Trip to Northern Ireland - Day 1

Lee and I went to Northern Ireland for four nights in the middle of May. Lee has never been to any part of Ireland before so it was all new to him. I've been three times - I visited Northern Ireland in 2000 with my parents, I went to Dublin and Belfast and Derry in 2006, and I went with Sam and Jacqui on a tour round the republic of Ireland in 2016. I really like everywhere I've been in Ireland, so was excited to go again. I can't even remember why I was looking at flights, but Manchester to Belfast was coming up at £17 each return so I persuaded Lee to book it. We ended up paying £30 each so that we could take bigger cabin bags and in fact this was all the luggage we took, meaning we didn't have to wait for baggage claim or anything. For me this meant taking not a lot of clothes at all, but it was actually fine and I would totally do it again. 

We booked to stay near Ballymena because that's sort of in the middle of Northern Ireland so was easy access to everywhere. We hired a car to pick up at Belfast International. I had spend a lot of time researching places to go, vegetarian friendly places to eat, and booking museums and stuff. I had copious notes about what we were doing! The Airbnb we stayed in had been the owner's mum's granny flat, attached to their bungalow in the middle of nowhere, and it was really cosy and cute with a lot of homely touches. 

So we set off from our house nice and early and took the cats to the cattery. We got to Manchester airport and left our car and got through security really easily. We went for breakfast and then through to departures. The plane wasn't full at all, and the flight itself takes barely forty minutes. We picked up the car and headed to the coast. I had asked for recommendations on Twitter and someone had said Maud's ice cream in Carrickfergus so we headed there. The ice cream was lovely! I had salted caramel and chocolate, which were both great. 

We drove up the coast, stopping a couple of times to look at the sea. The weather was gorgeous, far nicer than the weather forecast said it was going to be, and the sea looked totally beautiful. We drove up as far as Larne before turning inland and heading to where we were staying. We checked in, met the owner, and then headed out to the nearest Eurospar to stock up on stuff for tea a couple of nights. Vegetarian options were a little thin on the ground but I got some nice stuff. We headed back to the Airbnb where we just relaxed for the rest of the night watching TV and a film. 

I have so many photos from this holiday so please do bear with me!

Airport breakfast

Lee in the airport

And me

Hi Belfast!

My ice cream, we ate it sitting outside on a wall

Driving up the coast road

This bit was so cute

The sea and sky were so beautiful

So gorgeous! 

Looking up river somewhere

And where it met the sea

The front of our Airbnb

And the ponies that lived next door!

World Seniors Snooker in Sheffield

On the 6th of May I headed back to The Crucible in Sheffield with my mum and stepdad as well this time to watch the World Seniors Snooker Championship. My mum and I went last year and really enjoyed ourselves, so we'd persuaded my stepdad to come too. They picked me up about 10.30 and we went to Sheffield and parked, and then went to Marmadukes on Norfolk Row for coffee. I also had a pain au chocolat as I hadn't had any breakfast as I'd woken up with a bit of an upset stomach. 

We went into The Crucible and found our seats, then watched Rob Walker chat about the players and stuff. The first match was Ben Hancorn vs Gerard Green and they were very evenly matched and it came down to 3-3 so they had to play the seventh frame to see who won, and Ben did in the end. This finished around 2pm and we had just fifteen minutes before the next match. Rob Walker was back, in his tuxedo this time, and then he introduced Tony Drago versus Mark Davis. Again it was very evenly matched and came down to the final frame again. At the end Rob came to interview Tony, who won, and who was upset because he had discovered earlier in the day that one of his best friends had died. It was very emotional and we ended up giving him a standing ovation because I can't imagine playing a match after such bad news. They were both excellent matches and I enjoyed myself.

I messaged Lee to tell him to set off for Sheffield, which he did, and the three of us walked up to Pho. You know I love it there and my mum had enjoyed the curry she had had there before so she agreed. We knew Norman would like it too. I hadn't booked as we weren't sure what time the snooker would finish, so we just walked in. It was busy but we were able to get a table. I had summer rolls with peanut sauce and tofu curry which is what I always get, but it's a winning combination and I really like it! Everyone enjoyed their food. 

Afterwards we just came home and got home about 7.40. I had been wearing the same new white top as the day before, and my purple floral skirt. I could see myself on camera some of the time because my white top was very bright!

Pain au chocolat

In the Crucible with the posters

Rob Walker practising for camera

And closer to us

Summer rolls - they are SO good

Tofu curry

And here's my outfit when we got home!

