Daniel And Jasmine's Wedding Day

What a wonderful day we had on Thursday when Daniel and Jasmine got married. It seemed a long way off when we booked the venue but these last few months before the big day have flown by. As most of you will know, Jasmine's American, all her family live in America, so being Mother of the Groom has been a little different for me as I've got to do most of the things that Mother of the Bride would usually do, including shopping with Jasmine for her wedding dress. It's been an absolute privilege. I know you'll all be wanting to see the dress she chose so we'll start off with a photo of Jasmine.

We looked in so many bridal shops, there were a few close calls but there was just something about each dress which let it down, until she saw, and fell in love, with this one.

The wedding and reception was held at Walton Hall at Waterton Park Hotel & Spa. The Hall is the former home of famous naturalist Charles Waterton and it stands on an island in the middle of a lake. There's also a more modern hotel on the mainland in the grounds but the ceremony, reception and evening reception were all held on the island.

We'd been hoping for fine weather. We were all a little worried when we woke at 3am to the sound of thunder, flashes of lightening lighting up our bedrooms and the sound of rain. The rumbles of thunder continued through the night and accompanied us as we were getting ready in the morning but by the time we arrived at Waterton Park, the sun was shining and the temperature was rising nicely. It got really quite hot as the day went on but not too overbearing as it had been earlier on in the week, it was perfect.

The ceremony was at 12.30pm, this was followed with a prosecco and Budweiser drinks reception and canapes on the lawn by the lake. It was so relaxed with guests mingling and chatting whilst different groups were called for photos. It was nice that some of Jasmine's family were able to come over from America to share the celebrations and there were lots of friends from different areas of their lives joining in the festivities too.

Jasmine had four bridesmaids including Eleanor who was Maid of Honour. They each wore dresses chosen themselves, Jasmine wanted them to have their own style but more importantly, be comfortable.

Eleanor and Jasmine stayed together in a room in Walton Hall the night before the wedding. On the morning of the wedding, Eleanor presented Jasmine with a scrapbook she'd made for her containing photos from all stages of her life with different friends and family, and letters she'd asked different people to write to her to be opened on the morning of her wedding. Jasmine said she cried at every one. It's a good job then that Eleanor was on hand to do her hair and make-up before the wedding. It's lovely to see these two sisters-in-law getting on so well.

Daniel couldn't choose between two of his closest friends so in the end decided to have two best men. They both did a brilliant job. Mick and Jacob are at each side, Ryan and Rob at each side of Daniel. I was surprised when Daniel decided to go with tuxedos but I thought they all looked very smart, I love the look.

The flowers were gorgeous. Eleanor was so happy with the florist she used for her wedding that Jasmine went with the same person. She wasn't really fussy about what flowers she wanted, she knew she wanted blues and purples and eucalyptus, she really just gave a broad outline of the things she liked and the florist came up with the rest. I think she did a beautiful job and Jasmine was very pleased with them.

Jack was a little star. He was a ring bearer and came down the aisle with his head bowed. I thought he must be a little shy but he was, in fact, so thrilled with his new shoes that he couldn't take his eyes off them, haha. Bless him. He didn't make a murmur throughout the ceremony and was as good as gold all day long. He kept going past 10pm when Eleanor finally took him up to bed.

There were three speeches, Daniel made one and so did each of the best men. Daniel decided they'd make the speeches before we ate so that everyone could relax and enjoy the meal. He didn't want to be worrying about having to stand up in front of everyone whilst he was eating. Daniel's speech brought a tear to my eye when he mentioned my mum and dad and how he wished they could be here celebrating with him, I didn't know he was going to say that and it caught me off guard. I also had a little moment when he was thanking me and Mick for everything we've done for him, his speech really was very touching. Although the best men hadn't conferred, they managed to make their speeches very different and individual. They were three very good speeches.

