Bekah Anstey
Cheesy but good!
Words & images: Bekah Anstey
What a busy but fantastic month we’ve had. We celebrated Simons 40th birthday with family and friends. Let’s just say Simon had the time of his life but instantly regretted it at 9am the next morning. We celebrated at The Crafty Dog; Neil did a fantastic job of setting up an area for us at the back. Thanks Neil!
This month we were lucky enough to be able take the girls to Disneyland Paris in the school holidays which was expensive but worth every penny. The weather was amazing, the park was busy but not unbearable and the hotel was great. We went for the cheapest hotel ‘Sante Fe’ as we knew we wouldn’t be spending too much time in it. The hotel was excellent and exceeded my expectations, I would highly recommend! Although, the queuing system at check-in is horrendous but I’ve heard it’s like that at all the hotels. I would absolutely go again but I think we’ll wait till Florie is a little older. If you are planning on going to Disney, be sure to take lots of snacks as it is rather expensive and if you do decide to eat in a restaurant, be sure to book well in advance as by the time you arrive all the tables have gone!
It was the Vegan Knights Market this month which was fantastic! It was the first of its kind and ‘Cakes by Bobbies Den’ did a fantastic job of organising it, well done Jen! I purchased some tasty cheese from Hard Times Vegan – go for the chilli cheese it is sooo good! It works well with the chilli marmalade from Ashgate Preserves. (I’m sure you’re not supposed to put marmalade on cheese, but it was lovely) I would also recommend the chocolate from Cocoa Elora if you like a dark chocolate with a glass of red. I’m not normally a chocolate fan however it was that good I ate Simons bar too! It’s normally the other way around so Simon had to forgive me.
Another highlight for me this month was watching an acoustic performance by The Levellers at the beautiful Buxton Opera House. I was blown away by the performance and it's motivated me to try to go to more gigs this year.
All in all, a good month for me, it’s been busy but then we both work full time, have two children and run the magazine so busy is just everyday life.
Thanks for reading and I hope you all had as much fun as I did this month!
Simon Paterson
The magical kingdom
Words & images: Simon Paterson
April by all accounts was the best month of 2019 so far. Granted there has only been four months, but it will take some topping!
I turned 40 in April and as sad as I am to say goodbye to my 30’s, I have a feeling my 40’s will be epic, they started well, anyway! My amazing partner Bekah organised a 40th birthday meal/party at the Crafty Dog on Chatsworth Road. Around 30 of my closet family and friends made the effort to celebrate with me, although I don’t think it was hard to persuade them, given the selection of craft beer for sale! In line with British tradition people bought me drinks and as the night progressed, these drinks turned into shots at the bar! No self-respecting 40 year old should be seen at the bar downing shots of tequila with people half his age, but on this occasion, it’s exactly what happened! Being as though I don’t have a drink from one month to the next the following day was horrendous! I stayed in bed all day, only leaving it to frequent the toilet! It was 5pm before Bekah ‘forced’ me to get up and commence my role as a parent, a role I was doing my best to avoid. Parenting multiple children is hard enough, without a hangover fit for the movie! By 8pm I was back in bed (thank god).
1am the following morning our alarm went off and it was time to get up! Now, the only time you don’t mind getting up at 1am (if there is one at all) is when you are going on holiday. Bekah and I had decided to take the kids to Disneyland for my official birthday. We booked two full days in the park and a day in Paris. We arrived at Disney around midday and the kids were absolutely shattered as we had been up since 1am. As we entered the park I made the kids pose for a photo. Disneyland claims to be ‘the happiest place on earth’, but Eva clearly missed the memo and Florie seemed somewhat underwhelmed, but it made for a great photo!
Disney is a magical place but it also very busy and the queues, at times, are quite lengthy. This meant that I had to put on my project manager hat and attack the park in the most efficient manner, maximising ride times and ensuring that we did everything we (mainly me, mainly Star Wars and Marvel) wanted to in the allotted time. After a day of my itinerary the girls had had enough and I had to relinquish control to someone far less qualified for the job, Eva age 8 (going on 30).
For me the best of Disney lay within their live shows. The Marvel superhero and Mickey’s Magical adventure were spectacular to say the least. We all had such a good time, but we were ready for a holiday when we got back, luckily I had booked the rest of the week off to spend with my family over the Easter period.
I hope your April was as good as mine and you have a great start to the summer.
Peace, love and positivity
Simon
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