Sipping and Painting with LibbyAyres Art

This time last week I was off on a rather special outing to Manchester - to an evening of Sip and Paint with my daughter. As LibbyAyres Art, she's been holding these events every couple of months or so for about the last year but I haven't had the opportunity to go along till now.

The event was held at Grub, an independent street food venue, in an upstairs room decorated with fairy lights and candles, with food available from the vendors in the courtyard.  There was a range of options but I had pork and cabbage dumplings with noodles, and very nice they were too. And for the sipping part of the evening I had a citrusy sour ale.

Then we got down to the serious business of the evening, with my daughter explaining about her synaesthesia, and talking us through what we'd be doing that evening. The music she'd be painting along to was You're the One that I Want from Grease, which came up every third track on the playlist, and we could either copy her exactly, paint our own interpretation of the music, or create something totally different. I went for a sort of middle route.

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This (above) is my daughter's version but although I started off trying to follow her with a swirly blue background, as I progressed, and the music played over and over, I felt I wanted to make my painting a little different, with curly flicks of red. So this (below) is mine. 

One thing I loved was that there was no pressure to create a masterpiece (I've been along to have-a-go art events where there definitely was!). Everyone was free to do as they like, to sit and paint all evening or wander off for food and drinks. Libby wandered among the tables, offering encouragement or answering questions about her synaesthesia.

It was definitely a fun evening, and I feel that I understand synaesthesia a little better now. 

You can find out more about LibbyAyresArt, and her upcoming events here on her Instagram account

and Grub here 

The next Sip and Paint event is 31st March 

Malham - the Cove and Janet's Foss

Our first full day away took us to Malham - walking to the Cove and later to Janet's Foss. Midweek in late April it was very quiet, but car parks and hard core paths to the attractions hint at how busy it could be on a summer weekend. Those visitor numbers are also reflected in the numerous choice of places to eat, considering the size of the village itself, but we dropped our evening dinner plans as the weather felt too cold for sitting around outside. 

Malham itself was far prettier than I'd been expecting. I don't know why but I'd had an image of dour, bleak stone houses huddled against winter winds and snow (maybe a photo in those long ago school text books), whereas it's green and leafy with a pretty beck gently running over stones and under bridges.

I'd heard of Malham Cove long ago in school geography/geology lessons but it's one of this year's 'first's'. Formed by a waterfall from a glacial lake back further in time than even my schooldays, the cliff-face doesn't look really impressive from a distance as its size isn't apparent. Close to, with climbers for scale, you realise how high those cliffs are! 

At the base of the rock-face, water bubbles out after flowing underground, but, although it's no doubt geologically interesting, it feels a bit like of an anticlimax; maybe like ticking-off something worthy-but-dull from a must-see list..

 

I wasn't in the mood to climb the steps (a hundred or so) to the top of the Cove (reports about this being on 'easy' walk aren't accurate, in my opinion) so we headed back to Malham, but not along the stony path we'd taken on the way out. 

Instead we crossed to the other side of the valley via an old clapper bridge, and followed a path between ancient field boundaries, with wonderful views over the village.

It was now mid-afternoon. An awkward sort of time, but after sitting for a while (and deciding it was way too early for dinner at one of the pubs) we headed off on the walk to Janet's Foss - a little longer than the walk to the Cove but flatter. 

Again, the walk itself was quite dull - loose stones or even slabs showing how many trudge this way at busier times of year - till it picked up a brook and headed into a ravine clothed in wild garlic, leading up to the waterfall. 

This section is almost magical, or would be if stumbled upon unexpectedly, and preferably without other visitors, but it definitely makes up for the dull approach.

The recent lack of rain had taken its toll on the waterfall, but it's still a delightful spot. As a warning though (and a reminder to myself), I've read since our visit that this is a popular plunge pool in summer, so it's probably best to visit away from warmer weather.

 

Somewhere new - three days in Yorkshire

Now that the latest lockdown is lifting and we can take holidays again, I'm not making last year's mistake of waiting too long. So, despite my reservations about being away from the safety of home, with the presumed Easter holiday rush over, we booked an AirBnB and headed off for a few days to somewhere new  - the Yorkshire Dales, near Malham. My resolution for this year is about finding new things to do and new places to visit, so it was an excellent choice of location.

The weather had taken a bit of a downturn after the glorious sunshine of the previous week. It was certainly cooler, with occasional spots of rain, but at least we didn't wait till the Bank Holiday weekend, which was just atrocious!

