Visiting the Sunflower Picking Patch in Hampshire

Today we visited a beautiful sunflower field in Hampshire, an instagrammer's dream! Sunflower Picking Patch is located in Fordingbridge and they are open to visitors throughout August. 

I've been to a pumpkin patch before but never sunflowers (the same company run both from the same location!) so we thought it would be a fun visit for the kids and something a bit different. 

You can book tickets in advance or pay on the gate, however they do limit numbers so I would definitely advise booking online. We booked in advance and just had to show the email at the front gate. The cost is £6 per person, however under 4's go free. 

Parking is free and plentiful and the Sunflower Picking Patch is very easy to find if you are coming from the Ringwood direction. It's on the main road and you can't miss it! 

Once you get inside you can head straight for the sunflowers, although a friendly member of staff advised us to leave that until last. You might want to pick yourself a bunch of sunflowers so it makes sense not to have to carry them around with you. 

There are crafts available to purchase and we saw some lovely looking sunflower pails that children were painting. We opted for a tin can bee/ladybird kit and handily this was all contained inside the tin so it was easy for us to take home without having to do it there and then. One to save for a rainy afternoon! 

There was an ice cream van on site, plus toilets and also a fab little play area which our kids really enjoyed playing on. The noisy cars were a big hit! There was a lovely swing that is perfect for having your photo taken on. 

The Maize Maze on site is really impressive and is over 4 football pitches in area with almost 2000m of path! (We got lost and I'm certain we covered every one of those metres!). The maze has been designed with Covid in mind and has nice big pathways so there is plenty of room for social distancing. It's a bit uneven underfoot but you could definitely take a buggy round - my friend did just this and had no issues. 

The maze is bee themed and features 9 fact boards along the way with a surprise in the middle which you might spot peeking over the top of the maize plants. We loved getting to the middle and it was reassuring to know we weren't completely lost! 

The sunflower field was our last stop of the afternoon and it was a sight to behold - hundreds and hundreds of bright sunflowers swaying in the wind. We walked around the entire perimeter of the sunflowers and found the best flowers over the nearest side. Alot of the flowers on the far side were already starting to droop but to be honest, there were so many that you wouldn't have any problems finding the perfect sunflower! 

If you choose to purchase some sunflowers, they are priced at £1 per flower of 6 for £5. You can bring your own secateurs but they do have spares you can borrow. 

There are plenty of perfect spots for photos and lots of little pathways through the sunflowers if you wanted to go further into the field. 

We had a lovely afternoon and really enjoyed our visit. If you want to pick some sunflowers of your own, be quick because you only have until the 31st of August. It's definitely worth following them on social media too because they will update on bad weather closures. And it's definitely nicer to visit on a sunny day! 

https://pickingpatch.com/sunflower-picking/

THE BON BON BOYS PICK 'N' MIX DELIVERY - REVIEW

Sometimes emails drop into my inbox and it takes me less than a second to hit that reply button....."Would we like to review a box of pick 'n' mix from a new local company?".....er, yes please!!

Pick 'n' Mix takes me back to my childhood, going into Woolworths and choosing from the vast array of sweets and chocolates. It's just not the same these days, and especially since Covid came along, pick 'n' mix sweets seem to have disappeared.

This is where The Bon Bon Boys come in! Spotting a gap in the market in the middle a pandemic, Kalem and Joe launched their brand new pick 'n' mix delivery service and have been getting rave review ever since. They handpick and test all the sweets themselves...I mean, that's gotta be a tough job?!

We received a "Classic" box (£10.95) -  a 9" pizza box stuffed full of sweeties. The kids eyes nearly popped out of their head when they unwrapped the tissue paper and saw the selection in front of them. It was a mission getting any photos because they were so eager to dive in!!

With over 25 different sweets, there was something for everyone. Featuring classics such as fried eggs, fudge, foam bananas, chocolate mice, fizzy dummies and even a giant worm sitting happily on top!

There was such a good selection, I don't think there was a bad choice in there! Personally I love the chocolate mice and anything fizzy so these were the ones I went for first but the kids loved all the strawberry cables and sour apple belts.

Priced at £10.95, I think the boxes are really reasonably priced and would make perfect gifts for anyone with a sweet tooth. Alongside the 'Classic' one, you can also purchase the 'Vegan' one and 'Retro' one (£11.45). Delivery starts at £3 and you can ship one of these yummy boxes to anywhere in the UK. However if you live in Dorset, you may qualify for free delivery which is brilliant - have a look at the FAQS for more info.

