Half Term Frolics

 This week was half term in Yorkshire, and in true half term style, the weather has left a lot to be desired. Nonetheless I had three days off work to spend with little Miss, which is always fun no matter the weather. We started the week off fairly chilled, spending much of Monday crafting and doing more of our sequin art. We popped out for a coffee in the afternoon, and came home to watch some films. All in all a chilled day. 

Tuesday we visited our friends, and I had a good old catch up with C while little Miss played with her son. They've been friends since they we're born, with only a couple of months between them. We only really get to meet up at the holidays and it's amazing to compare the photos of them on playdates when they were 2 or 3 with them now at approaching 7. Time goes so quickly. 

Wednesday, my last day off work, we decided it was time we did something. We took a trip to nearby Malton, which is a lovely little town between Scarborough and York, and home to my favourite bookshop, Kemps, where I bought little Miss one of her favourite books, Isadora Moon. 

We pottered around the shops, most of which are indies, before heading to Pizza on the Square for pizza and a beer. It was a lovely way to spend the day. 

A blurred photo taken by little miss

Thursday I was back in the office. It wasn't too bad a day and the office was quite bustling. I took a lunchtime wander and there was a Viking festival on in the centre of town which seemed to be drawing a good half term crowd. 

I was glad of only having two days working. Sometimes it's nice just to have a break. Friday night, I persuaded my Mum to come to the local pub with me where local personality Danny Wilde was playing. We've lived in Scarborough almost 11 years now, and never managed to get to see him before. It was an experience. We had fun though. 

We finished our week with a trip to Helmsley (which is quite possibly one of my favourite local towns) in yesterday's promising spring sunshine. 

I had a delicious farmhouse platter for lunch, and we wandered around the boutiques perusing all of the things we might buy. 

Some of the people in some of the shops know us already, so we were given a nice glass of Prosecco in one of my favourite shops, Fairfax and Favor, and we left with a gorgeous (posh) new collar . Little Miss is really disappointed now as she's the only person in the house without something from Fairfax and Favor. 

This evening, little Miss has a party to go to, then we'll be getting ready for back to school/work tomorrow. 

Valentines Day

 Last week was another quiet week. I’m pulling together my work handover now for when I move to my new role at the end of the month, so work is quite focussed and before I know it, my days are over and night has fallen. Cold nights generally mean a reluctance to leave the house unnecessarily, although there was one mid-week exception when we went to the Hideout on the other side of town for early evening coffees

I also decided to take my new cookbook for a spin midweek and made a Shitake, ginger and miso broth. To tell the truth, given that Mum doesn’t like mushrooms, or dumplings and has never tried miso I was shocked when I offered for her to choose this week’s recipe, and she chose this one. 

As I cooked it, I thought it looked quite unappetising but actually it was delicious. My first try at cooking with tofu too, which went well. 

Friday was the commercial extravaganza that is Valentine’s Day. Does anyone know why it isn’t called St. Valentine’s Day anymore? Is it because the card companies don’t want to alienate the atheists? Call me sceptical. Nonetheless, a couple of days beforehand I’d bought little miss some goodies in my Lidl shop, and I wrapped them in pink tissue for her to open in the morning before she went to school. She was absolutely over the moon and ended up smuggling the little teddy to school in her bag. 

I hadn’t expected to see the chap since he was due to be heading off on holiday with his uncle, aunt and sister the following day. We hadn’t arranged anything, and so it was pleasant surprise when my doorbell went just before lunchtime and I found him standing there with a stash of gifts for me.

As well as roses, chocolates and prosecco he’d also bought me an absolutely stunning pair of linen pyjamas from a British brand I’ve been drooling over, Piglet in Bed. The quality of these is gorgeous, and he even got them monogrammed for me too. Beautiful. 