I walked a lot, for me at least - going from my normal 3-5000 a day to over 17000. It's more than I've done in months, and I soon realised how unaccustomed to it I've become, and also how out of the habit of wearing heavy hiking boots I've become (maybe it's time to swap sturdy leather for something lighter) Even so I walked round the RHS Harlow Carr garden in Harrogate, from Malham to the famous Cove and back, then out to Janet's Foss, along the banks of the Skirfare from our AirBnB near Hawkswick to the pretty village of Arncliffe, and to see the waterfalls at Aysgarth and Grassington. Every single one a new experience. I think (hope) I've come home feeling fitter, even if a bit achey, and resolved to keep improving my stamina.

I'm going to be putting up individual posts with LOTS of photographs, so here's just a few - sunset in the Skirfare, Malham Cove, Aysgarth Falls, and blue skies reflected in the still mill ponds at Linton Falls, Grassington.

Obviously in a couple of days, you can only visit an extremely limited number of places and I've come home with a long list of things to do another time - not least of which is a visit to Bolton Abbey and The (actual full size) Strid which is the inspiration behind the garden feature of the same name at Chatsworth. I also want to explore further west, around Ingleton, north to Wensleydale and Richmond, and east to the coast and North York Moors. Add in all the other places I'd like to go and it could be a busy summer! Sometimes I wonder if a campervan would be a good investment for all the short breaks I'd like to take, but then I realise I enjoy the comfort and space of a small cottage with a full-sized comfy bed.

Jottings 22nd November - getting outside

 A while ago I announced my intention to join in with Splodzblogz one hour outside November challenge - but a few days of dampness at the beginning of the month sapped my enthusiasm. Throughout this year doing anything has seemed like so much more effort than normal, add in inclement weather, and spending all day reading or doing online jigsaws seems like a great idea. 

It isn't really though. During May/June my Fitbit was registering only 1000 steps per day (!), and since then I've been taken deliberate steps (lol) to get more exercise. It's harder to plan days out at the moment, but on Thursday we headed out to Shipley Country Park, and I'm trying to pull in a short evening walk every day, only 15/20 minutes in length (I often put dinner in the oven, and THEN go out, as something ready to eat as I come back in is great)

There are more reasons than exercise for getting outside though, even pottering round the garden gives a change of focus and improves my mood. Apart from one day when I did some pruning, I haven't actually been doing anything practical but a few minutes outside generally turns up something interesting, from a flock of long-tailed tits coming to join the resident pigeons, to the amazing winter jasmine now in full bloom.

Undoubtedly the garden looks dull at this time of year, but there are still quite a number of flowers around in odd places, hanging on despite the shorter days and colder nights.

There's maybe just one disadvantage to all this pottering around outside. After last week's attempt to ditch the baggy black trousers, I was back wearing them again this week, because sometimes something a bit more practical is needed.

Evenings have been very busy - first watching The Crown, which I find more fascinating than the Royals themselves (perhaps because their fictionalised lives have a story arc that messy real life lacks), then, for a distinct change of pace, the last series of The Bridge. Binge-watching a boxset has a major drawback, a single series always feels too short, and I'm already looking for something new to watch. It's also time, as nights draw in to rekindle my enthusiasm for console games, so Lara Croft is off on her adventures again. If you've been reading this blog long enough you'll know that I'm a great fan of this fellow Derby woman.

And one evening I slipped in to an open mic Zoom event at which my youngest daughter was playing. I miss going out to gigs, but since my daughter moved up to Manchester I've missed hearing her play. This was almost like old times of going out to pubs and music venues with her, but without the alcohol and sticky floors.

This week's new meal was 'pork chops on a bed of sweet orchard apples' from the Abel and Cole Cookbook. Flavoured with rosemary and cider vinegar this dish tastes very different to pan-fried pork and apples (and sometimes kale). Apples and rosemary came from the garden, and I served it with potatoes and cabbage from the allotment, and carrots given us by another allotmenteer. There may not be any such thing as a free meal, but this comes pretty close.

And the week ended on a cheerful note, thanks to my back garden birch tree. It's the last of my trees to still have leaves, and the last few days have seen them turn to this glorious gold.

The Good Life Experience, at home

Over the weekend I was 'out' at another festival -The Good Life Experience.
In better times this would take place at Hawarden Castle in North Wales but this year the real life event has been postponed and re-formatted into a social-distancing-friendly online event beamed straight to festival-goers living rooms.

I first heard about it quite a few years ago, when, having dipped my toe in the festival scene at Curious Arts, I wanted to rush out and experience more. The Good Life Experience seemed a good fit for me - a celebration of all the things that aren't fast, commercial and 9-to-5, from crafts and cookery, to wild swimming and star-gazing.
Life got in the way back then but it's still on my 'festival bucket list', and if anything this year's at home taster session has deepened my desire to go.
For this year though, the Good Life Experience had to move online; free, but only for those who already have tickets for next year, or, like me, have our names down on the waiting list. In advance I received a package with info about events, vinyl to to take part in a creative workshop, recipes for the campfire cookery, and badges and stickers. Putting plans together it almost seemed like heading off to a real life festival.

