Lunch Out with Philippa and What I Wore 20th July

I went out on the 20th of July to meet my friend Philippa for lunch. She chose to go to Aesthete in Walkley, which I haven't been to before and which does a ton of brunch items. As a vegetarian there was a ton to choose from, but I went for avocado whip on sourdough with halloumi and poached eggs. I also had some sauteed potatoes. It was absolutely gorgeous, I would recommend! 

Pippa had sat outside but then some roadworks started up so we moved to the shed just behind the outside bit. We got a piece of cake each. I went for Black Forest gateau which was really nice. We sat chatting for ages so it was late when I set off home and I ended up stuck in traffic on the way out of Sheffield. This always happens but I never learn! Maybe next time... 

As for what I was wearing - I got this Be Gay Solve Crimes t-shirt from Robin Stevens' teemill. The t-shirt is a reference to her Murder Most Unladylike series (see my reviews here) and I wanted one, but teemill only do up to a 2xl. Robin and I had a conversation about how rubbish this was (although obviously not at all her fault) but I took a chance and bought it anyway. Half of the cost is going to a charity for trans people which I was happy to support. Anyway it arrived and I'm pleased to say the 2xl fits me! It's maybe slightly tight on my hips and the arms, but not so that it looks terrible, and tucked into a skirt it was basically fine. I love it! I've worn it a few times since. 

Please excuse my hair as I hadn't yet brushed it when Lee took this photo

Delicious brunch lunch 

And lovely cake for dessert!

Lunch with Chloe and Laura and What I Wore July 13th

On Wednesday July 13th I went to Meadowhall to meet Chloe and Laura for lunch. I parked near M&S and walked through to the Starbucks near H&M, where I met Laura. We were quite early so I had a drink before Chloe arrived. We went into Yours, where I bought some new cropped leggings and a thin cardigan/shrug thing. We went into Flying Tiger where I bought a couple of presents for someone. Then we headed to the Oasis and decided on TGI Friday's for lunch. It wasn't somewhere that I would normally choose because of a lack of vegetarian options, but I had heard from a friend that they've improved on this recently. And I'd say that's right! I was quite impressed.

I had fake chicken tacos to start with and then a vegan burger with sweet potato fries. Both really delicious, I was impressed! I think Chloe and Laura both enjoyed theirs, too. 

Afterwards we went into Kenji and then said goodbye. I went to M&S for some bits as my mum and stepdad were coming over for tea. It was very hot and sweaty but I did it and finally got home! Last year Lee bought an aircon unit as he's always too warm, so I sat in front of that for a while. When my mum and stepdad arrived the three of us sat in the garden while Lee was still working and then he joined us. 

I was wearing this long leopard print maxi dress that I bought last year and which is perfect for the summer. It was from Yours. Underneath I was wearing new anti chafing shorts from Better Tights. You know I love my Snag Tights but I wanted some new shorts and the colours they had available were really boring, so I remembered that Better Tights sell the same thing and went to look there instead. I love this duck egg colour and I found that they didn't ride up and were nice and thin so breathable. I would recommend them! 

Fake chicken tacos

Really good vegan burger

Oh yes I had also bought myself one of these pair of handcuff earrings, I saw them advertised and wanted one! I like the effect

Yours maxi leopard print dress with shirred top and dropped shoulders - I love this look on me

Duck egg blue anti chafing shorts - love them!

Lunch Out with Lee and Dragon Boat Racing

On the 9th of July Lee and I went to Leeds for lunch. I wanted to go to Bundobust as we haven't been in forever and I just fancied it. We got there around 12 just as it was opening and sat outside where it was nice and warm. 

I tried a new sweetcorn chaat but I didn't like it very much, but I had some other chaat too and we shared some breads. Lee had curried eggs and a bhaji bap thing, both of which he liked. The whole place is vegetarian which makes it really exciting to me. Then we walked round to Doh Hut which sells amazing donuts. I bought us both one when I was near back in March, so suggested we should walk round. We both got a Dippy Dippy donut which is a donut served with a cup of melted chocolate for dipping, a little bit like churros. We ate them sat outside on the wall in the sunshine, it was lovely!

