MEAL OUT: The Crown (Tur Langton)

Mum took us and Sally out to celebrate a win on the premium bonds, and very nice it was too. Rose and I both had half a chicken and chips, which was huge and delicious. I also had a side of pepper sauce which goes surprisingly well with chicken, but is rarely available.

For pudding Rose had a very big slice of white chocolate cheesecake, which was very nice, and I had a very sizeable chunk of fudge cake, which was extremely nice, but so rich I couldn't eat it all.

Prices were so cheap, mains were £6.50 and puddings were £4.50, which is ludicrous for the quality of the food served and makes a mockery of lots of places we've been.

DAY OUT: Calke Abbey (Derbyshire)

Calke Abbey is an odd one, left unrestored since it was taken over by the National Trust in the 1980s some of it is literally rooms full of junk, while some of it is more what you'd expect from a stately home. There's a huge amount of taxidermy, including a grand hall (with a snooker table in it) that had thirteen stag heads on the walls, plus a load more sets of antlers.

So the inside of the house was slightly underwhelming, but the grounds were quite extensive and we managed a 90m walk before lunch and could have done the same again out the other side of the house if we'd had the energy.

No Chatsworth then, but not bad. I just think that if you are going to a Stately Home, then you want to be in awe of the opulence, and this certainly doesn't have that wow factor.

Kate Spade bag becomes an ornament!

MEAL OUT: Mill Street (Oakham)

This was our first time eating here, though we did visit once before for a drink after we had eaten at the 'Hornblower' (or whatever it's called). Very nice surroundings, they've obviously spent a lot of money getting that right (perhaps they could have spent a tad more money on some slightly more comfortable chairs - just a little more padding required), and it was nice sitting in the conservatory bit.
Food was good, I chose a steak and kidney pie and swapped the horseradish mash for chips. The pie smelled rank when I opened it, but I realised it was just the kidneys and once I had removed them it was fine. I'm really not used to steak and kidney pie actually having kidneys in it, as mental as that sounds. Rose had the burger which looked nice, and came with a mountain of fries and crunchy 'slaw.
For pudding we both had Bakewell Tart with white chocolate ice cream, which was nice if unspectacular, Su took a risk on the Pimms Cheesecake and said it tasted of nothing much at all.