Billy Bob’s Ice Cream Parlour

It’s half term school holidays here this week and on Monday Caroline invited me along with her, Trev and Charlie on a trip to Billy Bob’s Ice Cream Parlour.  Billy Bob's is a 1950s American themed diner complete with soda fountain.

Set smack dab in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales and not far from Bolton Abbey, it’s an unlikely find housed in this Cape Cod type building.

Caroline had come across mention of it on FaceBook and thought it sounded good and worth a visit.  She wasn’t wrong. 

Inside is nothing but pure 1950s Americana.  A blurry iPhone pic above of the espresso bar but it gives you the general idea of the place. 

We had arrived in time for lunch.  Food was ordered and here Charlie’s waiting patiently for his pancakes…

..and tucking into them with gusto!  I’m sure he even said Billy Bob’s pancakes were better than mine and he thinks mine are awesome.  All I can say is Billy Bob’s must have been very good!  We all enjoyed the food, in fact we almost licked the plates clean! and I just know we’ll go back for another helping one day soon.

Outside there’s a fantastic play area for the kids.  Plenty of seating for grown ups and those table and benches combination thingies where Trev and Caroline are stood were on sliders.  Looked like fun to me!

Lots of big, sturdy, fun stuff to climb over.

Shame about the weather on Monday but imagine that view on a good day!  Easy on the eyes to say the least I can assure you.

So, Caroline, another good find of yours.  You’re a regular little bloodhound when it comes to sniffing out new places to visit aren’t you? 

Llamas in Ealees

Sunday morning a breath of fresh air was the order of the day. 

Nicholas had stayed overnight with us and this was him just out of the shower getting ready to face the world.  A little look into the future I thought.

A stroll through Ealees was what we had in mind.  Caroline and Charlie joined us there.

We had a surprise along the way.  There are now llamas in Ealees!

Needless to say we stopped to take a butcher’s hook.  That’s Nicholas above.  See his wellies?  They’re  mine!  I knew there’d be lots of puddles about and I also knew Nicholas wouldn’t be able to keep out of them.  He hadn’t got his own wellies with him so he asked could he wear mine.  With his own socks and two pairs of mine on as well he managed very well thank you. 

And here’s Charlie.  That stick isn’t any old stick.  It’s a balancing pole while he walks a tightrope over a canyon!

And finally one last, totally unrelated as it happens, picture.  George slept over Saturday night before last and it was a bit cold first thing in the morning so he got himself the “sick quilt” to snuggle under.  We love that old Dutch Doll quilt.  It has a bit of a story to go with it and that story can be read here.

Until next time,

Don’t Want to Whinge and Whine…

…because I know some folks are a lot worse off weather wise than we are.  Take Somerset in the southwest for instance.  Those poor souls are still suffering flood conditions after I don’t know how many weeks of it.  But the fact is, I’m ready for blue skies and bright sunshine.

Ready for dry paths when we walk down the canal towpath.  Like Caroline and I did recently at Uppermill.

Ready for fewer grey clouds.  It’s still good to be out and about but everywhere is so gloomy.

I thought this was pretty though, regardless of the colour of the sky.  The water was so still it was like a looking glass.  I was going to say mirror but looking glass sounds so much more refined don’t you think?

And a coffee shop always brightens the day.  This is a new cafe Caroline had been told about by a friend.  It’s just off the towpath, rather pleasant and definitely our kind of place.  Dogs are welcome inside too so Caroline’s dog, Harley, got to come in out of the cold and join us.

A different coffee shop now.  This one is in Hebden Bridge.  My sweet niece Lindsey came up for a visit last week and I took her to Hebden Bridge.  We had a lovely couple of hours together chatting non stop about this and that.  One of the subjects under discussion was sewing.  It seems we both have a fondness for patchwork and that being the case I was delighted to show her a new fabric shop which has only been open a month or so.

The Quilt Cabin has rocked my world!  I’m thrilled to bits at having somewhere so close and full of all the wonderful, colourful, top quality fabrics I see in the World Wide Web’s quilter blogs corner. 

So, there we have it.  This post might have started off with grey clouds but it’s ended with all the colours of the rainbow!

Needles and Pins

In December, after many years of intending one day to make a patchwork quilt I finally took the plunge and made one, albeit a small one.

And here it is my first attempt ever at patchwork quilting.  A Christmas table topper.  I had hoped to finish it in time for Christmas but didn’t quite manage it.  I’m really quite pleased with it and can see plenty more of this in my future for certain.

I indulged in a bit of knitting before Christmas too.

