Beautiful Britain - Maryport, Cumbria

Hi there everyone

We had soooooo much rain here last week. It's hard to believe that just a week or so ago we were on the North West coast with clear blue skies and warm sunshine.

After a glorious weekend it was Monday morning and we couldn't quite believe it but the weather was still on our side. It was just lovely, clear blue sky and bright sunshine ... the seaside it was.

We had both been really looking forward to visiting Maryport. We’d had a sneaky look on Google street view and it looked really pretty and, anyway, it was by the sea, what’s not to like.

We headed out from Sale Fell, past newborn Spring lambs, wrapped up to keep warm ...
... past Bassenthwaite village for the drive to the coast, which took about 30 minutes.
First stop was the harbour area, where we parked up by the aquarium, as we really wanted to see the lighthouse.
The tide was out and I’m sure it would definitely be worth another visit when it’s in as everything would look completely different.

It was a surprisingly big harbour area with several separate dock areas, for what we thought would be a fairly small village and we spent a good while exploring. As the pedestrian footbridge wasn't currently in operation we did end up taking the car right round to the far side of the harbour to get a closer look at the lighthouse ...

From the lighthouse there were some great views to be had looking back across the harbour ...
The pretty Victorian octagonal cast iron lighthouse, thought to be the first of its construction type built in England and possibly one of the world's oldest cast iron lighthouses, dates back to 1846. It is now disused and its function was taken over by a concrete tower sited at the end of the pier.

We couldn't resist a walk out to the 'new' lighthouse ...

The views from the end of the pier were definitely worth the wander. With the coast of the Solway Firth to the North ...
... the not quite so picturesque, but very atmospheric, Whitehaven to the South ...
... and Maryport back inland ...
It was then time to head back towards town where we visited the Harbourside Cafe for lunch.

Refreshed and ready to explore some more we drove out along the promenade heading North where we parked up and walked a bit further along the coast path for some incredible views looking back towards the lighthouse ...
 ... and across the Solway Firth to the Scottish coast.
There was then just one last part of the village that we wanted to explore and we headed up to the Roman Fort on the cliff top.
Although Hadrien's Wall ended at Bowness-on-Solway, the system of forts, fortlets and towers was continued down the Cumbrian coast for about 25 miles and this is the fort that lay at Maryport.

We weren't planning on exploring the fort today, it was closed anyway, but we did have a walk along the path for yet more amazing views ...

... and some of the locals ...
By now we were needing to head for home so just had a very quick drive through the town centre before heading off.

We'd had a lovely day. We both had fallen in love with Maryport and were so surprised by how beautiful a spot it was and how much there was to see there. It was definitely somewhere we hoped to visit again before the end of our holiday.

I also decided that, once back home, I needed to find a way of somehow capturing the image of the lighthouse, maybe this could be my first mosaic project ... now wouldn't that be a thing 😀

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Everyday Ordinary - Last Week ...

Monday ... it rained ... I blogged, did laundry, balanced my bank account, made soup and cooked mozzarella meatballs for tea.

Tuesday ... it rained ... I blogged some more, did some more laundry, prepared a profit and loss account to help with my tax return for HM@No27 and cooked a cottage pie for tea.

Wednesday ... it rained ... I made a bag, it took all day so Martin had to cook tea when he got home from work.

Thursday ... it rained ... I changed beds and caught up with ironing.

Friday ... Martin was off ... it rained ... we had lunch at newly discovered garden centre cafe, went grocery shopping and hunted for embroidery threads and a hoop for my next project.

Saturday 🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞 quick, get up and get in the garden

9.00am ... I wandered round the garden in my dressing gown taking photos ...

There's a fair amount going on, Spring is most definitely here, despite the weather. Stuff is finally coming into flower, be it a little later than the norm. The Summer snowflakes are weathering the rain, the snakeshead fritillary is looking fab and the prunus has finally come into blossom.

The camellia and the flowering currant are also beginning to look good.

