Thursday, November 30, 2017

6th wedding of the year!

At the end of October we went to the sixth and final wedding we've been to this year. They've all been lovely and so different from each other and I've been glad to go to each of them. This last one was my friend Sarah's wedding, held in Sheffield so we didn't have far to go. The ceremony and the reception were held in a lovely venue. We couldn't stay very long into the evening as Lee had work to do, so we left just after the speeches around 6pm. The food was fantastic!

I didn't get many photos but here's just a couple:


My face! With make up on! I feel like I look utterly unlike myself here, for some reason. I wore my 'Rebecca' name necklace because Sarah bought it for me a few years ago 


Me and the bride herself. Sarah's dress was utterly beautiful, really sparkly and pretty

I'm wearing a Scarlett & Jo dress that I bought in the summer but I've been saving it for this wedding as I thought it would be nice in the autumn


The cake! Sarah's mum baked it and her grandma made the adorable decorations on top - Sarah and Tom's cat Stella is there too look!

Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Lincoln Zine Fest and Photo An Hour

Saturday 28th of October was Lincoln Zine Fest. We went last year and had a great time, but to begin with we didn't think we could go this year. I had theatre tickets in York, which would have also been fun but I was sad to miss zine fest. Then the theatre got cancelled so we could go to Lincoln, yay!

It was also Photo An Hour on this day so the two melded together quite nicely. Here's lots of photos:


First thing, up and in the shower to get ready to go


We set off just before 9am, so this is the autumn sky somewhere on the A1


Just coming into Lincoln around 10am


Our stall! We bought the new leaflet rack a few months ago to hold zines and it works really well


I painted my nails for the first time in ages. This is Cambridge by Nails Inc


Lots of lovely new zines to read


My new tablecloth for my stall too. I bought the material on Barnsley market just before zine fest


View from our stall. 


On our way home - Lee is blurred because he'd set off driving, not realising I was taking a photo


We decided to go to Meadowhall to eat on our way home, and went to the Thai buffet place. Lee had never been and he really liked it and wants to go again. It is yummy!


Home and in my pyjamas


Watching Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. I've seen it through before but decided to start again at season one


And finally, I got into bed really early because I was so tired; I stayed up ages reading though!

Saturday, November 25, 2017

Meals out in October

In October half term I had a couple of nice meals out with two friends, so I thought I'd just write a quick post about each of them. I didn't mean for both meals to be in half term and actually it wasn't half term in Barnsley, but it was in Wakefield and Leeds where my friends live. Half term for Katie meant that she could ask her mum to have her kids overnight as her husband was away, so it worked out well for us!

I met Katie at university; we were put in the same house in first year but it turned out we were both from Wakefield and we were both studying Theology. She ended up being one of my bridesmaids and although we don't see each other all that often it's always really good when we do. She's really funny but she's also been around for a lot of my life now, and vice versa, so we know a lot about each other. We ended up talking about my dad's death nearly ten years ago, about families, about all kinds of things.

We had planned to go to one restaurant in Wakefield but it was fully booked so we went to d'Amelio's instead. I'd not been before and I don't think Katie had either. It doesn't have a huge menu but tapas is five dishes for £20 so we went for that and shared some really nice stuff. They have a bunch of wine choices and a great cocktail menu. I had four cocktails and they were all nice but my favourite was the Pornstar Martini:


Katie and I had a great time, we'll definitely have to plan something else soon.

Then on the Thursday of that week I went out with my friend Chloe. I met her online originally, but she only lives in Leeds. We had arranged to go to Pot House Hamlet near my house, although when we realised it was half term in some parts of Yorkshire we were worried it would be full of kids. We decided to go and see, and said we'd otherwise go to a pub, but when we got there although it was busy it wasn't full, and there were only a couple of tables with kids. It's a strange place because it seems like it will just be an ordinary cafe but it's actually really fancy food. I really like it there - we even went there on my birthday earlier in the year. It's definitely worth a visit if you're in the area and there are some shops and things on site to browse around too. 

