A lovely wedding

We were invited to a lovely wedding on Saturday.  Unfortunately on Friday, hubby was struck down with Pleurisy and was too ill to attend.  My mum gallantly stepped in at the last minute and managed to Glam Up superbly for the occasion.  I thought you might like to see a near catastrophe that the Dancing Queen caught on her camera  - watch the photographer on the right hand side!

Going out....

...,. is the new staying in for me.  I seem to have booked myself lots and lots of things to do this month, and whilst when I get home from work, the effort to get ready and go back out again is enormous, once out, I'm a new me!

So that is how I found myself boogying with Rick Astley in a night club in Sheffield on Monday night with a bunch of fabulous ladies, all re living 1985 again.

Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down, never gonna run around and desert you!

Thank you so much Rick, and let me tell you he was the only one in the room that looked the same as they did in 1985!

My Favourite Walk

I make no apology for dragging you along on my favourite walk. I'm sure you will enjoy the scenery.  

We had a later than anticipated start so ended up having lunch first the Lathkill Hotel in Over Haddon - Food delicious as always ..... 

 ... and a great selection of real ale's to start us off on our walk.

 The views from the high points of the walk are stunning, but you do have to walk up and down some very steep dales along the way.

 You get to walk alongside the rivers Lathkill and Bradford (although it is no where near the city of Bradford)

 We noted that this was the fullest we have ever seen the Lathkill.  In summer, this river almost disappears as a lot of it runs underground.

 Most of the walk is on land belonging to the nearby Haddon Estate.  Walking through the farm yard was very interesting - you definitely needed wellies or proper walking boots on.  It was exceptionally muddy.

 We definitely intend to do a bit of Youth Hostelling some time - the one in Youlgreave always looks interesting.  We did notice that several shops in Youlgreave have now closed down and been turned into houses.

 I have shown you this before, but I think its brilliant.  The villagers turned pat of the river Bradford into a swimming pool.  Its a great place in summer, but it is never heated!

 If I lived on the Haddon Estate, this would be my Gin Palace!

 It was a beautiful day for a fabulous walk, and we commented several times on the beautiful bronze colours of the moors as we drove across them.

We are so lucky to have all this open space on our doorstep.

Modern Times

I am slowly sifting through the piles of "treasure" that I rescued from my father in laws house recently.  Hubby really just wanted to throw everything into a skip.  

I have been reading through volumes 1 and 2 of Newnes Home Management books which I think are from the very late 1950's/very early 1960's. 

 The hostess in the early 1960's was praised for being able to throw together a "simple" supper in a hurry.  Garnish, garnish and even more garnish seems to have been the key to this success.

 This spookily looks very much like my mum's kitchen in our family home.  She still has the stool!

 The books cover absolutely every subject possible for every scenario that you might find yourself in.  The section of love and marriage is very interesting to say the least!

 I have to admit that I never considered the danger of immaturity and its perils when considering marrying Mr Heartshaped.

 I have taken advise from the book as times have been stressful of late, and what with my rapidly advancing years!  I am now learning how to relax and vanquish worry the Usain Bolt way - but perching on the edge of my seat.

 And if a woman is only as old as her feet, then I must be about 103!  The are giving me some right grief lately - I think I'm ready for Van Dal shoes!  (although just checked the website and they don't look too bad these days! or am I just slipping a little easier into this older age malarkey!)

 I am also ready for a new pair of glasses,

 And I need a new ironing board.  I remember several pals had mums who's husbands had knocked up a home made ironing board.  My dad was never very handy that way! (infact he was only 19 years old when he married my mum - I think he was suffering from immaturity thinking about it!)

 Ice been giving some though (again!) to re decorating the living room.  Should I go for the "adventurous" look?

 And I can see now why my figure is not as I would wish it to be.  Just be careful not to knock over your vases etc whilst dusting and polishing.

 I have also found the Newnes Automaps and Touring Guide from 1966 which is also fascinating.  There are no motorways in the UK at this time - it looks strange to see Sheffield on a map without the thick blue line of the M1 by the side of it.

Keele and Leek

On Sunday, we went on what I hope will be our last Uni visit for the young man, to Keele University in Staffordshire.  

 It isn't the young mans first choice of uni but it was a lovely little uni, but in the middle of absolutely nowhere.  The atmosphere was great, but I couldn't imagine how students manage here without a car.  He liked the place, but is a little unsure about the course as they offer dual subject degree's which I had never heard of!

 If he ends up here, you might end up with a lodger Rosie!!!

 On our way home, we decided go go back the scenic route via Leek as I have never been there and I have read so many great things about it on so many of your blogs.

 Not much was open by the time we got there, but I loved what I saw and so we will be making a return trip.

 It had so many great little buildings.

 The war memorial is enormous and quite different to any I have seen in the UK before.

 I loved the neat rows of workers cottages in the town centre.

 We were delighted to find ourselves driving through "The Roaches" an area I have read about so many times on both Rosies and Louises Blogs

 The scenery was truly spectacular and we vowed to spend more time around these parts too - a fabulous area that we have never explored.

In answer to Mr D's question, I do get a lot of inspiration for places to visit from blogs, magazines, the internet etc.  I do a lot of research too.  I am constantly amazed at the diversity and beauty of places we find - often right under our noses.

Holkham Beach and Brancaster

On our final day in Norfolk, we decided that we hadn't quite seen enough of the beaches, and so we parked at Lady Anne's walk in Holkham and headed for Holkham beach.

I could,'t resist taking photo's of these very gorgeous moo cows.

The pine wood that you need to walk through smelled lovely.

Holkham Beach is ENORMOUS.  The sea is out there somewhere - honestly.  This beach was used in the final scene for the film "Shakespeare in Love" .

We walked for absolutely miles.  I would love to do this every day.

On our way back we discovered Salts Hole - A saltwater pool that is home to some rare birds and flora.

I made this photo a bit bigger so that you might be able to see one of the flocks of birds flying past.  I loved seeing all the various flocks in this habitat, getting ready to over winter amongst the marshes.

We called back in Burnham Market - which is very nice, but has been somewhat spoiled by rich Londoners moving in in their droves.

I did love the fish shop though and came home with some fabulous potted shrimp and crab pate.

We couldn't resist another stop on the way home so we pulled in at Brancaster, another stunning harbour on the marshes which seemed to be full of pensioners in the know! All parked up in stunning campervans, lunching on fresh crab and mussels  bought at the little hut in the harbour.  I was very envious.

It is very strange taking little breaks away without the kids after 20 years of family holidays, but I have to say we are quickly getting used to them! For one thing, everything seems so much cheaper when we are only paying for two!  And no body whinges when I want to walk a bit further.  And it's nice to return to being just a couple for a little while - something we often forget to be.

North Norfolk was lovely.  A lot of you say that it is on your list of places to visit.  I can't recommend it highly enough - just go. xxxx