Spring has sprung and Mothering Sunday is nearly upon us.

Remember when all you needed was a small bunch of primroses to present to mummy when you came home from church? How simple life was.

Today, you’re likely already overwhelmed by the commercial card makers, busily arranging gifts for your own ma and mother-in-law, and twitching slightly at the thought of the devastation in your kitchen come Sunday morning.

Never fear, we’re here to help.

Firstly, may we suggest that you start Sunday with a reviving Elderflower cordial? Packed with floral flavour, it’s the perfect way to add sparkle to your day. (Plus it’s infinitely easier for others to make than a decent cup of tea!).

Next, demand your well-earned moment of peace and quiet. Tell everyone you’re busy relaxing. And you can’t possibly be interrupted. Remember, mother knows best.

Which is precisely the theme of this month’s competition.

Mother knows best

We want your nuggets of priceless knowledge. The advice that only mothers can give. And those thrift tips that have been passed down generations to save you time and money.

So what did your mother teach you? What can you share with others to help ease the workload this Mother’s Day? Perhaps it’s thrifty, nifty or plain silly – either way, we’d love you to tell us about it. Pop your suggestions in the comments below.

We’ll send the two entries that appeal to us most a truly lovely stripy mug set from legendary Cornishware producer TG Green. We’ve got one set for the boys and one set for the girls to give away. Perfecting for trying our range of delicious cordials with hot water.

Oh, and you’ll find those ever-riveting competition terms and conditions here.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Here at Belvoir Fruit Farms, we’ve been trawling through your Great Scot! competition entries. My, they are impressive!

We’ve loved reading your poems and donning the correct accents to deduce the hidden meanings. And it’s been terribly difficult choosing the winners from the forty-one tickling and touching entries. Pats on the back all round for your efforts.

Sadly, there can only be five winners. So without further ado, here are those fantastic five. Congratulations – your Ginger Cordial will be posted very soon.

Beverley kicks us off with this ditty from Derbyshire.

Ey up, mi duck, ah’s it gooin? Arta rate?
Ah’m jus’ in me way fer a trawl up Bath Strait,
Sundee dinner, termorrer, if I ain’t got a badly rabbit,
So up ter market for nobby greens, as is me ‘abit,
Call in ter Bailey’s, gerra nice chunk o’ pork,
An ov’er t’ Copper Kettle ter gerrova t’walk,
Dahn t get me ‘Appy Liza from John’s News,
Might tret mesen ter a bag o’ peppermint chews,
Back dahn ter bottom, past owd swimmin baths,
Remember when it wer theer? We did ay some laughs,
Call in t’chippy for fish n mix wrapped,
Eight quid, ‘e’s askin’, I must be ‘afe tapped,
Berra then cookin; though, when yer stuffed from that ‘ill,
Eyup! Is this me bus? Nah, this un’s gooin’ ter Mill,
Theer’s my bus, stuck up be’ind it,
See yer agen, duck, and if it ain’t lost yer won’t find it!

Next up is Jill with this delight from Dundee.

We bide in a toon thats cried Dundee
Its a braw wee place tae be
If ye’re a culture vulture we hae the airts
Wir universities hae fowk fae a the pairts
Theres twa fitba teams an the hame o The Dandy
A totty wee airport thats affy handy
Theres a train station, an buses an a
An we looked affy bonny when we were covered in sna.

Gemma from Bradford was picked for her rhythm and rhyme

T’was Bradford I wer’ born n bread, Mi ma n fatha too,
Wi back t’ backs n high rise flats n a sky of grey not blue,
A town a closed down factories, yet Bradford holds me heart,
cos that is where me family is, of which Bradford feels a part

Laura made us chuckle with an inspired second verse

I’m from Warrington, mate, I cannot lie,
It’s a town’a strange iden-it-i an’ I’ll tell yer why,

We’re arf way from Manchest-oh,
Arf way from the ‘Pool,
So when 50%’s saying ‘our kid’,
The other ‘arfs calming down and playin’ it keewl.

It’s rightly called the Warring-town,
Cos our scallies, they like ta fight.
But the Norf west’s God’s own country,
So don’t take the mickey mate, only I’ve got that right!

Emma is our final winner with this gem about Gloucester

Glawster’s got old spot, rugger and beer
So catch the next buz and we’ll see yous ‘ere.
Walk the via sacra, it aint that far,
An’ bring ya babby ‘cos its safe from them cars.
See the cathedral mind, we’re famous for that,
‘Arry Potter wuz filmed there and that’s a fact.
We wuz ‘oping he’d use ‘is magic and charm
To rustle us up a Belvoir Fruit farm,
Cos thats all we’re missin’ in this city of old,
Class in a glass would turn us silver to gold!

