A Picnic in Rushmere Country Park with my Gorgeous Blogging Friends!

I am feeling stupidly happy/lucky/smug right now after spending a truly beautiful day with marvellous friends. 

Today we headed to the amazingly beautiful Rushmere Country Park in Heath & Reach (only 30 minutes from us here in Bedford) to meet up with some of my blogging friends from around the country and their wonderful children. 

My lovely twin sister Jojo is currently visiting us, so she got to come along today and I was excited to finally introduce her to the friends she's heard so much about. 

It was a true British picnic. As well as packing the usual sandwich/crisps/pork pie/fruit combo I also packed waterproofs, an umbrella, a flask of hot tea (with bone china mugs, you know me!), a packet of biscuits (naturally) some of my home-baked blondies for the grown ups, as well as the fruits of Bert's first foray into baking - his Peppa Pig cup cakes to share with his friends. 

Luckily the rain held off while we ate and Bert got to have a good run around with his friends...I loved watching him having fun, running in and out of trees, and looking at the 'big boys' in awe of their tree-climbing abilities!

I captured our day on camera, and couldn't wait to share the photos on here with you... a happy, happy day! 

Cuddles on the picnic blanket!

The picture above is me with my beautiful friend Donna's gorgeous daughter. She's such a beautiful and fun little girl and we had loads of fun playing together today. Donna is a great friend of mine who blogs over at What the Redhead Said... I love spending time with her and both of her wonderful children! 

I also managed a selfie with my little monkey...it didn't quite go according to plan...

Quite possibly the funniest picture of Bert and I ever?! 

We spent a couple of hours eating our picnics, chatting/catching up, and watching the children play. After lunch we packed up our stuff and headed into the woods for a long walk...  

The woods at Rushmere are breathtaking and there's so much to see...

Fairy houses hidden amongst the trees, amazing! 

After previously thinking she wouldn't be able to make it, my beautiful blogging bestie Emma (from Life According to Mrs Shilts) managed to come along with her gorgeous little boy - what an awesome surprise! 

Emma lives in the West Midlands and so we don't get to see nearly as much of each other as we'd like. We try hard to get together as much as possible, but as busy working mums and with my lack of driving ability (one of the only times it truly annoys me that I don't drive) it's not always easy to make the journey to see each other. It was fab to spend the day together and Bert loved seeing her little boy, his little partner in crime!  

Of course the whole day went far too fast! :-(

It occurred to me while watching Bert play amongst his friends today just how much he's grown...my baby is not so baby anymore. He seemed so grown up running around with the big kids!

It also made me realise what a GIANT Bert is for his age: at 92cm tall with size 9 feet it seems unreal that he's not yet 2 years old. I think people often assume he is a lot older than he actually is due to his size...

During our walk in the woods we found the most amazing Den to play in...

And of course Bert expanded his ever growing stick collection. 

What is it about toddlers and their love of sticks? 

Another of my lovely blogging buddies Kara came along today with her beautiful family. Kara blogs at Innocent Charms Chats, if you don't already know her blog then go check it out! I had only previously met one of her three fab children, and so I was excited to meet them all today as well as her lovely hubby Ashley! 

We also realised that we are glasses twins - she obviously has great taste! ;-) 

Taking photographs is one of my greatest loves and I'm particularly proud of capturing these wonderful pictures during our day...

What a photogenic bunch! 

After two hours of exploring the woods we headed to the park cafe to dry off and warm up with a cuppa and something sweet. 

With heavy hearts we said our farewells and headed home covered in dirt and with the good old British rain dripping from our noses! 

For anybody local to Bedfordshire I would really recommend a visit to Rushmere Country Park - it was our first visit, but will definitely not be our last - we loved it! 

A big thank you to Hayley over at Shutterflies for organising today's meet up - I'm so glad I came along, and feel so lucky to have spent such quality time with my wonderful blogging friends and their families. 

If anyone ever asks me why I blog, then this brilliant bunch of women provide the perfect reason - who wouldn't want to be a part of this fabulous nurturing and supportive online (and real life) community?

Happy, happy times! 

Mrs B 

xxx

Bert "The Baker" Bishop and his Symington's Peppa Pig 'Muddy Puddle' Cup Cakes

Image from Symington's

Exciting times are afoot at Chez Bishop: my gorgeous twin sister Jojo has come to stay for five days and Bert is SO excited to have his favourite Auntie here to visit. 

