Happy Easter!

We're having a special family day here on the P.P.

It's not just Easter for us,  as we have a birthday to celebrate and some sad memories to deal with too.

I've spent a lot of time baking cakes.

 I seem to be working my way through Mary Berry's cake collections. 

I'm particularly thrilled with my Simnel Cake. I've never made one before, so I hope it tastes as good as it looks!

Hope you're all having a lovely Easter time wherever you are, and whatever you're doing.

Flowers on Friday

I'm amazed that I've had this plant since the beginning of February, and I haven't killed it yet.

Shamed

You may have seen the very funny website 'Dog Shaming' where naughty pooches are named and shamed for doing terrible things. We've always laughed and thought Inca is so well behaved she'd never do anything like that.

Well, not today .....

The vast pile of fluff used to be a very attractive doorstop. This morning she carried it out into the garden, and proceeded to run madly round in circles until it was 'killed'. The stuffing was all over the lawn. I was mystified, as she hasn't done anything like this since she was a young pup.

In her defence, I think she got too excited after seeing green stuff in the garden where the snow should to be, and she just got carried away!!!

Yes, Inca, you may hang your head in shame!

A Postcard from Clitheroe

We had to get to Preston yesterday to meet our son at the bus station there. 

He was travelling home on the Megabus from uni in Aberdeen.

We were very concerned about the journey in the snow, which was 6 inches deep on the P.P. 

We had to dig out the little car, to get to the big car behind it, and then had to use a brush to clear tons of snow off the roof. I packed wellies and some extra food provisions just in case, because I'm a worrier. I was dreading our journey on the M6 and even more worried about our son's journey down through Scotland and Cumbria.

We needn't have troubled ourselves, as we were amazed to find that there was barely a white flake beyond Liverpool as we travelled north

This is Wirral snow still on our car bonnet, surrounded by green fields near Preston. 

We had allowed so much extra time for our journey, we arrived with hours to spare, so we were able to pop into Clitheroe nearby.

We had lunch in Qzine, a great little place down Swan Courtyard, before heading to the most amazing wine shop, D. Byrne & Co. This place is packed to the rafters with every wine you can imagine, and the rooms go on forever through a warren of cellars.

Mr. B. was in his element, and chose a few bottles of French wine to savour over the coming Easter hols.

Next stop was Cowman's famous sausage shop which has an equally overwhelming array of sausages. Quite daunting really, but we came away with relatively safe choice of 'pork and apple' and some big chunky beef ones too. 

Clitheroe has some great shops, but we didn't longer any longer because temperatures were sub-zero and we scurried back to the car.

How weird is this display? It was a barber shop. Very odd.

Clitheroe Castle is at the end of the High Street. Must come back one day and climb up there for a view of the town.

On our way back to Preston we stopped at Huntley's Country Stores .... which is serious Food Heaven .... deli, farm butchers, bakers, fishmongers. The  full works!

We didn't have time to do it justice, so it's on my 'must-do' for our next trip. 

I didn't even get a chance to look in this place.

Meanwhile, back on the P.P. we've got more snow,  and I've got a mountain of washing to do!

Flowers on Friday

Pink tulips in my kitchen, and yes, that is snow piling up on the window pane behind them.

A Postcard from the Museum of Liverpool

Yesterday, we went to the Museum of Liverpool, which is a fairly recent addition to Liverpool's waterfront. We've resumed our Date Nights, where we try to do something nice each Wednesday. This one felt like a real date, because I had to drive into Liverpool to meet up with my husband after work, instead of just arriving together. It was like an 'assignation"!

There's a herd of Superlambananas outside. These little cuties can be seen all over Liverpool, and just make us all smile whenever we see one.

After a coffee to warm us up, we headed to the top floor to see the things we missed last time.

Up the stunning spiral staircase.... which made me breathless to say the least.

This is a model of the cathedral that never was. It's the original design for the Catholic Cathedral designed by Lutyens. It would have had the largest dome in the world. Of course, it wasn't built because they couldn't afford it. Construction was abandoned after the crypt was finished, and the Metropolitan Cathedral was eventually built in its place.

A life size figure of the famous Liver bird .... hang on a minute ....

I just need a husband to stand here to show the scale of it.

Best thing about this museum?

The view of the Three Graces outside the window, with the real Liver Birds perched on top of the Liver Building. 

Useless piece of trivia ... did you know that the clock faces here are bigger than those on Big Ben?

This is a massive museum with lots to see. We've had two short visits and still haven't done it all.

Our favourite things are the film clips of real people talking about their lives in the city. 

