The Great Yorkshire Brewery Tour

I love Christmas, and this weekend we had a great reminder of it - we'd been given a Red Letter day experience which was a brewery tour, and we used it in Cropton, North Yorkshire. We set off early Saturday morning, and got to the pub in time for coffee - a lovely pub, The New Inn.

And then set off to the brewery, which had begun in the pub cellar but now occupied a couple of buildings close by. It was also undergoing a rebranding from Cropton Brewery, to The Great Yorkshire Brewery which was considered to be abetter brand for the international market.

As a former member of CAMRA, and a lifelong believer and drinker of cask ale, I was surprised to see some kegs outside

But our very entertaining tour guide Karl explained. The brewery produces some very fine beer which is put into casks and bottles, but they also produce some beer which is "craft kegged". This is for a couple of reasons - they are selling into international markets and cask beer doesn't travel, but also because they are producing lager, which needs to be kegged.  The brewery tour was excellent, and more informative than many others I've been on.  At the end we could choose three beers to sample, and I went for quite a mixture. The one in the middle is a red lager. very hoppy, and very much to my liking - I prefer hoppy, bitter beers to sweeter ones. The one on the left is flavoured with nutmeg and cinnamon, which I wasn't keen on and the other is a pale ale which was very nice!

 Of course, it would have been rude to only have one, so we forced another one down with lunch, but I went for the red lager again as it was so good. Having made the very sensible decision not to drive home after sampling 5 different beers, we checked into a room at the pub and had a lovely walk round the village. The sun was actually shining, and it was warm!  Got back to the room in time to watch the Grand National but no luck in the office sweepstake!  Great steak and ale pie in the pub for dinner, cooked in their beer of course!

Sunday breakfast was very fresh eggs on toast, then we drove to Helmsley for a coffee. But, we got seduced by the shops and didn't have time for a coffee. Then to Nunnington Hall, a National Trust property. A lovely house and garden:

and not over-restored. Very much left as it has been when it was last lived in between the wars. I like to get inspiration for my dolls house, and loved this dining room.

One of the attractions for me was a collection of miniature rooms, painstakingly recreated in many different styles. This is one of them - a Palladian Hall

The gardens had a ribbon tree, where children ere encouraged to tie and ribbon and make a wish, and it added some colour to the place - many spring flowers not yet out because of the very cold recent weather. There was also a peacock and peahen. He decided to display to here, and opened and shook his tail feathers - a beautiful sight, but she was not in the slightest bit interested, only going near him to pick up crumbs on the grass.

I did mange to get close enough to take this picture though, which shows the amazing detail and colour on his head and tail

Back home by 4, in time to cook Sunday lunch. A lovely couple of days, and thanks a lot to Tom and Fiona for treating us.

Porkpie, a bar and wet feet

Last weekend I went to Miniatura at the NEC - an exhibition of tiny things and Dolls Houses! We'd had about 48 hours of snow leading up to it, so was a bit apprehensive and it didn't get off to a good start when Stuart spent 10 minutes trying to get the car to the top of the road to take me to the station for an early train. No luck as it just spun and skidded, so I set off to walk. Unluckily I'd put the wrong boots on, and my feet got very wet! Got there OK, and had a great time, despite the wet feet.

On only the second stall I visited I saw this:

It's a Tall Bar, made by a company called Bespaq, and I've been looking for one for ages. So, I had to have it. Unfortunately, it cost more than I'd taken with me, so I ought to have left then. But didn't. I soldiered on, still with wet feet, and bought loads of little things. Some things I knew what I wanted them for - I wanted lots of stuff to dress the bar with so bought bottles, glasses and a beautiful cranberry glass punchbowl and cups:

Others I just buy because I like the look of them. Since the last Miniatura I'd wanted a very realistic salad from Mags-Miniatures, and as it was coming up to Easter I wanted something chocolatey, and was pleased to find a basket of chocolate eggs. I stopped to chat to a man who made miniature food, and fell in love with his pork pies - he very proudly showed me the jelly in them! And as I love beetroot I couldn't resist a board with all the ingredients for pickling beetroot. I even found a wobbly jelly and some rhubarb. He's my stash of food:

