More than words...

Well, like many of you, I suspect the recent warm weather and sunny days have given you the feeling that Spring is in the air - with the promise of Summer yet to come! A perfectly normal reaction to what has been a rather pleasant couple of days! But I wonder how many of you, in response to the lovely weather, have just started thinking:

"Spring has sprung , and the grass is griz. I wonder where the birdies is?"

I'm guessing not many of you?!

This is just one of those peculiar phrases that is stuck in my family history. I have no ideas of it's origins - although I'm guessing Spike Milligan - all I know is that it's something my Dad used to say and now it's something that I say! There are many other phrases too...
If someone says "Yes Dear" to you does it conjure up any memories? Do you feel the urgent need to say anything following this statement? No - I thought not! But me, that's a different matter! Thanks to my Dad I now have to say:

"I wonder whether he's a good boy like you and cleans his teeth every night and every morning?"

Again I have no idea where it's from, why my Dad remembered it and chose to teach it to me, or even if the phrase "Yes Dear" was ever really followed by "I wonder whether he's a good boy like you..." or whether I've just made it up! But, like it or not these phrases are now a part of my life!

So to honour all of the crazy phrases, mis-heard song lyrics, special words and family in-jokes I thought I would create a treasury of the best wordy items that Yorkshire has to offer!

To find out more about the people behind these wordy wonders,
just click directly on the pic! Laura x

A ittle bit of my Yorkshire

This has been an unusually hard blog to write, for all the right reasons ,you see I have a magnificent view from my home...

 Conisbrough Castle

And I love it, even on a miserable winters day it gives me a thrill, I’ve taken hundreds of photographs of it over the years, I’ve sketched it, painted it, stitched it and even sculpted it back in my schooldays! Its the reason we bought the house I’m in. (And to think I worried that I’d miss my sea view in Brighton when I relocated rate far up north!) Its definitely one of my favourite places, which led me to thinking of doing a list of my  other favourite places and thats where the trouble started...

The problem with Yorkshire is its so big and so beautiful that what started as a simple idea for this week’s offering turned into a nightmare. The more I thought about it, the bigger the list got, from   tranquil parks and seaside haunts to the bustling towns and cities, I could write a book, and the stress of trying to pick favourites could make your head explode, (I know, mine has) and with that in mind this week I offer a very short but soothing list of inspiring calming and beautiful places you should visit this spring to gather your thoughts and truly relax...

Yorkshire Sculpture Park

You can’t get stressed here, take a picnic and enjoy the fantastic galleries set in acres of picture perfect parkland. Have a wander and discover the magnificent sculptures and finish with scrumptious cake and tea at the cafe.

An Introduction to YSP from Yorkshire Sculpture Park on Video

The Forbidden Corner

If its escapism you’re looking for I can heartily recommend this wonderful folly filled grown up playground (kids like it too apparently) near Leyburn. The website really doesn’t do it justice but I love this secret garden, it’s totally fairytale and fantasy, and don’t let the fact you have to book put you off, its to control the numbers so its never overcrowded!  

Roche Abbey

I do like a ruin and this beautiful abbey is hidden in a valley with a stream running through, take your camera and sketchbook and enjoy!

Robin Hoods Bay

I can’t do relaxing without mentioning the sea and this summer I am determined to get up to Robin Hoods Bay, for a spot of rock pooling with Eliza, Tabitha and their cousins.

I could happily spend all day doing a catalogue of much-loved Yorkshire places but as I browsed the internet this week I had a beautiful reminder from a fellow yorkshire based maker, of my other favourite place...

               

As a rule of thumb if I’m not in Yorkshire I’m here!

Lisa x

The 'C' word...

Everybody loves cake right? 

Here, at Yorkshire Made, we can't get enough of the stuff, and there's never a meetup that doesn't include it! Whether it's means you're sat whiling away the hours in your favourite bookshop cafe with a wedge of the good stuff, inviting the kids to come 'help' you with icing the cake for the in-laws, or if baking is your job, it's always guaranteed fun to get stuck into!

There's a cake for every occasion. Butterfly cakes, Batternburg, Eccles cake, scones with jam and butter (pronounced how you like, that's a whoooole other blog entry!).

Yorkshire can't claim to have come up with the best cakes there are (American chocolate brownies dating back to the 18th century for example -thankyou Wikipedia!) but we've come up with some ruddy weird ones:-


Yorkshire Old Wive's Sod...... and no this isn't from a disgruntled husband's choice vocab. It is in fact a crumbled oat cake and custard concoction that you bake... sounds odd, probably tasted delicious, unfortunately there weren't any pictures online so it probably would be a case of getting stuck into having a crack at making it.

Yorkshire slab cake, a variation on fruit cake...in a 'slab' (what are the chances?!), probably looks a little like this, fancy trying it? Here's the recipe.








Sometimes when it's not possible to dive face-first into a crumbling pile of cake, cream and calorific glutton, it's also nice to look at them instead, and see just how popular a theme it is with the handmade possies too.

It was Lisa at Yorkshire Made's birthday this week ('Happy birthday') and this was a beautiful card she received featuring not one but many sugary cake-y delights, it's making my mouth water at the sight of it!




Cake and craft must surely go together (after all it can't be coincidence that many social gatherings involve tea and cake!), let's see what's out there to tantalise our tastebuds and have us pondering over where the baking powder disappeared to!

A small showcase of what sweet-toothed goodies Yorkshire has on offer:-

www.etsy.com/people/littletimewasters 

 

http://www.etsy.com/shop/woollyduck

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://touchyfeelytextiles.wordpress.com/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.fancie.co.uk

 

 

 

 

On that note.....guess what I'm heading to the kitchen for a sneaky spoonful of?!

Jemma at Yorkshire Made
x