Whitby Folk Week - part 1

One of my favourite weeks of the year - and we stretch it out by setting off on Thursday and staying somewhere on the way for two nights. so, here's what we did.

Thursday
Set off, pick friends up. Drive to Wetherby for coffee stop. Had a look round the market - it's a nice little town, never been here before. Then to Helmsley for lunch, and a trip to the famous Dolls House shop there. But, shock horror. Dolls House shop gone. Every time I've been to Helmsley I've been in it, and never bought anything because I was waiting till I had a dolls house. Now I've got one they've sold up!  Still, we had lunch in the Feathers and a walk round the shops and the market square which was looking lovely as always.

Saw some great scarecrows by the Castle

Just a short drive to Kirkbymoorside, and soon checking into the George and Dragon. Very nice. Then a walk round the village and a drink in the other pub in lovely sunshine. It's been hot and sunny all day.
Dinner in pub. Excellent.

Friday
Weather not so good. Looks like rain. But, we have a walk planned! Andrea wants to catch a bus to Pickering and just as we're setting off on a walk one appears. Try to hide it from her unsuccessfully, but we set off regardless. About 5 mins into walk and the heavens open. Rains heavily on us for about 30 mins. But, you can only get so wet.

 Finally fines up and we get to Hutton le Hole for coffee. And a look round the craft shops and the Chocolate Faculty to stock up on hand made chocolate.

Then shorter walk to Gillamoor and lunch in the pub.

Then a couple of miles back, over the moors, through the heather, and  past the ruins of Kirkbymoorside castle, which wasn't too impressive - there's not a lot left of it! Time for a beer before showering and resting before evening meal, again in the pub as we couldn't really find anywhere else.

Saturday
Off early, so drove back to Helmsley so Stu could buy a top he'd seen the day before - a striped one in preparation for the pirate ceilidh later in the week.

Fab views over moors as we drive to Whitby - beautiful purple heather. It's great when we get the first view of Whitby Abbey in the distance.  Have our traditional coffee at Sherlocks and play spot the first Sheffield people. Doesn't take more than a couple of minutes. For a week Whitby is transformed into Sheffield by the sea! Get our shopping done at the Co-op, drop the car off at the house, and a lovely sunny walk down the estuary into town, making sure that the Penny Hedge is still there.

Crab sandwich (of course) in the Duke of York. Then to the Endeavour to watch the parade which has changed route, and is coming onto the east side. There's some great rapper dancing in pub while we wait from Whip the Cat, and we are amused by the instruments stuck to ceiling.

So, we the watch the parade go past - lots of great morris teams:

Then dash down to swing bridge where there is chaos.  The bridge has been open and is jammed with people.

There's obviously some debate about how to get the dance teams across. Eventually a path is cleared.

Back for fish and chips. And mushy peas of course.
Whitby is very busy because Regatta weekend clashes this year. Apparetly its all to do with the tides!
Then to spa for opening ceilidh. Brilliant sunset on the way.

Ceilidh is ace - Martin Harvey, Peeping Tom with dance spots from Shropshire Bedlams and Martha Rhodens.  I popped out of the dance to see the Melrose Quartet in the Spa Theatre - an excellent Sheffield group. Its was hot!

Sunday
Walked in lovely sunshine to top of the West Cliff to watch Red Arrows display. One of best bits of Regatta being at the same time as Folk Week.  Lots of boats in sea to watch them.

The roar as they go over our heads, off the land over the sea for the first time is amazing. Brilliant display - got some photos, but lots of just the sky!

Stu then took his banjo to the "Not quite ready for a session" workshop. I met the others, and went to concert:
The Wilsons - huge wall of voices - and funny with it.

One my favourite singer songwriters, Steve Tilston

Jez Lowe - again a favourite of mine for many years.

An excellent couple of hours.
Then an unexpected concert. We were due to see Sid Kipper (aka Chris Sugden) perform, but Chris is ill, so at the last minute Eliza Carthy and Saul Rose stood in. And her dad, Martin makes a guest appearance.

Another brilliant concert and we were treated to a really weird  sky on the way back - I'm not sure the photo captures how strange it was.

On way to Spa later we saw a huge convoy of trucks bringing the fairground rides onto the pier for Regatta day tomorrow. Lots of people out watching and filming them negotiating the narrow roads and sharp bends.

Good dance display in the ceilidh by Fools Gambit - an excellent young Morris team. Very energetic - they even got on their starting blocks to begin the dance.

Here's a video of them with Saul Rose on melodeon:

Devonshire House update

Time for another Dolls House update!  It's really coming along now, and I've found I'm running out of big things to do.  No more disappearing off to the spare room for hours on end, painting, wallpapering, sawing, flooring!  It also has a name - Devonshire House.  I chose Devonshire because I live in the Devonshire Quarter of Sheffield, and also because of the link to the Devonshire's who own Chatsworth which is a place I love.

