A visit to Scarborough Castle

On kind invitation from English Heritage the S.H.A [Scarborough Hoteliers Ass]and organised by Alison Barnes many members went along to a coffee morning. I am sure everyone had a good time despite the rain.Here you see Alison Barnes who is the hard working Secretary of the SHA and Mrs Brenda Frank braving the rain. For me it was interesting to look around the museum. I saw a canon ball which had a strange resemblance to the "dinosaur egg" which I use as a door stop. My dad unearthed it many years ago when he was ploughing. It made me think when Byland Abbey was under attack in the days of Oliver Cromwell in the Dissolution of the Monasteries. My Dinosaur egg could well be a canon ball !!Shame we haven't had a resident canon -think what fun we could be having...No trip of Scarborough would be complete without the sighting of a seagull or two. Looks as if this pair were having a difference of opinion. I did enjoy the visit and Pat at the office is very helpful being very generous with tastings of wine as well as information. if you think to visit here while staying with us we have the added benefit of a reduction in the entry fee.

Birdgate Chocolatiers of Pickering.....

Easter is just around the corner and as I was on my way to Scarborough I thougth I would pop into Chocolart . Chocolart has not only moved to bigger premises around the corner and is now at the top end of the market place in Pickering. It in a street called Bordgate and the man who owns it is called Mr Peacock.I am not one for change and was disappointed that they had left their quirky little shop on Smiddy Hill.This one is very smart and has some of the nicest wallpaper I have ever seen -with birds on it of course. These premises are bigger enough that customers will now be able to see chocolates made and their wonderful cakes been decorated. Here ou see Dawn the friendly assistant who came up with a cracking idea for an Easter egg -The goose that laid the golden egg. of which I got one for my Dad A chocolate goose on a chocolate stand with a small egg painted with gold at its feet. What a great idea. To place your order you need to ring -01751 477755. Around the corner from Mr Peacock is Cafe Cocoa, with other chocolate creations in the shape of a cafe serving delicious coffee and unrivalled Hot Chocolate besides cakes as delicious as lemon and pistachio battenburg or a more traditional Victoria sponge.

Ten tonnes of pebbles and ...

..no help from the cat. Here you see her enjoying the sunshine stretched out in the summer house while we are debating how much spinach we will have to eat. We are getting spruced up for Spring and had some pebbles delivered this morning -all ten tonne of them .It is surprising that nearly every year we get a load like this to put on pathways and the walk round the house and they seem to get disappear

Dont Miss....

On Monday evenings at 8pm on ITV. A new 12 part series is going to start called THE DALES. It features farmers,vicars,vets and publicians as they go around their daily lives in the Yorkshrie Dales National Park.It is presented by Adrian Edmondson and the programme follows on from the success of the The Lakes.The programme is produced by Mark Robinson from Darlington.Lots of positive comments have already been said it and we are really looking forward to watching it.

My Dad and his garden

My dad loves his garden and his greenhouse. Those who know him will know how ill he was a year ago. He is 89 in September and he is still supplying us all with what he grows. Today I was over there to get some rhubarb,And jolly good rhubarb it is. His potatoes are well up in the greenhouse and the mint already a couple of inches high. He grows his tomatoes from seed,there are onions,beans and peas in containers and sweet peas all growing waiting for the warmer weather to be planted out. There is a multitude of different trees to be planted and some game cover to sow. Fruit trees to be pruned and his flower beds to be planted up. What a marvelous man and even more a marvelous Dad.

We join forces with Ripon Race Company Limited

Inflation,budget news and all the boring stuff -we have had enough of it. You will be glad to know we have not increased our prices for your holidays this year. We have also been busy joining forces with local businesses to strike deals for you. Whether it is 2-4 -1 offer,10% discount or even a free bottle of wine with your meal.These you will be able to find soon on a new page on the website. The most exciting news we have to report today as Ripon Races unveil its date list of race days.
We are delighted to have been selected by Ripon Race Company Limited as one of only a handful of recommended places to stay in a partnership offer. When there is a race meeting at Ripon any of our guests wishing to go can purchase 2-4-1 tickets from us. The opening meeting is on Thursday 7th April when the first race is at 2pm. This is a favourite course of mine.Known as the Garden racecourse for it has a wonderful display of flowers and makes for a very pleasant day out.www.ripon-races.co.uk

