Lest we forget

Today we will be remembering all those brave souls who gave their lives so that we can live in freedom.

Cenotaph in Barkers Pool - Sheffield

Weston Park

On a very grey day last Sunday, I took the invalid to look around Weston Park Museum in Sheffield.  He still couldn't stand being out in the cold much, so we had a good look around inside (but sadly we were not allowed to take photographs).

 There is a bit of everything in the museum.  Some Sheffield life (which I really love) including a great feature on Park Hill flats when they were first built and a wonderful section on the Attercliffe area of the city - when it was in its heyday.  It also has a great wildlife section and the special feature at the moment is about fairy stories.  We passed a good few hours.

 We decided to walk the long way back to the car (which wasn't very far), through the park itself.  The gorgeous bandstand is used to get married in these days - a great idea.

 We were interested in the tall monument.  Heed the warning about what happens when you move from Yorkshire to London!

 The stonework is so intricate and very beautiful.

 It would photograph better against a blue sky !!

 Not many of the flower beds remain now as they have all been dug over for winter, but this one still looks really pretty.

Grey Sundays are perfect for museum visits.

Twinkly Leeds

Before we went to our food tasting extravaganza, the DQ and I had a little look around Leeds.  As a Sheffielder, I am not supposed to say I like Leeds, and there are some aspects of it that I really don't like, but it does have the edge over Sheffield when it comes to shops.

 There are lots of very lovely little old arcades dotted about.

 And the Victoria Quarter is very very lovely.  It has gorgeous lanes to wander around in.

This arcade is already twinkling in its Christmas finery.

 Many of the shops are only for window shopping though!!!

 And then of course, there is Harvey Nichols!  This is as close as I was allowed to get to it though!!

An Invitation

Last week, I received a special invitation to join other bloggers and tweeters for a "blind"  tasting evening for the new menu at The Living Room - in Leeds.  The Living Room is a small chain of bars and restaurants, and I have to admit that I had never visited any of these before.  I took along my daughter and we had a great evening!

 We were seated in the Private Dining area with our dining companions and we were given a bit of a quiz to see if we could spot flavours and ingredients in each dish that we tasted - whilst blind folded.  We tasted starters, fish dishes, meat dishes, vegetarian dishes, desserts, and cocktails!!! The blind tasting was a great idea as it focused your senses on taste (and perhaps textures).  What I found interesting was that the Dancing Queen didn't dislike anything, although there were a few ingredients in there that she doesn't normally like.  We truly liked everything that we tasted - my favourite being the Sea Bass.

 It was great to meet other bloggers too - Neil's blog is mainly about which food goes with which beer - an interesting blog that I shall be following as hubby and I love a drop of real ale.

We had a fun evening and we were both  impressed with the quality of the food  and drink, and also the extremely  friendly staff.

The Street Food Chef - Sheffield

Sheffield does not have many "celebrity chef" style eating places.  What is does have is plenty of very reasonably priced cafes serving fabulous, and exceptionally tasty food.  We have eaten at the Street Food Chef before at one of the  many outdoor events that Sheffield hosts, so we thought that we would try their new home in Arundel Street.

 The decor is very simple and I love the Mexican hats for lamp shades!  The wall of shame/fame is for their belly busting Burritos!!

 The food is amazing.  This is what fast food should be.  The salsa is freshly made and has a fantastic zing with the lime juice and coriander.  I could eat these Nacho's every day.  I added an extra portion of Guacamole which was also freshly made - absolutely to die for!

 Hubby chose the Beef Quesadilla and I chose the slow cooked Pork one.  They use locally farmed  meat and it shows.  We both went for "medium hot" and it was hot enough!  My nose went runny and my lips were on fire, so just right!   I don't think I have ever eaten anything quite so tasty.

I know where our newest favourite place to eat in Sheffield is !  I cannot recommend it highly enough. (and it won't break the bank either).

Sunny City Walk

I took hubby into Sheffield today as he has been going stir crazy indoors - he is a very impatient patient!  We had a visit to the Graves Art Gallery to see the Warhol exhibition - it was very thought provoking and really interesting.

 I also wanted to see the Damien Hirst piece loaned by Jarvis Cocker to his home city.  The piece is entitled Beautiful Morana Dysgeusia Painting for Jarvis (with Diamonds).  I wasn't allowed to photograph it, but if you click on the link you can see it.  It is very beautiful in real life.

 We took a small wander around the city centre before heading for lunch.

 On the hour, the cutlery grinders come out and sharpen their knives in the middle of Orchard Square.

 It was a beautiful afternoon for a wander around.  I thought the light looked lovely on the city hall.

 I nipped in to take a photograph of the ceiling in the foyer for you too.

 These old buildings still stand slap bang in the shopping district.  They are earmarked to be demolished when the brand new shopping centre finally gets built (if it ever does!)  This building used to house "finishers" for the cutlery industry - I hope that they save the sign over the door.

 Some of the older buildings in the "Silversmiths" district of the city have been restored and some reused.  I know that this company still exists, but I don't know of they still use this building.

 The floral borders and roundabouts have just about finished blooming now.  They have been lovely thoughout the year.

 I love a walk around the city centre.  But the invalid was soon tired today, so we made our way for a sit down and something to eat.  I'll show you where we went later.

Romance

Two lovely friends from basketball have got engaged.  They are the official photographers for the Sheffield Sharks team, and so it was very fitting that Rob used photography to pop the question to Catherine.
They were at Brodsworth Gardens (which at this time of year lights up of an evening - soooooo romantic) and he used some slow fangled photography technique whilst she held the camera.

You'll be delighted to know that she said YES!   I love a big dollop of romance.  Well done both of you and especially Rob for being so dammed romantic and a total genius!