Three things I’m loving this week

I feel like I’m really getting into the swing of these wintery weeks, short bright sunny days and long dark evenings. It has been a celebratory week, my Grandson had his first birthday and I shared a relaxing day with a friend celebrating her ‘big’ birthday.

What have I been loving this week? Apart from late flowering roses and autumn leaves, here’s what’s made me happy this week…

Found… Loose leaf Green Tea

I was in need of a cuppa of loose leaf green tea. A perfect match for me has always been Yunnan, smooth and grassy and perfect with a spoon of honey.

I am so happy to have rediscovered Brew Tea Co, a small company based in the North West who also offer a range of delicious, top-quality loose leaf teas and teabags so you can enjoy the perfect cuppa wherever you may be. I’m also trying their lemon and ginger for when I have the sniffles!

Being kind to myself and friends…

I jumped at the invitation to share an afternoon at Middlethorpe Hall, on the outskirts of York, celebrating a friends ‘big’ birthday.

We started the afternoon at the Middlethorpe Spa, in converted estate cottages just across the road from the main Hall. I am a lover of Neom Organic treatments so the back, neck and shoulder massage was just what I needed. Sometimes a massage is beneficial to ease the tension knots that build up in my shoulders. A note to myself to have this a little more often.

The gardens at the Hall were a delight to stroll around in the late afternoon sunshine, amazing roses in bloom in November.

Afternoon tea taken in the hall at a very slow pace was the perfect birthday treat.

Cheese heaven…

I visited The Courtyard Dairy, near Settle, to collect a selection of cheeses for my Grandsons birthday party (for the grownups that is). Their new premises include a cheese shop; a café that specialises in cheese; a small cheese museum and display area; and a dedicated room in which cheese can be made and where cheese-making courses are held.

Delicious food from the new café was on offer, including hot grilled Raclette (mmm) made with English cheese. Over the past five years, it has become one of the most well-known and respected businesses in the farmhouse cheese industry, winning many awards in a short space of time.

The ladies in the shop selling and offering samples of cheese were friendly and full of knowledge with the best of Yorkshire fun.

I came home with a selection of locally produced Cheddar, a crumbly Lancashire, Britains first unpasteurised Brie and Leeds blue!

This week I’ve also been…

Cooking… from Hugh’s Three Good Things – a book full of delicious meals that are great for those of us who like simple shopping lists.

Reading…   I have started to read Graham Norton’s debut novel, Holding and enjoying it. It’s one of those books that is really more about the characters and how they are written than the plot. If you can forget the author of a book, as you read, that’s an excellent compliment.

Listening. Podcasts are featuring more on my IPad … Fortunately  from the BBC is two of my absolute favourite women on radio, Fi Glover and Jane Garvey (of Woman’s Hour). Laughing together, being witty and intelligent and just making me feel like I was having a cuppa with a couple of friends once a week.

What have you been loving this week?