We’ve just got back from my parents’ home in Norfolk where we spent a wonderous sunny weekend & celebrated Mother’s Day.
It takes about 3 ½ hours to get to Norfolk from Berkshire so by the time I finish work on a Friday and we drive up, we don’t usually get there til late. But its so lovely waking up to the birds and seeing the sun coming through the blinds in the morning (it was a gorgeous sunny weekend for March, wasn’t it?)
After my usual fried egg sammich for breakfast (I enjoy having some type of egg-based breakfast food at the weekend), we helped my parents in the garden. Me and gardening don’t really get on, so ‘help’ is probably the wrong word to use. I spent a lot of time taking pictures of cows.
There is dairy farm up the road so three times a day the cows walk past to be milked.
The farm sells raw milk, one of only 2 dairies in the UK to do so. & it tastes great! I should probably say at this point that I am lactose intolerant, so I haven’t actually tasted the milk save for a drop on my little finger. But the brie is to die for. Literally. And the cows are so cute- look! They are a mix of English and French cows and like being talked to. Maybe that’s how we held their attention for so long!
Once the cows had gone back to their business I took some pictures of the first flowers of spring before mowing the lawn. This sounds like a very boring task to do, but my parents have a ride-on lawn mower so I was whipping about carving up the garden. My dad was hoping for some stripes, but he ended up with more circular patterns than he bargained for. I got a bit wedged between the vegetable plots but a quick 7-point turn and I was out!
Then I sat in the sunshine and watched everyone else garden.
Whilst waiting for lunch to be prepared Sam and my dad took up some target practice. They both have air rifles and dad has a rabbit ‘problem’. He jokes they are going to take down the rabbit population at the bottom of the garden but with his eyesight, never mind his aim, the rabbit would have to be 6 foot tall and dancing in front of him. I love bunnies so I’m dead against them being slaughtered just so that they won’t eat the vegetables. I’ve threatened to jump in front of the rifles if a bunny makes an appearance, & I think they believe me. For now though, they make use of tin cans. And I’m not a bad shot either.
I then set about making a CHOCOLATE MARMALADE cake. Not any cake, and not a chocolate orange cake, but a chocolate marmalade cake. I settled on Nigella Lawson’s recipe because she uses a whole jar of marmalade. Lived to regret that decision (Nigella, not the marmalade). The cake didn’t rise amazingly well and burnt a bit. And I followed the recipe to the gram. But it did taste of marmalade.
Mum then made my favourite tuna pasta dish for dinner. I’ve been trying to recreate the dish since I left home but I could never find the right cheese sauce. One time I concocted something from soft cheese, cheese and god knows what and nearly gagged.
On Mother’s Day we went for a wander along the beach at Southwold.
Southwold is a cutesy, boutique-by-the-sea village. We walked along the beach then had tea and cake on the pier. My hot chocolate came with malteasers! I grew up in Norfolk, just up the coast from Southwold, but now I live miles in land so its always nice to see the sea again.
Though, it was sooo windy my ears hurt. I bought a little jigsaw necklace from a shop on the pier. It reminds me of me and Sam; he once said we fitted together like a jigsaw puzzle so when I saw it I had to buy it. Its so cute!
Weekends always go so quickly. But perhaps thats because we had a good time!
I’m starting to get mega excited for our holidays. At Easter we are going to Devon for a few days. In May we are going to the Lake District and then in June we are off on our holibobs to Greece! I can’t wait!
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