There are lots of signs of more to come ...

The raised bed is looking very green and lush. The erythronium from Lesley's mum's garden, which I transplanted from a pot into the garden last year, are going to give a fab show and Martin's astrantia is making a good start.

The white agapanthus is starting to come to life ... this may get moved into the raised bed as we want to plant that all in white. Last year's new hydrangea has actually got tiny flower heads on it and the tree peony, also from Lesley's Mum's garden, has its usual one flower bud ... I don't quite know what to do to try and encourage more, but for this year, it looks like I have to be satisfied with just one again.

I believe these are honesty. I sprinkled some seeds that I sneaked into my pocket during a garden visit with a friend last year ... Fiona, if you are reading, you will know where these came from 😄

The magnolia is still looking fairly good, though this week's rain and wind have taken it's toll ...

And there is a ever growing pile of pots of new purchases just hanging around waiting for whatever life may hold for them next ...

An evergreen white clematis for the raised bed, three dogwoods that we want to fit in at the bottom of the garden to give some Winter colour, two pots of sweet peas we picked up in Asda and three pots of giant snowflakes we picked up for next to nothing in the local B&Q 'dead zone'.

This first ladybird sighting had me sending Martin for the macro lens ...

Early morning photography completed it was time to get cracking ...

10.00am ... I did some deadheading of the daffs and polyanthus in the front garden and we weeded the front pavement for us and our elderly neighbours ...

11.00am ... We potted on the verbena cuttings that we took last year ... it must be the right time as Monty did the same on Gardeners' World this week. I think it's fair to say that one pot has done better than the other ...

It was very strange ... it's the first time I've taken cuttings and out of 12, we lost 7, 2 had lovely healthy roots, 3 had healthy looking growing tips but no roots at all, they looked just like they did when I took the cuttings, we potted them on anyway ...

12.00pm ... We got rid of a dead azalea, saved a stack of baby foxgloves that had seeded in the pot and then refilled it with some of the sweet peas we bought from Asda on Friday. We then had a good shunt around with some of the pots on the patio so we could place them by the back door ...

1.00pm ... All the easy jobs were done, there were just hard ones left so we were starting to flag a bit ... time for lunch ...

2.00pm ... Friends popped round and we were more than happy to be distracted.

3.00pm ... Time for one last push, I finished digging and weeding the bottom border and Martin sprinkled Feed and Seed on the grass ...

4.00pm ... Time for me to abandon the garden and head for the for shower and for Martin to water the Feed and Seed in and pack everything away.

5.00pm ... Martin finished packing up, totally shattered ... could not face cooking tea, so chippy it was.

Sunday ... the rain was back, well it was too good to last. We were off out to a local antique craft centre type place for a recce of their regular monthly craft fair. We wanted to see if looked like it would be worth me having a table for Hand Made at Number 27.

On arrival it looked very promising. In spite of the weather being pretty bleak there were loads of cars on the car park, far more than we visited a month or so ago.

We wandered past The Red Barn and had a sneaky look inside. It looked really pretty, with lots of bunting and fairy lights and we were excited to explore but first ... brunch. A big fat breakfast for Martin and a prawn sandwich followed by colossal piece of chocolate cake for me, two thirds of which was boxed up to take home.

We then had a quick look round the antique shop before heading for the craft fair ...

There weren’t lots of shoppers about but there seemed to be a steady trickle. There were about 25 stalls, none of which sold the kind of bits that I make so it looked quite promising and we decided it would definitely be worth giving it a go.

We couldn’t come away without calling in at the garden centre where we just had to buy this little beauty for a new shrubbery area we want to incorporate at the back of the new pergola.

On the way home we called in at our favourite nursery and came away with a few more bits ... a chaenomeles, that Martin has been hankering after for a while, a flowering currant, , a potentilla and a variegated grass. They have all been added to the growing collection on the patio until we are ready for planting. Hopefully we will get round to it before the ground dries out and turns rock hard.

