Planning for the Easter holidays

Your weekly round up from Northumberland, including a brilliant new playground and meal plans.

Happy Friday 🎉

I have just got home from the Northumberland Tourism Fair and the vibe was brilliant. Every stall holder seemed so positive and couldn’t wait to chat and share their story. I came away with pockets stuffed full of leaflets varying from walks with alpacas to boat trips around the Farne Islands. We really are so lucky to have all this on our doorstep, here in Northumberland.

This newsletter will land in your inboxes 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.

Spring has finally sprung and Northumberland is waking up, with new buds reminding us of what is yet to come. I love to get out exploring at this time of year as it isn’t quite as busy as the summer months, yet there is beauty on every walk.

Hadrian’s Wall

These are my top places to visit in spring:

• Whitehouse Farm - I know it is pretty pricey these days but I just love to bring the kids here. They have a special offer for Mother’s Day, where mums get in for free. Great opportunity to see some fluffy baby animals!

• Easter trail at Wallington Hall.

• The new Bamburgh Walled Garden is gorgeous. Watch my four year old review our visit. This is going to get really busy in the summer, so now is the perfect time to visit!

• The village of Rothbury is nestled in the Coquet Valley and is super gorgeous on a sunny spring day. Here is how I would spend the day in Rothbury.

• TWO Easter train rides for you to try - Hop (😉) along to Tyneside and Stephenson Steam Railway have a fun train ride complete with a visit from the Easter bunny and eggs. Or closer to home, Aln Valley Railway have an Easter weekend with a similar vibe: train rides, trails, play area and cafe.

• During the dark winter months, I often find myself daydreaming of jumping on a plane, chasing the winter sun. You too? Last year we went to Gran Canaria in February. I have since been asked if I recommend it as a destination and here is my honest opinion… if you are desperate for winter sun then yes. It’s a four hour flight so shorter than going long haul and I suppose a bit cheaper too. The weather was perfect and not as windy as nearby Lanzarote. However, if you can hold off until a bit later in the year, I think there are so many more beautiful destinations that you can reach in less than four hours. South of France, Spain, Italy etc… Read more.

The Rainy Day corner.

If you are bored of Playdoh, why not try using air drying clay instead? I much prefer this as you can make something that will last. It is super easy to use and you can also paint your creations once dry.

I use this one from Amazon.

You could make play cups, little people, stars, snowmen…the list is endless. Leave to dry for 24 hours (although if in a warm spot it does dry a lot quicker) then you can paint. Add glitter while still wet to make it extra special. At Christmas we use this to make gift tags so perhaps you could do something similar for Easter, little eggs or baskets perhaps.

We tried adding leaves to make the texture different, this is fine you just need to press them in to the clay a bit so they stick.

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.

I feel all our meals this week are still very much on the “comfort food” level. I’m looking forward to cooking some more summer recipes soon, once we start to see those warmer days.

Have a lovely weekend 🌷

Beth x