Howgills, Alpacas & Lunch

Chris had ordered some pallet forks for the tractor from a firm just north of Sedbergh. As the sheep cake is all arriving on tuesday we thought today would be a good day to go and collect them.
The proposal to me was a drive in the country and a lovely lunch. Ill come back to that!
Anyway as we had a sharp frost last night the day was beautiful and bright and the scenery was amazing. The Howgills looked beautiful.
As we were driving back we saw quite a sight,after driving past fields of sheep, hundreds and hundreds of them in fact, we had a great surprise when we saw this wonderful field of Alpacas. They arent all on the pic but there must have been 30 or 40. Not something you see every day!
Back to lunch. Just before setting off the idea of a 'lovely lunch' had somehow become Fish and Chips in the LandRover. I wasnt really impressed but hey ho!!. We drove through Sedbergh but couldnt see one, we drove through Settle, saw the chippy but no where to park, so we trundled on. Hellifield, oh another F &C shop, but it was closed, Gargrave nothing but tea shops. Even the advertised 'food in next lay-by' failed to materialise.
By now I was starting to get a bit miffed at the thought of getting home and having to start making lunch when the promise has been a lovely one out somewhere. Chris was in his farming overalls so there was no way I was taking him into a pub or cafe!! Skipton was fast approaching, and after that the next stop would be Scaife Hall when Oh what joy to behold, a Burger King!!
Burger King it was then. A picnic in the Land Rover, certainly not fine dining but at least I didnt have to make it!!!

Strange Hotel Guests!!

Today I met up with a couple of friends/fellow B&Bers Sally, from Elslack Grange and Karen from Hellifield Peel.
We went to lunch at Coniston Hall Hotel near Skipton. We had a lovely lunch and caught up on all the gossip, outstaying all the other diners that were there, but then thats nothing new, we often manage to be the last to leave. We put the world to rights, and then some!!
When we came put we got quite a surprise to see these two stood at Reception. They didnt seem to have any luggage so I guess they werent checking in, and luckily they didnt leave any calling cards. At least not while we were there anyway!!!

December

Its been a while since I last updated my blog so I thought I would do a really quick resume of December. It turned out to be a very hectic month, busy with guests until the 11th and then on the 12th I jetted off to Germany to vist my friend for a few days. I forgot to take my camera so there arent any pics but all we did was lots of talking, shopping and generally catching up so there wasnt really anything to photograph.
I had a lovely time but all too soon back to reality and my annual Work Experience stint at Hearts and Flowers florists in the lead up to Christmas.
I had a wonderful surprise when Lisa and Darren called in to see me. Lisa first came to stay for B&B about 22 yrs ago with her family and although she now lives in Australia we have always stayed in touch. They were visiting some of Darrens relatives in South Yorkshire so decided to venture further and visit us. 18mths ago we saw all the family again at the wedding of Lisas sister Catherine in Surrey which was a wonderful occasion.
Christmas saw us entertaining all my family, dont think Bess knew what to make of it all but she joined in anyway!
On the 27th we went down to Cheshire to the wedding of Andy and Rebecca, son of our friends John and Rachael (who we also met many many years ago through B&B).
After this we came back and got ready for New Years Eve when 56 of our friends gathered in the Hopper Lane Hotel to bring in the New Year. Daphne Denise and I prepared the food and we charged everyone £10 to come along and all the surplus money is being donated to The Yorkshire Air Ambulance, £410 in total.
All in all a busy but very enjoyable month. Think I need abit of a rest before another one like that though!!!