The Inbetween bits

Little miss has been back at school over a week now, and the rhythm of Autumn, the return to routine, cooler evenings and rain showers (who would ever think we'd be glad to see the return of the rain?) are well and truly setting in. The last blog post brought us up to around mid-August though, and there were still a few weeks between then and now to fill with adventures. Let me give you a whistlestop tour. 

I'd booked train tickets to Leeds waaaaay back in June, adamant that if I didn't book them then we wouldn't get there. Typically, I'd managed to book the only day of the summer holidays where it rained pretty much continuously. All wasn't lost, we didn't make it to the Cathedral as we'd originally planned, but we were able to stay mostly dry in the large shopping centres. 

I didn't get to see that much if I'm honest, Leeds is quite big and once you get into a shop it seems to steal all of your time. I did manage to pick up the chap's present for his forthcoming birthday in his favourite place, the Lego shop, though. We perused a few shops and then had pizza in Cafe Concerto before heading for the train home. 

Keeping with the theme of trains, a few days later we took a trip from Pickering to Whitby on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. We have been on it before, once many years ago just between Whitby and Grosmont and then a couple of years back on the Santa Express. This time though we decided to do the full journey and it really is amazing. 

The Moors is such a stunning and wild landscape and the train goes through parts that seem untouched by human hands. Some of the stations had signs up to beware the Adders (the UK's only native venomous snake) if you were leaving the station since the uncharacteristic heat meant there'd been a boom in the Adder population. 

It was relaxing, and harked back to a time of steam trains when a journey was a joyful experience. We had a few hours to spend in Whitby. I had thought the weather was going to be cooler, and was thrilled to take my new All About Audrey green velvet dress out for a trip, unfortunately I misjudged the weather and was boiling in my skin soon after we got off the train. 

Nonetheless, we enjoyed a wander around a very bustling Whitby, and bought fish and chips from the Magpie to eat near the harbour. We didn't have too long there though before it was time for our slow journey back through the moors. That didn't matter too much. We spend a lot of time in Whitby in this day was more about the journey than the destination. 

Next up on the adventure list was date night with the chap. We'd spotted that one of the Indian restaurants in York had won an award in the national curry awards, and thought it well worth a try. Well, the Bombay spice was delicious, I'm pleased to report. 

It was also bustling, so I can understand why it has won awards, but honestly the food was delectable. I can't remember what I had, but I do remember thoroughly enjoying it. Needless to say, as always, we overindulged. We're both very foody people in case you haven't noticed. 

Afterwards we walked across town to the Dubliner, which was also bustling. There was live music, and we had an absolute blast of a time. It was one of those nights that was so good that we barely took any photographs. I always feel regretful when I don't take enough photos, but it is also a sign of an excellent night out, so what can you do other than to vow to take more photos next time.

Sunset from Lendal bridge

Of course, we ended the summer holidays in our traditional way with a day on the seafront. In the arcades, at the fair, eating ice cream and burgers and being tourists in our own town. After all of that excitement, it's little wonder that I was tired by the end of it all. 

Fair Weather

Wow! They weren’t lying when they said a heatwave was coming were they? It’s been glorious. 

Sunlight streaming in at the Cosy club

Casting my mind back into the depths of the week before last, before it got quite so warm, I had a day of team workshops in York. I say not so warm, but it was still pleasant and spring likeAfter a productive day, we all went for a team meal at The Cosy Club. The curry I had was delicious, even if I do have to whip out my fan everytime I have spicy food these days. I rarely get to socialise with my team, we’re scattered about between York and London and many of us work from home a lot, so it’s always nice when we come together for these occasions once or twice a year.

Saturday arrived, and with it the sunshine. We were off to enjoy a local village fair in Scalby. We almost always go if it’s nice weather, and they usually manage to plan it so that it is. I was itching to use my new film camera, which is what I’ve used to take the majority of these photos. Waiting for them to be processed is why this post is a bit later than usual. It’s good fun to use but the flash is temperamental. Sometimes it fires, sometimes not. It’s part of the charm though so I’m still happy with it and to be honest, I am over the moon with these photographs.

Summer dressing at the fair

Fed up with spending good money on bad food lately, we took a pack up with us and enjoyed it whilst sat watching some of the entertainment acts.

We didn’t have BBQ but we did have cake

In fairness the food there didn’t look bad, but pizza or noodles wouldn’t really have appealed to us that day, so we were glad of our cheese sandwiches and quiche.

