Haworth Again

Haworth is a village in Bradford, a tourist destination known for it's association with the Bronte sisters, and somewhere we visit fairly often. I've previously posted about our trips there but as we had a drive out last Saturday, I thought I'd take some more photos and post about it again. Why not, it's such a lovely place.

The Bronte sisters wrote most of their novels whilst living at Haworth Parsonage. The Parsonage is now a museum and houses furniture and clothes once belonging to the Brontes, as well as some of their personal possessions.

Looking from the house, you can see St Michael and All Angels Church where Patrick Bronte was perpetual curate.

There was once a gate at the bottom of the garden which lead to the church.

Between the house and the church is the graveyard, though none of the Brontes lie at rest here. The Bronte family, with the exception of Anne who is buried in St Mary's churchyard in Scarborough, are buried in a crypt beneath the east end of the church.

To the side of the Parsonage is the school room. Charlotte held her wedding reception here in 1854.

All the Brontes, Charlotte, Branwell, Emily and Anne taught in the school.

The stone plaque tells us that the school was built in 1832 and restored in 1966.

I love the little cobbled streets around Haworth.

The Kings Arms is just round the corner from the church and sits at the top of Main Street. It was built in the 17th century and was once the courthouse. Over the years it has even been used by the local undertaker to store bodies in the cellars.

Main Street is steep and cobbled which just adds to the charm of this village. 

There are all manner of independent shops here and you just never know what you might find while you're exploring them. There's gift shops, vintage shops, bookshops, a lovely bakery, cafes, tearooms, a chocolate shop, food shops, galleries and more.

My favourite of all the shops is The Cabinet of Curiosities. This was the old Victorian druggists and apothecary shop and it's been restored to its former glory by its present owners. Here you can buy handmade candles, soap and bath powders, bath bombs and lotions and potions amongst so many other things. At the back of the shop you'll find a whole selection of beautiful books, mostly classics, I don't know how I resisted buying any. They also sell gifts and homewares.

Of course, there's a traditional sweet shop too. Here you can buy loose sweeties from jars just like we used to do when I was little.

I love the signs on the side of this shop and how you look down Main Street with the hills and moorlands in the distance.

There's also cottages on Main Street, some of them are lived in and some are holiday lets. This old fashioned bike was being used as a planter outside one of the cottages, look who's hitching a ride.

I just love these piggies taking it easy on the windowsill inside another cottage.

I always forget that once I've walked down Main Street I've got walk back up again. Believe me, it's steeper than it looks in this photo, but not to worry, the bakery's up there and there's a sausage roll with my name on it!

Our trip to Haworth was a spur of the moment thing, we hadn't planned it and sometimes it's more enjoyable when you just hop in the car and head off. We had a lovely couple of hours, however, we weren't done yet. I'll tell you more in my next post.

This Year's Amaryllis

I've had an amaryllis bought for me for Christmas for quite a number of years now, they're always ones which come from the supermarket, already planted up and waiting to grow. All I have to do is add water and watch the magic happen. In the past they've done so well, usually producing two flower stems, last year I was thoroughly spoilt with three.

I can't say I'm particularly enamoured by this year's offering though. I'm not over keen on the red flower adorned with a white star and a lime-green throat, nor has it produced more than one flower stem. This variety is called Minerva but it isn't a patch (in my opinion) on Queen Of The Night which I had last year which I thought was stunning.

It's still been enjoyable to grow though. It's an inexpensive gift which I get an enormous amount of pleasure from and I shall be putting an amaryllis at the top of this year's Christmas list again.

Little Women

I don't often reread books, there's only a handful which I've read more than once, but as Daniel and Jasmine bought me a beautiful copy of Little Women as part of my Christmas present, there's no way I couldn't read this lovely story again.

"Meg, Jo, Amy and Beth - four 'little women' enduring hardships and enjoying adventures in Civil War New England. The charming story of the March sisters, Little Women has been adored by generations. Readers have rooted for Laurie in his pursuit of Jo's hand, cried over little Beth's death, and dreamed of traveling through Europe with old Aunt March and Amy. Future writers have found inspiration in Jo's devotion to her writing. In this simple, enthralling tale, both parts of which are included here, Louisa May Alcott has created four of American literature's most beloved women."

If I hadn't had this book bought as a gift I doubt I would have read it for a second time, but I'm so glad I did as I enjoyed it so much more this time round than I did last time. I sometimes find that you need to read or watch something more than once to get a true feel for it and this was definitely the case for me with Little Women.

