A little bit of Hull

The hubs and I had a lovely weekend. We mostly relaxed but also managed to go to the Hull Real Ale and Cider Festival. It was held from Thursday til Sunday this past week and we managed to squeeze two visits in, we went on Friday evening to meet up with some of Sibz work friends and we returned on Saturday to use up our last couple of tokens (you had to buy tokens beforehand and then use them to buy your drinks). It was held at the Hull Trinity Church, its such a beautiful old building! Although a part of me was a bit skeptical about having an ale festival in a church it seemed to go really well from the short time we were there. And I finally managed to get to see the mice in the church! 

We were walking around the church on Saturday looking at all the details in the stone and woodwork (and I was trying to find the mice) while we had a drink and S stumbled upon this in the gifts section, as we were paying for it I asked the lady if she could point me in the direction of the mice around the church and she kindly called her husband over who gave us a tour of all the mice (well except one as it was being used during the festival) around the church. If I remember correctly there are 8 of them throughout the church. He also told us about the local craftsman George Peck who carved all the wooden figures on the pews, all of them are different (and there are a lot of pews!) and at the time they were considered pagan because of some of the images. It was all so interesting, Im really glad we finally went, even if it took the ale festival to get us there.

Sorry about the bad quality of photos, they were all taken on my phone. The above photo was actually a self portrait of George Peck playing his violin. 

And finally when we got home I baked pecan pie. I haven't baked a pecan pie in what must be close to 5 years! It turned out really nicely (other than my burning the top a little) and my husband loved it! 

xo Kristy

Our Easter/anniversary weekend

Its been far too long since I last did a post! I've been neglecting my blog! My hubby and I got back from South Africa/ Dubai/ Wales about two weeks ago and we have just been getting back into the hang of things in the UK and were also prepping for our anniversary trip, which was this past weekend! We have been married for a whole year already! I can't believe how quickly the time has gone, I am so blessed to have such an amazing man in my life!
For our anniversary we decided to go to London, I already feel incredibly spoilt and overwhelmed with all the traveling we have been doing lately, so it was really awesome to have the opportunity to go away again so soon after our last holiday!
We left on Friday morning and arrived in London at about midday, we headed straight to our hotel to check in and drop off our bags and then we jumped on another train to Oxford. Oxford is so beautiful! We definitely could have spent the whole day there but we planned it poorly and had to rush to walk around and see as much as we could. And to top it off I wasn’t feeling myself so didn’t enjoy the walking as much as I normally do. Anyway, besides everything else it was still a really great day!

The next day we headed to Brighton, I have wanted to go for a good few months but between it being so far away from Hull and my hubby not being too keen on going it was never a priority. But with it being just an hour and a half outside of London I managed to convince my hubby to go and we had a really good day walking around and sightseeing. We managed to see the Lanes, The Brighton Pier and Royal Pavilion. Sibz and I were quite amazed by the pavilion, so much detail in everything although we thought it was a little too over the top and from the the walkthrough audio tour it sounded like King George IV lived quite a depressing life especially towards the end, just goes to show that money cant buy you happiness. 

We had fish and chips on the pier for lunch and on the way home picked up some gelato from the lanes, which was delicious!

For our anniversary we booked a table at Heston Blumenthals restaurant, it was a big splurge but it was delicious and both my hubby and I enjoyed our meal! I finally got to try frogs legs and they were really yummy!

On our last day we squished in The London Tower, The National Gallery and we went to St. Paul's Cathedral, we didnt actually go into the cathedral though as we were rushed for time by then. It was definitely an awesome and memorable anniversary and Easter holiday!

Hope everyone had a happy Easter!

xo Kristy

Happy Monday!

I had such a good weekend! It was the sort of weekend you need before a two week long 'holiday': to relax at home, do a bit of baking and watch DVDs! haha, we also did a bit of shopping for a few last minute presents for friends and family. We haven't been back to South Africa since our wedding so it's just a few late birthday and Christmas presents we said we would bring back instead of send over.

We also bought the second and third season of Doctor Who and thats what we spent the weekend watching, Sibz and I are so addicted already! And while my husband was busy looking at the DVD store I popped into Boots and took advantage of the buy two get one free sale and added to my Essie nail polish collection! I actually went in for lipstick and couldn't decide so just settled on nail polish. I got tart deco, mint candy apple and sole mate. I'm quite excited to wear the first two when I have a nice tan! (Obviously not together though! haha) Can't wait for the Durban beach and sun!

I have also been promising my husband lately that I would bake for him and seeing that he loves carrot cake and we only recently discovered what parsnips were and he loves those too, I decided to try a parsnip cake. It was quite good although I don't know if I would use the same recipe again, I did change it a little because I didnt have all the ingredients, ie: golden syrup instead of maple syrup, muscovado sugar instead of mixing soft brown sugar and dark brown sugar, used plain flour instead of cake flour and added a bit more baking powder, etc. but I don't think those would have affected it too much. I used a recipe I found here.

Anyway, all in all it was a good weekend!

