The Kings Head, High Road, North Weald, Epping, CM16 6BU

The March Hare is coming to you today live from the The Hackney Picture House. We have come out for what could be my last visit here for a while. This morning the walk here seemed endless and I think I'm going to have to stay closer to home for the next couple of weeks. The bump has become rather too cumbersome to walk for longer than 10 minutes now and the constant need for a toilet break is proving far too distracting. Along with the lethargy that has hit me during the last day or so, I think I just want to stay indoors, eat cakes and sleep.

My tiredness has definitely not been helped by the busy week we have just had, racing around, looking at houses, but just as we were on the verge of making a very big, possibly insane, decision we have come to our senses and decided to stay put for a while. I don't think it would be fair on a new baby to be born into the upheaval of moving house, so I think we just made our first decision not based on us! Also, sniffing around other peoples houses has made me realise how much room we have where we are and actually for the first few months at least, we will be fine space wise. It feels good to have made that decision and now I can get back to the serious business of relaxing.

As well as looking at houses with kitchens smaller than the one we currently have we also went to Lewes on Saturday for a good old poke around the antiques. Unfortunately we got there a bit late in the day and only had half an hour before the shops closed at 5pm, but that didn't stop me from buying some old things I didn't need. I haven't bought any antiques for such a long time I couldn't help it. I think I've got a condition.

A small dish celebrating the Coronation of George V. I love anything Royal, I'm not ashamed to admit it and couldn't not buy this little fella. Its over 100 years old and was only £5! 

For the Queens Jubilee this summer, I could fill it peanuts. Or one mini sausage roll. Its only little.

This is a lovely copper picture frame on a chain.

It cost £6 and at some point I'll change the picture. Maybe I'll put a picture of the Queen in it. Or my beloved Judge Judy.

This was by far the most exciting purchase. Its an old wooden sledge. I've been looking for one for ages so that at Christmas I can put it under the tree with presents on. They are quite hard to find and the ones I have seen have been between £60 - £80. This one however, was £25 and is still in really good condition considering it must be at least 60 years old. Until we can put it into storage later on this week we can use it as a handy coffee table.

Yesterday we took a trip out to my beloved Essex for a Sunday Roast. We didn't really know if it would be any good but our gamble paid off. Not only did we get to drive through some lovely countryside and Epping Forest, we also saw a fox and were served by possibly the friendliest waiter I've ever met in my life. He was even more friendly than the cafe owner we met last week on our house hunt, who took me to his house so I could use the loo as there wasn't one in his cafe! What a nice guy.

Oil seed rape fields. Beautiful. These always remind me of growing up in Essex. Lovely.

Usually I can't stand foxes but this one looked so healthy! Not like our ratty old urban foxes which usually have an ear missing or a bald arse.

The extremely wonky Kings Head.

The Kings Head North Weald

The Kings Head is one of the oldest pubs in Essex with parts of the building dating back 450 years. It was originally built using ships timbers! Totes amazeballs!

Woodwormy timbers.

The Wigs Calamari.

My prawn cocktail. 

I love prawns. A prawn cocktail is my starter of choice for a deathrow dinner (followed by Spaghetti Bolognese and Tiramisu), however I have been a bit confused about the 'prawn rule' during this pregnancy and not had any for months. Can you eat them at all? Are they ok as long as they are cooked? Anyway, I took my chances and they were delicious.

Roast Beef. 

The only table we could reserve was one at 2:30pm so by the time we got there most of the roast dinners had sold out (turkey, lamb, chicken) so it was either this or the pork belly.

They had also run out of roast potatoes but I think that shows how popular this place is. 

It wasn't the best roast I've had but it definitely wasn't the worst. That doesn't really sound like a compliment but is it.

Yep, we went for it. 3 courses! 

I haven't done that in a while but since we don't know when we'll be able to do it again I thought it was worth giving myself stomach ache for.  Apple pie and vanilla ice cream. The pastry was more cakey than pastry but very nice nonetheless. 

Lovely old features. 

So, in conclusion I am going to score The Kings Head in North Weald, 9 prawns out of a possible 10. Danny the waiter was faultless, the building was lovely, we weren't rushed and the food was good. It's a great place to go if you need to take your folks somewhere for a family lunch at a reasonable price and somewhere out of London. You would definitely need to book but can do so via their website. For 3 courses each and 3 drinks, the bill came to £46 not including a tip so very reasonably priced I think and well worth it. Get yourself down there babes!