Tullie House Museum

The children and I spent a wonderful day in Carlisle last Saturday. We decided to give the castle a miss as it was not the weather for an open air adventure! Instead, we visited the wonderful Tullie House Museum. The children had so much fun! There was so much interactive involvement that they would have happily stayed another hour on top of the two we had already spent.

The small garden is beautiful and if the weather had been milder, would have been an ideal place to sit with a cup of tea and a cake.....maybe we will go back in the summer just to try.... The actual house part of the museum had the most incredible tiled staircase. It really is very beautiful and is a testimony to the wonderfully creative Victorians at Ironbridge, Shropshire.

The museum also houses a small collection of William Morris samples. The colours and designs are so beautiful, I found myself wondering about the new curtains I need for the downstairs room.....

A new month....

February has arrived with its promise of spring. The temperature is a little milder of late and there are lots of patches of blue in the sky.....the wind, however, is threatening to tell another story. Still, I've managed to spend time in the garden today, having a general tidy up and planting some bulbs that I had forgotten that I'd bought. They had started sprouting in the net they were in so I think they will be ok. I always feel so much happier when I've managed to spend time in the garden....is this the onset of middle age in the year I turn 40?

Actually, today has been quite a productive day so far. I've managed to bake some bread, and spurned on by the success of making some delicious seville orange marmalade, I made a fresh batch of lemon & lime marmalade. First tasting session tomorrow morning.....

I went to Birmingham a couple of weekend ago which felt like rather a strange experience. Despite originally being a city girl born and bred, I felt quite out of my depth......Soooo many people!  I stayed at the Jury's Inn which looked a bit like a concrete monster on the outside but actually was really rather nice inside.

To be fair, I did take this photo around 7am in the morning so it was only just starting to get light. It does make the hotel look rather foreboding though....

Happy Birthday Blog!

It dawned on me today that my blogging efforts are now one year old. I started after last new year when we had made the decision to move. A lot has happened in the last 12 months!

Mark and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary last week and marked the day by taking the children to visit the beautiful little village of Wetheral, about 4 miles east of Carlisle.

There is a beautiful church with a very poignant memorial to the first woman soldier to be killed in Aghanistan

A charming village green surrounded by Victorian villas

and a lovely railway viaduct with incredible views of the surrounding area

Just to make the day extra special, my lovely Marky had secretly arranged a babysitter and took me out for dinner at the excellent Cumberland Arms Hotel in Alston.

Christmas Preparations

Well, the children have their final day at school today and went off feeling very excited about the day of fun and festivities planned at school for them. They have all settled in so well and made friends. One of the things they like to do at school is cookery. They all recently made chocolate Yule logs - quite delicious they were too!

Daisy with her delicious chocolate cake.

I have a few things planned for them next week. There are still paper chains to make, table decorations to be made and some edible presents to be cooked. I thought I would have a go at making some of the River Cottage candied orange peel. Looks yummy! I made some stollen yesterday and wondered why I only ever make it at Christmas as it is so delicious. I think the reason may be that I would eat it all and get tremendously fat!!! Will get the little ones to make some more with me as it is delicious toasted for breakfast. Hopefully we will also have a bit more snow!

The house renovations are picking up speed. Daisy's room is almost done. We just need to decorate and add new curtains. She has a new floor, one that she won't fall through, as well as new sockets and lights. One of the things with old houses is the lack of sockets. There was just one before we rewired her room and we still have one room that doesn't have any! The downstairs room is having a new floor put in as I type. This will make a huge difference as it was the worst one in the house, tilting both away and to the side. Very interesting to walk on! Fingers crossed, the room may even be finished before Christmas..... I have been assured that my wonderful stone fire will be returned, fully repaired, some time today....am waiting patiently.

The White Stuff

I have just been reminded by the lovely Ruth that I haven't posted up any snowy pictures....so here goes..

The River South Tyne

View of the back of house (with the arch window) from Tyne Willows

The signal box at Alston railway station

These were taken yesterday, we have had at least another 4 inches since then and it is still snowing....The children have been very happy - an impromptu day off school and a town full of snow! Lots of fun to be had and snowmen to be built.

Hoping that the builders will be back on Wednesday to do the floor in Daisy's room and make a start on the downstairs room. Perhaps we might start making some progress. I was hoping to have the downstairs room finished for Christmas but now I'm not sure that we will be able to complete it in time. My sister in law says she wants to sleep in the kitchen next to the Aga anyway so perhaps I shouldn't worry about having it finished!

Neglected Blog and Other Things That Need Attention.

Its been a while since I posted and to be honest, the list of things that I mean to do each days just gets longer.... I have given myself a break from endless lists now and just plan to do one 'job' per day. Seems to be working so from now on its little and often. Staring my seventh week battling a cough I picked up whilst at a SAMM retreat in September...... but I am much more positive since I went so I guess its a trade off.

We finally have a cooker......It is so lovely and warm and makes the house feel like a home.....It also means that I no longer need to drive to Leadgate to use the cooker at the wonderful holiday farmhouse, High Aimshaugh (Fabulous holiday accommodation - perfect for families). Latterly I have been lucky enough to be able to use the one next door at the beautiful Robson's Cottage (Amazing little cottage -perfect for couples). Its nice to finally have ours though.

Fire Places and Racing Dogs

So here it is....

The top half has been filled in with stone and has since been removed. Can't believe anyone would just cover this up! The fire is approx early 18th century and the oak surround is a while later. It turned out that our next door neighbour has one almost identical that was dated by some official body a few years back.

I have already started stripping the surround down to the bare wood and it is looking beautiful The wood is such a rich colour. The plan is to clear the fire out and make it safe. We then need to repair the stone chimney breast and seal it. Once thats done, we can refit the surround. I'm so pleased that we found this and can't wait to see what it looks like when the work is complete!

Meanwhile......Saturday was the Alston Show. We ventured down to the field with the children and had a lovely time. The terrier racing was a delight to see and I have to admit that I didn't realise that there were so many different types of sheep!