Eventually I ran out of money, and by now had trench foot, so trecked back to Birmingham New Street station when because I'd misjudged timings, I had an hour to wait. I hate that station. And it was freezing! But, got back home to find Stu had a whiskey mac waiting for me and a roaring fire to sit next to, so all was well. Here's what I came home with:

I've had fun the last few days putting most things in the house - and the bar looks great. This isn't a great picture, and I might redo it  this week but gives an idea of what I want to achieve:

Pin it

A couple of weeks ago I discovered Pinterest.  I'd looked at it before, about a year ago,  but couldn't figure out what to use it for.  But, now I'm hooked! I like the fact that it's very visual - its a bit like bookmarking things but done with a photo. At the moment my boards are either a collection of bookmarks of things I like - music, comedians, places I've eaten -  or new things I've seen on web pages and want to to save. Lots of fun things to do with food, recipes and cocktails!  Lots of people seem to use it for collecting "crafty" things to do, and I've just started looking at that.

One thing that has interested me, is if you look at the food related pins, how many of them especially from the US use mixes or processed food. Someone commented on twitter recently that a joint of meat put in a slow cooker with a tin of soup poured over the top doesn't count as the "best recipe ever". I am amazed how many recipes, which look good in the picture, start with "take a packet of cake mix", or cheesecake mix, or ranch mix (whatever that it).

But on the plus side, I've discovered how to make a chocolate bowl using a balloon, how to make a Goblet of Fire cocktail, and some great recipes for parties.

Youlgreave YHA weekend

Last Friday, after the epic 24 hour lecture,  we set off for Youlegreave and our annual Youth Hostel weekend with our friends in Sheffield City Morris. Good meal when we got there - beef stew and mashed potato followed by apple crumble and custard. Just the sort of comfort food you want after staying up all night. Usual session/beer/wine evening followed

 and then off to bed in our bunks with 8 of us sharing. I slept like a log, unsurprisingly and had to be woken up for breakfast and hadnt noticed 7 people getting up and dressed round me.

Beautiful sunny day, and saw the Youth Hostel for the first time - a converted shop:

We gathered by the water butt oppsoite to set off on our 3 different walks.

and we chose the one that went down Lathkilldale and had a pub in the middle. Set off to the River Bradford

 with its swimming area and salmon weirs, and it was a lovely walk along it, past some angry geese who tried to see us off

 and into Lathkilldale - one of my favourite dales - it really is spectacular, especially in the sun.

Loads of spring flowers out, crocuses, snowdrops etc. Then we climbed the valley into Over Haddon, past a house who I think were try to tell us they had a dog in every language:

This was my favourite:

and on to the Lathkill Hotel, where we enjoyed a nice pint, overlooking the valley we'd just walked down

Back down the valley, and straight up the other side. Quite a climb, but worth it when we got into the fields and were able to sit down and eat our packed lunch.

Over some undulating fields, and we were back in Youlegreave in time for a walk round the village.
Normally we're miles form anywhere in our hostels, but those time we were next door to a pub, so time for a pre dinner session where we were joined by a pipe player from a Kletzmer weeekend which was happening in the village and two banjo players who happened to be passing.

 

After dinner, another session, and we had the obligatory  "I wish I'd looked after me t*ts" which Lizzie loves her mother performing so much

Quite a late night, and I think brandy was consumed. Either that or it evaporated as the bottle was empty in the morning.

Another walk inthe morning, along Lathkilldale again, with some amazing colours in the river

Back for lunch in the pub, and off home. Another great weekend.

The Devil is in the Detail

By Christmas I had all of the rooms of my Dolls House decorated, and with enough furniture in them to look real. My next task is to continue to "dress" them. To make them look lived in, with different scenes in the rooms.  This is fiddly, and quite expensive if you buy everything. I'm trying to make as much I can and pick up pieces where ever I can.

The pink bedroom (this belongs to a teenage girl I think), has a box of chocolates and box of photographs

as well as various toiletries on the bedside table and a gift box on the floor

and jewelry, shells, combs and mirrors on the chest.

