Castleton - Mam Tor

My family came up to Sheffield with me so I wasn't alone in my flat on my own whilst working.

I worked Monday and Wednesday, so on the Tuesday we took the shop drive from Sheffield to the Peak District. It snowed a lot on Boxing Day in Sheffield and the snow was still present, which made driving a bit tricky!

Castleton was still covered in a thick blanket of snow and looked stunning.

We walked up Winnats Pass and headed up the hill to the top of Mam Tor which gave stunning views of the Peak District. We then headed back down the hill. It was a long walk and very hard walking in snow, my leg muscles ached the next day!

The walk was simply beautiful and the lighting was gorgeous, I took a tad too many pics!

In the evening we went to our fsvourite restaurant in Sheffield - Graze Inn.

We were sat in a cosy booth at the back of the restaurant. I had a delicious raspberry mojito for only £5 as it was happy hour. I also enjoyed some ribs served with winter-slaw, fries and peas and carrots. The portion was huge and I couldn't manage it all, excellent value for money!

I'll miss this place once I gradate from University! xoxo

A sunny Saturday at Grey's Court

Today we drove to Henley to a National Trust property called Grey's Court.
We did a large walk around the edge of the estate over the Chiltern Hills. The sun was shining and it was the perfect day for a walk, it felt like summer had arrived! I even managed to get slightly burnt!

We then visited the grounds, heading firstly to the Tea Rooms for a well deserved coffee and cake. I opted for an elderflower presse and Raspberry Eton Mess Victoria sandwich. It was delicious and has inspired me to make this sometime soon!

After this we climbed the tower and were treated to beautiful views of the house and gardens. The gardens looked spectacular, with a variety of flowers and the stunning wisteria.

We then explored the gardens and enjoyed going through the wisteria tunnel and taking many pictures. We then found out that the wisteria was 120 years old! Wow! I wish I could have a massive wisteria tree in my garden with its lilac flowers!

We then explored the fruit, vegetable and herb garden. My favorite seeing the orange plant as I had never seen one before!

Here are a couple of pictures from the day! :)

What a lovely day! :) xoxo



Outfit:
Trousers - River Island £20 - similar here
Jelly Shoes - New Look £9.99
Daisy bun holder - ASOS £6
Top - H&M Basics £2.99
Denim Jacket - H&M
Bag - Topshop - very old!
Glasses - Primark £1
Watch - River Island £15

Sunday Funday

Finally some beautiful weather after two weeks of storms: wind, rain, flooding, hail, snow - Great Britain has seen it all!

My family and I decided to make the most of the glorious weather and go for a walk :)

Now we love going on long hikes and it seems that since before Christmas every weekend we have been on a walk. I love them, being out in the fresh air admiring the beautiful countryside, visiting new places and seeing nature at its finest. We usually try to do a long walk and end up at countryside pub. (In another blog I shall try and remember some of my favourite walks and the pubs to visit!)

Today we didn't have very long as my sister had to go to work, so we decided to stay local. We parked in the small village of Chenies near Chorleywood and enjoyed a walk to the Cock Inn in Sarratt. This time the pub lunch stop was half way through the walk, which was lovely! I had pork and leak sausages served with chips and beans. The perfect traditional pub grub! 

Going slightly off track here but I must admit I am not a fan of these new 'gastropubs' that are springing up these days, rather I am fonder of the traditional English pub serving hearty food. The Cock Inn is definitely a lovely traditional pub!

Anyway it was a lovely walk but very muddy in places (was glad I wore my knee high wellies rather than my ankles ones!), and I thought I would share some photos with you.

The River Chess

Looking up the hill to Sarratt

Lucky I wore my green and pink wellies from Boden - a brilliant purchase, lasted me 4 years so far!!

On returning home I decided to do a spot of baking, I made Mickey Mouse cupcakes. I used glace icing and then using Disney cutters created the Mickey toppers! They were very quick and easy to make and would be perfect for a children's birthday party.

I also made apple crumble. It has been a lovely tradition for my family to have apple crumble on a Sunday in the winter by the fire. Recently I have been making my apple crumbles in individual ramekins and they have been going down a treat. I stew some baking apples with golden caster sugar, I like my apples to be very soft and mushy but others like it still have a crunch to their apples. For the crumble topping I wizzed together in a food processor 59g butter, 50g sugar and 100g self raising flour. The apple crumble in individual ramekins usually take 25 mins in the oven at 180 degrees.

Have a good week xoxo