Monday 18 August 2014

Epic blog update :)

Hellooooooooo every one .... I am back in the land of internet and back to normality ...lol the Kettle has just boiled so I suggest you grab a large mug of something and a cookie too as I think you may need it to fortify you  for this post heheheheh....
At the beginning of August DH and I escaped from the mouse house and traveled up some scary single track roads to our new pad for the week ... the scenery was stunning simply green for miles and miles ... not to mention sheep and coo's and such like .... and luckily for us we didn't meet tooo many cars coming in the opposite direction .... We stayed at a lovely apartment called Honeypot Cottage on a site called Stonelands Cottages  the owners were lovely and couldn't do enough for us .... there were lots of other families there and some had their wee pooches with them ... unfortunately our apartment couldn't have pets :( I did meet all of them and got to take a cute photo of a Labrador called Marley :) ... we have promised Master Bentley that we will take him next year :) The views were stunning and the sunsets too ... while we were away I took 738 photos eeekkk ... I won't bore you with them all though heheheh ... We took day trips out to Fountains Abbey, Skipton , Bolton Abbey and Ripley Castle  and we were only a couple of miles from where they filmed the original Emmerdale for those that follow it ... The weather was kind to us until on the way home .....
I managed to find the material shop in Skipton which was amazing for curtains or upholstery etc ... it did have some nice patchwork in and I did get a couple of pieces as you do ...lol DH just rolled his eyes at me when I said I was nipping in ... I rolled them back when I came out heheheh .. It was market day when we went in so it was really busy but we coped by finding a lovely cafe upstairs in the indoor shopping place where we re cooped our strength before tootling around the shops again :)
We went to Fountains Abbey on the Tuesday of our break and we had the most glorious weather to walk round ....I took photos from every angle and got some lovely shots of it ... which I will show ..lol it was lovely to see how many families there were there with younger children exploring the ruins :) Bolton Abbey we did by default on the Thursday as we set off to go to Ripley Castle and did a detour into there on the way ... the stepping stones caused much merriment as we watched a few peeps fall off into the river .. that is part of the excitement there ... I didn't brave it as stepping stones and a crutch don't mix ...lol and as the weather was again glorious the few unfortunate kids/ adults didn't stay wet for long .... Ripley Castle was just closing as we got there but the tea rooms were open so we pootled round and went in there for a cuppa and then had a wee look through the gates before wandering round the village.
Each night we were back at the apartment when it was still light as I would have hated to try and drive those roads in the dark .... and we spent pleasant evenings me stitching and DH reading or watching the TV. I managed a finish there "life isn't " by Lizzie * Kate and also started the " Promise Me by her too .... I have got on with this and hopefully will finish this soon as well ....
We arrived back at the mouse house on Friday evening much to the delight of Master Bentley as apparently he sulked while we were away awwwww...
The next exciting bit was Ally , Chris and I went to the Nimble Thimble ... you know that shop in Wales ...lol and the weather was good to us again and the sun came out so that we could eat our lunch outside to the sounds of the swallows feeding their young ... managed to take a photo of the nest and you can see two pairs of eyes looking at you :) Ally and I both saw the Kingfisher but it flew past soo fast we were not able to take a photo of it .... Chris of the Nimble Thimble fame kept us supplied with tea while we all browsed to our hearts content and we bought some lovely goodies to boot :) from there we moved onto the Castle Court Quilter Shop in Whittington and was greeted by Diana with ahhh your the lady who has the blog and had someone wanting the same fabric you had bought last time ... can you make your photos bigger  as it took me ages to work out which it was and thanks for the sale hahahahahha .... she then proceeded to put the kettle on ..lol  we had a good browse round too and found some lovely sale fabrics which I just had to get ... I separated the fabrics and will let you know which is which just in case ;)  see my fame precedes me ...lol
After we had bought a wee bit more stash we all decided we had enough time to wander round the castle before having a gorgeous meal at the local pub Ye Olde Boot and puddings too ....and yes I did take photos of them ...lol 
sooo once again I will bob the kettle on while I sort the photos out for you to drool over ..... 
How far I have got with it now :) Promise me by Lizzie *Kate

Looking into the Nimble Thimble

spot the babies :)

Toby Turbo Nimble Thimble grand puppy

looking down the river at the Nimble Thimble

Castle Court Quilters 



I threatened them with the stocks if they didn't pose ...lol

Whittington Castle



these came running towards Chris and Ally 


saw these and wanted a crumble ..lol 


whooooo are these ???

Trifle for Chris

Peanut Butter Cheesecake for Ally

Raspberry tart for me :)

rainbow at the end of the day at Wales

Sale Stash from CCQ

Not sale stash ...lol


yummie charts :)

gorgeous floss and fabbie and new scissors :)

our luxury bedroom in our apartment :)

views of the Dales

green as far as the eyes can see


Marley saying boo

Fountains Abbey








some one started to sing in hear and it sounded divine :)

fabric stash from Fents of Skipton

Life by Lizzie * Kate finished :)

Bolton Abbey

Famous Stepping Stones

Ripley Castle

Skipton Castle
OK I have added a video of the road back to the apartment ... I hope it works ...
I hope that you have enjoyed your visit to the mouse house once again ... I will be bobbing over to see what you have all been up to while I have been away so hope your kettles are on too :)
Take care one and all and happy stitching to you all... until next time :) love mouse xxxxxx

30 comments:

Linda said...