We sat chatting for ages and had a really lovely time. I feel like it's ages since I saw Chloe but she's one of those people where it always feels like we saw each other just yesterday.

These pretty decorations hang from the ceiling:


And this was the really yummy chocolate cake I had with coffee for pudding!



Thursday, November 23, 2017

Week in the Yorkshire Dales - Day 7

We kept it quite on our last day. We decided to go into Hawes but it was chucking it down so we didn't stay very long. We went in a couple of shops and had a drink in a cafe, but then set off back to our cottage. We looked at some of the flooding - we couldn't decide if this lake was meant to be as big as it was. We got back into the cottage and watched films all afternoon.

We'd already booked a table in the Aysgarth Falls Hotel, which turned out to be an amazing pub and I'd highly recommend it if you're ever in the area. There's a cosy bar area which does bar meals, but we were led through into the conservatory, which is a really fancy looking restaurant. The waiting staff were all so friendly and enthusiastic. Prices were really reasonable though! We shared some flatbread and hummus, which were homemade and really delicious. Then Lee went for a pizza which was stonebaked and didn't have too much cheese on, and chips. I had a deconstructed chicken "pie". It was chicken, leek, and mushroom in the most delicious creamy sauce, with a puff pastry lid. I had heritage potatoes and seasonal vegetables with it, I couldn't finish it all. I also had wine. We didn't have room for dessert.

I was glad we'd booked as the place was really full, but very cosy and lovely. I'd go again right now if I could!

We packed up most of the cottage on Friday night so that we could set off early on Saturday. We had to be out by 10am, so we got going around then. We picked Ivy up on the way home, she was staying at my grandma's while we were away. I think she was glad to get home as she wouldn't leave us alone!

Some photos of our last day:


I was reading this book while I was away, I liked it. As always, my book reviews are found here


Lee had taken this jigsaw to do, it's retro sweet advertisements. He finished it really quickly though which was good! I sometimes join in but I didn't, I was doing other things


On the way to Hawes you couldn't see the hills at all


Very very grey and dull


I liked this map of the Dales - it stood out from the frame


This is the lake we weren't sure about. We were pretty sure it had burst its banks somewhere. 


I finally finished this cross stitch! I started it 2.5 years ago for our 10th wedding anniversary but had been putting off the back stitching around the bears. The pattern was too hard to follow so I just freehanded it eventually. Up close I think it looks ropey but from afar it looks ace. I also finished off part of the heart that I'd left undone. I can see mistakes but I know no one else can! We're going to get it framed. 


Here's me in the pub 


Here's Lee in the pub


And here we both are!


My chicken pie. To be fair th menu also said it was a "pie". It was so delicious


And here's my outfit - the stripy dress I wore recently and my pink cardigan from Sainsburys. I like the pink, I feel it gives the dress a real pop of colour. 

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Week in the Yorkshire Dales - Day 6

On the Thursday of our holiday we went to Grassington. I've been before, but it must be about twenty years ago now. I don't think Lee has ever been; I know I've never been with him. It was about twenty miles away from our cottage so a bit of a trek up hill and down dale, especially as we got stuck behind someone going really slowly. There were still floods in a few places but the weather had improved.

There's tons of interesting shops in Grassington and we went in loads. I even started Christmas shopping. We decided to have a pub lunch, so we both had fish and chips in the Black Horse at the top of the village. On the way back we stopped on the top of some hills to have some fresh air and a look around, it was lovely!

In the evening we had pancakes for tea. Lee had forgotten to get some kind of chocolate sauce so we made something by melting some dark chocolate into some warm cream, it was delicious. Pancakes are so easy, I don't know why we don't have them more!


On the way to Grassington


Following the world's slowest car 


I love the Dales and pictures like this show why


Enjoying a lunchtime cider


The very middle of the village


And down the same view 


This river on the way back was still really high and full


Another good Yorkshire view. I love drystone walls, they're amazing


Sheep on the actual road in the national park!
 

