Living In A Bedale Paradise
May. 31st, 2016 11:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lupestripeWith most people I know being at Confuzzled, I thought last weekend would be a good time to visit my parents for a number of reasons. The first was that I hadn't seen my grandparents since Christmas, as when I had visited in March everyone was laid out with a cold, while the second was that my mother has just got a brand new cocker spaniel puppy called Wilma and she was desperate for me to see her. This saw me head over to my mother's house on Saturday afternoon, where Wilma was very excited to see me, aided by the fact that I brought her one of my smelly old socks to play with. Sahe was a big fan of my sock and wrestled with me for the next hour as I tried to take it off her, and I have since learned that she has slept with it both on Saturday and Sunday night as she is such a fan. Wilma was great fun but she frequently got over-excited, meaning that she spent a lot of time scratching my arm with her teeth. Of course, puppies play with their mouths and when she was less excited, she just chewed on my finger gently but on occasion, she became quite hyper and we had to put her in her cage to cool off as her biting started to get painful. She looked quite pathetic sat in there, staring out and wanting to play, but she needed to be taught. She was only put away for short intervals though and for the rest of the time she just wanted to play, as well as lick my face which she did quite frequently. My favourite part of the afternoon was "zoomy time" when she went haring around the garden, while we also took her for a short walk too, although we were advised not to take her far. My sister was around at my mother's too and we had quite a pleasant afternoon, sharing some wine and enjoying some succulent belly pork that my mother had cooked. Unfortuantely I ate a little too much and felt a little bloated on the way back to my father's house, where I was staying the weekend, but it was a good afternoon nonetheless.
I had intended to see my grandparents on Saturday evening but they called off for reasons I don't know. This meant we ended up seeing them on the Sunday before I caught my train back, which was a little bit of an imposition on the plans that my father and I had had. Still, we did manage to get to the Wensleydale Railway in the heart of the North York Moors, very near the market town of Bedale, where some former work colleagues used to live. My Dad had printed a short walk off from the Internet but we didn't realise quite how short it was. It ran parallel to the railway and we could see the DMUs gliding by pulling the carriages on this heritage line but the walk was only about twenty minutes long, meaning we had a fair bit of time to kill. As luck would have it, I noticed a sign for the Bedale Beer Festival, which just happened to be that afternoon, so after a quick walk around the charming town, we got back into the car and aimed to locate the Park in which it was taking place. We didn't have to search long as it was literally down the road, so we drove back into the same parking space that we had just left and walked up to the marquee. The whole event was in aid of the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, a very worthy cause, and although the event was rather small, with just eight beers and four ciders on tap at any one time, the atmosphere was jovial and with the sunshine coming out, it was very much the perfect spring afternoon. There wasn't much at the event - an ice cream van, a BBQ meat stall and a bouncy castle in addition to the beer tent - but there was enough to have a good time and indeed for an event that was just seven hours long, how many beers would you realistically need anyway? Eight in that time seems reasonable although we couldn't stay too long because of my commitments to my grandparents, not to mention the fact my father could only have a half as he was driving. I managed to put away three halves though, sampling a range of ales from local breweries I had never heard of, and it was a glorious hour just soaking up the ambience. There was a live band in the tent adding to the entertainment, with their cover of Gangsta Paradise (Bedale Paradise) particularly amusing. The rhubarb beer from the Yorkshire Heart Brewery was probably my favourite but they were all good. With time pressing and my Dad unable to drink more, we departed after about an hour, which was a shame as I would have liked to have stayed longer (plus there were a range of other kegs behind the bar which were almost certainly going to be introduced later in the day). On our way home, we called off at Leeming Bar station where we saw an old carriage turned into a shop-cum-buffet car and a delightful little steam engine pulling a train into the little halt. Here we discovered there was another beer festival at Redmire, the end of the line, but alas we didn't have time to check out their 30+ craft beers.
