Ulverston and the Bobbin Mill Museum

 We woke early and went for a 3 mile walk exploring the surrounding countryside. We followed the tarmac road up the hill at the back of our cottage. The weather was cloudy and quite muggy which we didn't expect so early in the day.

We had decided to drive into Ulverston for a look around the shops. We stopped at Gillian's vegetarian cafe for a well earned coffee. I had a piece of coffee cake and Steve had banana and date cake.

I was thrilled to find Style craft Life double knit wool in the market hall and bought a couple of balls of grey to finish off my current project. I couldn't resist the fuchsia shade for me and a few balls of navy to make Steve another jumper. That should keep me busy for the next 6 months or so. 

We came back to the cottage to drop off all of our purchases and then out again and this time it was to the Stott Park Bobbin Mill Museum at Windermere.

This is an English Heritage site with nice grounds to walk round. We killed a bit of time whilst we waited for the tour to begin by eating ice-cream. The tour guide was very knowledgeable and we learnt lots of information about bobbins and how they were made. The lady gave us several demonstrations as we moved through the building. It was a very long and dangerous occupation. The majority of the employees started as children and stayed long after what we would consider normal retirement age. The mill closed in 1971 having manufactured bobbins for a hundred years or more. It was a fascinating subject.

Once back at the cottage Steve went out for a bike ride whilst I had a pamper session. 

Tea was salmon, new potatoes, broccoli and salad then a quick walk down by the river where we saw a beautiful Kingfisher. Unfortunately it didn't hang around for a photo shoot. The cows did though.

We've had a lovely day. It's been so relaxing and different. I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings. We always pack so much in to our days and I'm sure we will create lots of wonderful memories to take home with us.

A holiday in the Lake District

A map of Ulverston

Living in Barnard Castle has spoilt us and for the last 3 years we haven't been on holiday. Obviously COVID got in the way too but it was mainly due to the fact that we have everything we could possibly need right on our doorstep.

If we want a coffee we can pop up the road and we have countryside all around us. It's a beautiful place and we are so grateful for having such a wonderful opportunity to live here.

Anyway recently we decided that perhaps we actually needed to get away for a week to recharge the batteries and to have time together away from the jobs and house where there are always things to do.

Flowers my friend gave me brought from home

To cut a long story short we decided to visit the Lake District which is only an hour's car journey away from us. We settled on a village near Ulverston and we are very excited to explore this gorgeous place.

Busy but not really.

Crikey it is so hot here in Barnard Castle. I've had 2 days off work but the weather has meant that we just couldn't be bothered to go anywhere. It's funny really as even though we feel that, we still managed to go out for coffee and had a stroll round the castle in town. I even bought a bottle of cherry brandy in the gift shop which was half price, maybe a few days past it's self by date but hey who cares?

We did a little bit of gardening and I am so happy to show you my cyan printing masterpiece. This was so easy to do using a Love to Print kit which had the special chemicals and full instructions as to what to do. 

I picked interesting leaves, flowers and grasses out of the garden and hey presto. I love the detail it produced and will definitely be giving this another go, very soon.

I've also started painting again. This is very much an on off relationship but for the moment I'm in the zone and doing a lot of abstract pieces involving pretty colours and mark making. It's very relaxing which is exactly what I need after the stress of my job.

I hope to show you lots more of what I'm getting up to in the next few weeks. We're on holiday soon so I'm looking forward to showing you some of the beautiful scenery in the Lake District. Bye for now x

A few days off

 I have been lucky enough to have 3 days off this week. Yesterday was taken up with a meeting at the Holgarth Hotel near Darlington. It's quite an impressive place, unfortunately I only saw the reception and the room we were in.

I've been a Slimming World consultant for 4 years, which I'm not sure if I have ever mentioned. I currently run 4 groups and love it. It's such a privilege to help so many people achieve their dreams. It can be quite full on particularly as I also work in a supermarket as a duty manager. 

Today has been a bit more relaxed. I find when I have a busy day I don't recover as well as I used to so I need to accept that I need to take things easy. I decided to do some cutting and sticking. I've done this for a long time as a form of discovery journal. 

I get out my old magizines and then flick through them cutting out any pictures that I love and that give me that fuzzy feeling. It can be anything from a recipe I'd like to try, a beautiful room, an item of clothing or  book that I'd like to read.  Absolutely anything that appeals to me. Then I get to sticking them in my scrapbook. I've got several full ones and I really enjoy looking through them. It's amazing how much inspiration I get and how often I use what I've discovered I like in my own home etc. It's a lovely way to fill an afternoon and I'm left with just my favourite pictures all kept safe and sound in one place for reference.

Tomorrow I'm in my Slimming World groups, working for most of the day and then back to the shop on Wednesday. There's no rest for the wicked!

Banana Bread

Today has been a steady one with plenty of down time. I decided to make a banana bread as the fruit bowl was over due a clear out. Is it just me or does everyone go through times where fruit just doesn't hit the spot? So in an attempt to use up the black bananas this recipe was a great idea.

I found the recipe on the Good Food website and it was so easy. 

Look how gorgeous it looks. I decided to cook it in a flat tin instead of a loaf tin. It cut down on the cooking time too.

Getting back in touch

Synchronized duck formation

Oh wow, it's so good to be back and so much has happened. I don't know where to begin and rather than bore you with a long dragged out post I'm just going to start from where I am now, show you a few photos and begin again. It's ridiculous but it's so long since I've been on here I've had to relearn even how to log on. Anyway don't worry I'm trying so hard to get the work/pleasure balance back in my life and this is just the beginning. The past months have been so busy and I just couldn't fit blogging in but fingers crossed that is about to change x

A weeks holiday in Lockdown