Weekend in the Dales - Day 1

In the middle of November we went to Wensleydale for the weekend with my mum and stepdad. We had booked it in August I think and when it got to it I was really looking forward to it. It felt like the beginning of Christmas because it was nice and cold and festive! It was lovely to spend the time with my mum and stepdad too. 

Lee and I set off at about 1pm I think, I can't remember for sure now actually. I drove there so he could do some work from his phone. We stopped at Skelton just north of Leeds for lunch, and I had an amazing burrito with vegan chilli and plenty of guacamole. Lee had KFC I think. We got to West Burton where we were staying at about 3.20 and were able to check in straight away. We got the heating on because it was freezing! My mum and stepdad arrived not long afterwards. They had been to Bedale to meet some friends for lunch first before coming over. 

Lee was still working so the rest of us sat about for a bit and I did some crochet before we set off about 7pm to the local pub to get food. However, it turned out the kitchen was shut, which was a bit unfortunate. The landlady told us to go to Street Head Inn which was about a mile away. When we got there we weren't sure if we could get in because there was a meeting going on, but they found us a table in the restaurant. The pub is really nice and cosy and I would recommend it. 

We got back to a warmer house and relaxed for the rest of the night! I was wearing my heart print Simply Be dress which is nice and warm so good for the winter. I was also wearing a pair of heart print tights from Snag that I've had for a while but haven't worn often. I paired them with a pair of Kickers shoes that I got from Vinted earlier in the year and haven't worn yet. They're more winter shoes really! They're so cute, I love them. They're sort of a suede effect leather and I love the colour. I bought them for less than fifteen pounds all in, and they're in really good condition! They do have a few scratches on the front but firstly they're not very visible and secondly I will only scratch them myself so I don't really care! They're comfy too.

Heart print tights with nubuck pale Kickers dolly shoes - I do love dolly shoes so much!

Oh I also bought this lemon cheesecake from a deli in our village for us to eat while we were away - it was really nice! Not as good as my mum's but still pretty delicious

My heart print dress last thing at night before I took it off to go to bed!

Finally I took this photo on Friday morning but I'll post it here anyway. This was the cottage we stayed in - it had attached neighbours to the left and behind, but it was nice and private and comfortable anyway. My mum and stepdad got the bigger room, but they both had en suite bathrooms and there was  a downstairs loo too 

Lunch Out with Book Club

At the beginning of November it was the tenth anniversary of my book club. I started going very near the beginning, but then I had to not go for a while because I was doing my MA which had stuff on Wednesday evenings. But then I have been going now for a really long time! I love book club because it makes me read books I wouldn't otherwise choose, and because we have a lot of different life experiences within the group which always makes for interesting discussions. As always, you can find my book reviews here on my book blog. 

Ceri organised for us to go to Kin, which is sort of near Denby Dale. I haven't been before but I've heard it's nice. There were a lot of vegetarian choices on the menu so I wasn't sure what to get. I went for smashed avocado on sourdough toast, with poached eggs, feta, pickled onion, and chilli jam. It was lush! I also had a latte which was nice. We were all sat chatting, and then we all moved round a bit so we could talk to some different people. We ordered coffee and cakes and shared the cakes between us which was nice. I had a little bit of a blondie that had Mars Bar in it, I think, and part of a millionaire's shortbread. 

I set off back when everyone else did and picked Lee up so we could go to the craft fair at Silkstone parish church that happens every year. It was just closing up as we got there which was a shame but we had a quick look round and I bought a couple of baubles. Once I got back I just relaxed for the rest of the night!

I was wearing this old Scarlett & Jo dress which I got on Vinted some time in 2022 and have only worn once before I think. I like the vintage type print to it. I was slightly overdressed for the venue but it felt nice. I was wearing these sparkly star tights from Snag - they're some of my favourites so in winter I wear them a lot! I put my DM boots on as well which was good because it was really rainy. I had put on a smidge of make up to go out in - lipstick, some concealer, and some highlighter on my cheeks.

My face outside just as I arrived. I'm really trying to get into the habit of wearing just a tiny bit of make up if I want to. It's hard because I feel like I should do 'more', but I hate wearing a full face. And actually this looks nice!

My brunch, it was lovely

All eleven of us that were there. There's about fifteen of us in book club but not everyone is always there. I'm happy to be part of it!

This lovely S&J dress when I got home. I really will try to wear it more often!

And sparkly tights! I love them!