And that’s it. Well done everyone. If you’ve been inspired by these entries and are feeling creative, enter our new competition.

As the final firework illuminates the night sky and the last embers on the bonfire burn out, our thoughts turn towards the next seasonal celebration – Christmas!

We love the Christmas period. There’s a real sense of magic in the air. And plenty of good food and drink on the table.

Belvoir Fruit Farms Winter Berries cordial is the perfect tipple at Yuletide with its fruity blend of elderberry, blackberry, orange, cinnamon, clove and nutmeg. We’ve always considered it a delicious, alcohol-free alternative to mulled wine.

So when we heard that Delia Smith had used our beloved Winter Berries cordial in her Mulled ‘Wine’ For Drivers cocktail recipe (you can find it in her new book, Delia’s Happy Christmas) it’s safe to say we were thrilled.

When told about Delia’s seal of approval, Pev, our owner, said he was “Absolutely delighted. This year we have celebrated 25 years of making the country’s finest cordials and this endorsement from one of the most respected names in the industry is the icing on the cake.”

So what better way to celebrate this brilliant news than with a new competition?

Christmas dinner dreaming

Perhaps the best thing about Christmas is getting the family together for a big roast dinner. It’s just a shame you have to peel all that veg beforehand.

So if you didn’t have to cook Christmas dinner, who would you choose to prepare your festive feast instead?

Delia? Gordon? Jamie? Perhaps you’d plump for ex-England rugby player and Celebrity Masterchef winner, Matt Dawson? Or maybe you’ll decide on Stephen Fry – even if he can’t cook, the after dinner conversation will be terrific.

Or perhaps you’re fed up of turkey, and would prefer something a little different. Why not choose Ching-He Huang from the Beeb’s Chinese Food Made Easy? Or Ray Mears for a spot of wild food!

Tell us in a comments who you would like to cook your Christmas dinner and why, as well as what would be on the menu.

Writers of the ten best entries will each receive a copy of Delia’s Happy Christmas and two bottles of our delicious Winter Berries cordial.

The closing date for entries is Friday 27th November so we can post your prize in time for Christmas. Riveting terms and conditions can be read here.

Well, it certainly seems that autumn has rolled up its sleeves and got to work.

Last weekend saw the climax of the 2009 World Conker Championships. Congratulations to the winners. Sadly, our shoe laces, vinegar-soaked conkers and fancy dress costumes remained in the cupboard this year because we’ve been concentrating on a big competition of our own.

Belvoir Fruit Farms has teamed up with the wonderful people at Nursey Sheepskin to offer you a fantastic prize that’ll warm your heart – quite literally.

One lucky winner of our new competition will receive a toscana lambskin gilet worth nearly £300 courtesy of Nursey. It’s the perfect garment for strolling across the fields or through the town in the colder months. Don’t worry about size because Nursey Sheepskin will make your prize to order. And since they’ve been making sheepskin garments by hand for over 200 years, you can guarantee that plenty of care and experience will go into the making of your gilet.

(If you’re not our lucky winner, but would like to get your hands on some of Nursey Sheepskin’s garments, you can order their new catalogue here.)

Three runners up will receive three bottles of cordial and stylish Belvoir Fruit Farms jute bag, so there’s plenty to play for.

The competition

Since as far back as we can remember, one page has been missing from the fabled Belvoir Fruit Farms cordial recipe book. Some have suggested the page contained a recipe that its creator felt was too much of wild idea and so discarded it forever.

We often speculate on the cordial recipe this page contained. Everyone has their own theory. How about you? What do you think that cordial recipe was?

Maybe it was just a simple but delightful blend of flowers and fruits. Or perhaps it was something much wilder. With flowers and fruits never used before (or since) in the making of drinks.

How to enter

Once you’ve hatched a brilliant idea of what the missing cordial might be, leave your suggestion in the comments. And who knows? Perhaps we’ll give the winning entry to our team to concoct!

We very much look forward to reading your weird and wonderful suggestions!

Closing date for the competition is 30th October 2009. Riveting terms and conditions are here.

Plenty of good news around at the moment: It’s our twenty-fifth birthday, the sun has got his hat on and Andymonium is in full swing as the super Scot reaches the semi-finals at SW19.

