The Tenth Hole | A Review

Another weekend, another trip away!

This time I ventured all the way down south to the Portsmouth area. I’ve got friends and family down there, so it’s well worth the 5 hour drive but maybe not every weekend ehh!

Here’s a small glimpse of all the wonderfullness to come in this blog post 😀

As usual I was eager to try new tearooms and had a few on my list for this trip. My friend and I planned a full day in Portsmouth. We wanted to have a good scout around all the shops, as well as to pop across to Southsea. Both my friend and my sister-in-law to be suggested we try ‘The Tenth Hole‘ – a little tearoom attached to a golf course that apparently served not only great food but scrumptious cake too. Well obviously we had to try it and thus walked the 2.2 miles to Southsea. Yes, we were pretty hungry by the time we arrived.

After a small wait outside the front, we were seated in the side conservatory. Until I popped to the loo about 10 minutes in, I didn’t realise that most of the seating was either outside or in similar conservatory type areas. The whole feel was golf inspired but didn’t take it too far. Such as rope decorations with a bluey/sea green colour painted on the walls. The place had a beach hut type feel with a perfect cafe twist. It was great.

Drinks were the first order of business. My friend went for the hot choccy as usual with extras :p

I decided to go for the usual tea but opted for peppermint, as I’m really keen on this flavour at the moment. And amazingly it came in this enamel teapot. How awesome is this!!!!

After a short perusal of the menu, we both decided to have the special we had being eyeing up whilst in the queue. This was a filo pastry stuffed with feta cheese, roasted tomatoes, butternut squash and olives on a bed of rocket. Then just to ensure we weren’t being too healthy we shared a little blue enamel tub of sweet potato wedges.

A couple of bits I absolutely loved in this place was the fact they had a Kilner jar full of water, so you could just grab a glass and I adored the paint dipped chairs.

Unfortunately my phone battery died at this point. So I was unable to take photos of the puddings we had but let me tell you they were absolutely delicious!!! I tried the banoffee pie and my friend had the strawberry meringue cake. Really delicious, totally worth going just for the cake 😀

Overall I give this tearoom 9 out of 10!!

Beadlam Grange Farm Tearoom and Farm Shop | A Review

Last weekend I was lucky enough to have my wonderful friend Cindy visit. As she was coming a long way, I wanted to make sure we went somewhere nice but I also wanted to go somewhere new myself. Somewhere I could share with you all. After consulting some work colleagues, it was suggested I try Beadlam Grange Farm Tearoom – which is just south of the North Yorkshire Moors.

And what a wonderful surprise it was! Absolute perfection. After about an hour’s journey we easily found the farm, and found the well sign posted tearoom up in the farm attic. Full of wood beams and gorgeous wooden tables. It was elegant and traditional but not in a fuddy, duddy way. We felt really comfortable.

After the shortest wait known to woman, we were seated. Both of us went for tea, and as I’ve mentioned before I’m really into Peppermint tea. So was delighted to find that they stocked Taylor’s Tea. One of my favourites.

Unbeknownst to us originally, it was actually Yorkshire day and as such as we both decided to sample something Yorkshire themed. Cindy went for the Yorkshire Roast Beef and I went for the Yorkshire Cheese board. Here they are in their absolute delicious-ness!

Cindy got some many vegetables with her already full dinner plate, she just couldn’t manage it all. When I got mine, I was doubting whether it would fill me up. How very wrong I was. I was so absolutely stuffed that I didn’t even manage dessert – actually neither of us did. Thankfully they had a farm shop, where we were able to get a few tasty treats to take home afterwards. I even bought some fresh veg and cooking bits and pieces. It was heaven and the colours of the food looked so vibrant.

They also had a lovely little gift shop, stocked with all the appropriate items for a farm shop i.e. lots of animal covered things!

Plenty of garden ware too. But in general the whole place was well designed and made you want to spend your money. Good for them, perhaps less good for my purse!

I give this place 9 out of 10. I really recommend you go if you’re ever in the North Yorkshire area.

