Golden Wedding Hamper

Back in January, I did a post about a hamper which I was putting together as a present for Mick's auntie and uncle for their Golden Wedding Anniversary. I wanted all the items in the hamper to have the word gold or golden in their title. I covered a cardboard box with gold paper and covered the whole thing in cellophane once it had been assembled.

The anniversary in question was last week, but the happy couple were on a Carribean cruise celebrating, so we gave them the hamper on their return yesterday.

So, what's in the box? We have:-

• GOLD Label Tea


• GOLD Coffee


• Lyle's GOLDEN Syrup Cake


• Thatchers GOLD Somerset Cider


• Dole Tropical GOLD Pineapple Slices


• Premier GOLD Mango Slices


• Starbucks GOLD Coins


• Pek GOLD Pork


• McDougalls Whole GOLD Premium Flour


• Haribo GOLD Bears


• GOLDEN Wonder Crisps


• Terry's All GOLD Chocolates


• Badger GOLDEN Champion Ale


• GOLDEN Nuggets


• GOLD Biscuits x 2


• GOLDEN Vegetable Savoury Rice


• Fox's GOLDEN Crunch Creams


• Micro Oats GOLDEN Syrup


• GOLDEN Shredless Marmalade


• Lyle's GOLDEN Syrup


• Oba GOLD Macaroni


• Milk Chocolate GOLD Coins


• GOLD Baking Cases


• Tagetes GOLDEN Gem


• Courgette GOLD Rush

Phew, I don't know how I managed to pack it all in the box, some things got pushed underneath or behind others, and it was very heavy.

They were over the moon with the present and I'm sure they were pleased that it was something which we'd obviously put a lot of thought in to. It's been quite fun looking out for things with gold in the title whilst I've been doing my shopping, I'm thinking of the next event I can do something similar for now.

As an aside, I've had so many problems getting this post to publish without bunching all the paragraphs in to one. I've never had any problems like this before, and I don't know until I publish the post whether it will be set out correctly or not, so if not, I apologise.

Eleanor's Busy Weekend

If you read my last post you will know that Eleanor took part in a local music festival on Friday. They say that everything comes at once, and it certainly has this weekend as last night Eleanor took part in a concert with her drama group.

The whole company took part, the younger children singing songs from Jungle Book and the older ones singing songs from Glee. Eleanor is 12, about middle of the age range, so she sang songs from both.

For Jungle Book she sang with the other children, but for Glee she did a solo of Christina Aguilera's Beautiful as well as singing the verses of the final song, Heal The World, solo.

It was a wonderful concert, held in the local church, and there was such a wide range of songs which was nice.

I'm so proud of Eleanor having the confidence to do something which I wouldn't dare do today, never mind when I was 12. She absolutely loves to sing and it really is wonderful that she gets the opportunity to do so at such fantastic events.

Music Festival

This afternoon, Eleanor took part in a local music festival. Last year she came first in the under 11 solo class, however, as she is now 12 she had to choose a different class to compete in.

She decided to enter the Girls' and Boys' Solo - 14 years and under in which she sang The Owls by Peter Jenkyns, and the Junior Show class - 18 years and under in which she sang In My Own Little Corner by Rodgers and Hammerstein.

The other competitors were aged towards the top end of the scale, so she did really well to come third in the Girls' and Boys' Solo and second in the Junior Show class.

The music festival runs over three days and includes a full programme of competitive classes from singing, through to piano, strings, brass and woodwind.

Fingers crossed for a trophy next year.

Lotherton Hall And Doggy Ghosts

Lotherton Hall is an Edwardian country house which once belonged to the Gascoigne family. We're about ten minutes away by car so it's right on our doorstep and a lovely place to while away a couple of hours, which is what we did on Saturday.

The Gascoignes purchased the estate in 1825 and built the eastern extension in 1896. In 1903 the Georgian wing was demolished and a new western extension was built. In 1968, the Lotherton Estate was gifted to the people of Leeds.

There was once a medieval village on the site of Lotherton. A chapel was built in the twelth century which is still there today, and a Sunday service is held there once a month.
The formal gardens surround the house on three sides and were created by Mrs. Laura Gwendolen Gascoigne. She divided the gardens in to several parts, each with it's own character. Here you will find this lovely little summerhouse, isn't it cute?
In the formal gardens there is a statue of Sho-Haku, the Pilgrim Priest. The plaque tells of how he travelled from town to town reading the Scriptures. He was also known as the Peony Priest because of his love for the cultivation of Peony flowers.

In the 1970s, a deer park was created. You can often see the red deer and on Saturday we were lucky. When we walked by later in the day they had gone.