Films of the Month - October

I only watched seven films in October which is a really low number, but I'm not worrying about it. It just hasn't been the year for films. That's okay! Some years are and some aren't. Firstly it was because I was on holiday and Lee and I watched two films there but often watch seven or more if we're away in a cottage. We took my Chromebook on holiday and managed to stream two films though for a couple of evenings. Once we got back I wasn't too well so I find it easier to watch short TV programmes in that case rather than films. Then at the end of the month I was really busy so didn't have much time free for films! It's fine, though.

Here's what I did see:

I watched Harley and Katya because Netflix recommended it to me. It's a documentary about two figure skaters. Katya took her own life when she was just twenty, which is really sad. It's really interesting if you have any interest in figure skating - I sort of do because of stuff I've learnt about Tonya Harding and stuff like that. I find it so interesting because it seems so punishing

Lee and I watched Hook on holiday. I haven't seen it since I was a little girl, when my dad took me to the cinema in Wakefield to see it and bought me a box of Fruit Pastilles to eat while we watched it. RIP ABC Cinema. It's a good film, I would watch it again

Next we watched Jurassic Park while on holiday which Lee really likes. I don't really care about it, but it's inoffensive enough to watch. I was lying on the bed with the warm breeze coming in the patio door, just to give you a visual haha

I wanted to watch some Halloween films towards the end of the month, so I watched this because it was on Netflix. I have seen it before, way back at the beginning of the century, but I had forgotten a lot of it. Parts of it are funny but parts of it are truly, truly terrible. The world has moved on from this kind of shit, I think. Do not recommend

I have never seen Chicago, can you believe?! It is definitely my type of thing because I really like Catherine Zeta Jones and Renee Zellweger and musicals, but I just hadn't ever bothered. I really liked it, I thought it was really good!

Netflix thought I might like A Babysitter's Guide to Monster Hunting so I watched it just before Halloween. I really liked it, it's really cute in a teen kind of way and I would recommend it. It's not scary, but it is fun. Tom Felton was great

Finally I finally got around to watching Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. I've heard of it before, of course, and have had it on my to watch list for literally years, but I hadn't got round to it. I really enjoyed it - Gary Oldman and Tim Roth are both brilliant. I would watch this again

Metal Stamping Workshop in Wakefield

On the 30th of October I went to a metal stamping workshop in Leeds with my friend Chloe. Doing a workshop with her, taught by her friend Kim who I know online and have done other workshops with, was on my list of 'forty things before forty' to do. We chose and booked this one absolutely ages ago, and Chloe very nicely paid for me as a present for my birthday, which was lovely of her! We arranged to meet for tea beforehand too. 

I had been to craft club in the morning and had done a workshop in that too. A few of us made these gingerbread men and Christmas tree decorations. I finished the gingerbread man in craft club and then finished the other one later on in the week. They're cute aren't they! 

I left the house about 4pm and drove to Ossett where Chloe and I met at Silkwood Farm. It's a Greene King pub I think, I've been before and the food isn't wildly exciting for vegetarians but it's fine. I actually went for a vegan burger which tasted really nice actually - it had cheese on and was nice and melty. Chloe had a burger too. We chatted for a bit and then went in my car together to A Touch of Craft which is a bit further down in Ossett. We got there about 6pm, just as Kim was arriving, so we sat in the car for a bit so we didn't disturb her setting up. However, we did go in a bit earlier than the start time of 6.30, which was nice because we got to chat to Kim and had a cup of coffee.

My friend Michelle was also there! I had only seen her the day before! She had messaged me a few weeks previously and asked if I was interested in the workshop and I was like, I'm already going! So it was nice to see her too. 

Metal stamping is a lot of fun! There were nine of us all together and you have to bash the stamps quite heavily so there was quite a bit of noise. I was a bit hesitant at first so was glad there was a lot of time to practice on scrap metal before going for the real thing. There were a few different fonts to choose from so I tried a few too. Then we moved on to the real thing! It was mildly terrifying! However, I made quite a few things as you can see. I'll explain them as I go down! 

I was wearing my final pair of bat tights, still because it was near Halloween. They're a sort of blue purple colour with black bats. They go really well with the purplish Scarlett & Jo skirt which I wore with my Alanis Morrisette t shirt that my aunt bought me for last Christmas. I wore the same outfit for work the next day, too. 

