Sugar and Spice

How does the saying go- Sugar and spice and all things nice that what little girls are made of .I was in York recently and was looking for a place and came across Waitrose . I had heard of this shop but never been, so did a detour. What a delightful supermarket it is. Expensive I hear you cry -no -Andrex toilet rolls were cheaper than in Sainsburys and Flora as cheap as Tesco and Asda.My mother was delighted I had found her packets of semolina. I found it a real pleasure to shop there. The staff were very pleasant. When I saw the cake counter I thought I must take a photo for all those like me -until that day - had never had the pleasure of stepping inside a Waitrose. What a delightful array of cakes and novelty biscuits. I came home clasping treats for Rubi-Sue. Just the sort of things Grannies buy little grand daughters.A foot shaped biscuit with pink icing and red toe nails and a heart shaped one with a pink sugar mouse on and fairy decorations. My treat was some Fendimans rose lemonade. If anyone can find me violet lemonade please let me know.Jack got a Shooting Times to keep him happy.

Can you remember what you were doing 34 years ago ....

probably not-- will be the answer. We are just back from the Carpenters Arms at Felixkirk. Where once again we had an exceptional good meal.The staff are so friendly there. We went to celebrate as it is 34 years since Jack and I first met.Some people celebrate wedding anniversaries and the like.We have always celebrated when we met - it is the most important to us.I recall prawn cocktails were the "in" thing in those days.Here you see Jack looking at how to attack his huge prawn cocktail tonight.Fashion goes full circle and it looks as if food does too.On the way home we stopped near Toms Smiths'Cross.Jack tried to yodel and make it echo for me down one of the horse rides we use to ride down when we were young.

Yummy Cherry and Almond cake

We had a Herriots Yorkshire meeting last night at the Arts Centre in Thirsk. Organised by Ian Ashton, it was well attended with David Shields from Welcome to Yorkshire ,Sam who does a sterling job with our website and David Crocker "Mr Train" who helps us enormously with our running costs in printing etc, who is the marketing manager for Grand Central Rail.It was good to catch up with old friends and new faces. Jessica Barker has just won a gold award with her 5 star Thief Hole cottages there- I have sat round the Barkers "uncles" table from being a child.Admired this family-of show jumping fame- who lent me my first pony. I think she is a whirlwind how she works so hard with her cottages and has 2 small children and still looks a million dollars.Lady Mary Furness from Stanhow Farmhouse who I have known for 20 years plus and runs self catering was to my left. A remarkable horsewoman who often had to choose between going to a meeting and riding with the hounds.To my right was Annette of 4 in a bed TV fame a relative newcomer to the bed and breakfast business. What she lacks in years she puts forward in enthusiasm. Dear friend Alison, behind me who has the watermill at Crakehall and her "miller" was in tow. What a friendly do it was. To top it off we had the most delicious cakes as ever.

Views from Scarborough Southcliff

We are only 34 miles from the seaside so it takes less than 45 minutes. A nice drive out through pretty villages like Thornton le Dale and the market town of Helmsley. If the day is nice to get over there and take in the sea air. For the more hardy go for a paddle. For me I like to go to find mussels and whelks and other edible bits and pieces on the shoreline.I took these photos when I went to get an ice cream -see previous blog.The gardens are still looking very colourful They talk about Harrogate for its gardens - the autumn flower show is on at the moment. Harlow carr is another drawing point to Harrogate.I think Scarborough gives other towns a run for its money any day

Scarborough and Icecream

No trip to the seaside would be complete without an ice cream. Up on the South cliff you will always find the ice cream cart near the clock tower. Opposite there is the "Royal", the hospital, which is on the television programme. It is ideal to go up there to enjoy an ice cream. Easy for parking for those who cant walk very far. Lovely views over the bay. A steep hillside walk down to the Spa and along the beach to collect shells ,seaweed and mussels. Even a putting green if you fancy a game. This is away from the main drag of the "kiss me quick" hats,bingo and arcades which are on the south bay seafront near the harbour. This is the more refine Scarborough, were you can quietly take in the sea air and enjoy the finer things Scarborough has to offer. Of course if the sun is shining it makes for a more perfect day beside the seaside. You can see where the words came from of the song "Oh, I do like to be beside the seaside".The icing on the cake or should I say the flake in the ice cream - Lovely to see my cousin Gillian up there hard at work and she even played the ice cream jingle for me.

Jack harvesting

I love the smell of Autumn.When the leaves are all changing colour and times on the farm are busy as we are right in the middle of harvest. Having waited all year for the crops to get ready it is an anxious time in the farmers calender. We are so dependant on the weather -we need dry days so the combines can travel on the land. Here you see Jack at the end of 9 hours harvesting corn. It is dusty and concentration is to a maximum but you can see from the look on his face he is enjoying every minute of it. I took his tea down to the field - no time to stop, it was eat it on the move-fast food with a different twist. Just time to eat while the combine was tipping its tanks of grain into a trailer. You can see as the arms are taking the head of corn into the machine. Separating it out, corn is sent into the tank, the straw is sent out behind the machine. I remember when I was a child,we had horses pulling a binder.Then the sheaves were stacked at an angle to dry like a wigwam and us children would hide in them. Our combine is only a very small one but modern day machinery is all computerised with such up to date technology. I know which was the most fun though.

Wass Village Barbecue

Last Friday night our village had its annual barbecue. Here you see our celebrity chefs hard at work. I took spare ribs which I had cooked in the Aga. There was chicken,sausages,burgers and salmon. Salads and puddings. Tony -Jacks friend took 2 barrels of beer and others took their favourite tipple. Needless to say a good time was had by all. A tradition started as a fund raiser by Pat and Shirley Clayton who used to have it in their garden.Long may it continue.