Day Trip to Leicester - Day 2

On the Sunday morning in Leicester I woke up early but let Von sleep in the living room for a bit longer as she'd had a wisdom tooth removed just a few days before and hadn't been sleeping well. Once we were all awake we made some breakfast - bacon and egg baps! So delicious. Then we had breakfast dessert of brownie pie which was so delicious. It came from Iceland and I'll have to set if I can get one. We had a nice late check out of 12pm, so we got dressed and ready and left the apartment.

We first of all headed to the Abbey Pumping Station Museum which used to be the city's sewage works and which had a ton of cool stuff in it. There's a lot of stuff about sewage (more interesting than you might think), but also a lot of Victorian stuff about Leicester. It was really interesting, I'd recommend it if you're in the area. Plus it's free!

Some photos (well, lots of photos) from this museum... I'll let most of them speak for themselves.

Me and Jac and Sam and Von

I love old tickets and ephemera like that!

A tram seat! The back flips so that the passengers can always face the way the tram is travelling

While I'm sure I wouldn't want to use this washing machine, I do love the look of it

How cute is this little trike?

Inspecting how a toilet works, like you do

A Victorian sewage pipe

Lots of typewriters for fans of them!

Next we headed to the Framework Knitters Museum, which isn't open very often. This day it turned out to be open especially because of the snowdrops in the garden! We were by far the youngest people there but it was fun. The museum itself isn't huge but a nice man told us about being a framework knitter apprentice, we looked at the snowdrops, and we walked round the house. Here's some photos from the museum:

I love old adverts too

I was very taken by the floor pattern in the house too

As a lacemaker and crocheter I was intrigued by how this stocking was made

And I really liked this special sock made for the local mayor

And here are the gorgeous snowdrops!

After the museum we went to a pub next door which turned out to be really odd, but the food was nice enough. And cheap! So that was good. Then unfortunately it was time to go home. We dropped Von off at the station and then drove home. 

I had such a lovely time - I love weekends like this!

Trip to Leicester - Day 1

At the end of February I went to Leicester with my friends Sam, Jacqui, and Von. It was for my birthday although a little bit delayed, and they had planned it without telling me where we were going. On the Friday night I had stayed at Jacqui's just hanging out, so we set off early on Saturday morning and picked Sam up at Pontefract Monkhill station. Then we set off down south, and got to Leicester about 11.30. Von had had to get a replacement bus from St Pancras but she was there too, so we got her at the station and then went to Highcross, Leicester's big new shopping centre.

We parked and decided to go to Turtle Bay for lunch. I had shrimp and mango curry which was really yummy. We wandered round the shopping centre for a bit waiting until we could get into the Airbnb they had booked. We had some hilarity trying to get into the place, but we did, and once we did, wow! It was absolutely amazing! It was in a converted mill so it had gorgeous red brick walls and huge ceilings, I really liked the flat. Let me find the listing in case you ever want to go... This is it! Gorgeous. It sleeps six people technically, although the sofa bed would be a bit small for two people. Maybe two kids!

The others went out to get some provisions and then we all decided it was pyjama time. We watched three films, ordered Chinese food, had wine and snacks and cocktails and champagne. It was so much fun and I was really relaxed and just felt like I was really lucky to have such lovely friends.

Here are my photos from Saturday:

Sam and Von and Jac in Turtle Bay. Sam's mum knitted her the jumper!

My drink, it was basically a pina colada without the rum, and it was really nice

We spent ages in the Disney shop and Jacqui was quite tempted by the light saber

The really fancy ass bathroom in the apartment

The kitchen

The view from one window

From the living room into the dining area and kitchen

Living area

St Margaret's Church from the window in my bedroom

The wall in my bedroom. I was really taken with it

Cheers! I bought this champagne for my birthday but hadn't got around to drinking it so I knew my friends would share it

Finally, they'd bought this strawberry gateau but it had melted maybe a bit too much, so we decided to just dig in. It was really nice!

Meal out in Wakefield

In February half term I went out in Wakefield to see my friend Katie. I met Katie on my first day at university, her room was opposite mine in our house. But then it turned out that we were both from Wakefield and that we were both at York St John to study Theology. We became friends and Katie was one of my bridesmaids when I got married in 2005, she was there for me when my dad died, I made presents when both of her children were born. I am so glad we're friends - she's one of my favourite people. We don't get to see each other very often, but every few months or so.

We decided to go to Jose's tapas restaurant - we tried to go a few months ago but there were no tables, so we made sure we booked nice and early this time. Katie's been before but I never have. The owner is actually Spanish - presumably the eponymous Jose, although I'm not certain - and he came out of the kitchen a couple of times to talk to customers. He asked us if we'd enjoyed our meal, which we definitely had! The other serving staff were really pleasant too.

We got an amuse bouche of manchego cheese, which was nice. We chose seven tapas dishes between us, although I didn't get photographs. We had, let me think: rice with chicken and chorizo, manchego cheese plate, garlic prawns, garlic mushrooms, baked eggs, Spanish tortilla, and... patatas bravas. And some bread. All washed down with a really nice bottle of Spanish red wine.

I felt like the menu offered some really interested tapas bits that you don't usually see, and also tapas stuff that I've had before but which were done really well. Everything was freshly made and came in dribs and drabs, which was really nice. I liked the baked eggs the best I think - I really will have to try to make these at home. There was paella on the menu too, and also some bigger chicken dishes in case you didn't want tapas. I was really impressed by the tapas and was glad that Katie and I shared it all - we like a lot of the same stuff so it's really nice.

There were a few desserts to choose from but I went for the chocolate mousse. It was sprinkled with salt which really set off the taste of the chocolate. Katie had a liqueur coffee.

I really liked the place, it was busy for a Tuesday night as it's only small but that made for a really nice atmosphere. It is a little bit more expensive than some tapas places, but it's worth it. Every was fresh and hot and the staff were lovely. I'd definitely go back!

I took a photo of my chocolate mousse:

What I Wore 18th February

On the 18th of February Lee's mam and stepdad came down from Durham for Sunday lunch and to see us. Lee makes a really excellent Sunday dinner, and we made a baked chocolate cheesecake for after. It tasted nice, but the recipe was weird, so I don't think we'll make it again.

We also invited my mum, stepdad, and grandma. They all arrived about 1pm, by which time we'd got most things ready or nearly cooked, and we'd set the table. It was another excuse to use my best china, which I love. One of these days I will just make it the daily use china, I swear, but it's so beautiful that I want to keep it for best.

We had roast chicken with roast potatoes, roast carrots, roast parnsips, mashed potato, stuffing, Yorkshire puddings, and mange tout. For afterwards we served the baked chocolate cheesecake with single cream. It was really nice to host people!

I wore another Scarlett & Jo dress, this one has pockets which I really like, and I love the flowers too. I've decided to try to wear more make up this year, so I wore some pale eyeshadow and this very bright pink lipstick. It's just by Rimmel so nothing fancy, but I like it a lot!

Worn here with my very glamorous slippers, what can I say?

This look made my eyes pop really blue! I have blue eyes with a bit of green, I like them

Cheesecake! It baked nicely but didn't crack on top