pools are for swimming in, not for socialising. I knocked out a few lengths and then got out and explored the sauna and steam rooms.

There were several thermal suites to choose from, each offering different temperature and steam/sauna experiences, as well as showers, they were quite empty so I didn’t stay in them for long, especially as the infinity pool was so glorious. Even on a cold winter day it was stunning!

It was soon time for my treatment. I’d opted for the “Taste of Perfection” facial which took 25 minutes. In the brochure it says “experience the world-renowned Decléor facials and enjoy the benefits of essential oils. This introductory facial is perfect when time is of the essence and the skin needs a radiant boost”. Sounds alright doesn’t it? In reality it was fantastic and I could very happily have let the lovely Leah (my beauty therapist), carry on for hours.

My skin looked and felt fantastic afterwards. Leah very kindly wrote down what she’d used during my facial just in case I wanted to buy any of the products now or at a later date. To be honest, top of my shopping list is another facial and spa day, it was so relaxing and I’ve not felt so pampered in a long time.

After my treatment I retired to the hydro-therapy and infinity pools and there I stayed until my boys turned up to drag me home, re-chain me to the kitchen sink and continue my days of domestic drudgery and cuddles.

Although the spa at the Last Drop Village is a distance away from home, I’d be very happy to have another spa day there. The treatment was very well done and the facilities were good, although the changing rooms are a bit basic. It’s not a luxury spa, but it’s a good hotel spa and worth visiting if you’re in the area.

Last Drop Village

We were invited guests of Andrex and were not asked to pay for our spa day.