Lunch Out with Philippa

On the fifth of May I headed to Sheffield to have lunch with my friend Philippa. I had suggested that we go to Lounge 418 on Ecclesall Road, where I went a few weeks previously with Lee, Sam, Von and Lucinda. Philippa had never been so was happy to try somewhere new. I picked her up and we managed to park close by which was good. 

The main menu doesn't have a ton of vegetarian choices, but they do brunch all day with a lot of veggie choices. I ordered the same vegetarian breakfast that I had a few weeks previously because it was just so nice. I had a decaf latte. Then I had a piece of cake but Philippa had been out before I picked her up so wasn't hungry for cake. It was gorgeous cake but I couldn't eat it all so brought some of it home. 

We left just before 4pm and I got home about 4.30. I had a lot of weather on the way home - it started raining and then thundering and lightning and hailstones! I was in my car which is rubbish at clearing the front windscreen so I had to actually pull over at one point as I just couldn't see! 

I was wearing this new Yours top which I had bought the week before. I like plain white tops and I like the cut out detail on it. I was wearing this skirt that used to be a dress that my mum altered for me, and pale green tights. I picked these shoes out which are from Schuh, I love the brogue effect and the sort of tarnished patent effect too. I will have to wear these more!

I also received these two pins from Dorkface Creates, I backed the Kickstarter and chose these two. I wore Maleficent on my cardigan because she matched the green of my skirt!

Look at these gorgeous pin badges!

Lovely breakfast, but I did realise I didn't get my beans. It's fine though

My lovely cake

Shoes and tights when I got home

And here's my outfit!

Films of the Month - April

I watched eleven films in April which wasn't a bad go - I watched four of those while I was away by myself, so that helped up my numbers. I'm trying to get into the habit of watching more films in May, but we'll see how I go. Here's what I saw, anyway:

Netflix recommended The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo to me so I went for it - I've never read the book so had no idea what the film was about. I liked it

Lee and I were still making our way through the Scream franchise, so we got on to Scream 4. It's alright, it's one of the weaker ones

I've been meaning to watch The Woman Who Wasn't There for ages and am glad I finally got round to it. It's about a woman who said she was in the twin towers on 9/11 and that she survived from above the impact zone of the aeroplane, and that she had lost her fiance in the attack too. She was involved in a lot of survivors' groups, memorial days, and so on. It turned out she was miles away in Barcelona at the time. The film is totally bonkers 

I watched Lyra, the film about the young journalist murdered in Northern Ireland in 2019, when I noticed it on Channel 4. It is really worth a watch 

I watched Moonage Daydream on Netflix and found it was overly long and just a bit weird. It did teach me some new things about David Bowie but I wouldn't bother with it again

As I said, I saw Meet Me In St Louis on my solo trip and thoroughly enjoyed it. Judy Garland is brilliant

This popped up on Netflix while I was away so I watched it again, it's still very cute. I will probably watch the sequels again at some point

My friend recommended Lewis Capaldi's film and I really liked it, even though I know nothing about him. It's a really interesting look at fame and its downfalls

I had never seen She's All That even though it's very much the right age group for me, so I watched it while I was away. It's okay, I liked Freddie Prinze Jr a lot 

I thought I would watch the She's All That 'remake' He's All That the week after I was away. It's cute, it's obviously more modern. I liked the main girl 

Finally Lee and I watched Straight Outta Compton together. I thought we'd seen it before but I don't think we can have. It's so good, really interesting

Lunch Out in Sheffield

On the first bank holiday in May Lee and I were at a bit of a loose end. I had had a bad cold that I was at the tale end of, and Lee was still ill with some flu type thing which had really knocked him out, so we didn't want to go far but we did want to go out. Lee realised we still had a food gift voucher to use from Christmas so we decided to go to Ask in Sheffield. I'm not always in the mood for Italian food because for vegetarians it can be quite dull, but I was quite in the mood so I booked a table online and we set off.

I wouldn't have needed to book a table as the restaurant wasn't hugely busy, but I didn't know that. I went for a vegan 'noduja' pizza with chips, and a lemon drop spritz cocktail. They were all so nice - the pizza was really lovely and I really liked it. Lee had a chicken and mushroom pasta bake thing which he liked too.

When we'd finished we walked down to the market which was in the Peace Gardens. We had noticed it on the way in. I thought there would be a stall selling crepes so suggested that for pudding. In fact, we came upon a stall selling churros first so both had some of those. Mine were with chocolate and banana slices and they were so good, especially as they were so fresh! 

