Cupcakes,
Deliciously sweet,
Decorated with care,
Polished off with one
Mouthful.
Did you have a good weekend?
Well, did you?
I did.
I’m not trying to make you envious or even showing off but I have to tell you about it.
It’s not often I feel the need to share my experiences so it is about time I did.
Especially when I’ve been fortunate enough to have experienced such fantastic hospitality at an amazing place.
My weekend away was in Northallerton, Yorkshire which is in the UK (for those who didn’t know).
It was the first time I had visited this part of the UK and thought the journey by car would’ve taken a lot longer than it did. However, I was pleasantly surprised as I’m not a very good passenger.
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We, my partner and I, were invited to a wedding, his best friend’s. We were told that we had a room, in a pub, booked for two nights so I’d assumed it would be a small, tacky room which, incidentally, would’ve been fine as it was only for two nights after all.
I had envisaged having to pass other guests on the stairs or waiting outside the only toilet in the pub whilst wearing my fluffy slippers in the early hours of the morning. (When I’m home I have to go, usually at 3am. I know ‘too much information’ but I’m only saying.)
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Imagine how surprised I was when we eventually got to The Village Inn. In fact, I was blown away by the size of the pub and the fact that we weren’t staying in a room inside it at all.
The man who met us at the bar (not any old man, he was the manager/owner, John Price) was very pleasant and hospitable. He led us out of the pub towards the car park to our room. It was more like a chalet than a room which was pleasing.
The room was very clean and tastefully decorated with purple bedding and curtains. Purple always makes me think of Cadbury’s chocolate bars which isn’t good for my weight loss plan. Having said that, nor was having a weekend away as a wedding guest in such a lovely place. Oh, how I suffered!
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It wasn’t long until we had our first encounter with food at the Village Inn. When all the guests had arrived at the pub, most of them stayed in a room there, we were served fish and chips and the portion size was huge. Apparently customers come from far and wide to have this tasty meal on a Friday night. In fact we met a few locals who frequented the pub and told us that the residents of Brompton, where the pub is located, were regulars due to the great food and hospitality of the staff.
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The food we were served at the wedding reception, breakfast and the evening buffet impressed us immensely. It’s not often I’m impressed. What was more impressive was the staff themselves. From the management to the housekeepers it seemed nothing was too much trouble for them. They bustled about doing their duties with friendly smiles on their faces. Most of them were young and weren’t afraid of hard work. They were a credit to the owners of the pub.
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Whilst away at the Village Inn, in between the wedding and the evening disco, we decided to go for a walk to see what was about. We didn’t have to go far before we spotted my favourite animal in a field. What was very evident to me was how long the sheep’s legs were. Sheep on Dartmoor have shorter legs, I’m sure of it. Perhaps these sheep jumped fences or hedges. I didn’t ask, not that the sheep could tell me. I’m digressing again for which I apologise.
I’m sure their legs are longer.
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So, that was my weekend in a few words and pictures. I hope to revisit The Village Inn next year but instead of staying for just a weekend I’d like to stay for longer. I really want to see the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors so a week would be ideal.
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It just leaves me to say, if you want somewhere different to stay where you’d be sure of a great welcome, fantastic food and great hospitality, then The Village Inn should be a consideration. (I’m not getting any commission for this recommendation by the way.)
Go to their website http://www.villageinnnorthallerton.co.uk
You can also check out the reviews on Tripadvisor.co.uk
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Idioms or metaphors?
As an English speaker, I often wonder how easy this language is to learn for foreign learners.
If I was actually learning English myself, I know I would be confused with the antonyms,synonyms, oxymorons and euphemisms etc..
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So if I’m confused I expect many more of us are too.
What makes it so difficult to learn is the different rules we follow to put our sentences together.
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We have words that are spelled the same but have different meanings (homographs) or words that sound the same but spelled differently (homophones).
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Then there’s there, their and they’re which I know I have used wrongly at some point in my life. Of course there’s to,too and two too. Do you see/sea what I mean?
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In addition to that, we have words that are nouns that can be verbs also. When doing the crossword, it’s sometimes difficult to know if the clue is a noun or a verb which can be confusing sometimes. (Well, to me it can be.)