Stacking our hats in the coffee shop

Little Miss got to go on the bouncy castle, and we got to peruse lots of craft and bric-a-brac stalls. I managed to bag a Star Wars trilogy box set of DVDs for 40p, so everyone was happy. We settled down with a drink in the sunshine, with some lively dance music being played and it was a vibe. That’s why we were so disappointed when they shut it off at 4.30pm and declared the fair closed. I think they missed a trick, keeping that vibe into the early evening would have been great.

Sandsend

The next day I met up with the chap. We intended to head north to Runswick Bay and onto Staithes. Once we got past Sandsend though the cloud seemed to get increasingly lower and the fog seemed to creep in closer and closer. We decided to turn around, heading back initially to Sandsend for a coffee and a wander.

I tried something called a dirty chai and honestly, that’s opened up a whole new world for me. A chai with a shot of espresso in it! Perfection. I’ll never not get excited by new ways to enjoy my caffeine fix. 

There are only a couple of shops at Sandsend, but one of them is Bertie’s of Bay which sells beautiful, good quality, nautical inspired clothing and accessories. The sort of things you can wear and repair for decades. The chap bought a rather lovely leather bracelet in there. 

Sandsend is one of those places that, even though there isn’t much there, it’s a really relaxing and nice place to spend time. After a little wander, we got back in the car and set off back to Whitby. 

We parked up at a different end of Whitby to usual, walking in to town from a different point. As we reached the infamous whale bone arch, a sea fret was moving in. It looked so spooky creeping across the Abbey on the cliff.

 

Whitby is so atmospheric sometimes, I can understand how it inspired Bram Stoker. 

We wandered down to town, stopping off for dinner at the Quayside restaurant. I had salmon and new potatoes. It was delicious.

Despite the fog coming and going, it stayed warm. We wandered across the swing bridge to the shops. There’s one called Squid Rock where I always fall in love with something and today was no different. I ended up buying this amazing set. I thought it was a skirt but discovered when I got home it’s actually trousers. It’s fabulous. 

The rest of the afternoon was spent perusing shops and stalls, before spending a bit of time in one of the arcades trying to win things from the 2p machines for little Miss.

We finished up sharing donut balls on a bench back up by the whalebones, before heading for home. It was a fantastic day out. 

Saltburn and the Mandalorian

 Saltburn-on-Sea is somewhere I've heard good things about for years, but never quite managed to get to. Located further North, past Whitby and over the Moors, it's just one of those places we've often said we'd go to and then didn't get there. 

Given the nice weather at the end of my week of adventure, we thought we'd make the visit. It was a pleasant drive, scenic over the top of the Moors but once we got there parking was a nightmare. Eventually, we managed to get parked up near the town, and were excited to ride the funicular railway down to the seafront. 

Alas, it was out of service, so we took the steps instead. The seafront was pleasant with a Victorian pier that we took a lovely walk out to the middle of the sea on. It was windy, but gave a nice vantage point, and so many of our British piers have vanished into the ocean it's nice just to find one. 

Whilst there were plenty of chippy's we could have grabbed lunch from, we opted for a posh seafront restaurant, The Seaview. With a large balcony overlooking the sea, it was a prime position albeit you definitely paid a premium for the setting. 

We were on the dog friendly terrace and enjoyed our Coley and potatoes, which I totally forgot to photograph. On that note, most of the photographs from today's blog post have actually been taken by Little Miss. She's really getting a passion for photography, I might have to start charging up her own camera more often so mine doesn't keep getting nabbed. 

To be honest, the rest of Saltburn-on-Sea wasn’t exactly what I’d hoped for. There were the usual ice cream shops, chippies and beach huts. There was a traditional pub, and an interesting derelict Mortuary at the base of the hill, but not really much else. 

We headed back to the car. Even though it wasn't what we expected, I always think it's good to explore new places. You don't know if you don't go. On the way home, we stopped off at one of my favourite places, Saltmoore. It's the spa that me and the chap spent a relaxing break at back in December. It was wonderful to see it in the nice weather and we just spent a lot of time on the terrace enjoying the beautiful gardens and peaceful surroundings. Mum decided that she loves it too, it's hard not to. 

Sunday, I went down to York and after a cuppa and an iced bun at the chap's house, while getting bounced all over by beautiful Bruno, we set off to the shops to pick up a few craft supplies (we don't have HobbyCraft in Scarborough), and then had some lunch at pizza hut. Then it was time to head off to the cinema to see the Mandalorian and Grogu. 

It's a Star Wars spin off, so something we were both keen to see. It was very different to Star Wars, but still in keeping and was a lovely way to end what had been an extremely busy and fun filled week of adventure. 

By the time Monday rolled around and it was time to go back to work I was glad to be back to routine, until the next adventure at least.