P.S Some tasty coffee cake from the farm shop for Cindy and some tasty vintage from #emilysvintagecollection 😀

Dulcie Butterfly | A Review

A few months ago a twitter friend and I ventured to a little tearoom in Boston Spa called ‘Dulcie Butterfly‘. This tearoom actually does a few things including flowers and wedding photography. So a really array of offerings.

Obviously we were there for the tea. On first impressions the small tearoom seemed very small and fairly cramped, but as we guided to our little table it seemed to add to the charm and the tables weren’t too close together, which is always a positive to me. The service was slightly slow at some points but forgivable due it being very busy.

We of course had Tea and it came in these cute teacups. You know I do love a good teacup. 😀

Look at this crazy amazing chandelier!

I decided to opt for the goats cheese tart which came with a delicious looking salad, which tasted pretty great too.

This was absolutely delicious and came with a tiny pot of gherkins that I adored.

My friend had the pate, which she devoured as well. We were both very satisfied. The tearoom itself had a lot of items for sale, with unusual displays such as this teapot spout come out of the wall.

There were some strange bits like the fact the bathroom was through the kitchen but overall it was a lovely funky and unusual tearoom. You could tell the owner absolutely adored her work and was very friendly.

I give this tearoom 7.5 out of 10. The tearoom had cute decor, the staff were pretty good, the food was great and I had a good time. Check it out if you are ever in the area.

My Vintage Life….

You may have noticed I have been noticeably absent for a wee while. I promise this was anything but intentional. However my life just got busy, fun, crazy, hard and most of all time consuming. My small business was the main source of this but more recently it had been do with my health and personal reasons. I moved house at the beginning of June. This has been a blessing and curse for my small business and also for blogging. No internet and so much new ‘stuff’ so to speak left me severely distracted but altogether very happy.

Now this had died down, I’m beginning to come around to getting back into the swing of things. My first step this blog post. I’m hoping to start posting once every 1-2 weeks to begin with, whilst I get my rhythm back. So I hope you’ll bare with me. Everybody needs some time to take a step back and look at things but I also think it’s great to step back and just live your life. This is what I’ve been doing and I just want to share some of journey with you in the only way I know how…cue photo montage:

Whilst packing I sudden realised how much tea I actually owned and I was not ashamed!

Packing my housemate’s flat before the big move! It was really exhausting but we had lots of boundless energy.

By this point I really didn’t want to unpack but I always do it pretty quickly. Cannot bare to live in chaos 😀 Looks a lot smarter now.

A gift from my dad for moving into the new house! We use it all the time. It does teach you a lot of patience though.

My very first dinner in the house. It was so calming and peaceful. We love to gather around our workbench table and chat with eating in between.

Obviously a home is not a home without some tea and keen to get a lot of use out of my teapot. It’s so cute and it’s cath kidston.

SO feeling pretty good right now and having been going out a bit! Enjoying it a lot whilst its all new I guess 😀

Making lots of new friends and enjoying older friendships.

And of course my best friends have been visiting and we have been visiting tearooms……you knew I would be!!!

See you soon my friends! Love the vintage life and just love life.

Two Fairs, One Day | Part 2

After a morning of beautiful vintage stalls, we took ourselves off for a spot of lunch at this awesome place called Leaf…I’ll get to the next fair soon…honest. It was so funky and full of tea. I went for a delicious Eggs Royale and tried my very first iced tea – which was delicious and very colourful.

Funky restaurant in Liverpool

After our scrummy lunch we jumped on a train and made our way to the next fair, which was the Artisans in the Palm House in Sefton Park. It really was a glorious day and perfect for an event like this as it was 50% outside and 50% inside. The outside stalls were mainly food – anything from awesome pizza trucks to veggie falafal pittas to the more traditional burger vans. There were sweet treats, flavoured peanut butter and awesome smoothies!

Food, sun and people!

I treated myself to some of the peanut butter from the Funky Nut Co. I picked out the Sea Salt & Honey flavour and safe to say it did not last long. There was also singing throughout the time we visited, which was played out to the entire event – this produced a very vibrant atmosphere, which people seemed to enjoy.

Once we’d had a good wander and a smoothie of course, we popped inside for the stall holders and their wonderful wares. These were my favourites.

