Road trip to Derbyshire

Half term is properly under way for me at last!!  Hooray!!!!

So my bestest friend Sue my darling daughter and I have had a lovely day out in Derbyshire.

So many lovely flowers and blossom everywhere. ..

 

 

the May (Hawthorn) blossom was at it's very best...

 



Adorable animals...

Bakewell was quite busy...

 



Lots of padlocks on the bridge, this seems to be such a growing trend...

It drives my husband absolutely mad, he can moan about this trend for ages...

Love this shop selling hand made baskets of all types...

Reminds me of Domestic Science lessons, when we would carry our ingredients to school in baskets like the one below, covered by a freshly laundered tea towel...

Old police station complete with blue lamp...

We trawled the charity shops, which are usually very good indeed, but only managed to get a few bits and pieces as I think they had been pretty much picked over during the bank holiday weekend.  By this time we really needed coffee and lunch so went to our favourite café.  I love the pattern on my latte - wonder how they do that?

 

The café is within a Thornton's chocolate shop, so they give you a chocolate smile...

 

 

 

Sue was the driver so on the way home I managed to snap a few more photos en route.  The Peacock Hotel in Rowsley, dates back to Elizabethan times...

Big old Victorian Mill in Belper...

Matlock Bath, with the Horsechestnut blossom at it's best...

Tunnel of trees between Matlock Bath and Whatstandswell...

 

A wonderful day out with a lovely friend and DD, just what was needed after what has been a very hectic few weeks. 

 

Helenxx









Just pottering about....

Yesterday we went off on a little jolly to Bakewell - its not far from us (about an hour or so) and its always such fun to have a wander around the shops and stop for a bite to eat in a favourite cafe of ours,
The Coffee Shop - the following two pics are from their website

 Its a delightful little cafe, with a gift shop and Thortons shop attached, there is also a garden outside you can sit in if the weather is nice.  We had a delicious panini and the most scrummy hot chocolate ever, although we didnt have the marshmallows as we dont like them:

I had to use the pics from their website as I had DH with me, and although he is getting fairly used to me photographing everything in sight, he is still not at that place where taking photos of cafes and drinks is in his comfort zone - bless him!  Mind you, musnt grumble as a) he was paying, and b) he is taking the bait/making interested noises about a proposed new hobby of mine - more to follow if/when he finally agrees to it - I think he will as he really likes the idea as well and will be able to join in!  Although it might all get a bit competitive...watch this space!

Then we went off to watch the local entertainment: the ducks and birds on the river - it is hilarious watching the ducks fighting with the seagulls for the bread thrown to them by the children walking along - I didnt manage to photograph some of the funny moments we saw as I didnt have the "big" camera with me, just my smartphone. 

After all, we had set out only expecting to go to IKEA - yes DH had agreed to a shopping trip for me to buy my favourite scented candles. Then we decided to have one of those calzone things from the cafe but they had sold out! So we went to Pizza Express only to be told that there would be a long wait. So DH said, "lets go to Bakewell, to our favourite cafe" - well, what can a girl say to an offer like that??!!

All in all a lovely afternoon out.  Well, must dash as I have a birthday boy in the house - my eldest is 20 today - where oh where have those years gone?  He has elected to go to Pizza Hut for lunch, and then we are having a BBQ for him tonight, again at his request.  His sister baked a scrummy chocolate cake for him last night, which later on (when she gets back from school) is going to be slathered with chocolate ganache and encrusted with maltesers and minstrels.  Yum yum yum!

Have a fab Friday

Helenxx

And....relax!!

Hi everyone!

Well, I  have managed to get some time off from work - yay!!!!  I have been soooooo tired lately, what with a hectic schedule and some illness so it is lovely to kick back and spend time with my family.

It has been a busy time nevertheless - No. 1 son did fantastically well with his results and has got his first choice of uni, no. 2 son did fantastically well in his first year at college, no.3 son did fantastically well with his gcse's so gets to do his choice of A levels, and one and only daughter did fantastically well in year 9 and gets to do her choice of gcse's!!  Phew!!!  So all in all they are moving forward in the direction they want to go in, which, as a parent, is just such a massive relief!!!!  Im very thankful that they have all achieved such good results, and am a very proud Mum!

For those of you who saw my last post you will know that I had a brief visit to London last weekend.  Since then I have been busy enjoying myself - we had friends to stay with us for  few days, which was lovely.  We ended up on the final day visiting Manchester where my friend's daughter will be starting uni.  So we had a good snoop around, checked where her halls are (these passed the mum and friend scrutiny lol) and then went to our favourite Middle Eastern eatery, yum yum.

Then on Thursday I went with DH and DD for a tootle round the Peak District, ending up at Matlock Bath

It was lovely to visit on a weekday as it gets seriously crowded at weekends, especially with thousands of motorcyclists!  Which is all good, but trying to find a parking space is a nightmare.  I love the reflections in the first picture.

From Sept through the end of October the village holds the Illuminations and Venetian Nights festival.  The technical people were just finishing putting up the lights - here is a dragonfly darting above the river

These look great when lit up at night as they reflect in the fast moving water of the river below.

This was taken before 5pm, it was quite a dull day.

We came across some highly entertaining feathered friends

They set off honking like mad to the other side of the river - they thought they had spotted someone with food....

Hoping to return very soon to have a go on one of these:

Well, the sun is shining, so off to hang out some washing....have a great day, whatever it is you get up to!!

Helenxx