Rye ❤️

Our trip down south would not be complete without a day in Rye, East Sussex. It’s a very special place to us. It’s where the hubby and I used to go for a rare child free day out when we first started dating, we had some lovely times here. We loved the place so much that we chose to get married there. 

First stop was to the little old fashioned sweet shop on the high street for a quarter of chocolate nibbles and peppermint creams. It’s like the law that we have to come here every time. The shopkeeper is usually very chatty with a story about Paul McCartney to tell. Not this time though, maybe he was all talked out.

Just along the High St and up the hill is Simon the Pieman’s. It’s often full when we come but today we were lucky and got a table.

We’ve been here in the winter before and it’s so cosy with the open fire burning.

Rye has an awful lot of history, I’m not going to bore you with it now but Google it if you’re interested. After lunch we walked just up the hill about 30 yards to the church. It’s beautiful inside. You can go up the tower and take in the view but we’ll do that another time when we’re without a buggy.

Just around the back of the church you’ll find Rye Castle and the gun gardens.

We had a lot of our wedding pictures taken here. 

Walking around Rye can be a little challenging depending on your choice of footwear. It’s worth it though as the cobbled streets are so pretty and full of character.

Some of the houses are a bit quirky , look at this one…

It’s the house with two front doors! There’s another road where a couple of the doors are numbered 44 and 44 1/2!

It’s the little things like that, that make this town so charming.

East Sussex is relatively flat but Rye is perched up on a hill and has wonderful views.

I think it looks a bit like a model village here. Down by the harbour there are some gorgeous antique shops.

I could pootle around these shops for hours if a certain little person wasn’t around. They’re crammed full of some really unusual pieces. The only person who came away with anything though was the above mentioned little person.

He found a little vintage London bus with Carnaby Street on funnily enough. It kept him busy for hours.

Back up the hill towards the town, we found a national trust property. It’s called Lamb House and was the home of authors Henry James and E.F.Benson.

There were only 3 rooms open which were  nice, but it was the walled garden I was really looking forward to seeing. It didn’t disappoint.

You can have a nice cream tea sat under the trees, how lovely would that be? It was a very typical English country garden, so pretty.

Just a few minutes walk back into the town and we stopped into Grammar School Records.

It’s been there for donkeys years. It’s a proper old fashioned shop full to the rafters with vinyl records. We’ve recently purchased a record player so can now start our own little record collection.

Directly opposite is The George In Rye. It’s the most beautiful, elegant, Boutique hotel I’ve ever seen.

On the first floor there is a Georgian ballroom which is where we said our wedding vows and danced the night away.

So, six years on, we paid the garden a little visit for a drink in the sunshine.

The weather was pretty much as it was on our wedding day, just gorgeous.

All in all, a perfect day. I do believe a little piece of my heart will always be here in Rye ❤️

Six, sand and sunshine

We’re having a mini heatwave here in the UK at the moment. I’m not expecting it to last long but it is ridiculously hot right now. I had the heating on and ugg boots last week, why can’t Great Britain sort it’s weather out? Anyway, we’ve been getting out and following the herds to our gorgeous beaches. We are so very lucky to have a huge choice of lovely places to visit.

On Sunday afternoon the sun just surprised us so we didn’t want to waste it sitting indoors. We grabbed our beach bag and headed to Hoylake. If you’re not from these parts then you may still have heard of it as they sometimes hold the golf open there. It becomes a hive of excitement, the schools close early and people even rent their homes out for a small fortune to accommodate the thousands of fans.

They must have known I was coming as they’d hung yards and yards of bunting up! I was expecting it to be really busy but there was hardly anyone. I left the lads playing football in one of the pitches you can see above. The rest of us headed along the prom.

It looks like a desert here. I love the fact that there’s still lush greenery growing in the sand.

We found ourselves a lovely little spot on the golden, soft sand. A bucket and spade and Jude was in his element. Which meant I could snap a few photos of the beautiful surroundings.

We were only here for about an hour but it’s all you need to feel like you’ve been at one with nature.