Lady Liver Tea

As you well know I love all things tea, so you won’t be surprised when I say this was one of my favourite stalls. I loved her mix between affordable china gift sets and beautifully blended tea. It’s always nice to find new tea blends to try. I treated myself to a two cup trial of ‘Sublime Mint’, which was lovely. I love how the loose leaf tea looks in these jars, they would make such a lovely display in a home.

the way to blue

This next stall really caught my attention. The stall was so striking. Blue is always a colour that appeals to me, it is a colour of many depths I feel and this work was stunning. Sarah who runs the stall seemed very knowledgeable about her work but also very passionate, which I think you can see in her work. Sadly I don’t use many candles etc so most of it wasn’t suitable for me but I picked up a little card to use for a special occasion.

(If you’re interested about how she does this, there is some information on her website)

Little Miss P

Recently I became the proud auntie to a beautiful little girl called ‘Olivia’, she is such a cutie. I get to meet her for the first time next weekend. Excited doesn’t really cover it. So I have baby on the brain a bit more than usual and I think this is why Little Miss P really stood out for me. These were special individual creations and they even had matching bloomers. Really could it get any cuter? I didn’t purchase one but that may change now I’ve seem these photos again… I will let you know!

Fudgemental

And last but not least was Fudgemental. This stall was full of sweet tasting deliciousness. The stall holder was actually a friend of my friend, so we chatted a bit. Her wares were delicious and I especially enjoyed trying all the flavours. She had taster pieces of each flavour under wine glasses, which looked great. I grabbed a bag full of my beloved salted caramel, vanilla and a cheeky baileys. As expected, these didn’t last long either.

I would highly recommend this event. A wonderful day out with food, music and gifts to be purchased. I know at the moment they are trying to raise funds to help support the upkeep of this beautiful palm house. So if you are in Liverpool, why not pop down to the next one and support a heritage site?

All in all, a blissful day with my best friend, looking at all the things that I adore.

Two Fairs, One Day | Part 1

Last weekend I visited my best friend Sarah (she has been mentioned numerous times, mostly because she’s amazing!!!). Anyway I popped over to Liverpool to see her and we managed to fit a whole load of stuff into our time together. We felt pretty clever….until we found out how exhausting it all was! Great day though 😀

First fair of the day was the Empire and it was ‘Liverpool Does Vintage’. There were quite a few stalls packed into the entrance area and bar upstairs, but sadly it did feel a little underwhelming. On the positive side, my Bestie and I had a really great rummage through the rails and managed to find some magnificent pieces.

I really loved this dress I found and the price point was perfect. Sadly the size tag was not as perfect and I felt it would be dishonest to myself to buy something i would like never fit into.

I was a little surprised to find so few homeware stalls. As you know I’m keen vintage homeware enthusiast, so this was a bit disappointing. Bestie did manage to find a lovely little skirt, which she thought would be perfect for her holidays in a few weeks time.

Overall the fair was good, but I would like to see the fair in a better location next time with more light. With vintage I always prefer to be able to see every detail of the item I’m buying especially as I am unable to take it back.

The tearoom looked pretty cute, unfortunately as my Bestie has to be gluten free, we were unable to sample this menu!!

Overall I did expect a little more from fair but it was fun to discover some bits of vintage clothing. A must if you love your vintage clothes!

Part 2 – Artisans in the Palm House…coming soon!

The Tea Room | A Review

A few weeks ago I visited my brother and my sister-in-law to be for her baby shower! Yes I will be an auntie very shortly! Very exciting!!

Much to my delight I was taken to a lovely vintage tearoom whilst I was there! The tearoom is question was the aptly named ‘The Tea Room’, couldn’t be more to the point really. They don’t seem to have much of a web presence, well none that I can locate but here are their details on Facebook for you anyway.

I really enjoyed this little tearoom. My sister-in-law to be (well she’s called Laura, so let’s call her Laura from now on…ok?). Laura booked us in for a lunchtime shot. So there was my sister, my brother, Laura and her mother and me……quite a big table of people. Thank goodness she booked, as it was very busy by the time we got there at 1pm. Always a good sign though I say. The decor was lovely and very much up my street. Vintage chic, old tables, pretty decorations, big mirrors you know what I like!

