JOURNAL — Little Tin Houses

Back to Northumberland

We somehow managed to have a bit of luck and happened to book ourselves a few nights in a cottage on the weekend with the hottest, sunniest weather ever. This never happens to us. We are literally followed by rain and clouds everywhere we go. Evenings in the cottage, spent watching the chickens in the front, and days spent in the grounds of Cragside or by the river in Rothbury.

We'd arranged the weekend to work around the bank holiday, and the food festival on in Rothbury. We left with some amazing Sourdough bread and sausages. And a mild case of sunstroke for me. After our eventful Holland road trip, being back in Northumberland with quiet nights and slow days was exactly what we needed.

Amy SpiresMay 11, 2018Northumberland, Rothbury, Cragside, National Trust

Horses of War

A demonstration of the role of horses in the First World War. Part of the Festival of Transport, Beamish open air museum.

Amy SpiresApril 17, 2018Beamish

The Slowest Car Crash

In Britain we're always very unprepared for snow. A few inches causes absolute chaos. To our credit, the recent weather has been horrendous and there was honestly a tiny snow drift at my back door so I think we were allowed to be a little hysterical.

One of these snow days was so cold and icy that we actually had to WALK to Sainsburys. Like, on foot. Heaven forbid. We'd already tried to drive there but turned around and headed home after we were nearly involved in the world's slowest car crash. We were driving along being very careful and responsible when a car to the right of us tried to stop at a junction but just kept on sliding very slowly right into our path. This is where things get very British. All while this poor guy was trying to direct his car away from ours with one hand, he was using his other to do all kinds of apologetic hand gestures at us. Honestly, we wouldn't have minded if he'd just used both hands to manoeuvre himself out of our path. Apologies not necessary. As we walked to the shop instead we witnessed two cars do the exact same thing but actually hit each other. Absolute chaos.

Amy SpiresMarch 19, 2018