Tuesday, February 22, 2011

UK Trip to Chesterfield.





Trip to Chesterfield, Derbyshire

What fun I had too. I stayed with my daughter K and her two wives Rachel and Luisa. K and I went to see the play 'Equus' at Chesterfield Pomegranite Theatre on the Thursday night and it was simply superb. As an added bonus, after the play, the cast all came to the bar for a question and answer session. As a thespian myself, I really enjoyed that and K and I had a great informal chat with the director and the leading man who played Dysart.

During the day on Thursday, K, Rachel and I went into town as it was the second hand market there. We wandered around the stalls and Rachel was amazed at how long we were out - 4 hours! It's a novelty for me to go as in Ireland I haven't found much in the way of car boot sales or second hand stalls. I picked up a few bits and pieces for my craftwork for pennies. Here are a few photos of the day:


I rather liked this splendidly colourful zebra.


K bought this splendid 'Hulk' hand for Lu - I love this shot.


Fun bits and bobs - I like the tiles very much.


K chatting to Rachel who was flicking through one of her purchases from the market. We had chips for lunch with melted cheese on top. Delicious!


A colourful rail of scarves.


Wow, foot long hot dogs! We managed to resist but they sure sounded good.

The following day we walked round the market 'proper' and I can't remember which day some of the pictures were taken! Not that it matters. This splendid shire horse and cart were there on Friday:


When I called his name, Ben, he turned and looked at me! What a fantastic face.


A carousel was there but all covered over. I can imagine the ghostly horses riding round during the night!

The main feature of Chesterfield is the church, known as 'The Crooked Spire'. Here you can see why:


There are many lovely old building in Chesterfield too.



Saturday

Another highlight of my visit was a wonderful carvery meal shared with 11 of my family. We were there from 1pm until after 4pm and never stopped talking and laughing.


We all look a bit 'at sea' in this photo! L - R. Kyle, Lu, Rachel, Chris, Rachel, Miranda, K, Lina, Kirsty and Tony's hair!


This is a better shot, taken by Tony. I am in it too! Kirsty and Kerry (top right) are getting married in May, so that will be my next trip to the area. The lovely lady at the top of the table is Miranda, my ex sister in law. We all still love her. The 'Rachel and Chris' on the bottom left are Miranda's daughter and fiancee.

It's a meal out I will remember for a very long time.

Sunday

Sunday was my going home day but Kirsty came over again to visit me and take Lina to stay with her for a few days, as it's half term week. Liane, my step Grandaughter, also came with her son Connor and carrying her new baby, a little girl, due in June:


Here is Liane eating a healthy apple with her little 'bump'.

We had a bit of a surprise one morning, when the garden was covered in snow! It had mostly gone by the end of the day, luckily:



It seems very quiet back here in Ireland! BlackJack is much better and it's been quite easy to give him his medicine.

My toe has repaired itself well, thank goodness, and only wept once - when I wore high heels to go and see Equus!

Yesterday was a lovely day and I did lots of garden clearing but today the rain is back. As I have cystitis anyway - I'm having a quiet day and not doing much.


















10 comments:

DK said...

oh noooo re cystitis! You should join BlackJack on his medicine! :-)

LOVELY entry, but then I would say that. What a splendid visit that was, we had such fun, you left me/us all with a really big smile :-)

See you in May mum! (and hey, where's the pic of you in heels? ~grin~) xxx

Sam said...

Sounds like you had a wonderful time in Derbyshire. Sorry to hear about the cystitis, hope you have some antibiotics. Look forward to seeing you soon.

Loads of love

Sam

(PS - I loved those tiles in the market too). xx

HelenMWalters said...

Looks like a totally wonderful trip x

Heather said...

Sounds like a lovely visit. Chesterfield looks very interesting. Glad the weather let you get home safely.

Lisa at Greenbow said...

I can see that you had the best time BT. Glad you made it back safe and sound. Can't wait to see what you make with the bits you got at the secondhand show.

Raph G. Neckmann said...

That Chesterfield church spire looks just like one of our buildings here in Giraffe World! I can almost see a giraffe's head at the top!

Looks like you had a great time.

Rachel Green said...

I'm so glad you had an enjoyable stay :)

BT said...

lol, K, I am taking the cranberry, pure stuff is just hideous! I'm off to the doctors in the morning. It's getting worse.

Was a lovely visit. It's so quiet here! Yup, see you in May. I tried to pinch some of your photos but they are gifs and wouldn't load.

Hi Sam. I loved the tiles. Bit hard to bring back to Ireland though!

It was Helen, thanks.

Hi Heather, it was great thanks. Chesterfield is a great place. Going up inside the spire is just amazing.

Hi Lisa, thank you. I shall use the bits and bobs on different projects probably. Mainly raggy bags I expect.

Hi Raph, so good to see you. Oh it would look great with a giraffe on top! What an idea. xxx

It was fabulous Rachel. Loving your book. xxx

PAK ART said...

It was so nice visiting your family with you. I just love Ireland and think it would be so fun to wander around the old villages and see horses pulling carts. Hope you are feeling better soon.

Jason said...

Looks a lovely visit, great pics. Hope the C passes soon. x