Coastal feast –only 1 hour away us. Enjoy this experience ...

Coastal feast – only an hours drive from us

Little brown jug sung by my Dad 93 years young- his version

Morning with us in Spring- birds singing as the sun is rising- Perfect place to be

Ampleforth has a Coffee House

It is always nice to see a new business start up in Ampleforth and especially as it is run by a young couple Chris and Lizzie Kirk.

It is a coffee house in the middle of the village. I know I will call it coffee shop and get my wrists slapped for it, so today I will give it it's proper name of Kirk's Coffee House.

Tommy Banks was there yesterday to lend a hand on their first day of opening. Tommy is the young person to hold a Michelin star at the nearby Black Swan in Oldstead.. As a friend and I think former employer of Chris [give me no sugar in my coffee if I am wrong] he and I had run a  banter on Twitter to see who would be there first over the doorstep at 8am on the 8th June. Not liking to be beaten, it was a close run thing as a queue of traffic built up as the recycling cart made its way through the village, but I was the first over the doorstep.

 Lizzie is delightful and front of house while Chris will be in the kitchen. I couldn't stop long as I had a meeting to go to near the coast and had Rollo one of our Labrador to drop off at the vets on the way.

I have taken a few photos to give you a taste of what will be on offer. And sooner rather than later will give you an update. I think it is great for my guests who are not looking to have a full blown meal that we have somewhere like this just down the road. As soon  I saw the bread I was hooked

 Their coffee is roasted in Malton by Roost. Again Roost is another young couple I have met before when I went to see their coffee house and roaster in Malton .

Curlews on the North York Moors

This morning I was on my way over the North York Moors National Park on a very foggy June morning, I had left home in bright sunshine . I was rewarded by seeing this pair of curlews and even though we often see them in our fields around home I had my camera with me to video them this morning. They are a strange looking bird with a long hooked beak and look if they come from prehistoric times and are quite mysterious .But to see them shrouded in fog was something I will never forget.

Rainbow at Mallyan Spout waterfall, Goathland- to cool you down after this very warm day

Just what you need to cool you down on a day like we have had here today, 27 degrees and predicted for the whole week here inland in North Yorkshire .

We are 31 miles over the North York Moors to Goathland .  Goathland is where the "Heartbeat Village" is set. The author of the book lives in our village and he lived in the next village to us when he was a policeman, and we were part of his patch.

Romans roaming the streets

I went to a Visit York network meeting recently .It was held at the Yorkshire Museum .I hadn't been there for around 30 years and wow hasn't it changed .Back in those days it was a few bits and pieces when I took Nicholas who is now 36 to see the dinosaur display.

A lot of care and thought has been put into the Museum and it is not just on one floor.

This weekend, the Romans are invading the street of York and for the 1-5 June there is a catalogue of events.  The weather is great for it and I hope it will continue to grow each year. The enthusiasm for the event is infectious and you can see from one of the photo that even the Chairman of Make it York had to put his briefcase done to listen. I wonder what the Romans would have made of life in the C21st ,this we will never know .However we have the chance to see of what life was like in Roman Times thanks to The Yorkshire Museum events and exhibition as this will run throughout the year