When he saw her arrive through the window this morning he did a little victory dance around the living room! Adorable. He also had to check with me that she was still here after his daytime nap today, frightened that the fun might be over and she might have left while he slept! Fear not Bert, she's here for a good while yet...!

I'm working a lot at the moment building up my new freelance career in Social Media Consultancy: I'm really enjoying my return to the working world and I'm so lucky that the work I'm doing is varied, really fun, interesting and allows me to be creative! I'm working with some incredible small businesses and associates and feeling lucky to have found a career path that fits around being at home with Bert. 

Part of my work involves regular meetings with my clients, which on the whole I try to attend without Bert (it's not fun or easy to work with a toddler in tow). Luckily, I have a wonderful Mother in Law who lives locally and is always happy to watch Bert for a few hours as and when I need her too (thanks Ruth!)

I'm actually really enjoying the business meetings that I do have to attend (it has nothing to do with the fact that they usually involve tea & cake, honest!) It is nice to be out in the adult world beyond Peppa Pig and Bing Bunny, I'm pretty sure my brain had begun to turn to a mushy paste of CBeebies and silly talking, so it feels great to be jumping into creative projects that are challenging me and fulfilling my needs to be 'Lucy' as well as 'Mum'. 

This afternoon I had a work meeting to attend for a few hours, luckily Auntie Jojo was on hand to keep The Bertster entertained, and keep him entertained she did! 

I'd perhaps stupidly assumed that at 23 months Bert was too young to be initiated into the world of baking...but oh how wrong I was. 

Auntie Jojo had arrived with a bag of goodies for Bert, one being a boxed cup cake mix from Symington's with a Peppa Pig theme of Muddy Puddles - and so while Mummy was at her meeting they set to work creating their cakey masterpieces!

These box mixes are a great way to introduce little ones to baking - all you have to add to this mixture is an egg and some water, and everything else is weighed measured and comes in the box! Fuss free baking so you can concentrate on enjoying the moment instead of stressing about weights of ingredients and the mess of your kitchen - perfect. 

Jojo took photographic evidence of Bert's first foray into baking, and she's captured the moments just perfectly (a rarity for Jojo, as she's not really known for her photography prowess!)...

Whisking & mixing the cake mixture, popping the paper cases in the tray & spooning in the cup cake mixture - Bert managed every stage of the baking process once Jojo showed him what he needed to do. Clever lad! 

Of course, everyone knows that the patience of a 23 month old toddler isn't brilliant, so having to wait 10+ minutes for the cakes to bake could have proven challenging but not for the Bertster, he opted for an ice lolly filled interval - clever kid! 

And then he got to explore his artistic side by decorating his cooked and cooled cakes...

(Naturally his toy pigs, Mr Potato Head popcorn pot and dinosaur "helped" him in his baking session...they go literally everywhere with him, he holds them in both hands at all times these days...in fact, I'm surprised he managed to put them down to ice the cakes, he must have really been enjoying himself!)

Mixing the "mud" icing, spooning it onto the cakes, placing on the Peppa Pig rice paper decorations, and the customary licking of fingers... and finally, the finished and rather impressive cup cakes! 

As a keen baker, it absolutely melted my heart to see these photos and hear about what a good boy he'd been and how much fun he'd had! It's gotten me really excited at the prospect of being able to bake with my boy, and watch him also get pleasure from creating in the kitchen.

Bert is working really hard on pronouncing Peppa Pig - his putting two words together is really coming on & he amazes us every day with what he is capable of and how fast he is learning! 

He ate a cake as soon as they were finished, and seemed rather pleased with himself too (too right!). He 'might' have been allowed a cheeky second cake after his dinner tonight, mainly because I was so blooming proud of him! 

We are heading to a big picnic tomorrow with some of my wonderful blogging friends and their children. Bert will be proudly bringing along the fruits of his first ever baking session and will share his Peppa Pig cup cakes with his little friends...adorable.

It has been a wonderful day: a lovely lunch and catch up with my sister, playing in the garden with Bert, a very positive/fun work meeting, followed by a proud parent moment when I heard all about Bert and Jojo's baking fun. Top that off with a yummy dinner, pudding and episode two of The Great British Bake Off and I'd say it's been a pretty marvellous day all round. Woop! Woop! 

May this be the start of Bert's love affair with baking, just like his Mumma! 