There's also a bird garden with many rare species, though we couldn't go in on Saturday as we had Archie with us. It is the home to the world's largest land based flying bird, the Andean Condor, as well as owls, parrots and flamingoes to name just a few.
In the formal gardens we came across a pet cemetery. There are nine gravestones, and a tenth by a nearby tree, to commemorate dogs which belonged to Sir Alvary and Lady Gascoigne, the last private owners of Lotherton Hall. Lady Gascoigne was a passionate dog lover and took her dogs with her when she travelled the world with Sir Alvary when he went away on business. Some of the dogs came from the countries where Sir Alvary and Lady Gascoigne lived.

Michael was a black Standard Poodle and was born in Moscow. He is said to haunt Lotherton Hall and the scratch marks made on a door on the landing are said to have been made by his claws.

There are walks of various distances around the grounds including the Captain Wood Walk, which is suitable for prams and pushchairs, and the Boundary Trail, which has views of the countryside. The latter is the walk which we took on Saturday and Archie loved it. On our walk we came across a modern stone circle which has been created by The Countryside Rangers. It is called Geometry in the Landscape, and the stones follow sacred mathematical formulae.

Car parking is £3.70, however, you can buy an annual ticket for £15 which we have decided to do. We'll definitely get our moneys worth as it's close enough to pop Archie in the car and take him for a walk on an evening once the clocks go forward, and it's a lovely place for a picnic on a weekend too.

There's a great playground for kids, our's used to love it. Daniel's much too old for playgrounds now, but Eleanor will still have a go when no one's looking, as will I.

Back To My Knitting

I was only saying last week that I haven't been ill since leaving work last March. There always seemed to be something going round the office and I always seemed to catch it, so it's been nice to feel healthy for a change. I think I spoke too soon though as I've had a stomach bug for the last couple of days which really knocked me off my feet. I thought I was coming down with flu at first as I was aching from head to toe but then the stomach pains started. I'm feeling much better today, though still a little weak from not eating.

I was feeling so off colour that I haven't even picked my knitting up since the weekend, though I managed to finish my socks before I took to my sick bed.

I don't particularly like this colour when knitted up. I don't mind pink but I think these are just a little too pink for my liking. In between knitting these socks I have been knitting some other things which I can't show on my blog as they are for Christmas presents, I know, I've started early but I have to if I want to get everything I've got planned finished in time for Christmas.

I've started another pair of socks, these are for my dad for Christmas. I love the colour of these, my dad wears a lot of brown so they will be perfect. I'm using Regia World Circus Color for the first time and it's lovely and soft. I can definitely see me using it again.

I think I'll get back to my knitting tonight now I'm feeling better.

Old Films

First of all I'd like to thank everyone for all the lovely messages on my last post, they really cheered me up at a sad time. Alzheimer's is such a cruel disease and at least we know that my uncle isn't suffering anymore.

Today I dug out a DVD which I got for Christmas 2009 and which got put in the cupboard without being watched. I love old films so I don't know why it's taken me so long to dig it back out.

There are four James Stewart films in this collection, Harvey, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Rear Window and It's A Wonderful Life. The only one I've seen before is It's A Wonderful Life, which is one of my favourite Christmas films, so I'm looking forward to sitting down with my knitting and watching the other three.

A Little Pick Me Up

These daffodils are doing their very best to cheer me up after I received the very sad news yesterday that my uncle has passed away. He's suffered from Alzheimer's for quite a few years, such a terrible disease.

After School Cuddles

Archie can't wait for Eleanor to get in from school so that he can have some cuddles. He likes nothing better than human company.....

.....but his toy giraffe comes a close second.

Haworth

As last week was half term and Daniel and Eleanor were off school, Mick decided to take yesterday off work so we could all spend the day together. The day dawned bright so we decided to drive over to Haworth, home of the famous Bronte Sisters.

Here you are able to take a tour around the Bronte Parsonage Museum, but we gave that a miss as we had Archie with us.

One of the things I love about Haworth is Main Street which is lined with lots of interesting little shops.

There's some beautiful scenery from the top of Main Street.

My favourite shop of all is Rose & Co Apothecary. It looks just as it would have done in Victorian times and sells wonderful bath and beauty products as well as having an annex which sells old fashioned sweets.

Eleanor loved Oh La La, a shop selling vintage clothes and other treasures.

Another of my favourites is Daisy Days, a florist which also has a huge range of gorgeous gifts, including Cath Kidston.

I loved the colourful display of springy animals in the window of Oates & Wiles, a shop selling all manner of gifts including jewellery and glassware.

After a good couple of hours exploring the shops, we travelled about five minutes by car to Coldspring Mill, which as well as selling outdoor clothes and equipment, sells knitting yarn at discount prices. They sell Debbie Bliss, Louisa Harding and Mirasol amongst others.

