Country Escape: PART TWO

What is it about being away from home that makes you want to kick the covers back, rush out of bed at the crack of dawn and spend the day exploring?

After being woken gently by the early morning sun shining through the window I found myself feeling bright and breezy at 7am. Sneaking downstairs to let the dogs out, I put the kettle on and made a start on breakfast for Emily and I. Since we were only dog-sitting at my friend's beautiful farmhouse for the weekend, we had a lot of exploring to do and it was time to crack on!

The pretty village of Warkworth is only a short drive from where we were staying, and since Emily the Southerner had never been, off we went in my canny car Little Blue in search of an adventure...

The backdrop of Warkworth is dominated by the medieval ruins of Warkworth Castle. The castle was once home to the Duke of Northumberland and members of the upstanding Percy family who now call its not-so-distant neighbour Alnwick Castle home.

After crossing the mighty threshold and into the ancient ruins, Emily and I set off to explore.

Delving deeper into the ruins, we tried to picture what the towers, turrets, chapels and great halls would have looked like.

As a self-confessed medieval history geek, my time spent devouring Philippa Gregory's Tudor tales and watching umpteen David Starkey documentaries meant I conjured up images of great feasts by the fire, intimate ceremonies in the chapel and the hustle and bustle of servants clambering up and down to the beer cellar pretty easily, and it wasn't long before we had made up our own imaginary family whose trials and tribulations took place under cover of these old stone walls.

Emily waiting for a long lost love to arrive on horseback over the grassy verge... 

While I kept an eye out for armies on the march to invade our land.... 

 It wasn't long before my inner geek came out in full force and I fell in love with the lighting and romance of the old castle, casting shadows on nooks and crannies just begging to be explored.

The view of rural old Northumberland wasn't half bad either.

After all that exploring it was definitely time to head into Warkworth and show Emily the cute collection of shops, starting of course, with my favourite: Cabosse Coffee Shop and Patisserie.

WARNING: Anyone on a diet should look probably away now....

There's nothing I love more than chocolate, so when I spied the chocolate fondue set, I obviously had to try it. Ladies and Gentlemen feast your eyes on a pot of melted Cabosse milk chocolate, sugar curls, chopped hazelnuts, fresh banana and cream all served on a silver platter for you to tuck in. I think you can probably tell from the picture how amazing it was, and best of all it's only £6.95! 

After lunch we wandered along the gently sloping streets, popping our heads in and out of the lovely little gift shops. Two places you absolutely must visit are Gray's of Warkworth - a girlie gift shop filled with pretty scarves, jewellery and handbags, and Fenwick Gallery and Gift Shop which sells the work of local artists, craftspeople and jewellery designers. Emily and I fell in love with just about everything.


All too quickly it was time to say goodbye to our farmhouse and head back to Newcastle ready for work in the morning. Let's hope it won't be too long before I'm back in my spiritual home!

Sit Back and Take SIX

We may have reached mid-December without experiencing any flurries of snow in Newcastle (and I can only hope if we do I will still be living it up in LA over Christmas), but bare branches on trees, icy breath, frosted windscreens and the arrival of Fenwick's Christmas window are all signs that winter has taken its grip over Newcastle. Thousands will fill the city's streets over the next few weeks to finish their Christmas shopping, making it almost impossible to find a nice place to sit back and relax.

Unless of course, I let you into a little secret... 

How better to escape the hustle and bustle of the high street and get into the Christmas spirit than climbing six storeys high to enjoy festive afternoon tea? 

Feeling a little like Charlie in the Chocolate Factory as we took the glass elevator high into the sky to a decadent feast that awaited us, Emily and I drank in the view. 

We enjoyed the Classic Afternoon Tea for two (£14.95), but you can add a glass of champagne for an extra touch of Christmas sparkle for £22.95 per person. Three beautifully presented tiers arrived on our table and we couldn't wait to tuck in, starting with a selection of finger sandwiches: salmon, egg and cress, cheese savoury and of course turkey with cranberry sauce.

Next up we were treated to a warm cranberry and plain scone each. The scones were a little overdone, but nothing that a healthy dollop of jam and cream couldn't solve.

As I drained the last of my cappuccino, I admit to feeling pretty full, but just looking at the mini morsels that still begged to be eaten I heroically managed to stuff my face a little more... 

There's certainly nothing 'twee' about SIX's afternoon tea, it's cool and contemporary whilst retaining the decadent element that makes afternoon tea so desirable. The flavours complemented each other perfectly, a warming ginger base on the passion fruit tart worked well with the stick-to-the-ribs treacle sponge, creamy Christmas pudding and buttery mince pies. 

If you can't treat yourself at Christmas, when can you?!

 For £14.95, SIX's festive afternoon tea definitely hits the spot - we even managed a wander around the Quayside market afterwards.... 

Afternoon tea is served from 2-5pm Monday to Saturday and 12-4 on Saturdays, buuuut since December is so busy, afternoon tea is only served on weekends so make sure you don't miss your chance! 

You can book online here, or give them a call on 0191 440 4948 if you need a little R&R before the big day

Coming Soon...

My brand new website proseccoandpie.co.uk is officially under construction!

I'm pulling on my virtual hard hat and joining forces with local web design company Wezura Ltd as part of a skills exchange to build my own website for Prosecco and Pie. They do (most of) the coding while I take notes and make it pretty. I'm hoping to pick up a few tips on coding and HTML in exchange for writing copy for client websites and helping them become more social media savvy. Any tips/advice/ideas are more than welcome - I'll be sure to credit you and your blog/website on my website when it's up and running. 

