rufford abbey

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On the Home Front – Rufford Abbey

Yesterday I went off on a big adventure..

I needed a day with no obligations, no distractions, away from social media and technology (apart from my £10 camera), so I walked a mile to the bus stop and caught the Sherwood Arrow to Rufford Abbey Country Park where a 1940s ‘On the Home Front’ weekend was taking place.

I don’t know what I was expecting but I certainly wasn’t prepared for a traffic jam of cars waiting to get in, stretching back over a mile and thousands of people. It seems since I have been away, 1940s re-enactment weekends have become VERY popular! I’m not complaining!!!

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The day was AMAZING! AMAZING, AMAZING, A-M-A-Z-I-N-G !!! The event was extremely well put together by ‘Event Plan’  http://www.eventplan.co.uk/ , the location, Rufford Abbey was perfect and the attendance and participation by the public and re-enactors and retailers was top class. I even bumped into Facebook friends Mr & Mrs D and had a lovely chin wag!

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I’m probably going to be posting various details, video clips and photos over the coming weeks but for now I hope you enjoy my slideshow on YouTube..

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There was a perfect end to the day too..

As I walked away, through the trees to the main road to catch my bus a Spitfire flew over and came back again and I saw it, in all its glory, for several moments.

The bus was late and after a long day on my feet, sat in the bus shelter. Before long, two Land Army Girls joined me and then two elderly gentlemen and we had such a good chat about the war, about cars and aeroplanes and events I should attend or places I should go to.

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The Sherwood Arrow pulled in 25 minutes late but it was the first time in my life I was happy that a bus didn’t turn up on time.

In my excitement I had forgotten to eat my jam sandwiches and as the breeze whooshed through the bus as we whizzed along the country roads back to urban living, I felt very contented indeed.

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PS I got straight in contact with UK Home Front  http://www.ukhomefront.co.uk  who did some wonderful displays at Rufford Abbey over the weekend. I’ve asked them if I can join their group next year and participate in events. I’d love to do some displays on food and rationing! Keeping my fingers crossed!

C xxxxxxx

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Saturday – Food diary

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I’m off out somewhere exciting tomorrow. To the ‘On the Home-Front‘ event at Rufford Abbey!  I’ll be walking and catching a bus and taking sandwiches with me to enjoy spending 4 or 5 hours walking around with my jaw dragging along the ground…. so there won’t be a food diary tomorrow but there WILL be photos!

I’ve had a very satisfying food menu today.  As usual I started off with 2 oz (measured dry) of porridge oats made with water and sweetened with 1 teaspoon of summer berry jam (watered down with a few teaspoons of boiling water) drizzled over the top.

 

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For lunch I had one of may favourite quickies and that was two slices of bread, spread with margarine and sprinkled with a few dry herbs and salt and gently browned in a pan and served with ripe, sliced tomato

 

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I’m trying to perfect my Lord Woolton Pie recipe for the 1940s Supper Club. Not so much the recipe itself but how much I’d need to cook to feed 10 people and what could I prepare the day before and just how much washing up there will be!! Today’s pie was very tasty and I served it with a thick gravy.

 

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For pudding I had what is called ‘Coconut Cream’ and I bought some raspberries at the vegetable market this morning so sprinkled a few of those on. It was surprisingly quite delicious!

 

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FINALLY.. I made myself a t-shirt for the ‘On the Home Front’ event tomorrow. It would have been lovely to get all dressed up for the event but as I live in t-shirts and yoga pants and my only 1940s vintage style dress is still 3 sizes too small, the least I could do was wear some wartime propaganda style attire.

It was easy! A cheap black t-shirt and some t-shirt transfer paper and a quick print off of my favourite iconic image.

“WE CAN DO IT..”

Have a lovely evening. See you tomorrow

C xxxx