Scenes from the Last Few Days

It's been a busy week.  Tuesday saw us at the RAF Cosford Museum and David Austin Rose Gardens which I wrote about on my last post.  Wednesday we were busy in the garden and we were thrilled to be able to pick our first tomatoes and strawberries. 

Far more strawberries than tomatoes at the moment and there are loads more of each to come.

On Thursday we drove over to South Lincolnshire to visit a friend.  We stopped at a garden centre just outside Melton Mowbray for a breakfast of coffee and toast and when we came out of the cafe we found that  these old cars, all Fords I think, had arrived in the car park.

After lunch I was able to take a little walk around the market town of Spalding.  I popped into the Museum where I used to work and then crossed the bridge into the town.  We used to live on the opposite side of the river to the Museum so every morning I crossed that bridge on my way to work.  There is a new footbridge now.

On the way back we stopped off at Whissendine Mill which is between Oakham and Melton Mowbray.  It was very hot on the journey home and we were stuck in a long traffic queue in Kegworth in the full glare of the sun! 

Yesterday we had a leisurely walk around the lake at Trentham Gardens.   We saw two new families whilst we were there.

 A wicker family at the back of Cadwalader's Ice Cream Parlour in the shopping  area 

and a family of swans at the side of the lake in the gardens.

Hope you have a lovely weekend.

Lakes, Cakes and a song from a Robin

On Wednesday we went over to Lincolnshire to meet two of our friends for lunch. We set out at about 8.30a.m. and driving along the A50 we left Staffordshire and passed through Derbyshire. By the time we reached the end of the A50 we were in Nottinghamshire. We drove through Kegworth, Zouche and Rempstone before entering Leicestershire near the pretty village of Wymeswold - one of my ancestors, Samuel Stubbs, was born there in 1822. From there we drove through Melton towards Oakham - we were now in our fifth and smallest county - Rutland - from here we drove to Stamford and our last county of Lincolnshire. Six counties before 12 noon - that's not bad going!

We stopped for a coffee break at one of the parks on Rutland Water between Oakham and Stamford. It was quite chilly and spotting with rain. Luckily we had packed a flask of coffee and a couple of homemade biscuits as the cafe was closed.

From Stamford we struck out across the Fens towards Market Deeping and Spalding. We lived in this area for about twelve years during the 80s and 90s and I'm always drawn by the flat landscape, distant spires and huge skies. We passed barley fields, drainage ditches and wind farms. The yellow in the photo below is a field of daffodils; there were people picking flowers in the fields as we passed by.

As it is two weeks since I last joined in with Simone's Friday cake bake and as I had two large eating apples in the fruit bowl, I decided to make a Dorset Apple Cake.

The recipe is from the Crank's recipe book which I posted about a few weeks ago. It was so easy to make and was delicious as a pudding after our evening meal, with a dollop of Greek yogurt on top.

Last, but not least, I took this photo at Trentham recently. We sat for a while after a walk and were joined by two robins. This one, his soft downy feathers ruffling in the breeze, sang to us for a while before moving on.

A Day Out

After the dreadful wet day we had experienced on Friday, Saturday was a glorious day of bright sunshine coupled with a seasonal nip in the air. We set off on our day out about 8.30.a.m and drove through Ashbourne, Matlock and Clay Cross, down to the Heath roundabout and up to Scarcliffe. We bumped into a relative as we pulled up to park in front of the church, she'd been putting a wreath on her first husband's grave. Harry was one of Dad's younger brothers who was killed down the pit in the 1970s. We donned wellies to go up into the churchyard as it was very wet and muddy. After placing our Christmas wreath on Mum and Dad's grave we drove over to Bolsover Castle for a warm cup of coffee and then spent a wonderful hour looking around. It was a long time since I'd been inside the castle and only the third time I'd been considering I lived for many years only two miles away.

When we had finished our visit we drove up to Chesterfield and had lunch with my sister and brother-in-law, swapping cards and presents and then set out to pick up my niece and her children and it was off to the family party where we met up with my other niece and her family and many members of my brother-in-law's family whom I hadn't seen for ages. The children were entertained by a circus act who showed them how to juggle, spin plates and ride a uni-cycle amongst other things and then Father Christmas arrived and all the children received a present and a cracker before quiet descended as supper was served and little mouths were silenced as food was consumed. Their little faces shone with happiness and delight.

York

When Paul was offered the choice of an OCR course work seminar at either Birmingham or York there really was no choice and given that the York meeting was on a Friday, meaning that I could go too and make a long weekend of it – well, decision made. So it was with great anticipation that we set out after work on Thursday evening to travel up to York. We decided to go the quick route via the M1, M18, A1M and A64. It took just three hours from door to door as thankfully the weather and traffic were good.

Next morning we set out on foot from the hotel on Clifton road and walked into the city. Having seen Paul safely into his meeting I set out to start the day I’d planned out in my head many times. The Minster was first on my list but I fell at the first hurdle because it was closed for a graduation ceremony. On to my next stop the Cat Gallery on Stonegate where I had a wonderful time choosing one or two items and a nice chat with the lady on duty before moving on to my next adventure. As the Minster had been closed I popped down to see if Barley Hall was open, I’d been before a number of years ago but thought that if it was open it would replace the Minster for the morning’s activity but alas it too was closed.

Barley Hall

I decided to look in one or two shops around the Stonegate/Shambles area and then wandered down towards Betty’s Tea Shop which always looks so elegant from the outside but I decided to have coffee in Border’s bookshop instead as I can’t resist the combination of books and coffee.

Entrance to The Shambles

My next port of call was Clifford’s Tower as a) I wanted to use my new English Heritage card and b) to take some photos from the top. I climbed the steps to the kiosk and flashed my card at the girl on duty in the kiosk – ‘Are you going in on your own?” she enquired “Yes.” I replied – it was only afterwards that I wondered why she asked that question. Is it strange for people to go in alone? I clambered up the steps to the top and took photos of the views from all sides. Looking across at the Minster’s towers, the York wheel and the ice rink that was being constructed in front of the courthouse and the Castle Museum.

Roofscape showing the York Wheel

Then I went across to the Castle Museum where I had a warm bowl of soup before setting off to look at the exhibits. All the wonderful street scenes like Kirkgate and Half Moon Court I remember from previous visits were still there – enlivened by sights and sounds and animators dressed in period. The policeman made me jump as he stepped out in front of me. About two hours later I returned to the café for a pot of tea and a piece of carrot cake.

Clifford's Tower

Then it was time to meet Paul from his meeting at the Hilton and we set off to wander around the now dark streets all lit with Christmas lights.

Christmas Tree in Fountain Square

After a wonderful evening meal at Bella Italia on Petergate we walked back up Bootham and Clifton road to our hotel.

The Minster

The next morning after a wonderful breakfast we set off to drive home via Tadcaster, Otley (where we had morning coffee) and Ilkley. Then down to Halifax, Huddersfield and Holmfirth where we stopped for a late lunch/afternoon tea and then down to Glossop, Buxton, Leek and home.