I now have a music room, complete with piano, harp, and lots of little sheets of music - not a brilliant picture but you get the gist. I really had trouble with the marble effect floor getting it the right size. The little music books I bought from eBay and they're gorgeous.

I've also now got a bathroom, which is one of my favourite rooms:

There's a lot of detail in here - lots of towels, toiletries and bottles, most of them made by me from glass beads. The floor in here nearly killed me. I bought it as a sheet, which was larger than the room, and I had to cut it to size, keeping the border in the right place and symmetrical. It was like doing a jigsaw. This room also has white wood paneling, made from the same panels as in the first hallway.  I did this room first, then stained the bits left over to do the hall.  Since this photo was taken I've put a lovely wire screen in:

I need to make some towels now to put on the brass towel rail.

The scullery/housekeeper's room is coming along. Because I'd forgotten to paint the ceiling when I decorated this room, i had to do it later, and couldn't get a good edge to the paper. I should have painted it before screwing the roof on, as this is in a separate basement. So, to hide it, I've put a border on, which is the same wallpaper as I've done the top hall in, and a white picture rail. I like this room. It's where I imagine the housekeeper baking, sewing, ironing etc.

There's a lovely little sewing corner, complete with sewing box with miniature pins, cotton etc.

The bottom hall has some dressing in it now, with a hat stand, hallstand, and even a bird in a cage.

I've decorated the top bedroom, but not happy with the dressing at the moment, and it needs more furniture. There's another bedroom going in the attic, so I will swop some of the stuff in here over I think.

Finally, I've taken the wine bottles out of the dining room, and put a cake trolley in - much more suitable for afternoon tea!

So, this is what it looks like now, with just the attic to do:

A bit different to how it looked just last March when it arrived:

I have learned so much - and am still learning. My next project is the attic which will be two rooms, one a ladies bedroom and one a child's room/nursery. There's a bit of building work to do first - a door to put in the dividing wall, and I've decided to put some dormer windows in the attic roof as there aren't any at all. That means you won't see any light coming from the attic, and I do think Devonshire House looks lovely lit up:

Diary of a holiday in Lanzarote....

Saturday
Up reasonable time. Finish packing. Drive to Manchester airport. Snake Pass fab as always,

Reservoirs very full. Check in uneventful. Escape Lounge full, but accompanied to overflow lounge which was very nice. Free wifi, drinks, sandwiches, cake. Great start to holiday, gotta love Priority Pass. 
Flight OK, after 3 gins it normally is.  No one should fly on less than 3 gins. Apart from the pilots. 
Arrive Lanzarote, pick up dinky little soft top car and drive to resort, Jardines del Sol in Playa Blanca. Lots of lovely little bungalows set in a cactus garden. 

 10 mins to restaurant closing, so throw cases in bedroom and head there. Nice, food, lots of beer, forgotten to put insect repellant on, so bitten! Back to villa, nightcap on terrace.

Sunday
Up late. Drive to supermarket. It's closed. Drive aimlessly around looking for another. Find one. Stock up on essentials. Beer, juice, cheese, wine, tonic, brandy, bread, ham. 
Come back. Read book on terrace. Have lunch. Go to pool, all of 2 mins away. Swim, listen to Micky Flanagan on iPhone, amuse everyone around by hysterical giggling. More swimming. 
Back to villa. G and T, olives and nuts on terrace. We can see the sea from here, and across to Fuerteventura.  Down to bar for Sunday roast, for me at least. Don't care where I am in world, I like a roast on a Sunday. Then entertained by mad woman, apparently used to be one of Suzi Quatro's backing singers. She was great. Talk about lively. And funny. Took the p*** out of Stuart.

 And we jived!  Got back to villa, and watched a firework display from nearby town. 

 Monday

Up late again. Lazed around. Read. Dozed, Stu played banjo. Down to pool after lunch.

 Got slightly burnt. More reading, more listening to music and audio books. More swimming. Just winding down. After a couple of days of this we might venture out!  More drinks on terrace, and then we walked down into Playa Blanca town. Bit further than we expected, about 40 mins, but nice when we got there. Found a place on the seafront, and sat and watched the sunset. Bit of a trek back, uphill, but we coped. Heard a marching band when we got back to the villa, but not sure what it was. 

