A visit to Wolds Way Lavender.

Good morning, it's the weekend again, time goes far too quickly. I started this post last night, but put it on hold till this morning, couldn't keep my eyes open. So what did I do yesterday? The morning brought sunshine, so only one thing to do, go out. Now where can me and the pooch go within about an hours drive? I gooooglied, days out in Yorkshire, and came across Wolds Way Lavender. I had thought about looking at lavender fields in the past, but decided against it because the web site I saw said 'sorry no dogs'. But this one was different, dogs allowed on a lead. Then I realized there are two places which look similar, the other one, Yorkshire Lavender, do not allow dogs, so it was to Wolds Way lavender that we journeyed. Easily found just off the A64, Malton to Scarborough road. 

I was given a map upon arrival at the entrance, free parking and free entry by the way. I decided to let Rocky walk around by himself, the paths are flat, some gravel and some grass. He was fine, but very slow. He is very cautious when we go somewhere new, always looking to me to show him the way, no worries about him running off. We don't need a lead, he will just bimble by my side. 

There were a few people about, not too crowded.

There is a path through the middle called 'Harry's Sculptured Walk'. It looks as though some of the exhibits  had been there for a while and were in need of some refurbishment. Maybe a rusting dinosaur looks more in keeping with the rotting tree trunk, I don't know. Maybe a blast with a steam cleaner and a spray of oil would buff it up nicely.

The willow deer family looked a bit weather beaten, antlers missing and some were crumbling beyond recognition. The sky looked better than the sculptures.

The lavender fields are in flower, plenty of bees buzzing around, and a grassy path to walk down the centre of the rows.

They have a miniature railway which is used to bring in the wood for the distillery and the harvested lavender from the fields. It also provides rides for children, although it wasn't running yesterday.

There is a viewing area in the distillery, with an audio/video presentation running continuously on the screen. I sat and watched, it was interesting to learn how the oil is extracted from the flowers. 

If you fancy a cuppa there is a tea room which serves cakes and ice cream. Also a shop to buy gifts or a lavender treat for yourself. I thought I might splash out, hey, go wild once in a while, but common sense prevailed and I decided I don't actually need anything. £15 for a pot of cream is a bit out of my price range, I put that in the want category.

WWL is great for kids, lots to do. There's a giant Games Maze. It's about 1km long and lots of games to play on the way around it. There is also a Nature Walk which winds it's way around the perimeter through the trees. There are ponds with big fat colourful fish in them, raised herb beds, and plenty of places to sit for a while. Here is a link to their web site.   And this is a link to their 2015 brochure. I have no idea what the Yorkshire Lavender place is like, if someone has been there, maybe they could tell me. They don't allow dogs so I couldn't go there.

On the way home, I just had to stop at the famous Wetwang Fish and Chip Shop. A £1.50 portion of chips was just the thing to fill my tum.  Heaven. I need chip shop chips at least three times a year, ha ha.

We made one more stop on the way home, which I will tell you about tomorrow. So till then, I'll sign off. Looks like another nice day today, so best to get out and make the most of it. Have a nice weekend.
Toodle pip

PS. Hi. I've just re read this post and can see an error. When I said I decided to let Rocky walk by himself I meant without the pushchair, I felt he was able to cope with the distance on his own four legs. I didn't mean that he was allowed to go off lead the whole time. You can see the lead in the dinosaur picture. I dropped the lead on two occasions, when I stepped a few feet away to take a picture. At no point was he allowed to wander around by himself. 

PPS. Thank you all for adding your bit to the Summerhouse post yesterday, I was amazed at how many comments there were. I am chuffed.

The Bespoke Summerhouse is ready

Hello. Here we are, the post you have been waiting for, at last the bespoke summer house is finished. I have personalized it with my decorative bits and bobs for the photo's, these will be taken out and stored safely in the house tonight. It is not lockable, and I expect through the winter months some dampness will be find it's way in. At the moment the roof is not letting rain in, and because of the wide overhang the rain seems to be missing the sides as well. Please take a look around, and join me on a guided tour at the end. 

