Lincoln Zine Fest 2022

Satirday the 22nd of October was Lincoln Zine Fest! Obviously it's been cancelled for the last couple of years and while I know other zine events have happened this year, I haven't been to any of them until this. I like to support it as it's run by my friend Lou, and this year she had managed to secure some funding for the fest and it was held at The Collection which was a really nice venue. 

Lee couldn't make the fest because he was playing a gig in Derby in the evening, so I made plans to meet Sam and Jacqui in Lincoln, then come back to mine afterwards as we had plans to go to Manchester the following day. I set off bright at early to Lincoln and arrived about 10am. Lou's partner helped me load my stuff into the venue and I chose a table near Lou. I'm not used to setting up the table all by myself but I managed it and I think it looked fine. 

The fest opened at 11 and I quickly made some sales which was good especially for my first fest back! I went down to the cafe and got a latte and a vegan biscoff cookie as I hadn't had anything to eat. Sam and Jac arrived about 12 and had a look round the fest and the museum, then went out to look at some of the shops in Lincoln. They came back about 2pm with lunch for all of us, which is really helpful when I was by myself and the cafe didn't sell actual food. 

The fest finished at 4pm - I had sold quite a lot of zines so I was happy about that. We packed up quickly and left Lincoln. My satnav took me a funny way through Bawtry and Doncaster, but it was fine, just a bit longer. We then went to my mum's house because my cousin Peter and his wife Beth were visiting and he asked to see me but didn't think he could. But I wanted to see him too so we popped in to my mum's house for a bit. It was lovely to see him briefly!

We came back to my house, stopping for snacks and Chinese takeaway on the way. We were soon in pyjamas watching Four in a Bed cos we always watch rubbish like that when we're together. We went to bed quite early as we had all been up early. Sam and Jac shared my bed because Lee wasn't getting back until late and it also meant I could keep the cats away from them as Jac's allergic. I slept in the back bed and Lee slept downstairs on the sofa when he finally got home! 

Lee took this of Poppy looking out of the back window when he was putting things in the car. Too cute!

Me all ready to go

My stall all set up!

Biscoff cookie

I took my cross stitch to do while I was sitting behind my stall

This was just before the end of the fest I think

And finally Chinese takeaway in my living room!

Cake Date with Lolly

In the middle of October I went on a cake date with my friend Lolly/Laura. There's a new cake shop in Penistone called Bake Boutique and I knew she would love it. I've driven past it a bunch of times since it opened; it's baby pink and very cute. From their Instagram I knew it was the same inside - full of flowers, charming interiors, very aesthetic. Plus of course the desserts themselves! I really wanted to go. I think it's great that something like this has opened up in Penistone and I hope it's well used. 

I knew Lolly would love it so we arranged a date and I picked her up in Barnsley. When we arrived in Bake Boutique it was about 3pm and was empty, but we took a seat and perused the menu. They have tray bakes, cupcakes and ice cream on the counters - Laura and I both got stuff to take home for later. The menu is pretty big - they have crepes, waffles, cookie dough, bubble waffles, ice cream sundaes, all with tempting arrays of toppings. You can choose your own too if there's nothing else you want! Lolly went for waffles with strawberries and Nutella, and I had chocolate chip cookie dough with strawberries and a Belgian chocolate sauce. It was SO good! I love warm cookie dough. 

More people came in including some kids after school. We got another drink and sat for a while chatting before leaving. It was a lovely cake date!

This is the sign above the rearmost booth, it's very cute

Cookie dough! The chocolate sauce especially was so nice

And here's the cappucino I had a bit later

Trip to Blackpool - Day 3

On the Saturday of our weekend away we had some breakfast and then I went for another bath in the huge bath. I chucked a Lush bath bomb in, but it must have been quite old because it didn't fizz, it just disintegrated straight away. No matter, because it made the water nice and blue anyway, and it had a ton of glitter in it, so I liked it. I wallowed there for a while, then we got ready and went into Blackpool to the Cosy Jazz Cafe for lunch.

I had been googling vegetarian options in Blackpool and came across this, which is a vegan cafe. It was empty when we arrived but got busier. It has the cutest decor, with lots of jazz records, books, and board games available. We played dominoes while we waited for our food. The menu isn't huge, but I went for jerk chick'n rice, and Lee went for a Jimmy Armfield burger (he played for Blackpool, if you're wondering like I was). I had a chai latte too, I love them! The food was so good, we shared it. I didn't eat all my rice so took it with me for later. I would recommend the cafe for vegans and vegetarians in the area! 

