Hall Farm, Stratford St Mary, Dedham, Colchester

We took the little boss for a breakfast at Hall Farm last week as a little treat for being such a wonderful boy. (Also, we were hungry). This Farm, Cafe and Shop is situated about 20 minutes drive from Colchester. It lies just outside the beautiful village of Stratford St Mary and is surrounded by stunning views across the Dedham Vale.  Stratford St Mary is so pretty that it looks like a film set. Constable apparently loved this place, and who can blame him. If I could paint, I'd paint a picture of it on the ceiling. However, I can barely paint my nails.

Hall Farm is great and ticks a little individual box for all our family members. It has animals and 'big diggers' for the little fella, lovely food for me and a great farm shop for the Wig. We came here last year and had an awesome Ploughman's, a proper traditional one, one of life's small pleasures I think. The last Ploughmans I mentioned on this blog was from This Bright Field in Hackney and was so deconstructed it wasn't actually a Ploughmans.  However, since our last visit to the farm it has got just that little bit better. The food is still great, and the farm shop is still well stocked however they now have a little farm trail which really makes the most of their location and adds a little something extra for the little people. This place is a great example of a business maximising its potential, bravo Hall Farm, we will be back soon!

Hall Farm

Egg, fresh from the chickens rear

'BIG DIGGERS!!!!!"

Big piggy

Dedham Vale

Small piggy

Thanks for the eggs little dudes

Alpacas

Cattle

Little goats

Little Donkey

'Sheepies'

Ducks in slime

Yates, Colchester, I am confused...

So Yates is/are having a makeover and Colchester was the first of their premises to get the new 'look'. I have never been into a Yates but must admit I was rather curious when I nosed through the window of the one in Colchester a couple of months ago. In fact I would go so far as to say I got a bit excited. And I tweeted them my excitement, then I 'Liked' them on Facebook. I was verging in stalking. I have an open mind about most things and any smartening up of the humble high street is a step in the right direction in my eyes regardless of whether it is aimed at me or not.

It was obvious that some very big changes were taking place, not just because it was closed, but when I looked through the gaps in the windows, there was colour. Yellow! Pink! Turquoise! Despite never setting foot in a Yates my impression of the chain was not somewhere that would have yellow, pink or turquoise in it under any circumstances. However, when they opened up I couldn't have been more astonished. It reminded me a little of Wahaca and some of the places we had stumbled across while staying in Brighton this summer. In short, it looked exciting! It has to be the boldest re brand I've ever seen. It looks like an entirely different chain. Bright, clean and contemporary. Hexagon tile flooring, colour co-ordinated furnishings and wallpaper, trusty filament bulbs, I thought maybe I might have slithered into their target customer group and was really excited to have this on the high street. Another place to go for breakfast maybe? . . .

So, in the spirit of supporting my local environment, I thought I would try out the new revamped Yates for breakfast this morning. No one is more surprised than me that I have just typed those words in a sentence, but when in Rome... First impressions were mixed, on the one hand the staff were very friendly, the place was clean (and they had made a good effort with the Halloween decorations), but on the other hand there were no other customers (you have to be a bit wary of being the only customers I think) and despite all the hard work they have clearly put into the decor, there were 3 fruit machines tucked in the corner, leftover from the old Yates no doubt. So as much as you wanted to feel that you weren't in an old pub, there was a garish reminder on the way to the toilets, staring you in the face, that you were in an old pub.

And when our food arrived, it was, unfortunately another reminder that this is still Yates and not quite Wahaca standard despite the fancy light fittings. We ordered their smaller cooked breakfast which cost about £4 each. On the upside, they used Heinz Baked Beans but unfortunately the positives stop there. The food arrived frighteningly fast. How did they cook it? Who knows. It was also on a huge plate which made it look a bit sad. If the plate was smaller the food wouldn't have looked so lonely. Juts a small point. Unfortunately we couldn't eat the sausage (no excuse for a poor quality banger in these parts) or the mushroom (completely dried out). And the tomato wasn't cooked. So overall, sadly disappointing. There was so much promise but unfortunately if the food isn't up to snuff, its all a bit style over substance. Boo...

