Cub be good to me

This weekend I am on my own as my son has gone off to Cub camp without me. As it is Wimbledon and Glastonbury it rained all night BUT today has dawned sunny and bright. I hope he's having an amazing time.

I didn't bother packing ANY soap.








- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

When in Eboracum

Today dawned sunny and warm but soon degenerated to drizzle followed by deluge. We considered going to the cinema but I decided to come over to York instead as one of Britain's finest cities is on our doorstop.

The first stop was chain restaurant, but nonetheless enjoyable, tapas in La Tasca. We have been a few times and it's always a meal that we enjoy, especially as it gives my son the chance to eat meat which, with a vegi Mum, is sometimes not available at home. The spread was magnificent.







However, our favourite part might have been sharing churros, marshmallow, strawberries and molten chocolate for dessert:






Afterwards I did a bit of shopping (with my son making sad faces throughout) and I ended up doing one of those self-justification things when I bought a new rain coat for £50 which I can ill afford. The justification was that originally it was £119 and therefore such an amazing bargain that it couldn't be passed up. And that it was raining and I was a mite soggy. And it's beautiful.

Our ultimate destination was the fabulous Yorkshire Museum which we visited a few months back but didn't complete. It's great for children and has a brilliant dinosaur exhibition and lots of Roman artefacts. It also houses the famous Jorvik helmet



The craftsmanship is beautiful and it's survival as a complete object is miraculous. My favourite fact is that it was not found in a careful archaeological dig but was found dangling from the prongs of a JCB scooping out the foundations of a shopping centre.

On the way home there was an appalling traffic jam on the A64 so we went cross-country. This involved travelling over the top of Towton Moor, scene of the bloodiest battle on British soil on Palm Sunday, 1461. It's an exposed and desolate place and in rain so hard that Noah would have struggled to navigate through it we weren't stopping. However, expect a blog on the site and the memorial church in Saxton very soon.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Hip at the Hepworth

Today we had to do boring jobs which didn't leave long for enjoyable activities. However, I'm always keen on getting out and as the newest major art gallery in Britain, the Hepworth Gallery is only 20 minutes away we zoomed down to see it.

The building is fantastic and, like most modern art museums, so is the cafe and the shop.





As it is half-term there was a kid's activity where we got to make a sculpture based on any inspiration from the gallery. My son created a great sculpture





Based on this Hepworth sculpture




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Here be more dragons

It's positively sub-tropical in Yorkshire today and there was no way that I was going to spend the day at home. Instead we zoomed off to Brodsworth Hall in South Yorkshire.

There was a 'Fairies and Dragons' day. My son was initially hesitant as he feared pink glittery fairy contamination. However he cheered up no end when he found out he was able to avoid the fairies completely and we just did the manly dragon trail.







We completed the dragon trail: achieving 7/12 but there were some fairly odd questions. The end of the trail was a visit to a storyteller in the hazy sunshine






And how did the afternoon end? Perfectly.







- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

I say: Belsay

Yesterday we had another lovely day at an English Heritage site: this time Belsay Hall and Castle in Northumbria. Since I paid for English Heritage I've tried to go somewhere every couple of weeks.

Belsay was super as it offered lots of different activities, including a perfect Jane Austen style hall




Then there were beautiful gardens, particularly the unusual quarry gardens




But the real reason we visited was the castle and the Time Traveller event where we got to learn Medieval etiquette. My son learnt to bow to Richard III and I was selected to be the 27th Earl of Alnwick's wife and be curtseyed to.



After learning etiquette my son learn to brandish a spear as a member of the English militia. The only downside? We found out that he doesn't like coronation chicken




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone