Finding balance

There's a man in Hebden who can often be seen standing in the river by the bridge making stone sculptures. The other day he was teaching some children how to balance stones.

Boyfriend filmed him for a few minutes too. He's so impressive to watch. You can see the video here.

And this is the other side of the bridge. For the first time ever, I think I can officially say: I love my town

Making the most of it...

I can't believe a couple of weeks ago we were dressing like this

and sitting outside doing this

while watching this (I've never seen a heron come so close to humans before. He was fishing away and walking along the bank while all the pub-goers watched and snapped pics of him)

Oh and more of this (we definitely milked the last few rays of summer sun sitting on our wall). 

Sidenote: the blackberries are growing at the end of our alley. I need to go and pick some to make Cambridge street back alley crumble. The saucisson came from France, naturally. Boyfriend has a bit of an obsession with it and got our friend Cynthia to bring about 5 when she came to see us. He's rationing them until our next French guests get here with more. 

Anyway, that was before. Now we're eating autumn food

and enjoying cool sunsets from the highest pub in the area. It's a long walk up but it anihilates the guilt of ordering a Sunday roast. And I get to wear my winter coat.

The walk home is pretty nice too. The aim is to get back down to Hebden before it gets too dark to see the slugs that lurk everywhere.

Hurry up!! Time to go home and turn the heating on...

Pining for... the classics

I'm finally back with my weekly(ish) roundup of Pins! If you follow me on Pinterest you'll have noticed lots and lots of Yorkshire related pins. These places are all on my ever-growing to do list, but I won't bore you with them. Or maybe I will once I've actually been to them. These are the few things I've pinned in recent months (somehow moving and the million things it involved made Pinterest look futile for a while. But I'm back on the band waggon now!!)

You can't beat a bunch of peonies. hint hint hint! 

Autumn is here, and with it a perfect excuse to spoil myself with some Yorkshire weather appropriate gear. I've already bought a nice warm coat and a nice granny cardigan. Maybe these boots will be next.

This is the style I'd like to go for if I ever figure out how to make room for a sofa in my lounge.

This is what I had envisionned for the space above my fireplace. Sadly it looks like our "don't drill holes in the walls" landladies have put the damper on it. Maybe in my next house...

This reminds me very much of work, in a nostalgic "I'm so glad I don't have to put up with this anymore" way. I also have the added bonus of being able to skype with my old colleagues to get all the daily the gossip. I love a win-win situation.

And another little reminder of my pre-Yorkshire life. This sums up exactly how I feel about Paris: there's got to be beauty in there somewhere, but all I can see is dirt and misery. I haven't missed it yet, and I don't see the feeling changing. We've met so many people here and we get a lot of "but why did you leave Paris to come to Yorkshire??". I can understand how it can seem weird. My usual answer is "because we wanted to stop surviving and start living". It's working out quite well so far.

Uptown(ish) girl

On my quest for continuous discoveries and adventures, I decided we should venture out of our usual walk routine and into the posher part of town. At least I think it's posh. There are some huge houses. There are also some terraces like ours, only with access straight into the woods at the end of most streets. I've google mapped it all and I'm pretty sure this is our itinerary:

Walk into town and cross over the main square to the bus stop. Take the steps across the street (Commercial street) and go up, up, up! On the way, you'll spot some cute overgrown gardens and the occasional cat.

This will take you straight up to School street, where there's a nice view of the town (even better if you're a bit taller than me)

If you like you can walk down Osborne street and straight into the woods. If you're not wearing the right shoes for a muddy path, turn left into Marlborough road and admire the houses. Try not to think about their price.

When you get to the junction with Birchcliffe road, turn left into it. (or carry on up Sandy gate and go for a longer walk to Wadsworth. There's a nice pub there, and some friendly cows to show you the way)

Birchcliffe road winds all the way back down to the town centre but there's all sorts to see on the way. Would you like to rent an office in this very old building for £40 a week? (I'm thinking of doing it. The neighbour's dog is driving me round the bend) It's also a youth hostel. Definitely worth looking into!

Chapel avenue and Edward street are full of terraces like ours but slightly bigger. Check out the colors. Actually I walked past this house again the other day and it's for rent!

I like the forest at the end of the street. I also like the washing line arragement. I wonder how many times someone has ran over the pole while leaving the street.

This is my favourite house. You can't really tell but it's got amazing stained glass windows and a lovely view across town.

This house name makes more sense now I see the map: it's on Eiffel street.

The last strip of Birchcliffe street is lined with these town houses that all have a stunning view of Hebden and had me counting how many times I would need to play the lottery to risk winning enough money to own one.

