Easter Sunday at Blickling, Norfolk

The hottest place in the UK on Easter Sunday was the North East. The region was awash with sunshine and everyone was happily skipping around in short sleeves. I know this thanks to my smug sunglasses wearing friends on Facebook.

You see I wasn't in the North East, I was in Norfolk where the skies were thick with cloud and there was a Winter like nip in the air. 

Not wanting to let my Geordie friends back home have all the fun I insisted we had an Easter Sunday adventure and took my beautiful Joules coat on its first outing. Even if we weren't going to see the sun at least we were guaranteed to see something bright and yellow! 

We decided to head to the Blickling Estate, a National Trust property just outside Aylsham.  It was the closest National Trust site to my Norfolk home so somewhere I used to drive to quite a lot when I wanted a peaceful escape. So I was excited to share it with Simon for the first time. 

Forever thinking with our bellies our first priority was heading to the Muddy Boots Café for a spot of lunch. With an Easter egg hunt on to entertain the kids, Blickling was the busiest I've ever seen and I was feeling a little ratty standing in a rather long queue for food (never get between Chloe and her food!). I was so relieved when thanks to the amazing National Trust staff the line moved really fast and we even managed to find ourselves a table.

We both opted for sausage rolls which were served hot and we enjoyed smothered in tomato sauce. I have to admit I wasn't expecting much but we were both delighted by how tasty they were.

Washed down with a huge Mocha (Simon) and a generous pot of tea (me) we may have also been tempted into something chocolatey to share after.

The chocolate scones served with chocolate spread were a real treat and having left our Easter eggs at home we felt entitled to stuff our faces with something naughty. 

After all that delicious food we definitely needed to get back into the fresh outdoors to wake ourselves up so we took a little walk to take a look at the outside of the stunning Blickling Hall. 

I have been for a snoop around inside before but if I'm trying to save pennies I'm more than happy to appreciate the house from the outside - it's a stunner!

Blickling is such a great place to head if you're on a budget as you can enjoy the Park and Lake for free so we headed for a nice walk to burn off a little of our lunch. 

It was very chilly walking round the Lake but we kept ourselves warm with the walk, stopping every now and again to see what we could spot in the water.

Simon likes to insist that he doesn't like adventures but he's always the first to dive around with the camera snapping away at the wildlife. 

This time he became a little obsessed with hunting for frogs after realising loads were chilling out in the reeds. Every time he saw a reed twitch or heard them calling to each other he was enthusiastically leaning over the water to see what he could see. I will admit I was a little nervous about my DSLR camera ending up in the lake.

Despite the walk being a little Winter like we had a lovely time out in the fresh air and the distant giggle of kids hunting out Easter eggs on the Blickling Estate were a nice reminder that it's Spring.

As we finished our loop of the Lake, with slightly cold hands and pink cheeks, we returned to the car tired, happy and still slightly regretting our decision to leave our Easter eggs at home. 

I'd love to know how you spent your Easter Sunday.