Trip Out with Lee

Ever since I went to Wild Cafe in Marsden back in November, by myself after I had seen a client who loves there, I wanted to take Lee. I thought he would like it and I wanted to go back. We had a free Saturday so I booked a table for us at noon. We ran some errands first and then set off about 11am. We got there about 11.45 and Lee was befuddled because you park further up the lane and then have to walk down to the cafe and the wellness centre (which I also really want to try at some point). There were only a couple of tables taken so we went straight to ours. 

I have to say that I think service was a bit slow. And there were plenty of members of staff available. BUT then I was thinking that maybe that's the point - it is a wellness centre and it felt kind of nice to be just kind of sitting, with nothing else to do, chatting to each other. Life has been really busy for us recently so it was nice. I won't complain too much. 

I had an elderflower lemonade which was one of the nicest things I've ever drunk. Lee had a karma cola which he liked. Then for food he went for avocado on toast which I had last time. He had it without feta as he doesn't like cheese. He had roasted harissa potatoes too, I had a couple of them and they were nice. I went for Thai peanut tofu curry. It was SO nice. It had SO many peanuts in it which I really like as I love them. It was nice and spicy and just tasted lovely. A good choice for me! We also shared some hummus dip, which tasted lovely but was really quite liquid which I found a bit weird. 

We had decided to go to Lick in Holmfirth for pudding so we didn't have any in Wild Cafe, but we had a hot chocolate each. It was so good. We had it with dairy milk but it was also available in vegan milks. It was actual chocolate flakes melted, which was delicious. I think the cream was vegan squirty cream. It was a lovely treat!

We drove into Marsden itself and parked. There aren't tons of shops but there were some charity shops so we had a wander in those. We looked at the river which was lovely, and it was tempting to sit out in the sunshine at the pub, but we didn't. Instead we drove to Holmfirth. They're doing roadworks right in the middle of Holmfirth but we managed to get parked near the bus station so then we walked around and went into a few shops. We bought bread in the bakery and butter and cheese in the cheese shop, and then went into Lick. It's all vegan ice cream and I just love it. I went for peppermint stick, which is new, and chocolate. I usually get a tub but went for a cone. Lee had strawberry and chocolate. 

We looked at the river in Holmfirth too. It was very pretty! It was nice and warm and I only needed a cardigan to walk around in. My cardigan was my pink zebra print one, I have been wearing it a lot recently. I was wearing a Joe Browns dress that I got last autumn. I love it, and it has pockets! I had grey Snag tights on underneath, and my boots. I'm not yet out of the boots! 

Elderflower lemonade with delicious flowers in too 

Thai peanut tofu curry, also with edible flowers

Lee and his avo toast

The hummus, which I wouldn't get again. Fortunately there are plenty of other things on the menu to try next time!

Such a nice hot chocolate - very recommended

Looking up river in Marsden

And looking down river - I love the mill at the end with the stilts

I was wearing new earrings that I had got just a bit before when I was at Meadowhall. They're from Accessorize and they were in the sale for just a couple of quid. I love them, they're green and I just love the colour

Standing on the bridge in Holmfirth with Lee

Ice creams from Lick

Looking at the river in Holmfirth

And finally my dress when we got home

Lunch Out with Roslyn

On the 3rd of November I went to Sheffield to meet my friend Roslyn for lunch. She wasn't sure what she wanted but fancied noodles so I was suggesting a few places in Sheffield and she chose Pho. So I drove to Middlewood and got on the tram. I was there before Ros so I went in and got a table and waited for her. She had never been before so when she arrived I advised her on what was good. She's vegetarian like me so that was useful for me to have some knowledge. We both went for summer rolls with peanut sauce to begin with, and then Ros went for tofu curry because I said it was very good. I decided to go for something different and had tofu curry noodle soup. It was spicy and delicious and really warming and lovely! 

After we had eaten we went into a few shops, nothing too exciting but I did start my Christmas shopping in TK Maxx which was good. It was getting on for 3.30pm by this point so we decided to go and get a drink and ended up in a brownie/donut place. I had a brownie and some pop, it was fine but nothing too special and I didn't bother taking a photo! I got home about 5pm and got a photo of my dress. It is a Joe Brown's one and I got it a few months ago but haven't worn it much because I think it's more of an autumn/winter dress. I wore it with black footless tights. 

As it was near to Bonfire Night there were tons of fireworks in the evening so I watched a few from my attic window. 