Ultimately, I think it was a really brave move of the company to go for such a dramatic rebrand and I really wanted to have a good experience today but now its not clear who their customers are. It's left me a bit confused. It surely can't be their old customers as its such a totally different place but it also can't be an entirely new crowd as the food is not quite good enough. Maybe they need to establish who their target market is in order to move forwards. Personally,  I would be happy to pay a couple of quid more for a better sausage and mushroom, especially as we are in an area with such amazing produce, but maybe they want to keep the prices low so they don't lose their old customers. Who knows. I don't. Anyway, its a shame. They have made such a huge leap in one way but held back in other ways. Hopefully this may be early teething problems as there is so much potential, great staff, good decor that its a shame not to go for it 100% with the food too. Good Luck Yates, you can do it!

High Woods Country Park, Colchester + Baked Apples

Little children seem to have a lot of energy. My small toddler son literally can't sit still. He's like a Terrier at the moment, so today's challenge was to find somewhere to go for a thorough 'work out'. Since it is the school holidays and most places would probably be heaving, I ruled out the Zoo, the Park, the Swimming Pool, the Castle, the Coast and the Stuffed Animal Museum (really, this place has EVERYTHING a small child could want). Instead, and since it was such a beautiful day, I thought we could check out High Woods Country Park. Again, I think Colchester Council are missing a trick not marketing this place better, its great! And only 10 minutes from the High Street and even less from North Station. Another jewel in the Crown of the Worlds most modest Town...

The main entrance to High Woods is tucked away on Turner Road where you will find a decent sized Car Park, nice (clean) Toilets and a Visitors Centre. The Park is free to enter and covers woodlands, marshland, wild flower meadows and also has a lake where you can do coarse fishing (if you have the correct licence obvs). There are also 3 great play areas for kids of different ages ranging from a climbing wall for the older ones to a sweet little area for toddlers. It has Green Flag status (which I think means its very well kept) a Community Garden where you can learn about plants and bugs and other woodland shenanigans AND a Forest School. Wow.

Older children's climbing wall.

Little toddler play area. Very sweet.

Medium sized children's large play area.

Beautiful Woodland.

I am hoping this is part of the Forest School and not something more Blair Witch like.

Walk to the the lake.

The lake.

After all that exploring, ditch jumping, stick searching, leaf collecting etc etc we were both tuckered out, but before bedtime we made a little treat of baked apples. The easiest and cheapest of puddings known to man.

Baked Apples

Per Person:

1 x Cooking Apple
1 x Tablespoon Brown Sugar
1 x Tablespoon Dried Cranberries (didn't have raisins, actually worked out ok)
1 x Teaspoon of Almond Flakes
Sprinkling of Ground Cinnamon
Knob of butter

Preheat the oven to 180 (Fan)

Wash and core the apples. Place apples on foil in a baking tray.

Mix together the dry ingredients.

Put the butter in the bottom of the core hole (?) and spoon the dry mixture in.

Leave in the oven for 25/30 minutes or until the apple is soft and the sugar has melted.

Leave in the turned off oven while you eat dinner so its the perfect temp when you eat it.

*If you eat it straight from the oven, say 'Adios' to the top of your mouth*

Serve with Ice Cream/Cream/Custard. 

We had none of these, we won't make this mistake again.

Enjoy!

WONDERFUL Gunpowder Gertie, The Waiting Room, Colchester

Trying to find things to do with a small child in a place where you are not familiar and don't have many/any friends is hard. The few people I did know when we first moved here were at work during the day so not around to mop up my tears of despair and answer my reoccurring question of "Have we done the right thing? Have we done the right thing? Have we done the right thing? etc etc etc". I'm pleased to say now though that things have definitely improved after being in Colchester for almost 2 years. But last year was the loneliest year of my life. I don't know what I was expecting but it was harder than I could have imagined. I was so desperate for friends I went on 3 Park 'dates' with a woman who stopped me in the street simply because I had a buggy and she had a buggy (therefore we must have a few things in common right?). However, it was on the 3rd 'date' I realised I had never actually seen what was in her buggy as the contents was always covered in a muslin. Just because there is a buggy, doesn't mean there is necessarily a baby in it. Our friendship deteriorated/ended soon after. (My boyfriend and I also used to bid farewell to any workmen that came to work on our house with a "See you again, if ever you want to go for a beer, please let us know. Please....? Hello...?...").