A Clean House

So today I'm feeling very accomplished, I vacuumed, swept and mopped the floors, I cleaned the kitchen and wiped down the cabinets and countertops and finally cleaned the bathrooms! It always feels good to have a clean flat! Although I have to admit I'm a little too lazy to actually keep it that way all the time. And to top it off I also count it as my workout for the day!

The other day I went shopping for a bachelorette gift for my sister in law, she is getting married in two weeks time! Even though she is in South Africa and I missed the bachelorette party and the kitchen tea :'( I still wanted to get her something fun. My husband and I are flying back next week for the wedding, we are both so excited because we haven't been back since our wedding last year in April and we are missing our friends and family like crazy. I also can't wait to be able to go to the beach and get a nice tan!

When I was looking for a gift I couldn't help myself and picked up a few things from both Primark and New Look. My hubby accidentally stood on my sunglasses at the end of last year and I have been meaning to find another pair to replace them so when I saw these at Primark I couldn't say no, the same goes for the coral bag. I also got a pair of knitted boots that were on sale and the clothes are all from new look and they were all on sale too, I love sales!

xo Kristy

A Trip to Leeds

This post is a little late because my husband and I got the flu just after our Leeds trip and I let my blog go by the wayside while we recovered, I have to say even after our Beverley trip on Saturday I got home and collapsed for almost two hours! I cant remember the last time I took a nap so to be so tired after such a short day out seems crazy to me especially seeing I thought I had fully recovered.
Anyway, the other weekend my husband and I headed down to Leeds for two days. We have been there once before but it was only for a day and it went by so quickly we both wanted to return. I cant for the life of me remember why we decided to leave so late on a Friday and get home the next evening because normally we will go away for the whole weekend but it worked out so well and we both really enjoyed it! There was so much to see and its fun just walking around in a new city and getting a little lost.

We walked past the Mandela Gardens at some point and seeing my hubby and I are from South Africa it made us a little home sick. We also just get really excited whenever we see something to do with South Africa.

Our only real plan for the trip was to head to the Leeds Royal Armouries. The last time we went to Leeds we only got to see one floor as it was just before closing time and seeing I have a love for museums and am a little on the geeky side I wanted to go back. Sibz and I really enjoyed it and I'd definitely recommend a trip if you are in the area!

After that we headed to Brew dog for a couple of beers, found a random place for lunch after we couldn’t get in to our first choice and decided to kill our last few hours with a movie seeing we hadn’t been to one in a few months and my hubby was feeling tired (which turned into the flu the next day) . We chose the lego movie and both enjoyed it but we didnt think it was quite as funny as its been made out to be.

xo Kristy

A day out in Beverley

Hi everyone, my hubby and I had such a good weekend! We relaxed and took it easy for the most part but we also made a day trip to Beverley on Saturday morning. We have been there a few times before as it’s just a few minutes train ride away from Hull and it’s such a pretty little town to go visit! We have wanted to go back for a day for the last few weeks but something else always came up on the weekends until this weekend. 

We got to the train station quite early and made it into Beverley by 9:30. The only plan I had for the day was to go on the Beverley Minster roof tour. My hubby and I have been into the Beverley minster a few times and I always enjoy going again because it’s such a beautiful building with so much history and detail! That’s one thing I always try to do when I go to a new town in the UK, is visit the minsters, cathedrals or castles! Soon followed by museums or art galleries but that depends on what they have on display inside. Anywho, we killed a few hours by walking around and doing a bit of shopping before the roof tour started and then headed to the minster.

The tour included a lot of history on the minster, here are a few points: it was built for St John of Beverley whose tomb is still in the centre of the church and whose remains attracted pilgrims from a wide area. The remains were actually lost during the reformation but later rediscovered during a floor renovation. The minster was built on marshlands, some of the detail at the foot of the Font actually depicts beavers feet, from Beaver Lake, which later turned into the name Beverley as it’s known today. The town was built around the church instead of the opposite which is the norm. The west end towers are identical to those of Westminster Abbey, whose design was heavily inspired/or copied by Beverley Minster. The central tower of the minster was in danger of collapse in the 18th Century and has never been replaced and the space within the tower is now used as a workshop, which houses one of the only surviving still functional treadwheels and is used to hoist building materials into the workshop! Our guide told us that if we returned on Monday we would get to see it in action.

Some of the wood in the church was carved by Robert Thompson also known as the mouseman of Kilburn, he also did some work in St. Marys which is also in Beverley and I see Hull Holy Trinity Church also has a few pieces by him, I think I will have to go back to find those mice!

Anyway, I really enjoyed the tour and the history of the building, my husband and I would recommend it to anyone! 

The rest of our weekend was spent watching Dr. Who (which we recently got into, I know, we are behind the times!) and the rugby.

xo, Kristy

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog! I have been toying with the idea of starting a blog for a while now and never could quite commit but finally decided to give it a try and start a new adventure in my life! My husband and I have been living in England for the last few months and I wanted to share a few of our adventures around the UK and wherever else life may take us before we return to our home country of South Africa. I hope you enjoy reading a little portion of my life, be it about travel, food, fashion, crafts or anything else. Thanks for stopping by!