The rest of the weekend has been fairly quiet, pottering into town and splitting my wardrobe out between summer and winter wear. I used to do that before, and then stopped but it’s so much more manageable. I also received my new-to-me Instax camera, a Vinted purchase from earlier in the week partly funded by a coat that I sold. Cheap old cameras seems to be a special joy of mine!

With this coming week’s half term, and a few days off work, I’m hoping it continues to be relatively chilled although, I’d like it if the weather cheered up a bit, it might give me a bit more impetus to actually do something other than sit around listening to French cafe music. 

Arts and Crafts

 How is it Monday again? Before we know it, there’ll be Easter eggs in the shops… oh wait a minute! 

My new (£2 from Vinted) cookery book arrived midweek, and I was very pleased with it. I’ve already identified a couple of recipes I want to try. 

It wasn’t the book I used to make a mid-week potato and spinach curry though, that honour went to the Madhur Jaffrey cookbook Mum bought me for Christmas. It was a delicious curry, I will definitely be making it again. Making midweek meals tends to be the highlight of my working week. 

At the weekend though, we were off to York again! This time we were meeting the chap and heading to the Morris and Co Art of Wallpaper exhibition at the York Art Gallery. We arrived in York around Midday, and after enjoying snacks and coffee, took a meander across town. We stopped at a few shops and paid a social visit into our friend’s shop for a natter, before getting to the  gallery at the other side of town. 

I’ve not been to York Art Gallery before, but even on a miserable February day, it’s still a beautiful building from outside. 

We weren’t allowed to take photographs in the exhibition, so after a quick couple of pictures in the lobby, I put my camera away. The exhibition itself was great. It started with examples of Morris’s influences. Ornate Italian hand painted wall papers adorned with flourishes and decorative features that stand out a mile as being part of his influence. 

Then it progressed through Japanese papers, including an inlaid leather wallpaper which I would definitely not fancy trying to hang! Then it was on to the papers of Morris and Co. It was quite busy. Hardly surprising given the popularity of Morris and Co designs even to this day. I found it very relaxing though, just to sit in the seats and browse at some of the beautiful intricate designs. 

On leaving the exhibition, I vowed that in my next house I will endeavour to put a Morris-esque wallpaper in every single room. There’s just something so relaxing and homely about them. 

After a wander around the gift shop, we set off back through the rain drenched streets of York. We stopped for coffee, and perused more shops. It’s such a long time since I’ve been to Betty’s and they had Valentines fondant fancies in the window. I couldn’t resist nipping in to treat myself to a box (which I did share, I didn’t eat them all to myself).

Before heading home, we stopped off at the Hop for a beer. It was bustling already, as the chap kept pointing out, it was Saturday afterall! If you’ve never been to York on a Saturday, every pub and bar is filled to the rafters with revellers, all year round. The Hop tends to be a bit more local, so we were at least able to find a spot to sit and enjoy our drinks. 

It was a lovely day out and a lovely end to the day. 

Sunday was a far more relaxed affair. Me and little Miss had a lie in, and then I made our favourite weekend breakfast, pancakes. We got the watercolours out, and inspired by last weekend’s trip to Beningborough hall, I grabbed a lemon from the fruit bowl and tried to render it in watercolours. 

Not a bad try for a beginner. We walked Thelma and I made us a hearty chicken casserole. One of my friends always says she loves to hear about my wholesome weekends. I can see what she means now. 

Beer, Shopping and Beningborough Hall

 I try not to be that person who lives for the weekend, but the truth is, when your life follows a routine of 9 - 5, it’s difficult not to. You know all of your fun stuff will take place between 5pm Friday and bedtime Sunday evening. That’s not to say I don’t do any fun things during the week. Last week in particular little Miss had one of her friends over for dinner, and then there was a lovely walk with the pugtato one lunchtime. Mostly, however, Monday to Friday is the home of routine.