Tuesday
Decided to get out in the little sports car and drove to Fundacion Cesar Manrique. An artist from Lanzarote, he designed almost everything you can find on the island. Visitor centres, amazing sculptures in the middle of roundabouts. This is his house he built on top of the lava, and in 5 lava bubbles. It is amazing. I want a house like that. The lava bubbles are joined together, and make a fabulous living area, and then there's an outside area complete with swimming pool, BBQ, dining table, dance floor. Think of the parties you could have there. Pictures don't really do it justice:

 The garden is fantastic, with cacti, and a giant mural he made. There's no cafe there, so we drove to Teguise for lunch. A lovely little village in the colonial style, with very old buildings, and beautiful squares. Had a lunch of beer and tapas sat in one of them.

 Came back and spent the last hour by the pool reading. In the evening we went to the resort bar for a quiz, and pig racing.  Didn't  win the quiz, but my pig did win one of the races! 

Hilarious. Sat up late chatting to a couple and their kids. 

Wednesday
I still have some interesting red marks on my chest due to not putting enough sun cream on on Monday,  so decided to stay out of the sun another day and go to the National Parc Timanfaya. The volcanos. Drive there very easy, but then we had to queue for an hour to get into the car park. Eventually made it,  and saw the water geysers, and the hay set on fire from the  heat of the volcano smouldering underneath. Bus trip round the volcanos. Some great views, but very narrow roads. 
Landscape amazing. Then back for lunch of chicken and sardines cooked 
over a grill heated from the volcano.

Back for another hour in the evening sun by the pool. Headed off to Playa Blanca again for dinner, this time in the car to avoid the long walk.  Sat on the seafront again, and bought pirate gear for Whitby ceilidh on way back. Back for a nightcap on the patio. 

Thursday
Lazy day. By villa in morning, then short shopping trip to buy lunch,  by pool in afternoon. Read Fifty Shades of Grey from start to finish. Apparently its known as Mummy porn. Enjoyed it, but not for the porn aspects :-) Dinner in resort, nightcap and bed. 

Friday
Drove up to north of island, just over an hour. Nice to have roof of car down for so long,  Cueva de los Verdes first. Volcanic caves. 

 Very impressive. Lots of climbing down stone steps with nothing to hold on to. Not so impressive. Not like other  caves we've been in as no stalectites, mites etc, as all part of a volcanic lava tunnel. Very well lit, lovely lava formations. And amazing optical illusion at end. Taken up some stairs and told we were in second tunnel. Told to stay clear of edge. Looked like two huge caverns, very deep, very scary. 

Until guide threw a stone in and revealed that it was a shallow, still lake, reflecting the cave above. Amazing. Had me fooled. 

Then drove about half a mile to Jameos del Agua. Another Cesar Manrique creation in volcanic bubbles. Not sure what it's supposed to be, but amazing, again. Entry through one bubble into a cafe bar, then a clear lake, with blind albino crabs in. Only place they're found in the world. Then an amazing garden planted with tropical plants. Then a swimming pool.

 Then another garden. Then an amphitheatre. Then a cafe for beer and a baguette. Then a room showing you how volcanos work. The whole site is just beautiful. I now definitely want a  Cesar Manrique house and garden. 

Then we drove back, stopped at a supermarket as we're eating in. Olympic opening ceremony on TV and we don't want to miss it.
Home, drink, cook. Traditional  English meal of jacket potatoes, cheese, baked beans, sausages. Washed down with beer. Then, Olympic opening ceremony, accompanied by fizz of course, Amazing, a triumph. Mary Poppins, Arctic Monkeys, angels, too many other things to mention. No Morris dancers, which was a disappointment, but bits of it bore a remarkable similarity to the opening of the 1991 World Student Games in Sheffield.  Went to bed very happy.

Saturday
Late up again. Lazy day. Read second of Fifty Shades trilogy. Got slightly burnt. Swam. Melon and Serrano ham for lunch. Washed down with beer.
Drove to posh end of Playa Blanca for dinner. Tapas and beer and sunset. Lovely.

 Came back for drink in bar, and then watched some Olympics. Glad to see IT holding up!

Sunday
Morning pottering about, then drove to El Golfo for lunch. On way stopped at Los Hervideros, where the volcanic lava hit the sea, and has left interesting rock formations and caves. There's  little paths carved out of the lava where you can watch the water and waves below. 

Also stopped just before El Golfo to walk into cove where volcano has crumbled into the sea - looks like a giant red amphitheatre. Saw an enclosed lagoon, brilliant green with algae.

 Lunch on the seafront in the tiny village was lovely. Beer, moules and bread. Back to the pool for more lazing and reading, then g and t on terrace catching up with Olympics. Back to bar in evening for another Sunday roast, and more live music from Jo Norfolk.