I am extremely pleased with it, chuffed to little mintballs in fact. To make something myself gives me a lot more pleasure than going to a shop and buying it. I get the same buzz from everything I make, not just this. I have the fun of sourcing the materials, picturing it in my mind, thinking of ideas, working out how all the bits fit together, making adjustments if needed, watching it grow, and when it is finished, stepping back and saying, 'I made that'. Put me on a desert island and I will build my own house.

Thanks for popping in. See ya soon. Toodle pip.

Do you know what's at the back of your cupboard?

Hello. I'm getting quite excited about the summer house  now, did you like my sea view, ha ha, painted on the back of the garage. Just the finishing touches to do. This morning I was firkling in the cupboard under the stairs for my gigantic box of washing powder, the plastic tub under the sink needed filling up. Lo and behold, what did I find, two packs of carpet tiles brought from my old house when I moved here, that was 18 years ago. I had forgotten all about them, just goes to show how you should turn out your cupboards and drawers now and again, just to aquaint yourself with all your possessions. These are going to come in very useful as a floor covering in the summer house. Fantastic find. 

There is a door which is mainly glass, on the hedge side. All I can see is the pallet holding the side together, so I need to put a curtain up to cover the ugliness. After a search through my stash for suitable fabric I found this colourful piece of canvas which used to be a wind break. I think I got it out of a skip somewhere, it was earmarked for shopping bags, but this will be a better use for it. Two seams had to be unpicked where the poles went through, it was a bit mucky so I washed it. When it's dry all I need to do is iron it, trim a bit off the bottom because it is too long, and push a wooden rod through the top seam to hang it. Job done, easy to make curtain.  

I was in the garden all afternoon yesterday. Caught Mayze napping in the bean bed. Bet she is not pleased this morning to find her snug little bolt hole has gone. I stripped it of all the foliage, nothing is growing anyway, and now it is covered with plastic. Part of my big tidy up, I'll decide what to do with it later. She has a new dry bed on the wooden shelves next to the garage. 

Just to let you know I am getting towards the end of my yellow sticker food. These are the ingredients for a smoothie made with the prepared fruit, grapes, a tomato, salad leaves, and chopped cauliflower added. I will go to tesco sometime this week as I have a £4 off voucher, would be daft not to use it, and I need rice pudding and bran flakes. 

That's all for now. Going to lay the tiles, hope there are enough, might have to patch it up with other bits of carpet. Looking like a nice day, best get out while it's fine. Catch you soon.
Toodle pip

Love my sea view.

Hello.
If I can't have my beach chalet next to the sea, then let the sea come to me. Ha ha.

Nearly ready. Pics coming soon.
Toodle pip

Moving On by Kevin Lewis. Book review

Hello, I've had a busy day, Crafty Club, and a talk for a smashing bunch of ladies. We had a lot of fun. I don't think they quite believed what they were hearing when I enthused about my passion for skip diving and buying second hand. Ha ha. 

I've been saving this book review for a few days, and will now slot it in to fill a gap. As you know, I like autobiographies, an interesting true story beats anything made up I reckon. This book held my attention till the end, it's the second book from Kevin Lewis, the first one was about his early life in a dysfunctional family. I did wonder if I should have read that one first, but there are plenty of references in this one about his harrowing early life at the hands of an unstable mother who regularly beat and tortured him.  

Moving On, starts at the time when Kevin has just finished his first book. By then he was married to Jackie with two children of his own. Jackie had no knowledge of Kevin's childhood, as he has refused to speak about it, but now everything was recorded on paper and Jackie could read it. After much soul searching the decision to publish The Kid, was taken. Old childhood memories resurfaced and he was forced to face up to his demons. 

Moving on is a powerful and moving memoir, he describes going back to face Gloria and Dennis, he always called them by their first names, never mother and father. 

Finally he talks about his hopes and dreams and ambitions for the future. Moving On is about making positive use of his past, to enable him to build a new life for him and his family.

I found the book interesting and inspiring, to read about how one man has managed to make a good life for himself after such a rotten start. Reading the reviews on Amazon, it seems that a few people who read the first book, found this one disappointing, which I was surprised about, as I thought it was a good read. I don't feel the need to now read the first one, this book gives a complete picture of the whole story. 

