Lakeside loveliness

Its quite a treat for us to get away, even for a couple of days. But there comes a time when you just need a change of scene to re-charge your batteries and we often escape to the Lake District.

It's only an hour up the motorway so it doesn't add a massive journey - you can even visit for the day but its been a while since we've done that. This last trip we spent in Kendal at the riverside hotel. Just on the edge of the lake district its a large town full of amenites but still full of character. Little cobbled streets, cute little houses, quaint shops and a hill with the ruins of a castle. What more can you want? We didn't walk up to the castle this time as it was very wet and I didn't have a full set of waterproofs (I have a propensity to fall over in muddy fields) so decided to pass. Instead we strolled around the town wandering down wiends and passageways.

There's an abundance of beautiful gift shops - you know the type, they all sell lovely things which are completely pointless or well designed versions of things that are incredibly expensive. I drooled over wood laminate alarm clocks £69.95, rubber plant holders £16.95 and photograph trees £39.95. Then discovered a craft & toy shop where I could have literally spent all day (Gordon waited outside I swear I could hear him tutting). The one thing I was looking for was the perfect extra large capuccinno cups but sadly didn't find any.

So I moved onto the charity shops. Unfortunately Kendals charity shops have all been massacred by re-fits in the last couple of years. You just know as soon as the cheap laminate floors are laid that all the best quality vintage is shipped out to the premium stores and everything left is massively overpriced.

But after much rummaging I managed to find a denim shirt and a red mohair cardie - both will get re-sold in the shop with a bit of profit!

And we went to one of my favourite charity shops - Age Concern furniture depot! It's a massive warehouse with brimming shelves full of clutter, furniture piled high and lots of random stuff. We left with a tabletop billiard table (for the shop - perfect to display mens t-shirts), a pair of speakers (again for the shop), another mohair cardie, vintage bag and pearl necklace.

These little trips out broke up the days spent in the hotel room designing but the hotel was lovely. They have a special deal at this time of year - 3 nights b&b with 2 evening meals for £99. The food is all locally sourced and the wine organic from a local company. I loved it so much I'm going to buy a box for Christmas!

I've eaten enough food to last me until Christmas - I definately need to limit myself to salad and soup this week! It's really strange as we usually eat very low calorie meals in small portions, so we've really felt stuffed with 3 courses and full breakfasts - I don't know how people eat like that all the time! It's always a bit of a nightmare for me with my allergies but there was plenty to choose from and I did succumb and eat a couple of "illegal" puddings, thankfully with no anaphalactic results!

Mmmmm! Yum Yum!