Pontefract, Potatoes & Pumpkins

It's safe to say I'm cream crackered. It's just gone 9 o'clock and I could quite happily go to bed right now, twenty one going on eighty. I'd be going to bed very happy though as I have a two pumpkins on my sideboard (blue and orange to be precise, yes you heard me, blue) and a bath full of potatoes- they needed to dry out and living in a flat we don't have a garden/ shed. 

Today we left the city and ventured 30 miles South to the market town of Pontefract. The town itself wasn't very market-like but we found a castle with free parking, bingo, and free entry, double bingo. After wandering round the ruins and reading every sign we drove 1.6 miles down the road Farmer Copley's farm. I don't think we were aware of how popular this place would be, but it was the first weekend of pumpkin picking so really we shouldn't have been surprised. 

Wellies would have been the most sensible footwear to trudge across a field in, but nonetheless, my not-so-white converse held up. After walking past hundreds of pumpkins we reached the main reason for our visit, the potato field. We love potatoes, any form, any kind so we were delighted to be told they had blue ones for us to pick. No, I'm not loosing my marbles we have a blue pumpkin and blue potatoes. Once we filled a basket (and I had a worm thrown in my face) we took them off to be bagged, £5 for 12.5 kilos means we won't be needing potatoes until 2016. 

Looking back we probably should have got a wheel barrow as we entered the pumpkin field, so Jay may have ended up carrying the 12.5kg worth of potatoes round as we went in search of our pumpkins. (Pay back for throwing a worm in my face really) Now, I should probably put it out there that we didn't come here in search of a pumpkin, but upon talking to a witch, a member of staff that was dressed up, we were reassured that they would last until January if we really wanted! Another half an hour later we had found the right pumpkins and took them to the checkout ready to take home. 

By this point we were starving as we hadn't eaten lunch, so we put our goodies in the car and headed down to the cafe. I chose a sausage sandwich, whilst jay had a ham and chutney sandwich with some chips to share. We then went for a browse round the farm shop, pining over the fresh produce and yummy Halloween goodies. On our way out we stopped by the animals to say hello, then headed back to the car to make our way home. It was a lovely day, and we had our first of the potatoes with tea, they were delicious!

Saturday in the City

I'm currently sitting on the sofa, catching up on Gogglebox, surrounded by snotty tissues and have been in my pajamas since 4 o'clock. TMI? Maybe, but it's a sign that I had a fabulous day in London yesterday. My day started by leaving the house at 7:20 in the morning, I know, no-one should be out of the house at that time on a Saturday morning unless you're going on holiday. I then hopped onto a train and spent the following two hours snoozing, browsing the web and completing Sudoku's, yes I am a nerd, no I don't care. 

On arrival I headed over to Platform 9 and 3/4 to meet up with two of my uni girlfriends, Ellie and Gaby, who I hadn't seen since the end of may, far too long if you ask me! Our first destination was Leicester Square to scout out some cheap West End tickets and we did just that. £27 later and we had seats to the matinee performance of Wicked, bargain right! (They may have been right at the back in the corner, but that didn't hinder the enjoyment and it meant we got to use those cute red binoculars). The £27 also got us a free drink and a cake in the company's cafe on Shaftesbury Avenue which was a lovely added extra, and a nice way to catch up. If you're wondering I opted for a hot chocolate (of course) and a raspberry and white chocolate muffin. 

After we'd warmed up and filled our tummies, we went for a wander and became tourists, ambling round M&M world, roaming round Covent Garden and sitting and watching the street performers. Two o'clock soon came around, so we grabbed some lunch at EAT and made our way over to Victoria. If any of you haven't seen Wicked then I couldn't recommend that you see it more! The performer's voices are incredible and the story couldn't be more gripping. (And when you can get seats for £27 why wouldn't you want to!)

Once the show had finished, our three man band was down to two as Gaby had a train to catch, so me and Ellie headed over to Embankment to find somewhere to go for dinner, it was a good food day. We sat down for cocktails at Las Iguanas, then ventured over to Wahaca for some grub, an unusual but yummy restaurant. We did the usual and ordered too much, so decided to go for a romantic walk along the Thames, admiring the pretty sights and lights. Big Ben chimed 8, and it was time to go our separate ways, but fear not we shall be reunited in just over a months time for Graduation and I cannot wait. I had a lovely day and can't wait to do it again in the future!

The sun has got his hat on

What glorious weather we have been having recently, the sun has been shining, birds have been singing and I have been stuck at work. Yes, whilst half of Britain basked in our mini-heatwave that made us warmer than the exotic lands of Spain and Greece, I was part of that other half who was stuck inside, following the fan around the room and spraying myself with water at every opportunity. It wasn't all doom and gloom though. I have managed to enjoy and appreciate this weather on a few occasions!

The first was a short bike ride with my sister to deliver some party invitations to a friend (yes, I felt like I was 7 again posting their envelopes through the door with their names written in gold, sparkly pen). I'm lucky enough to live right next door to fields and woods, making it a picturesque place for pedaling up and down hills. Granted, I did get eaten alive by bugs and it wasn't the most padded of seats, but I did have a nice bonding session with the littler version of me, even if I did give her no choice as to whether she was coming or not, and I got to enjoy the evening summer sun we all wish for when it's pouring with rain.

My second encounter with the big, yellow ball of fire happened over the weekend when I finally got to see my 'little sisters', not technically my little sisters but they might as well be. Mum gets to go every Friday afternoon to spend time with them, but due to my work schedule I cannot accompany her. So instead me and Jay spent our Saturday morning taking them to the park, splashing in a stream, hopping on stepping stones, singing copious amounts of nursery rhymes on the trampoline (ring-a-ring-a-roses and sleeping bunnies were popular choices) and enjoying a lunchtime BBQ. No better way to spend a Saturday, apart from the dodgy sunburn mark on my shoulder that better disappear before I go on holiday otherwise I will be spending my days trying to cover up the fact that I'm a typical British sun disaster, that I try to convince myself otherwise.

As of this week, the sun seems to be fed up and has gone back into hiding, although the Telegraph tells me that we are expected another heatwave, and it will be even hotter (a 'I'll believe it when I see it ideal)! The weather lady also promises me that it's going to be nice by the end of the week, and I hope she doesn't break her promises as I've got Friday off work (yay) and I'm off to London Zoo for their Sunset Safari. Keep your eyes peeled, as I will give you an update on how my adventures in London unfold later this week!