Our Visit to Newark

I have always enjoyed Sundays apart from when I was a teenager that is.  Then Sundays were the day I had a major lie in coming downstairs just in time for a massive Sunday dinner followed by endless hours of nothingness.  Oh how I wish I had realised then how precious weekends were.
I only get Sundays off now and I guard them with my life.  As an added bonus I get the house to myself every other Sunday since my son has a new girlfriend and prefers to spend weekends with her and not me!
I always get permission from my hubby (not that it would make any difference) to take it easy and do absolutely nothing on my Sundays off but that is easier said than stuck to.  I have already done 2 loads of washing and the washing up left from last night so I have been quite busy actually.
As far as food is concerned I have just eaten a gorgeous plateful of easy prepare snackiness and have a coffee laced with Hazlenut syrup standing by so the day is looking good.

After blogging I intend learning how to use Netflix which is a new addition to our family, introduced by my son and not us you understand.
We do manage to get out and about occasionally when Steve gets a Sunday off work and last week we went to Newark.

What a surprise that was.  Although it isn't that far away for us we have never visited apart from when we went to the theatre there.  The problem was that we entered Newark from another road and I was under the illusion that it consisted of a couple of merky shops and a theatre and that was it.  No No No I tell you.

We entered the town this time and immediately found a Waitrose supermarket.  Now that in itself is quite amazing as neither Doncaster, Retford or Worksop have one of those so I was immediately impressed.
Further down the road we discovered the most amazing castle.

Now from the road this does look very imposing and beautiful.  We later found out that the castle had been dismantled/demolished by invaders at some time or another and as a result there isn't a lot to see from the other side, however this was still impressive.

Before reaching the castle we walked through a very pretty park and came to the river running between both.  There was a lovely big lock which was manned by the lock keeper and as the weather was so lovely we were able to watch several boats passing through.

We stopped at a little river side cafe for a light snack before discovering the town.  There were all the usual shops but also some wonderful little boutiques and gift type ones too.  There were also three vintage shops, unfortunately only one was open.  I must point out that Sunday is not the best day to visit should you wish to enjoy the full Newark shopping experience.
Back to the river to listen to a lovely chap singing his heart out by the floating barge bar and a good walk before returning to the car with our batteries fully charged.

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit and would recommend you all to go and have a look for yourself. We will definately be going back soon.

Clumber Park Yarn Bomb

There are draw backs to owning your own company one being the long hours.  This ultimately plays havoc with your social life and days out seem to be a thing of the distant past.
We did however manage a short run to Clumber Park, Nr Retford a couple of weeks ago.

A lovely lady at Clumber contacted me and many others with a view to contributing to a yarn bomb they were organising to celebrate the wassailing season.  This is when the apple trees are blessed in order to guarantee a good harvest in the months to come.

I put it to my knit and natter group and being a very enthusiastic crowd, they took up the challenge to knit rectangles to wrap around the trees and knitted apples to hang off them.
In total we produced and large carrier bag full of beautifully knitted bits and pieces which I then delivered the week before the festival.

Steve and I then went along to see the finished result.

There was lots for the kids to get involved in and also freshly squeezed apple juice for the adults to sample.  There was singing and dancing and much merriment.

We had a lovely time and it was great to pick out our knitting on the trees.  It certainly put us in the mood for further excursions should we have the time.

Walk around Clumber Park and Lake, Retford, Notts

We are trying to lose a little weight and take more exercise and with this in mind we popped over to Clumber Park yesterday.  This is a National Trust park with lots of open countryside to walk through plus a restaurant and shops.

There is also an array of wildlife in particular extremely tame squirrels which like to nibble at your toes.

Everything was so lush and green, probably due to the beautiful weather we've been experiencing together with rain which seems to have fallen overnight.

We managed to walk all the way around the lake and clocked up about 4 miles which we felt was pretty impressive.

These trees were sat in the water but didn't have any signs of leaves on them.  We assumed that the trees were there first and the water flooded the area.

The church was open to visitors but we didn't go in.
We had a lovely morning and enjoyed a lunch of tomato and basil soup then back home for a relaxing evening.

Messing about in boats - Ashby Canal

You are probably getting sick of seeing my Ashby Canal photographs and believe me I do try to give them a fresh twist.

Cafe on the way to the Bosworth Battle Fields

We decided to take an impromptu visit a couple of weeks ago and as you can see the weather was good to us.  Steve's sister was over from Italy with her son Ethan and it was decided that together with hubby's Mum we should go for a days voyage on the canal.

We had a great time even though it felt like we were being cooked alive in the heat of the sun.
Puttering about on the canal is definitely one of our favourite pastimes but we wondered if it would be enough excitement for our family.  Fortunately though the day passed very easily and it was a grand day out.

