Enjoy a treat on us....

Shane has kindly updated my website and if you scroll down the left hand side of the first page and click you will see what it is all about. Come to stay with us 2 or more days between 1st October and March 21 2013 and take a trip to Filey. Here we are renting a beach chalet for the winter months.

. There is already a kettle in but we are adding tea and coffee etc so you can make a hot drink. A fishing rod ,binoculars and other seaside bits and bobs will be left there for you to enjoy. I was so excited to get one and have had it under wraps for a long time as they are very hard to come by. I am like a child with a Wendy House. I have even bought some of Laura Ashley's seaside mugs. English weather is now so changeable we may have better weather than throughout the summer. Filey as ideal with a 5 mile stretch of sand. It is ideal as we can park very close by. My Dad is really looking forward to going and hopefully we will persuade my Mother too. Sandcastles builders take your camera and the best castle will win a prize. My Dad is pretty hot on making them though with towers and moats.I bet he will be planning his designs already.My architecture homework was always far better than what I did at school and now you know why.

St Swithin's Day

Sunday 15th July the sun is shining and we have clear blue skies. Is this really happening after all the rain the country has been experiencing. Yes- hip hip hooray. We have had the disappointment of the Great Yorkshire Show and the CLA Game Fair being cancelled, but hay ho things are on the upturn. It is St Swithin's Day. Whatever the weather we have today we should be having for the next 40 days. Jack was looking out of the window at day break to see what was happening and so far we havent been let down. Guests have already gone off for a walk .Some in the directions of Ampleforth .others towards Byland Abbey and Coxwold. No doubt they will be stopping off en route for a roast beef and Yorkshire Pudding lunch.

Shepherd's Purse Cheese

Mrs Bell has been making cheese since the 1980s ,so is quite a dab hand at it by now. Being a Yorkshire farmers wife was never frightened of hard work . This paid off when they launch their cheese at the Great Yorkshire Show and later that year won a 1st prize at the famous Nantwich International Cheese Show. Starting with sheep milk they have gone on to use not only cows milk but buffalo milk too . My favourite is Yorkshire Ryedale. There is also one called Byland Blue which goes very nice with ginger biscuits.

The Royal Beefeater

After all the excitement of the Jubilee I hope HM the Queen doesnt mind that not all of the Beefeaters will be on duty guarding the Crown Jewels. There was a more important mission when my Dad had been up at 4,30am when the pigeons were attacking his greens in the garden. Here is one of the Beefeaters on gu ard. So along with my Dad they are now keeping the pigeons at bay.

Waiting for the pears

Here you see my Dad looking at the beautiful blossom on the pear tree which he grow from a pip many years ago. Every year we have an abundance of pears on it .You could never believe that it would ever bear fruit.It is planted on a south facing wall .Years ago it was a cobbled area but it is surrounded by a concrete path now and has been for over 40 years. Each year when the fruit is small we carve our initals on a pear and as it grow so does the mark. For some reason the one you choose always tastes the best.

A new kitchen for Deliciouslyorkshire

I was wearing a different cap last night . It was for being on the advisory board for Deliciouslyorkshire. The company has recently moved offices and are now based at Askham Bryan Agricultural College just outside York. It was well attend by members and other Yorkshire food and drink producers who were interested in joining up. We have been very lucky and thank Ian Sandford of Four Seasons Interiors -www.4seasons-design.co.uk along with Ian's suppliers -Neff,Symphony,Silestone and Battaglia in supporting us to have such a wonderful kitchen. It will be used for cookery demonstrations along with other Deliciouslyorkshire events. Ian said "I was keen to support a local food related business.Obviously Deliciouslyorkshire fully supports Yorkshire businesses." Here you see Ian with Annie Stirk -Yorkshire food guru and owner of Absolutely Food giving the kitchen the once over. I personally took a liking to the ultra modern purple kettle.

Jubilee Beacon

What a good turn out for the Jubilee Beacon with some fireworks .Everyone enjoyed themselves and already the village of Wass is planning to have have a similar do on Bonfire Night -5th Nov. We set off at the Wombwell Arms with a sausage and jacket potato.Crunching our cinder toffee as we walked down to the bottom of the village to light the bonfire. Thanks must go to Phil Nicholls who as the builder of the village took charge of the construction of the beacon. Then a finale of the weekends celebrations with fireworks which lit up the sky. God save the Queen.