Monday so it must be Thirsk....

Market days in Thirsk are on Mondays and Saturdays .I seldom go on Saturdays as they tend to be busier but there is a good car park and it makes for a great detour when going to visit the Heriot Museum or just have a wander around the town to see the shops. Drop in and have a coffee at The White Rose Book Shop and Cafe. Or to eat on the hoof smaple the wears of Lees the Butchers. Mr Lee is known for buying top quality meat at the local Thirsk market. It is his pork pies that draw me into the shop on a regular basis. When I was a little girl we always went and I climb the steep flagged steps into the shop they don't seem quite so steep now but then I would have been about 4 at the time .Always I remember the bras door handle. When I took a photo I commented on it to the staff .They smiled when I told them the story. I could see they were thinking as mad as a hatter in the nicest sort of way. The clock tower stands proudly in the centre of the square which is cobbled.Goodness knows why they keep resetting the cobbles I am sure there are more twisted ankles on them than not. Pattison's the jewellers is just off the market square as you head out towards the race course. Yes Thirsk has its own racecourse and some happy times have been there espically at night meetings when Thirsk and surroundings turn out in their droves. There is a railway station too .ideal to get in Leeds or further afield and you can park in the Red House Pub car park for £2 a day and the money goes to the Herriot Hospice. There is also an Austin Reed Outlet shop where you can pick up a good bargain.

Oliver! - think we need to go to see this ....

2013 It Was a Hell of a Year

I reckon I am Alistair's No 1 Granny fan. This boy's voice is so amazing and what is ever better he is from North Yorkshire and makes the best lemon curd -apart from that of his aunty

Welcome to 2014 - the year of Le Tour Yorkshire

This is set to be an amazing year for Yorkshire. Thanks to Gary Verity who secured the deal of Tour de France coming to Yorkshire. We are hoping to showcase and turn the county yellow.Find sheep wearing yellow jumpers along with planting tons and tons of yellow flowers. I had suggested planting sunflowers but they will not be out in time. #AnotherGoodIdeaBitesTheDust. But no doubt Gary and his team at Welcome 2 Yorkshire will wave their magic wands and make other amazing things happen. The idea of the sunflowers came via my Dad as I remember one year he planted a couple of acres in one of our fields near the roadside to cheer people up.The amount of people who stopped to take photos that was back around the time of box Brownies. So here you see him getting ready for Le Tour Yorkshire. At 91 he uses the bike in the house if the weather is bad.He wants to be ready to set the pace for the big cycle race. He has decided that he will probably not compete on the day and give the young ones a chance. He uses the bike most days to stop his legs getting stiffened up. 2013 was the first year he had not been combining the crops as the steps up to the controls were him are too wide between for him. And my mum didn't like the thought of him hanging on to the grain pipe 15 foot in mid air -the width of a chimney pot and swinging it back if it got jammed.He didn't know what all the fuss was about. He still drives a tractor and up to now is having an excellent shooting season. Onion seeds are planted and he is well on the way to getting the most out of 2014.

New Years Eve 2013

We had a lovely evening with Tom Collinson and his girl friend Rachael Hinds at their farm near Gilling. The idea of someone else doing the cooking was welcome .Although I couldn't resist and "did" the puddings. I had been to pick up some of Mrs Bells's delicious Shepherd's Purse cheese the week before. What a civilized way to end the year. We started with amazing seafood platter. The main was beef Wellington cooked to perfection. We were making an early exit as it was way passed Jack's bed time.This prompted Tom to get down on one knee and proposed to Rachael. Apparently he had been like a Tom cat on hot bricks all day. She did say yes. What a lovely way to end 2013. Roll on 2014. ps I was to grin like a Cheshire cat too as I did get my new tooth in time for Christmas

Mulberry Hall

A trip to York would not be complete without a look through the windows at Mulberry Hall.Sometimes I venture in for a present for a christening,wedding,birthday or a horse statue for Jack for his Christmas present. I have my eye on some heart shaped spoons at the moment for the grandchildren instead of Easter eggs. As they wont be old enough to read this it will not spoil the surprise. It is such a gracious and elegant shop. The staff are lovely. Even if you only buy one glass they don't mind. We got Liz Stevenson's 21st birthday crystal here ,Angie -a Baccarat globet for her 40th, Flossie used to collect a piece of Royal Copenhagen every year. They have a very good sale too- all my Spode dinner service came from here at sale time.They often display their finer pieces in the window - a show case in other words. So next time instead of walking by go through the door and wander around.They save the grandest until last,at the back of the shop the crystal room with a flowing fountain -you will be tranfixed.

Deck the halls with boughs of holly....

As I went window shopping in York before Christmas I nipped through a snickleway passing Barley Hall on to Stonegate .There I say children dressed up sat at long tables eating their lunch It was so atmospheric that I stopped to take a photo of them through the window. They must have thought I was mad. In those days as in my childhood too and more recently when Nicholas was a child 30 years ago Christmas was a proper Christmas. We had turkey once a year and in my Dad's day it was goose as they were reared on the farm and so they could afford to eat one. We had a present from Santa Claus who my parents sent money to help him pay for it.Today children get one from the parents and One from Santa .nest thing we will hear is that the reindeers will bring one too .PJs or slippers from grandparents. Orange,tangerine and nuts in a stocking. Children are so spoilt now a days. Every day is Christmas and we are lucky to have the choice to eat treats all the time. I mean look what the shops have to tempt us now. The White Company did look lovely and I spied another one full of robins.