Foodie things with Bob in Wales

Bob the Bunny hadn't been to Wales before so he packed his favourite red scarf, a few carrot sticks and he jumped into my rucksack for the journey.
Being an active little rabbit he was keen to seek out the legendary eatery known as Pete's Eats in Llanberis. A cafe well known by walkers, climbers and cyclists and one of the few spots to eat in Llanberis.

This is the fairly colourful main street although it's all a bit quiet at this time of year and it is suffering a bit with the trend in Wales for having quite a lot of boarded up shops which is a shame.

Ta da, Bob easily found the bright blue building which is Pete's Eats. And it's equally bright and friendly inside.

No picture of food as it was eaten too quickly but I had Red Dragon pie, a sort of lentil & bean shepherds pie. Nothing out of the ordinary but a reasonable choice of veggie options and great for a snack.


Next day Bob's destination was a cafe in Dolgellau called T H Roberts.

The cafe used to be an ironmongers and it's quite an interesting interior with the original solid wood counter, the shelves with lots of little drawers, and the original lamps which would have been gas lamps.

I tried the cappuccino, the homemade cakes looked fabulous but it was quite early in the morning so felt a bit naughty having something too indulgent so I settled for a scone.

My only criticism would be that it was a bit chilly inside and I think I'm quite tolerant of cold but it was chilly. I like to go into a cafe and take my coat off which I did but I noticed all the other customers and even a member of staff was wrapped in a scarf so I quickly wanted to wrap up again. They use quite darkly roasted beans in their coffees which are not quite to my taste. Interesting place though.


Day 3 and I took Bob to Machynlleth, one of my favourite places, known as the ancient capital of Wales and of course home to the Centre for Alternative Technology, MOMA, and to a few groovy shops including a fabric shop.


We had a quick whiz around the Celtic art exhibition in MOMA featuring Welsh, Scottish & Irish artists.

Then to show Bob my favourite eatery, the CAT cafe known as The Quarry, a very groovy place and I think it's all veggie food.

Bob's carrot supply had run out so we needed to have a big bowl of salad to share and it was quite yummy, served with lashings of warm ginger cordial in a big mug.

Very satisfying and that completes our little food & drink experience on this trip.

Oh dear its snowing again!

The snow has been coming down in quite large flakes this afternoon and appears to be settling again. We are semi snowed in here and having been away 5 days and there being no post tells me that it's a re-run of last winter when the postman stopped coming down here as he got his van stuck once.
I don't think I'll see him again until it starts to thaw. It's all very annoying because living in a farm cottage you'd think the landlord farmer would get his tractor out and either scatter some salt or clear some snow to help his tenants go about their business. Oh no, that would be too much to ask, leave us to rot is more like it! Talk about treating us like peasants but it's true, this sort of class system still exists and is alive and kicking in rural East Yorkshire as I'm sure it is on many other farming estates throughout our land. Grrrrr! come the glorious day!


I'm pretty annoyed because over Christmas I was very well prepared and stocked up with a good stash of soya milk but now I'm just back from hols and couldn't prepare for this, I'm down to a couple of cartons of milk, and a few bits of veg in the fridge and 2 apples.... I have got lots of tinned stuff and a few bits in the freezer so we've not hit hard times yet.


Robbie is hovering about most of the day as he must have suffered a bit missing the snacks while I was away.

But what's this, a cheeky blackbird has spotted his stash!

They are having to share food.

Although it's causing some fights and there's lots of territorial tweeting out there!

North Wales - landscape

In a way this last minute trip to Wales was well planned as it got me out of this freezing cold house for a few days during the worst winter week so far.


The journey wasn't too bad, only hitting a bit of snow across the high point of the M62, Saddleworth Moor. It's always bleak across that stretch and the times I've been across it I don't think it's ever been fine or I've seen the sun.

Destination was Llanberis at the foot of the Snowdonia mountains.

The hotel was cheap and cheerful and most importantly WARM with a capital 'W', bliss, didn't need a vest! Even better there was a view of the mountains and sheep in the hotel car park!

The purpose of the trip was a combined break and to view some properties but unfortunately I haven't found my escape to the country yet. One property I viewed in the morning had received an offer on it a couple of hours later and was basically sold stc by the end of the afternoon so that was a bit of a waste of time. 
Another property I saw was the most interesting little cottage steeped in history. I'll show you just a smidge in order to preserve the owners privacy.

