I've just returned from a well deserved break away, it was very much needed and after just 4 days in the Suffolk countryside, I feel like I've had a week away. My partner in camping crime joined me for a camp out at our favourite (and extremely peaceful) campsite at
"Bailiffs Cottage" very close to Hollesley Bay.
Our tent and all the annual camping gibbons did us proud yet again, with an array of folding chairs, a table, gas cooker, portable washing up station and my luxurious inflatable bed, I can still live in relative comfort whilst roughing it for a few nights haha -
who says camping has to be rustic?! This stunning & homely cottage has equally beautiful landscaped gardens complete with vegetable patches between tent and caravan pitches, so your neighbours are a good jog away and you can even purchase home grown courgettes, cucumbers and freshly laid eggs daily,
it's a winner.
Said eggs were purchased for some of our planned meals and the gorgeous yellow yolk in the middle just shows how awful our supermarket eggs can be, a truly delicious addition to our full English breakfast on our last day. We purchased a little gas cooker last year and until now, had not used it, so I had been super organised and planned some
tent-friendly meals for us to enjoy. And enjoy we did, with little stress, which was an added bonus.
We went for
Halloumi and salad with some fresh baguette from Two Magpies Bakery in Southwold which was so simple, but delicious. An old childhood favourite of mine also made an appearance in the form of
eggy bread and tommy k, my dad used to make this for me when I camped as a child, so this was great to recreate and show him photos of when we got to see him on our return. We also managed
campsite pasta carbonara and even a full on BBQ in between showers with Suffolk-sourced sausages and corn on the cob brushed with a little butter, followed by
marshmallows toasted on skewers. We did get a little bored after a few mallows, so started trying to aim at each others' mouths with these sugary fiends, making a hilarious
slapping noise as we threw and missed one anothers' mouths, a great game carried out with popcorn too
for any kids out there. 
Yorkshire Tea had also been extremely kind following a recent Twitter conversation and we had a tremendous amount of fun coming up with different ways to enjoy
their disposable cups between brews - we managed to find many uses for these handy cups, including
make-shift cereal and pasta bowls when we realised these had been forgotten,
mixing eggs, brewing tea (obviously),
holding melted marshmallows in for a makeshift dessert and even perfectly shaped for
spider catching....as we were camped next to a pond, we managed to be attracting some
"Harry Potter-esque" beasts which put the frighteners (and waterworks on me every time I had one above my head!) on us both each time we spotted one scuttling around our feet -
caravaners have got it so much easier! 
The campsite facilities are pleasant and include no hot, stinky portaloos here, there's a very clean cabin in the middle of the garden with toilet and shower facilities. The shower costs you 50p for 15 minutes and never has there been such a
military operation between two of you to get your money's worth, very amusing to the many flies on the wall, I'm sure! Also the only place you can go in the middle of the night when nature calls, but beware, if like me you are petrified of moths and don't wish to alarm the rest of the campsite with your
"about to be murdered" screams, turn the light off for best results.
A lack of hair drying and straightening facilities whilst camping is also an education to a gal who doesn't believe that she's
that high maintenance, you really do learn how to live in the trenches on this sort of holiday, it's an eye opener. I'm not much of a girl when it comes to clothes and makeup, but I do make it up on the girly stakes when it comes to bugs, I spent a large proportion of our resting time chasing bugs, flies, frogs and Mosquitos with a dustpan and brush, much to the amusement of my camping buddy and I still managed to get bitten once on the bottom of each foot so that I could barely walk the last day... I
did enjoy my holiday (spoken through gritted teeth), I promise!
Not only these bites, but I came away with lots of other happy memories and souvenirs, including a
ritualistic stone throwing session at Shingle Street beach, the
best ever hot chocolate and peanut butter brownie on Southwold Pier between rain clouds, a bottle of amusing Voss "artisan water" (gotta love the
"I saw you coming shops" in Aldeburgh ; ) and a
new love of Hydrangeas thanks to a stunning display in a milk jug on the yummy mummy table at the
Pump Street Bakery in Orford after our bomb-filled walk on Orford Ness (well worth a hop over on the National Trust boat for the day of history and bleak walks) amongst other things.