Summer rolls with peanut sauce, Ros had never had summer rolls before but liked them

Tofu curry noodle soup, you can't see the noodles here but there were loads in the bottom of the bowl. I would have it again

Lovely orangey dress when I got home

And finally some pretty fireworks

Trip to France - Day 3

On the Tuesday of our holiday we again started off the day with croissants. Lee was working again so the rest of us tried to just leave him be. Then my mum, Alison, and I headed off to L'Eclerc for supplies. My mum wanted to get wine and we needed stuff for tea too. I finished my book and we just hung out in the afternoon. 

I bought a bottle of Crozes Hermitage. My dad really liked Cotes du Rhone wine so I bought this for us to share. We opened it in the evening and I shared it with my stepdad and godfather. It was bloody lovely, just an absolutely gorgeous bottle of wine and I was happy to share it with them. 

Alison made bean chilli for all of us. I made the guacamole, it wasn't too exciting but it was nice. Then my mum had bought pastries at the bakery in the morning. Lee and I shared the a chocolate eclair and a coffee eclair, they were both nice but I think I actually preferred the chocolate one. We had some Baileys later on, too.

I was wearing a new Joe Browns dress that I got from Simply Be recently. I like the pattern and I knew the shape would suit me because I have another dress with the same shape, in a different pattern. This one is nice and summery but I've been wearing it with tights anyway while it's colder. 

I also took a photo of Alison's extremely well stocked wine fridge!

Coffee at breakfast time, I really liked this cute cup. Also you can just see the poppy tablecloth Alison has, my mum has the same one 

Alison's staircase doesn't have one regular shaped stair in the entire flight! It's bonkers but very well crafted and lovely 

The well stocked wine fridge

The lovely bottle of wine we shared

Chilli! I love chilli so this was ideal

Eclairs and two tarts, not sure what they were but I didn't want to eat them anyway so it made no difference to me

The ones we shared. I love how so many things in France are coffee flavoured. I didn't manage to get any coffee ice cream this time around, though, boo 

Floral Joe Browns dress with pink Snag capri tights just seen underneath

And finally a Baileys

Lee's Pre-Birthday

On the 20th of August we went out for pudding and a couple of drinks with my mum and stepdad. The 21st was Lee's birthday but he and I had plans for that, so we agreed to go out with my mum and stepdad the night before. We took Lee's presents so he could open them then too. My mum had also gone in the afternoon to pick up a cake for Lee for me. It was from Violet Boo Bakery and it was SO nice, really chocolatey with tons of chocolate on top too. We gave it to Lee when he and I arrived at my mum's house and then sang happy birthday to him, which he hates but which we always do anyway. 

Then we went into Wakefield to go to Rassams Creamery for pudding. We had all had tea beforehand but Lee loves desserts so the Creamery was ideal. I went for mixed cookie dough and he went for waffles with a piece of chocolate fudge cake on. I couldn't eat all of mine but it was really delicious! I went to the creamery in June with my friend Helen and they have this incredibly irritating robot that plays 1000 Miles by Vanessa Carlton as it's wondering around... 

But anyway. We enjoyed the food. Then we parked on Wood Street and went into Damelio. There weren't tons of places open I guess because it was just a random Tuesday night, but this was a nice enough bar and I had two nice drinks. One was lemony with whiskey and tasted a bit like cough medicine, and the other one was called La Dolce Vita. 

We left about 10pm and took my mum and stepdad home before going home ourselves. Lee liked all his presents - a bunch of vinyl records and two t shirts and other stuff. I was wearing my watercolour dress which came from Asos forever ago and a green shrug that came from Joe Browns. I like how airy it is. I also had on my guava capri tights and my Dr Marten shoes that I got from Vinted a while ago. They rub a little bit but I knew I wouldn't be walking far so could wear them! It was a good outfit all in all. 

Lee's amazing chocolate cake 

Lee's waffle and cake

My cookie dough with lots and lots of chocolate sauce on top

My two yummy cocktails

My watercolour dress

And my tights and shoes before we went out

Father's Day 2024

On Father's Day in the middle of June Lee and I went to Yorkshire Sculpture Park to meet up with my mum and stepdad. Last year, when my dad would have been seventy, my mum and I paid for his name to be put on the new Walk of Art outside The Weston at the sculpture park. The original ones are up by the main building and apparently my grandma's name is on there, although I don't remember ever seeing it. This one is in a different place and we had to wait almost a year for it to be done. But finally it was, so we wanted to go see it. 

We met about 1.15 and had lunch first. The menu at the Weston isn't huge and there isn't a ton of vegetarian choices, so I had eggs royale and thoroughly enjoyed my smoked salmon and poached eggs and hollandaise on a muffin. My mum had the same thing. My stepdad had shepherd's pie and I can't remember what Lee had. For dessert I had the triple chocolate brownie and ice cream which also came with like milkshake powder which was weird. Lee had the brownie of the day which was a Crunchie one. I had a mimosa too and a coffee!

