The Traditional One

What is it about us English folk that we always home to the coast whenever a bank holiday weekend springs up?   I'm not sure if madness grips us at the thought of a 3 day weekend or the lore of traffic jams, over priced junk food or crowds of people?

This weekend was no exception, as me and sis decided to head to sunny Scarborough and after checking the weather forecast (a first for me!)  we decided to make the trip on Sunday, which seemed the brightest day out of the three.

So off we popped and made it there within 2 hour 20 mins without much of a traffic jam, managed to park okay, opting for the town centre and then walking the mile long steps onto the sea front.

What is it about seaside resorts, that  automatically turn you into a small child again?   2p machines where played, doughnuts purchased, walks on the beach, rock purchased.   I think we just about ticked every box there was to be ticked for a typical day at the seaside!

I have to say, I didn't like the crowds!   After lunch at Ask, we headed up in to the town for a spot of book purchasing to get away and didn't venture down again.   The pavements seem so narrow for the amount of people that were trying to walk on them and I got tired of being pushed and shoved.

I guess seaside resorts are starting to lose a little of their appeal, now I'm growing older and I think our next journey to the coast, should comprise of a nice coastal walk with scenic views and a nice vintage style picnic. Sounds like a plan to me!

The One Where We Ate

It was one of those weekends that I was determined to go out and do something and one that seemed like I had a million and one options of things to do.   There seemed to be everything happening this weekend, from running my book club and vintage fairs, food festivals and carnivals to visit.   Do you ever find that some weekends you are struggling to find anything different to do and then there seem to be those weekends where too much is happening?

After a morning with the book club we opted to visit Wollaton Park for their annual food festival.  I promised my husband food and beer, so how could he not refuse?  We arrived mid day with very hungry bellies, to a huge park full of many stalls and marquees.

After a quick wander round and before I threw a 'I'm hungry tantrum' we opted to get lunch first and then have a proper look at everything.   So husband went off to find his meat fix and I settled for a very sedate portion of spicy potato wedges, that weren't actually that spicy but were still  very tasty.  Then it was all systems go, as we spent a couple of hours wandering up and down the rows of stalls and marquees; tasting various samples from cheeses to sinful smoothies and filling many bags full of tasty treats to take home; from cupcakes to sausage rolls, vegetable samosa and sinful smoothies!  

I loved how the event was set out on the park, with so much space, it didn't feel like the event was crowded. We are so often put off by the amount of crowds that will be at various events, so this was a  first for us, to actually enjoy going to such a popular event!  The only down side was that the cheese stalls proved to be the most popular so we tried a couple of times to attempt to look at the produce and failed miserably!

All in all, we had a wonderful couple of hours and look forward to the next one (Clumber Park?)

The Best Ever Lowdham Festival

If there is one weekend that I have to leave free in a year, it's the last weekend of the Lowdham festival which heralds an all day book fair and cafe and free author talks.

I'm the biggest nerd when it comes to this weekend!  I always wait in anticipation for the itinerary to come out and then carefully schedule my day to make sure I get to see everyone that I can.   This was my 5th year in attendance and my busiest yet as I had a full day's worth of author talks to attend and also, hopefully, many books to purchase.

The first presentation was from  Will Buckingham; a novelist and De Montfort University Lecturer, who gave an interesting talk  on the premise of a novel.  In particularly his thought about where a writer would choose to sit in the scale of things; do they aspire to be a J K Rowling or are they quite happy being a lesser known writer?

My next presentation was Christy Fern.  I love this woman and her partner to bits.  They make history all that more interesting and bring tales of old to life with their animated presentations.  This year's was no different with a wonderful presentation on Mary Shelley and always a lively discussion afterwards.

My third presentation was Emma Bamford.  I was intrigued as soon as I read the description in the brochure. A girl running away to a desert island, what was all that about?  A full hour's worth of wonderful stories about sailing half way round the world and the adventures along the way - I was riveted!

Last but not least was Danny Rhodes, a man who you could quite easily spend an evening in his company reminiscing about football games long gone.  A book written about the events of Hillsborough but from a Forest fan's perspective was an original concept and the hour spent listening to a man who's passion for the sport was uncompromising was incredible.  I went away with a hundred memories filtering through my brain about the time spent at the City Ground and various other grounds around the country.

I have to say that I think this has been the best year yet for Lowdham and I think 2015 will be a hard act to follow!

The One Where I Went To Cardiff Again...

So, I have been up to a few things in my absence.  Most notably was another trip to the lovely land of Cardiff, where we stayed in the incredible apartments opposite the Millennium Building.   Right in the heart of Cardiff Bay, we were central to everything you can imagine; from shops to restaurants, to bars and a cinema and of course, it wouldn't be complete without another trip to the Doctor Who Experience!

We spent the evening sampling the local cinema and unbeknown at the time, we had purchased deluxe tickets for the new Spiderman film, which meant we had our own lounge, full of everything you can eat (popcorn, drinks, nachos and chocolate!) and then we were escorted to our luxury seats.   They cost a bomb but were definitely worth it!

After visiting the Dr Who experience on Sunday, we then caught the water taxi into Cardiff City, had a spot of lunch and did some serious shopping, where Mr M purchased me an incredible Vivienne Westwood bag for our anniversary - and yes I know, I'm a very lucky lady!

It was over way too soon and as soon as I left I began to get withdrawal symptoms.   I'm now working on another excuse to return..!

Betsy

It's not often, you stumble across such a majestic vehicle in my neck of the woods, but Sunday came and as I was home alone, I nipped up to the local craft/vintage fair and spotted her!  Her name was Betsy and I spent quite a long time admiring her.  Her only fault?  That it was way too early in the morning for an ice-cream , if there is such a thing!  Betsy is available for weddings, birthdays, bar mitzvahs etc www.betsysemporium.com

It's Been A While...

I spent a lazy Sunday morning at The Walled Garden's Spring Fair in Beeston, Nottingham.  It was full of wonderful things, as you would expect from a Fabulous Places event and I came away with some splendid eats!

Please bear with me with the blog.  I will be revamping it over the forthcoming weeks and I will be posting on a more regular basis, honest!

The Weekend Of Getting Sorted

I was determined to get loads done this weekend and I think I may have accomplished most of what I wanted to do!   I started off taking some bags of clothing to the Salvation Army charity shop, a charity I've decided is going to get all my clear out donations this year instead of me just randomly dropping off a bag to any shop that's nearest.     Then book club!   I've been running this for around 4 years in our local library - today's read was Pigeon English by Stephen Kelman, which we all concluded was a good read, but certainly not the best book we've read so far.  Then off again to do various errands and drop off a bag of books to the Hospice book shop and back home.

A few thrift finds at the local charity shop and I also managed to drop in to my favourite coffee shop Madhatters again and sit and read the papers - I never seem to find time to read these properly, so it was nice to sit and chill with a hot chocolate.