Now to pack away the torches and well thumbed stack of
Batman UNO playing cards until the next time... For my full photo album from my holiday & food & drink-based shenanigans (should you be as nosey as I can be ; ) then
do click here.
Our tent and all the annual camping gibbons did us proud yet again, with an array of folding chairs, a table, gas cooker, portable washing up station and my luxurious inflatable bed, I can still live in relative comfort whilst roughing it for a few nights haha - who says camping has to be rustic?! This stunning & homely cottage has equally beautiful landscaped gardens complete with vegetable patches between tent and caravan pitches, so your neighbours are a good jog away and you can even purchase home grown courgettes, cucumbers and freshly laid eggs daily, it's a winner. 
Said eggs were purchased for some of our planned meals and the gorgeous yellow yolk in the middle just shows how awful our supermarket eggs can be, a truly delicious addition to our full English breakfast on our last day. We purchased a little gas cooker last year and until now, had not used it, so I had been super organised and planned some tent-friendly meals for us to enjoy. And enjoy we did, with little stress, which was an added bonus. 
We went for Halloumi and salad with some fresh baguette from Two Magpies Bakery in Southwold which was so simple, but delicious. An old childhood favourite of mine also made an appearance in the form of eggy bread and tommy k, my dad used to make this for me when I camped as a child, so this was great to recreate and show him photos of when we got to see him on our return. We also managed campsite pasta carbonara and even a full on BBQ in between showers with Suffolk-sourced sausages and corn on the cob brushed with a little butter, followed by marshmallows toasted on skewers. We did get a little bored after a few mallows, so started trying to aim at each others' mouths with these sugary fiends, making a hilarious slapping noise as we threw and missed one anothers' mouths, a great game carried out with popcorn too for any kids out there. 
Yorkshire Tea had also been extremely kind following a recent Twitter conversation and we had a tremendous amount of fun coming up with different ways to enjoy their disposable cups between brews - we managed to find many uses for these handy cups, including make-shift cereal and pasta bowls when we realised these had been forgotten, mixing eggs, brewing tea (obviously), holding melted marshmallows in for a makeshift dessert and even perfectly shaped for spider catching....as we were camped next to a pond, we managed to be attracting some "Harry Potter-esque" beasts which put the frighteners (and waterworks on me every time I had one above my head!) on us both each time we spotted one scuttling around our feet - caravaners have got it so much easier! 
The campsite facilities are pleasant and include no hot, stinky portaloos here, there's a very clean cabin in the middle of the garden with toilet and shower facilities. The shower costs you 50p for 15 minutes and never has there been such a military operation between two of you to get your money's worth, very amusing to the many flies on the wall, I'm sure! Also the only place you can go in the middle of the night when nature calls, but beware, if like me you are petrified of moths and don't wish to alarm the rest of the campsite with your "about to be murdered" screams, turn the light off for best results. 
A lack of hair drying and straightening facilities whilst camping is also an education to a gal who doesn't believe that she's that high maintenance, you really do learn how to live in the trenches on this sort of holiday, it's an eye opener. I'm not much of a girl when it comes to clothes and makeup, but I do make it up on the girly stakes when it comes to bugs, I spent a large proportion of our resting time chasing bugs, flies, frogs and Mosquitos with a dustpan and brush, much to the amusement of my camping buddy and I still managed to get bitten once on the bottom of each foot so that I could barely walk the last day... I did enjoy my holiday (spoken through gritted teeth), I promise! 
Not only these bites, but I came away with lots of other happy memories and souvenirs, including a ritualistic stone throwing session at Shingle Street beach, the best ever hot chocolate and peanut butter brownie on Southwold Pier between rain clouds, a bottle of amusing Voss "artisan water" (gotta love the "I saw you coming shops" in Aldeburgh ; ) and a new love of Hydrangeas thanks to a stunning display in a milk jug on the yummy mummy table at the Pump Street Bakery in Orford after our bomb-filled walk on Orford Ness (well worth a hop over on the National Trust boat for the day of history and bleak walks) amongst other things. 
Now to pack away the torches and well thumbed stack of Batman UNO playing cards until the next time... For my full photo album from my holiday & food & drink-based shenanigans (should you be as nosey as I can be ; ) then do click here. 
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