After a lovely afternoon tea at the baby shower, I wasn’t quite ready for another. So I opted for the toasted Tuna, Cheese and Onion Toastie. Yum!

This next bit of information may be a shock to you all but I actually ordered Peppermint Tea 😮 I know what a traitor to the beloved Early Grey. But on the bright side, they did delight me by supplying loose leaf tea. Always a Yes for me. Why would I want a teabag when that is so easy for me to do at home? What are your thoughts on this? #Teabag or #LooseLeaf

     

And it was lovely 😀 The best part it all came out on fine bone china. My teacup as you might be able to guess (if you’re china fantatic like me) was a Colclough teacup.

One of my favourites.

I even treated myself to this little beauty above. The bathroom was another delight…

Everyone demolished their food pretty quickly and we got the bill which was very well priced for by the sea.

I give this tearoom a strong 8.5 out of 10!

A great experience, service was great, prices were very affordable, decor cute and appropriate, loose leaf tea was brilliant and everyone at my table went home very happy.

Pinspiration ~ Uses for a vintage tea trolley.

My fellow blogger Sunshine and Celandines has found a whole bunch of gorgeous vintage looking tea trolleys!

I love them all (big fan of them), which one is your favourite? Think any of the light blues ones are mine.

sunshine and celandines

I have recently bought a Tea Trolley!! I purchased it to display my teacup candles and other vintage knick – knacks in my friends shop Chillimoon in Clitheroe. My lovely friend is giving it a new look with some Annie Sloane paint and pretty decapage. Meanwhile I have been admiring tons of trolleys on Pinterest. 🙂 I had no idea they could be so versatile!

Double up as a drinks trolley.

Bed side cabinet.

Storage for craft supplies.

Mobile book storage.

Pretty plant stand.

Elegant bathroom tidy.

Perfect place for a living room lamp and other pretty things.

Turn a trolley into a dressing table.

Display your vintage treasures.

So there is more to a tea trolley than something sturdy and efficient to wheel out the puddings. I could actually have one in just about every room in the house! Do you own a tea trolley? What do you use…

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Vintage Goodies | Getting ready for the future

Hello

Long time, no see. I’ve been absolutely crazy busy with preparations for the Decoporium…so I wanted to let you in with what I’ve been up to.

Stand by for a bunch of photos 😀 So first my is new welsh dresser, that I am up-doing. It has now been painted, waxed (possibly over waxed too) and the drawers have been lined! It’s so cute. I love it. (Proper picture coming soon).

Next I’ve been buying in a whole load of vintage goodness! Sometime I wonder if I really will be able to part with it….

And lastly I’ve been trying to sort out my china collection and boy do I have a lot! It’s heaven.

Never fear, I’ve been having plenty of cups of Tea to get me through!

Catch you all soon with some more Vintage Adventures!!

Jeanette’s Cakery | A Saltaire Surprise

On my recent trip across the county to Saltaire, we decided to try out a tearoom. After a quick briefing with a lovely local woman, we popped along to ‘Jeanette’s Cakery‘. She described it as a place worth bloggin’ about and boy was she right!

What a find! This little beauty is on Saltaire’s main street, and just nestles right in. I really don’t think we could have found it ourselves without our tip. The interior was perfect. The tearoom is themed on the USA, so we’re talking juke boxes, 1950’s dresses, cupcakes and of course teacups. I think I was in heaven.

At the Cakery you could get an afternoon tea for £8.95, which seemed like an absolute bargain and we just had to try it. The afternoon came with sandwich, scone and a cupcake of choice! Yum!

We both went for Earl Grey tea (you’re probably not surprised) and the best part…it was loose leaf 😀 Our first teapot had a little leak in it, but thankfully the teapot had come on a tray. So they just whisked it away and a new one soon replaced it. Perfection. I got to tell you the service in this place was perfect. They were friendly, helpful and the tearoom seemed to flow really well.

The sandwiches were lovely, the scone was a little large but very tasty. The cupcakes were soo delicious (disclaimer: we had to eat them later as was too full).

Overall this tearoom was perfect; perfectly priced and such a great experience! I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is in the area.

10 out of 10!

N.B: Wow don’t think I’ve ever given that score before!