Lunch Out with Amy

In the middle of September I went to Manchester to meet my friend Amy for lunch. She's on maternity leave at the moment with her second baby, Robyn, so we arranged to meet at Slattery's which is a really fab patisserie and restaurant on the outskirts of Manchester. I've been a few times both with Amy and with my friend Helen. 

They do a few vegetarian options; Amy and I both went for Welsh rarebit with garlic mushrooms. I've had it before and it's so creamy and garlicky and full of mustard. I had a hot chocolate - it comes with all melted chocolate round the edge and hot milk in the middle and you mix them together. Amy had a chocolate milkshake. 

Slattery's desserts are what you really go for though. There's a patisserie display and they all look lovely but I've always gone for one of the chocolate desserts. I got the pudding sampler which had two of their chocolate pots, one filled with melted chocolate and one filled with cream, then a caramel shortbread, a piece of chocolate fudge cake, a piece of chocolate and orange cake, and a chocolate and raspberry brownie. I KNEW I wouldn't eat it all and actually I didn't even try - I ate the brownie and the melted chocolate out of the cup and some of the cream, and then I asked for a box for everything else. Amy got the strawberry and marshmallow dippers which I've had before and which are great. 

I set off home about 2.30 as I had a Zoom meeting to attend at 5pm and I wanted to chill out for a bit first. I was wearing this Joe Browns dress though, I've only worn it once before and it's really nice. It's red and navy blue, I'm not sure if it looks black in the picture. I like it, it feels comfy! 

I brought Lee home a piece of chocolate fudge cake and a sourdough loaf which we ate some of for tea. 

Cuddling baby Robyn, I was booping her nose which made her laugh

Hot chocolate

Gorgeous Welsh rarebit

And the amazing dessert sampler 

Wearing Joe Browns!

Baby Ariel's Dedication and First Birthday Party

My friend Michelle's baby Ariel was born in September 2020 but because Michelle lives in London and because of lockdown I'd not been able to see her or the baby. Plus I've never met Michelle's husband Sam as we weren't able to go to their wedding three years ago. So when Ariel's dedication (to their church) and first birthday party were in Leeds/Birstall, I was pleased Lee and I were able to go! 

The service was at a church in south Leeds and was really lovely; there was a lot that was really personal to Michelle and Sam which was good. Afterwards the party was held at Gomersal Park Hotel, which also happens to be where Lee and I got married sixteen years ago! It was lovely to go back. We met up with one of mine and Michelle's mutual friends, Gillian, and her family. The party was held in a suite upstairs which also had outdoor space. We sat inside and were glad of the airconditioning!

The food was a barbecue so Lee and I joined the queue. He had chicken which he was happy about because he doesn't eat much meat now I don't eat meat. I had veggie sausages and everything else, it was pretty nice. There was cheesecake for dessert and then later birthday cake too. We posed for some photos before Gillian and Tom left. Lee and I didn't stay too long after that but it had been a really nice day. I relaxed in the evening and had a currant teacake to eat!

I'd put contact lenses in again; I'm still getting used to them but I do really like them. I put some make up on too, I don't often wear it but I like the blusher effect. I was wearing this old Scarlett & Jo dress which is one of my favourites for a party like this, with a green cropped cardigan that was from Peacocks originally I think, many years ago. 

I bought these pink sunglasses while we were camping at the end of September. I think they're so cute - loving this new sunglasses life

Here I am with make up on! I used some illuminating drops on my cheeks and then blusher, I think the effect worked well

Here's the hotel - Lee and I got married in that suite on the ground floor with the bay window! We had a barbecue on the lawn to the left

Ariel's cake

Michelle and Ariel both looking gorgeous

Ariel was such a good girl all day, despite all the fuss and strange people wanting to cuddle her

Twinkle twinkle little star!

Greenhead girls assemble! Hard to believe we've been friends for over twenty years now!

Lunch Out with Chloe and Laura

Towards the middle of September I met up in Sheffield with Chloe and Laura. I've seen them both since lockdown ended but they hadn't seen each other, so we made plans to meet for lunch. I suggested TGI Friday's near Meadowhall. We got there just before noon so were ready to go inside as soon as they opened the door! We got seated and ordered some drinks.

Thanks to Brexit the menu was cut a little short due to supply issues, but there were still a few veggie choice. I went for cheesy potato skins to begin and then vegetable fajitas. These turned out to be courgette, mushroom, and pepper, which I thought was lovely but if you didn't like courgette it might have been a problem! I also had cream soda to drink which was SO good. 

We chatted for ages. Chloe and Laura had dessert but I only wanted chocolate fudge cake and it was one of the products that wasn't available, so I didn't have one. We sat chatting for ages and left around 3pm. We made a date to meet up again before Christmas (if we're not back in lockdown by then...) 