After that we drove to Wakefield where my mum and stepdad were at Pugney's watching some dragon boat racing. We decided to join them and sat in the sun for quite a while. Lee doesn't love the sun so hid under his hoodie, which must have been too hot, but whatever. We had an ice lolly each later in the afternoon which dyed my tongue blue! It was a nice and relaxed day

Food in Bundobust

Donut dipped in chocolate - so good

Lee trying to avoid the sun

See, my tongue was blue

One of the dragon boats about to set off to the starting line

Trip to Derbyshire - Day 3

On the Monday of mine and Lucinda's trip away we went to Castleton. We weren't sure exactly what to do but I like Castleton because of the Blue John mining they do there, I went a few years ago with Lee and my mum and stepdad. I decided on the way that I would treat myself to a piece of Blue John jewellery. There's several shops in the village so Lucinda and I looked in each one so I could decide. We also helped some GCSE geography students with their coursework, haha. 

I ended up buying a green amber pendant in one shop and a gorgeous Blue John pendant in another. Sales staff were really useful and helpful, which I appreciate. I also bought a selenite sphere. We had lunch in Castleton which was nice although I didn't get a photo of it, haha. We then drove round trying to find a river where we could maybe put our feet in, but no dice. We drove to Chatsworth but didn't go in, just drove round it. 

On the way back to the cottage we stopped at a small cafe where I had an ice cream. We again did some writing when we got back to the cottage, and some relaxing. I cooked vegan chilli for tea which was nice. Lucinda went for a little walk round Tideswell and found there was a little yarn shop which said it would open by appointment, so she organised with the owner for us to go on the Tuesday morning before we left the area. This turned out to be an excellent thing as the shop was lovely and all her yarn was hand dyed. We both bought some, although I'm not sure what I'm going to make with mine yet! I love little yarn shops like that. 

It was a lovely few days away, and lovely to spend so much time with Lucinda!

Ducks on the stream that runs through Castleton

The statue by the visitors' centre - I'm pretty sure I took this exact photo when I went a few years ago 

How gorgeous is this Blue John bowl? I would like to own this please

A ton of different specimens of Blue John from all the different seams they mine. It's only available in this area of Derbyshire. You can go down several of the mines and I looked into it but they're not accessible for disabled people, which is a real shame. I went down once before when I was about twelve years old, with my dad

Chatsworth house, where Deborah Mitford ended up as the Duchess of Devonshire

Mint ice cream

Chilli! I was really proud of it

The front door of the cottage we stayed in

The selenite sphere I bought - I love this crystal, it's very soothing

The green amber pendant I bought

And finally the Blue John pendant I bought - I love it! The sales assistant pointed this one out and it is a really nice bit

Trip to Derbyshire - Day 2

On the Sunday of our trip we were both up and ready quite early - Lucinda, it turned out, because her bed was a bit broken so she hadn't had a very comfortable night's sleep, bless her. We set off for Eyam quite early as it wasn't too far away. It is the Plague Village - the only place outside of London where the bubonic plague spread in 1665. Villagers sequestered themselves, leaving money in vinegar at the village boundary posts so that nearby villages could bring them goods without risking infection themselves. A stupid number of villagers died, and Eyam now sells itself on the story. I actually read a book set in the village during the plague and reviewed it here several years ago. But I'd never been to the village so was excited to do so. 

We parked near Eyam Hall to begin with, and walked around a little bit, looking at the hall and a small visitors' centre before going up to look at the plague cottages (which sadly aren't original, but are on the site of where they think the plague broke out) and then to the church where only one plague victim is buried - the vicar's wife - as everyone else buried their dead at home or outside of the village boundaries, in the countryside. There were some schoolkids on a trip close by too, they were very well behaved and kept giving me (a disabled person) room to walk on the pavements which is considerate and really helpful to me.

