Out for My Mum's Birthday

On the last Sunday in May we went out for my mum's birthday. Her birthday was actually the previous Friday, but she and my stepdad had gone away to Scarborough for it, so she had asked us to go out on the Sunday instead. My aunt and my cousin's wife were up too, and then my stepcousin N decided to come across too. My mum booked Qubana in Wakefield, where I've been a few times but not for ages, but I've always liked it. It's located in what used to be Barclays bank, so you can book the old vault for you privately, so my mum did that. It seats up to 10 people. 

We arrived at 6.30 and were greeted by a friendly staff member and shown into the vault. It's pretty cool - the table and chairs are lovely, and you can connect to their speaker, which I did, and put on a playlist of our music. There's curtains across the door. 

They have a few cocktails so I went for a Cuban Cherry which was gorgeous, I would have it again. They do tapas and then burgers and steaks and stuff. My mum, Niri, Beth and I all went for tapas. My stepdad had a steak and Lee had a chicken burger. 

I will say that I thought the vegetarian selection was a bit disappointing - perfectly fine but a bit heavy on rice and potatoes. I shared some bread with Lee to start with, then had patatas cava with tomato sauce and aioli, veggie jambalaya, and deep fried manchego. My mum and I shared some rose wine which was nice. 

I think everyone enjoyed their food, but service was slow. At around 8.15 we had only just had our mains cleared, and were discussing desserts. But my mum wanted us to go back to hers for a bit, and obviously Lee had to work the next day so I didn't want to be too late. So we decided to buy ice cream at the shop and eat that at my mum's rather than stay in the restaurant. It kind of felt like since we were in the vault we were out of sight and got forgotten a bit. It was a bit annoying especially as they could have sold us some desserts quite easily! 

But! It was nice to get together. I wore my Yours dress that is nice for a special occasion but easy to wear. It's black on the top and mint green and patterned on the skirt. I wore it with dolly shoes from Schuh and black footless Snag Tights. I also did some make up - just some concealer and a Models Own lipstick which I think is lovely on me! 

Here's my photos: 

Sitting in the vault!

A Cuban Cherry

Bread to start with, it was all nice

Veggie jambalaya

Deep fried manchego

Patatas casa

Me and Lee back at my mum's 

My black and mint green dress, I do love it

And Nirosha wanted to get in on the photo action too!

Vegan Chinese in York

Towards the end of May I went to York to see my friend Jac and to visit a vegan Chinese restaurant that I'd heard amazing things about. I haven't seen Jac since my birthday in January so it was well overdue! I drove up at 4pm as I didn't want to hit traffic, and managed to park really easily just across from the restaurant. Jacqui finished work at 5pm so we met then and went for a drink in an old church that's been turned into a bar, which was very sticky but pretty cool and it had an extensive cocktail menu. I had a rhubarb bramble which was marvellous.

We went across to The Orchid at 6pm. I've heard rave reviews from vegan friends so wanted to try it. We ordered vegan crackers to start with, then Jac had mini spring rolls while I went for vegetable gyoza. Then she had broccoli and ginger with noodles, and I had "prawn" sweet and sour with rice. Then we both had chocolate fudge cake with vegan cream. 

The food was nice enough but not amazing. I struggle to find vegetarian Chinese stuff around here from takeaways so I was really excited, but I didn't find the food THAT special. My "prawns" were nice, but there weren't really enough of them in the serving I didn't think. I did like my gyoza, which were steamed. It's mostly Chinese food but they do some Japanese and other Asian dishes too. The place was certainly busy enough and I'm sure that if you are vegan (I'm just vegetarian) you would appreciate knowing that it's a totally vegan kitchen. But I've had better food. It is cheap though! Three courses and drinks for both of us came to just over £50, which is good.

I took Jacqui home and stayed an hour or so there just chatting before driving home. It was so nice to see her!

On the ceiling in the old church/bar

Rhubarb bramble

Steamed gyoza

Jacqui's broccoli and ginger, which was nice

My king "prawns" in sweet and sour sauce

Chocolate fudge cake - it was lovely!

