Spending May Day with Shakespeare

A few weeks ago we had a rare night away & visited Shakespeare Country.

We loved it so much that we travelled back to Warwickshire Two weeks later as Mary Arden's Farm was celebrating May Day.

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We had just finished learning about The Tudor's so this was a perfect way to end the topic & inspire the children to know & learn more about William Shakespeare.

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Mary Arden's Farm has so much charm & history,

 you feel like you are walking back in time.

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Carding wool.

These two little girls love to get involved in crafts.

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The rear of Palmers Farmhouse.

There is always something cooking on the hearth in this farmhouse.

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All the Tudor costumes were wonderful.

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Cooking Tudor Pottage.

I brought home a wonderful little book with some lovely Tudor recipes in which we have had several times since our trip.

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A basket of Tudor supplies.

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The farmhouse kitchen.

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I loved all the woodenware.

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Goose Herding.

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Sweet Spring lambs at the farm.

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Kitty made a friend.

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Anne Hathaway's Cottage & gardens.

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Upstairs in one of the bedrooms.

It was wonderful seeing all the old pieces of oak furniture.

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The beautiful scullery in Anne Hathaway's cottage.

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Tulip Time in the cottage garden.

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The twins loved this garden with all the paths, nooks and crannies.

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The girls outside Shakespeare's Birthplace in Stratford Upon Avon.

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One of the downstairs rooms.

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This house is Halls Croft which was the home of Shakespeare's daughter Susanna,

 she was married to a doctor.

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The kitchen in Halls Croft.

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We loved all these old houses in Stratford & the surrounding villages.

The staff were wonderful & we learnt so much from them.

Our tickets last for a year so we will go back many times.

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May Day in England.

We love to study old traditions so after learning about May Day in England many years ago we once again travelled to Stratford upon Avon to Mary Arden's Farm.

There was so much to do there from making flower garlands to bringing in the May Pole.

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Dancing round the Tudor May Pole.

Cooking a May Day meal in Palmer's Farmhouse at Mary Arden's Farm.

The twins made some beautiful flower wreaths for their hair at the farm.

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There are so many activities you can do at the farm.

The girl's also did Tudor weaving & braiding & they made Gingerbread.

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Smelling the herbs in the farmhouse garden.

The girls are planning their own herb garden.

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Hand weaved basket outside the farmhouse.

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The Tudor May Day meal.

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During the meal they told you all about Tudor manners and customs.

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Mary & Danny joined in a Shakespeare play at his birthplace in the afternoon.

Mary has been truly inspired by Shakespeare & came home with a pile of books.

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There are five museums all run by The Shakespeare Trust.

They were all wonderful with so much to see & do.

I hope you all had a lovely May Day & are enjoying the last days of Spring in your part of the world.

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Thank you dear readers for all your lovely comments.

A few followers have asked for recipes on Instagram which I will post on my next blog post. I just had so many photos of the Shakespeare homes.

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Fondly Michelle

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Springtime is Nearly Here.

New life is shooting up all around us here in the English Countryside this time of year.

It's beautiful to see all those little strong bulbs pushing through the frosty earth wanting to put on their show of colour to welcome in the Spring. 
I always know when the warmer weather is on it's way as the Rooks return to the rookery in the spindly pines at the end of our garden. They are busy building their nest's, I have never seen a more busier bird at the task of nest building.

The villages hedgerow are filled with an abundance of things if you take a while & look closely. The girl's have been doing a weekly nature journal which is not only teaching them but me too. 

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Mary studying the Lesser Colendine which we discovered on one of our nature walk's.

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Birds have come back to the cottage garden to sing their sweet morning song, warm day's do not seem that far away. These day's hold many thought's of flower's & our vegetable garden. The girl's have their own idea's of what they would like to do & grow in the garden, I love to watch them blossom with their imagination & thought's.

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Cottage days are filled with nature walk's, baking, gardening & learning.
Each day holds a new experience.
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Kitty on one of our weekly nature walks, that week was looking for signs of nesting bird's.
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We follow Lynn Seddon's Exploring Nature with Children.
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www.raisinglittleshoots.com
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It's a perfect balance between outside work & written work.
The girl's are doing their journal's in the style of Edith Holden.
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Sidney turned fourteen at the end of February.

He chose Chocolate Cake with as many treat's as I could get on the cake, he always chooses Chocolate Cake.

I rarely get a photo of these two boy's, Danny will be 16 in May I can't believe how the time has flown.

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I finished another 1930's Bow Scarf for the twin's beautiful pen friend in America.

This little girl love the 1930's.

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Custard Pie & two Apple Crumb Pie's.

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Now that the hen's are starting to lay more egg's Custard Pie is ideal to use them up in.

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Recipe for the Custard Pie I make.

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Combine 1/2 cup of sugar

3 egg's

2 cups of milk

Mix these ingredient's with a hand whisk for a few minute's.

Then pour in to a pie case.

Sprinkle top with nutmeg & bake for around 40 minutes at 350 o

I find this recipe quick to mix up.

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I helped the twins make themselves a skirt each out of an old skirt of mine.

They are so happy with the end result & they love practicing their sewing skills.

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Spring flowers are popping up all around our village.

These were blooming on our nature walk last week.

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Apricot cake for tea & one for the freezer.

I like to have a few cakes in the freezer in case of emergencies.

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Hand crocheted dishcloths.

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Oatmeal & Chocolate Chip Brownies.

I used The Amish Cook's recipe from The Amish Cook's Baking Book.

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My love of antique linen's.

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An empty farm worker's cottage on one of our walks around our village.

I love to look inside & see glimpses of the former occupant's.

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It has the same window's as our cottage.

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Beautiful fireplace.

Each room has a faded glory to it.

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Old coat hooks in the round porch.

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Entrance way.

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Another old fireplace with Art Deco tiles.

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Beauty found in old age.

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The front of the cottage with round porch.

Around the property are beautiful old apple tree's.

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I love to make pie's from the many Amish cook book's I have.

One of our favourite's is Lemon Sponge Pie from The Amish Cook Baking Book. This is one of my favourite cook book's.

The twin's made some little jam tart's with the left over pastry.

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Pumpkin & Chocolate Chip Cookies.

These were very healthy, the children loved them so we will be making them again.

The recipe is from Thy Hand has Provided Cook Book.

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http://www.thyhandhathprovided.com/

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Barm Cakes.

These are a very soft roll popular in the North of England.

We ate them with homemade Leek & Potato Soup.

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The girl's love to bake & quite often take over from me.

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I hope you all have a beautiful early Spring.

Thank you dear reader's for all kind comment's, I feel so blessed to have you all following me.

Fondly Michelle

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