It's a Twin Thing. Me and my lovely twin sister Jojo earlier today enjoying the sunshine in the garden while Bert played. 

When did you start baking with your little ones? 

Mrs B 

xxx 

Disclaimer: This post is not sponsored in any way. I love these cake mix boxes for baking with mini people & just wanted to share a wonderful moment with my lovely readers. 

Caramac Digestives *RECIPE*

Now I cannot promise that these biscuits will do anything for your digestion. They are not a health food, but they are full of wholemeal fibre and are better for you than most shop bought biscuits in terms of lack of processed ingredients, and there's no high fructose corn syrup in sight! Hooray! 

And oh my word do they taste GOOOOOD.

The humble Digestive is my favourite biscuit ever. It's a hard choice as I'm pretty biscuit-mad, but I love everything about a Digestive: its sweet/salty combo, its dunk-ability and when you slather it in chocolate, well, all the better. 

I've had this idea floating around in the back of my mind for a while, and took advantage of a quiet Sunday to get my bake on and give these a try, and I'm oh so glad I did. They are really very good. 

Thicker and slightly softer in texture than their shop-bought brothers, but still crisp, these biscuits are hearty and filling - it's really the only time when you'll hear me say that one is probably enough. (At around 180 calories each, one really is a treat)

If you want to leave out the chocolate and just opt for a plain Digestive, then by all means do - I plan to make them plain next time as I think they're super-tasty as is, although will add chocolate when I want an extra treat (without chocolate they come in at around 140 calories each).

The biscuit dough is really simple and quick to make up - chill it in the fridge for 30 minutes before you roll and cut and it will be super-easy to work with. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 170℃ and you'll be left with deliciously crisp golden wonders. 

I used Felicity Cloake's "Perfect" recipe from The Guardian website, here as my starting point. However, I made a few alternations to her original recipe: I found the dough to go a lot further than just 10 biscuits, I made 18 really good sized biscuits from this recipe. I also cooked mine for an extra 5 minutes than she suggested (20 mins in total) to get the right texture and I added Caramac chocolate to mine, instead of Felicity's milk chocolate.  

Caramac Digestives

(Makes 18)

Ingredients

170g Wholemeal Flour

170g Oatmeal (I use Mornflake)

½ tsp Bicarbonate of soda

½ tsp Salt

150g Butter, cold and grated

55g Dark muscavado sugar 

2 tbsp whole milk

150g chocolate, melted (optional) I used Caramac

Method

Mix all your dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl with a whisk to get out any large lumps. 

Add the grated butter and work into the dry ingredients with your fingertips until it resembles bread crumbs.

Add the sugar and mix well. 

Add the milk and bring the mixture together to form a dough. 

Wrap in clingfilm and store in the fridge for 30 minutes to chill. 

Preheat oven to 170℃ (fan) and line two baking trays with parchment, select a round cutter from your collection (I used a 2.5" diameter round cutter).

Roll out your dough to around 4mm thick and cut out rounds, placing them on your baking tray. Use a skewer to pierce holes into your biscuits to give that authentic Digestive-look. 

Bake for 15-20 minutes. The biscuits will still be a little soft when you get them from the oven, but as they cool they will crisp up. Leave to cool on the baking tray. 

Once cooled melt your chocolate over a bain-marie (a bowl over a pan of simmering hot water). Take each biscuit and dip the flat side into the melted chocolate and then place back on to the cooling rack to harden/set. You can keep dipping your biscuits in chocolate to build up a thick layer, or just dip once for a little even coating. I dragged a fork through the almost set chocolate to create a little texture to my chocolate, but you can just leave it to set flat. 

Caramac Digestives in the making! 

We dived straight into the biscuits once the chocolate had set, and they were so good I had to have two (okay, okay, I know I said one was enough, but I'm greedy, alright?)

They have that sweet-salty balance just right, and with the added chocolate they are just about perfect in my eyes. They are really filling, which can only be a good thing, if they weren't you'd want to eat about six. 

So far they've kept well (made on Sunday, it's now Tuesday) in an airtight container, I imagine they'll be okay for another day or so - I'm trying hard to save at least one for my sister who is coming up to stay from tomorrow! It's taking a LOT of self-control. 

Biscuit-perfection

They are great stand-alone, or ahhh-mazing dipped in a cuppa (tea or coffee, anything goes!). I've been enjoying one with a cup of tea each day since I made them, and they seem to taste better every time I eat one. 

