Where does time go when you are having fun and who stole January…and half of February? It appears to have come and gone so quickly, although to be fair 2023 feels like along time ago now too… or is this just a sign of me getting older?

The weather has been mixed to say the least, the fields and pathways are saturated but every now and again the weather is stunning and dusk on Holyport Green captured the colour perfectly last weekend… just to re-enforce how lucky we are in the UK.

As we got back from Belgium later than expected in December, we missed out on a little bit of the pre-Christmas build up and catching up with lots of people, who for some reason get more socially active towards the end of the year – us human beings really are quite odd! We did however manage to reorganise and catch up with a most people, in addition to enjoying a pre-Christmas meal out at The Greyhound in Beaconsfield – still one of our favourites – just before they closed for refurbishments. A wonderful meal yet again and the little bottle of home made Irish Cream was indulgent to say the least… I think we are almost regulars now, this could be dangerous!

We finally bit the bullet and put the deposit down on e-bikes just before Christmas – something Keith has been trying to persuade me to do for a while now – but it just appeared to be the right time and place. Therefore although we didn’t actually pick them up until the end of the first week in January, we started the New Year thinking about how we could start making the most out of them and we have to be fair, used them alot more in the last 5 weeks than we expected. The bikes are great for shopping – we have some mighty fine paniers (bags on the side of the bikes in case you don’t know what they are), but also for exploring slightly further afield and even for a trip to the pub for lunch last week, somewhere we would have previously driven to so not only more environmentally friendly, but also got to both build up an appetite and work off some of the food! . 

This blog is a little food heavy – even more so than normal as it has been a busy 6 weeks or so – apparently we need to build up extra padding during the winter months to keep warm!

We have actually tried a few new places recently which are more local to the farm, one which stood out and probably on the watch list going forwards is The Borough in Maidenhead. It is a small place currently serving small plates along with an excellent selection of wine but they do also offer a tasting menu which is what we opted for.

We set off on our travels again in the third week in January, this time heading down to Sussex for 9 days to explore a little further. Our first stop was Brighton, staying at the Caravan Club Site which is about a mile from the Marina (£20.40 p/n inc.). We had been meaning to come down to Brighton for ages to catch up with friends but each time we tried something got in the way. The campsite is tucked away at the back of East Brighton Park and is well spaced out – the tucking away was a bonus as the winds whilst we were there were horrendous, at least we had some protection.

On Saturday, after a blustery run along the seafront, we caught up with Lee, Miranda and kids for a long circular walk over the downs from Kingston, taking in Lewes and returning to Kingston for food in the pub. Although it was windy whilst on the ridge, it was nothing in comparison to the following two days so we were lucky. A beautiful walk, lots of very fresh air and a great catch-up.

The following day the morning run was definately a little harder but at least the return was slightly better due to the prevailing wind…. views out to sea were limited unfortunately as the greyness and rain was definately looming. We packed up some lunch though, and headed for a walk along the seafront into Brighton and beyond, passing back through Hove to explore the lanes and see what had changed since we were last here. Still a lovely place, but definately too big for us to live in now… we prefer a little more tranquility and less built up! Later in the evening, we did however also manage to catch up with Roger and Abbi in a great family owned Italian in the Marina – definately somewhere to go back to so all in all a lovely few days.

Moving a little further down the road, we arrived at Scallows CS (£23 per night inc.), a little campsite just outside of a tiny village called East Hoathly in the beautiful East Sussex countryside. We managed to get a lovely 10km circular walk in just after lunch on the Monday which took us through East Hoathly, Muddles Green and Chiddingley, then a cycle ride through the beautiful little windy roads up through to Heathfield on Tuesday morning followed by another lovely circular walk. It is fair to say that there is alot of beautiful countryside to explore in the area – you just need welly boots to do so!

Moving on again – all of about 10 miles – we arrived at our next stop which was just north of Uckfield, White House Farm CL (£25 per night, Inc.). Once again, we had picked the location to explore the area a little more as although we both spent alot of time in Sussex when we were younger there are so many places that we haven’t visited – or don’t remember even if we did – and the countryside is beautiful.

The area surrounding Uckfield is quite built up, but I guess that is innevitable as it is a larger town and quite close to several other larger towns such as Hailsham. It doesn’t take too long though to escape the concrete and get out into the countryside where the fields and hills roll into the distance and Buxted Deer Park is beautiful.

As we always like to look out for interesting places to eat on our travels, Keith had found the Horsted Place Hotel, which is just South of Uckfield. A stunning location and an incredibly elegant hotel offering an excellent set lunch menu at amazing value – not quite sure how they did it, nor why the place wasn’t full… perhaps just one of those secrets you shouldn’t share?

Last but not least though, last Wednesday was the biggest celebration of the year – just pipping in ahead of my nephew (Zak’s) 18th in December – my mothers 80th birthday.

Looking at her face I would say she liked the mini firework… or was it the brownie??? If I could make her smile like that every day I’d plant one in her breakfast!!

We have of course been cooking too. Keith has been playing with the yorkshire pudding recipe, and although it wasnt in the motorhome it was a pretty exceptional display of growth… and tasted pretty good too. And I had a go at a Pistachio and Blue Cheese Crown, Raspberry and Pistachio Ice Cream Bars some Vegan Haggis, some over sized pasties and another Biryiani recipe – all of which were pretty good too.

Pistachio and Blue Cheese Crown – adapted from Nadiya’s recipe
Raspberry and Pistachio Ice Cream Bars – another Nadiya recipe
Vegan Haggis
Vegan Biryiani – Adapted from a Happy Pear recipe
Feta and Spinach Parcel – Adapted from a Jamie Oliver Recipe
Jerk Pastie – combining an old recipe with the bread/pastry used on the Feta and Spinach parcel…. a success, I would say.

And of course, just before we head off on our next trip…. the map of where have been!