Monday 13 April 2015

Easter Sunday at Blickling, Norfolk

The hottest place in the UK on Easter Sunday was the North East. The region was awash with sunshine and everyone was happily skipping around in short sleeves. I know this thanks to my smug sunglasses wearing friends on Facebook.

You see I wasn't in the North East, I was in Norfolk where the skies were thick with cloud and there was a Winter like nip in the air. 


Not wanting to let my Geordie friends back home have all the fun I insisted we had an Easter Sunday adventure and took my beautiful Joules coat on its first outing. Even if we weren't going to see the sun at least we were guaranteed to see something bright and yellow! 



We decided to head to the Blickling Estate, a National Trust property just outside Aylsham.  It was the closest National Trust site to my Norfolk home so somewhere I used to drive to quite a lot when I wanted a peaceful escape. So I was excited to share it with Simon for the first time. 

Forever thinking with our bellies our first priority was heading to the Muddy Boots Café for a spot of lunch. With an Easter egg hunt on to entertain the kids, Blickling was the busiest I've ever seen and I was feeling a little ratty standing in a rather long queue for food (never get between Chloe and her food!). I was so relieved when thanks to the amazing National Trust staff the line moved really fast and we even managed to find ourselves a table.

We both opted for sausage rolls which were served hot and we enjoyed smothered in tomato sauce. I have to admit I wasn't expecting much but we were both delighted by how tasty they were.

Washed down with a huge Mocha (Simon) and a generous pot of tea (me) we may have also been tempted into something chocolatey to share after.

The chocolate scones served with chocolate spread were a real treat and having left our Easter eggs at home we felt entitled to stuff our faces with something naughty. 

After all that delicious food we definitely needed to get back into the fresh outdoors to wake ourselves up so we took a little walk to take a look at the outside of the stunning Blickling Hall. 

I have been for a snoop around inside before but if I'm trying to save pennies I'm more than happy to appreciate the house from the outside - it's a stunner!

Blickling is such a great place to head if you're on a budget as you can enjoy the Park and Lake for free so we headed for a nice walk to burn off a little of our lunch. 

It was very chilly walking round the Lake but we kept ourselves warm with the walk, stopping every now and again to see what we could spot in the water.

Simon likes to insist that he doesn't like adventures but he's always the first to dive around with the camera snapping away at the wildlife. 

This time he became a little obsessed with hunting for frogs after realising loads were chilling out in the reeds. Every time he saw a reed twitch or heard them calling to each other he was enthusiastically leaning over the water to see what he could see. I will admit I was a little nervous about my DSLR camera ending up in the lake.

Despite the walk being a little Winter like we had a lovely time out in the fresh air and the distant giggle of kids hunting out Easter eggs on the Blickling Estate were a nice reminder that it's Spring.

As we finished our loop of the Lake, with slightly cold hands and pink cheeks, we returned to the car tired, happy and still slightly regretting our decision to leave our Easter eggs at home. 

I'd love to know how you spent your Easter Sunday.
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22 comments

  1. Lovely post and fabulous photos. My type of day most certainly. Jake sounds a lot like Simon, he usually takes a little persuading to go exploring then loves it when were out!

    xo

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    1. Thank you :) As soon as we (finally) get a car and can get out and about doing more exploring this type of blog post will definitely become more regular :) x

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  2. I saw chocolate scones in your intro and had to read this! If it makes you feel any better we were stuck in a car driving home from Scotland for most of Easter Day. We did enjoy a little bit of chocolate en route though!

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    1. HA! As soon as I saw them on the counter I just HAD to try one! Especially when I saw that the chocolate spread was the Cadburys Chocolate Spread that I have at home and slather on everything :)

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  3. I've never seen a chocolate scone before! Looks immense and I have Joules coat envy! Also your photography looks like it is straight from a magazine these days! There will be plenty other days to enjoy the sunshine x

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    1. I do love myself a different flavoured scone! I really want to visit that Scone café in Richmond some time!

      Thank you so much, that is such a huge compliment! We've been working really hard on improving our photography and we're pretty proud of these pictures x

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  4. Ah I adore Blickling! Those sausage rolls looked really scrummy and The Muddy Boots Cafe is the most perfect name ever! Glad to see you in the homeland :D
    x

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    1. Thank you :) It's probably my most visited place in Norfolk! I was almost tempted to get up early on the Saturday and do the Park Run there .. but I think chocolate scones was definitely a better plan!

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  5. OMG Chocolate scones with chocolate spread! Amazing!
    Lots of love,
    Angie
    SilverSpoon London

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  6. that sounds like a lovely Easter Sunday, and you look fantastic in that yellow coat! I would love to visit Bickling, yet another reason to explore Norfolk x

    Miho @ Wander to Wonder

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  7. What a lovely day out! Those scones look absolutely delicious - I don't think I've ever had a chocolate scone before which is a travesty. Will add this to my list of places to visit! xx

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  8. This place look absolutely stunning. And chocolate scanned with chocolate spread !! Whaaaat !! I need to try that!

    Alex x
    www.myfroley.com

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  9. Chocolate scones! Why has nobody ever told me about them!? I didn't know they existed! If you find somewhere in the North East that does them you'll have to let me know! I love the Joules coat too, it's so nice to see some bright colours coming in, summer is on it's way!

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  10. I've never encountered chocolate scones before or imagined they existed - and I feel like I've been missing out for years!! Your Easter Sunday sounds very idyllic and your photos are lovely. Your description of your husband's denial of being adventurous sounds very familiar as does his snap-happy ways when taken by an adventurous streak! My husband snaps photos for my blog (reluctantly but he still does it so I shouldn't complain) but the only time he's ever snatching the camera from me is if there's some cliff edge for him to dangle precariously from while snapping or some other such precarious spot! I'm off now to google chocolate scone recipes :)

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  11. The scones look unreal!!! Yum! Love the coat! I spent my Easter Sunday in hospital, but you know all about that ha!

    Kay xx
    Idreamofcoco.blogspot.co.uk

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  12. Beautiful coat and beautiful jumper! :D Love those tea cups too ^.^

    Sarah xxo | thesaltyseablog.blogspot.co.uk

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  13. I love that your initial thought is always food this is me to a T. It looks like you had good fun I love NT properties the grounds are always beautiful. I love your yellow Mac so sweet Lucy x

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  14. Well I'm glad I'm not the only person who went 'Whaaaaaat? Chocolate scones?!', hehe. They look delicious and I can't believe I've never seen them or thought to even make them myself before as it seems so obvious they're a good thing now!

    Easter Sunday was spent rather quietly at home, Good Friday was our day out wandering in London in the similar gloomy weather - typical bank holiday ;)

    Brickling Estate looks really cool though, it's great that there's so much you can do and explore out on the grounds without having to pay to go inside. My parents live in Suffolk so perhaps next time I visit them I'll head on over to check it out as not so far to travel then :)

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  15. In the last few weeks of my maternity leave I drove everyone mad at work imagining lovely scone flavours. Chocolate was one of my fantasies, good to see someone somewhere is on the same wavelength as me!!
    Great photos, did you actually spot any frogs?

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  16. Commenting again to say thanks for linking to #traveltales - I've pinned this post to our pinterest board. Hope to see you next month :D - Sam x

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  17. The chocolate scones look amazing!

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