I was under pressure to make a purchase quickly as I had left the family in the car, and eventually decided on five 50g balls of Debbie Bliss Rialto Aran. It was marked as £22.50 RRP, however, having looked online, it seems that most retailers sell each 50g ball for nearly £5.00, which makes my purchase, which cost £11.25, an absolute bargain.

I don't know what I'll knit with it yet, but I'm sure the perfect project will become apparent in time.

On our way home we came across Keelham Farm Shop, and we soon realised why the car park was packed. The fruit and veg looked lovely and fresh, was competitively priced, and where possible was locally produced. There was a large meat section and we decided on a nice piece of beef for our Sunday dinner, along with some locally laid free range eggs and some fruit and veg.

I do like to support local businesses as well as buying locally produced food but it's sometimes hard to find a good farm shop near by. It's a shame that Keelham Farm Shop is so far away as I would definitely use it every week, though I shall go back from time to time.

Dog Walking For Charity

I don't usually post three times in three days, but we've had such a lot going on this weekend.

Today we were up bright and early to take part in a sponsored dog walk in aid of St. Gemma's Hospice, which is situated in Moortown in Leeds. It's the largest hospice in West Yorkshire and the fourth largest in England. The estimated running costs of the hospice for 2010/2011 is £8 million and the majority of this needs to be raised through donations, fundraising, legacies and through the chain of charity shops. The £68.50 which we've raised so far through sponsorship seems very little, but of course, every penny really does count.

When I saw the snow which fell quite heavily yesterday morning, I wondered if we would be taking part today at all, but luckily it melted very quickly and had turned to slush by yesterday evening. This morning there wasn't a trace of snow left near us.

Registration was at 9am, then off we set for our three mile walk around the border of Golden Acre Park.

There weren't as many people there as I'd expected, however, there were many just turning up as we finished the walk so I expect it will have been a success.

As we passed an open field, we let Archie off his lead to have a run. There was lots of mud and Archie was soon covered in it.

Although the snow had gone where we live, there was still quite a bit of it around in the park.

The daffodils are ready to bloom, yet here they are amongst the snow. The snowdrops were resolutely closed. I'm sure they'll open up once they see a bit of sunshine.

At the end of the walk we got some vouchers for some hot drinks. The hot chocolate was delicious and very welcome.

There was no way I was going to let this filthy dog near my carpets, so it was straight in the bath for him.

We got a certificate for taking part and Archie got a goody bag containing lots of treats.

Now we just have to collect all the sponsor money in.

Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen

Where have the last sixteen years gone? It seems like it was only yesterday that I was giving birth to my gorgeous boy, yet today he turns sixteen.

What a cutie.

A little poser.

Showing off his swimming medals.

First day at school. Now he's choosing A levels.

Brotherly love.

It's been an absolute privilege to be his mum and watch him grow over the last sixteen years in to the loving, caring and thoughtful young man that he is today.

Happy birthday, Daniel.

Happy Wedding Anniversary

Congratulations to my wonderful mum and dad on their 55th wedding anniversary.

Meanwood Valley Urban Farm

It was such a lovely day here yesterday that instead of spending some time getting the allotment in order, which I should have been doing, we decided to visit Meanwood Valley Urban Farm.

Opened in 1980, the farm provides environmental education services to schools and runs holiday playschemes as well as working with 13 - 16 year olds who experience problems in main stream education, and 16 - 18 year olds giving entry to employment. The farm also works with adults with learning disabilities. The public are able to visit every day for a nominal entry fee.

The first animals we came up on were the sheep. The farm has White Faced Woodland Sheep which are also known as Penistone. This is one of the largest of the Hill breeds of sheep and provide tasty meat as well as an excellent wool quality for hill sheep. There are also Southdown sheep which are a woolly-faced breed and are dual purpose providing tasty meat and a high quality wool.

The farm has two donkeys, Pedro and Ned, which have been with them since May 2003. They were making lots of noise yesterday, they obviously wanted more attention than they were getting.

Mick's favourite animals are the Dexter cows. This is a short legged minature breed which is bred for both milk and meat. They're really gentle and will feed from your hands, licking their lips after they have done so.

The pigs were making the most of the sunshine, lazing about in the mud. This is the only animal which Archie was nervous about. He turned on his heels and tried to run when a particularly big pig came trotting towards us.

There's also an indoor area housing rabbits and Guinea pigs as well as some newly-hatched chicks.

Something new in the indoor area is the hedgehog sanctuary. We didn't actually see any of the juvenile hedgehogs as they were sleeping, but it looks like they have a good area to snuffle about in until they're ready to be released in spring.

In an area which is closed off to the public are some bee hives. We noticed the bees collecting nectar from the spring bulbs which had newly opened.

Another area in the farm is given over to allotments which members of the public tend. Most of them have installed raised beds, probably for the best as a lot of them are on a slope.

It's well worth a visit if you're in the area, and just to add that dogs are allowed too, which Archie was pleased about.