Northern YA Lit Fest In Preston in May

It's back! We're back! Back in person at a conference! I was so excited to go! 

I went to Northern YA Lit Fest in 2018 and 2019 and had tickets for 2020 when it had to be cancelled due to the pandemic, so I'm a big supporter of the festival and was so excited to be back. It actually took place over two days, with the second day focussing on middle grade and children's books and authors. However, I know I wouldn't be able to cope with this, so I opted to just go on the YA day. I asked Lee to come with me to carry books and generally be helpful, but actually as the festival was less well attended than previously, I probably would have been fine by myself. But no worries, he enjoyed himself. 

We set off around 8.10 and managed to get to Preston by just after 9.30, meaning we had plenty of time to get checked in and walk round the stalls. There were some good stalls, but I'd have liked a couple more I think. There was also some confusion as to which events were being held where, which could have been avoided by signs or by it being printed in the programme. I had signed up to the two panels featuring agents, as I'm trying to get agented myself, so I headed there. Lee didn't think they sounded too interesting, so he got himself a hot chocolate and sat in the break out areas playing on his Switch. 

I first of all watched "The Publishing Process" which was engaging and interesting, and then watched "Getting Your Pitch Right" which veered off subject slightly but was still fun to watch. There was a lot of talk about Heartstopper and how it has hopefully shown that YA is very sellable, which I liked. 

By this time it was 12 and there were some signings. I had taken some books that I've already read for signing, and bought a bunch more from the stalls. I spoke to Cynthia Murphy and she signed my journal as I read her book but it was from the library so I didn't have it for signing. The signings were a lot better this year, but again that's maybe because there were fewer people there. Queues weren't stupidly long and moved quickly. I was impressed!

There's a canteen right off the room where the stalls are, so we went in there for lunch. It was cheap and seats were plentiful so that was good. Before long it was 1pm and it was time to watch "The World We Live In" which included Simon James Green who was very funny and who also talked about having a school visit to a Catholic boys school cancelled recently, which was sad. It was good. Then came Living, Loving and Laughing which was very good, we both enjoyed that one. Two of the authors managed to sell themselves to me so Lee hotfooted it back to Ebb and Flo book stall to buy their books for me for the signings which were next. I also got copies for my friend Sam for her birthday, and both authors put a birthday message to her in the books which was lovely of them. 

It wasn't obvious who everyone was at the signing tables and obviously, as there were different panels/workshops going on, you may not have seen everyone in the room. Signs on tables could have helped here. As it was I had to google C G Moore to check what he looked like before taking over my copies of his books for signing. 

The last panel at 4pm was one about fantasy, and I found it interesting even though fantasy is not really my genre. Accessibility and accessible seats were a lot better this year, which I'm glad about. At 5pm I took a last look at all the stalls. There were far fewer proof copies this year which is a shame but not really something to worry about. I had bought many books! I had a really good time. 

I had done some research beforehand into good vegetarian food in the area and found RK Dining which is Indian street food that is all vegetarian or vegan. This was extremely exciting to me! It was just down the road from UCLan where the festival had been held, and we got a table easily. The problem was there was too much choice! I went for samosa chaat to start with then masala paneer which came with three rotis so I didn't get rice. I also had a mango lassi. Lee went for a mixed starter (where he let me try everything) and Bombay potatoes, which also came to roti. That cost us the grand total of £25 which was a bargain! 

There's a deli attached to the restaurant so we bought some stuff there to have for tea later in the week which is a treat too! I would recommend the place if you're in the area, it's quick, authentic, and delicious!

My dress, if you're wondering, is the Mary Poppins dress from Carolina Dress Room. I have worn it before but not for ages, and I thought it would be cute for a literary festival. I got a lot of compliments on it. 

I can't wait until next year! 

In the agent events are the beginning of the day

Living, Loving and Laughing

Me and Simon James Green!