The Bon Bon Boys Pick 'n' Mix boxes get a big thumbs up from us...and the kids are already asking about when our next one is arriving 😄

For more info and to order, have a look at The Bon Bon Boys website where colourful pictures of all the sweets will tempt you into ordering your very own box.....!

"Just one more Mummy!" 

*Disclaimer - We received a complimentary box of sweets in return for an honest review. I think the speed of how fast the sweets disappeared is a testament to how yummy they were!

Farmer Palmer's Farm Park Reopens! Summer 2020

Last month saw the reopening of one of the most popular attractions in Dorset, Farmer Palmer's Farm Park. We have been going there since Elliot was a baby and it's a brilliant day out.

They closed their doors back in March due to Covid 19 but have been keeping their visitors up to date with regular emails and social media posts, going into lots of detail about what's going on behind the scenes and the new changes that will be implemented on opening. We were really missing our visits so it was brilliant for them to keep in touch like that and I'm sure a lot of people appreciated still being able to visit virtually!

One of the most important changes to happen has been the booking system - currently visitors are unable to just turn up, they must pre-book tickets online.There are two slots - morning 9am -1pm and afternoon 2pm-530pm.

The booking system is really straightforward - we have annual passes so I just logged into my dashboard on the website and then picked a date and time slot.

On the day of our visit the kids were so excited to return! We arrived at our allotted time and check in was quick. It looks a little different as the front desks have plastic screens up and there weren't any timetable leaflets. However there was a large poster with all the information you'd need including what was open and what time we could see the animals, I just snapped a photo on my phone for convenience. 

Although the indoor play areas (soft play and the play barn) aren't open, there is still lots to do at Farmer Palmers and the kids couldn't wait to explore. They spent ages in Straw Mountain, they like to pile the straw onto the bottom of the slides and slide into it and we always end up covered in straw! We noticed that Erin's actually grown since our last visit and she was able to clamber up to the higher slides with a bit of help from Elliot. 

The tractors are still very popular and this area looks a little different. The bouncy castle has been removed and instead, the tractor area has been expanded with a one way system in place. Most kids seemed to be sticking to this! 

Some of the animal encounters have stopped due to Covid but we were still able to see lots of animals on our walk around the pens. We spotted a Goat Talk on the timetable and this was held in the big animal barn which we've not been in before. The worked out really well because there was lots of space for social distancing and all families had their own little section to stay in. We were also allowed to hand feed the goats which was fun! 

The go-karts are still open and there is a member of staff on hand to sanitise after every go. Speaking of sanitising, there are hand gels available all around the park which is great to see. 

The sand & splash zone and outside play area are both open and we spent lots of time in these. We followed the Trim Trail down to the Maize Maze and we ventured in, hoping not to get lost. (luckily there's no chance of that at the moment as the maze is on a one way system to follow social distancing regulations!)

The Hen House is now take-away only, but there is lots of extra seating around in the park, including the old animal barn which has been repurposed and is now the "Grazing Barn". The menu looks to be sightly smaller than before but don't panic, you can still get those yummy chips! We didn't get a meal but we did get drinks and a huge slab of the famous chocolate cake. (It's worth noting that FP's are taking part in the Eat Out to Help Out scheme so you can get half price food on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays throughout August)

Overall, we had a fab visit and I was really impressed with all the extra measures in place. Visitor numbers are limited and this worked in our favour because it felt lovely and quiet, even in the popular sections like the tractors and playground. The staff are so friendly in the park and they really made sure all visitors were enjoying themselves. It's great that families can have a little slice of normality in this strange time! 

For more information and to book tickets, visit the Farmer Palmer's website

Visiting National Trust Properties (Dorset) in Summer 2020 with Phased Re-openings

Over the last few weeks, the UK has started to lift restrictions and more of our favourite places are becoming accessible again. National Trust has opened more than 100 of their parklands and gardens but visits need to be pre-booked so they can limit the number of visitors.

Tickets can be pre-booked each Friday via their website and you can pick a slot which suits you. The more popular locations such as Stourhead are getting fully booked almost immediately but we have managed to book tickets for Corfe Castle and Kingston Lacy here in Dorset without any problems. Members and non-members can pre-book but non-members will have to pay in advance. For us as members, we just had to enter our membership number and our spaces were booked. When booking you have to pick a 30 minute arrival time but there are no restrictions on how long you stay, although they cannot guarantee entry if you're late for your slot.