Luckily the situation has improved. Like most traumas you will experience in life, it just takes time to get through them. I have also come out of my shell a bit now, you just have to put yourself out there, make an effort and embrace your new surroundings. Now we have some really good friends here and also now my son is no longer a baby but a walking, talking little person, life is so much easier. What has also made life a bit easier in terms of meeting people and having things to do on our doorstep, is The Waiting Room. I have mentioned this place before but it really is great. Not only for the creative events they organise and the awesome pop up food nights they host, they now have a weekly baby/small child event! Hurray!

'Gunpowder Gertie' (made up name) is WONDERFUL. So great she really does deserve capital letters. She runs her session every Thursday (although not next week as its half term) from 11am for about 90 minutes. It costs £5 per adult/child combo which includes a hot drink for the adults and a water/juice and snacks for the little ones. The amount of effort 'Gertie' puts into these sessions is second to none (and I have been to quite a few other 'kiddie events' both here and in back in East London so I do have something to compare it to). I have never witnessed such enthusiasm in a  person, ever. Each session has a different theme, previous weeks there have been insects, dinosaurs, the Circus. The session starts with some gentle exercises that my son has yet to participate in, then there is music, stories, toys to play with, musical instruments, dressing up clothes, colouring in stuff, everything a small child could want. If this event was in Hackney, there would be a queue out the door for sure. I know of certain weekly kiddie events in East London that were so swamped you would often make the effort to go and then not get in. So disappointing/annoying when it can sometimes take so much effort just to get out of the front door with a small person.

The atmosphere is also WONDERFUL. 'Gertie' has such a warm, welcoming manner that it's impossible for everyone (adults included) not to have a great time. She would be your favorite teacher at Primary School if she was your teacher at Primary School.  I can not say enough good things about this particular event, and no I'm not on commission, just trying to spread the word of some of the great things going on round here. And this has become my new favorite great thing going on round here.

I would love to have posted some photos of her session but sadly the times we live in make it a bit dodgy to take photos of children's events so unfortunately this short post doesn't do it justice. However, any local parents/guardians looking to find a fun / educational / relaxed activity to take a small kiddie to on a Thursday morning must come to this. It's WONDERFUL.

'Apple Day' - Lathcoats Farm, Beehive Lane

Not a lot of people know this, but today was 'Apple Day'. Or tomorrow is 'Apple Day' depending on what day you have decided to celebrate it this weekend. I did not know about this celebration myself until yesterday when I was trying to find somewhere interesting to meet our new local friends. 'Apple Day' is a day to celebrate all things apple related (orchards, apple juice, actual apples, toffee apples, apple pies etc etc) and began relatively recently in 1990. The first 'Apple Day' took place in Covent Garden but today we celebrated this special day by visiting Lathcoats Farm in Chelmsford, half an hours drive up the A12 from Colchester.

Lathcoats Farm

Lathcoats Farm have been growing fruit since 1912 and their Farmshop recently won the award for Essex's Best Farmshop. As well as the Orchards that grow the fruit and the great farmshop, they also have a Coffee Shop, goats, donkeys a couple of pigs and they allow you to 'Pick Your Own'. Today they also had apple tasting, children's archery, donkey rides, a craft barn, mini tractors, toffee apples, a farmers market and an apple pie contest. Sadly, the weather today was pretty dire. Not cold, but very grey so the photos don't do the place justice at all. However, despite the gloomy skies we had a fun afternoon out and shall look forward to next years 'Apple Day'. Whether our new friends enjoyed it remains to be seen. I'll let you know if we hear from them again.

Orchard

Apple tasting

I love clear sign postage

All time fave, Pygmy Goats

Little Donkey

Awesome kids craft area. 

Who knew mud and pine cones could be so creepy.

Big hairy pig

We picked up a couple of these bad boys for our upcoming Halloween tea party

Old house in a tree.