half term is almost over

Here we are then, closing days of October 2009, half term nearly at an end but, the weather, so very un-Octoberish. Temperatures in the high teens. No frosts or early snow, just blue skies and sunshine. Hells teeth l am not complaining. Mr Moo's has had a good week with visitors, both regulars and newbies paying us a visit, coming for that special treat or for top up on ice cream, any guilt about those calories being erased by a gentle walk down to the beach along the farm walk.

It has been a pretty good summer for our wholesale customers too as holiday makers indulge in this year's trend of 'staycation'. In fact, Hippy Shake in Whitby is looking forward to a major ghoulish weekend, serving up such delicately named flavours as 'blood n guts' and 'bramble stoker'. Whitby, to the uninitiated is not only home to the most exquisite fish & chips but also to Dracula who can been seen most days stalking through the town followed by his acolytes, dressed to impress in layers of black & grey wearing the most incredible gothic footwear that looks more like surgical boots than jimmy choo!

So, there you go. A busy week for everyone, here on the coast. Families enjoying quality time together, a walk along the sea front combined with a bucket & spade day, something simple & fun. Memories are made of this, it may not be the Mediterranean, but the weather has been glorious and the English pound buys so very much more than the Euro!

PS: the first picture is of the new fish restaurant in Leeds, Nash's on Merrion Street.

So where has Summer gone then?

Phew, that was jolly fast, not my car doing 100mph, but the summer. it really has been a full on one, what with the stay-cations and fine August. Now, as l sit here in the office, stuffing remittance advices into envelopes whilst trying to locate the stamps, l actually have time to write something!

Certainly we have had a pretty busy time, not just in the ice cream parlour but also with the caravan site AND of course the wholesale side of the business too. Harry & Jenny were kept on their toes making ice cream five days a week whilst deliveries were flying out up & down the coast and inland to the West Riding. In fact we were having to nip up as far north as Whitby twice a week! And now? Well things are slowing down, the parlour is still busy on a weekend but weekdays are pleasantly copeable, affording time to do big chats to customers and generally enjoying life! I wonder how the winter months will do?



So, back to work then, l am refreshed after a week once again in Corfu, coming back on Friday. Villa was lovely, food was aMazing the Eucalyptus in Agg Steff is the favourite at the moment, with Taverna Agni coming a close second though there did seem to be rather a lot of Russians about with their, um, companions lolling around Agni in various stages of undress. Poor FIL didn't know where to look, though it would appear Harry most certainly did!


Anyway, just a brief scribble as you can see, but no doubt more will appear here over the coming weeks as l spend less time playing accounts and more times surfing ebay and planing next year's Corfiot holiday, must check flights................

Holidays on Yorkshire's East Coast

Today it's raining. Outside it is dark and gloomy, chilly and wet. Autumn is here, winter not far away. it's strange really, sat inside out of the weather, how people react to sunshine. Outside it's gloomy, the press are full of the encroaching doom and gloom and yet, when the sun shines out people come, driving across to the coast from the cities and towns of the West Riding, ignoring the words of warning and high petrol prices to what l can only assume is to cheer themselves up from the depressing and morbid news columns that journalist hurl at us with what appears to be positive glee! A bracing walk along the promenade at Filey or a voluptuous ice cream sundae is all it takes to put one's life into prospective.

This year has been really weird. We did not know what to expect, what with the credit crunch or recession, if we believed every word written then we would have shut shop and headed off to the sun to become deck chair attendants, the press drifted of course again, OK so people haven't traveled abroad en-mass they appear to have holidayed, here, in the UK. In fact trippers and holidaymakers are still about in the dying embers of september. Back to my point about the weather. As soon as the sun pokes it's head out from behind the cloud, people leap into their cars or onto their bicycles and head out for a good day beside the sea. This past weekend is a good example. Filey, Bridlington and Whitby were absolutely choker block. Car parks were full to bursting, the beaches at Filey were being enjoyed as people walked along the pristine sands, The steps leading to the Abbey in Whitby were as full as a sunday in august!

It's really great to see people enjoying the local landscapes, although it is nice to travel and to visit far flung places, the English landscape is truly spectacular, where else in a short space of time, can you drive through coastal plains of Holderness, soft rolling landscapes of the Yorkshire wolds, to the high heather clad grouse moors peppered with ruined abbeys and moorland crosses of the North Yorkshire Moors.

