Out with the old, in with the New Year...

It is traditional in Yorkshire to first foot. The first footer, the bringer of luck, has to be tall, dark and handsome (okay handsome is not a preference but hell it's my thresh hold, so I can afford to be choosy) and carry with him a lump of coal, a pinch of salt, a piece of bread and a sprig of greenery.

Coal - not easy when you don't have a coal fire and all the pits have been shut down. Hoping a piece of charcoal from the barbie will suffice.
Salt - I am being extravangant, it's rock salt!
Bread - Nice chunk of granary, slightly grubby due to charcoal fingerprints!
Greenery - Luckily most of the snow has melted so a sprig of rosemary will suffice... hopefully that hasn't any bad luck connotations!! Should I edge my bets and check?

In other places, first footers also bring money (nay chance, I'm skint ) or a bottle of whisky (oops too late, will Baileys do?).. but as with all customs and traditions over time they evolve...

So all I need now is a sober Yorkshire tyke whose eyebrows don't meet in the middle carrying a bag full of trundlements on the hour of midnight....... erm not holding my breath for this one!

Raises glass (Cath Kidston cowboy mug to be precise with lukewarm coffee) to the coming year, hope it's a happy one filled with love, joy, achievements and wealth.

Project Shed

At the bottom of every garden should be a shed of some description whether it be a hut, a lean to, a workshop, a snug, a potting shed or home office, every garden needs to be lavished with the love of a shed.

Shed Heaven - in the snow December 2009 - Oh you do look festive!

I painted my shed two summers ago and gave it back a lease of life, it had sadly been neglected by it’s previous owners and having abandoned my former shed with the beautiful stained glass window; my dad made to my specifications. I’ve downgraded to bog standard shed. Still, we must move with the times and habour no regrets about selling the former shed along with the house, it clinched the deal.



Project Shed will see the development of the interior of the shed. Unfortunately getting inside the shed is a bit of an assault course at the moment, but I plan to renovate, paint, reorganise and revitalise my shed. Amazingly the tidy-up fairy folk never venture in here!

Dream “sheds” I have salivated over on the t’interweb:

A Hobbit Hole, courtesy of High Life Treehouses, the round door is so inviting.


Again from High Life Treehouses, the Cedar Spire, oh Rapunzel let down your hair!

A Shepherds hut, in a parallel life, there was one on our land, it had fallen into disrepair and its wooden boarding became the door on the scullery. If I knew then, what I knew now... This delightful sage green sheperds hut is from a collection by Plankbridge.

A couple of sheds from recent trundles:

The I Love West Leeds Festival knitted shed covered in knitted squares and now residing at Armley Mills Industrial Museum. A community piece created by knitters aged between 5 and 95 years.

This gothic masterpiece was found hiding in a garden in Great Ouseburn during the Open Gardens in May 2009.

Christmas Adventure

Image courtesty of Emily Bearn "Tumtum and Nutmeg's Christmas Adventure"

What, with the excitement (!! no really…) of Christmas and the impact of the festive panic, I forgot to post about my journey to Stockeld Park. The family of intrepid explorers set out on the winter solstice with heavy snowfall and temperatures reaching minus five. Added to which the experience of my mother competing in the British Bobsleigh time trials as we glided around corners and the gravitational pull steered us towards Wetherby was one that will be filed in my memory bank forever.

Unfortunately the dry ski slope was closed due health and safety. Apparently you can’t Nordic ski on snow, it’s slippery and dangerous. I bet Eddie the Eagle was never warned about this! So the natives were slightly frosty to the ticket office pixies.

Which way now... No idea!! [the old ones are the best]

There was no red tape blocking our way on the Enchanted Woodland Walk though… step this way for a magical experience…through theatre, myth and mystery…

Back within the confines of retail therapy and the froth of hot chocolate I can understand why the 2000 acre estate has diversified into creating a winter wonderland. Three months of the year, you can keep the wolves from your door by exploiting the beliefs of children, pull on the purse strings of parents trying to recapture the magic, grandparents eager to please their grandchildren in an outdoor activity, anything to keep their wandering hands off the antique glass baubles. Oh yes, Stockeld Park has tastefully marketed Christmas without losing the charm of it’s it rural idyll.

The delightful home of the bad tempered Figgy Pudding!

A mince pie on the Castle Top.

Come on a journey through snow and slush...

Knaresborough's most photographed view, the snow paparazzi were out in force at midday, capturing a moment in time, whilst I stumbled about with my 'fuzzy wuzzy digicam' trying to stuff a warm mince pie into my mouth and not get crumbs on the lense!!

View of the viaduct spanning the River Nidd with Marigolds Boating Cafe in the foreground and St. John's Church in the background. The viaduct is 90ft high and 338ft long, not that I've ever measured it! Built in 1851 to carry the new fangled railroad... it'll never take off...

Castle Mills and weir owned in 1847 by Walton and Company. Spinning yarn and power-loom weavers producing high quality linen used in the Royal Household. Now converted to luxury apartments with glorious views across to the Petrifying Well and Mother Shipton's Cave.

Despite numerous rumours, we do have electric street lighting in North Yorkshire!

The surviving Sallyport which has a direct underground route to the moat and used a bolt hole by the foot soldiers back in the day.

Knaresborough was a Royalist stronghold and taken by Cromwell's soldiers after a short seige on 20th December 1644. Unfortunately in 1648 was victim to an Act of Parliament ordering the demolition of Royalist castles.

Newest resident of Knaresborough Castle! Isn't he adorable!

The Kings Tower on the Castle Top with magnificient views across the Nidd Gorge and here my journey ends. Mince pies supplied by Thomas the Baker's Bakery establishment and historic facts from the late Dr. Arnold Kellett, my old french teacher, author, historian and local preecher. See Sir,I did listen in class, not when you were waffling on in français but when the passion filled your boots and you told us about our town.

Wishing my ardent followers (both of you!!) a merry christmas and safe passage through to the other side... tha knows 2010...

The Christmas Wrap!

Red Ridings guide to gift wrapping:

Presents almost bought!
Waiting for Fed Ex to bring me a miracle, preferably box shaped and ready wrapped.
Gifts, check!
Wrapping paper, check!
Gift tags, check!
Glittery and sparkliness in the shape of bows, check!
Scissors, check!
Sellotape? Come in sellotape...
Sellotape... nowhere to be found!
Do you think I could get away with masking tape, insulating tape or gaffa tape?
Grrrr - one day I will be organised!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Fed up of hearing about Christmas...

But yeahhhh gifted with the snow overnight!! Something different for people to moan about.

It made a refreshing change and I love it!

Return to Sender...

In 1843 when Sir Henry Cole sent the first Christmas card, did he really know the manic frenzy he would create in my household? Well the task is done... and they are on their way!!

What ever happened to the penny post?

Ripley Post Office, Hotel De Ville, Ripley Village, North Yorkshire