Lunch with Philippa

On the 19th of December I went to Wentworth Garden Centre to meet up with Philippa for lunch. We have been to all kinds of pubs and cafes and definitely have our favourites, but I thought that as it was Christmas it would be nice to go a bit fancy and have afternoon tea at Wentworth. It's not that far from my house; I think technically it's in Rotherham but I could be wrong there. But it wasn't far for Philippa to travel either. 

Lee and I had afternoon tea there before a couple of years ago, in the Bothy, after my mum had bought us a voucher for it for Christmas I think. Back then the Bothy was a tiny glorified shed with about five tables in it out the back of the main restaurant. So I assumed it was still there! I asked Philippa and she was happy to go there. As it was just before Christmas they had a special festive afternoon tea, so I booked it.

We met outside as Philippa hadn't been before so didn't know where she was going. But then as I was following the signs I realised the Bothy has moved! It's not behind the restaurant anymore, it's off to the left, and it is HUGE. It is now three different rooms, really busy with a bunch of tables and a lot of staff! The restaurant was always too busy so I'm glad they've expanded! 

We got seated at a lovely table. Inside the Bothy is decorated all dark greys and leather, but I think they've stolen some decor from Betty's cafes too. We were quickly served with our afternoon teas; they were so gorgeous. I had decaf coffee and it was plentiful and so was the milk. As I'm vegetarian I had veggie sandwiches - there was egg mayo, cheese and pickle, red pepper and hummus, and mozarella and pesto. They were all really nice. The cakes were gorgeous! There was a scone with jam and cream, a meringue, a Viennese mince pie, a piece of ginger cake and a piece of chocolate brownie. I ended up bringing the meringue home as I was so full. I don't understand how you can get so full on tiny sandwiches and pieces of cake?! 

After lunch and after we had chatted a lot, we both headed home. At other times I would have had a wander round the shop and the garden centre, but it was so busy that I just couldn't be bothered. So I headed home. I was wearing my Christmas themed skirt and on top a t shirt (can't remember which offhand) but I had put my ridiculous Snag jumper on top as it was cold. I love the strawberry and cherry pattern and it's so cosy and warm. 

Look how cute the plate looked when it arrived

And a close up of the cakes on top. Pippa had slightly different cakes, I assume that one of hers had gelatine and wasn't suitable for vegetarians

This map was in the toilets and I thought it was really cute 

And here I am when I got home in my Christmas skirt and my very cheerful jumper

Afternoon with Friends

On the second Sunday in December Lee and I went across to Manchester to meet up with college friends of mine. There are four of us who are still close from 6th form college, and we try to meet up at Christmas each year. Between them they have a lot of small children, so wrangling them can be difficult. Because of that, we decided to go to Amy's house where the kids (six little girls - the only boy, R, is still a baby so not mobile!) can just play with stuff and we can chat. Amy's family is vegan so she asked us all to take some vegan goodies to share, and she and Mike made mulled cider and apple juice. 

Lee and I decided to set off earlier and call off in Glossop which is about halfway between us and Manchester. We know there's a bunch of charity shops there which we like looking round, and we thought we could get some brunch type of food as we knew we would be eating a bit later at Amy's house. We set off and were soon into the gloom over the moors, but it was fine. We got to Glossop and parked by the Marks and Spencer and went for a wander. Quite a few shops were open so we had fun looking in them. I think I bought a quiz book but nothing else. 

We wanted a drink and some food, so Lee suggested a chain cafe but I thought something else would be open and I was right, and it was SO CUTE. It was called About Thyme and it was absolutely cute inside. There were a bunch of vegetarian choices which was good for me. I went for crumpets with cheese on, and we both had ridiculous hot chocolates too. Lee had forgotten his hoodie so I ended up giving him my cardigan (as I had my coat too) as it was raining. We bought some bits in M&S and then set off to Manchester. 

We chatted to Amy and Mike and the kids for a while and then after a while we were joined by Gillian and Tom and their girls, and Michelle and Sam and their girls too. We had plenty of food and drink and we were able to just chat and enjoy each other's company. It was a lovely time with old friends. I'm glad we still do it! I got to cuddle some babies too. 