Jude had a great time, he didn’t want to leave.

That evening the hubster and I went out to celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary. We had a lovely meal at our new favourite tapas restaurant, Lunya. The food was amazing along with the service and surroundings. We finished the evening off with a drink in The Cavern Club. It’s a brilliant atmosphere in there, especially when there’s a Beatles band playing.

More date nights are definitely in order, it’s the only time we get to spend together alone as a couple. It’s nice to escape the house and kids occasionally, reminds me I’m not just a mother and housewife.

Back soon with some hooky happenings. Stay cool xx

The crochet club

  

Hello everyone, happy weekend! I hope you’re all well?

 I thought I’d let you know how my little crochet club is going. I’m so pleased I started it. Numbers have been up and down, but this week we had 9 lovely ladies, what a great turnout! The week before there was just 2 but that was fine as we got to have a really good chat and cover some crochet basics.

We’re very lucky to have a multi-talented lady in our group who works at our local craft/fabric shop. She’s an expert in knitting, crochet and sewing so we can pick her brains about pretty much anything.

Some of the ladies are very new to crochet and some have been hooking for years. Some are just knitters but all are very welcome. It’s really nice to get to meet new people with similar interests and get inspired by their projects. Once some of our newcomers have found their feet a little more, I’d like to introduce the odd group project that we can all work on together. Just something simple that we could complete in an evening.

There’s an awful lot of chatting going on which I love, but it means we don’t get much crochet done! It’s just good to get out of the house without a single child in tow. This is my social, grown up time which is much needed. Apart from the monthly date night with my hubby and the very rare girls night out with some of my mummy friends, this is the only time I leave the house at night. I’m really enjoying it so am determined to keep it going. What could be nicer than some crafty crochet, cheery chat and wine on a Wednesday?

Now I just need to think of a catchy name for our little group. I think there would be a few raised eyebrows at ‘The Oxton Hookers’ don’t you?! 

Thanks for stopping by, Vicki X

This and that

This last week has been made up of all sorts really, here are a few highlights…

Date night with the hubby. We went to see the very talented Postmodern Jukebox. If you’ve never heard of them, please do give a listen to some of their stuff. It’s amazing. They take a modern song and give it a retro/vintage/bluesy/jazzy twist. It was a fantastic show, full of energy.

Over the weekend, I was a bit poorly and craved comfort food. It all went a bit Mary Berry in my kitchen, I did her Parmesan crusted chicken for dinner which was delicious, followed by blueberry muffins.

These weren’t so good, sorry Mary but I won’t be trying these again. I will be giving her carrot cake a go though this week. Yum!

I treated myself to a bunch of the prettiest tulips I think I’ve ever seen. Don’t they look perfect on my dining room mantle? Especially sitting in their jar with a woolly jar hugger.

I’ve been doing a bit more painting with the chalk paint too.

These are to go with an order from a friend for these painted Kilner jars. I really enjoy doing these. I’m looking forward to trying out some new colours too.

The weather here has been a real treat, blue skies, sunshine and a mild enough temperature to get out in the garden. My hubby has been very busy out there getting it tidied up from the winter. My contribution in the garden is not much, but I am a bit of a perfectionist with a broom. It looks so much better when it’s had a ‘vicki’ sweep! It’s quite a workout too as we have Astro turf and when the chickens have been out trashing the joint, half the flower beds end up on the grass.

This is Baby J’s first proper year for playing out in the garden, and he loves it. Last year we built him this beach hut playhouse and I just know he’s going to get so much use out of it this year.

I have a feeling that these next few months are going to be filled with lots of fun, outdoor play and plenty of warm fresh air. I can’t wait!!

Cupid strikes ❤️

Happy Valentines Day everyone! I’m just popping in very quickly this morning to give a shout out to my lovely husband. He’s pulled out all the stops and been a true romantic. We don’t need to wait for Valentine’s Day to show each other some love but it’s always nice to have an extra excuse. Look at these beauties..

  
Not one but two bunches of flowers! They’re equally beautiful, I’m so lucky.