Blackberries all over the place! I'm going to go on a picking expedition soon.

And we're back in Hebden! Time for a cup of tea and a slice of cake! Pick any cafe or tea room, they're all pretty good. I have a preference for weathergills because of all the wartime bunnies, but don't let that influence your decision.

Our house, in the middle of our street

Actually it's closer to the end of the street. But that wouldn't have sounded quite right. This is a "what I call" intermediate post (hello Miranda fans!) that doesn't feature every little detail of every little room. In fact I just realised one room has been left out altogether (the office: Boyfriends' mighty kingdom, a fortified castle made entirely of guitars and paperwork). I'm not showing the cellar because I don't think it's fit to be seen on a blog. Or the terrace, because the harsh sun and the slugs haven't been kind to the flowers left by our landladies. 

So let's just start with the sofa-less lounge. 

I seem to be going for a typical early 1970's vintage overkill look here. The furniture arrangement is bad, very bad. But there's something in the way:

A beautiful but completely pointless fireplace that has been blocked up. It also sticks out about a mile into the room and doesn't even have a mantelpiece to put pretty things on. In short, it hasn't got much going for it. Maybe one day I'll live in a house with a fireplace that actually works. Then I'll be complaining about the dust it makes. Dear fireplace: it's not you, it's me.

Anyway, back to the only fireplace / radiator / window free wall in the room:

Long time readers will recognize my lovely cocktail cart. Now to the left, we have: my first (and probably last) major Etsy purchase! I love it but I paid far too much for this beauty that was supposed to be in excellent condition. And it was delivered two days late. Also, I need to paint over the doors because those colours aren't working at all. Why anyone would want to paint it before selling it is beyond me. It makes a nice book case though.

Two of my favourite new things: a vase that my brother bought for me at the Hebden Bridge antique shop, and a fruit bowl that my neighbour gave me after we bumped into each other at the vintage fair in Skipton. She asked me what kind of vintage things I liked, I said "all the things!!" and ended up with this and a really cute biscuit barrel that belonged to her great-grandma.

Now let me introduce you to my second love: Nathan table and chairs! They were sold together but they don't actually match. They look good (this is a euphemism for "I love them and don't care that they take up the entire room. I'm keeping them!"). I've spent ages cleaning them but haven't got the courage to open up the table and look what condition the extra leaf is in. Maybe if the Queen and her family ever come for tea or something.

Long time readers will also recognize this little fellow who came with us from France. I didn't have the heart to sell him, and I think he's looking pretty good in his little nook next to the fireplace with the new vintage mirror that can't be hung on the wall because it weighs a ton.

On to the kitchen, also known as the smallest and ugliest room in the house. But I love it because it's my first ever real kitchen with real counters and integrated appliances and a view. A new basil plant has moved in!

Along with 4 new vintage mason jars for £1,50 each! Please ignore the udon and peppers, a feast was being prepared.

The bathroom needs a bit of work doing to it. To be precise, the washing hamper needs to go and be replaced with a beautiful one. And the tropical plant needs to stop turning yellow. You can't see it because it's ugly, but there's a shower cubicle to the right of the hamper. And a toilet to the left of the window.

It's all very blah, but it's a big bright bathroom with a window that opens, so you'll never hear me complain about it (except when I have to wash my face with either stone cold or boiling hot water. And when I'm hoovering the linoleum, which hasn't been stuck down except around the edges, but not in the corners.).

Behold, our new twin beds! Not to brag or anything but our "bed" is now as wide as a kingzise. Or superking, or whatever you call it. It's niiiiiiiiice. It's also nice not bouncing up and down each time Boyfriend turns over in bed. AND we now have separate duvets. Very sexy. I can already tick the sleep mask and ear plugs boxes you know. We're well on our way to becoming the trendiest couple in Hebden. I'll let you know when we push the beds to opposite sides of the room and start wearing false teeth. 

And now, just because, some random pictures of flowers (and my good old desk)!

And to finish, our first housewarming present! It says "live well, love much, laugh often" and it was very well chosen by our friends Sarah and Blair. Now if only we had the courage to hang some other pictures up... this no holes in the wall business is giving me a bit of a mental block. Anyone know where I can buy this isopropyl rubbing alcohol that's needed to clean the walls before hanging damage control strips that can only hold a tiny frame anyway and must not be used over a bed? *sigh*

In the next episode of Bunnies & stripes: take a walk in the poshest neighbourhoods of Hebden Bridge and drool over some beautiful old houses!