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Back from Yorkshire...

Just back from a lovely week away in Yorkshire - where I tried this for the first time ever!

















At the amazing Warren Gill http://www.warren-gill.co.uk/index.asp , a family-run, beautiful shooting ground just outside our beloved Masham, which we'd thoroughly recommend!

We also found time to go riding here http://www.mashamridingcentre.com/ as we have done for the past 20 years or so, enjoying amazing treks on ploddy but "characterful" Highland ponies around the amazing Swinton Estate.

In amongst all of that we did some new product sourcing of course, and we're looking forward to unveiling some new things on a new look website very, very soon... so please bear with us!

Yay! Pheasant's on Daily Candy...

So excited to be featured on Daily Candy (http://www.dailycandy.com/london/)- mecca for loveliness and newness. Selling like hotcakes now and they're limited edition so get yourself over to the site http://pheasantmailorder.co.uk/product.php?category=40 if you want one! :

http://www.dailycandy.com/london/article/85708/London-Dog-Guide-2010

Handmade Cat & Dog Plaque Tiles (H10cm x W7cm)£7.50 each inc. P&P, Pheasant

Dreaming of Brymor...

Dreaming of some of the best ever ice cream this afternoon - oh how I could devour a waffle cone with some Praline Pecan Delight - vanilla ice cream with praline pecans and caramel sauce... or Cinderella - light caramel ice cream with toffee pieces and hazelnut crunch...!

Whenever we head up to Yorkshire, there has to be a Brymor visit at least 3 times within that week - for an end-of-day ice cream, some delicious milk for our breakfast and coffees, and the most unbelivably yummy clotted cream to eat with our cake haul from Ripon, whilst we're away. Brymor is a great British family-run business on High Jervaulx Farm between Wensleydale and Middleham. Established in 1984, they've won dozens and dozens of awards for their delicious ice cream, made from the beautiful Guernsey cows who you can feed the ends of your cornets to in the barn outside. The awards adorn the walls of the large ice cream parlour on the grounds of the farm that people regularly queue up to get into on a summer's day - WELL worth a visit especially on a day like to day...

Brymor 01677 460337
Open daily 10am ~ 6pm (Last orders 5pm except tubs and cones) Closed 25th & 26th December, 1st January
http://www.abmoore.co.uk/

Too much to do and too little time!

We're all looking forward to our trip up to Yorkshire in October - it's really precious time as we only have a week so we do tend to start planning quite early! One thing that is already booked and in the diary (thanks Aunty Chris! Seems that there are a lot of other people who book up things way in advance as I've just noticed that it's fully booked) is our Sunday at Bettys Cookery School in Harrogate. Every year we stock up in the York branch of Bettys on at least 30 Fat Rascals, Taylors Tea, and then manage to find the appetite to head down to the tea room for something yummy. At the cookery school, we're doing a whole day of baking Bettys-style! From 9 in the morning until 4:15 we'll be baking the following (or attempting to!):

Coffee & walnut cake; lemon & lime drizzle cake; melting moments; anzac biscuits, and chocolate battenburg!

Plenty to keep us going for the week!

Visit the Cookery School site for details of their other amazing courses, from "Spring & Summer One Pot Wonders" in July to "Cooking with Chocolate" in August - mmmmmm...

http://www.bettyscookeryschool.co.uk/

or the Bettys By Post site to stock up on Fat Rascals...

http://www.bettysbypost.com/

Bolton Castle and its gorgeous cafe

One of my new favourite places to go for a bite to eat and on the first visit, it was a yummy cream tea, is Bolton Castle. High up in the heart of Wenselydale, you can see the castle for miles and miles and the journey across the dales to get there is truly lovely. The tea room itself is so beautifully and simply styled - "EAT" in silver letters is framed by 2 sets of mounted antlers on the walls, and the medieval chandelier and imposing beams work surprisingly well against the duck egg blue wood panelling around the serving area, loaded with freshly made, delicious-looking cakes.

They also sell lots of local produce (road tested to the max by the Curtises - my family) like jars of traditional sweets from BahHumbugs in Masham (http://www.bahhumbugs.com/) and ice cream from Brymor (http://www.brymordairy.co.uk/) - the best icecream in the world EVER!

http://www.boltoncastle.co.uk/

English Country Garden Flowers

My dozens of daffodil arrangements dotted around the house and the lovely sunny London weather today have reminded me of a glorious flower arrangment (picked from the kitchen gardens at Swinton Castle) from last September's Alfresco Parkland Food Festival at Swinton Park (http://www.swintonpark.com/events/hotelevents.html) where we are lucky enough to go riding on ploddy but charming Highland ponies a few times a year:

Apologies for the not-particularly-great-quality "phone pics" - I will find my camera lead soon...