Lee and I left about 6.30 I'm guessing, and had a fine drive home over the tops in the dark. I was wearing my rose print dress - it's a nice dress for winter and warm enough. I love the pattern of it, I have been wearing it a lot. 

It was really foggy over Woodhead Pass as we set off

Lee in the cafe wearing my cardigan and looking very hipster. Amy and I should meet up in that cafe as they had a fair few vegan choices too 

Ridiculous hot chocolates

And crumpets with cheese

Three of the six little girls playing with something, not sure what. We ended up putting music on and having a bit of a disco, too. They're so much fun

I took this photo of Lee and I in Amy's bright sunshiney kitchen 

Me and Gillian

Me and Amy and baby R

And fin ally here's my outfit when we got home

Trip to Sheffield Market

In 2023 my mum and I went Christmas shopping in Sheffield and happened to be there while the markets were on and I really liked looking round them. This year, Lee was off work so I suggested that we went. We decided to go one Friday as we didn't think it would be too busy, but busy enough for a bit of atmosphere. I was really looking forward to it as my mum and I had had a bit of a damp squib at Leeds markets, so Lee and I set off about 11am to Sheffield. We parked in the car park that looks a bit like a cheese grater and walked through the peace gardens, where there were plenty of festive decorations so we got photos with them. It wasn't too cold, thankfully. 

We walked around a few stalls and got a few bits and then went into the ski bar for a drink. Lee had hot chocolate and I had mulled wine. We walked around a bit more, going into some shops too, and then had lunch. We both had Yorkshire pudding wraps from a stall - mine was vegetarian so it was just stuffing, roast potatoes, vegetables, and gravy. It was delicious though!

After we'd eaten we walked further on to Fargate and kept looking at stuff. I got a crepe with Kinder chocolate and marshmallows - it was so delicious. Lee got churros which were soft and yummy too. We popped into the town hall just to look, as we had never seen it open. Oh and it must have been 1pm because the 1pm siren went off and Lee was shocked by it! I've heard it a few times so am not too shocked! 

We then went into the Alpine lodge and had a drink in there. I had toffee cider or something that time but it wasn't too nice and I wouldn't get it again. We were cold by this time and it was beginning to rain, so we just came home. I was wearing my star top which came from Simply Be a few years ago and which I save for Christmas. On the bottom I wore a very old Scarlett & Jo skirt that I love and wear often. 

I offered to take photos of a cute family by this ornament thing - they looked like grandparents and their little grandchild - so they took one back of us

Isn't it cute? 

Looking at the Alpine lodge which we went into at the end, but also showing you the polar bear decoration

Mulled wine

Yorkshire pudding wrap. I've never had one before and wouldn't go rushing for another, but I did like this one 

Really delicious crepe

The town hall looking all festive and beautiful

At one of the entrances to the markets. Again, we took photos of two people together and they reciprocated. I nearly always offer if I see people who could use a photographer!

Here we are in the Alpine lodge. Another hot chocolate for Lee (he doesn't drink alcohol)

And finally here's my outfit when we got home!

Brunch and Tea Out

 On the 12th of December I went out... twice! First of all I had brunch plans with my friend Sarah. We went to a garden centre near where Sarah lives. She was there in the cafe when I got there drinking an iced coffee, so I got one too even though it was cold! I went for poached eggs and avocado on toast with a side portion of hash brown, which was lovely. We then had breakfast pudding - red velvet cake for me. By the time we'd done it was about 12.30 so I came home. 

I had been wearing this stripy dress which I got secondhand on Facebook off someone. I absolutely love it. It's really more of a summer dress but I wanted to wear it, and with a pair of tights underneath and a hoodie on to go in the car, I was absolutely fine. I really like it and think I will wear it a lot in 2025. Sarah liked it too! 

I think I worked in the afternoon - I had many clients to sort out before Christmas - and then about 7pm Lee and I went to pick up my mum and Norman to go out for Norman's birthday. I had suggested going to Kashmiri Aroma in Horbury as I had been the week before with my friend Katie and I had got a loyalty card which offered 15% off the bill. Everyone had agreed so we headed there. 