I'm so fond of this recipe that I know it will become my go-to 'quick bake'. I find the biscuits so comforting to eat, and I love that I have all the ingredients in my baking pantry, so no special shopping trip is required. Even better is that I've found something truly delicious to make with the big bags of oatmeal I managed to get for 48p each in Tesco a little while ago, score! 

So, lovely blog readers - will you be baking some Digestives of your own, and if you do what will you coat them in? 

...Caramac, Galaxy, Cadburys, white chocolate, dark chocolate, or is a plain Digestive how you roll? I'd love to know. 

Happy Baking Everyone!

Mrs B 

xxx

Colouring for GROWN UPS! Have you tried it yet? Inspired Colouring Patterns from Parragon *REVIEW*

Have you been sucked into the new craze that's sweeping the nation? If you haven't heard of adult colouring books then I've no idea where you've been hiding for the past six months - they are EVERYWHERE!! 

Who really gets pleasure from colouring in their child's Peppa Pig colouring pad? It doesn't matter how neat your colouring is, or how amazing your shading might be, it will always just be a picture of that slightly irritating pig. Now, give me a colouring book with stunning patterns, enchanted forests, cute animals, terrific tessellation, awesome illustrations, and magical mandalas and then you might be on to something! 

I'm totally hooked! I now own three adult colouring books, as well as a set of lovely colouring pencils and gorgeous felt tip pens - grown up ones, ones that aren't allowed anywhere near children (or husbands, for that matter). 

I find the process of colouring in so relaxing: it's an activity where you can really switch off yet still be creative in your choice of colours, and combinations. I'm one of those annoying people who likes to be busy all the time. I especially like to keep my hands occupied otherwise I'm a terrible fidget - I think this is why needle crafts like crochet and knitting have always appealed to me so much - because I can keep my hands busy but still sit and relax in front of the TV. 

So, when I'm not working on my crochet blanket in the evenings, then you can usually find me with my colouring books open, creating a masterpiece. 

Who wouldn't love to attack these beautiful images with a splash of colour?

This month I've been testing out one of the latest adult colouring books from Parragon: 'Inspired Colouring Patterns' features over 100 stunning designs from intricate arabesque pieces to hypnotic mandalas - all of which will help you to inspire more mindfulness and creativity in your life. 

The book will bring out the inner artist in everyone - and quite brilliantly you don't have to be an amazing illustrator to be able to create stunning artwork thanks to this book - everyone can colour within the lines, right? 

'Inspired Colouring Patterns' from Parragon Books

Not only is colouring in deeply relaxing for me, it is also hugely nostalgic. Every time I open my colouring books I think of my lovely Nanny Vera, who sadly passed away when I was in my late teens. She was hugely creative and loved to draw - in fact, she was way ahead of her time because she used to create adult colouring pages for herself by drawing round a variety of different shapes items collected from around her house - she'd overlap them and create a crazy black and white pattern on a page of A4 paper, and then she'd spend hours with her colouring pens neatly creating the most dazzlingly colourful pages. Bless her! In fact, I even remember getting her to colour in my homework for me when I was bored, or running out of time - she never minded, and always did a blinding job. Good old Nan! 

I wish she was still alive for many, many reasons, but mainly because I'd love to buy her a whole collection of adult colouring books and pens, and then get to see her face when she opened it...it would be a truly priceless moment. 

So, I've been channelling my inner Nanny Vera and have enjoyed colouring some pages from my beautiful new book, thanks Parragon! 

I love deciding on what colour combos I'm going to use for which pattern...

There's something wonderful about starting a fresh page in a colouring book, even at 28! 

The book is really beautiful quality, the paper is thick and sturdy and the images/patterns are faultless.  Some of the patterns contain some wonderful silver metallic detailing as well as the black/white which really adds to the overall look of the pages, making them even more eye catching. 

A stunning double page spread from 'Inspired Colouring Patterns' from Parragon Books. 

What I loved best about this book compared to other adult colouring books I own is that the pages come out really easily, with no ripping, which means you could use your finished pages in so many ways once coloured in - why not frame them as a gift, use them as wrapping paper, or for paper crafts/scrapbooking.

Here's one of my finished pages, just crying out to be used for wrapping a gift, or popping in a frame...

A finished page from my colouring book

T'ah D'ah! 

