Week One

Hello and welcome to you all. Thank you for taking the time to visit here. 

Firstly, a huge thank you to all of you for the good wishes and encouragement we received on my husband's retirement last week. You are all kind and thoughtful people, and we were quite overwhelmed.

And so the reality of retirement has now begun!

I realise that there will be lots of mundane and routine jobs still to do, but we can share them a bit more now. The cleaning, washing and cooking still need to be done, but there will also be lots of projects, travel and other things to enjoy. The best thing is that we can do all this, but at our own pace and in the way that suits us best.

This week we visited Bakewell in the Derbyshire Dales. It has been about two years since our last visit but we enjoyed it just as much as last time. The weather forecast was to expect some rain. However, it remained dry while we were there and we didn't need coats all day. A lesson learned, 'to sometimes just go out anyway.'

We arrived at lunchtime and indulged in Bakewell's famous sweet treats: the Bakewell Tart and the Bakewell Pudding. Three places claim to have the original recipe: 'The Bakewell Tart Shop and Coffee House', 'The Bakewell Pudding Shop' and 'Bloomers of Bakewell'. We went to the 'Bakewell Tart Shop', which sold Bakewell tarts, Including Iced Bakewell tarts, moist Bakewell tarts, and the traditional Bakewell pudding. 

Bakewell Tart

Bakewell Pudding

I think my favourite was the pudding.

According to legend, the Bakewell pudding came about from a happy accident when a nineteenth-century cook at the now-demolished White Horse Inn misinterpreted the requirements for a dessert, and thus created the first pudding. The Bakewell tart was a later creation, featuring a shortcrust pastry base and a filling of jam and frangipane, topped with almonds. There is also a more commercial variation, with icing and a cherry on top, made by a company that claims to make 'exceedingly good cakes'. 

We enjoyed looking in shops in town and a stroll along the River Wye. The ducks, swans and geese were happily enjoying being fed by visitors. One man was hand-feeding a goose! I value my fingertips too much for that type of close encounter.

We also walked up the hill to visit the parish church of All Saints. The current building is about 180 years old, having replaced the original Medieval church. In the church yard, we found these two Saxon cross bases, a reminder of the long history associated with the church. 

Inside, there are some beautiful stained glass windows like this one.

We had a lovely few hours in Bakewell and I would certainly go back again and enjoy more Bakewell pudding, of course.

Back at home, hubby has enjoyed working on a new jigsaw. One of his birthday presents this year was this carry jigsaw puzzle case. It means that we can easily clear the table for meals or other crafting activities. We tried it out and it works perfectly. 

He completed this puzzle in just a few hours. It had 500 pieces, and the scene is Scarborough. He may need to move on to 1000 pieces next time. I managed to fit in a few pieces myself as well.

We have also been trying out various coffee/tea places that also have sweet treats and catching up with friends. The weather has been mostly good, and this first week of retirement has gone well.

I hope your week has gone well wherever you are, you are in good health and that you have enjoyed a little sunshine in your life.

B 

A Few Days In and Around York

Hello and welcome back to our small corner.

As it has been half term this week, we decided to go away to York for a few days.

After a lovely breakfast on Monday morning, we headed into York City Centre, where we visited Jorvik Viking Centre and Barley Hall, which we had pre-booked due to their popularity. 

We didn't know what to expect at the Viking exhibit but had heard good reviews about the place. The first part of the tour involved walking over a heavy-duty, glass-raised floor that revealed part of the original streets and paving found in the excavations. It was amazing to get up close to this Viking history, but I wouldn't say I liked walking on the transparent platforms. However, my hubby and D seemed to be okay. 

The central hub of the experience was a ride through a reconstruction of the town based on artefacts found on or near the site to give an authentic experience of what life could have been like in those times. It even felt more real by the ingenious use of animatronic figures that are so detailed and expressive that you might think they were real people! 

 

 

In the afternoon, we also visited Barley Hall, a reconstructed townhouse from the Middle Ages, which had been the residence of the Mayor of York. The site has had many uses and was used most recently as a plumbers' store. In the mid-1980s, the building was painstakingly returned to its former glory by the York Archaeological Trust—they reconstructed and decorated the building using the techniques used in the original construction. It demonstrates the skills and talents of 13th-century craft people.

There was also a Shakespearean exhibition with costumes worn by modern actors who have taken part in his plays on display.

 

 

There was then just enough time for a little retail therapy in the many lovely shops of the city. While there, we stumbled upon a very lovely Christmas shop, which had beautiful handcrafted decorations. It was hard not to buy lots of beautiful baubles and decorations while we were there.

 

 

On Tuesday, we visited Beningborough Hall, wBarley Hallith its impressive long driveway and walled gardens. However, we all felt that the ceilings were far too high in the house for the size of the rooms, which made them seem quite small. However, we enjoyed the gardens and yet another display of pumpkins.

 

Before the end of the day, there was still time for a little more shopping, where we found a jigsaw puzzle shop with the largest puzzle we have ever seen for sale. It was a Disney Ravensburger puzzle with over 40,000 pieces and measured 6.8m x 1.9m. That would not fit any of the walls in our house, let alone find floor space to put it together!

 

By Wednesday, it was time for us to start our journey home, but on the way, we found one more lovely place to visit: Brodsworth Hall, which is close to Doncaster. To start, we walked around some of the formal grounds, which the gardeners were laying out for next year's spring bedding. The topiary was impressive, and each garden section felt like an individual garden room. D thought the gardens were tranquil. B was very jealous that she couldn't see any weeds anyway.

The weather was also kind while we were outside.

Once inside, we were greeted by enthusiastic guides in every room, eager to tell us more about the house, the family and others who lived there. The original Georgian House was a short distance away, and when the new owner took over in 1861, he felt it was too big and decided to knock it down and rebuild it. Amazingly, the new house was built in 18 months by a young architect called Philip Wilkinson, and they reused many of the materials from the old building in the new construction.

 

When the English Heritage took over Brodsworth Hall, they decided to conserve rather than restore the House and everything in it. It was a wonderful time capsule of days gone by, and we could all feel that it had been a family home.

 

And then, on Friday, D and I went to the Creative Craft Show, Simply Christmas Show, and Cake and Bake International Shows at the NEC Birmingham—a very dangerous place for two baking and crafting girls to be. But we had a lot of fun and bought... a few things!! We will tell you more next week.

Have a good week, and stay safe, whatever your plans are.

B and D xx