Looks and sounds like you have had some wonderful trips Mouse. Lovely new stash. Beautiful stitching.

Linda

Barb said...

Thanks to your beautiful photos,I feel like I have seen a bit of your beautiful country!! Those castles were just amazing!! You also picked up some great stash! Thanks for sharing your trip with us!

Tigermouse said...

Love the photos, the scenery ones are lovely. I went to Fountains Abbey a couple of years ago but didn't have time to go round the water gardens - it looks like I missed a treat. If you're ever up that way again go to Brimham Rocks - an amazing place with rock formations named after their shapes, and you can see for miles from the top.

DJ said...

As always, stunning photography!! I need lessons!! haha Looks like a good time was had by all!! You should work for the travel industry, because I'm dying to visit England...and Wales too of course. Wonderful stash you have there....
*Hugs*

Cricket-bug Corner said...

Love your pictures! Thanks for sharing - everything is so pretty!

Southpaw Stitcher said...

Thanks for taking us along on your trip around the UK. Beautiful photos! I would have fallen off of the steppings stones and into the drink for sure. Your WIPs are lovely; wonderful stash enhancement!

Beth said...

So now I MUST come back and tootle around Yorkshire more! So many pretty places Michelle - what a lovely vacation. And Wales that looks like a fun Girl Trip you had!

Sarah in Stitches said...

Sounds like it was an amazing trip! Love your new fabric stash :D Congrats on a beautiful finish, and a great new start, too! I love both those Lizzie*Kate patterns and always enjoy watching people stitch them :D

Gabi said...

Thanks for the photos. They bring back memories from a vacation long,long ago.
Beautiful stitching and nice stash.
Greetings from Germany

Annette-California said...

What a treat for me to see all your gorgeous photos, and all the castles! I LOVE Nibble Thimble's shop and how incredible that you can sit outside and enjoy a cup of tea!!! You have beautiful taste of all the pretty fabrics you got and such a lovely collection of charts. I am in love with the NB wooden tray. Glad you enjoyed your getaway.
love Annette
ps those stone steps are tiny...

Julie said...

Lots of wonderful things to see in you lovely post Mouse, what fun times you've been having.
Nice LK stitching and great stash from The Nimble Thimble.

Christine said...

Looks like you had a lovely trip. Great stash haul too.

Mii Stitch said...

What a lovely trip! Thanks for sharing with us :) It now gave me little ideas of places to go :P
Great new stash and yummy cakes too!

Vickie said...

Oh your pictures are wonderful! Fountains Abbey is just splendid! Love that picture you took of Marly. :)

Bev said...

some lovely photos Michelle and I want to see all the stash and I'll show you mine from the quilt festival xx

Teresa said...

What a wonderful time away. Sounds like a great adventure. Love all the new stash.

Anonymous said...

Hello Mouse

What a lovely post!
Your holiday sounds so peaceful and the photos are stunning.
Lovely stitching too.
The Nimble Thimble looks like an amazing shop. Lovely stash!
I wouldn't fancy driving those roads (:

Dani - tkdchick said...

Looks like you had a fantastic vacation! You got some great shots!

Lots of stitching and new stash too!

cucki said...

Looks like you have had some wonderful trips...so much fun..
and Lovely new stash...
Beautiful stitching i love them all..big hugs x

Wendy S. said...

Oh Mouse, how lovely! Thank you for sharing! =)

Jo who can't think of a clever nickname said...

Never mind a cuppa and a cookie, I needed a full meal after that epic post!
Lovely photos of all the ancient stonework and the not so ancient ladies :-)
I like the empty basket photo too, bet there were lots of empty shelves after you had all finished looting.
I was watching the video and thought "wow, that is a long road" until I realised it was just playing the same clip over and over LOL

Kate said...

Lovely update Mouse

Angela said...

It looks like you had a lovely time and I love your driving video through the countryside! Great new stash too :) Love your LK projects!

Michelle said...

Lovely photos Mouse - did you visit Coopers Cafe whilst in Skipton? Lucy from Attic 24's studio is above?

Andrea said...

Sounds and looks like a lovely holiday place. That's the trouble when you want to get away from it all ... those single track roads.
Wonderful photos. Lovely stitching and stash.

Brigitte said...

Oh, what a wonderful holiday trip this must have been. And your visit at the Thimble Nimble was just another great treat. Look at all the new stash - I'm just getting a little bit envious, lol.

Anne said...

Looks like an amazing trip you had with the girls!! I love the photos of Fountain Abbey, particularly the one with the arches where that person started to sing!! The Nimble Thimble looks adorable. What a great stash haul you got!!Sweet finish too!! Poor lil' Bentley pining away for you. I'm sure he was so delighted to have you back!! Xxox!!

Olivia said...

Thanks for sharing your lovely photos! Beautiful countryside!

Thoeria said...

Oh Ms Mouse....what a lovely lovely wander across your country I just had:) Amazing stash enhancing! And I can't believe that you actually got stitching done too!! Yummy yummy treats (stitching and eats!)

Sally said...

Wonderful eye candy from your trip. Love ALL your new stash and your stitching is gorgeous as always. I can't wait to see The Nimble Thimble at Harrogate and Sparklies of course!