My grandparents were in fine form and I managed to see them for around two hours before having to head back home to Leeds. I had left the city on Friday evening after enjoying a couple of beers at BrewDog. They had had a Cantillion tap takeover with two ultra-rare barrels of sour beer. We were told in no uncertain terms that we wouldn't want to miss them but, to be honest, the brews were a little underwhelming. They certainly didn't live up to the billing we were given and one of them tasted a little bit like vomit. After the samples, which included some new artisinal bar snacks too, we met up with Stray Jim, taking him to Pieminister for the first time because we all needed some food. He was suitably impressed. Then I headed off to the station to go back to my parents while Wolfie and Stray continued the evening elsewhere. All in all, it was a really good weekend and I didn't feel my usual regret about not attending Confuzzled. Taking a hiatus from social networking certainly helped and I may do something similar next year, particularly as it enabled me to focus my attentions on my family. Catching up with my Dad in particular - on Friday night over "a can of fizzy" which is what he calls Carlsberg - was definitely worthwhile and next time I will have to bring Wolfie up to see Wilma too. While I was away, he expertly finished the garden so this part of the house has now been completed too. With the attic almost done, we should now be there and we can dedicate more time to leisure pursuits. After 12 months of pretty much constant DIY, I would very much like that.
I had intended to see my grandparents on Saturday evening but they called off for reasons I don't know. This meant we ended up seeing them on the Sunday before I caught my train back, which was a little bit of an imposition on the plans that my father and I had had. Still, we did manage to get to the Wensleydale Railway in the heart of the North York Moors, very near the market town of Bedale, where some former work colleagues used to live. My Dad had printed a short walk off from the Internet but we didn't realise quite how short it was. It ran parallel to the railway and we could see the DMUs gliding by pulling the carriages on this heritage line but the walk was only about twenty minutes long, meaning we had a fair bit of time to kill. As luck would have it, I noticed a sign for the Bedale Beer Festival, which just happened to be that afternoon, so after a quick walk around the charming town, we got back into the car and aimed to locate the Park in which it was taking place. We didn't have to search long as it was literally down the road, so we drove back into the same parking space that we had just left and walked up to the marquee. The whole event was in aid of the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, a very worthy cause, and although the event was rather small, with just eight beers and four ciders on tap at any one time, the atmosphere was jovial and with the sunshine coming out, it was very much the perfect spring afternoon. There wasn't much at the event - an ice cream van, a BBQ meat stall and a bouncy castle in addition to the beer tent - but there was enough to have a good time and indeed for an event that was just seven hours long, how many beers would you realistically need anyway? Eight in that time seems reasonable although we couldn't stay too long because of my commitments to my grandparents, not to mention the fact my father could only have a half as he was driving. I managed to put away three halves though, sampling a range of ales from local breweries I had never heard of, and it was a glorious hour just soaking up the ambience. There was a live band in the tent adding to the entertainment, with their cover of Gangsta Paradise (Bedale Paradise) particularly amusing. The rhubarb beer from the Yorkshire Heart Brewery was probably my favourite but they were all good. With time pressing and my Dad unable to drink more, we departed after about an hour, which was a shame as I would have liked to have stayed longer (plus there were a range of other kegs behind the bar which were almost certainly going to be introduced later in the day). On our way home, we called off at Leeming Bar station where we saw an old carriage turned into a shop-cum-buffet car and a delightful little steam engine pulling a train into the little halt. Here we discovered there was another beer festival at Redmire, the end of the line, but alas we didn't have time to check out their 30+ craft beers.
My grandparents were in fine form and I managed to see them for around two hours before having to head back home to Leeds. I had left the city on Friday evening after enjoying a couple of beers at BrewDog. They had had a Cantillion tap takeover with two ultra-rare barrels of sour beer. We were told in no uncertain terms that we wouldn't want to miss them but, to be honest, the brews were a little underwhelming. They certainly didn't live up to the billing we were given and one of them tasted a little bit like vomit. After the samples, which included some new artisinal bar snacks too, we met up with Stray Jim, taking him to Pieminister for the first time because we all needed some food. He was suitably impressed. Then I headed off to the station to go back to my parents while Wolfie and Stray continued the evening elsewhere. All in all, it was a really good weekend and I didn't feel my usual regret about not attending Confuzzled. Taking a hiatus from social networking certainly helped and I may do something similar next year, particularly as it enabled me to focus my attentions on my family. Catching up with my Dad in particular - on Friday night over "a can of fizzy" which is what he calls Carlsberg - was definitely worthwhile and next time I will have to bring Wolfie up to see Wilma too. While I was away, he expertly finished the garden so this part of the house has now been completed too. With the attic almost done, we should now be there and we can dedicate more time to leisure pursuits. After 12 months of pretty much constant DIY, I would very much like that.