If you haven'y tried adult colouring then I really recommend it, a great way to switch off, and if you were feeling super-generous a great way to play with your little ones...that's if they can stay within the lines though, naturally!

Mrs B

xxx

If you'd like to find out more information about books in the Parragon book ranges you can contact them via their social media platforms:

Facebook: Parragon Books

Twitter: @parragonbooks

Pinterest: parragonbooks

Instagram: @parragonbooks

Disclaimer: I received this product from the publisher for free. However, they have not paid me for this review, and they do not exercise any editorial control over my review or anything else on this site.

Nila Holden Biscuits

Earlier this year I had the pleasure of being introduced to local business woman, biscuit-decorator extrodiannaire and just general all-round lovely-lady Nila Holden, who is also from Bedfordshire. We met at a Creative Bedfordshire networking event & hit it off instantly - we've so much in common, and I find her work, business ethic and passion for creating beautiful biscuits so inspiring! 

Nila's small artisan bakery creates the most beautiful decorated biscuits ever - from wedding favours and gift boxes to biscuits for corporate events, Nila has a biscuit (and some stunningly decorated cupcakes) for literally every occasion...

Nila Holden wedding favour biscuits

Nila Holden biscuit gift sets (I LOVE these cute teapots!)

Nila Holden Easter Bunnies gift set

Nila's New Baby gift sets

Vintage key biscuit favours

Stunning Papillon Biscuits

Beautiful Mum themed cupcake boxset

[All above images from Nila Holden Homepage]

Isn't her work just incredible?

Nila's business has gone from strength to strength and made it's super-big break when she was asked to stock her products in none other than Fortnum & Mason (Oooh err!) You can also buy her ranges online at Not On The High Street. I was so chuffed to see her biscuits featured at the NOTHS Christmas in July event I attended last month, I had to stop myself from squealing "I know her! I know her!" when I saw them! 

Nila is also a busy mum, and she knows how hard it can be to keep the kids entertained through the summer holidays, so in order to help me keep The Bertster busy she kindly put together a lovely biscuit decorating kit for us to use! 

Bert definitely takes after his mummy is his biscuit-loving ways, so he was super-excited to get up close and personal with a mixture of biscuits, icing tubes and SPRINKLES!!!

Our super-fun biscuit decorating kit from Nila Holden

We set up our biscuit decorating station in the garden last sunday - the sun was shining, we were feeling peckish and Bert was in need of some entertaining, so it seemed like the perfect excuse to get biscuit-happy! 

What child wouldn't be excited by bowls full of sprinkles?

Bert was just brilliant! We've never done this sort of activity with him before, and I wasn't sure how he was going to take to it - would he understand the notion of decorating the biscuit BEFORE he shoved it in his mouth? I wasn't sure...

But he totally 'got it' and was really fab - Daddy helped him to squeeze out the icing tubes, and then we showed him how he could drop on the rainbow and glitter sprinkles...his gorgeous little pudgy hands were soon busy blissfully chucking sprinkles at his biscuit, and not a tantrum about eating it in sight. 

Once his biscuit couldn't possibly fit another sprinkle on it, we told him he could eat it, and he tucked in...

Yum, yum! Biscuit's taste even better when you've lovingly decorated them! 

Mummy and Daddy had a turn at decorating our own biscuits too - naturally! It was such a lovely simple activity to do with our little munchkin, and although our results don't quite stack up to Nila's incredible standards, they were perfect in our eyes...

Our finished biscuits! T'ah D'ah! 

Of course there is something truly wonderful about letting kids loose with a whole bowl of sprinkles...Bert's delight was obvious - and he was soon creating a sprinkle-sparkle tornado around the garden - I have video evidence! (Let me just add that had we been doing this inside the house I'm not sure I'd have coped so well with the sprinkle shower! Ha!)

Sprinkle related delight from my nearly 2 year old! 

Thanks to Nila for keeping us all entertained with some truly scrumptious biscuits!

--------------------------------------------------

If you're looking for biscuit favours for your wedding, corporate event, party or a gift set for a special someone then I can highly recommend Nila's bakery - you know they're good when Fortnum has given them their seal of approval! 

Also, coming soon to Nila's shop will be the launch of some fabulous Halloween and Christmas decoration tins - so keep your eyes peeled for those beauties...

Bye for now

Mrs B
(A not so secret biscuit-addict)

xxx

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