I was wearing my contact lenses again, so I was wearing my new aviator shades, I love them and the colour of the lenses. Laura brought some bits she didn't want for both Chloe and I, which included these very cute sunglasses for me! I love them! I'll have to wear them out soon.

When I got home I laid on the grass for a while with the kittens, they were desperate to go outside even though it was hot. When Lee had finished work we popped to Matalan (which is miles away at Cortonwood, but there we go) and Lee got KFC for himself for tea. 

Very cute sunglasses!

Cheesy potato skins, they were nice and crisp

Veggie fajitas

Which came with a general serving of salsa, guacamole, and sour cream

Lovely Jasmine in the long grass, watching flies

Chloe took this photo of the three of us outside the restaurant, aren't we cute?!

Weekend with Von

At the beginning of September Lee had booked to go to London for a thing - don't ask me what cos I don't fully understand it, but it was some kind of comedy geekery and he was really looking forward to it and looking forward to meeting people that he's only spoken to online before. Plus Sooz Kempner was there and he got to meet her and took a photo with her, which I think is pretty cool cos she seems a pretty sound kind of person!

Anyway, I invited my friend Von to come up for the weekend. I haven't seen her since my birthday in January 2020, so it was beyond time to see her. She arrived really late on Friday night - she'd been late leaving the office - so we didn't get much chance to speak then, but then Lee left early on Saturday morning. Von and I chilled out for a bit, playing with the kittens, and then set off around midday for Holmfirth. There's a vegan ice cream shop there that I've been wanting to try, and as Von doesn't eat a lot of milk I thought it would be ideal for her. We stopped at the shop and bought sandwiches and drinks, then carried on to Holmfirth. It wasn't as busy as I thought it might be, so we parked easily. We sat on a park bench eating our sandwiches and then went into the ice cream shop, which is called Lick.

It's all dairy free; they had maybe 18 flavours of ice cream and several different flavours of cone. Then they had maybe five toppings too. The whole place is very Instagrammable - there's a very cute neon light and wall for you to take photos. We were spoilt for choice, I went for bubblegum and chocolate with a pink sherbet topping. Von had stem ginger and something else. It was SO nice - the bubblegum was really refreshing. 

We didn't stay long in Holmfirth, but then drove over to my mum's. She was busy watching firstly the Formula 1 qualifier, and then the first of six rugby league matches as part of Magic Weekend, but we chatted anyway, and I don't mind watching the rugby league cos I do sort of love it. 

We left my mum's at about 5pm cos we were going to Meadowhall to meet Sam. I had invited her for the weekend too, but she works Saturdays and she was over in Doncaster so it was easier for us to go to Meadowhall to meet her. We went to Las Iguanas for something to eat. I haven't been in forever but their vegetarian offerings are okay, so I knew it would be fine. Sam and I had some cocktails which was nice. I had some fried cheese for a starter and then mushroom fajitas.

After two courses each we were stuffed so we set off back to mine, stopping off to buy wine on the way home. We decided it was pyjama time and then we watched crap TV and drank wine and chatted until bedtime. 

On Sunday we each got up and got ready, and chatted for a bit before heading to Yummy Yorkshire for lunch. It's another ice cream place near me, but they have a restaurant too with delicious food. I went for a veggie hotdog. We had ice cream outside in the sunshine. We took Sam to the train station in Shepley nearby and then came back to mine, where Lee was home! Von left not long after but it was so lovely to see her - it felt like old times again.

Me and Von in Holmfirth. I'm wearing contact lenses again!

Inside the ice cream shop

Hashtag selfie

My dairy free ice cream

Cocktails in Las Iguanas

Poppy waiting to be fed last thing at night, isn't she so cute? 

My veggie hotdog at Yummy Yorkshire

And my ice cream there - prosecco and summer fruits, which was delicious, and chocolate

Films of the Month - August

I did okay with films in August, I watched thirteen. That means two thirds of the way through the year I've watched 78 films, which isn't bad, but is less than other years I think. I've been watching a lot of Gogglebox instead!

Here's what I saw:

While Lee and I were in Hebden Bridge we watched Men In Black International on Netflix. I know we've seen it before but Lee reckons he hasn't, but I KNOW we have

Pray Away is a deeply moving and profound film about survivors and former leaders of so-called "conversion therapy" (which often promises to 'pray away the gay'). Twitter had been talking about it, so I watched it. Conversion therapy is abusive and doesn't work, which I already knew. It's a sad film but I'm glad I watched it, and would recommend it too 

I had also seen some reviews of Reclaiming Amy so I watched that too. Amy has a little piece of my heart - she and I are the same age and I was sad when she died, so young, with such a talent. This documentary, featuring both her parents and a few of her friends, is really lovely - I really felt like I got to know her as a person, and her sense of humour. Really lovely