We then went up to the museum, which is pretty cheap and has a lot of history about the plague, of course. Including some science about why some families weren't affected at all, which is interesting as today scientists are saying the same thing about Covid. It wasn't an expensive museum and was pretty cute! 

We then drove up to Mompesson's Well; he was the vicar in the village and I can't remember the facts about it but we did go. By this time we were hungry for lunch so we went to a village nearby and found a cute cafe where we both had focaccia and vegetables. We then went to High Peak Bookstore which I'd been promising Lucinda. I love it there, the books are cheap and they have SO many. We split up and wandered around - I was done earlier than Lucinda so went and sat in the cafe and waited for her, which was of course fine. Then we both had cake and a hot drink before going back to the cottage. We did quite writing for a bit which was good, and I did some cross stitch. We had a picky tea for tea which Lucinda lovingly prepared as I was in quite a lot of pain. It was a good day though. 

Signs in and around Eyam

Eyam (pronounced Eem) Hall

The site of some of the plague cottages

So many people died from so many families, it must have just been horrific

Eyam church, and Lucinda

In the museum

I HATE plague doctors' outfits, they scare the shit out of me! 

Mompesson's Well - Lucinda went closer but I didn't

Focaccia and salad

And mint Aero cake! 

And finally here's what I bought in the bookshop

Trip to Derbyshire - Day 1

My friend Lucinda and I went away for three nights after we had seen the Libertines together. We haven't seen each other much since the pandemic, for obvious reasons, and we've never spent a few nights away together, so I was happy she agreed. I booked an Airbnb in Tideswell, Derbyshire, which was basically fine but kind of lacking a bit. No matter! Tideswell also ended up to be much smaller than I thought it was going to be. 

We set off around noon from mine. Lee was going to a festival in York - he was playing with his band and his friend and brother were coming down from the north east to watch him - so we said goodbye and Lucinda and I headed to Tesco in Penistone to buy supplies. Then we went to Heathersage because I had got us tickets to go swimming in the lido! We had lunch in the cafe first - I had a really nice halloumi burger and chips. We got changed and went swimming. It wasn't exactly hot but it was warm enough and really lovely. We didn't stay the full session, but it was so worth it - and really soothed my aching joints.

We went to Tideswell and got into the cottage. It was very cute and small. I did some cross stitch and Lucinda may have done some crochet. We ended up watching some stuff on Ch4 as part of their Pride celebration, which included a really interesting documentary about the history of Pride. Lucinda cooked some amazing peanut and broccoli noodles, they were so good! 

We made a cat friend outside of the lido (the cafe is kind of under it, the water is behind this wall here)

Lucinda had a goats cheese pizza which she enjoyed

The lido! I recommend it if you can get a ticket

And the noodles!

Films of the Month - June

I didn't watch many films in June (and am so far doing even worse in July...) on account of being so busy I think. But here's what I did see:

I love Pride, so when it popped up on Netflix I watched it one afternoon. It always makes me cry

I watched a lot of Downton Abbey and have seen the first film a few times, so I wanted to see the second one. I thought it was cute - the France plot made no sense whatsoever but made for some pretty scenery to look at, and I enjoyed Lady Mary's plot of staying at home and having to rent out the house, which a lot of stately homes have had to do! 

Lee and I watched Legally Blonde while on holiday because it was on DVD in the caravan. It's a film I love, but I'm not sure if Lee had seen it before 

Taken was also on DVD so we watched that too. I thought I had seen it before but I don't think I had in its entirety. I liked it!

This is an absolute classic isn't it, I love Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger. We watched this on holiday too 

Lee and I both really like the X Men films, but we hadn't seen Logan since we watched it in the cinema, so we watched that on holiday too. It's such a dark film, it is good but so emotional!

iPlayer recommended Radioactive to me, which is about Marie Curie, so I gave it a go. I liked it

Lastly, Bohemian Rhapsody turned up on Netflix so I watched that too. I do like it, but I think Rami Malik was the wrong person to play Freddie. The others playing Queen are great though!