The history of the cottage dates back to the 1400's when it was a self sufficient small holding with about 40 acres, it now has about 1.5 acres. It was completely off the beaten track, you got to it by driving about a mile through a forestry track and on mud tracks around field boundaries, I think a 4WD would have made access a bit easier so it turned out to be more inaccessible than I thought.
The owners had restored the cottage very sympathetically, it was a bit like looking around a heritage museum with the huge inglenook complete with original meat hooks, bread oven, slate floors, panelling, crog-loft bedrooms, half metre thick random stone walls. It was fascinating inside and equally outside, there was a small meadow with ancient species of grasses & wild flowers, an orchard with old, rare apple & plum varieties, a patch of woodland by a stream, another small paddock for chickens. In many ways it was my sort of place but being realistic about the house, the rooms are quite small, the windows tiny which isn't good for the light I need in my work and I think to put my modern & plentiful Ikea furniture in would totally ruin the ambience of the place. In a way it needs someone to buy it who will totally appreciate the historical aspects and preserve what has been achieved.
Amazing that this type of place still exists in this day and age.


Time to enjoy the scenery after the house hunting and it was my first time in the Llanberis area. Just outside the village you can see evidence of the huge scale slate mining that went on. 

Platforms are carved into the hills creating a very angular & cubist landscape, it's very dramatic.
Driving on a bit and I traveled through the Pen-y-Pass mountain road into the foothills of Snowdonia. The weather was chilly but lovely and sunny, almost a bit too bright for capturing the snow on top of the mountains.

The water was very still on this lake as you can see from the reflections.

And just a stones throw from that lake, another lake was completely frozen, as were all the leaves on the ground.

That's a look at some of the scenery, I will do a couple more Wales posts on food and craft purchases.

Who ordered the snow!!!

I turn my back for a few days and came home to snow and freezing temperatures tonight!
I managed to escape the flatlands of East Yorkshire for a lovely few days in glorious, sunny Wales but more of that when I download my photos.


Really dreaded coming back as I've been in a warm hotel where I didn't have to wear thermal vests and long johns like I do here on a day to day basis in winter. The house was 7 degrees when I came in at tea time and 4 hours with the heating on now and it's just scraped over 10 degrees and I'm back in my thermals. It amazes me how landlords get away with renting out properties in such a poor state this day and age but it comes down to a location and privacy thing here and whilst types like me continue to line their pockets with rent and not kick up a fuss then the cycle continues. I don't like conflict, I like a quiet life and I just want to get out of here as soon as I find the right opportunity.
Time to crank up the hot water bottles now!

Frosty plants, Robbie & new wool

Brrrrrr! It's cold outside. 
It's bin day today and I have quite a way to drag it so I took my camera to get some snaps on the way. I had hoped for something a bit more exciting like ice crystals on things but I think the shade from the trees had given some protection from frost.


A leaf frozen to the gravel.

Ice sprinkled daffodils.

Snowdrops are doing quite well.

My little friend Robbie is waiting for me every morning on the top step to receive a little dish of snacks he seems to be munching through very quickly in this cold snap.

Something nice for the weekend, I had a flying visit to Hobbycraft yesterday and picked up this wool and magazine for a bit of relaxation.
Hope everyone stays warm and has a good weekend.

East Riding Artists update

I was having a fairly cold, miserable, unproductive sort of week until the postman came about 10 minutes ago, but that in a minute.
Have you seen that Co-op advert, "cold outside, freezing inside", I think it was some sort of frozen dessert they advertised at Christmas, well that strap line has stuck with me because it sums this house up completely. 
Some of the rooms here are only a few degrees up on the outside, all week and even with the heating on in the evening the lounge won't get above 11.6 degrees, it is so inefficient with the single glazing, draughts, gaps in doors and windows that a cold snap takes its toll on me doing anything much other than make soup! Only when the sun comes out will it start to defrost a bit. Anyway I say this every winter when it's cold so I won't go on.


Back to the ERA news, and I'm delighted to say my textile work has passed the assessment criteria and I'm a full member of ERA again. I just need to have this profile updated now and then I can move forward with my textile work.


http://bit.ly/A8qiNO

Bob's been to Scarborough again!

It's been quite a busy end to my week. Thursday and Friday saw me delivering and then collecting a selection of my textile artwork for assessment in order to be re-admitted as a full member of East Riding Artists. The work is assessed by people such as museum curators, college lecturers and then we get to know in about a week if we are successful. I have submitted myself as a textile artist this time rather than a digital artist so we'll see what happens!
It's a weird selection process because you don't necessarily get in if your work is good, some excellent artists have been turned down. Maybe it comes down to personal taste of the assessors.


