Sweet Steps

I have that feeling.  The Sunday night one.  The kind you used to get when you were little whilst sitting with damp hair before bed.  The feeling of just knowing that you would struggle to sleep because 'you knew you had to get up early tomorrow.' This is most confusing to my little self since it is in fact Friday and the start of a bank holibob of fun and frolics for most.  I am back at work tomorrow after being off since Tuesday.  It hurts. Especially since we have had the LOVELIEST time of galavanting here there and everywhere and spending time JUST US. Just us with nowhere to be, nowhere to be going and no one to bother but US.  We filled our cases and headed to Harrogate for a few days exploring and wandering.

 We had decided on Harrogate a little while ago.  For the couple that struggle to decide what to eat for tea most nights, this was progress.  We couldn't however find anywhere to stay that we both liked and that didn't cost a million pounds.  Then at 11pm the night before we were going, we found THIS gem. It was essentially a pretty little B&B, with the luxuries of a 5.5 star hotel and more.

 We arrived to homemade CAKE (chocolate and Guinness!)and shortbread in our pretty PURPLE room - i was already mentally planning our next trip..

 A little tea, SUNSHINE and shortbread break before heading into town for somewhere delicious to eat.

Day two's CAKE - Carrot and walnut.  Accompanied naturally by even more homemade shortbread. 

Falling in love with the beautiful Valley Gardens: watching squirrels play in the trees, baby ducklings hiding in a secret pond and even making a wish in a wishing well.  And watching the prettiest SUN on its way to bed.

Wandering the pretty hanging basket filled streets before tea…

And wandering the even more pretty streets after tea in a hopeless effort to walk off all the delicious treats we had just munched through before cake and tea in bed.

We even squeezed in a trip to York and couldn't go without walking miles around its pretty, cobbled and slant-y housed streets; and without saying a little hello and how do you do to York Minister.  

I admired and wanted to stop and take a picture of everything nearly every HOUSE we passed because every single one was more pretty than the one before.  I also wanted to buy all the vintage trunks and suitcases and several old and very sad bicycles from the pretty vintage shops.

I fell in love with the pretty little road side 'help yourself' gardens.  Although after spotting these baby SALAD leaves i do hope nobody depends on them too much or they might be going a little bit hungry!  *  *  * I didn't want to come home.  I wanted to stay always and live in a pretty Mews, have cake in my room everyday and cycle Willow through all the pretty cobbled streets all of the time.

Hope i find you all tip top and i am wishing you all the most stupendous Bank Holiday weekend!