Kingston Lacy

Our first place we visited was Kingston Lacy (we've been twice recently) and we love it here, the grounds are so pretty and the kids love the space to run around! When we arrived in the car park there was a member of staff who ticked our name off the list and that was it, we didn't need to show our membership card.

Our timeslot was 2pm and it was very quiet, although there were cars in the overflow too. We followed the path in and there were clear signs regarding the walks around the garden and woodland trail. There was a one-way system in place which worked well. There were lots of families enjoying the sunshine but it was very easy to maintain a distance, even on the paths.

The Kitchen Garden is currently closed but we still had a pleasant walk around, passing the Japanese Garden and the beautiful meadow area. I've never actually seen the meadow in bloom like this, the daisys were so pretty.

The children enjoyed climbing trees, rolling down the hill on the front lawn, and best of all, playing hide and seek in the long grass!

The cafe was open on both our visits but just as a takeaway, there is no seating in the stables and the picnic tables have been moved onto the grassy area near the entrance. The toilets were also open and there was extra sanitiser available.

Corfe Castle

Corfe Castle is another favourite of ours and we were so excited to visit again. We arranged to meet some friends there and we both booked our tickets on the Friday before with no issues.

When we arrived in Corfe, I did notice that the carpark was very quiet and I assume this was because of restricted numbers in the castle. The visitors centre and toilets were also closed.

It's a really pleasant walk from the carpark, the path takes you around the foot of the castle and it's away from the road so alot safer for the children. There's a great little trim trail to climb along too which my kids love!

Once at the castle, we gave our names to the member of staff at the ticket tent and we were ticked off the list. Like Kingston Lacy, we didn't need to show our tickets or membership number. 

Our visit to the castle was much like previous visits however there is a one way route to follow around certain parts. This worked well and due to the low number of visitors, we didn't feel rushed. The children were able to explore and have as much fun as normal!

If you fancy a treat after your visit, the National Trust tearooms are open (public toilets too!), We decided to order fish & chips from The Greyhound pub which is right outside the entrance to Corfe Castle. We weren't able to sit in the beer garden as there were still restrictions in place when we visited, but we were allowed to take our food back into the Castle grounds where there were tables and chairs available.

Lunch with a view! 

It's fantastic that the National Trust have put all these measures in place so visitors can still enjoy a day out at their many properties. If you are thinking about booking a visit then I would definitely recommend going online as early as possible on a Friday morning to give you more chance of getting tickets.

For more information, please visit https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/

COVID19 - Life at Home - Ten Weeks in

So the last time I wrote about the lockdown, we were three weeks in and everything was still a bit weird although we were beginning to get used to the new normal. Fast forward to now and the beginning of lockdown feels like a lifetime ago! We are approaching our 11th week of lockdown and I can't quite believe it's gone so fast. The lockdown rules are due to change next week and it feels like there is a glimmer of hope that things are heading in the right direction of getting back to normal - although I do believe that this will take a long time. 

It doesn't look like Elliot will be heading back to school anytime soon as his infant school only have the space for the reception classes at the moment. He is due to start Junior School in September so I think his time at Infants has come to an end which is sad. Fortunately all his friends will be moving to Juniors too so at least they will all be in the same boat but I hope that there will be a chance to go back and say goodbye to all the lovely teachers! 

We are still plodding on with the school work but I have considerably lowered the expectations and pressure - if we get stuff done, great but if we don't then we just do some more the next day! It's still been tricky getting Elliot to concentrate with all that is going on at home (i.e a crazy toddler!) but he's done really well and we have managed to get some lovely bits of work completed including a VE Day poster and some creative writing. 

Elliot even took part in his school's talent competition from home. He has been in the final for the past two years running so we had a lot to live up to....and I think we pulled something funny out of the bag! Elliot and his friend loved making this and we had some fantastic feedback from the teachers!  

Over the last two weeks we've been able to get out a bit more due to the lockdown rules changing and being allowed to go in the car to somewhere and not just for exercise.  Dorset is a popular tourist destination and has definitely been lots busier but we have stuck to walks in the countryside off the beaten track so we can maintain social distancing! 

We've also avoided the crowds at Durdle Door and Bournemouth Beach and stuck to our local little park and beach. It's lovely there and one of my favourite places to visit with the kids - it never really gets too busy either which is handy. 

Lockdown has also bought some exciting opportunities. We were picked to be part of the Andy & The Odd Socks Album launch week and were sent some goodies to help us host a party. Obviously we couldn't invite our friends round but we were able to hold a zoom party with our friends and the children had lots of fun in the lead up to it decorating masks and rock star outfits. Elliot and I even made a huge poster! 