I was up early today as I had to take my car to Scarborough for it's MOT and service, this is always a bit of a pain as the MOT falls in the middle of winter and I usually find myself traipsing around in the cold for half a day whilst it's done. I was lucky this year as the sun was shining in Scarborough, chilly though.


I took Bob the Bunny and the night before we had searched Trip Advisor to see if there was a nice cafe we could kill a bit of time in. I found 2 which sounded good and not your usual seaside greasy spoon. The one I went for as I came to it first was Eat Me cafe, near the Stephen Joseph Theatre.

It was quite nice inside, calming shades of grey, interesting artwork and a friendly atmosphere.

It's gets better, when the tea came just look at the lovely tea cosies, Bob was impressed with the knitting!

I'd read they do a good mushrooms on toast and as there wasn't much time for breakfast this morning, mushrooms was my food of choice. 

Wow this was such a substantial plate full and it was devine, I felt like I'd gone to mushroom heaven, the creamed sauce was delicious, the bread was just lovely. My dining partner had the veggie breakfast which was equally good. 
Eat Me cafe was a little gem of a place, highly recommended and I will look forward to going again.


Other lovely things I found in Scarborough were fabric.... but not to buy this time! Quite expensive interior fabric which I snapped through the shop windows.

I bought some wool in a really good craft shop I hadn't been in before, despite the lady saying she'd been there for 9 years! These 2 balls of patterned wool were cheaper than I saw in a shop in York last week.

I also bought a really small crochet hook as I'm having a go at the wrist warmers in the current Mollie Makes, I've made a start when I got back this afternoon, wonder how long these will take or if I'll stick it out..... watch this space for progress!

Not a bad morning, car done by lunch time & scraped through the MOT so it'll keep me a going a bit longer. 
Time to relax now with the coffee machine and a Creme Egg!

Angel rabbit finished

The strange little white rabbit I have been working on has now turned into an angel rabbit. Possibly a guardian angel rabbit.
With my new found knitting skills I have knitted wings out of some sparkly pink wool, it was quite horrible to knit with as there were many strands & I kept sticking my needles through. I persevered and this was the best I could hope for.

As you can see I didn't stop there, I made her a little pinny too!

That may be be it for strange rabbits for the time being! 


I ordered some circular needles on Sunday and they have just arrived so I can't wait to try them out. After much searching the internet for KnitPro ones, I found the cheapest starter set in acrylics to be through Forest Fibres on Amazon and the free express postage is very impressive.

Knitting in York & lovely haberdashery

I'm pleased to say that the knitting course in York went ahead this morning with 5 of us attending.
The courses are held inside Me & Mrs Fisher cafe which I hadn't been to before but the building is a recogniseable sight in York as it is inside the 'Bile Beans' building.

On my walk there I saw this unusual curved building which I haven't particularly noticed before on Monkgate Bar.

Also saw these nice flowery pots in a shop nearby, I think it was Avoca pottery.

Back to the course. It's up above the cafe with a view across to the walls and the Minster which would be lovely on a fine day but it was a bit bleak and blustery.

Jo was our knitting teacher and this is the sort of thing she does, isn't this Fairisle hat beautiful. She also had some fab socks on she'd knitted.

The course was great, we all seemed at the same level and wanted to know the basics of increasing and decreasing and for me this was a major progression and achievement from my 'square knitting'.

This is the start of my increasing. I hadn't used circular needles before, I thought they were only for socks but clearly not and they were great to use, I want some.

Here's my first square, increased and decreased to create a diagonal pattern where the increase is on the end of each row. I also saw how to increase in the middle of a pattern.


I then tried 2 colours and was quite happy perfecting the increase and decrease until I felt happy I'd remembered it.

I completed this square and then amazing how time flies when you're having fun, 3 hrs had passed and that was our time up. Really enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to trying my new skills out on something simple.
Jo reckons we could tackle a simple sock pattern next so that might be a course she does in the future.


I had chance for a quick look in the little haberdashery shop they also run above the cafe and it had some gorgeous things. They sell bits of vintage fabric of which I got the piece below, Liberty fabric & ribbons, Clothkits stuff, and other beautiful trimmings both new and vintage.

Didn't get chance to sample the cafe although I noticed the cakes looked delicious but I'd had a really good morning.


It got better when I got home, a new delivery of coffee beans had arrived and more fabric and trimmings, the giveaway I won from Becky's blog so thanks Becky they are lovely.