Once finished, I'll be able to blog, tweet, instagram, pin and share content all in one place. It's going to be a brilliant space where I can showcase examples of my published work as a freelance writer (and have a contact form should anybody wish to request my services.) 

I'm also delighted to announce that I'm going to be working with local business NEoffers.co.uk - look out for the banner on my blog and website and get 10% off everything* from meals, massages, cocktail making masterclasses and even teeth whitening simply by using the code PROSECCOANDPIE. Let's support small businesses in the North East! 

I'll be sure to keep you updated on how the site is coming along, but in the meantime let me inspire you to eat, drink and explore some of the region's best kept secrets at Prosecco and Pie - starting with where to find the world's best burger COMING SOON.... 

*Please note 10% discount does not include any offers on the Business Services section. Visit www.neoffers.co.uk to view applicable offers.

Baby, It’s Cold Outside

How do you feel about onesies?

If I’m entirely honest, my answer before I discovered The All In One Company was ‘hmm I'm not really bothered about them.’ Don’t get me wrong, I love being warm, but I thought it was a bit strange that people went outdoors in what is effectively a large baby-gro. That being said, my mam and I bought our first onesie as a joke Christmas present last year from Primark, turns out they came in pretty handy when our boiler decided to break and we had no heating for most of December! But all in all, my fetching dalmatian-style onesie was confined to the house.

Not my most fashionable look I have to say...

After receiving a PR email about the All In One Company, I have to say I began to look at onesies in a new light. 

The first thing that struck me about them was that they are a local company. Not only do they have a celebrity following, everything is handmade in Ashington, Northumberland by a team of skilled seamstresses, something which I’m very happy to support. I also liked the fact that you could design it yourself, meaning you no longer have to decide between a novelty dinosaur and dalmatian that is ten sizes too big. The company was founded by Kate Dawson in 2008 after she was unable to find all-in-ones for her kids on the high street. They make onesies for all ages and sizes, and everything is made to order so you can be sure your onesie will fit snugly. They’ve actually thought of everything - add a hood, ears, tails, feet, pockets and mittens. You can even add non-slip soles to the feet to prevent slips on smooth surfaces; kitchen floors (see, I told you they’d thought of everything).

The company’s eco credentials are good too – they donate off cuts of fabric to local schools and community projects so nothing is wasted. They’ve also been shortlisted for the Training Award and Apprenticeships Awards at the Northumberland Business Awards, so good luck to them!

The company invited me to design my own; confident they could change my mind, so I put them to the test!

To get started, simply choose whether you’d like a onesie for a man, woman or child.  Next, enter your individual measurements and choose your fabric. I have to say I struggled to choose a design there was just so many fabrics to pick from! It was a toss between the Cath Kidston-inspired strawberry print, a red and white Minnie Mouse polka dot ensemble or the very cool ‘Scandi-chic’ design I’d spied on their newsletter.

If you’re short on time or need a little inspiration then you can order a pre-designed onesie here

Maybe you fancy being the eye of the tiger?

Or a teddy bear?

I can honestly say that the quality, fit and whole experience of buying an All In One Company onesie is fantastic. Yes they're more expensive than the novelty high street onesies, but I tell you, it'll last forever. With the weather turning colder now is definitely the time to invest in a onesie for yourself or a loved one as a Christmas gift, it’s made from polar fleece and is SO warm. My favourite thing is the genius little extras like the ‘I-Poc-It’ to keep your ipod etc at hand and the option to have your name or a design embroidered on it. My onesie was made to order and came less than a week later. It fits so well and everyone I’ve shown it to loves it – I think I might have to order my mam one for Christmas!

What do you think?

I’d love to see your pictures of your designs, or why not share the post below to tell a friend about The All In One Company. 

Double, Double Toil and Trouble; Fire Burn and Caldron Bubble!

I've never really understood why people make such a fuss about Halloween. Not only am I the biggest wimp ever, my family didn't celebrate Halloween when I was little, so naturally at the age of 22 I feel like I need to make up for lost time! 

I invited a few of the girls round for a pumpkin carving session and bought the biggest pumpkin I could find (£2.50 from the cash and carry - I highly recommend it). It was literally so big I had to use a hacksaw to cut into it.... 

The girls settled on the traditional scary face, but I had a better idea...

Look familiar? 

After toasting our pumpkin seeds and making the obligatory pumpkin soup (which by the way was a complete success despite my severe lack of cooking skills), it was time to get dressed up!

Day of the Dead is a Mexican holiday celebrated throughout Mexico and around the world in other cultures on All Hallows Eve. The idea is to gather family and friends to pray for, and remember those who have died. The day is even a bank holiday in Mexico. The dead are honoured with ornately decorated sugar skulls, food, drink and flowers. To me, it seems like such a beautiful event (and because I am such a big wimp and the thought of plastering fake wounds all over my face scares me) so I decided to dress up as a sugar skull for Halloween this year, while Emily went as the beautiful Marie Antoinette. 

I didn't fancy any of the bars in town, this year I wanted to try somewhere new and exciting. After getting our costumes on we headed to the BALTIC's Panic Room Party, which I have to say was the best Halloween party I have ever been to! The party was held in the Terrace, which boasts floor to ceiling glass walls and a heated outdoor area that overlooked the river Tyne. It was such a nice change from a stuffy, smelly bar in town and there were some fantastic costumes!

Look at that view!

Emily and I challenged ourselves to get a photo with as many people as we could - 

did we spot you? 

Thank you for another great night BALTIC Mill!