And here’s some more good news – it’s competition time!

The Great Belvoir Buffet

So let’s suppose we were inviting thousands of you to our big birthday bash. We’d take care of the soft drinks, obviously. But we’d like you all to bring a plate of Belvoir-related nosh. Or a jug of your best cordial-infused cocktail.

What would you bring?

Perhaps a tasty cheesecake that makes splendid use of our elderflower cordial? Or maybe some lime & lemongrass muffins? You might have your own twist on the Dragon’s Breath cocktail that you’d like the world to sample.

You don’t to need to be the world’s best chef. We’re just looking for ideas – or even novel ways of presenting them.

Feel free to include recipes with your suggestions, or – since it’s become a theme here at Belvoir On For Britain – deliver them using verse and rhyme.

To be in with a chance of winning, just pop your suggestion into the comment box below.

Five lucky winners will each receive a limited edition Belvoir Fruit Farms cordial jug, a box of Belvoir tumblers and we’ll throw in a bottle of cordial to fill them, too.

Good luck!

(Not very interesting terms and conditions can be found here.)

Happy St George’s Day!

No sooner do we see the first signs of spring, than summer decides to hint it might be on its way. Rejoice!

If there’s the slightest chance of a warm front on the horizon, us Brits will don shorts, light barbecues or head off to a big open space for a jolly pleasant picnic. And why shouldn’t we? Before you know it, summer will officially be here, it’ll be cold and wet, and we’ll be stuck in the house watching re-runs of Wimbledon finals because it’s cold and wet in SW19 too.

So to help you enjoy whatever sunshine we’re blessed with this year, Belvoir Fruit Farms has five snazzy picnic rucksacks to give away. These nifty holdalls come with crockery and cutlery for two, plus a special insulated compartment to keep your cold stuff cold or your hot stuff hot (but probably not at the same time – we don’t recommend chucking some hot jacket potatoes in a bag of ice and hoping for the best).

But as with all our competitions, winning will require a little bit of thought.

We’d love for you tell us about your perfect picnic. Who’d be there: Her Majesty? Shakespeare? Burt Bacharach? Where would your picnic take place: Hyde park? By the Seine? On the moon? And perhaps you’ll let us know what delicious and refreshing drink you’d take with you. (Clue: it’s a no brainer.)

The choice, of course, is yours. It doesn’t have to be an essay – just tap a few short sentences into the comment box below and and we’ll get the Belvoir Fruit Farms team to pick their five favourites. Make them as topical or irreverent as you like – it’s meant to be fun! (If you’re desperate to read the full terms and conditions, they’re here.)

Good luck to all.

Okay, so you may be wondering what the Dickens we’re up to, but bear with us. You see, here at Belvoir HQ we’ve decided to embrace the blog. According to Wikipedia, there are over 112 million blogs in existence. So forgive us for feeling a little left out.

So here’s our blog. Not just any old blog, either. Ours has a theme – Belvoir on for Britain.

The Credit Crunch is an ‘orrible term, but it’s been an inescapable one for many months. And with the Bank of England finally dotting the i in ‘recession’, the gloom’s all set to continue.

But not here. No no. Not on our beloved new blog. You won’t find a drop of misery tainting these pixel-based walls.

Here at Belvoir, we plan to celebrate Old Blighty’s resolve. To praise the good bits of Britain and banish the bad. We’ll be spreading plenty of cheer, too. And that cheer begins today.

A poetry competition

The lovely people over at Jordans Cereals have given us 10 hampers packed full of their wonderful cereals to give away (and if you don’t win our competition, sign up to their newsletter before 31st March 2009 for a chance to win a year’s supply of cereals!). All delicious and nutritious, we reckon they’ll be the perfect accompaniment to our juicy blueberry cordial. Mmm… muesli and blueberry cordial. The morning alarm clock will never sound so sweet.

You can get our blueberry cordial from all good stockists of fine cordials – including our online store – but there’s only one way to get your mitts on a Jordans hamper:

Send us a short poem about a tasty breakfast. There’ll be brownie points for rhyming – especially if you can cram the word Belvoir (remember, it’s pronounced Bee-ver) into proceedings. And since we’re trying to cheer up Britain, merit will be given to those poems that make us smile.

Once you’ve penned your breakfast verse, send it to us using this form. We’ll print the winning entries, right after dispatching Jordans hampers to our victorious scribes.

Good luck, all. Belvoir on for Britain!