The local park on the dog walk

Friday night, after our usual Friday night fish n chip dinner, we went to a local craft beer bar to meet up with a friend who I’ve not seen in a really long time. Maybe a year. This particular bar is always welcoming and has an amazing selection of beers on tap and in cans. We found ourselves a nice roomy corner table and I enjoyed a couple of porters while we chatted away. W’s husband caught up with us after a while and we all had such a lovely night. I need to not leave it so long next time! 

Craft bar

Saturday morning me and little Miss had a lie in. Once she does wake up at the weekend, she likes to watch TV in my bed. This time around, her chosen viewing was Rainbowcorn unboxing videos on YouTube (if you know, you know). So, after our leisurely brunch of scrambled eggs on warm croissants, when we decided we’d go to the York shopping outlet for a meander, she couldn’t wait to gather up her pocket money in the hope that she’d find a bargain Rainbowcorn at Claire’s accessories. 

It wasn’t quite what she’d had in mind, but she did find a bargain Kittycorn, so she was incredibly happy for the whole day. I wasn’t going to take an outfit shot while I was out shopping, but when a lady approached me to tell me how fabulous I looked in my outfit, I got little Miss to take a quick picture outside one of the shops. 

Lots of layers keeping me warm

I thought I was going to be leaving the outlet empty handed, and that would have been fine, but in the last shoe shop (Carvela), I found some gorgeous shoes that I couldn’t leave without. Another pair for my imaginary party lifestyle, I’ve really got to make more effort to circulate more of my shoes rather than leave them all in the shoe chest for 95% of the time. 

Sunday morning was an earlier start. I was heading back down to York to meet up with the chap and head to National Trust property, Beningborough Hall. 

We were blessed with blue skies and bright sunshine when we arrived just before noon, but it was terribly cold and I was grateful I’d wrapped up in plenty of layers. First stop was the cafe for cheese scones and coffee (and lots of dog bothering), before we took a wander around the walled garden.

At this time of year, the gardens on stately homes can feel quite stark. Nothing is yet in bud and it’s still a very wintery landscape, but as we walked off into the woodland, it was heartening to see the first signs of spring. Snowdrops. 

Where’s there’s sun shine and snowdrops, there’s hope. 

We walked back up through the new Mediterranean garden, which was very inviting and calming with its water features, cypress trees and seating areas.

Entering the hall I was impressed by the grandeur of the space, complemented beautifully, I thought, by an art installation by artist Rebecca Stevenson. While modern, it felt in keeping with the surroundings. 

The house itself, with its large sash windows and grand rooms felt filled with light. A pianist played a grand piano downstairs and it all felt very relaxed. It was beautiful, but I was eager to get to the exhibition of works by Mary Delany, on the 1st floor. 

Mary Delany was a botanical collage artist, born in 1700 she didn’t find prominence as an artist until she was in her early 70s. It proves it’s never too late!

She was famed for creating incredibly accurate botanical studies from collages of water coloured paper. From afar, they look like botanical paintings, but up close you can see the intricate mosaic work which must have taken hours of focus, dedication and concentration. 

I’m a big fan of botanical art anyway, I think it’s a beautiful art form and I find the study of botany really interesting too, so this was a perfect exhibition to pique my interest. We sat for ages just admiring the flowers. 

Elsewhere in the house, they showcased examples of women’s art and crafts as housed across the National Trust estate. I found it quite inspirational because I would love to learn to sketch and watercolour, but I always struggle to know what to select as my subject. One lady’s sketchbook filled with lifelike paintings of apples made me realise, it’s about the practice as much as the subject. So, maybe I’ll dig my sketch book and watercolours out again. 

Mind blowing cross stitch

After a wander around the gift shop, where I purchased a print of one of the images from the Mary Delany exhibition and the chap bought me a new brooch, we set off to get Sunday dinner in a village pub. It was a lovely day out altogether! Back at home, I went hunting on Vinted for a cookery book I’d seen in the gift shop (and didn’t want to spend £15 on). I managed to find it for £2, which was the perfect end to a perfect day.