Four totally different personalities, I'm sure we can all identify with one of the March sisters, and this is one of the fun things about this story. From hot-headed Jo to sweet reserved Beth, dutiful Meg and ambitious Amy, the novel was loosely based on the lives of the author and her three sisters from childhood to adulthood. Such an enjoyable novel which I would wholeheartedly recommend.

It's Crocus Season

We've had some bad weather just lately, three named storms within a week, so when Saturday dawned bright and sunny we decided to make the most of it and get outdoors for a walk.

We decided on Temple Newsam as I know they have an abundance of crocuses at this time of year.

I wasn't disappointed, the flowers were putting on quite a display in the sunshine.

Although I've grown crocuses in my own garden in the past, none have come up this year so it's nice to enjoy them in a public garden instead.

Looking up through the trees you can see Little Temple. This is usually quite hidden when the trees are in leaf but the landscape looks quite bare at the moment. Little Temple is a viewpoint which was built in the 1760s and was probably designed by Capability Brown who remodelled the gardens at Temple Newsam between 1765 and 1771 for the 9th Viscount Irwin.

We walked around the lake but it was so muddy. In fact, even pathways at Temple Newsam are muddy just now. There was a Light Trail in the lead up to Christmas and some of the reviews of this festive experience mention how it was so muddy that it spoilt the whole experience, which is a shame.

When we visited during Autumn At Temple Newsam we saw a swan on its own. Swans usually mate for life so they're often seen in pairs but again on Saturday, we saw just one swan. I'm sure it must be the same one. I hope it's not lonely.

There were also ducks and coots on the lake so we stopped to watch them for a while.

We saw some storm damage whilst we were walking in the grounds. A couple of trees were roped off, not because there was danger of them falling but it looked as though branches had been tumbling from them. It seems the beautiful Weeping Willow which has stood by the lake for as long as I can remember has come down. It's sad to see trees which have been part of the landscape being felled during storms.

We always used to put Archie on his lead around water as it was such a temptation to him but he's a good boy now he's older. He had a wander to the edge of the lake but came back when called.

I love the shape of this tree. I'm not very good at identifying trees, I know a few by their leaves but that's about it. I'd love to know what this tree might be.

I was looking for the rhododendron buds which are usually swelling at this time of year. Temple Newsam Rhododendron Walk is a sight to behold in May and June with the plants putting on a wonderful display but it will be interesting to see how they fare this year as many of the shrubs look to have been hacked back and they have fewer buds than I usually see around now. I don't know the route that the Light Trail took at the end of last year but I wonder if it was directed along the Rhododendron Walk and the shrubs were cut back to accommodate the groups of people which would be passing by. It will be interesting to see what impact the severe pruning (hacking to my way of thinking) has when early summer comes around. I shall definitely have a trip there to see for myself.

And although at the start of this post I said that the day was bright and sunny, well, yes it was, but it was blooming windy again and rather cold to say the least while we were walking around Temple Newsam, but it was good to get out for a walk.

M&S Hyacinths

I'll admit, I succumbed to these gorgeous hyacinths because I'd seen so many photos on blogs and Instagram of spring bulbs in these lovely tin pots. I'd read that they'd been designed by Emma Bridgewater, though I'm not sure how true this is as they weren't marketed so, there's nothing on the label to indicate this, but I was drawn to them nevertheless.

I'm a sucker for hyacinths, they've got such a strong scent and I love it, though Mick seems to have an aversion to any flowers with any sort of fragrance. I'd rather have Mother Nature's natural air freshener rather than an artificial one any day.

Isn't this design lovely, bees and polka dots. Of course, the pot can be reused once the hyacinths have finished blooming.

And here they are a week or so later, flowering in all their glory, or nearly so. The second one is yet to open out properly and the third bulb, shown in the first photo at the front of the pot never grew at all, it must be a dud. Never mind, the scent is intoxicating and making the house smell sweet.

There's so many gorgeous flowers about at this time of year.

Daniel's Birthday

It was Daniel's birthday on Saturday. It's been a long time since we celebrated a birthday together but now that he's moved back to Leeds it was nice to spend part of the day with him.

When he was living far away it was a case of posting his gift but I'm able to make a bit more of the day now. I was going to buy him a cake but decided instead to go for brownies, they're his favourite, so I ordered these delicious brownies from a local lady. They looked so special. She did ask if I'd prefer them displayed as a stack on a cake board, it was nice to have a choice but I went for the gift box option.

