Hampshire mini-break - Day 1 - Petworth House and Gardens

Last week, Tom and I went on a mini-break to Hampshire. Although Hampshire isn't particularly far from our house in East Sussex, we wanted to fill our days with as many adventures as we possibly could, and therefore decided to stay in a local B&B. 

We recently became members of the National Trust, and decided to stop off at a few NT places on our way to Hampshire (members of the National Trust apparently refer to it as "NT" - makes me feel like part of an exclusive club, where everyone is wearing matching cagoules...). We ended up spending most of the day at Petworth House and Gardens because it turned out to be ruddy brilliant, and Petworth town is absolutely beautiful too. 

We had lunch in one of the nicest cafes I've been to in my entire life- it's called Tiffins Tearoom, and I honestly can't recommend it enough. If you're ever near Petworth (or don't mind driving a long way for a lovely lunch!) please go and check this place out. The owners were absolutely brilliant; unbelievably friendly and welcoming, and said "Well done, team" when we managed to eat all of our cake! :) 

Tiffins Tearoom. I was tempted to hide under the table and stay forever

We had this. It was EPIC. 

It's days out like this that make me so glad someone came up with digital photography- as developing the 150-odd photographs I took throughout the day would cost an absolute fortune if they'd been on film! The kitchens in particular were stunning; I just couldn't stop taking pictures of all the shiny copper jelly moulds and wacky antique packaging. 

I've uploaded a few of my favourite photos from Petworth below, and might pop an extra one or two up on my flickr account soon too. My favourite fact of the day is that I've been unknowingly eating Royally Appointed mustard.

After spending so much time eating scones walking round Petworth gardens photographing huge dragonflies, we only managed a quick stroll round the grounds of Hinton Ampner on the way to our B&B - but saw lots of nice plants (including their "Plant of the Week"- brilliant!) and some sheep. Always a winner. 

Our room at the B&B was absolutely beautiful- I never got round to taking a photograph, but I've pinched the one below off of their website. Beam-tastic, eh? 

I'm planning to put up a post on the rest of our holiday later in the week- so keep your peepers peeled :)

Katie xx

P.S. A big smiley "welcome" to my new followers- thank you all very much for reading my blog, and please do let me know what you think :)