Easter Saturday at Tatton

On Easter Saturday we headed to Tatton Park, one of our favourite places. There always seems to be things to do there, whether enjoying the park or one of the events. This time there was a craft fair and, of course, chocolate themed activities for the children. A giant Lindt bunny greeted everyone.

The weather forecasters had promised sunshine and there was a row of big yellow suns for the whole day on the BBC web site. I have to say that it was actually rather chilly, cloudy and grey and I spent much of the day wishing I'd put a thicker jumper on. We didn't let that stop us with our plans though. After a tour round the craft fair, making a mental note of things to go back for later, we headed towards the farm.

Our route took us past this carpet of green alkanet.

So pretty. The flowers are very forget-me-not like.

Something else that is very pretty is the farmhouse. I dream of living in a house like this, though in my dream there aren't endless streams of tourists walking by and taking photographs.

The farm has the same lovely bricks and dark red paintwork.

On the way down to the farm we saw this wood carving of a sow and piglets. However, these were the only baby piglets we saw as the litters had been born a couple of months ago.

There were lots of fully grown pigs to see though, most of which were fast asleep or eating. Lancelot was snoring loudly.

Myrtle, meanwhile, fell asleep while we watched. Someone next to us commented that she has a face 'only a mother could love'!

Something we weren't expecting to see was an exhibition of drawings by Kim Lewis. Lovely and delicate drawings. Little Baa was the theme for the children's Easter trail.

His namesake was in the farmyard being fed from a bottle and petted by everyone. They have three lambs which are being hand-reared. It amused us that one of the instructions on the information leaflet was 'Do not kiss the animals' but, if I'd been able to cuddle one, I don't think I could have resisted covering it in kisses!

I'd have been less likely to kiss a chicken, though I did admire the colourful feathers on this cockerel.

We were fascinated by the ball of feathers on the head of this crested duck. It looks like a strange growth or a creature hitching a ride.

This female had one too - very odd-looking.

In the forge, a blacksmith was demonstrating how to make a horseshoe. It's a pity we couldn't get a bit closer to the fire to warm up.

Finally, there was a wonderful smell of leather in the tack room.

By this point we were getting hungry, so we headed back to sit in the car for soup and sandwiches - it was too chilly for us to sit on the grass though it didn't deter hardier souls.

Refreshed and with tummies full, it was time for a walk in the woods.

More lambs were spotted in the next field.

Full of the joys of spring!

In the woods there was still a lot of foliage to appear.

And we were surprised and disappointed to find hardly any bluebells - just this small patch.

Lots of bracken is starting to unfurl though.

And that was our day. We did head back to the craft fair to pick up a couple of treats before heading for home.

Top of the list were these cakes from The Little Round Cake Company. On the left we have lemon and blueberry cheesecake, and on the right, sticky toffee pudding. The latter was divine!

We also treated ourselves to some pies: Pork & Stilton, Dark chocolate & chilli beef, and Pork with a cheesy crumb topping from The Crusty Pie Company. The two pork pies were very nice but let's just say the chocolate/chilli beef is an acquired taste.

Today has been a gorgeous, warm and sunny day and it tempted us out into the woods again, though this time closer to home: I'll show you some piccies at some point. I still have one day left before it's back to work. Fingers crossed we have another lovely day. x