We then went on to Blackpool sea front and went on the big wheel at the funfair. I've seen it a few times and wanted to go on, but I didn't know if Lee would or not. But he did, so we bought tickets and hopped on. It was a lot of fun! I took some videos but can't post them here, but I took lots of pictures too. 

We played in some amusements but we weren't having much luck with either air hockey tables or 2p machines so we didn't stay. I got some donuts and Lee got an ice cream and we sat on the front looking at the beach. 

Then, quite honestly, we were both tired. We had had a long day the day before and we wanted to relax. We decided to drive up to Cleveleys to look at the beach there and then go back to the cottage to just relax and chill out for the evening. We are both chronically ill and recognise our limits, and the cottage was comfortable and nice to relax in, so that's what we did. Lee had a bath and I sat and did some cross stitching. We had bits for tea (including leftovers from lunch), and played table football. We stepped outside a bit later to look at the stars and I took the last photo just with my phone, you can see lots of stars in it!

On the Sunday morning we packed up and came home, back to the cats who were very happy to see us!

Blue bath!

Proof I was in it

The Cosy Jazz Cafe

And again

Jerk chick'n and rice

Lee's burger

These horse drawn carriages act as taxis all up and down the front, they're so cute, I'd love to go in one day!

Going up in the big wheel

Looking at the sea

And the pier

Lee on the wheel

And me, very windswept

The Tower 

The wheel from underneath

I took this on the pier of the shadow of the wheel and the Tower

Lee and I on the pier

Lee took this one when we were a little further away

Blackpool beach

Fresh donuts! One of the purest pleasures in life

Cleveleys beach, we thought this sculpture looked like a shell

Looking the other way

I don't drink much anymore but I enjoyed this tiny bottle of wine

Table football - I won, I'm good at table football thanks to a misspent youth on holiday in French bars

And finally stars!

Trip to Blackpool - Day 2

On the Friday of our weekend trip we set off about twelve out of the Airbnb and went into Blackpool. I had googled and found that Papa's fish and chips has vegetarian and vegan options, so we went there for lunch. We've been to the one on Cleethorpes pier so I knew it was nice. It was practically empty when I went in, waiting for Lee, who had gone to park. 

I had battered halloumi and chips, it was lovely. We then went into the amusements and stuff like that and played some games. We got ice cream as we were leaving Blackpool, and then drove down towards Lytham St Anne's, where I went a few years ago with Sam and Jac but Lee has never been. We stopped to look at the sea for a bit before driving to Ribby Hall. It's on like a holiday park - I had looked to stay there but it was too expensive for us. The spa is an adults only hotel at the far end of the park. 

All the ducks wanted to come and talk to us but sadly we didn't have anything to feed them. We went into the spa hotel and were shown around. You could buy flipflops for £3 each or you could have brought your own, but I didn't know that, so we hadn't. We decided to just go barefoot. I do think for the price they could provide you with flipflops! 

The main inside bit has a hydrotherapy pool with three different types of jets, that was really nice. It also has several steam rooms, saunas, and so on. There was an infrared bench that was really warming, I liked that. 

Outside there were two hot tubs in different places, and some more rooms, and a bar. We got a drink and went into one hot tub which was REALLY hot, I loved that. We rotated around a bit but especially liked the outside hot tubs. We had two hours, so around 7pm we got out and got dressed.

We had already decided to drive back to Blackpool to look at the illuminations. It was actually a year ago that we went when we were on holiday in Morecambe so that was a nice parallel. We just drove through this time. Because of the traffic it takes about forty minutes from end to end, which gives you plenty of time to look at the lights. We enjoyed it!

That did mean that we got back to the cottage after 8pm. It was fine, we just were both tired. We had eggs and beans on toast for tea and then watched a film before bed. 

The tower! It's always nice to see Blackpool Tower!

Battered halloumi and chips for my lunch

Ice cream as we left Blackpool

Lytham beach

Ducks! So many ducks!

These teenaged ones that are almost grown were making such a cute squeaking noise

Pink prosecco for me

Cheers!

Lee and I both like these foot spas

The inside hydrotherapy pool - I made sure no one else was in it when Lee took the picture

And this is me in the hotter outside hot tub, which I really liked

Illuminations!

Beach sign on a car park

The big wheel

I loved these ones

And here's the tram we went on last year!

These lights are up near Bispham, I liked the Alice in Wonderland theme