A comeback and a preview

Well, we're back after 3 weeks of travelling and I can definitely say: there's no place like home. Although we saw lots of lovely people and stayed in some comfy beds, nothing beats Hebden Bridge and our attic bedroom, where the sound of water running through the lock sends us to sleep at night and the geese wake us up nice and early in the morning.

We took a trip to France, mainly for Boyfriend's book promotion events. Yes, I now live with a buddingly successful author and yes I am rather proud and smug about it (to be fair I have spent years proofing and correcting the many many versions of these masterpieces so I'm allowed to bask in the glory). We took the opportunity to visit family and friends and I was even treated to a surprise romantic getaway at the end of it (more on that s(w)oon!).

I spent a lovely Easter weekend in Alsace with my Mama while Boyfriend attended a horror film festival in Tours, where I hear there was as much if not more partying than there was book-signing... Here are a few snippets of what I got up to:

We stayed in a cute little village full of wine-growers and nicely decorated houses.

I could have just called this post "flowers, food and fantastic architecture". This basically sums up the weekend.

 

Oh yes, Alsace is famous for its storks. Don't really know what else to say about that, except that the first time I saw a nest up on a house in the middle of one of these cute towns I assumed it was some kind of plastic tourist attraction. I know better now!

 

I'm not sure whether this fireman's truck is still in use but it's certainly in good condition. Shiny!

This local version of cheesecake was lovely. I Wish I could say as much of the lady at the bakery but I can't. After living in Yorkshire for a while, French customer service seems like a bit of a joke. Again: I'm glad to be back!!

But the cake looks nice, so there's that...

Like I said: lots of flowers. Boyfriend just introduced me to photoshop so some of these pics have been ever so slightly tweaked. Can you guess which ones?

Alsace is full of beautiful old buildings that look nice and cosy as if they've come straight out of a story book.

It kind of makes me want to sit outside and dream about my future house(s)...

The week, briefly

I don't seem to be managing to post consistently again yet as most of my day currently revolves around forklift truck related translations that are rather intense and draining, so here's a mish-mash of some of the fun things I've been up to recently!

My Mama came to visit for the weekend and left me a sweet potato that was purple inside, so I made it into colourful soup! Yum.

There was a beer festival on in Heptonstall recently, which to me was just a good excuse to have a wander around my favourite place. I don't think I'd fancy having my garden furniture resting on ancient tombstones, would you?

This little house, on the other hand, I would move into any day. *Swooooon*

We visited the tiny museum which had some interesting books and writing equipment in it.

Even some old desks from the school!

In front of the museum was nice display of flowers and plants and I even ended up with a free bunch that was "past it's best" but that's lasted all week and made the house smell lovely.

I wanted to show you a bit of what we get up to in the evenings, so here are two videos (click and click again) of the open mic session at our local. The filming is terrible so just sit back, close your eyes, enjoy the music and imagine a nice cosy pub full of friendly people.

The weather really warmed up for a day at the beginning of the week, we even walked home without wearing our coats after spending the afternoon working on our laptops in the sunny corner of a cafe. I got all excited about Spring again and so did all the other flora and fauna.

But now? Now we have this to contend with:

Don't tell me

I don't even want to know how long it's been since my last post. The guilt has been eating me up inside!! That and the fact that it seems I have nothing interesting to post about. Interior design happenings? Nope. Big adventures? Nope. Lots of work and routine? Yes. A few flowers and a few plates of food? Oh all right then, here we go:

To celebrate our 1-year anniversary since first setting foot in Hebden Bridge, we went back to the cafe where we had lunch that day. As always: good, fresh food and friendly service. Thanks Deli, for being part of our little big adventure!

Our local, the Fox & Goose, is a really interesting old place that recently became a cooperative pub! It's just re-opened after the official take-over and mini refurbishment and I'm looking forward to seing what's been done to the faded paint and smelly old carpet. 

 

Like everybody else on the world wide web, I got really excited at the first signs of spring. It was glorious for two weeks and now we're back to gloomy rain and cold. I can't wait to turn the clocks forward this weekend because it will mean MORE LIGHT in the evening. Hopefully that will mean a more active bunny because I'm getting a bit tired of going into hibernation mode as soon as the sun sets these days.

This is the new view from my guest bedroom. A little goblin has moved in across the canal!! I just hope the crazy loud geese don't frighten him away with all their squawking in the mornings. I know there are much worse ways of waking up than to the sounds of nature but I do wish they would keep it down a little!

Vintage things and a quest for sushi

Last Sunday there was a vintage fair in Leeds (like every single vintage fair, it claimed to be "the best in the country!", which sounded promising) and we'd been craving sushi for weeks so we decided it was time to shut down our laptops and go on an excursion. Forgive my average quality pics, I only took little Lumix with me this time as I'm not too comfortable using the Canon in busy places yet.

I'd done a bit of research and found a couple of promising looking Japanese restaurants. Sadly I didn't go as far as to check that they actually served sushi. The first one we went to didn't, so we had to walk back across town to another one. The decor was really nice and the menu quite fun (I ordered some chilled green tea that promised to cure my liver and my soul along with a number of other things). The menu was very diverse but the choice of sushi pretty limited.

Luckily the starters were scrumptious! All in all it was okay but I don't think I'd go back. We might have to fall back onto Wasabi or Yo! Sushi next time. Not quite as authentic but at least you know the sushi is going to be tasty-ish.

Before heading to the vintage fair we went on a detour to the corn exchange for Boyfriend to test a few guitars. 45 minutes later, we left without one. (and yesterday we went on a 2 hour round-trip, also to test a guitar that we ended up leaving without. Someone's really picky). 

The town hall itself is like an ode to vintage. Look at those doors! And the inside is even better.

The disappointing part about these vintage fairs is that they claim to sell "clothes and household items" but there are only ever one or two stalls with anything other than dresses and furs and scarves. I loved the atmosphere, people were extremely friendly and there was even a bit of jiving going on, but dude, more decor, please!!

Luckily I have an extremely observant boyfriend who spotted this mirror standing in a corner all by itself and decided I should add it to my collection (of 3, now! Wheeee). So for 12 beans we brought it home with us and now all it needs is a clean and a place to go while I wait for my wall of mirrors to become a possibility.

I also bought an item of clothing! Shocking! I'm under no illusion though, it's not vintage. Someone has just cut the label off and put it on a rack with other frilly clothes. But for 5 beans I really don't mind if it came from H&M, it's cute and scalloped and I love the colours.

What else did we get up to this week? Well, there was a bit of this:

 

Sometimes you need a little chocolate cake and human interaction to stay sane. I've just about finished translating my very first novel and I must say it made a nice change from forklift trucks and communication systems. Lots more work lined up for next week, in fact, I'd better get cracking! Saturday seems to have become another weekday for me. But then I have the luxury of not feeling guilty next time I want to take the afternoon off and have a nice long nap. Actually that sounds so tempting it might even happen today!

Enjoy the weekend, bunnies xxx