Free Easter trails and news from Northumberland
Including meal plan and rainy day activity
Happy Friday 🎉
Oh my goodness, doesn’t the whole world just seem to come ALIVE when the sun shines?
I have been taking myself back out on my daily walks after having a bit of a slump last week. One reason I wish we had a pet dog, would be so I had an excuse to go out every day for a walk. Not just a potter round the village but an actual walk. So, some days I pretend I have a dog 🙈 and it makes me walk that little bit further. (How strange, you may say. And it probably is a bit, but I would like to point out I don’t go as far as carrying a pretend lead and talk to this imaginary animal. It is simply a tool to get me away from desk.)
This newsletter will land in your inbox every Friday morning and includes:
Travel - A round up from Northumberland and beyond.
Kids - A “Rainy Day Corner”
A meal plan (because I sometimes hate doing this job, so hoping it saves you from having to wrack your brains deciding what’s for tea.)
News from Northumberland and beyond.
Still looking for ideas for the Easter holidays? I recommend reading
North East Family Fun bumper blog post for ideas across the whole of the North East.Last chance to see the stunning Helios at Seaton Delaval Hall. There’s a few different events happening this weekend as part of Helios Under the Sun. All activities are included with standard admission or your membership and you don’t need to book.
I always talk about my favourite National Trust days out, and last Easter we went to Seaton Delaval Hall and loved their family event. You make your way around the grounds, searching for the different games and challenges along the way. Great fun!
Now, I’m going to be a bit vague here but bear with me. A new cycle path has opened in Alnwick, along a section of the old railway line. The route is a 5km loop between Alnwick town centre and the Greensfield Bridge. Thanks to my friend, Jess, for telling me about this one, as I thought it was part of the Aln Valley Railway, but apparently this is a different one. Head up past the high school and football ground and the path starts from there. It’s family friendly with great views.
Plessey Woods and Drudge Bay Country Park are both running free Easter trials over the holidays. We did the Halloween one in October and it was a fun addition to our walk. Collect a prize from the cafe.
Read our review of Brainstorm by Mortal Fools. You can buy tickets to the performances at Gosforth Civic Theatre and Arts Centre Washington here.
The Rainy Day Corner.
If your house is anything like ours, then you no doubt have boxes of “same” toys. For us, we have an impressive collection of dinosaurs and cars. Even now, the toy cars are something all three of my children will get out and play with together.
They race cars around the sitting room. They race cars up the stairs. Occasionally we get the “car wash” out in the kitchen, and they sit for ages washing the cars in soapy water.
As the photo above suggests, why not see just how many of the “same” toys you have? Get someone to lie on the floor and place the toys (in our case cars) around their outline, so when they stand up it kind of looks like them. Of course, it’s a much funnier version of themselves.
What’s for tea.
Here’s our meal plan for this week. I always struggle to feel inspired writing the meal plan, so hopefully this might give you some inspiration, if you feel the same.
The Greek salad is actually one of my favourites at the moment. It is: falafel balls, rice, hummus, tomatoes, cucumber, feta and red pepper in a bowl. Steve likes to add cooked chicken to his. It just feels nice and summery, plus not as boring as a normal salad.
Have a gorgeous weekend, whatever you get up to. 🌷
Beth x