Just Humans Being...

We have had a crazy few days... A dash up to Stoke where the weather was a little different to home. Yesterday's view from our hotel... Bebe & a smiling Sime... We have had lots to do - went up to visit & do stuff, talked about Bebe moving down to Cornwall, but after 2 days of long hours together, we really feel unsure about caring for her full time. We did it for Nan, but are we ready to do it all over again? You need a huge amount of patience with someone who has dementia & Bebe's is progressing the same way as Nan's... For now, her care package just about covers her needs & we'll just keep reviewing it.  As we set off from Stoke at 3pm yesterday, the temperature had climbed up to 2C & travelling down the country we noticed it getting warmer - arriving in Cornwall last night it was a rather nice 10C! We had lovely sunshine this morning... And the lilies are thriving! It has been a fraught, tiring few days t...

Up North , a set on Flickr. The holidays for us began with a trip up to Stoke and because Rose & Asa were joining us, we took the opportunity to do a bit of sightseeing too! Unfortunately, not all our photos came out too good - I don't always like using the flash, but then the photos come out blurred, but still here's what we have... You can actually click on them to see larger versions. Some are missing, but if you click on the above link - you will be able to see the rest. The first photos including a lovely one of Rose and Asa were taken at a great little curry house which we think is called Castle India in Newcastle-under-Lyme. It was recommended to us by Crazy Charlie, owner of our favourite Vegan cafe The Big Strawberry in Hanley, Stoke-On-Trent. The Curries are of a really good quality, big portions and brain-bogglingly cheap! The friendly waiter understood veganism and made us a fab feast including vegan naan bread. It's our new favourite curry house. Th...

Lobby , a photo by thesmithsontour on Flickr. Lobby is the name potters gave to a simple stew. We both grew up eating it most weeks. My Grandparents always had a big pan of lobby on their stove & my mum used to make it in her pressure cooker.... Our version of the North Staffordshire dish is so cheap & easy to make - we love it! We use onions, garlic, lots of root vegetables, pulses, some greens & fresh herbs. You can add stock , miso or soy sauce, but cooking it slowly for a couple of hours just makes it taste so good & finishing off with a sprinkle of black pepper & the juice of half a lemon. Served in large bowls, with some home made bread fresh out of the oven... Makes a great warming meal! Hope everyone is keeping warm! Kay & Sime xx

We were very excited before going up to Stoke-on-Trent to find out there is a veggie cafe in Hanley! Some years before we left the area, there was a great restaurant called Dylan's until it was sold & the new owners decided to put fish on the menu... Dylan's for us was somewhere we could only really visit on special occasions as it was quite expensive -though delicious! Because we were in Stoke during the long bank holiday weekend, we thought we would miss out on trying out this new place, but we decided to stay a bit longer on the Wednesday & had our lunch there... And we are so glad we did! The Big Strawberry  is fab - not only is all the food vegan, it's absolutely delicious & doesn't cost the earth! When we arrived, we were greeted by the cafe's young owner, Charlie who's lovely - very welcoming & bubbly. We were lucky to be able to have a chat with her about veganism, etc before the cafe suddenly filled up. There is a nice laid back atmo...

Another visit to Stoke...  Mainly to spend time with Bebe... As well as Grandad Gerry & Nana Stip-Pep Festival Park Marina Drawbridge   One of our dreams is to live on a barge... Trent & Mersey Canal Sime's plate of vegetables, complete with vegan gravy Our hotel, not quite in Stoke - but it's a chain we use in France & Sime really fancied staying there... It was very nice & only £18 a night! The only time I'd agree that Sime's feet are big... They're very small really! Nobody's ever told me that only one eye goes cross-eyed... But one of the kids is the same! This is taken from the mural in the Potteries Shopping Centre. Jabez is a character from The Evening Sentinel - a  man who speaks in pottery dialect. The man who created Jabez also wrote three books. Sime met him in 1973 & still has the first two books which Wilfred Bloor (the author) signed. The author used the pen name A. Scott, a reference to the north Staffordshire vill...