The Fight For What's Right

Samosa chaat

Lee's mixed starter

Mango lassi, it was so good! 

Masala paneer

Lee's Bombay potatoes

As I said I did take a few books to get signed that I already owned, which aren't pictured, but there are all the books I bought (most of them are now signed). The middle one at the bottom is a proof I was given!

Films of the Month - April

I watched twelve films in April which was a decent amount. Here's what I saw: 

First of all I watched The Rachel Divide, about Rachel Dolezal who reckons she is a black woman despite being white. I've seen it before, but not for ages, so I thought I'd rewatch it. It is absolutely fascinating

I really wanted to see the new Death on the Nile. I think it looks spectacular and I did enjoy it, but I still prefer David Suchet's Poirot. I've been making my way through all thirteen seasons of that! 

My sister in law told me to watch Spotlight, which is about the Boston Globe's investigation into the Catholic Church's child abuse scandal. It's brilliant. I really recommend it

I saw a trailer for The Duke, about the theft of a portrait of the Duke of Wellington, when I went to the cinema in January, so I was looking forward to it. It was okay. The north east accents were prety dire, but it was funny in parts

Lee and I watched The Wedding Singer together. I love it, it's so daft but so funny, but it's the only film I can stand Adam Sandler in as I'm not much of a fan!

Netflix recommended The Show Must Go On to me - it's about how Adam Lambert (a singer I was already a fan of) came to be singing with Queen. It's really cute if you're a fan - Adam is a fan too and he never tries to be Freddie Mercury, he's just himself 

My friend Kate and I watched this together online, like it's April 2020 again. It's about a trans teenager who moves with her dad to a small town in Brazil (from the big city) and gets bullied and falls in love. It's fab, I really liked it and would recommend it!

I cannot even remember why I watched The Kitchen but I like Melissa McCarthy so gave it a go. It had funny parts, I quite liked it

My friend Sam had recommended The Outfit to me, especially as it has Dylan O'Brien and Johnny Flynn in it. It's good, it's very claustrophobic and all set in one small shop. I really liked it - defintiely see it!

Sam had also recommended Firebird, which is about two male Soviet soldiers who have an affair in the 1970s and end up in a love triangle with a female soldier. It's good, watch it 

Netflix recommend The Ice King to me, it's a documentary about ice skater John Curry. I hadn't heard of it but thoroughly enjoyed this, which touched upon his career, sexuality, friendships, and so on. So interesting

Finally I watched The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe on Netflix, which mostly focussed on her death. It told me some things I didn't know beforehand, so I liked it!

Lunch out for Philippa's Birthday

On the fifteenth of May Lee and I headed to Sheffield to have lunch with Philippa and some friends for her birthday. She had invited us a couple of weeks before alongside Claire, Sandra, their son, and her friend Cat and her children, who I have met before but not for literally about eight years (the babies were tiny at the time!). She wanted to go to Temple of Fun which is in a really fun old factory type building and which serves amazing vegan food. Philippa and I went not so long back and I really enjoyed the food then, so I was keen to go back. Lee's never been, and I promised him it was nice!

We all got there and chatted for a bit. I took Philippa some flowers because I always like to be bought flowers. I had ordered them from the flower shop in our village and just said "Colourful" because Philippa is a very colourful person and the flowers were gorgeous - oranges and yellows which was so cheerful! I should have taken a photo. 

I decided on the Gouda God burger, which had melted vegan gouda and not meat bacon rashers. It was absolutely gorgeous, I would definitely eat it again. Lee had the fairground hotdog that I had had previously and liked it. And we shared some onion rings, which were huge and delicious. 

On Sundays they do two Sunday roasts as specials, so a few people went for that. It did look nice, Lee and I will have to go again! The desserts are all sundaes and they were all absolutely immense. Lee and I shared the chocolate orange one which was gorgeous. It had chocolate ice cream and gorgeous orangey bits on top. I would like to try the unicorn one though! Philippa got a piece of brownie with a candle in because it was her birthday, which was nice. 