I didn't try to do everything. I often arrive at festivals with plans to do and see a hundred things, but they never work out. I did have a busy, fun day though.

I started at 10 with a stretch and exercise class led by Leighton Sharpe.  It's not normally my kind of thing, and even less likely to be at a festival after a late night and erratic sleep in the tent, but sitting around with a cup of tea after breakfast I thought I'd look in via Zoom and discovered that the early part of the session looked do-able even for me, though I did drop out quite soon.
Later I caught a variety of Good Life Experience 'regulars' talking under the banner of Reimagine Your Life about how they'd coped through lockdown - the affect on their businesses and daily lives, what they'd learned, watched, listened to. It made me reflect on my year, what I've missed, and what I've oddly enjoyed about this time. Perhaps I'll stretch these thoughts into a post later.

Cerys Mathews read poetry.


Romy Gill demonstrated things to make on a campfire that were a far cry from toasted marshmallows and burnt (but still sadly uncooked) sausages.

In his Reasons To Be Cheerful event Mark Shayler introduced three people who via diverse paths have found their special 'thing' in life - for Kingsley Walters that was leatherwork, for Yvonne Telford, designing vibrant clothes to make women stand out, and for Amanjot Singh Johal it was running a specialist 'gin joint'. Mark's idea of 'have less, buy better' is something that I realise I've been practising for many years - buying individually produced craft pieces or clothes instead of high street mass production. I think my life is enriched by it, and anyway I like to have things which are a little bit unusual.

David Setter led a vinyl art workshop. It's a little like cutting out shapes of ready-gummed paper to create a collage - but trickier and demanding much more dexterity. David made it look so easy! I'm pleased with my finished kingfisher, adding some leftover scraps to make water, and might try to make another picture from the leftover snippets.

After demonstrations of campfire cooking and how to mix a perfect G+T, I decided to try both, bringing my day to a close cooking in the easier environment of my kitchen while the festival disco track played in the background. My attempt at roti flat bread wasn't a success (both burnt and undercooked like campfire sausages), but both courgette sabzi and the G+T were excellent.













All in all I had a really enjoyable day (although my daughter rather laughed at me attending an on-line festival). There were other activities I could have taken part in - joined a dance workshop, learned how to whittle a spoon, or watched a dog show held on Zoom (possibly the best use of that platform that I've heard of). One day I'll get along to Hawarden itself (perhaps next year with luck) but for now I have something to occupy me ...




Included with the information pack was The Good Life Handbook; fourteen activities for fourteen weekends - a preview of a book to be published later this year, full of challenging and engaging things to do. I firmly believe that despite my age there are new things to experience and discover (and, no, not a trip to Bali. That's never been my style), so I'll be trying some of these activities, and maybe adding some of my own.

Last Trip Out?

Last weekend we were up in Manchester to visit our younger daughter, on what might turn out to be our last trip anywhere for quite a while. We'd originally intended visiting this coming weekend but with corona virus taking hold we decided to pre-empt any lockdown and go while we still could.














This weekend is, of course, Mother's Day (here in the UK) but in addition my daughter would be at a craft fair selling her synaesthesia art*, and we wanted to go along, support her and see the venue, which she's talked about many times - obviously we couldn't. But, while the 'Stall' craft event is only held once a month, every weekend the venue in Manchester's Green Quarter is home to a street food event, 'Grub'.

So we went along in search of food. I wanted to try something new (who knows when I'll next get a chance?), so while my husband tried Pie and Mash stall for (you guessed) pie and mash, I looked at the neighbouring Mediterranean/Turkish influenced food from The Otto-men. Looking down the menu board, I was overwhelmed with choice! Seeing my confusion the stall-holder talked me through the options and then, as I was still obviously undecided, gave me a sample of just about everything on offer - a wonderful tasting-menu style minifeast.


The food stalls were outside, but it was too cold to sit there, so we went inside to the bar where again I tried something new - a pink sour ale, Raspberry Tart from Fierce beer; great colour, great taste and perfect with my plate of hummus, falafels and 'sexy pie'.






It wasn't quite as empty as it seems from the photo - behind us a there was a fully occupied table, and more people were at the downstairs bar - but it was obvious that numbers were less than they would have been on a 'normal' weekend.

Then it was time to explore Manchester's streets again.

This area is further north than I've visited before, but still had that mix of old and new, that I've come to expect - even an olde worlde pub!

I'm glad we went because virus-related things have changed rapidly in this last week, and now we're in semi-isolation. I'm glad to have one last enjoyable day out.













* you can see examples here on her Instagram feed