The highlight for everyone was when Andy Day himself joined our Zoom chat. I had told the Mums to expect this but the kids didn't know, Elliot was over the moon with excitement! They had a little chat and asked a few questions and it was really fun for them all. 

Zoom has been a constant throughout lockdown with my weekly choir sessions moving online and it's funny how it quickly becomes normal. We've done quizzes, held parties, had meetings - I wonder if we will continue to use the online meetups as much once lockdown has finished?! 

From next week the UK will be able to meet up with more people so we're looking forward to cautiously catching up with some friends - from a safe distance of course. I am also keeping my fingers crossed that this lovely weather holds out because it is so much easier to entertain the children when we're at home and the sun is out! 

Hope you're all keeping ok and managing to stay safe x

COVID19 - Life at Home - Getting Used to the New Normal

It's been three weeks now since the schools closed and life took an unexpected turn. Who could have predicted that we'd all be home schooling and only allowed outside for essentials and exercise?!

The last few days before school finished were really strange - much quieter on the school run with many families already choosing to stay at home and a really strange atmosphere. I couldn't put my finger on it but I think most people were worried and unsure of the future, I know I felt like that. I also felt really sad, sad that Elliot might miss out on his final terms at Infant School. Sad that they would miss their friends and teachers. And sad that life as we know it would change dramatically. I'm not ashamed to say there were a few tears, mainly from me. Thank goodness the ice cream man was there on the last Friday to cheer us up!

That weekend we went out for a walk in the forest near us, and although at that point, we didn't know for certain that there would be a lockdown, we had a feeling it might be our last day out for a little while.

The first day of home school was met with great optimism - we were up early and ready to join in with Joe Wicks, we had a timetable of subjects to cover and the snack cupboard was full! There was a real novelty of doing school work at home and Elliot was really eager to learn. We peaked far too soon though, as the days went on our timetable became much looser and some days we didn't even do any work as the children were having so much fun outside in the garden!

I have found it quite tricky some days to entertain both children at the same time. Elliot needs a bit of help with his work as he can get very distracted but Erin also wants my attention 99% of the time so I'm having to try and balance them both which can lead to arguments! Erin is only 3 so she doesn't have school work to do but I've printed her off lots of colouring sheets from Twinkl so she thinks she is joining in. Twinkl has actually been a fantastic resource for school work and my printer has been working overtime with all the worksheets we have printed.

We have been keeping in touch with school via Facebook/emails/apps and we even got a phonecall from Elliot's teacher which was nice. It is such a wonderful school and the teachers have done so much to make the transition to home schooling a bit easier. They have even been uploading stories to YouTube which has gone down well with Elliot and Erin. They are of course missing their friends but we've done some video calls, and this morning they spent a good 20 minutes on Messenger just switching between funny filters!

We are really lucky to have a garden for the children to play in and they have certainly been making the most of the trampoline and slide. The sunny weather has also been a huge bonus. Our holiday to Florida got cancelled so if we sit on the sunny decking with our eyes closed, we can almost imagine we're on holiday!

I recently bought a Tuff Tray on Amazon which has been really useful - I like the fact it's on legs so the kids can stand up and play on it. I have been getting lots of ideas from Pinterest but one of the most fun activities we did was slime! I found an old packet mix which was just powder that you add water to - it was meant for the bath but I figured we could use it on the tray. I don't think I got the quantities quite right because it was really really gloopy but the kids had so much fun. But oh my god was it messy! They had it aaaaaaall up their arms and everytime they moved it would leave a long strand of slime. I had to put them straight in the shower afterwards, along with the tray!

One of the upsides of the last few weeks is getting the chance to explore our local area on our walks. Sometimes it's too easy to jump in the car and go out for the day, but not being able to do that has forced us to venture out to the places on our doorstep. Fortunately we live in a lovely area which is close to the sea so we have found secret beaches, shaded woodland areas and had lots of beautiful views across the water. An added bonus is that Elliot has got really confident on his bike too!

I was initially worried that we would all be climbing the walls after a few weeks at home but actually it's not been so bad and it's been so nice not having to rush around anywhere. Bedtimes have got a bit later and it takes us a while to get going in the mornings but it's nice for the children to be spending so much time at home with us....well, except when they're bickering over the tv again ;)

No-one is really sure when life will get back to normal but we'll carry on clapping on a Thursday evening. We'll carry on self isolating at home and hoping we get to see our friends and family in person really soon.

How have you been spending this time?