The wedding breakfast was delicious. We started with traditional Yorkshire pudding with braised beef brisket and a rich onion gravy. The main was oven roast breast of chicken finished with a red wine jus, fondant potato and seasonal vegetables. For dessert we had individual white chocolate and raspberry cheesecake delicately sprinkled with cracked meringue, finished with raspberry coulis, and we finished off with freshly ground coffee and mints. Everyone commented on how good the food was, the canapes earlier had been excellent too.

The wedding had a loose galaxy theme, after all, they both studied astrophysics at university. The cake followed this theme in design. Each tier had a different flavour, from top to bottom: strawberry milkshake, chocolate orange, toffee and salted caramel, lemon. I have to say that the cake was absolutely delicious, I've never tasted cake so moist and flavoursome.

There was a little time to relax after the meal before the evening festivities began. An evening disco was held in the old boathouse which opened out onto decking where a barbecue was enjoyed. Yes, yet more food, and this was equally as good as what we'd already sampled. Daniel and Jasmine had their first dance to Lover by Taylor Swift. The DJ played a good mix of tunes and the dancefloor was never empty. It went on till the early hours and everyone said what a fantastic day they'd all had. There were smiles on everyone's faces all day long.

We've had a few preview photos sent by the photographer, some of which I've included here, others are photos that have been snapped on phones throughout the day. I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the official photos.

What an absolutely fabulous day, very special memories made for everyone. I asked Jasmine if she was sorry it was all over and she said no, she couldn't be sorry because it was just perfect!

Vertices Unite

The Spring Shawlathon, which is hosted by Fran at the Franny Do Makes podcast and Helen at the Giddy Knits podcast, is in full swing at the moment, however I haven't joined in this year, I've been busy finishing off the shawl I began during the last Shawlathon.

This is the Vertices Unite, and though he's a very popular knitwear designer, this is the first pattern I've knit by Stephen West.

I've used yarns by Jellybeans Yarns in the Red Ember colourway, The Crafty Bird in Liesl, Castle View Yarns in Owl Post, Truly Hooked in Dark Grey and Blue Fern Yarns in Antarctic. They're all hand dyed merino yarn and the shawl feels so squishy. Although the pattern calls for five colours, it doesn't use the full 100g skeins. Red Ember used 54g, Liesl used 74g, Owl Post used 26g, Dark Grey used 40g and Antarctic used 55g, so there was plenty of yarn left over.

It'a a huge shawl, there's two sizes in the pattern but I decided to go for the largest of the two as I wanted something I could wrap myself up in and I can certainly do that, it has a wing span of about 71 inches and I haven't blocked it aggressively, it's knit up to this size.

I actually like it more than I expected I would, it will be lovely to wear during the very coldest months of the year as it's so warm and cosy. I'd like to knit another using different colours.

So that's the second thing I've managed to get finished which had been carried over from last year, just one more thing to go and then I can start casting on again.

Mick's 60th - May

I'm arranging little surprises for Mick throughout the year as it will be his 60th birthday in August. I thought it would be nice to string out the celebrations, hopefully doing something each month.

For May, I decided to surprise Mick with a trip to York. This in itself wouldn't be much of a surprise as we often visit, we live less than twenty minutes away, but we don't really do the touristy stuff when we're there. As the weather was so nice, and also because May was always going to be busy with Daniel and Jasmine's wedding fast approaching, our visit took place right at the start of the month. We usually drive into York, or more often than not we use the park and ride, but this time we took the train. All will become clear later on.

The first thing we did was visit the Jorvik Viking Centre. It's years since I last went there, in fact, it must have been when I was at school. Mick's never been before. We've been saying that we should visit so this was the first place on my list when I decided to make York one of our days out. Between 1976 and 1981, archaeologists uncovered houses and workshops of the Viking city of Jorvik. The Jorvik Viking Centre now stands on that excavation site and a ride experience takes you through reconstructed Viking-age streets before dropping you off at the galleries showcasing Viking artefacts and even genuine Viking-age human skeletons.