Daniel was really pleased with them and said they were delicious. They were topped with Mars Bar slices, Rolos, Maltesers, Chocolate Orange, all sorts of things.

It was the day after Storm Eunice had hit and we woke up to a much better day but by lunch time it was pouring down with rain. Heavy snow was forecast and by the middle of the afternoon it was really coming down so we decided to go for a meal earlier than planned just in case the snow made things awkward later.

We ate at a local pub and it was a lovely meal. Jacob was working nights so he was unable to join us as he was in bed catching up on some sleep before his shift, but Eleanor came.

It's still so much of a novelty having Daniel and Jasmine living close by, and it's occasions like these when we're able to spend time together which mean so much.

Archie's New Bed

Archie can be very contrary at times, never more so than when offered a new bed. We've bought him all manner of things to sleep on over the years, and in most cases, wasted our money. He's had memory foam mattresses, donut style beds, beds with sides, he turns his nose up at them all. The only type of dog bed he likes is a cheap fibre-filled mattress. 

He had a new one delivered on Monday and I couldn't get him off it.

I used to buy these beds from a shop near to home but it's now closed down. I've been looking for somewhere else that sells them but couldn't find them anywhere, then I looked online and saw that the Yorkshire Trading Co. have them. We made a trip to Selby but they didn't have them at that store so I ordered online on Saturday at 3.30pm and they were delivered on Monday morning. I couldn't believe how quick it was. I ordered two as he has beds in a couple of rooms.

They're not the best quality but then they only cost £5.99 each. They have zipped covers so they can be taken off to wash. Archie's happy with them as you can see, and at that price I don't mind if they don't last as long as a more expensive bed might.

Archie often sleeps on one of the sofas during the day, especially if we're sitting on them, but he didn't on Monday. The minute I unwrapped the beds his tail was wagging and he immediately settled down to sleep.

They're definitely a hit with Archie, and I can definitely recommend the service I received when placing this order. This isn't a sponsored post, I bought and paid for the beds myself, I just like to give credit where credit's due. Plus, who doesn't like a post dedicated to Archie.

Engaging With Nature

It was so cold on Friday morning, there was a frost and all I wanted to do was hunker down for the day. I had no intention of leaving the house, but it seemed to warm up as the day wore on and in the afternoon we decided to don our coats and venture out to Lotherton for a walk.

I'm always pleased when I make the effort to get outdoors, I may not feel like going for a walk but it does me the world of good, especially when I see nature starting to wake up all around me.

It won't be long before these daffodils are blooming. Although I've filled my vases with cut stems bought from the supermarket, I haven't seen any daffodils flowering outdoors yet.

The snowdrops have been blooming for a while. There's some good clumps at Lotherton but the few I have in my own garden were there when we moved into the house over twenty eight years ago. They've never spread and though I've tried to introduce more to the garden, they've never taken, so I count myself lucky that I have the few that I do.

The trees are starting to bud. It's a little early for although we've had a mild winter so far, I don't think we're done with the cold weather. February is renowned for being a cold month and it wouldn't be a surprise if there's snow yet to come.

There's lots of mossy logs at Lotherton, they must be a haven for all sorts of wildlife. I can never resist getting my camera up close, it's like a world in miniature when you take a close up shot.

Archie always enjoys his walks at Lotherton, there's lots of lovely smells for him to investigate and lots of other people walk their dogs there for him to pass the time of day with.

I'm no expert where fungi is concerned, there's so many different types and I don't know their names, but I find them fascinating. We always see lots of different varieties when walking through the woods.

We've had some quite blustery weather just lately, so much so that I fear some poor birds have been made homeless. Not only did we find this small nest on the muddy ground but not far away we also saw one of the nesting boxes which had previously been nailed to a tree.

There have always been pathways through the woods at Lotherton but last year, hardcore was laid over them which makes walking in the muddy weather much easier. It's nice to go home with shoes which don't need washing.

Just look at the gnarled trunk of this tree. It's much easier to see the shapes, outlines and features of trees when they're bare, without their usual covering of leaves. There's some wonderful textures to be found.

I'll leave you with a photo of Archie enjoying his walk. We're so lucky to have lots of different places to take him nearby. He's happy wherever we go but I think Lotherton is his favourite place of all.