RHS Harlow Carr

You are now reading the blog of a fully fledged RHS member. Yes, I'm twenty-one years old going on sixty. We hadn't even stepped through the doors before handing over our money, those sales guys see us coming! But, it's no secret how much I love a good garden centre, so pair that with acres of flowers, plants and trees galore and I'm sold. 

This is most definitely my new happy place. Pair that with the fact that it was a scorcher of a day and I was pretty much in heaven. I'm probably forgetting to mention that the real reason we headed here was because my Dad was up from home visiting my grand-parents, so thank you papa for introducing us to this wonderful gem. Walking round, the gardens were scattered with tulips, keeping in with the season and all that jazz, and with my recent obsession with the flower you can imagine I got a bit picture snappy.

At the half-way point we had a pit stop at an outdoors Betty's shack. I wasn't going to be one of these crazy fools who have a hot drink because it's somehow refreshing. No-way, hos-say. I opted for two scoops of chocolate ice-cream in a tub, and what a good choice that was. Once the oldies had rested their legs, we set off again, ambling round and admiring the hours of handy work some dedicated gardeners put in. I probably should include something about the time I also spent glamorously dodging wasps, there is downsides to the great outdoors and those insects are one of them.

I must admit I was pretty sad to leave, I could have spent hours there. But it just means I'm hella excited to return and explore the woodland walks and meadows, because, ya know, we get in for free now and all that,

York Residents Festival // Part 1

So you may remember me mentioning a few weeks ago that my weekend was spent celebrating the fact that I am in-fact a York Resident. This meant that with a small, rectangular piece of blue plastic, I was granted free entry into a whole host of tourist attractions, and as you can probably imagine I lapped it up. It's so much fun being a tourist in your own city and I though what better way to look back over all the exciting things I got up to then share it with you guys. To make it even more thrilling I've split my weekend up so I don't ramble on too much, and don't worry I won't tell you every detail just incase you want to visit these places yourself- I highly recommend it. 

The first of our adventures started at approximately 11am at Clifford's Tower. After having a little lie in and waking up to sun we were keen to bunch together as many activities as possible, and this one had been on our to-do list for a while. Clifford's Tower is the ruins of part of the castle that once stood and is an English Heritage owned building, so there is usually a charge of around £4 for an adult. However, on a sunny day I think that this monument is totally worth the price as there is so much to read about and the views go on for miles! (We played the game of who can spot our flat first)

After a good forty minute amble we headed over to the neighboring Castle Museum and managed to bypass the queue with our blue, plastic card, you can probably imagine the smug-ness. The last time I went to this museum I was about ten so it was nice to revisit and relive the distant memories. This is a great destination to spend a few hours learning about different historical aspects, but my favourite part has to be the Victorian street they've set up. You literally transformed back in time as you wander in and out of houses and shops, listening to talks and experiencing their way of life, if you liked Diagon Alley at the Harry Potter Studio Tour then you'll love this. {Insiders secret: they have three different scents that are pumped out into this section making the experience even more lifelike!}

A quick spot of lunch later and we've trekked to the other side of the city to the Yorkshire Museum, how intellectual are we? This attraction gives you an idea what happened in York after the Ice Age, through the viking period and onto the Romans. For me it wasn't quite up there with the Castle Museum but we did get our hands dirty in attempting to make a Roman pot, it's safe to say clay modelling isn't my calling in life. Once we'd finished up inside our day ended with a stroll around the museum gardens. These are always open to the public free of charge and are beautiful to walk round, even if you've got some spare time on your hands before catching a train. 

As you can probably imagine our feet were pretty much begging for us to sit down so we called it a day and headed home,via some shops of course. If you're planning a trip to York soon I'd definitely put these destinations on your itinerary! 

Here comes the bride!

I have just returned from one of the best weekends of summer, a beautiful weekend away in Lincolnshire at a family wedding. I don't think I've ever told you how much I love weddings but they make the best days, and they're even better when the sun is beaming down (sorry men, but this is the one day you have to grin and bear it being suited and booted). It all began on Friday when we packed up the car and started our two and a half hour road trip North {the second road trip Dudley has made this month, you can read about the first here!} 

As we couldn't check into our lodge, yepp lodge, until 4pm we had arranged to meet the other brothers & wife/girlfriend at Sutton on Sea, a small little town with strips of sand, salt water and seashells. The next few hours were spent eating lunch, sunbathing, shell picking, playing french cricket and an American football game I'm still yet to understand the rules. After being dragged away, I'm a beach baby, we headed off  to find some mountainous speed bumps and windy country lanes. As wild twenty-something year olds we passed the next 8 hours cooking thai curry, recovering jeans from the washing machine and playing a very competitive game of Settlers of Catan. 

The next morning was wedding day and what could be better than waking up to blue skies! The ceremony was held in the village church followed by a wonderful reception at The Mill House. The food was delicious and the decor was dazzling! Us party animals were seated in the center of the dance floor as the party rings,(if only they had seen us the night before) but we did manage to uncover the young beings inside us spending the night dancing like nobody was watching with copious amounts of wine, no hangover incurred this morning though, result! 

To round off the wedding we headed to a BBQ with more alcohol, lots more food, a bouncy castle and lots of reminiscing from the day before! We also managed to squeeze in a visit to a 'pick-your-own-fruit' farm, the strawberries were out of season however we filled a punnet of raspberries for just £2.30, what a bargin!

Yorkshire Amblings

Last weekend me and my lovely other half set off on a road trip after work up the A1 to our new apartment in 
New York. Traffic jams, 3 CDs and a 10 o'clock McDonald's later we arrived at our destination, and as you can imagine collapsed into bed. 12 hours later we were feeling rejuvenated and ready to go to destination number one, York Maze.

Only opening for the summer season we seized the opportunity of a sunny day and drove out to the rural landscape of York. As you can imagine the car park was heaving, but after playing a game of spot the space we were out of the car and off to get lost. Much to my delight as you entered there was a beautiful gift shop full of the most heart eyes gifts you could ever imagine, I'd pay the £13.50 entry fee just to go to the shop. However I was dragged away and told that we'd look in there on the way out. The rest of the day was spent finding our way through the maize maze, playing a very competitive game of crazy golf (I lost), getting freaked out in the maze of illusions, watching pigs race, jumping on a bouncy pillow, braving the drop slide and winning a limbo competition (Jason, not me). After then spending half an hour in the shop we headed home, and spent the rest of the evening in our local pub playing cards and eating some delicious home made burgers.

Day 2 was spent doing one of my favourite things to do at the moment, homeware shopping! {All the big stuff was already there, but its the little bits turn a house into a home.} We had to head into town first to purchase wedding outfits but after that we hit the shops like Tesco, Wilkinson and B&M and shopped to our hearts content. Our apartment is now newly equipped with bedside tables, bedside lamps, cushions and a clock and is coming together beautifully!

{Over the next week or so The World of Beth will be getting an uplift, so don't be too surprised when you next visit}