There was time for a quick call in at friends on the way home to view their latest projects and talk more garden plans before getting home.

Once back, I emailed to try and book a table for the craft fairs in May, July & August before having a good hour or so on chores ... cleaning the lounge and dining room for me and making a pizza sauce and boning a lamb joint for Martin ... we sure do know how to live 😀

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50 Things to do before I'm 60 - 21-25

Hi there again everyone 😀

A few weeks ago I shared a review of how I was getting on so far with the first 20 of the 50 things I want to do before I hit 60.

I've got the next five to share with you today so here goes ...

21 - Replace old wonky and tatty patio in the garden
Job done! It was a dirty rotten job and it took up a good chunk of the Spring last year, but the hard landscaping work is all done.

We went from this ...
Via lots and lots of mess ...
To this ...

There is still plenty for us to do this year though and I'm sure it will be an ongoing project forever, as I don't think you can say that a garden is ever totally finished. It just tends to grow with you.

22 - Decorate all of downstairs
Looking back, we did have a very busy year on the home maintenance front last year. We did manage to get all of the downstairs rooms decorated, which in some cases was long overdue.

We still need to carpet the lounge, dining room and stairs and hopefully this will be sorted sooner rather than later ... at least before it needs decorating again anyway!

23 - Visit Warner Bros Studios Harry Potter Tour
I love Harry Potter and have wanted to visit the studio tour for ages. I was beginning to think it wouldn't happen as it's not really Martin's kind of thing and it's not somewhere I would be likely to visit without him.

So, it was a very pleasant surprise when he bought me tickets for my birthday last year and we visited in January, when we got to experience Hogwarts in the Snow.
It was really magical and totally lived up to expectations and I would be more than happy to visit again.

24 - Visit Castle Howard
This is another place that has been on my list for a visit for ages and we managed to visit whilst we were on holiday in York back in November.
Again, we got to see it all decked out for Christmas and it was pretty spectacular.

It's another place that we will need to visit again, so that we can get to see the property as it is normally laid out and get to spend more time exploring the gardens.

25 - Finish telling Will Sidney's WW1 story
When it comes to Will's WW1 story I am currently up to January 1919 and nearing the end. I would really like to get this finished this year and then we will need to decide what we want to do with all his memorabilia. We know we would really like to keep it all together, so unless we can find a museum that would be able to do this, it may end up sitting in a box for a good few more years yet, we shall see.

So that's the next 5, which takes me to 25 in total so far. I do feel like I'm cheating a bit as I've already fully completed 2 of these and am well on the way with the other 3, but hey ... I've still got a few left from the last couple of years that I hope to get on with this year too, so there will be plenty to keep me busy.

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I don't yet know what all of the next 25 will be ... it's a list I just keep adding to as things come up that I would really like to do.

My aim is to complete 50 goals before I am 60. I started on my 50th birthday, so if I can have completed this first 25 by the time I am 55 next year I shall be well on track.

Is it important to have goals? A lot of people think it is. I think I do too, though I'm not too hung up on the rigidity that adhering to them can bring. I do think it's important that we all make the most of the time we have and we do all we can to make sure we do the things we really want to do. 

In my view there's not much that isn't possible without a bit of determination and commitment 😁

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Sale Fell - Bassenthwaite, The Lake District

Hi there everyone 😀

Well, after having Martin at home for 3 weeks he is back at work today, so I am trying to get back into some kind of routine, starting with my usual Monday morning blog post.

As you will know we are not long back from spending a week in The Lake District. We stayed in a lovely period cottage in the tiny hamlet of Scarness on the edge of Bassenthwaite Lake. We really loved Sale Fell, I think it is definitely one of the nicest cottages we have stayed in and it certainly ranks as the prettiest.
When did we visit?
24-30 March 2018

How many does it sleep?
4 comfortably, though there is the option to have one of the bedrooms set up as a triple

How much was it?
£550.00

Who did we book with?
Sally's Cottages

First impressions ...
We arrived in bright sunshine and the cottage really did look like it had come straight out of a fairytale. The grey stone, frilly white wooden eaves and balcony really stood out against the backdrop of a clear blue sky.