We looked at the other stalls and there was one selling just crepes so next time I would know that! We went into Orchard Square and had a browse round Waterstones but didn't buy anything, and then went into Blue Banana where Lee bought a Metallica t-shirt. Then we decided to get another drink so went into All Bar One. Lee (who doesn't drink ever) got a coffee and I got a Sailor's Swirl which was a really lovely sweet cocktail with lots of rum in. 

When we'd finished our drinks we were both quite tired so decided to just come home, but I was glad we had bothered to go out and we had had a nice afternoon. 

I was wearing this new Lady V dress. I only had one of their dresses, I think, but then a few days before this I had got a sale email where tons of dresses were down to just £15. They're usually about £60! I ordered four, two in one style and two in another. I liked all of them so decided to keep them, but I'm pretty sure if I don't love them in a year or two I can resell them for nearly what I paid for them (thank you Vinted!). I chose this one, mocha with white polka dots, and paired it with my black footless Snags and my newish black cardigan. This dress feels quite fancy and is nice to wear, so I'm glad I wore it for our afternoon out

New dress, which came with the belt, ready to go out in

Lemon drop spritz

Lee and I waiting for food

My vegan pizza - the tomato base especially was good

Churros!

My Sailor's Swirl in All Bar One

The fountain in Barker's Pool as we were walking back to the car

And we both noticed this old church too. Look at that sky!

Brunch with Gillian

On the very last day of April I went to Yummy Yorkshire for breakfast. She didn't have loads of time because of her kids, so we met at 9.30. Fortunately for me Yummy Yorkshire is only about fifteen minutes drive away from my house so I didn't have to set off too early. Gillian arrived just a few minutes after me. I went for falafel and hummus on toast - I would have got the big veggie breakfast but I knew we were having fajitas for tea so I didn't want to be too full. Gillian had eggs florentine which also looked really good. Mine was delicious! We each had a coffee too. 

We sat and chatted until 11am and then went through to the ice cream parlour to buy a tub of ice cream each. I went for Dime Bar flavour which turns out to be really toffee like and delicious. We said goodbye and I went home to Lee, who was feeling really ill. He got some kind of flu which wasn't Covid but was still really bad. He and I worked on sticking a new zine of mine a bit later, and then I painted an underlayer on my dolls house which I am determind to work on and get at least partly done this year. 

I was wearing one of the new tops I bought at Yours a couple of days previously. I loved the stripes and the J'Adore on the front. The tops were 2 for £25 which I felt was a bargain, and they're both gorgeous - really soft and a comfy, relaxed fit. I wore it with my navy and floral Scarlett and Jo skirt, I thought the two would look really good together and I was right, they did! 

Delicious breakfast

And here's my outfit when I got home!

Lunch with Chloe and Lolly and Frsnklin

Towards the end of April I headed to Meadowhall to meet Chloe and Lolly for lunch. Lolly's son Franklin came too because his teachers were on strike, but he is a very polite sweet kid so that was fine. We met by Kenji and went in there - I wanted to buy some presents for a friend and some noodles for Lee and a new bullet journal for me. Then we went downstairs and into Lush, where it turned out they were selling a Mario range because of the new film, so I bought some Princess Peach shower jelly for me and some Mario shower gel for me. We got some coffee and then me and Chloe went into Yours where I bought two tops, I am looking forward to wearing them. We headed upstairs to the Oasis, where we had decided to eat in Las Iguanas. 

I know they have veggie options and they seem to have upped their choices recently so there was a lot I liked the sound of. I went for nachos to start with and then cauliflower bites and onion rings as a main. It was all so nice! 

We went into the Lindt shop lastly and then said goodbye to each other. I still wasn't feeling great so I was glad to get back quite early so I could relax for a bit. I was wearing my rainbow tartan dress but didn't get a photo of that, but I did take a picture of my two tone tights and these new red dolly shoes that I got off Vinted a few weeks previously. They're so cute!

Shoes and tights. This two tone tights are so cute but I am finding that people really notice you in them, so I'm trying to get used to that

Cookie straw in my coffee, Franklin insisted!

Here we all are in Las Iguanas

Nachos, I love nachos!

The cauli bites were one of the tapas dishes but I didn't want a whole main so this was perfect for me

Lush purchases

And here's what I got in Kenji - look at the cute clay origami crane!