It is this aspect of Yorkshire l have always found fascinating, the ever changing landscapes, coming as l do from the forests of west Gloucestershire, don't get me wrong, l am a tree person, but l also love the wide open skies and vast vistas that seem to be so common up here in the north. l would also probably add that this part of the world has been, thankfully, avoided by the London based travel journalist, it is some where just off the A1 en route to the new Cornwall, Northumberland. A region of Britain that has not appeared in TV programs, well there is Heartbeat and All Creatures Great and Small [which, incidentally was filmed in the Yorkshire Dales despite the books being set in Thirsk and on the North Yorks Moors,] glossy magazines have not extolled the virtues of holidaying on the east Coast or Yorkshire Wolds, we have got away lightly so far, except that is, for the last two publication of a monthly magazine extolling the virtues of living in the countryside, a countryside that doesn't have mud, the sort that stains wellingtons and creeps up along the inside of jeans, of earthy smells and of tractors that clog up the roads, a countryside where families decorate their homes with flowery fabrics and and bunches of dried herbs artistically hung from beams whilst Boden clothes are casually slung over worn and artistically mismatched furniture carefully painted in the latest Farrow & Ball colour scheme. Anyway, this magazine has discovered us, this area. The article inform its readers that there are wonderful pubs in this area, that have creative menus using the best of the locally produced ingredients, from lamb to free range pork, vegetables and dairy produce. The countryside has also been 'discovered', our rolling hills, narrow dales, deserted villages and slightly faded statley homes.

However there is still one place that is un-charted, omitted from the southern journalist's list of places to visit; the east Yorkshire coast.......

Calories and nesting boxes

It is amazing that no matter what the weather is doing and no matter how cold or miserable it is outside, people like to eat ice cream. Cones, ice cream sodas or sundaes, it makes not one iota of difference, they just need ice cream. I wonder why? Is it a treat, a feel good little something that helps lift the gloom of a manky day? Or is it a case or 'sod the diet, let me at those calories'. What ever the reason, if it makes people happy then, blow the diet or health police!

We are now in the final throws of the school Easter holidays, so are seeing an influx of small people being taken out for the day by grandparents. It is an interesting point that most children are better behaved when out with Gran than with parents. l am not saying that all family groups are badly behaved, but that some are. Nothing is worse than little johnny racing around pretending to be a transformer whilst parents sit sipping coffee.

So here we are then. April. Sun shinning, light westerly breeze, dare l say it, a slight rise in air temperature? The grass has not really started moving [growing] yet, looks like a late turn out? The bird boxes have all got new residents, blue tits and house sparrows, there are a couple of pairs of oyster catchers on the hill top fields, staking out territory. These are noisy birds, shrieking when disturbed. At this time of year, we have to restrict the dogs from certain areas as these are prime nesting sites for things like mallard and waders.

Living here, on the coast, we are a bit limited as to which direction to head for on days out. Fortunately for us, there is plenty of dramatic scenery within an hour's drive. To the north, and probablely first choice, [except on weekends], is Whitby. The most leisurely route is through Forge Valley, then the twisty turny road up to Silpho, on via Hackness, hitting the main Scarborough to Whitby road just south of Boggle Hole, across the moors, past Hawsker until the ruined abbey of St Hilda's stands out on the skyline, where land meets sea, looking to all and sundry like the bleached ribs of some long dead whale.

Whitby is a little bit of all sorts. There are a scattering of amusement arcades, a plethora of fish and chip restaurants, long sweeping piers taking you out into the north sea, historic lanes and alleyways, ruined abbeys, ancient churches, 199 steps plus the Grand Turk moored alongside the quay. All to much!

fish and chip supper

l feel that l had a deprived childhood. My mother just wouldn't let me have fish and chips. Well, we did live inland so her argument of the fish not 'being fresh' may have had some grounding, but l think she was just being a bit of a snob.....

It was therefore a revelation to me on my move north, to find that fish and chips were the staple diet of all Yorkshire folk. People would & still do travel miles to their favourite chippy for a good old fashioned fish n chips supper. There is something wonderful about sitting in your car with the windows open, eating freshly cooked fish n chips, in yesterday's Yorkshire Post, liberally doused in salt & vinegar whilst being stared at by the resident ducks....

Every village seems to have its own chippy & if there isn't a 'fixed' one there is usually a weekly mobile one. Unfortunately our village chip shop closed some years ago & is now a nice comfortable house, but we do have fantastic fish n chips at our nearest caravan park plus another excellent one in Brandesburton.

What is amazing it that many of the chippys have their own 'supper rooms'. Here you can sit in comfort with a pot of tooth staining tea, few slices of bread & marg, whilst your fish n chips are served on a plate so you eat in style. There are, however, a few specialist fish n chip restaurants along this part of the coast. Here the prices are noticeably higher & the decor moves from anaglypta to leatherette seats or interesting art work. Whitby has 2 of these spots. Each has its own supporters. We like the Magpie & we are prepared to queue for as long as it takes to get a table. Other people prefer the plush interior of Trenchers, which is a bit more show bizey, with leather banquette seats & plastic palms.

To me fish n chips are, well fish n chips. But, & here is the big but, what fish is the fish & what fish do you want? Well, surely either a large one or a small one. No. Is that a cod, haddock, woof, skate, sole, plaice.......? Then there's the Yorkshire delicacy which l can't get my taste buds round. That green mush that is mushy peas, or as you see in gastro pubs 'braised peas'. YUK. This culinary nightmare is on a par with that other vegetable delicacy, the brussel sprout. l DON'T do either.

That only leaves the humble chip. The really best chips are double cooked to give that extra gastronomic something...and..they must of course be cooked in that artery hardening substance, good old beef dripping.