06 January 2010

The Three Wise Men Give Gold, Frankincense And Myrrh

We went to the pantomine at the Theatre Royal in Newcastle last weekend, and as usual it was fantastic with good songs, amazing costumes and some great contraptions - a flying pegasus that pulled Cinderella's coach was a highlight.  Then there were t...

24 December 2009

Christmas Eve And It's Still Snowing

18 December 2009

It's cold up North

02 December 2009

Time to check your Christmas cake etc

It's been so wet and miserable over the last few weeks and we've had a tsunami of orders at Steenbergs so I've had no time to think about my blog, but it's 6 in the morning and I'm up and awake. 

05 November 2009

Autumn Poems

Perhaps Autumn is a time for poetry.  So here are a few poems that conjur up the period for me. 

03 November 2009

Recipe For Sweet Chestnuts Foraged At Fountains Abbey

We (that's me and my 2 kids) have been enjoying a few walks this half term break - in the deer park at Studley Royal which is at the lower end of Fountains Abbey and at Brimham Rocks. 

31 October 2009

For Halloween let's enjoy Calan Gaeaf

It’s Fright Night which seems to be the name that Halloween is now being marketed under.  This is not its first branding makeover as All Saint’s Day was shifted from 13 May to 1 November, and so All Hallows’ Even to 31 October, to hijack and repress...

30 October 2009

Carving Your Pumpkin At Halloween

Carving a pumpkin is really quite simple and (dare I say it) quite satisfying to do.  Here is how we do it in the Steenbergs household.

14 September 2009

Summer's Over

Saturday was hot, a really glorious day.  However, the swallows have gone so the blue sky felt empty without their energetic dance swooping and soaring the catch insects.  They must have left while I was in London last weekend and into last week.  An...

17 August 2009

Goethe and an afternoon walk at Harlow Carr

We went as a family to Harlow Carr Gardens on the outskirts of Harrogate this weekend.  We go every so often to enjoy a quick walk in the gardens.  It's pretty small and really quite genteel, which is just what you would expect for Harrogate.  I pref...

02 August 2009

Enjoy your local history and culture - St Wilfrid's day

Yesterday (1 August) was Yorkshire Day and also the day of the St Wilfrid’s Day Pageant in Ripon.  

18 July 2009

Some facts about Ripon

14 June 2009

A walk on the River Ure

10 June 2009

Get Some Peace, A Quiet Early Morning

I woke up really early this morning and was downstairs by 5am.  The house was quiet and the world was asleep, yet outside was suffused with a beautiful warm yellow light. 

04 May 2009

Summer is here, let's celebrate

The swallows arrived on 17th April this year. They got to Northumberland on 19th April. Summer is now here. This winter has been a long haul – cold, with lots of snow, and pretty glum. 

27 April 2009

Summer weather?

The weather in North Yorkshire has a beautiful irony.  After 3 or 4 weeks of almost perfectly glorious sunny weather, school decides that Monday (today) would be the best day to start summer clothing (i.e. our children have to wear T-shirts, shorts a...