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There are words that are frequently misspelled such as; embarrassment, guarantee, harassment and parliament. Then there are frequently confused words such as; aural and oral, council and counsel, principal and principle…the list goes on.
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There are a lot of people who confuse idioms, similes and metaphors and who could blame them.
If someone told me to ‘pull my socks up’ or asked, ‘are you pulling my leg?’ I would understand that they didn’t really want me to do these things as they were just idioms. It would be a completely different story if you were saying these things to a speaker of a foreign language or someone on the autistic spectrum.
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I have worked with autistic children so I know from experience not to use idioms or other figures of speech unless the child understands them. (If they’re very young they probably wouldn’t).
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I once said, ‘I had a frog in my throat’ to an autistic girl and, being scared, screamed at me to get it out! She’s almost 18 years old now and would be able to realise that I didn’t have an amphibian sitting in my mouth .
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So, as you can see, English isn’t as easy as pie or a piece of cake.
In fact it’s all Greek to me.
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Limerick – Muse
My friend is going to watch Muse,
a band I’d see if I could choose.
Their sound is unique,
I’d love a quick peak,
but will have to wait with the blues.
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I’m not jealous Helen. x
Why is it…?
That when we go for a cuppa, where I have a tea and my partner has a coffee, we are only given the tiniest jug of milk between us?
It’s not everyone’s cup of tea!
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Now, I’m not one to moan but come on… If I were to go into a cafe alone, I would get the same size jug of milk just for me. I know that because I’ve done it and in the same place too. So why do we have to share one between two?
Size does matter
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I could understand it if it was a one off and happened in only one cafe/coffee shop but it hasn’t. We have been in a few different places where we’ve bought one coffee and one tea and still they’ve given us a jug suitable for a doll’s picnic. Or in other words, a thimble!
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I expect you’re thinking, ” Stop moaning and ask for extra milk,” well we have before but it’s the principle of the matter. It’s not like we do it often but for heaven’s sake why should we have to ask. They should know that a dribble of milk between two isn’t going to go far.
I don’t like my tea too strong and I feel aggrieved.
I’m not going to have a cuppa whilst in town ever again. There I’ve said it now so I can’t go back on my word.
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That’s it, moan over. Thanks for listening. I’m now going to drink a lovely cup of chocolate.
My friend Helen-Limerick
Helen, it’s your turn…
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I have a fab friend called Helen,
When she’s dancing she is in Heaven.
She loves to do zumba and even tried rumba
but gets thirsty so she eats a melon.
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OK, I know what you’re thinking…the ending was rubbish…but I had to do one about Helen before tomorrow as she’ll feel left out. It’s not easy rhyming with her name.
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I’ve just made a decision…I’m going to set you all a challenge…
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Can you help me with a better last line? If you can (I’m sure you can) leave it in the comments box.
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I’ve nearly reached 80… Posts not years – haiku
Haiku
It happened quickly
My posts grew in momentum
Moving all the time.
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My 80th post. Where does the time go?
My friend Janet – Limerick
I have a good friend named Janet,
Who loved a song so she sang it,
She continued all night
Holding the Microphone tight,
A star, she shines on our planet.
Raising Awareness for Scoot-A-Long
Today I thought I’d write something completely different to what I normally write.
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I’ve decided I’d like to try and raise awareness of a very small, local charity, Scoot-A-Long. This charity helps disabled people young and old to enjoy the outdoors by loaning out their scooters. These all terrain scooters enable the disabled to go on rambles in the countryside, something they would find impossible to do under normal circumstances.
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They are currently trying to raise enough money to purchase a wheelchair friendly boat, Scoot-A-Boat, so disabled people can go out onto the River Tamar and The Sound to enjoy the fresh air, the views, fishing and the feeling of independence.
One of the scooters to hire.
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Being a small charity, the group of mostly disabled volunteers, spend all their time trying to raise money just to keep going. They do bag packing at supermarkets, collections, sell raffle tickets and hire out their small fleet of scooters.
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They’ve applied for funding to help them in their plight and have had small grants here and there but not enough to keep them running for very long.
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I admire the work they do especially as they are disabled themselves.
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If you think you’d like to help in any way be it big or small then I’m sure they would appreciate it.
Many thanks from me for reading my post.
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http://www.scoot-a-long.org.uk
Registered charity number: 1119623
