Started snotty and ended sandy

The weekend started off grotty as myself and Little Bird caught colds at the end of last week and were suffering from lack of sleep and snuffly noses on Saturday morning. However, the sunshine drew us out of the house and into the garden where everything is wildly growing with warm days and a fair amount of rainfall. The garden mainly has vegetables for ornamental purposes since my allotment is supplying us with a now constant supply of veggies. I have too many red cabbages and need some recipes!

After days of being cooped up and reading about a local pick-your-own at A Thrifty Mrs, we just had to go to Kenyon Hall Farm in Warrington. It wasn't a good start, Daddy Bird missed the tractor ride, my cartons flew off the back and Little Bird had an amazing tantrum. 

Picking lots of lovely strawberries and tayberries made up for it and we ate them later with heaps of cream (that I in my first batch over-whipped and curdled!)  I can't wait to go back to the farm, especially in the Autumn to their pumpkin field.

Since returning from our holiday on the Yorkshire coast I have been longing for the seaside. Having never been to New Brighton, off we trotted.......Firstly, we decided to miss the junction and end up going through the Mersey Tunnel. Cue grumpy faces. Being mean, we didn't want to waste our £3 tunnel fee and decided to  have a nosy at the Albert Dock in Liverpool. Ah well, it was in keeping with the nautical vibe with a bit of modern art at the Tate thrown in.

A few butties in the car and then off to the faded seaside resort of New Brighton. It didn't matter for we had a wide beach to run on and tide pools to splash and ermm fall in!

I collected shells for the garden and we spent a while people watching. There's a lot of crab fishing taking place here on the marine lake. An excellent activity for the children as all you need is a bucket, string, bit of bacon and a weight. They all get put back! Will come back and do this when Little Bird is a bit older.







I love the seaside for all the bright colours so it was another excuse to go snapping away - again!
The small amusement park is great for tots as they're mostly little cute rides. No chance of getting Little Bird on these yet without screaming so another reason to come back again next year.  There's lots of kite flying here too and each year in June they have a festival.









All in all, despite being a shadow of it's former self, New Brighton is still very much worth a day trip. I adore the nostalgia here and felt strangely emotive of being back in the 80's. You can almost hear Frankie Goes to Hollywood playing as they once did here in 1984 with the likes of Spandau Ballet and Nik Kershaw.

'Wouldn't it be good to be in your shoes
Even if it was for just one day
And wouldn't it be good
If we could wish ourselves away'