Welcome to Yorkshire Brochure Day......

took place today at Thirsk. Chris Atkinson of Yorkshire Laundry very generously sponsored the event which saw a good turnout of attractions exhibitors from throughout Yorkshire. Gary Verity,David Shields,Ian Ashton and Sarah Barrowby were all there from Welcome to Yorkshire. Many thanks for my super pink mouse pad which is in use already.I am conscious of taking not too many brochures as they all cost to be produced but I still came out with a whole box full which weighed so much my arms must be inches longer than when I went out this morning.Joe Cornish was very generous handing out his beautiful calendars.Sarah with an equally beautiful one of Yorkshire gardens.I always stop to have a chat with the lady from The Ropemaker at Hawes.She is a mine of information and told me if you get on the steam train at Leeming you then go as far as Redmire transfer on to an old fashioned bus and arrive in Hawes in time for lunch .Her enthusiasm just rubs off on everyone. This lady doesn't have to wear a badge to show how proud she is to be part of "Yorkshire" A more energetic way to spend your time in North Yorkshire is mountain biking. Here you see James Risker who was promoting Purple Mountain Cycle Centre which is based in Dalby Forest.This boy had his feet firmly on the ground today but I have witnessed him sailing through the air on his cycle with the greatest of ease. Talking about that young man on his flying machine

Hip Hip Hooray

.. and a great sigh of relief that THE new shower room is finally finished.It seems to have taken months in fact it has .I am really pleased with the results. I love the floor too it has underfloor heating and there is more room now so maybe you could swing a cat. Don't worry I will not be picking up Duchess our cat by her tail and trying. The flooring is down and a new carpet has been laid in the bedroom so it is now "all posh".

Go to work on an Egg

...that is an age old saying. There are so many choices for breakfast now.Guests usually start off their holidays with the full Yorkshire breakfast. As the days go on the less they seem to want on their plates. Mine usually consists of a bit of chocolate and a banana eaten on the hoof. This morning one of my guests was actually working and asked for a couple of boiled eggs. He has gone to work on an egg. Kippers are waiting to be cooked for the holiday makers. It is surprising how many people like to have fish in the mornings. Continental visitors are happy with their sugar fix of cakes and pastries jams and chocolate spread-often having hot chocolate to drink. I still ask the question for how bacon.eggs and sausage came known as a proper farmhouse breakfast As a child on a proper working farm where men got up to milk the cows at 4.30am the breakfast was served between 7-7.30am. Cold boiled bacon was the order of the day followed by a piece of cake or piece of apple pie.maybe a slice of cheese with it too. Never did we have a hot breakfast.So maybe in those days we were more continental then you think.

An early start in North Yorkshire

Hopefully winter is behind us now and spring is here. Always trying to be armed with my camera I went over Ampleforth Beacon the other morning.I was helping Jack with the dogs and it meant an early start.I took this photo just after 6am.Even for me living here all my life I couldn't think of anywhere in the world I would rather be.Lots of wildlife to be seen that hid away later in the day when the rest of the countryside wake up. It was well worth getting up our of my bed.Maybe you shouldn't take my word for it but come and experience it for yourself.

Our holidays --- 24 hours and 30 minutes

Jack is not one for holidays but managed to have a night away -well half a night really.We were up at 4.15am as we needed to get get round Glasgow before the roads got to busy.We stayed at a lovely place ,the Lodge on the Loch at Luss.The programme "You take the high road" was filmed on the banks of Loch Lomond. The view was uninterupted of Ben Lomond. It was lovely to hear the water lapping up just under the bedroom window.The food was good but Jack wasn't amused with his banana bread and butter pudding-strangest pudding I have seen.It was a thick slice of bread that tasted it had been dipped in something with a battered fried banana on top- the sort you get in Chinese restaurants. With getting up so early we missed breakfast.I was back to cook our late breakfast at home

A tractor to remember history.....

This is the first tractor that was bought by the family on our farm .It arrived during the 2nd world war.IT was at York station the night York was bombed but miraculously was not damaged.I can just remember as a child my dad working the fields with it.The seat had no suspension as such -you just bounced up and down. Many hours were spent climbing over it when I was young. No health and safety in those days. Here you see it,I suppose quite a collectors item now but it was retired many years ago. Machinery is getting a lot bigger and more complicated now but we are still as we were then, very dependant on the weather.There are some things we cant change as with what is happening in the world today With tragedies in New Zealand and more recently in Japan we think of all those that have been affected in these disasters.