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip

Hand on heart....... X 32

Good morning, dullish outside, here in North Lincolnshire. I will get out in the garden today, lots of little jobs piling up. Yesterday I found an hour to recover the wooden shelves at the side of my garage. The plastic was falling apart and rain had got in and damaged the cat beds. A refurb was needed so my kitties have somewhere under cover to lounge in the sun, ha ha, where is the sun? 

My latest crafty project is finished. I started this a week ago, told you I was hooked on hearts. I had a spare picture frame which someone had given me, so I thought of an idea to fill it. Sixteen small felt hearts are exactly the right size for it. These are the hearts laid out on a white satin background. I took the pictures before I put the glass front on it so as not to have any reflections. Each one is hand sewn, with beads, sequins, snippets of plastic leaves, and bits of broken jewelry. 

Here they are in the frame, just got to slot the glass on top, before I seal the back up. It's a new frame, but a second hand one could easily be used instead.

I am really chuffed with this. Proof that you don't need to spend hardly any money on materials for crafting purposes. Most of the felt was given to me by a friend in the village, and some from the Scrapstore. The beads and sequins are a combination of what I have collected over the years, mostly from charity shops and car boot sales, and some which have kindly been sent to me by readers.The frame was given to me. I cut 32 hearts in two sizes, then mixed up the colours, adding random embellishments from my stash. I really really like this so I'm going to keep it, but will show it at any talks I do as an example of crafting on a budget. That reminds me, I have a talk tomorrow afternoon to do, so I'd better get some stuff ready to take.

Anyone going to have a go at making hearts? Feel free to copy any of my ideas, as I often get inspiration from other bloggers, and yoootooob videos. Enjoy the rest of your Sunday. Thank you for popping in.
Toodle pip

Worth a look when passing

Hello. A nice time was had with Sis yesterday, we chatted and scoffed nice food outside in the sunshine. They have all mod cons in their posh caravan, so when it got a bit chilly later on we went inside and watched the tele. 

As I was driving home I wondered if I might be too late for any yellow stickers at Tesco. It was 8.30pm when I came off the motorway, sometimes there isn't anything left at that time. Worth a look, and I needed some soya milk and yogurt anyway. Well that was a nice surprise, there was stacks of food in the fruit and veg department and chiller cabinet. I only took a hand basket in, so I filled it. Seventeen items with a value of £22.70, and I got them for £2.30. Also full price Value yogurt for 45p and milk at 65p. Chuffed with that, definitely worth a look. 

It was breakfast with a difference this morning, I put a bag of prepared fruit, 20p, in a jug and zapped it with the stick blender. There was strawberries, apples, oranges, cucumber, and two leaves of mint.

Very nice it was too.

Dinner tonight was wild rocket salad leaves, mixed bean salad, and pasta salad. A quick and cheap meal.

I have made curry with the veg, and it's portioned in margarine tubs in the freezer. Now I have loads of salad to plough through in the next few days. No cooking till it's gone  :o)

I needed to go to town today to visit the hole in the wall in the bank, and pay my Council Tax at the Post Office. I picked up a jar of coffee at B & M, and some cooked chicken for the cats. I popped in Aldi for a few things to top up my cheap Tesco shop. Two more cartons of soya milk, cheaper at Aldi, 59p. Packets of Brazil nuts, walnuts, and cranberries. Free range eggs, a pint of ordinary milk, and a multigrain loaf, oh and some dog and cat food in foil trays. £9.95 spent.

Some good news, I've booked myself a holiday. I want to do more walking, so I've chosen three Youth Hostels conveniently placed on the North Norfolk coast. I shall drive to Hunstanton, stay overnight, leave my car there and walk the 17 miles to Wells Next the Sea. Overnight there, next day walk 17 miles to Sheringham, overnight there. Next day, set off and do it in reverse choosing a different route. Should give me 70 - 80 miles walking, That will suit me fine and no having to look for beds. Cost for a bed in a female dorm for the five nights is £95. I've booked a breakfast at Sherringham for £4.25, Wells hostel is self catering, and Hunstanton is an Independant Hostel. I will see if they do breakfast when I get there, or get my own. Not going just yet, but I thought I had better book in advance to make sure I have the nights that I need. I haven't been to that part of the country before, except drive through in a lorry, so it will be a bit exciting. Yipppeeeee.

Thanks for popping in. Catch you tomorrow. Have a nice Sunday.
Toodle pip