Walking in Swaledale and an Afternoon in Richmond

Firstly, a big thank you to those of you who kindly wished us well on our half term break.  I'll try not to be too much of a bore in my posts this week.  The first day of our break in the Yorkshire Dales we set out to take the dog for a walk along the River Swale, which was flowing just down the hill from where we were staying.  It was a bit muddy under foot, but we had a lovely walk and the dog was in her element.  She spent most of the time with her head stuck down rabbit holes as the photos can attest to.  It was quite difficult to catch her in the process, but I just about managed it a couple of times.  Luckily she didn't manage to find a rabbit.

 

 

There were some pretty scenic sights (pity the photography wasn't so good)

and the mist rolling over the hills was amazing to see. 

 

 

There is something so beautiful about this part of the country that just keeps us coming back time and again.  We've stayed in several of the dales over the last few years; Arkengarthdale, Coverdale and Swaledale .  All have their own unique beauty.

After a couple of hours walking, we made our way back to the cottage where bacon sandwiches were in order for lunch.  By now it seemed that rain had set in for the afternoon, so we made the most of it and drove into Richmond, one of the nearest Market towns.  I did a bit of food shopping, whilst OH bought himself some new wellies and some thermal gloves.  Richmond is one of our favourite Yorkshire towns.  It is small and compact and is built mainly around the market square and has just about everything you could possibly want - a great cinema, swimming pool, mini golf, interesting shops, supermarkets, market (although not today) and the castle of course.  We have visited on many occasions whenever we've stayed in these parts. 

I always like to visit the weigh store where you can buy virtually anything by weight.  I just got some pudding rice for supper one evening, but I love these shops and wish I could find one closer to home, as it would be very useful in helping me to reduce our household waste.  I also had great fun checking out the Yorkshire Trading store, as being a local chain, we don't get these in London and they sell almost everything you could possibly want including fabric, wool, sewing and crafting supplies, outdoor and indoor clothing, pet items, gardening items, etc. etc.  I could have spent hours in there looking around, but sadly I couldn't as I was meeting up with OH and didn't want to take too long. 

I bought a couple of small, but necessary things that I had been on the lookout for for a while, namely a 71cm zip that I need to replace the broken zip on a favourite jacket of mine.  I'm hoping it's the right size as I didn't have the exact measurements.  I kind of measured it against myself to gage how long my coat, which is at home, is.  Not exactly scientific,  but fingers crossed. I also bought a  fireplace tool set as we needed a new one.  The brush on ours has worn right down and is now unusable and the tongs recently broke too.  I'd tried to buy one in B&Q near where we live, the other day, but they didn't seem to have them, so I was pleased to find a set here.  It should tuck nicely down the side of the wood burner too.  Finally, I did treat myself to this lovely cotton bee print ribbon at £1 per 2.5m roll  and a ball of this lovely chunky 100g ball of acrylic wool for £1.75 to make a pair of wrist warmers, both of which were just so pretty and reasonably priced that I just couldn't resist.

Once we'd done the necessary shopping, we headed back to the cottage for dinner which was Toad in the Hole made with Swaledale sausages, followed by one of my favourites when I'm in Yorkshire, namely Yorkshire curd cheese tart.  This is the last remaining piece, which I'm saving for another day.  I'm afraid the photo doesn't really do it justice, but it was very tasty.

It always reminds me of my childhood, as my mum used to bring them home regularly for tea.  You can take a girl out of Yorkshire, but you can't take Yorkshire out of the girl.