Tea Time

In an earlier post, I waxed lyrical about the wonders of Hebden Bridge and promised a little post about the amazing tea shop we found there. Above is an example of the beautiful cup of tea which you can have made for you personally from a vast array of varieties. I am partial to a non caffeinated tea and I opted for a tea I've never had before called elephant tea. It came with huge pieces of dried banana and coconut and unusually for a non caf. tea tasted as good as it smelt! It was served as you can see in a delicate silk bag and diffused for several minutes before drinking.

What is so lovely about this tea shop is the fact that it only has one table, so you are guaranteed personal service! We were able to learn lots about the different varieties and they also served some pretty yummy cakes to go with the tea.

It is well worth a visit if you are anywhere near Hebden Bridge. You can also get some lovely gifts there for tea drinking connoisseurs.

Lots of teapots, strainers, Chinese tea sets and the like. It is definitely one of the best little tea shops I've been in but when I say little I'm not exaggerating! x

Open Gardens

One of the highlights of my summer is visiting the Open Gardens at Knowle Green. I am never disappointed and this year was absolutely gorgeous. Not only are the flowers beautiful but the surrounding landscape and the attention to detail that some of the gardeners employ are just wonderful. I want to do the experience justice by showing you lots of lovely photos.



Isn't this a pretty little shed?

Who wouldn't want to while away a few hrs in this adorable hammock in a hidden part of the garden?

Or dine alfresco here?

We had a cup of tea and Mr K had a cream scone sitting here looking at the view below.

Simply stunning . Here are a few more highlights....

It was such a gloriously hot day, I was seriously tempted to put my feet in this but Mr K wouldn't let me! One day I might even have a garden of my own. A girl can dream... x



Honey Tasting and Lace Making

These are the bees that made the honey which I sampled straight from the honey comb at Alston Hall Summer Fair. Sweet, delicious and totally natural.

I bought a pot of lavender honey made from the pollen of local lavender.

These beeswax candles were also for sale.

There were as usual, lots of homemade crafts for sale but the most interesting part for me was watching a very clever lady make lace. Incredibly intricate and requiring a huge amount of dexterity and patience!

Not a craft I'll be trying anytime soon. x

The Ribble Way

Out and about

Helloo again. Today I want to share with you a personal place I recently found which has been such a blessing to me. This is the river near my home and the walk along this river is different each time I do it. I love it. One day there were fifteen swans, another -  a beautiful statuesque grey heron and still another day I spotted grebes, baby ducklings and snow geese. Not to mention the early morning chorus from the birds, the sunshine and reflections on the water, the warm wind on my face and the total seclusion that this place allows.

I have been experiencing the recurrence of some long standing health problems of late and find that this walk, which is part of the Ribble Way has been both invigorating and restorative. Due to this situation (my poor health) I have decided for a while, to post on a more ad hock basis depending on how I am feeling. I hope that you will understand and will continue to pop in form time to time. x

Duck Race

Out and About

I love Hebden Bridge. The place has such a lovely arty feel to it. So many gorgeous shops and crafty treasures. The town itself is so pretty with a lovely canal, park and a river running through the middle of it winding underneath a sweet little bridge. We've been a few times but this time we were there with a purpose. It was the annual Duck Race! We purchased our tickets early and so had plenty of time to look round the town and browse the many shops.This is a little glimpse at one of my favourites. It is situated in the Hebden Bridge Mill.

It is jam packed with clothes, furniture, vintage linens and household items.

I especially like this kitchenette and if I weren't counting my pennies, I would have been seriously tempted to buy it!

We found an amazing tea shop but I'm going to save that for another time as it's worthy of it's own little post. Also in town were street artists and a jazz band which all added to the wonderful atmosphere.

After lunch, we headed over to get a spot ready for the main event. The suspense was nearly too much to bear. The Town Crier commentated whilst 7,000 plastic ducks were launched into the river. (There doesn't look to be so many on the photos but the stream of ducks went on and on.)

Sadly we didn't win this time but there's always another year. Have a wonderful weekend whatever your weather and I'll see you on Monday x

The Perfect Venue

Out and About

This is Stoke Rochford Hall near Grantham in Lincolnshire where our friend had her wedding reception last weekend. It is a spectacular Victorian Country Mansion and was shown off in all it's glory by the wonderful weather.

After a lovely service at church we had drinks and photos in these superbly kept gardens. The children and the happy couple frolicked on a bouncy castle!

This was followed by a delicious meal in a stunning room which is also a library. Eating amazing food surrounded by good literature - sounds too good to be true.

There were also some incredible fire places to congregate around and awesome ceilings to look at whilst partaking of post meal drinks and a band played in the orangery well into the night.

The next day was gloriously hot and we took another turn about the grounds and took even more photos.

What a place. What a wonderful day. This post is dedicated to Rachel and Paul - Thank you for inviting us. May you have a very long and very happy marriage.

I hope you all have a lovely Easter holiday and enjoy the other wedding that everyone is talking about!! I am having a short break from blogging next week but will be back again soon. xx

Dreaming of Summer

Out and About

We had a little taste of Summer recently but then it all changed again back to cloudy days and drizzly rain here. Those few days of better weather got me dreaming of Summer. One of the most lovely things we did last Summer was have a little trip out on a friend's barge and they have recently invited us to do it again this year. I'm really looking forward to to it. We started with fresh coffee and muffins on the deck, enjoyed the views along the canal and watching all those other lucky people who were also on their barges. Some of the barges were really pretty and had little gardens on the top of them.

 On this particular trip, we ended up in Cheshire. This is Dunham Massey, a beautiful Georgian House set in 300 acres of land. Who knows where we'll get to this year. (Apologies for the photo being slightly wonky - this could have had something to do with the fact that we also shared a good bottle of wine together during the day!)

This land is also shared by a large number of deer who can be seen roaming around freely. You can get quite close to them but it is not so easy to get them to look at the camera!

The grounds are extensive and we enjoyed a lovely walk deer spotting and looking at the huge trees which we came across.

As well as the lovely trees and gardens, we also came across this fellow- aptly named 'Old Stumpy'. I hope to see him again sometime.
This weekend we're out and about for a different reason. We're travelling to Lincolnshire for a friends wedding, so I'm really hoping that good weather will return. Hope to see you on Monday for more textile talk. Have a lovely time this weekend whatever your plans are. xx

Cuerden Hall

Out and About

This is the face that greets you when you visit Cuerden Hall. I think He’s wonderful. You could miss him too if you weren’t looking up!  So glad I was.

It seems that Mr K and I are developing a new custom of visiting local farmers markets and old halls on Sundays and this one was another fine example. Cuerden Hall is currently used by The Sue Ryder Charity so we couldn't go inside but it is very interesting to look at from the grounds.

The gardens were all bursting into bloom too which made for a particularly enjoyable afternoon stroll.

Impressively the market itself had over fifty stalls and some of them were quite unusual. This carpentry stall caught our eye. The wooden flowers were amazing and we couldn’t resist buying some of the giant coloured pencils.

Mr K had a hog roast and I had a burger for breakfast (mmm.. healthy!) and we stopped to look at some of the birds of prey which had been brought to display.

As well as all of that, I managed to pick up some curtains for a pittance in a barn sale which was also in the grounds of the hall. They will make some nice cushion covers, a bag or even a skirt! What a great place.

As always – enjoy your weekend whether you are out and about enjoying Spring or relaxing at home. I intend to do a bit of both xx See you soon