#30daysof

💙💚30 days of lil space, inspired by Pinterest💙 💚

Our last day of the summer holidays deserved just a small outing somewhere not too far or too strenuous before the early start of the new school term the following morning.  I had loved over the summer the girls had pretended to be fairies flying around the flowers & vegetable pick your own farms & had invested in some fancy dress butterfly wings from ebay (whack kids butterfly wings into the search box & loads come up in all different colours). They had arrived & I packed them as a surprise to fly around the Dahlia Field at Finchley Nurseries. 

They flew around the field flapping their wings & excitedly jumping up & down at the gorgeous array of dahlias to cut.

We pretty soon had a HUGE bunches with such a variety of colour & shape to bring home & even enough to gather a bunch for my mum as they are her favourite flowers.

The field now has wildflower editions too & huge gorgeous bushes of anemones. Judy was flitting around them trying to inhale their scent. It was such a magical sight as she did look like a fairy... I’m pretty sure this was my idea of fun moreso than the girls! haha I’m so happy I snapped this!

Look how many we got! I enjoyed playing with these images on the Hipstamatic App on my phone. I love the dreamlike images they produce which i feel convey the feelings of the shot rather than just how it looked. 

This summer we decided to go to Whitby! Hooray! I had wanted to go for YEARS... mainly to stay in the fantastically eccentric La Rosa Hotel, once frequented by Lewis Carroll. Can you get more surreal than Alice In Wonderland? So we drove up the August Bank Holiday Monday for a 2 night stay (& went on to stay with family not as nearby as I had worked out... )

We checked in & dumped our bags into our room - which tonight was The Saloon! (Click for more pics). A cowgirl style room with a couple of camp beds made up for the girls & a massive silver bath! 

After our 4 hour drive where the girls were too excited to nap (groan!) we decided that a little sit in the library/cocktail lounge would be a super idea for a rest before heading out for some dinner. We made use of their board games & introduced the kids to some Guess Who & flicked through beautiful picture books.

The room was filled with amazing quirky niknaks, it took a while for it all to sink in & even then I’m not sure all of it did! We categorically DID NOT play with the ouija board we discovered at the bottom of the pile!! (eeek!)

I grabbed a cocktail menu & sat down. I was so engrossed in the list of gin cocktails that when my youngest Ada said ‘Mummy, careful, that fox is going to eat you’ with a weirded out look on her face - I turned to look in the direction she was staring at and came face to face with this!! ....

Judy wanted to get involved - she was braver than me! haha! We went out that evening & had been recommended the Magpie Cafe. We were so lucky not to have to queue (every other time we passed the queue was so big!) and we had a fantastic fish & chip dinner. We popped into the amusements & had a wee go before heading back to get an early night.

La Rosa usually brings breakfast hampers up to the room, but as were 4 we took our breakfast in the tea room with sea views. Our hamper was filled to the brim with fresh fruit, yoghurt, granola, cereal, cheese croissants, cake & orange juice with tea & coffee. Oh my gosh it was so good & the pastries still warm. Yum! We couldn’t possibly eat it all, so we popped some in our bag for snacks later! 

Our first stop of the day was Whitby Abbey. It looms above the town in all its gothic glory, inspiration for Bram Stoker’s Dracula & the town is so proud of this. It was great to have a wander & let the kids run free through the grasses. 

We descended from the Abbey & roamed the town, perusing the gift & book shops. We met some friends had more delicious fish & chips & then headed to the beach, where despite being freezing the girls headed straight for the North Sea! 

Our second night we had booked into La Rosa Room to maximise our La Rosa experience by not staying in one room. Oh my goodness - the girls (& I) were delighted. Swans & roses everywhere & a gorgeous view of the sea & Whitby Abbey! 

After rinsing off the sea & sand & popping on some warmer clothes we headed out for some dinner at The Fisherman’s Wife. The children’s menu here was outstanding, they had choices such as salmon & seabass & the girls happily gobbled it all up! We couldn’t come all the way to Whitby & not try Whitby oysters & they were amazing here! 

After dinner we did a couple more rides in the amusements & then went on a ghost walk! (haha) The girls loved it until it got dark & then Judy got scared & Ada fell asleep. But it was great fun! wooooooooo!

We had a great night sleep back in our room.The pillows & duvet were so soft.

The following morning we had our breakfast again in the tea room. We said good bye to all the oddities as our stay was over. The lady at the front desk showed me the basement bar which they hire our for weddings & parties etc. It looked so cool - I  got to meet Lady Rosa who told our fortune! 

I would 100% recommend La Rosa for a visit, they were super friendly, quirky with comfortable beds & delicious cocktails & breakfasts, everything I love in a Great British Holiday! And I would say to try more than one room whilst you stay! It was so much fun! 

We couldn’t leave Whitby without visiting the dismally acclaimed Dracula Experience. If Tripadvisor reviews give an attraction a 1 star (just checked this & it has risen to 2 stars!), chances are I will love it. So in we went! To be honest Ada was so freaked out by the dark that we had to rush through, I didn’t fully experience the horror nor grab any story... but there is a treat if you go during peak times! It was hilarious. One big jump for the girls to use up their tokens, a fresh & gorgeous crab sandwich & tray of cockles later, we climbed into our car & said a fond farewell to Whitby!

Ok, so as you can see I have been finding it really hard to continue down this route... and thinking of things to do in my 30 days. This month of ‘courage’ wasn’t exactly a ‘month of’ but was more of a firm decision, & maybe it is because I have been on this journey since January that I had this realisation/outburst... But it was clear that in this specific month I would have to leave my safety zone & step out of it. I was going to have to make a noise. 

I find this exceptionally hard. People who know me may be confused by this - but big emotional events these past few years had me bite my tongue more & more until nothing was said.... dun dun dun... until now. 

And guess what, I learned that when I speak out the world doesnt collapse. The clock hand still turns & the world still goes on. So I’m making a concerted effort to step out of my comfort zone. 

Hey. 

Actually I’m not Grover. I’m Jireh. Jireh Ivan Hinton. 38. I remember i used to want to be somebody else, all the time. So i made myself somebody else, Grover Watts. But in any event...