Staveley Nature Reserve

Well, we have had a very active Sunday. We started the day with a swim at the local pool. I don't know about you, but swimming makes me so hungry and it is always so tempting to go for a fry up on the way home, but that kind of defeats the point of the swim so we resisted and went home for some wholemeal falafal pitta bread, which we enjoyed in the garden. 

I then decided I wanted to make some carrot, cranberry and almond muffins, I hardly ever make muffins but these came out great and were really easy, totally going to start making more muffins! 

As it was such a beautiful day we thought it would be nice to go for a walk, Mike has wanted to check out Staveley Nature Reserve for a while (he's a bit of a secret twitcher!), so we made up a flask of tea and a couple of fresh muffins and headed off. The reserve was beautiful and it was a glorious day, we walked around for nearly two and half hours, looking at the birds, butterflies, dragonfly, bunnies and donkeys! It looked like an Autumn walk, berries were in abundance in the head row and the leaves have begun to change, however it felt like mid summer, it was a strange feeling and I would like to go back there for a crisp winter walk. 

 We enjoyed our muffins and tea in a hideout and by the end of the walk had worked up our appetites again and enjoyed a roast dinner at the Staveley pub, The Royal Oak. I'm tried and full but have had a lovely, simple, humble Sunday and now I'm chilling out with a little Doctor Who as I write this post! Hope you had a great Sunday too!