Wind in the Willows - Burnby Hall Gardens

 I told you we had booked to go and see Wind in the Willows at Burnby Hall Gardens and that was what we did last Friday afternoon.  The weather was scorching and we had a tasty picnic in the grounds before the play started.

This was staged by the Chapter House Theatre Company and it was magical.  Lots of people attended and I have never seen so many children totally mesmerised.  The actors even came out at half time and played games with the kids.

Mole and Toad

 The characters were so funny and well played.  Toad was hilarious and had based his character on Michael McIntyre.  I don't know whether this was intentional but it was just amazing.

Ratty and Toad

Otter and Weasel

 The lady who played Otter carried a hand puppet all the time and even that had a personality all of its own.  She also played the Stoat to perfection.

Ratty and Mole

 Ratty was played by a girl which was inspired as was Mole.  They were just so likable and the kids fell in love with them all.

The Weasel was a real spiv, ducking and diving, and this chap was very busy changing in to a French Rat not to mention other characters as the story unfolded.
At the end the players came out and sat at the front of the stage so the children and adults could chat to them.  I heard one little girl telling Mole that she liked digging too.  How cute was that?
If you get the chance to see this or any of the many productions they have running this year snap up the tickets.  They are truly professional and brilliant.

Eastfield Farm, Tickhill, Doncaster - Second Visit - 2013

We had planned to visit Eastfield Farm last week but I was laid low with a kidney infection so off we trotted yesterday.

It was very busy and the weather was lovely even though it did seem to be threatening to spoil itself.
We bought loads of fruit and vegetables which were all reasonably priced and the staff in the veg shed were as curtious and helpful as ever.

The highlight of our visit was the tearoom.  It is so pretty and light and the two girls serving were so friendly.
They even recognised me from my blog which made me feel so happy.  It was great to know that people actually appreciate my blog and I have had loads of people visit following their facebook link.

Mum and I both had the lemon cake which was to die for.  It had been made by the girl's Mum and owner of the farm, Judy, that morning and tasted heavenly.

Thank you for a wonderful visit.  I'm hoping to get at least one more time before the farm closes for the season and will take hubby next time.

Brodsworth Hall, Doncaster

As the weather was so beautiful last Sunday, we had a quick trip out to Brodsworth Hall.  This is just down the motorway for us and about a ten minute drive, so very handy indeed.

The gardens are beautiful at this time of the year but unfortunately you are now forced to pay to go in the house even if you don't want to.  It costs just over nine pounds to get in and I expect that we won't be going again in the near future.  It is outrageous that you can't just pay to go round the gardens.  The point is, if you live locally and you've already seen inside the house, why would you want to go in it over and over again?
Cusworth Hall is a stones throw away and that is free to go in so I reckon Brodsworth will do themselves a lot of damage.

OK rant over.  The gardens are very structured and look almost Mediterranean.  I'm sure they must have looked like this when the house was built and as you walk round you are transported back in time.

Steps lead down into a fern garden which has taken several years to construct but is well worth the time and effort.

The Target House - Where archery took place

The rose garden had some gorgeously fragranced specimens although a bit of dead heading was required.

The little church at the edge of the gardens was open for afternoon tea and although we had already eaten lunch in the restaurant we couldn't resist a nice cup of tea and a scone with jam and cream.  At 50p a cup who could blame us? We sat in the cool church and soaked up the atmosphere.
We spent a smashing afternoon strolling round and went home feeling completely refreshed.

Burnby Manor Gardens

Oh dear this is becoming a bit of a habit.
As I've said before, we do seem to go through phases and sapping up as much fresh air as possible seems to be the order of the day.
When we decide to go out for the day we try not to make it such a long haul so that Steve doesn't get too tired driving.  This being the case we tend to visit tried and tested destinations and thus Burnby Manor Gardens are receiving our undivided attention at the moment.

The lilies were in full flower this time and as always looked spectacular.

The bedding plants were so pretty.

It was extremely hot so we sought sanctuary in the woodland garden ....

and said hello to the fairies.

The Monet Garden

We'll be going back again in a week or two to watch Wind in the Willows played out in the gardens.  Lets hope the weather holds out or it could be a soggy affair.

Skipton, North Yorkshire

The weather forecast for last Friday was excellent and as I needed to go to a Wholesaler in Bradford we decided to extend our trip and nip to Skipton.

It's lovely there but we never have enough time to really explore.
We did however have a gorgeous half hour trip on the canal in a cute little narrow boat.

Skipton Castle

Squabbling Ducks

There were some great shops and places to eat but alas time was not on our side.  Maybe next time.