We'd left home before having breakfast so we were getting a little peckish after visiting Jorvik. Our next stop was The House of Trembling Madness on Stonegate, an ale house whose building was part of the first Norman house in York dating back to 1180. Downstairs is a bottle shop but climb the stairs and you'll find a bar with an extensive craft beer selection serving good pub grub. It's famous for its quirky decor featuring taxidermy.

We grabbed a late breakfast and washed it down with an early pint (half for me!). The beautiful day, Mick having a day off work, and being on the tourist trail was giving us those holiday vibes.

Afterwards, it was time to sit back and enjoy the view as we took a scenic river cruise. Travelling down the Ouse by boat was a totally different way to take in the city and one I can wholeheartedly recommend, especially on a beautiful day. They hire out small boats too and that's something we've decided we'll definitely do on a future visit to York.

The main reason we took the train into York was because I'd booked a rum tasting experience at Villains Rum. Mick's got quite a collection of different rums so I thought this would be a fun thing for us to do. A costumed guide relayed tales of historical villains associated with York who inspired the different rums we were sampling. I don't actually drink rum myself though I did try a couple, and a couple of gins too, but that was enough for me. It was such an entertaining experience, the stories were really funny and the villains were brought to life through the engaging narration. Mick thoroughly enjoyed this and he brought home some new rums for his ever-growing collection too. It was a good job he wasn't driving, we were given good measures to taste!

Towards the end of our day we had a meal in a lovely pub restaurant in St Helen's Square. Mick went for a burger, I opted for a steak sandwich. It was such a lovely day that the doors were opened wide and music from the buskers in the square drifted in.

There was a little time left before our train was due so we sat for a while by the river. It was the perfect end to a delightful day.

Another Year Of The National Trust

After my post last year detailing which National Trust properties we'd visited during the period of our membership, I decided I'd keep track of where we've been and how much we would have spent again after renewing our membership. It's worth bearing in mind that during our previous membership we had Archie with us so we weren't able to go inside the houses, nor were we able to go in some gardens. This year we've been able to visit all areas, there's sometimes an extra charge to go inside the houses and the admission prices quoted reflect this.

Our joint membership this year cost us £160.80. Last year we broke even within four months, this year it took us seven months, a fair bit longer. National Trust properties were great places to take Archie for walks so we would often visit for that purpose. Our visits this year have been much fewer but more purposeful taking in the houses as well as the grounds.

Townend. Admission is £11 for non-members. £22 saved.

Hill Top and Hawkshead. Admission is £17 for non-members. £34 saved.

Hardwick. Admission is £21 for non-members. £42 saved.

Nunnington Hall. Admission is £12 for non-members. We visited twice. £48 saved.

We also visited Nunnington Hall when it was their Love Local event. The admission this day was free for all.

Clumber Park. Admission was £6 for non-members, it's now £6.50. We visited twice. £25 saved.

Fountains Abbey. Helios by sunset. Free for members £12 for non-members. £24 saved.

Nostell Priory. Parking is £5 for non-members. Garden or House admission is £9 or a combined ticket for both is £13 for non-members, though the house wasn't open on one of our visits and we didn't go inside the house on our second visit. We visited twice. £46 saved.

Dunham Massey. Park & Garden admission is £10 or House, Park & Garden is £20, though the house wasn't open when we visited. £20 saved.

Rhosili and South Gower Coast. Parking is £4 for up to two hours or £8 over two hours for non-members. £4 saved.

Pennard, Pwll Du and Bishopston Valley. Parking is £4 for up to two hours or £8 over two hours for non-members. We visited twice. £8 saved.

Woolsthorpe Manor. Admission is £15 for non-members. £30 saved.

Hardcastle Crags. Parking is £5 for up to four hours or £8 all day for non-members. £5 saved.

