Prom night

Its the young mans school prom night. My friend came round to make the boys buttonholes, and beautiful corsages for their prom dates.

Its weird to see your scruffy little boy scrub up into such a fine young man.

Some feelings never leave you.

On Sunday, we had been instructed by the young man to meet on a local playing field - with a picnic - to meet others for an impromptu mass rounders game. It was something that his circle of friends had decided to do and invite their families. All in all over 70 people turned up.

It was great! We met up with some families that we have known since our children were born, others that we had lost contact with, and others that we had never met - all lovely families.
We parents commented how we felt privileged to be considered cool enough to be seen out with in public!!!
And then it happened.

After our picnic, we were all summoned to the middle of the field where 2 captains picked the teams. INSTANTLY I was transported back to EVERY rounders game I have played since I was 5 years old - and ALWAYS the last to be picked for the teams. And I was - the last to be picked. (Young mans best friends mum told me later that it was always the plan! - gits!!!). Years of therapy wasted as all the feelings of sporting humiliation came flooding back!
I only half shamed myself though. On my first go, I hit the ball - with the stick!! something I had never done before EVER!!! Only to be caught out!

My second go was a bit more embarrassing. I hit it again - miracle! and ran to first post. The next person hit it, and I ran to what I thought was 2nd post - only to be told that the post was actually just a fielder, so they dobbied me out at the actual 2nd post!

As my kids would say "Its never fair!". I get past 50, and suddenly become good at rounders - only to be thwarted by a confused state of mind!

Aromatherapy

Wafts of beautiful scents are all part of my everday life.

I start in a morning by spraying L'ocittane Verbena fragrance all over me, and then go downstairs and brew fresh coffee which I inhale before I drink. Fruit teas get me through the day at work nicely, and I always sniff my book before I read it (which is why I cannot entertain the thought of a Kindle!). I always sniff my hubby and kids when I kiss them (not always pleasant!! but its all part of the love!). I don't walk past the Lemon Balm, Lavender, herbs or roses in my garden without stopping for a smell either. I sit out at night under the honeysuckle and drown in its scent.

I saw this great idea the other week, and think I may adopt it on a small patch of garden. Its Lavender surrounding a Camomile Lawn. Heavenly.

York Minster

And finally - York Minster is a splendid building, and the church by which we gauge the beauty of every other church in the world.

A lot of the exterior stonework is crumbling and being replaced. There is a stonemasons shed erected so that you can watch some of this work being carried out. The replaced work looks new, but fits in well. It must be great for the craftsmen to see their work in situ in such an awesome building. The big window here is one such repair.



It used to be free to visit the Minster, but now it costs £9 each. We didn't have time to do the tour justice, so we hung around in the doorway for a while. I can highly recommend a visit though as you can climb to the roof, and descend into the crypt too. Lots of Roman relics were found under the crypt including huge columns.


We really enjoyed our visit to York, lots to see and do. We must remember how close it is and visit again soon. The only thing hubby didn't like was the absolutely hundreds of Geordie girls - all in themed groups - starting their hen nights very early on in the day. I suppose he was looking at it through a Policemans eyes. Hundreds of very drunk young girls + a very large river with no walls = a few problems for the local constabulary later on! My fave "theme" was "Michael Jackson and the zombies from thriller"x

A walk round the walls

Jill - look away!

When in York, a favourite pastime for many is a walk around the city walls. We started our walk by Cliffords Tower which has a violent history.

York has been protected within its city walls since the Roman times.

Every so often, you come across a gateway into the city. These are called "Bar's"
I climbed down to take a photo of these handsome chaps who were patiently waiting for a bride and groom in the church.
Here is one of the "Bar's" - I can't remember which one it was. They are all impressive.
You get a great view of the minster and the Archbishops residence.
And it was just passed here that we were tempted down off the wall by the beautiful gardens at Grays Court. The gardens were open to everyone for coffee etc, but we had just partaken of refreshments, so browsed through instead.


Only one more York post to go Jill! xx

Doors in York

Because of the fabulous old architecture in York, the doorways are often worth a glance.

The furniture on this door was worth closer inspection
The letter box was so well used that the letters are almost rubbed away!

Hollingwood to Chesterfield

Today, hubby and I decided to walk from the newly refurbished lock keepers cottage at Hollingwood - just over the border in Derbyshire. Dawn who had the gorgeous little cafe in Shireoakes called Nona's has moved here, so we thought we would pop in and see how things were going. Its much busier than her little kitchen cafe in Shireoakes, and it has lost a little of its atmosphere, but the cakes and coffee are still homemade and delicious, and she still gets the customers to help out. Hubby and I ended up washing the pots for her!!! Pop along if you are local and tell her I sent you. She is open Wednesday to Sunday - 9am to 4.30pm

We are aiming to walk the whole length of the Chesterfield Canal (not in one go!) and today our walk took us from Hollingwood to the start of the canal in the town of Chesterfield - about 3.5 miles each way. The walk along the canal is called the Cuckoo Way named after the little boats that used to work this canal.
Its a lovely little stretch with plenty of Anglers making full use of the waterway.

From Tapton Lock (near the Chesterfield end) you can catch a boat trip. You can also hire this boat for private charter.
I loved the flowers along the way.




These sweet peas were in the garden at Tapton Lock visitor centre. We picked up loads of leaflets for local walks here.
One of my favourite things along the way were the many families of ducklings, some teeny tiny,
others looking like gawky teenagers.
We could tell we were getting near the end as this is the 1st bridge on the canal.
And finally the crooked spire of the church in Chesterfield. I heard once that it will straighten back up when a virgin gets married in it!
It was a fab little walk. We started with coffee and cake at Nona's, stopped off for a swift half of lager at The Mill at Brimmington, and had an ice cream from the visitor centre at Tapton Lock!!!

Day trip to York

Not quite on the doorstep, but only a quick 40 minute drive away is the gorgeous city of York. It was hubby's suggestion for a day trip, so off we went.

Our morning started with breakfast in Betty's - a bit expensive, but now that there are only 2 of us on our days out, it actually feels affordable!!!

York is a beautiful old city - full of fabulous shops, cobbled streets, and amazing buildings. The Shambles is its most famous cobbled old street.

It was difficult to get a good photo of it as the sky was very grey and cloudy, although it was nice and warm. A lot of my photos came out fairly dark.
We had a lovely wander around the streets. Come and have a wander with me.



York has some really well preserved buildings from as far back as the Roman times.




I'll show you more of York later in the week.