A Festive Trip To The Farmers Market

04.28 in 10, a, christmas, diy, farmers, festive, gifts, market, Paid, the, to, trip

Yesterday marked the 3rd Sunday of the month, meaning it was time for our annual Christmas trip to the farmers market, which is held at Houghton Tower. We actually used to go every other month but as it is usually the same things each time and we only really go to a few stalls, so about 3 years ago we decided to keep the trip special by just going the Sunday before Christmas. I decided Id share bunch of pictures of the variety of stalls and of course the delicious food!

Im going to go off what is there at Christmas time as the stalls throughout the year may have changed from when we used to go more frequently. 

But as soon as you walk in you come to the veg stall and every year without fail we go straight there to get the brussel sprouts. I know not everyone is a fan of them but personally I love them and look forward to enjoying them only on Christmas. There is some special about getting them still on the stalk and fresh, rather than from a bag in the supermarket. It starts at 10am and we planned on getting there for opening time but I woke up late - usually the case when we are going somewhere. This meant that lots of the veg had gone already as it is a very popular stall.

As you can see boots or wellies are needed! 

Oh my goodness, the smell from the bread stalls was amazing! Everything smelt so fresh and delicious! We picked up some soda bread for my grandma and I was drawn to the fruit loafs - which I  now wish I picked up.

We usually always pick up or eat some kind of meat, this time it was some pigs in blankets for Christmas dinner. But if you ever go, have something from the hog roast mmmmmm.

There was your typical stalls such as cakes, pies, chocolate, cheese and jams; but you can never go wrong with them. Obviously, you cant go to something like this without sampling some of the tasters!  

I apologise if your stomach is now rumbling at the sight of all the appetizing food - especially those cakes!

But there was also a variety in stalls. There was your festive one selling wreaths, a wood fired pizza and one that was selling these adorable wooden snowmen and reindeers made from trees - they also had cute mini ones. 

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Goodbye 2014 Hello 2015

18.14 in 2014, 2015, a, farmers, festive, goodbye, hello, market, Paid, the, to, trip

What do you mean it is the end of 2014?!?! Seriously though, where has this year gone? Scary!

My family have never really done a big shabang thing for new years. I think Ive only ever stayed up till midnight twice, once when I was skiing with school and dived to the ground in fear as people where setting off fireworks all around will nilly. The other time I was pretty uneventful so I never bothered again, but my parents said something about at the strike of 12 the darkest haired family member has to run out the back door, with a coin in their pocket then back in the front door with the coin in their hand. I think it was something to do with good luck, good fortune, good health. 

But the other day I saw Ela Gales Weird & Wonderful New Years Traditions and I may try some of those out. I was especially intrigued by the coloured underwear one (Ill let you read about it here). Which colour underwear would you like to wear on new years eve?

Normally, I dont really do the whole new years resolution thing. Well I have sometimes said the generic ones like Im going to give up chocolate. But lets be realistic here. Chocolate! 

However, this year I really want to set myself some resolutions - which are more like goals. I think it will be really nice to look back at the end of 2015 and see if Ive achieved them. But to be honest I really dont want to be thinking that far ahead yet.

• Do more acts of kindness - Before Christmas I dropped off a bag of food at my local food bank and after doing so and writing a blog post on it (here) it has made me want to do more things out of kindness.

• Have a more positive outlook - Im such a hypocrite as Im always telling others to look on the bright side, or that there is always something good coming. But applying them to myself has just never been successful, so 2015 I hope to change that.

• Not spend so long doing nothing - Basically, stop procrastinating so much and just spending days on end watching youtube, TV series and films. Instead I want to try and get out and do things, be a good kind of busy.

• Work harder on my A levels - This kind of links with the one above. Ive always been someone who puts effort in but its usually too late, too close to the exams. So I want to try and get ahead and do extra to help me achieve good grades.

• Start yoga - I said this way back in my summer bucket list - it never happened. But I did one or two yoga videos the other day and really enjoyed it, it was so relaxing. So, hopefully now that Im starting to enjoy working out and living a healthier lifestyle, yoga will tie in nicely.

Now onto some blogging related goals.

• Try and get an understanding of technical things - To say I spend a lot of my time on the internet I really dont understand much; html,SEO etc. Id love to be able to learn things so I can improve Nimble Note in terms of things such as design.

• Improve photography skills - This links with the above. I really want to sit down and learn, not only about my current camera, but also how to enhance my photos in ways such as set up, lighting and editing. Hopefully by the end of 2015 I may have purchased a new camera, better suited for blogging. I wish I could now, but some things have to be worked and waited for.

• Befriend some fellow bloggers- I have made acquaintances through the internet before, but they have remained only acquaintances. The blogging community is so big and to get to know even just a few would be amazing.

• Attend an event - I didnt even know there where such things as blogger events until a month or two ago. The thought of attending one is both quite daunting and exciting. 

I want to wish you all a Happy New Year and I hope 2015 is a brilliant year for us all!

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