Happy New Year

Just checking in to wish you all a Very Happy and joyful 2013

I have been away for three weeks without a computer but I did have my camera...

First stop Yorkshire, where I spent ten joyful days with my family, unfortunately it rained heavily every day I was there so interior shots only.

No i phone or complicated portable just a good old fashioned British Telecom standard issue telephone, the one's I grew up with, they are considered retro now, I so enjoyed curling up on the sofa, twirling the curly cord in my fingers and using this to call absent friends and loved ones.

I had five star treatment staying with my Brother

Oh I do love a big bath with a view!

I even bought sweets from my childhood (also now considered retro) for the kids but they were more interested in computer games!

And I helped my Mother with afternoon tea.

Next stop Prague for seven days and mercifully no rain but it was cold I was secretly hoping for snow but it was not to be, still, it was beautiful and there is more to come on my Prague adventure

I won't be back home until Sunday, at present I am in my spiritual home on the Provençal Coast.

See you soon, wishing you all a wonderful weekend.

XXX

Im Back!

 My Brothers extremely elegant Drawing Room

I have just returned home from a ten day stint in my home county of North Yorkshire and had the most wonderful time catching up with close family and friends, so much warmth and love, I always feel like the prodigal daughter when I return.  I have to stay with my Mother, Father, Sister and Brother in equal measures, otherwise there is squabbles, once upon a time back in my student days a return visit from me would strike fear into every member of my family, (Just to put you in the picture, I am the youngest member of the family thus was always referred to as 'the baby of the family', isn't that annoying? No wonder I was BAD!) just how much washing was I bringing home? Which unsuitable boyfriend (or creature as my Mother liked to refer to them) would I be inflicting upon them, my untidiness, laziness and habit of not getting out of bed until after Midday never went down too well and there was always the danger of my friends and I deciding to throw an impromptu party. Times have changed and now I am fought over. One of the downsides of living abroad is not being close to your nearest and dearest, however much technology there is to communicate with, nothing beats seeing your loved ones in the flesh.

I am now safely back on French soil and have managed to catch the most horrible cold virus along the way, I am not up to much at the moment, other than lying prostrate on the sofa, surrounded by tissues, watching TV and old movies, reading magazines and books and dosing up with sudafed and paracetamol.  I hope it passes soon as I have a house to clean and decorate and a ton of stuff to do, hope to catch up with you all soon.

A typical Yorkshire scene; cobbles, Wellington boots and 'The Girls' accompanied by friends and humans. The girls are sporting their smart waterproof coats and are eagerly waiting for the Humans to stop standing about and talking so the walk can get going!

My Big Sisters Wardrobe

Hello again, I am back home in France now, even though I took my laptop with me on our recent trip to Britain I found I had very little time for blogging.  I was rushing around catching up with family and friends, wining and dining and shopping! We drove to Britain, 1000 miles taking the Channel tunnel so no nasty luggage restrictions we filled the car up with goodies including a pot bellied stove for chilly Spring evenings on the terrace we also hit Sainsburys big time and bought masses of Twiglets, Patacks curry pastes, Sharwoods Poppadoms, British sausages, Roses lime juice, Yorkshire tea bags amongst other things none of which are available in France.

I had a lovely return visit back to my home county of North Yorkshire even though we arrived to a cold, snowy Yorkshire and the sun only came out briefly for a few hours during the whole week, it was fabulous to see my nearest and dearest and run into friends that I have not seen for years.

As the weather was so grim any ideas of taking glorious pictures of Yorkshire and her landmarks went out of the window, instead I took some pictures of  vintage things in my big Sisters wardrobe.  Her wardrobe has fascinated me since I was a child, she has an excellent eye for quality and a bargain and looks after things beautifully, everything in her draws and wardrobe are organised and wrapped in dust-jackets, tissue paper and boxes, she even cleans her make up brushes regularly and all her cosmetics are like new and neatly arranged, not like me who tends to ram everything into the wardrobe, squash things in draws and I hardly ever wash make up brushes or organise my make up!

My big Sister is a few years older than me, she left home at seventeen and headed off for a life of adventure in London, throughout my young teenage years she bought me amazing presents from London, from the likes of Biba, Fiorucci and Harvey Nichols, she is really rather annoying whenever I make a new discovery I tell her about it, only to find that she already knows all about it.  These photographs were all a bit rushed as she was flying off the next morning to attend a friends fiftieth birthday party in New York.  We are at present thinking of pooling our talents and cooking something up, I will give you more details at a later date, soon she will be starting her own blog, so I will keep you posted on that too, in the meantime, here are some gorgeous vintage evening bags from her wardrobe...

This was the bag that started my Sisters love for all things vintage a beautiful tapestry evening bag, I think possibly circa 1919 that belonged to our Grandmother, she used this evening bag all her life and also kept things beautifully, obviously, my BS inherited this trait from her.