   
 
Then he asked me how I’d like my eggs. They were perfectly poached, yummy!

  
Then I finished off with heaven on a plate..

  
I’ve been spoiled rotten and feel very special indeed.

I hope you all have a lovely day, whatever it is you’re up to

Lots of l💕ve,

Vicki xxx

Date night, Vicki style

Last night I was a very lucky girl and got to go and see one of my favourite singers, the amazing Caro Emerald. She performed at the iconic Liverpool Philharmonic Hall.

  
It’s an amazing building which has just undergone a £10 million makeover and it looks great. Here’s a couple of pictures from the inside that I got from their Facebook page.

   
 
Impressive hey? The new bar looked so nice but unfortunately we had no chance of getting a drink with hundreds of people already in front of us. How on earth did they manage that?! Mini tubs of overpriced ice cream it was then. We came to see Caro here about two years ago as well, it’s a perfect venue for her. I am lucky that my hubby will come with me to things like this, it’s not really his cup of tea but he doesn’t moan, he’s a star.

Here’s a few pics I managed to take. It’s not easy as we were quite a way from the stage.

   
    
    
    
   
It was a fabulous evening, she’s got such a great voice live and along with her very talented band puts on a spectacular show.

If you ever get the chance to see her live, grab it, you won’t regret it. 

Thanks for reading xx

Special date night

Thursday 28th May was a date that had been on the calendar for a while now. I’d been given the challenge by the hubby, of securing tickets to see Sir Paul McCartney perform in his hometown of Liverpool. Bearing in mind this was going to be sold out in a matter of minutes, and it’s on his bucket list…… No pressure then! Well it was a very tense time I can tell you but with no expense spared, I did it! I was rather pleased with myself for the rest of the day and so relieved.

  
With babysitters organised and a quick tea gobbled down, we headed over the Mersey to the Echo arena. There were so many people. We knew it’d be busy but it was like Beatlemania all over again!

  
Once we managed to find the right queue, we moved steadily closer to the arena. I was wearing heels which doesn’t happen very often and now I remember why, ouchy! 

  
Finally we got to our seats and there we sat for over an hour waiting patiently for the stage to be graced with Sir Paul’s presence. My shoes came off the second we sat down, such a relief. We couldn’t even get a drink as the queue for the bar was miles long.

  
It was a full house.

  
When he did come on, wow what an entrance. I’m now going to bore you with a few snaps. Obviously you can’t really get a sense of the atmosphere from photos but it was electric.

  
   
           

He performed 40 songs that evening, with no breaks, what a man! Amazing for someone in their 70’s. It was very special for us in particular as we’re massive Beatles fans and ‘Hey Jude’ is our song, and also the reason we named our son Jude Harrison. It was our first dance at our wedding, which coincidentally took place at one of Paul McCartneys favourite local haunts in Rye, East Sussex. It’s a gorgeous boutique hotel, restaurant and pub called The George. When we were there to have our food tasting for the wedding, Paul McCartneys band just happened to check in! My hubby’s jaw just dropped. Apparently they stay there frequently as Paul has a house just a stones throw away. We did consider inviting him to our wedding to listen to our Beatles band but thought he’d probably be a wee bit busy!

All in all it was a fantastic evening, very surreal. Still hasn’t quite sunk in yet I don’t think that we were in the presence of such a legend.

Beatlemania

Last night was date night for my hubby and I. We were lucky enough to go and see The Merseybeatles who are, in our opinion, the best Beatles tribute band around.

It was all the more special for us as they played at our wedding five years ago.

As they’re a local band too, we get to see them play fairly regularly. They do a show every January in a gorgeous local theatre called The Gladstone in Port Sunlight. It’s a really lovely venue, perfect for intimate gigs like this one. It’s been preserved beautifully and feels like you’re stepping back in time when you cross through their chunky wooden doors. Even the box office is a quirky little hatch on a huge brick wall with a little bell to ring for attention!

We’re hoping to see them again soon at The Cavern Club. They are the resident band there, I bet the atmosphere is fab!