It's important in the nursery to have toys, and books on the bookshelf (all of these are readable)

as well as bottles, nappies and bedding for the baby:

My dining room is set for a sumptious afternoon tea

and I'm trying to get as much detail in as possible, so there are glasses and bottles in the dresser, and cutlery in the drawer

In the living room there are ornaments, flowers, teapots and even a goldfish in a bowl.

Finally the kitchen - there's a dresser with coffee and grinder, herbs and various bits of crockery, as well as a table set for breakfast and a vegetable preparation area:

Oh, and I almost forgot, the music room now has a banjo in it:

Graves, rain, mist, snow and photographs

Got back last night from lovely weekend in Scotland. Stu's family had bought him a photography course for his 60th birthday last September, so on Friday we set off for Kirkcudbright. Interesting trip across the Snake Pass in freezing fog, with lots of snow on the hills, but none on the road.

Stopped in Kendal for lunch, and got to the hotel by 4pm. We were staying at the Selkirk Arms Hotel, allegedly where Robbie Burns wrote the Selkirk Grace, and if anyone is in the area, I would recommend it. After a rest, we went down to meet the rest of the group - we were in the capable hands of Philip Dunn and his wife Norene, and including Stu there were 5 photographers and me! A very friendly group, and Philip and Norene went out of their way to include me in the group. Great food, some nice wine and good company.

Saturday dawned damp and misty. The photographers did their thing, and in the morning I went for a walk round the town (which is pronounce Kirk-COO-Bree). Lots of things to like about it -  the brightly painted houses:

The tendency for local residents to stack things in their windows:

and lots of interesting passages:

and of course, the shops! The town has a reputation as an artists town, and there are many art galleries and designer shops to look round. I had a very pleasant (and expensive!) morning. It didn't really clear up, but I was sure the photographers would have plenty to go at. This was the view of the harbour:

Joined them for lunch back at the hotel, which was at the bottom of a misty bank

Then after lunch went to find the Stewartry Museum,  which was just behind the hotel. It was amazing, and as someone commented, it needed picking up and putting in a museum itself:

While I was there I picked up a leaflet about the Kirkcudbright cemetery, and decided to walk up the hill to it. It was very atmospheric

I was the only person there, not another soul in sight. Lots of mist and elaborate graves, including those of martyrs and a Gypsy King.

There was supposed to be a fantastic view over the River Dee, but I couldn't see it. Just mist and drizzle. Had a great time though - lots to look at, including some "table-top" graves with carved legs.

Not a lot of colour up there, apart from my newly acquired bright pink hat!

Back to the hotel for afternoon tea, homemade shortbread, and a long soak in the bath before dinner. Another lovely meal, although Stuart wasn't feeling too good so missed it. Next morning we woke to more rain, but not the snow that had been forecast. Whilst the intrepid photographers went in the rain to photograph Colin in his shed (!), I curled up in the lounge of the hotel with my iPad and read the newspapers and a good book. After lunch it was time to say our goodbyes - I had had a thoroughly good time with some lovely people, and am told that Philip is an excellent teacher and photographer so Stu had learned a lot which he now needs to put into practice. You can read a post about the weekend on Philip's website here. He does week long courses in Menorca, which sounds good to me....

So, set off about 2, expecting a 4 hour journey. I kept my eye on the road situation, and although the M62 had snow, the Snake Pass was reported clear. So, we got to Glossop and there was just rain. Looked out of town towards the Snake, just rain. So we set off. on the way to the summit, the rain turned to snow. It got thicker, cars slowed down, we started to skid, and I wanted to go back! Eventually a car coming down warned us off, so we turned round. Then we saw a snow plough going up, so turned round again to follow it (not my idea!!). Snow plough disappeared, snow got thicker, road got slippier, we skidded sideways several times, all automatic braking systems went berserk, and went we started getting warning messages that the whole braking system had failed, we had a full and frank exchange of views about whether to continue or turn round. We turned round. Decided to try a different route, which was snow free till we got to high ground at Owler Bar  where it was terrible again. But, we made it home 6 and a half hours later, to a cooked meal which Dan had prepared for us, and made it to the pub quiz! Interesting end to a great weekend.