Blurple tights as I was on my way out

Here's Chloe and I in A Touch of Craft just before the workshop started

And here's Michelle and I ready to whack things with hammers

The top ones are stuff I practiced. You hit with a hammer and a stamp and then you use an enamel pen to colour in the words, and then wipe it off. You can see where I hadn't totally wiped it off where it says 'Poppy'

This is everything I made! I love them all, I'll have to make some into bracelets and stuff. Kim did have stuff to do this with her but because I have jewellery making stuff at home I decided to just concentrate on the metal stamping itself

Here's my outfit when I got home, I like these two together

Three keyrings I made. The one on the left is for Lee; "This Is Not A Drill" is the name of his band. The next one will be a Christmas present for my friend Lucinda, it says 'gin in teacups' which is a Libertines lyric. The final one is for me, it says 'Libertines'. I really liked this font!

The top one is a bangle which I will wear, it says "Live it's all you can do" which is a Flogging Molly lyric that I really like and which reminds me to stay alive 

The next one says 'read every day' on a bangle, but I put a hole in the end and I'm going to make it into a bookmark with a charm on it instead of making it into a bangle. I made a mistake on this one - the A in day I accidentally stamped as a V, but I stamped over it with the A and I don't think you can tell!

The third one says 'Poppy & Jasmine' and I will make this into a bracelet

Finally I made these tags for bootlaces that say 'Absolute Gobshite'. I think I might make that the name of my next zine!

Meeting Up with Friends in Huddersfield

On the 29th of October I headed over to Huddersfield to meet up with friends. There are five of us who went to sixth form college there together and still have a group chat. We try to meet up, but all five of us haven't been in the same place at the same time since 2015! I do see Gillian, Amy, and Michelle more often, but I hadn't seen Ailsa since the end of 2019. It was well overdue! She was up in Huddersfield at a spa weekend for some other friends' 40th birthdays, so we organised for all five of us to meet up on the Sunday at Northern Tea House, which I only visited for the first time quite recently.

Unfortunately, Gillian then couldn't come on the day as she was ill, but the rest of us still could. I set off nice and early and met up with Ailsa about 11.30. We got a table quite quickly, and we ordered some drinks while we were waiting. Amy arrived just after twelve, and it honestly felt like old times when the three of us would get together when we were home from uni. Michelle texted and told us to order as she'd be a bit late, so we did. 

I went for Yorkshire rarebit with mushrooms, which was absolutely delicious. I would eat it again! Michelle arrived and ordered her food, so the rest of us chatted while she ate. We never run out of things to talk about, which I think is one of the beautiful things about having been friends for twenty three years! We ordered cake but I don't think I took a picture of it. Mine was Victoria sponge, which was delicious. 

I managed to get a photo of all four of us before Ailsa had to leave about 3pm. The rest of us sat chatting for a while longer before we said goodbye at about 4pm and went back to the car park together. I was absolutely exhausted but really glad I'd been! I was wearing some more bat tights from Snag - black this time with white bats, and this leopard print red dress that I got a few weeks ago. I really like it, it's comfy to wear but looks really fun. 

Tights and boots before I set off

Chai latte - I love chai latte so was happy to see it on the menu!

Ailsa and I - it was so lovely to see her

Rarebit with mushrooms and chutney

All four of us - one Greenhead Girl down but it was still nice to see the others!

And finally my dress when I got home

Lunch in Leeds

On the 28th of October Lee and I went to Leeds to see his brother Andrew and his fiancee Libby. They had been in Leeds to see a band (not Fall Out Boy, haha) the night before and had stayed over, so they asked us to go and meet them for lunch. We booked a table at Bundobust and got there about 12.30. Driving into Leeds is a nightmare at the moment because they seem to be digging up the whole entire city and the traffic is awful. Plus Leeds were at home so that didn't help either! But it was okay and we finally got to Andrew and Libby. 

I love Bundobust because it's all vegetarian so I can choose literally anything. I always get the chaat because I love it so much. I also went for stuffed paratha, these were really nice and I'd get them again. My last dish was the vada pav, which is a deep fried mashed potato ball in a burger bun. It tasted nice, but the texture was a bit bland so I didn't eat it all and wouldn't order it again. But I'm glad I tried it! I also had a lychee cocktail which was delicious. 

After lunch we went into Trinity, which happened to have a craft fair going on in the middle. I bought a couple of Christmas presents and some earrings, and we bought some brownies to share later. It was so nice! All four of us went in a couple of shops and then we went down to the Hotel Chocolat cafe for a drink. Unfortunately it was really understaffed so the queue to get drinks was huge and Andrew and Libby had to leave to get their train. But Lee and I had some delicious hot chocolate which came with cocoa whip on top and was delicious! 