 

This side of Christmas I’ve been having a lot of fun sewing.  I made this simple slip-in cover for my Kindle and little zipped pouch to hold my knitting and crochet bits and pieces.  I’ve also made a couple of patchwork tote bags but I can’t get a good picture of them for love nor money so will not be putting them on show here.

 

Oh, and I’ve turned a king size duvet cover into a double sized one with two matching pillowcases.  That was very satisfying because there’s also plenty of material left over to use in a quilting project of some description.

And finally this crochet blanket is finished apart from the blocking.  So, what to do next is the question.  I’ll come up with something that’s for sure.

Until next time,

Time is at it Again!

Flying that is.  Already it’s the 26th of January and before anybody can say Jack Robinson February will be here!  Oh well, nothing to be done about it so we’d better just hold on and enjoy the ride.

1. I snapped a selfie of me wearing my new jumper, a Christmas present from Caroline and Trev.  I really like it!  The jumper that is.
2. George stayed over early in the month and I took him to Hebden Bridge for lunch.  Pretty Christmas lights were still in evidence.
3. George snuggled up to grandad on the couch.  These two pics are in the wrong order this should have been before the last one.
4. John and Lesley came round a couple of Saturday nights ago.  We played Rummikub.  I love that game and happily I won that night.  We always have a good time together and conversation flows over the game along with a glass or two of good cheer.
5. A week last Monday Lesley rang to invite me out for a walk through Ealees with her and John.  The weather was not good but it didn’t matter in the least.   If we waited for the sun to shine we might never set foot outside the door from one blue moon to the next!  Not that rotten weather is going to be a problem for John and Lesley for the next couple of months.  The very next day they jetted off to New Zealand!
6. However there have been a few good weather days.  When Caroline’s shifts allow she often rings to see if I’d like to join her for a walk and sometimes we do catch a glimpse of that blue sky we know is up there somewhere.
7. Charlie stayed overnight last week and here he is reading his school book to grandad.
8. What else but pancakes for breakfast the morning after.  He says my pancakes are awesome!
9. A Sunday morning treat.  A cup of tea with my Kindle in bed.  Love it!

And finally a portrait of Nicholas.  I posted lots in the last post of Nicholas trying not to laugh while I read him jokes from a book.  This is another taken at the same time.   Cute, eh? 

Until next time,

No Laughing Allowed

When somebody is telling you jokes and laughing out loud because they’re so funny it’s hard not to laugh along too.  But when you are being told not to laugh it’s even harder.

Last weekend to bring Nicholas out from under a cloud I challenged him to keep his face straight while I told him some jokes.  He did his level best not to laugh.  He almost succeeded but not quite.  Unfortunately I only got one picture of him when he finally did burst out laughing.  However it was totally blurred because I was laughing so much too!  Never mind though, I still got all these cute pics of him.

Just One More Ho Ho Ho.

It seems like very old news now but I just want to post this final Christmas instalment. 

On Christmas morning William and I visit both our daughter’s homes with gifts for them and the boys.  We are so lucky that both girls live within striking distance and that we able to visit them each in their homes and see our little grandsons all excited with their piles of gifts from Father Christmas.

Charlie loves all things involving knights, Disney and castles so Christmas morning he wasn’t disappointed.

Neither were George and Nicholas who both received hudl tablets and were thrilled with them.  They were three very lucky and very happy little boys.

Christmas dinner is always held at our house.  This year Trev did the honours in the kitchen, very ably I might add, and I relaxed and watched the boys open their stocking.

I hang a stocking up each year at our house for each of the boys and fill them with a variety of little things.  I took a picture for posterity this year.  In years to come I’m hoping that this blog will still be floating around in the clouds somewhere and the boys will read it when they’re all grown up and say “Oh yeah, I ‘d forgotten about those stockings but I remember now!”…. or something like that.

This pic’s a bit blurry I know but I like how Nicholas is showing Charlie that he has a Christmas top on too.  Christmas Day is a long time in the making and once it arrives it’s all go and whizzes by in a flash!  It’s a shame isn’t it?  I wish Christmas morning could last and last.  Wouldn’t that be great for the kids?

Our Christmas present to Charlie was this Hot Wires Electronics Kit.  While his parents were both working one day he stayed with us and brought the Hot Wires for him and grandad to play with.  Above you see them both having fun and getting stuck into the first project.

Second project, still going strong…

.. but Charlie seems to be getting a bit fed up of just watching.

Hang on though, that’s better.

A joint effort - much more fun!

So, that’s it for another year but before I sign off just one more thing.  Victoria saw this idea on FaceBook and told me about it. 

I think it’s a really nice idea and I have a jar started.  Hopefully it’ll be quite full by the end of the year.

Happy New Year!