I had been reading Joanne Harris' new book which reminded me of all her old books that I used to really love. I watched Chocolat because I've only seen it once or twice before

I was talking to my friend Leanne about Pray Away, and she mentioned this film which is about a boy who really did live through conversion therapy. It's good, but obviously distressing

I don't know why I watched World Trade Center - I think I'd been reading something about the 9/11 attacks (can you believe it's been twenty years???) and this came up. It was interesting, but not necessarily good? I dunno, it was a weird one

Speaking of weird films, I watched Miss Potter, which I've never seen. Potter herself just seems totally bonkers throughout. I did like it though, and it looked fantastic

Then I watched Peter Rabbit, which I've also never seen. I did like it and thought it was very cute, but WHY is James Corden in LITERALLY everything these days? It's too much

Lee and I watched Die Hard with a Vengeance one afternoon. It's so good, I love it, I actually love all three of the first films, but I particularly like Samuel L Jackson and Jeremy Irons in this film. I love the riddles and stuff too

Lee and I watched the first Men In Black in July I think, so he suggested watching this. I think it's the weakest of the three, although I do still like it

Sam and I watched Gosford Park on Netflix party together one afternoon. Netflix had been recommending it to me and as I liked the first few series of Downton Abbey I fancied watching it. It's quite different to that though - it looks similar but it's very tongue in cheek. We both liked it

Save the Last Dance is one of my comfort films and I love it, I hadn't seen it in forever so watched it one dreary afternoon

Finally Lee and I watched Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure which is a film we both love and have seen a zillion times. It's so much fun, though

After that I got busy and didn't watch a film for the last eleven days of the month! Let's see what happens in September though...

Camping in Essex - Day 4

Day 4 was our last day camping. Time to put everything away and go home! Rob and Beth had had to leave really early in the morning, so we had said goodbye to them the night before. But Neil made pancakes for breakfast - I had two with chocolate and one with lemon and sugar. Absolutely delicious! 

Peter helped us put the tent down which was so helpful, and then we helped with bits of my aunt's and uncle's tent. My mum and stepdad were staying another couple of nights, so we had to say goodbye to them too sadly. 

Lee and I drove home, stopping to get a sandwich on the way home, and picked up the kittens, who were really happy to see us. We relaxed for the rest of the day, we were both so tired! 

I was wearing this dress from Yours that I've had for three years, I only wore it once or twice when it split on the seam. It's been in my mending pile for ages but I finally got round to sewing it up! I love it and the asymmetric hem, plus the pattern. I'm so happy to be able to wear it again! I wore it with this ancient knit crop top from New Look. 

Everyone trying to get the roof box shut

It needed rearranging

Here's this gorgeous navy dress with green and yellow flowers, plus crop top!

Camping in Essex - Day 3

After a better night's sleep I still woke up early but that meant I got to see the sunrise, which was lovely. I went back to sleep for a bit, but I never sleep well on low airbeds. I'll have to do some research and see what we come up with!

When I got up again I had a shower and then got to making breakfasts again. We made something simple - croissants cut in half and layered with salami and cheese, and toasted under the grill. I had vegan pepperoni which was really nice. Everyone liked it, people said it was a bit like breakfast pizzas with no tomatoes. It was simple but effective and set everyone up for the day. I enjoyed thinking up new things for breakfast! 

My mum and aunt's cousin Sue lives in Essex, so she and her husband came to see us on Sunday, they arrived about noon. My aunt and co went off for a walk, and I sat cross stitching in the sun. It was so changeable though, which was a shame. We had some lunch and sat chatting. The others came back and got some lunch too. I went to Tesco with my cousin. People played games and just generally relaxed. 

About 5pm we went to the beach where Rob decided he would have a swim. If it had been warmer I would have gone myself, but it was just a bit too cold. Lee and I paddled though, and the water wasn't as cold as I thought it would be. I'm glad I went down to the beach though. 

In the evening Rob and Neil made two types of carbonara - one with veggie bacon and one with regular bacon. The veggie one was SO good, I will have to try to make it myself. We moved the tables inside the tent as it was warmer in there. Sue and Eugene left around 8.30 and the rest of us played games until it was bedtime. 

Sunrise at around 5.40am

Breakfast croissants

Peter taking photos

The team photo, Sue took this as she's not in it

Eug took this one!

Down on the beach near the caravan site

It was quite muddy

Rob considering swimming

And then swimming!

Doing okay!

Proof that Lee and I paddled

I took a video of this too once everyone else had gone back to camp

Veggie carbonara

Beth and Lee and I inside the tent ready for tea - Lee and I are failing at looking at the right place on my phone, obviously

Neil, Peter, Rob

The same but with hoods up and serious faces

My mum, aunt, and Sue :)