In total we would have spent £308 on admission to these places. That's £147.20 more than we paid for our membership, a lesser saving than last year but we expected that. Visiting National Trust properties was brilliant when we had Archie as we all got something out of it, nowadays we're not looking for places we can take a dog when we have days out so our visits have been fewer as we've tended to go elsewhere.

Again, we received the National Trust Handbook at the start of our membership and another one was sent to us at the beginning of this year. We also received three National Trust Magazines over the course of the year and there was also a promotion when we took out the membership of a £10 gift card which can be spent in National Trust cafes or shops.

The prices quoted in the post were correct at the times we visited. Some, if not all, of the properties have now increased their prices, and the price of joint membership has also now increased to £168 for the year.

Even though we didn't save as much as we did last year, membership was again well worth it. We visited some of the places we visited last time and visited new places too. We've been able to look inside the houses this time whereas we had Archie with us still during our last membership so that wasn't an option for us then.

We've decided not to renew our membership at this point in time, mainly because there's other, non National Trust places, that we've earmarked to visit soon. I'm sure we will in the future though, possibly later on this year. I think you get good value for money and there's so many different properties, there's always somewhere to go when you're looking for a day out.

Nature's Walk Blanket

It seems a long time since I had a finished craft project to show you. At the start of the year I had three things on the go, and at last, one of them is done. Actually, I finished it a little while ago now but it's been waiting to be showcased on the blog.

The Nature's Walk Blanket is a pattern by Sandra Paul of the Cherry Heart podcast. I loved it as soon as I saw it but I wasn't sure my crochet skills would be up to it so I admired other people's finished blankets as they began appearing. I believe the pattern was released back in 2019 and ever since then I kept wondering if I'd be able to give it a go. Well, give it a go I did and I'm pleased to say that I managed it. It's taken me a while but that's because I put it down over the summer months last year, not because there's anything difficult about it, it just wasn't something I wanted to work on during the warmer months. I'd class myself as a confident beginner crocheter and there wasn't anything I struggled with.

I used the yarn which is recommended in the pattern, Scheepjes Stonewashed, which is a sport weight yarn and I used the colours suggested, I think they look perfect together. I did have a little mishap as I got two of the colourways mixed up so the clover and berries patterns have been crocheted in Corundum Ruby and the flowers and butterfly patterns have been crocheted in Lepidolite rather than the other way around. I also changed the buds pattern for the heart pattern which was given as a tension square as the buds are raised and I didn't like the 3D aspect. I believe other people have done this for the same reason.

I love the deep border, I think this sets the blanket off perfectly, and the picot edging is the icing on the cake.

Here is it laid out on the spare bed to show its size, the bed is a double.

I'm so pleased with it. I really really wanted this blanket so I'm pleased that I've been able to crochet it myself. Who knows, I might even crochet another one, I know at least one person who's had their eye on it!

Mick's 60th - April

We're heading through a year long celebration for Mick as it will be his 60th birthday in August. I thought it would be nice prolong the festivities so I'm organising little surprises for him throughout the year, hopefully one each month.

Mick's been a lifelong supporter of Leeds United so when I saw that Leeds Grand Theatre were staging a Leeds Legends event last night I grabbed a couple of tickets. It was a real surprise to Mick, it isn't something he ever thought I'd have booked.

The event included live interviews, audience questions and answers, and a memorabilia auction. The ex-players were Dom Matteo, Ian Harte, Nigel Martyn, Michael Bridges and it was hosted by Andy Couzens. Anyone who knows anything about Leeds United will know that the Leeds team in the 1970s, managed by Don Revie, was a force to be reckoned with. This is the team that Mick remembers from his childhood and sadly, most of those players are no longer with us, however, Eddie Gray is and he was a special guest at the Leeds Legends evening.

It was a really good night out, I thought I might be a little bored as I don't have much interest in football but I wasn't. It was so entertaining and excellent value for money.