We got home about 4.30pm and I had a lie down and a nap because I was absolutely exhausted from the night before. Apparently the October slide is a known thing for people with chronic illness and I was definitely feeling it by the end of the month. Resting is good! 

I dug out my Dr Marten boots for the first time this year. I got them on Vinted last Christmas and wore them really late into the year because they're really easy to just pull on. The top layer is supposed to rub off and reveal the brighter red underneath - this had started a bit when I got them but I've definitely worn them in more! They're really comfy. I was also wearing reddish tights with bats on that I got from Snag because it was near Halloween. 

My outfit was a red skirt that I picked up at a clothes swap in June - it's from New Look originally. It's a size 22 and the waistband is a bit tight but it's actually fine on me. I paired it with my 'We are the weirdos, mister" which came from Grin in Manchester in October last year. It's a quote from The Craft if you don't know it, and it's perfect for near Halloween! 

My boots and tights as we were on the way out

Lychee cocktail, it came in a really dainty glass which was cute

Chaat at the top and the stuffed paratha at the bottom - there were two different types of paratha but they were both nice

Vada pav! Lee had one of these too

Classic hot chocolate with cocoa whip

My outfit - love these together!

Fall Out Boy and an Escape Room in Leeds

On Friday the 27th of October Sam and Jacqui and I had tickets to see Fall Out Boy in Leeds. We had had the tickets for ages and we were all looking forward to it. I haven't ever seen them as I'm not the hugest fan, but Sam and Jac have both seen them before. We booked to go to Oba, which is nearby and which does Korean and Japanese food, for bottomless brunch beforehand. 

Then we added on an escape room first! We had it booked for a few weeks before but had to cancel, so we rebooked it for the same day. I got the train from Barnsley and we met in The Light near where the escape room is. Jac had brought bracelets for Sam and I - I don't know if you've seen the youths swapping bracelets at Taylor Swift gigs and stuff, but we were leaning into that! I love it. 

The escape room was Doctor Who themed. We did a Blackbeard themed one back in June I think for Sam's birthday and we only just escaped. The same happened here! It was a cool room, and Jodie Whittaker voiced the introduction! I think I personally did better than I had last time as I understood the whole thing a lot better. I got more into looking at every tiny thing to see what it contained. We also asked for way less help from the gamesmaster than we did before so I think we did really well! We escaped in about 55 minutes!

Next we went down to the hotel in the Light for Sam and Jac to check in because they were staying overnight. It was about 4.30 so we had a bit of a rest in their room while really helped me. I laid in the middle of their two beds and read mt book, as well as charging my phone for a little bit. My phone isn't doing so well at battery anymore and I get panicked, so it was good.

We set off to the Merrion Centre about 5.15 and got to Oba just before our booking. We were seated upstairs. On the bottomless brunch you get starters to share (two of which are vegetarian) and then a choice of main courses so I went for tofu katsu curry. The drinks flowed really well - we hadn't finished one before they were offering more! We also had prosecco included! They were very generous with the drinks and the food was good too.

We were really quite drunk by the time we left at 7pm. But we wandered up to the arena and got in easily and up to our seats. We had good seats with no one in front of us, so we had a good view. PVRIS were supporting and they were extremely boring, so we didn't really watch them. But then Fall Out Boy were so good! I really enjoyed myself! They played a bunch of stuff I do like, and there was a bit where Patrick was alone on stage with a piano and he played Don't Stop Believing which sounded brilliant with his voice. They also played Crazy Train which was really good. The stage show was really fun too with a lot changing, it was good to watch. It finished about 11 and we walked back down to the Light and then Lee came to pick me up. I'm so glad we went to the gig as I really liked it!

My bracelet from Jac

We escaped! Jacqui is holding a sonic screwdriver because she is of course the Doctor

In Oba a bit later

Raspberry Coolers, which were delicious

Apple Sours, which were fine

Here I am giddy with three drinks!

Sam took this of her and Jac

Starters - I had the sushi pieces and some of the edamame beans

My tofu katsu curry - there was an absolute mountain of tofu and I didn't eat it all!

In the arena waiting for FOB

Right at the start!

Later on - that dog puppet thing was huge and absolutely terrifying

Pete asked everyone in the stands to turn their lights on on their phones so of course we all did

And here are my celestial tights when we got home - perfect for the stardust tour!