A festive visit to Leeds Castle

On Saturday we woke up to the most gorgeous wintry weather - blue skies, sunshine and a frost on the ground. These are my favourite kinds of days! What with the nice weather, Rob and I were keen on visiting somewhere in the countryside for a walk, but with Christmas only a matter of days away now we also wanted to do something festive. As we've been house hunting in Kent over the past few months we've enjoyed exploring more of the county, or should I say "the Garden of England" which could become our future home. Back in April we visited Hever Castle, which made for a brilliant day out {definitely worthy of a future blog post} but Leeds Castle still remained on my list. So we hopped in the car and drove down into Kent...

Leeds Castle is situated just outside Maidstone in Kent, so it's an easy enough journey from London.  Over 900 years old, Leeds Castle was once the stomping ground of King Henry VIII and is now, apparently, one of the 'most visited historic buildings in Britain'. I can definitely see why!

A December getaway: Oxford, Bicester, Bath & Bristol

Like I said in my This week's happiness post, I've been on annual leave this week. Sometimes there is just nothing better than a week away from work to relax and recharge and I have to say I feel so much better for it. Rob was due to work all week so I was conscious that if I was to stay at home in London I'd probably end up getting rather bored. I get itchy feet if I stay at home with no plans for much more than a day! So I took it upon myself to organise a little get-away, to spend a few days by myself visiting some loved ones and getting some Christmas shopping done! My best friend Jess went to uni in Oxford and now lives in Bicester, so I decided to start my adventure by visiting her. My sister lives in Bristol and works in Bath so I then decided to extend my trip and visit her afterwards.

So on Tuesday, I hopped on the Oxford Tube at Victoria for a pain-free journey westwards to Oxford. If you've never heard of the Oxford Tube, it's the most amazing coach service which runs every ten minutes from London Victoria (Buckingham Palace Road) to Oxford city centre. The coach prices are very reasonable and almost certainly cheaper than what National Rail charge for their train services. You're always guaranteed a seat on the Oxford Tube and the coaches are super comfy with WiFi and power sockets on board so you can charge your phone en route! It takes approximately 1 hour & 40 mins all in all, so I sat back, enjoyed a hot chocolate and listened to some music whilst enjoying the view out the window. Before I knew it I was in Oxford! I have some brilliant memories of being in this city, some with Jess (who I visited frequently during our good old uni days), some with other friends and some with my cousins who all grew up there. If you've never been to Oxford, then you must, you really must. It's definitely one of my favourite cities in the UK. It's small enough that you can wander around the centre pretty easily and become familiar with it, but big enough so that each time I visit I explore a bit more that I haven't seen before. Host to one of the world's leading universities, Oxford is rich in history and culture and is famous for it's beautiful colleges, libraries, churches and academic buildings. I can't put into words how quaint and beautiful it is - it just feels so English with it's yellow-stoned buildings and cobbled streets. Oxford has been used as the set to so many films and tv series... Harry Potter, The Golden Compass and Inspector Morse to name but a few. And despite how many times I've visited, this time I was wowed over at how lovely the city looks at Christmas time. There are lights everywhere! It was getting dark as I arrived so I wandered around the main shopping streets (Oxford is a great place to shop) and took the opportunity to take some photos...

This week's happiness

Things that have made me happy this week...

Mulled wine

I love a glass of mulled wine at this time of year. Especially on cold days like these as it's so warming. The smell of it is just so delicious and festive and it's a true sign that Christmas is just around the corner. Yesterday Rob and I enjoyed lunch and some mulled wine in one of our favourite local pubs, The Gypsy Moth. It's such a cosy pub and has been adorned with decorations and lit up with Christmas lights, the perfect place to relax during the afternoon.

Recipe: The ultimate homemade burgers

Homemade burgers always get the thumbs up in our home... infact any meal that does not require a knife and fork goes down an absolute treat, there's something about using your hands and getting a bit messy whilst you eat isn't there?! Rob is a total burger-a-holic and has slowly been making his way down the Burgaffair List of Best Burgers in London (check it out, amazing blog!) but there's something comforting about making your own food and knowing exactly what's in it. Especially since I've been trying to be as healthy as possible this past year, I much prefer to know exactly what's in my food - I hate the thought of all the additives, preservatives and stabilizers they put in supermarket food to keep it fresh for longer. I'd rather cook from scratch. We buy most of our meat from Smithfield Market - the best and largest wholesale market in the UK, which I promise I will blog about soon because it's quite simply amazing! You can be sure to buy good quality meat there, at very reasonable prices.

If you've always bought shop-bought burgers because you've been under the impression that homemade burgers are expensive and a nuisance to make, then you couldn't have been more wrong! They're so simple to make and don't take any longer to make than it would do to cook a spag-bol. After attempting various different homemade burger recipes we've created our own... and trust me it's a goodun. They turn out amazing every single time - they're so yummy and juicy. So I'd love to share the recipe with you. Sure, these burgers are not perfectly round or neat looking but I think this adds to their rustic, homemade feel. Are you feeling the love for homemade burgers yet?!