We had a lovely warm greeting from Alison, the owner, who made us feel very welcome and showed us around. 

There was a lovely big old wooden front door and and entrance porch with an old stone floor leading through to an inner hallway and we couldn't wait to get inside and have a look round.

The cottage felt nice and warm, very bright and spacious and looked spotlessly clean.

Off the hallway was a very spacious lounge with two large comfy looking sofas and a pretty cream coloured log burner, with a basket of logs all set and ready to go. The room was flooded with the evening sunlight and looked just the kind of space that would be lovely to come back to after a long day out ...
Then there was the kitchen, with plenty of room for a dining table and chairs and, off the back of the kitchen, a small sun room with two comfy looking chairs and a wall of bookshelves filled with old and interesting looking books.

There was also a handy downstairs loo.

A beautiful wooden staircase led upstairs to two bedrooms and the bathroom ...

 

The master bedroom had a door opening onto the wooden balcony with views to just die for. This is what it looked like when we arrived ...

So first impressions were very good, there was just one thing we were a little nervous of and that was the fact that, in the main, the cottage was heated by way of storage heaters. We've had bad experiences of managing with this type of heating in other cottages we've stayed and were a little concerned that they may not be quite up to the job of keeping us warm. We really hoped it wouldn't prove to be an issue.

So after such a good initial impression, how did we get on ...

Our likes over the course of our stay ...

• Our initial impression was that the cottage was very clean. It actually ended up being the cleanest cottage we have ever stayed in. It was spotless with not a speck of dust or a cobweb to be found, even in the bottom of the cutlery drawer.
• We had no problems with the heating at all. We were able to manage the temperature so that we were plenty warm enough all of the time. In addition to the storage heaters there are a number of independently controlled panel heaters that can be used to give a boost if needed, and there was always the log burner.
• The cottage was incredibly comfortable, bit squishy sofas and seriously comfy beds.
• The kitchen was very well equipped and we managed to find everything that we needed and didn't end up using the majority of stuff we'd taken with us just in case. There was plenty of 
  
  empty storage space for our own bits and pieces and no cupboard full of previous guest's half empty jars and packets, which is never something that we want to find.
• We absolutely loved the sun room with its comfy chairs and shelves full of old and vintage reference books. We spent many an early evening sat here in the warmth of the evening sun just chilling after a big day out.
• The location was perfect for exploring a part of the Lake District that was new to us and it was easy to get to the coast too. There was a good mixture of things to do right on our doorstep and as well as a little further afield.
• The cottage has been renovated really well. There is a good combination of modern day comforts, but not at the expense of the original period features and quirky bits and pieces that are seemingly just lying around waiting to be discovered.
• I must include the view from the balcony here. I took photos every single morning and during some evenings as well. It is something that we would never tire of. Here it is again ... in the evening and then my absolute favourite shot.

Anything that could have made it better ...

Whilst I am struggling a bit to come up with things that could have made it better, which is most unusual for me, there was one thing ...

• Nice big fluffy bathsheets would have been lovely. There were bath towels provided, but not the kind that cover all of your modesty! It wasn't a problem for us as I have learned to take my own bathsheets, but with the overall level of comfort of the cottage, this would have been a nice touch.

Would we recommend this property to our friends and family?

Absolutely. 

Would we stay in this cottage again?

Definitely, though I think we would try and avoid high season, as we did this time. I say this as the cottage neighbours a lakeside holiday lodge park and, whilst this didn't bother us one bit, I guess it could be a bit less peaceful in peak holiday season.

All in all we had a really lovely week staying in Sale Fell. We were lucky with the weather, we got to see lots of new places and really enjoyed relaxing evenings just enjoying the comfort of the cottage. 

It was the perfect Spring break 💛💛💛