I wore my rainbow dress and my Fuck the Tories necklace because I knew Philippa would appreciate both! I don't wear my rainbow dress very often because I feel like it needs a particular occasion to do it! But it is nice to wear. I also had my black footless Snag Tights on. 

Gouda God burger, so gorgeous

Immense onion rings

Pippa and her brownie

Gorgeous chocolate orange sundae

My rainbow dress and white Converse

New Tattoos for Lee and me

Lee and I both went to The Ink Station in Heckmondwike for new tattoos in early May. We had had the appointments booked for absolutely forever so I'm glad it finally arrived. I went over first as Lee was working. I had seen some of the lacy/henna type tattoos that Nini does and I asked her to design one for me, which she did. She started tattooing that, doing the heart first. Then she did the black pattern which goes all around my arm. I had to bend my arm right back which meant my shoulder hurt for a bit afterwards!

Lee turned up about twelve. His tattoo was Vault Boy from the Fall Out games but dressed as a punk. His friend Zoe had designed it for him. Nini did a couple of tweaks and did the colours. I think it looks fab! It was a bit bloodied in this photo which isn't surprising as it was a lot of ink altogether! He's happy with it

While I was there I booked a tattoo with Kim in November. I've been wanting to have something by her for a while as she's really talented, so I'm really happy I could book something. I'm going to have a Hello Kitty I think, but I've got a while to think about it! I also need to get my foot tattoo retouched - it had a whole rainbow in it but it turns out I'm allergic to a lot of red and purple inks, so those colours have totally dropped out of it. Nini was shocked at how much has gone! But my foot hurt so much I will have to psyche myself up to get it tattooed again!

I think this is the 20th tattoo for me now, I will have to count them. 

The carbon never comes off my skin at first, and obviously I didn't want to rub too much

Lee's! They're both on a similar place on our forearms

Tea Out with Sarah

At the beginning of May I had plans to see my friend Sarah in Sheffield. I hadn't seen her for ages because we'd both been ill and her whole household had had Covid, so we had had a few cancelled plans. But we managed to get together for tea. As I'd been at the snooker for the whole day previously, I knew I would be achy and tired, so Sarah suggested meeting at Wagamama at Centertainment because it's easily accessible. Perfect!

I had had my hair cut earlier in the day - it needed a good cut so I had about three inches taken off the length. I pulled on my heart print Simply Be dress which I generally wear with bright blue tights, but as I wasn't feeling 100% I decided to put leggings on instead as they're comfy and cosy. Sometimes I need that!

I got to Sheffield in good time as there didn't seem to any traffic. I went into Wagamama and asked for a certain seat (thanks disability) and then some water very quickly as I needed to take some painkillers (thanks ongoing womb issues). The greeter accomadated me wonderfully, with a smile, telling me it was no problem. I like it when staff are like that! I appreciate it! 

Sarah arrived not too long after and we chatted the whole time. I love seeing Robyn too obviously but it was nice to see her just by herself, and Robyn was fine at home with her dad. We ordered mushroom bao buns to share, then I went for the vegan sticky "ribs" which are new, and the tofy raisukaree, which I usually get because it's just so nice and I like it a lot. Sarah went for pork gyoza and duck donburi, I think. 

We then decided to get desserts too. I went for banana katsu which came with ice cream and caramel sauce. It was quite bizarre, as it was obviously deep fried, but the ice cream did make it like a dessert and I quite enjoyed it. Sarah had the smoked chocolate cheesecake and enjoyed that. We said goodbye eventually, and when I got home I got into bed to watch Schitt's Creek while Lee went in the bath - I needed a good rest and an early night!

Post haircut - it is still very long yes!

I remembered to take a photo of Sarah and I in the restaurant

Tofu raisukaree, full of vegetables and absolutely gorgeous

Sticky "ribs" - I don't know what they were made  of but the taste was bang on

Cherry blossom lemonade which was really nice and refreshing

Banana katsu - I would eat it again

And me in my heart print Simple Be dress!