Lee up a hill


And finally, a not great photo of my pancakes - yummy though!

Saturday, November 18, 2017

Week in the Yorkshire Dales - Day 5

The Wednesday of our holiday was a really busy day! We had a cooked breakfast at about 11am and set off out after twelve. We were planning to go look at Aysgarth Falls, Hardraw Force, and to go through Askrigg because that's where we spent our honeymoon in 2005. However, there had been a lot of rain overnight and several roads were flooded. We ended up looking briefly at the Falls, not getting to the Falls at all, and then went to the Wensleydale Creamery in Hawes to look round the museum. The rain didn't let up for most of the day and the rest of the week was really wet too. 

There are two falls at Aysgarth Falls, one upper and one lower. The upper one is a bit of a hike but the lower one is just right on the bridge so we stopped to look. It was really full, a lot of water swirling over it. It looked vicious! We then tried to drive up to Hardraw Force, going through Hawes to do so, but the road there was blocked due to flooding, so we decided we'd go to Hawes for the creamery instead.

The creamery was really good. There's a well-stocked gift shop and a restaurant and a self-service cafe. The museum itself is about £3 each to get in, but it's worth it. There's a lot of the history of Wensleydale cheese and of the creamery, which was started when a previous dairy got sold. There's a Wallace and Gromit display and then you can see into the factory itself and see where they are in the cheese making process. You can pay extra for a demonstration of them actually making cheese in a small room, but we didn't bother with that. 

Then we went into the cheese tasting room which is AMAZING. There are honestly like thirty different types of cheese to try, a lot of Wensleydale ones and some other ones too. Lee doesn't like cheese, can you believe? So he didn't try any. I, however, tasted ALL of them except for a couple which had things like pineapple in. It was amazing, I was incredibly impressed. I bought some oak smoked Wensleydale which was really nice. 

After the creamery we went to Askrigg, which is a really tiny village but it was nice to see it again. We could even see the apartment where we spent our honeymoon. From Askrigg we could drive to Hardraw Force on a different road, which was still very wet even if not totally flooded. We decided to not walk up to the water because the path was too slippery. We did however head up very high and looked at the waterfalls coming off the hills and at one point coming through a drystone wall! It was a little bit terrifying at times. 

We headed back to Aysgarth to have cake in the tea room near our cottage which was open on this day. It was nice, but the owner was a bit dour. I did buy three books in there for £1.75 each! 

In the evening Lee made pan haggerty. It's a traditional north east dish that has a lot of variations. Lee makes the Northumberland variation which doesn't have meat in but is just onions, potatoes and cheese. He only ever makes it on holiday because it takes forever to make, but it's so delicious and well worth it. I can't remember what we ate with it? 

Lots of photos from this day!


I had respectable hair when I left the house, I walked literally over the road and looked like this when I got in the car. It was blowing a hoolie!


Aysgarth Falls looking the fullest and most vicious I've ever seen it 


Other side of the bridge to the above view 


This was the road to Hardraw Force from Hawes, but as you can see we had no chance of getting through


In the creamery


You might remember I went to a Butter Museum in Cork in Ireland last year, well the cheese museum was almost as good but not quite



A cheese press, I love old equipment like this


This guy is a local hero! They make a blue cheese named after him


Lee showing the size of these two cows in relation to him


More cheese, Gromit?


I want to watch the films now


Me and Wallace and Gromit



The factory itself


HEAVEN! The cheese tasting room. Everyone went round in a nice neat line


Flooding across the bottom of the valley


More river flooding


This is where we had our honeymoon, in the window to the right of the archway. The door wasn't ours, our door was about halfway along the archway passage


Rain, more rain


More flooding, I think we managed to get through this bit


A waterfall that wasn't there when we went back another day


Looking down into Wensleydale


I think this was the river in Bainbridge


We only just managed to get through this one 


And again, I only walked a few metres down the street and ended up drenched!