I could listen to them all day. Fascinating!

 Sadly, though, I still prefer the previous museum that stood here. 

Some of the most memorable exhibits have been lost. 

Where is the turnstile onto the football terraces, 

or the story of the Grand National complete with life size horse clearing a fence?

This museum seems to be a higgledy-piggledy mish mash with no clear themes 

....  or maybe it's just me! 

Maybe, they've got it just right.

That's exactly what Liverpool is .... a huge mix of people and their stories.

The Hunt for Spring

As it's officially the first day of Spring I thought I'd see if I could find any signs of it around on the Paradise Peninsular

Wrapped up in my warmest coat and looking at the miserable grey skies today, 

I wasn't expecting much.

A few tiny daffodils have ventured forth. 

We usually have lots of these in our garden .... but not this year.

A few brave snowdrops sheltering behind our caravan.

Some blossom at last.

A hint of green shoots appearing on lots of the trees.

Something is starting to grow in the field behind our house.

I was glad to discover there are little shoots all around us, 

maybe Spring will suddenly burst forth in time for Easter.

Here's someone who doesn't care what season it is.

One happy lab helping me on my quest today ... 

she's just pleased to find lots of sniffs out on our morning walk.

Currently ...

Whenever I'm doing an Art Journal for my holidays I tend to do a "Currently" page. It's a sort of snapshot of a time in your life ..... what's going on at that moment. Just mundane ordinary things.

There's lots of these sorts of posts floating around in Blogland too, so I thought I'd do one for March.

Currently reading:

This is not my usual sort of read .... it's about a woman serving time for her involvement in the death of a baby..... but it is a page turner, and I need to know what happens next.

Currently eating: 
I should be eating wonderfully healthy things, I know, but I am strangely drawn to chocolate at the moment. Fancy that!

Currently drinking:
My favourite drink right now is freezing cold water. I haven't had anything stronger since Christmas.


Currently wearing:

I've been living in denim leggings, comfy tops and slipper boots since my operation in January. Well, it's an improvement on pyjamas and dressing gowns.  If I go out, I swap the slippers for brown suede boots.

Currently listening to:

Again, this is so not my usual sort of music, but I downloaded the album after liking the single that is being promoted everywhere at the moment. I'm not sure about the rest of it, though, it's very M.O.R. It might grow on me.

Currently looking forward to:

SUMMER!!!

Currently making me happy:
Baking cakes.
I don't usually have much time to mess around in the kitchen, but I"m enjoying working my way through Mary Berry's recipes.

Currently watching:

Another thing that's not my usual sort of choice, but I saw the first episode by chance and sort of got drawn in. It's on More4 on Thursdays.

Currently thinking about:
Planning a few days away somewhere nice before I go back to work . I'm thinking about Florence or Rome maybe.

Currently fed up with:

This freezing cold weather.

It's mid March for heaven's sake!!!!

Where is spring?

Flowers on Friday

A jugful of sunshine on a rainy day!

Kathy's 2nd Kindle

Recently I've been reading a lot ..... mostly on my Kindle .... and mostly it's been a lot of froth and nonsense. When I'm feeling a bit sorry for myself I can't face anything that will upset me even more,  so there's been a lot of instantly forgettable 'cupcake cafes' and 'confetti' stories for weeks now. 

However, now I'm feeling much better, I have really enjoyed these books which have a bit more substance than the rest of the nonsense.

This is almost like a haunting fairytale.

Another romance, but I found it just lovely.

A heartbreaking tale of the devastation caused by one reckless decision. 

This made me cry in parts, being a mum of two young people myself.

 I found this one a bit disappointing, after 'Me Before You' which I loved, but I stuck with it and it redeemed itself at the end.

I've still got a bit of a love/hate relationship with my Kindle after nearly two years.

For:

• books are so easy to purchase with just one click without leaving your bed!
• I usually only buy inexpensive downloads .... if I want something that's costs more I'll go to a bookshop and buy the real thing
• I always look at the Amazon deal of the day  .... a book for 99p every day
• STORAGE ..... I'd need a whole room to store the books I've got through lately
• Convenience .... it fits nicely into my handbag for those hospital appointments

Against: 

• I'm a very visual person, and I forget what I've read unless I can see the cover
• I still find it annoying having to 'scroll' back through the pages to check something out
• I can't pass my finished books onto my friends
• It will never replace the feel of a new book in your hands.
• THEY BREAK .....hence the need for Kathy's 2nd Kindle!

I've just started reading

and it's shaping up quite nicely into a ghostly tale!