The quality of workmanship on the bag is beautiful.

My sister was especially thrilled to find this Elizabeth Arden miniature lipstick in one of the pockets, it still lives there.

And here is the original owner, my Grandmother on her Wedding Day, February 16th 1927, I wrote all about my Grandmother here.


  My sister bought the following bags from e bay, eagle eyed for quality at a good price.

Love this, circa 1960's from Beverly Hills

I adore the simplicity of this bag, circa 1950's with the loop to hook elegantly onto the lower arm, in pristine condition.

Another gem from our Grandmother, a sparkly wool vest top, fully lined it's such a classic, I am not sure when it dates from I would guess judging by the label some time in the late fifties.

Due to limited time that's all I have of my Big Sisters wardrobe for now, I will return unless she starts her blog soon and get's in before me!

When we returned home it was great to see this little guy again, we thought about taking him to the land of his forefathers but decided against it, it's a long journey for a small dog who loves his freedom, one of the joys of living in France is dogs are allowed everywhere, in Britain he would have been miserable couped up in the house, whilst we indulged ourselves, instead we sent him to stay with his favourite human, where he has clearly been overindulged, he currently resembles a barrel with four legs, now he is on half rations with a very strict exercise regime, which, after all our over indulgence benefits us too!

As I have not been around much, I am really looking forward to catching up with all of your blogs over the next couple of days.

The Harrogate Trip

Gosh, what a whirlwind visit, we have now returned home and I can't believe it's all over.  We had a wonderful time in Harrogate and I managed to fit in nearly everything I wanted to do.

It was great to spend some quality time with my Mother, see my family and catch up with friends.  I shopped until I dropped, (I am saving the shopping details for another post!). We dined out for lunch every day, I went for a lot of coffees and early doors drinks accompanied by my mother and her ever increasing coteri of eccentric friends, and most importantly, we went to the pub.

It's interesting to return to your home town after a long period of absense, seeing what was once so familiar, with new eyes and also to see the changes. 

 Harrogate, has been hit by the recession there are a lot of empty shops and business's in prime positions (mainly estate agents) I guess the strain of the exorbitant Harrogate rates was just too much.  The shops and restaurants were very quiet during the week and nearly all of them were trying to lure customers in with exciting offers and discounts, which I took full advantage of, added to that, the euro is strong against the pound at present, so I got some great bargains.

Here are some photos of Harrogate and it's shops:

The cherry tree walk, on 'The Stray'. Most visitors to Harrogate refer to 'The Stray', as a park. Driving or walking through Harrogate is a joy, and it is like passing through a park. 'The Stray' is 200 acres of protected parkland, used by the locals for leisure activities, including picnics, dog walking, horse riding, kite flying and anything else outdoorsy you can think of.

And this is what it looks like in late spring.

Crocus on 'The Stray'. Spring has arrived in Harrogate.

An old vintage photograph of 'The Stray'.

It's good to see one of these, still in use!

I had never noticed before, the large number of these wonderful Victorian seated shelters in Harrogate, on the edge of The Stray, a real throwback to the time when Harrogate was a major spa resort and the promenading Victorians and Edwardian's used them, to rest, before they continued on their way.

Typical Harrogate property, overlooking The Stray, I love the conservatory.

 

And another, recently purchased, modernised and sandblasted.

Heading into the town centre.

Ahh, Betty's.

What's in their window? Mmm, hand made, decorated chocolate Easter eggs, badgers and bunnies.

Ogdens, The Jewellers, my mother would be overjoyed if MG took me in here to purchase a diamond engagement ring.

Woods of Harrogate for all your linen and interior design needs.

Another one of Woods triple fronted windows.

Brindley's of Harrogate, specialising in fabric and more interior design.

The Royal Pump Room, which put Harrogate on the map.

This plaque, tell's you all about it.

The Old Swan Hotel, Agatha Christie famously went into hiding here, A film was made about it called 'Agatha' with Vanessa Redgrave and Dustin Hoffman, all filmed in Harrogate.

Now, this is the Park in Harrogate, the entrance to the 'Valley Gardens' created for recreation and promenading in the Victorian era.

Dreaming of Bettys

I will be going to Blighty for a week in March to visit family and friends, I am already planning some of the things I want to do.  One of the things, will be to visit Bettys café tea rooms, which is a Yorkshire institution, it has six tea rooms, in Ilkley, Northallerton, two in York and two in Harrogate (my home town).

The question is, shall I go for lunch to have my favourite, Yorkshire welsh rarebit served with delicious tomato chutney or go for a Yorkshire cream tea with hot buttered scones, clotted cream and lashings of strawberry jam.

One thing is for sure, after dining I will be visiting the shop to buy goodies to bring back to France.

They now do mail order, so if you find anything on this post tempting, you can order it here or visit one of their cafés here

 

Bettys York

 

Bettys Ilkley

All photos via Bettys website