And everyone really liked it! My mum and stepdad said it was the best curry they had had in ages. I had samosa chaat to start with and then a vegetable curry. We had a bunch of sides, too, including the chips, which are immense, and roti. I have never had roti like it - they were delicious. I only ate one so I had enough leftovers to bring home to eat the next day. 

I was wearing this fancy dress that I had totally forgotten about and pulled out. It's a proper Christmas/party dress I think. It's red under the black sheer top, and I really like it. I was wearing fancy tights with a gold pattern on too. I got these from Chloe absolutely ages ago but only just pulled them out to wear them. I loved them! 

Ah, it was beginning to look a lot like Christmas, too. The day before I had been out with my craft club and had passed the flower shop in our village and noticed these lovely wreaths outside. I got Lee to go and buy one - it was only £16.50 which was a bargain I thought. And it looked lovely on the door!

Brunch! It was delicious

And red velvet cake, which we drank with another coffee

Here's Sarah and I. We swapped Christmas presents too

Here's the stripy dress! I love it so much! I paid about ten quid for it I think

Here's my chaat, which was lovely. I didn't get a photo of my main, but it wasn't that interesting to look at, to be fair

And here I am in this gorgeous red and black dress to go out in

Weekend in York

At the beginning of December I went to York to meet up with Sam and Jac as we traditionally do before Christmas to hang out and swap presents. We all wanted something quite low key so we decided to just stay in on the Saturday and watch films. I set off pretty early from mine and stopped for some coffee just north of Leeds, and got to Jacqui's in York just before noon. We watched Annie, Bedknobs and Broomsticks and a film about My Chemical Romance which is called Life on the Murder Scene. We also watched some Christmas countdown music things, and an episode of You Bet which they have inexplicably brought back?! 

We sat around in our pyjamas and Jac hotted things in the oven periodically and we snacked and drank wine and chatted shit. It was great! 

On the Sunday morning we went to Brancusi on Micklegate for brunch. It's really nice in there and I would go again. We were lucky and found a parking space outside which was great. I had eggs royale and a hot chocolate, and a piece of brownie, although I was full and ended up bringing half of the brownie home for Lee to have. After we had eaten Sam went off to the station and I took Jac home before setting off home myself. It was a lovely time with Sam and Jac and I'm glad we did it! 

Sam had bought rainbow napkins and plates for us for our beige picnic

Here we are on the sofa chilling out

And here we are on Sunday looking cute in Brancusi

Hot chocolate 

And eggs royale (I do occasionally eat fish)

Brownie!

And finally my outfit - I love this stripy jumper from M&S that I got a couple of years ago and thought it looked cute with my maroon pleated skirt from New Look that I only ever seem to wear around Christmas!

Meal out with Family

On the 6th of December I had a quiet day in the house as I was so tired from Christmas shopping the day before - seriously, every joint in my body hurt - and then in the evening I put on some gladrags to go to Wakefield for my work Christmas do. We haven't managed to have one in ages and loads of people were really excited about it. My mum was invited too, and Lee and my stepdad, so we arranged for us to pick them up on our way. However, we were only about ten minutes away from the venue when my mum got a phone call to say the party had been cancelled! The venue had had a power cut and couldn't have us there. 

I was really annoyed because Lee and I had cancelled something else to make the party (it's a long story) and we didn't have time to go to the other event instead. Plus of course we were all hungry! So we headed into Wakefield city centre to look for somewhere to eat. We parked on Northgate and first tried one place, but they were full, and then went over to Sofra. It's a Turkish place and I've been before so I knew there were vegetarian choices for me. We managed to get a table. My mum and stepdad weren't sure what they liked of Turkish food so we advised them.

I had this spicy tomato salad thing to start with, which was really unusual and nice, I liked it. Then I had vegetable moussaka which was lovely - I would definitely get it again. We had a nice time - there were plenty of groups in and Christmas music playing. It just wasn't exactly what we had planned! We went back to my mum's house for a little bit after we'd eaten, but we weren't out very late. 

I was wearing blingy clothes for sure because I was ready for a party. This black and silver dress came from Yours over ten years ago and I forget about it for ages on end but I do really like it and think it's nice for parties. With that I paired my sparkly raspberry tights from Snag; they're kind of annoying to wear but they look good. I also went for my new pink and black Dr Marten boots because I knew I wouldn't be walking far. They don't rub so far though which is good!

