The week before last was very exciting indeed, brace yourself for a long blog post.

During the week, my little Miss turned 6. Seriously, 6 years old, where did that go? It’s scary how time flies. Anyway, it was during the week, so not really much opportunity around school/work/piano lessons etc to really celebrate, but I did make a delicious cake so that we could at least sing happy birthday, eat cake, and she could open her presents.

As always, she was a very lucky girl with everything from dollies to unicorn bedlinen for her new bedroom (when I finish decorating it), and had quite a lovely day. The main celebration, however, was to come on Saturday.

I’d booked out our favourite little Ice Cream parlour, Flamingo Bay and little Miss had invited 9 of her friends to celebrate with her, there. A couple of weeks back I’d bought a new dress from Kharibu in the hope that party day would be super sunny. It wasn’t, and for a moment I was disappointed thinking I wouldn’t get to wear my new dress. Then I decided that where there’s a will there’s a way, and started layering with vests, tights, slips and the suede gilet I’d bought from Vinted last month too. I finished it off with the blue Joe Brown boots my Mum had bought me for Christmas (their first outing), and was good to go. (little miss took the outfit shot)

Honestly, when I walked into the cafe, I was amazed. I mean, it’s such a wonderfully kitcshy place anyway, but with the colourful chairs around the sides, and the birthday decor up, it was children’s party heaven. Soon, the children all started to arrive (with more presents), and little Miss was over the moon with each child that walked through the door.

Once everyone had arrived, the owner of the cafe started leading the children in party games. Pass the parcel, musical statues, musical chairs, Flamingo says (which is Simon says, but with a Flamingo theme), it was all wonderfully retro. Meanwhile, the parents sat around the outside of the room enjoying, watching the children have a fantastic time.

After a picnic box, and more party games, it was time for the main event. The ice cream. One by one, the children were brought behind the counter to pull their own ice creams, before returning to the party table that was laden from one end to the other with all manner of toppings, jelly sweets, ice cream sauces and enough sugar to make sure every parent was returning home with a super lively child for the afternoon.

We sang happy birthday, and Little Miss blew out the candles on her second cake of the week, before we handed out party bags and bid all of her friends a happy farewell. It was an amazing party, and Little Miss was incredibly happy. The rest of the day was pretty quiet, but it had been altogether fabulous.

Sunday morning, I was off to meet the chap. The weather was just about as bad as it could be. The rain was falling in bucket loads, and it was cold. We knew it was coming though, so we’d decided a few days before that we would go and visit a stately home, because that’s a perfect rainy day activity.

First up, we met at Thornton le Dale, where the chap treated me to a delicious breakfast at Baldersons, before we carried on to Nunnington Hall.

Located near Helmsley, the last time we’d visited was back in 2021 but because there were still post COVID restrictions in place, we couldn’t actually go inside then. This time around we could, thankfully, because I wouldn’t have hung around in that rain.

Nunnington Hall was first mentioned in the 13th Century, and has had a number of owners since. As such, there are parts of the house, like the oak panelled room, which are amongst some of the oldest areas, whilst the majority of the house that stands now was built around 1680.

I was in awe of Mrs. Fife’s bedroom with its ornate 4-poster bed, and beautiful view out over the grounds. The gorgeous quilts, and tapestry work that adorn the rooms are breathtaking, and of course, I was super excited to see the collection of Staffordshire flatbacks on the fireplace, because I have one on my fireplace too.

The final, dark, oak panelled bedroom made reference to the ghosts of Nunnington, but we didn’t see any. By the time we’d finished in the house, the rain was easing up somewhat. After tea and scones in the National Trust cafe, we ventured out into the grounds where there were some stalls. One of the stalls had a myriad of tropical animals, including a Tarantula that I wouldn’t go anywhere near.

Me, and the chap both held the snakes though. As you can see, I look a bit awkward, but the chap who is a qualified Zookeeper and has worked in wildlife parks in the UK and abroad is far more chilled by it all.

After a lovely morning at Nunnington, we carried on to Helmsley for a wander around the shops. Generally, the boutiques are pretty expensive here as it’s very well heeled, but I still like to look around them. As luck would have it though, the chap spotted a sign for Helmsley Brewery, which we’ve never seen before. With the rain starting up again, we took shelter in the warm little independent brewery, with its wood burner pumping out heat in the corner, and enjoyed a pint of beer while watching the world go by.

The chap pointed out how we often we seem to find independent breweries, or independent bars now and we both agreed, we much prefer it. There’s always a more chilled vibe, and the beer tastes good too. Then, it was off to try to find somewhere for dinner. We’d had a recommendation from the man behind the bar to try the Feathers, but it was a popular place, so we weren’t able to get in.

We tried the Black Swan instead, that thankfully, while bustling, still had plenty of space. We finished the day with the most enormous roast beef dinner, and departed feeling contented, happy and somewhat tired after another super busy weekend.