Yorkshire's Herriot Country...

Great days out as well as excellent places to stay. Ian Ashton and David Shields have tonight unwrapped "their baby". Both work exceeding hard for the tourism industry. With government cuts and the disbandment of tourist schemes left right and centre. Even us old hands didn't know what we were supposed to be called or what flag was flying for us. Now we are sorted. We are safely under the wing of Welcome to Yorkshire.com. The meeting was held at the Watermill at Carlton Miniott just outside Thirsk. Robin Fletcher supplied us all with a delicious supper which was made for giants. Also thanks to the Grand Central Railway for their very generous gesture in printing brochures. I briefly spoke to Sean Murricane who is the E-Business manager for Welcome to Yorkshire. He is making some sweeping changes to the main website and only good can come of this.He has lots of common sense maybe that comes with where he was brought up -Scotland the next best place to Yorkshire.

Deer on the horizon

This last week or two as the nights are drawing out I have been looking out of the kitchen window to see if I could see the deer that come down into the back garden before Jack did. They like to graze on the grass as it starts to grow. Day break and as the sun is going down are the usual times to spy them. Tonight I was on my way to Wass and spied 3 on the hill top.If you look closely you will see one of them grazing.It is more or less in the middle of the photograph. I was really too far away from them to capture them with the camera but they are lovely to watch with the naked eye.So any guests coming to stay with us before the autumn you may experience the same pleasure as I did tonight

Our little Treasure

Poor little Rubi-Sue has been very ill this last week with a virus. After a visit to the hospital we hope now she is turning the corner. Please send your good thoughts to her to get better soon.I saw some little pink rabbit slippers that may be a bit big for her yet but thought they would cheer her up. Great Granny Ruby is making her a cake today. Anyway young Rubi had sent -thanks to her mum- a creation she had made of a fish tank.Claire is very creative and so arrived my answer to the finishing touches of the new bathroom. It is stark white apart from having a striking orange wall thanks to Farrow and Ball bringing a new paint colour out. I still needed something to bring the room together . Rubi and Claire came up trumps and the "goldfish bowl" will be hung on the wall just like a painting would.very modern and very 3D. The silver fish on the outside of the one who escaped. The camera doesn't do it justice. Just watch out Damien Hirst -Rubi-Sue has arrived

Keeping up with the Boys

Today I have been overdosing my brain yet again with one of Susan Briggs tuition course, She says I must be her No 1 stalker.I don't know about that.Even though I am brain dead tonight I have enjoyed my day.It was held at the Galtres Centre in Easingwold. I rushed across to Thornton's the butchers at break time to get us some sausage rolls- our brains needed food of substance as well.Here you see Craig Nattress who is the web development officer for the NYM&CP. Along with boys from Ripon and Boroughbridge who nearly do a double act and are so much fun. This was the third and last in a series market your market town.We will all have come away with lots to put into action and maybe not enough time to do it all But thanks again to Susan Briggs for providing us with such useful information.Watch out for the Piggy who is going to Ripon.

Scarborough on the 1st March

What a lovely morning sunny and bright. Shame really as if March comes in like a lamb it usually goes out like a lion.But I was here on a mission. I had heard there had been a sighting of Tony Fawcett out on his surf board. Armed with my little Sony camera I scoured the bays looking for him. Lots of people walking their dogs on the beach taking in the sea air. Alas I found no sign of Tony.

Scarborough by night

I am very fortunate that one of my oldest friends lives in Scarborough. I went to college with Susan in Scarborough over in the early 1970s. Susan continued with her hairdressing and beauty work.Running a great little studio down Bar Street right in the centre of town-www.barstreetbeauty.co.uk. Here you can get manicures,pedicures.massages and lots of pamper treatments. Last night we had a couple of very pleasant hours at the Crown Hotel Spa. Swimming,jacuzzi,sauna with twinkly lights and a foot spa, Don't worry I had left all instructions for Jacks supper and left him with a joint of lamb ,2 dozen Yorkshire puddings and 5 cooked vegetables. I didn't want him fading away.