I took this as we got into the Turkish restaurant just to prove I was wearing make up. I love this lipstick - it's a Models Own one from forever ago

I put this brooch on to my cardigan too. It was my grandma's and I really like it, I think I'll wear it all Christmas to be honest!

Spicy tomato salad thing - I also had bread with it

Vegetable moussaka. My mum had lamb moussaka which she liked too

Here's my dress when we got home

And my tights and boots!

Christmas Shopping in Leeds

On the 5th of December I went to Leeds to go Christmas shopping with my mum. We like to do this every year and always make a special day of it. Last year we went to Sheffield but this year we decided to go to Leeds. I got on the train in Barnsley and met my mum on the other side of the barriers in Leeds after she had got a different train from Wakefield. We had read that the Christmas markets were on in City Square just outside the station and in Millennium Square, so we decided to go there first.

However, because it was so early not much was open, and the stalls in Millennium Square didn't seem to be open at all - they were barred still. So we went into the museum cafe for a coffee hoping some other things would open, but when they wouldn't we went to the Merrion Centre instead. 

We had a nice time in there, we went into some clothes shops and a fab vintage shop that it in there, and we bought cards and some presents and stuff. We walked out of there and across the Headrow and into some more shops, and then walked down Swan Street where we went into a crystal shop, and then down County Arcade because my mum wanted to go as far down as the Victoria Centre as she's never been in. We went across to where The Ivy is because it was getting on to lunchtime and we thought it would be nice. But the vegetarian options at the moment were pretty poor, so I didn't fancy it. We walked out on to Vicar Lane and realised that The Ivy Asia is upstairs from The Ivy and has plenty of veggie options! We went in and got a table. 

It is so fancy in there and really nice. The staff are all lovely. We had a glass of prosecco each and then shared a bottle of white wine. For food my mum went for duck pancakes and then teriyaki salmon with rice. I went for an avocado and chilli salad which was SO good, and vegetable gyoza (which were really spicy!), vegetable tempura, and a cucumber and peanut salad. It was all SO nice and it felt really lovely and definitely spoiling ourselves. 

After that we walked down into the Victoria Centre and into John Lewis where we bought a few things. All the shops in there are expensive though! It was lovely and festive though, so nice to walk around. We then got really wet walking towards Trinity and into Lush where I got some things. We went into Trinity and got some more presents. We were properly flagging by this point though, unsurprisingly! So we went out the side of Trinity and back towards City Square where more of the market stalls were open this time. 

We went into the bar and had a drink each - spiced rum for me. My mum went across and bought some churros for us to share, and we had another drink too. But the heavens absolutely opened - it was bouncing off the street. We had another drink and then decided to make our way back to Wakefield Westgate for Lee to pick us up there.

We got into the station and went to one platform, only then the announcement came through that that train wasn't stopping at Westgate. So we walked ages to go to a different platform... where the same thing happened. Apparently there were cables down due to the stormy weather. So we ended up having to go to Platform 17 where we got on a train to Kirkgate. We eventually made it there, and Lee picked us up. By that time I had walked over 12,000 steps and I was KNACKERED. We went back to my mum's and Lee and my stepdad had some tea while my mum and I just sat and relaxed! It was a really lovely day though, we went all over! 

My mum in the Merrion Centre

And me, too. I was wearing this skirt that used to be a dress that my friend gave me. It's so wintry, I love it. I got three compliments on it!

In County Arcade, I think, I get them all confused

In The Ivy, you can see the Springsteen t shirt I was wearing too 

The ceiling in The Ivy, with a bunch of beautiful baubles for Christmas

Avocado and chilli salad which was cold and really yummy

Vegetable tempura

Gyoza - these were lovely too

Some kind stranger took our picture outside the Victoria Centre

Tree inside, isn't it pretty

This was the tree in Trinity

Took a picture of myself to show just how wet I was walking back to Trinity

Prosecco for my mum and spiced rum for me

This was when the rain was really bad, you can't see it well in the photo but the video I took is insane!

Churros that we shared

And finally here's the total number of steps I walked all day........ a lot!