After we had eaten we went into the gallery in the Weston and then the shop, both of which were quite interesting to see. Then we went to find my dad's name. It was lovely! I'm so glad it's there! My dad spent his entire life living nearby so I'm glad he's immortalised here forever! Some people had left flowers near names so that's something we could do in the future too. 

After this we went back to my mum's for a little bit just to hang out and have a couple of glasses of wine before we went home. I was wearing my all black low top Converse trainers which came off Vinted of course, and a Joe Browns dress via Simply Be that I've had for a while but don't wear a lot. It was a nice day! We also managed to avoid the downpour!

Mimosa with a candied orange piece

Eggs royale

And chips that my mum and I shared

My triple chocolate brownie

And Lee's one

My dad's name on the path, I've blanked out his surname for privacy

Daisies that were nearby the path

All black Converse

And my pretty blue and pink dress when we got home!

Holiday in Wales - Day 7

On the final day of our holiday we weren't really sure what to do. We had already decided to go out to eat as it was our last night, so we didn't want to do too much during the day. Plus we wanted to get in a last swim! So we decided to drive to Denbigh.

My overarching recommendation for Denbigh is: don't. There's not a lot there at all and it's very rundown and just not in good nick. We went in a few charity shops and a nice crystal shop where I bought one crystal - a nice piece of rainbow jasper - but otherwise we just didn't like it that much. There also wasn't anywhere to have lunch; there were a lot of closed down cafes. We decided to drive up to the castle, hoping there would be a cafe there, but there didn't seem to be. We didn't go in, but it is very pretty to look it. 

So we drove to St Asaph. We went there before in 2016 with my cousin Peter and I remembered the cathedral was really beautiful so I thought we would have a look round. We parked and saw a lovely cafe, which turned out to have shut just a few minutes before. By this point we were hungry and annoyed so we went into the fish and chip shop next door and shared some chips. It wasn't amazing but it was fine, so that was okay.

We went into the cathedral and it turned out there was a tea shop in there where we could have had lunch, but never mind! We went round the cathedral and then had a hot drink and a cake each in the cafe. The cathedral has a history of where the Bible was first translated into Welsh, so that's pretty cool to see and wasn't something I remembered from when we went before. 

We headed back to the caravan site to go swimming. I had been wearing a Joe Browns dress in orange which I absolutely love, with an old New Look top over the top. It was a nice outfit for a colder summer day and I'll definitely wear the two together again. We went swimming - again by ourselves in the pool - and got out at about 5pm.

We got showered in the caravan - which got worse and worse water pressure throughout the week, which wasn't great - and got ready to go out. We had considered going to a pub, but I really fancied Indian food so we had consulted Trip Advisor and found a curry house in Wrexham. It was called Ijazz and we decided to just turn up, knowing there were other places in Wrexham if we couldn't get in. 

It was about twenty minutes away and it wasn't at all busy so had tables for us. I was happy there were quite a few vegetarian choices and Lee is always happy to have curry! I had pani puri for starter which were a bit different and really delicious. Lee had chicken chaat. Then he had karahi chicken I think and I had paneer delight. I fancied something creamy and coconutty, which this definitely was! It was really delicious. We didn't have dessert because we had stuff back in the caravan. I was given a shot of coconut liqueur to end with though which was really nice. 

We got back to the caravan and had to pack! I was wearing a peach dress from Simply Be to go out in, though, a dress that I really love and ought to wear more. I love the colour of it. 

On Friday morning we packed up quickly and checked out about 9.45 As I said, the site wasn't very busy and didn't have many amenities, but that did mean we had a quiet and relaxing time. We would have made it home in just a couple of hours, but we decided to stop at the big Tesco in Hattersley for breakfast on the way back. We both had veggie breakfasts and it was delicious! We got a few things for the weekend and I picked up a couple of books for £9 too! 

It was a really nice holiday and I'm glad we went!

Parts of the ramparts in Denbigh are like built into the houses and streets

The castle itself

And another bit

Looking down over the town

Chips!

St Asaph cathedral

I took a photo of this fabulous door when I went before, too

One of the first Welsh bibles and the history of it

Bakewell blondie I had in the cafe

Day outfit of Joe Browns dress and a knit top 

The pool for the last time! It was funny because the roof leaked when it was rainy so there were cold drips coming into the middle of the water!

Made up face getting ready to go out in the evening

Pani puri for starter

And paneer delight for my main course. There was more than this and I ate it all

The coconut shot I drank

Peach Simply Be dress when we got back 

Veggie breakfast in Tesco the next morning

And finally here's all the books I bought. The top two were from Tesco and the bottom six were from charity shops throughout the week and cost less than a fiver in total!