On our way to the theatre we stopped off for a meal at a restaurant not too far from home, but one we hadn't visited before. Mick's favourite food is Italian and we're very lucky to have a fabulous Italian restaurant within walking distance of home so we don't often try others, but it was nice to have a change of scenery on this occasion.

The food was good and the staff were very attentive but we both said we preferred our usual restaurant. It was good to try somewhere new though.

It was nice to do something a little bit different for Mick's April surprise and I was really pleased that I enjoyed it so much more than I was expecting to too, we both really enjoyed the evening.

Spring Staycation - Part Two

Following on from my last post, Mick had some holiday to take from work at the end of March so we decided to have a staycation. I wrote about the days out we had during the first part of the holiday in my Spring Staycation - Part One post. 

We'd now reached Wednesday and we visited somewhere very familiar to us, Haworth. We just love this village which was the home of the literary sisters, The Brontës. The Parsonage where they lived is now a museum which houses the largest collection of Brontë items in the world. This is the dining room where Charlotte, Emily and Anne did much of their writing. Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre and Agnes Grey were written in this room and it's believed that Emily died here, on the sofa. Haworth itself is a picturesque village with a steep, cobbled main street where many independent shops can be found.

We had planned to take a walk along the canal at Five Rise Locks later in the day but we'd had snow flurries in Haworth. In fact, I think we had all four seasons in one day as it also rained, was extremely windy and the sun put in an appearance too. We put our walk on hold but I wasn't too disappointed as it gave me the chance to visit Knitters Paradise at Coldspring Mill instead. Of course, I didn't leave empty handed.

On Thursday we visited Ripon. We always enjoy looking around the cathedral and on this particular day, the students from Ampleforth College were rehearsing for a concert they were performing later in the day. It was lovely hearing the beautiful piano and violin as we wandered around.

There's a Thursday market in Ripon so we had a look around that and I managed to pick up a few plants for the garden before we continued on our journey to Masham, mainly so we could visit Theakston's Brewery and stock up on some of Mick's preferred tipple.

We'd booked tickets to an artisan market which was being held in the grounds of Harewood House for the Friday. We've visited this particular market a couple of times before but I'm sorry to say that this one wasn't very good, there were much fewer stalls than previously, but these events allow us to explore the grounds too so it didn't really matter. Tickets can be upgraded to include entry to the house but we didn't bother with that. Afterwards we called into the garden of remembrance to take flowers for my mum as the following day was the seventh anniversary of the day she died. I was pleased to see that the roses we'd taken for my dad the week before were still going strong, plus the tête-à-têtes we planted were flowering too so there was plenty of colour.

On the Saturday we had a trip up to Richmond, a friend was exhibiting her artwork so we went to support her. We made the most of the jaunt and had a wander around the town. In the distance you can just see Culloden Tower, built as a folly to commemorate the Hanoverian victory over the Jacobites at the Battle of Culloden in 1746. There's a Saturday market in Richmond which we had a quick look around. It's been many years since I've visited Richmond Castle, it's somewhere I'd like to see again but sadly, that wasn't the day, it was blowing a gale and was bitterly cold, despite the sunshine and blue sky so that's still on hold.

We had planned to visit the Yorkshire Dales on the Sunday but the weather forecast was for heavy rain and wind with gusts of up to 50mph, definitely not the weather for a gentle stroll. Instead we took ourselves off to see the John Atkinson Grimshaw exhibition at Leeds Art Gallery. Born in a back-to-back house in Leeds, he was a Victorian-era artist known for painting nocturnal scenes of urban landscapes. It's many years since I've visited Leeds Art Gallery, it's actually very rare that I venture into Leeds these days, but it was well worth the trip. I'd seen the exhibition advertised and was keen to see it so I'm glad I got the chance.

Mick was back to work again on the Monday but I'm sure you'll agree that we packed plenty into his time off. There are so many interesting places we're able to visit on days out, town, coast, countryside, art, literature, science, history, nature, we've got it all going on. Aren't we lucky.