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Planning the perfect picnic

Planning the perfect picnic

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So did you know that Sunday was International Picnic Day? Luckily the weather was absolutely gorgeous so it was easy to get outside and do some alfresco snacking. Of course planning the perfect picnic really shouldn’t include limp sandwiches and sweaty salads - I think the key to an impressive picnic is to mix a few things you’ve made yourself with a selection of ready made bits and bobs, blurring the edges so nobody quite knows which is which. I’ve been trying out a few items from Tesco’s brand new Mediterranean-inspired Deli range, and they fit the bill perfectly: you can eat many of the items hot or cold, and there are loads of tasty little bits and pieces perfect for eating with your fingers.

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Sailing to Neverland - the London Eye

Sailing to Neverland: Peter Pan at the National Theatre with MBNA Thames Clippers

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Last night, we spent the most magical evening in London. I always love going to London at this time of the year to look at all the lights (my Dad used to drive us to London and drive down Oxford Street when we were little - it was one of the highlights of Christmas!) and we were especially lucky to be treated to a gorgeous sail down the Thames with MBNA Thames Clippers, London’s fabulous riverboat service, alighting at the London Eye to catch the festive production of Peter Pan at the National Theatre. It’s such a lovely, lovely way to travel too.

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Afternoon tea with MBNA Thames Clippers

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Last week I headed up to London in the sunshine to do a little messing about in boats. I always feel that I don’t really go to London enough - from our local train station it takes a little over half an hour to get into Euston, and unlike some of my unluckier friends, our service provider, London Midland, is really excellent: on time, clean and efficient. In a happy coincidence, it was also Afternoon Tea Week (I know, who knew that was a thing?) and I made my way to London Bridge pier to hop on board and enjoy a rather delicious afternoon tea with MBNA Thames Clippers.

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Winter sun shopping

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If you’re heading off on a winter holiday (lucky you!), it can often be difficult to track down everything you need. Bizarrely, swimwear only seems to be in the shops around May and then if you don’t grab the nice stuff it’s all gone again by summer, so if you’re going in November you’ve got no chance! Happily, the interwebs are here to soothe your woes, and if you hunt around you can get a bargain too!

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My top festival tips

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Glastonbury has ushered in festival season good and proper. I watched all the BBC coverage with mixed feelings. My boys love it, but I’m still not sure I’m a festival person. Still, there are still a good three months of quality festival action all over the country to make us change our minds, so book tickets to the one you fancy as soon as possible – I’m seriously considering Blogstock actually. I think it’s probably quite easy to do a festival badly, you know, assume it’s going to be sunny every day or you just bring bottles of wine and find out at the door (as my boys did) that no glass is allowed on site. So here are my top festival tips for making the most out of the experience.

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A visit to Hush Heath Estate and The Goudhurst Inn

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This week, Mr E and I took a little road trip down to Kent. We were off to Dover for a date with the gorgeous, re-imagined Disney Magic, and looking for a place to stay in Kent the night before. A friend recommended the Heath Estate winery and its pub, The Goudhurst Inn, and frankly we didn’t take much convincing.

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Win Hampton Court Flower Show tickets and a meal at Brasserie Blanc! *closed*

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As you might have read, back in April, Mr E and I were lucky enough to visit Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, Raymond Blanc’s deliciously decadent hotel in Oxfordshire. I’ve also visited before and been lucky enough to be shown around the gorgeous gardens, too. If you watched Kew on a Plate you’ll know that Raymond Blanc is really keen on gardening and cooking with his own produce. It obviously runs in the family, because his son, Olivier, along with Charlotte Salt, has created a lovely little character, Henri le Worm to show children where food actually comes from and encourage them to learn more about nature and the important role it plays in our food.

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The Raymond Blanc Cookery School at Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons with Kenwood Chef Sense

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Last week, I was lucky enough to be invited to Raymond Blanc’s beautiful Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons in Great Milton, Oxfordshire. I’ve wanted to visit for ages, so I was beside myself with excitement. As I drove up, I dithered outside the front gate in my car, not really knowing what to do, and instantly, a friendly gentleman in an immaculate suit rushed out to help, escorting me to the reception and driving my car off to park it for me. First impressions? Pretty darned good.

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Giveaway: win one of two English Heritage family memberships *closed*

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What have you got planned this autumn? It’s the perfect time to get out and about, I always think - crunching through piles of golden leaves and wrapping up, getting out and discovering new places, all looking beautiful in their glowy autumn colours. To give you a bit of inspiration, I’ve teamed up with English Heritage to give two lucky winners a fabulous 12 month English Heritage family membership.

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Kidnapping Red Pandas. A day out with the Samsung Galaxy K Zoom

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As a family, we’re pretty divided when it comes to phones. Mr English is a sworn iPhone devotee. The rest of us are mad on Samsung. At the moment, Charlie and Sam both have a Galaxy S4, and I’ve got an S3 (I did have an S4 too, but then Sam dropped his in the sea on a Biology field trip and he was so gutted I gave him mine - motherly love eh?).

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On test: the Honda Civic Tourer 1.8i-VTEC SR

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We’ve tested a few cars in the past, most notably the Honda CR-V that we drove around France, and really love doing it (basically, a lovely man appears on your doorstep with a brand new car and gives you the keys, leaving the car with you for a week - what’s not to love?). This time, Honda asked if we’d like to try their new Civic Tourer 1.8 i-VTEC SR manual and, being a big car loving family, we jumped at the chance…

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5 mad things about the Scandal, Series 3 event in London

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So recently I got invited to a very swish private screening of the third series of Sky Living’s drama, Scandal. If you’re not already hooked (bet you are), it stars the gorgeous Kerry Washington (who we all remember most as the blind lady who dated The Thing in the Fantastic Four, but who was also amazing in Django Unchained), as White House fixer Olivia Pope. It’s full of intrigue, secrets and cover-ups and is seriously good.

So how did the evening pan out? I’m not sure you’ll believe it…

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