Christmas 2010

A white Christmas outside...


.. and a colourful one indoors.

Holiday reading

I've been making the most of my Christmas holidays to do some reading. I've got a pile of library books as well as the books I received as presents.

One of the things I've done to save money is to replace buying of magazines with library books. I've always had a pile of library books on the go - but now I make sure I select some books - such as the two below - which may not provide lots to read, but do provide gorgeous illustrations/and inspiration that I would have looked for in magazines in the past. Two books that fall into this category are -

Homemade by Clodagh McKenna
A recipe for Raspberry Cordial

Table setting inspiration...


Lotte's country kitchen by Lotte Duncan.


An almond and plum cake for pudding for afternoon tea...

An pudding made with autumn berries ...


A spiced winter fruit jelly....that turns into a warming drink ...

Visit to West Yorkshire

I spent last weekend visiting my Sister in West Yorkshire. We were very fortunate, and chose the one mild weekend this month.

We visited Haworth on Friday afternoon. On Saturday we went to Hebden Bridge and walked through the woods at Hardcastle Crags to Gibson Mill, the National Trust's flagship property for sustainability.


Solar and hydro power are used for lighting etc....and a large biomass stove heats the cafe.

Local produce is used in the cafe and we sampled Tomato, and Wensleydale Soup, followed by Flapjack.

In on of the atmospheric outbuildings they also have composting toilets.


After a wintry walk back through the woods, we explored the beautiful gift shops.
Our favourite florists - Willow Garden -

and a new street of shops we hadn't discovered before, including this one, which sold wonderful things for the home.



It was a lovely weekend, very relaxing and inspiring.