 Monday  

Got up early to catch ferry to Fuerterentura. crossing longer than expected, about 45 minutes but calm and uneventful. Stood at front of boat. Landed, had coffee in lovely seafront coffee. Walked along seafront, and then up main shopping street looking for market. Discovered it was quite a walk away, and wasn't up to much, so turned round and walked around old town. Not really impressed, so had beer in another seafront cafe, and caught ferry back at 1pm. Crossing back more eventful. Quite choppy, so after starting off inside, I decided to venture out, where I usually feel better on bumpy waters. Unfortunately got halfway out and could keep my feet and had to be caught by a nearby man, who helpfully dragged me to a seat next to him and his family. Luckily they chatted as the boat, which was a smallish catamaran was going up and down a lot, and I was convinced I was going to be thrown off. Nothing to hang on to, and couldn't move to get back inside as it was so choppy. Thanks goodness we got back. Stopped at the supermarket for some provisions, and had lunch back at the villa. Then to the pool, g and t on the terrace catching up with Olympics. This is becoming quite a routine! In evening we drove to the end of the resort and found a lovely place where we had a great meal.

 Tuesday
Less said about today the better. Let's just say I had a bit of an upset tummy overnight and in the morning, stayed in bed till lunchtime, then spent afternoon by villa reading and watching Olympics. Stu played his banjo and went to pool.
In evening I felt better and as it was quiz night and pig racing again at the bar, ventured out. Felt a lot better for doing so. 

Wednesday
Another lazy morning at villa, and highlight was watching our first Olympic gold, in the women's coxless pairs. Great stuff. Lunch then off for a trip on a Segway!

The Segway tour was amazing. Me and Stu got the newer models which are the ones I'm used to which steer by you leaning into the turn, rather than a controller on the handlebar. A very patient instructor told the others how to ride, and then took us over some volcanic sand and rocks to show the difference between riding on a road, and different sorts of off-roading. His instructions were excellent, and despite having been on Segways three times now, he definitely taught me things I didn't know, particularly the importance of bending the knees, and how to get out of a spin on soft sand. We set off at about 5 and got back just before 8. Three hours of riding over beautiful scenery, beaches, cliffs and volcanic formations. We went high over the cliffs, and then down onto the sand of the Papagayo beaches. Riding one of these amazing machines over soft warm sand was fantastic.  Bottled out  one bit and got off and guide drove my Segway down a cliff path which  I thought was dangerously close to the edge. But, I'm proud to say on the way back I rode my Segway up it. So did Stu, but he fell off :-).  A fantastic experience, and I know I've said this before, but if you get the chance to have a go on one, do. And let's hope the UK relaxes its rules on them, like nearly every other country in the world. 

 We were so late back, we very quickly showered, we were filthy, and went out to eat, in a brilliant Argentinean restaurant recommended to us by someone in the resort. Of course we had empanadas to start with, and steak and chips to follow. Back to watch Olympic round up over a nightcap. 

Thursday
I got up early. It was windy and cloudy. Walked up the volcano at the back of us. 10 minutes uphill to get to start of the path, and then it was all uphill. And I mean uphill, and it was hot. Several stops to admire the view, and I was there. Beautiful views over the island and into the crater, which was dotted with white stones spelling out the names of people who'd been there.

 I didn't go into the crater, but walked a little way round it, and then back. It was very, very windy at the top, and I'm not keen on heights (understatement) so wasn't too comfortable on the very narrow paths. But I made it up to the highest point, the cross, which I held onto for support and then a gentle walk down. So far so good. Then I got lost. Very lost. Lots of little, dead end roads full of little white villas. I am not known for my sense of direction, and it took me about 35 mins to find where I was supposed to be, despite being about 5 mins from it most of the time. I used google maps (useless), and texting Stuart, but eventually got home.
Had a beer, and a shower to clean the dust off me, I was a bit dirty. Then lunch, and lazing about for the afternoon. It was cloudy, windy, but warm. And we saw quite a few more gold medals! Then to the pool. Back for g and t. We're really into the zone at the moment. No suncream, not burning, coping with the heat, and a routine. Always happens just before we have to go home....

Friday. 
Last day. Lazy. Reading, Olympics, pool, aperitif and  bar. If we were here for another week, everyday would be like this.....

Saturday
Alarm at 9am. Shock horror. Finish packing, breakfast, off.
Drove through La Garia, the vineyard area of Lanzarote, where small semicircles of back stone have vines nestling in them, quite a sight.

 Then to Monumento del Campesino, another Manrique construction. Built out of water tanks from boats at the exact centre of the island to commemorate the island's working people. A small museum there, and a lovely stop for a coffee and a fruit smoothie.

 Then on to the cactus garden. Guess who designed this? Yep. Manrique again. Amazing garden, set in a quarry. Hundred of different types of cactus. Beautiful flowers. 

 A couple of hours to kill, so we stopped in the capital, Arricefe and had a walk along the seafront and a beer by the inland lagoon. 

 Then to the airport, and home!