cream teas – the joy of five

Every year a wonderful house in the pretty village of Chipstead in Surrey opens its grounds to allow the local flower show and fun run to take place.

This is always a favourite for our family as it feels like a step back in time with a traditional brass band, coconut shys, cream teas and Pimms tent.

We took a wonder around the gardens of the owners grand home and had a look at his collection of exquisite classic cars that number four wanted to have a drive in!

Next stop was a jump around on the bouncy castle, trying our hand at the tombola, a successful throw on the coconut shy and some cupcake making.

We had a pit stop and endulged in a scrummy cream tea whist listening to the fabulous brass band.

It really feels like you are on the set of something like the ‘Darling Buds Of May’.

There are lots of games and shows put on in the centre of the main field and plenty of stalls selling lovingly handcrafted goods, flowers and lots of yummy food.

We saved the show tent until last and left the little ones outside with my Dad so I could have a good look around without the worry of one of them destroying someone’s entry that they would have put so much time and effort into.

My Mum was a keen flower arranger many years ago and I am really getting into photography do next year we are thinking about entering ourselves!!

Our family all love fruit and we especially love our annual fruit picking trip.

Today was perfect weather for it so we set off to Flowers Farm in Godstone to start our day.

I only had the two little ones today so it was easier to keep an eye on the amount of fruit that was going into the mouths rather than the baskets!

Number four was quite reserved and only snuck a few, number five on the other hand didn’t get the concept at all and had to have his basket removed!

We got a fabulous crop of strawberries, raspberries and cherries and had a fantastic time running around the fields trying to find the best fruit.

Once we were all done we had a short drive up the road to the newly opened Oldpost.

I had been a while ago and had a beautiful Valentines afternoon tea here and wanted to take my parents and Sister as I knew it would be right up their street.

They were not disappointed as we walked into the beautiful, serene courtyard and picked a table by a tranquil water feature.

To my Sister’s delight they had a Wimbeldon themed menu which consisted of a scrumptious scone with cream and jam and a glass of processo or Pimms.

The staff were extremely welcoming and even though the setting was wonderful they were more than happy to accommodate my two over active little ones!

My Sister made a new best friend when she received a complementary top up on her prosecco.

Tummies full and slightly tipsy we had a walk around to see what else Oldpost had to offer. There is a wonderfully stocked gift shop perfect for something a little different, a light and airy studio which offers a wide range of exercise classes and also classes for little ones; plus a beauty room offering a good array of very reasonable priced treatments.