I’ve had a much better week this week than the last few, with lots of plans and keeping myself busy. Throughout this whole situation the hardest thing for me has been how my fast paced days literally ground to a halt, and when the local restrictions kicked in I was pretty fed up. Tier 2 however has made life a lot easier, and I know a lot of places in the UK aren’t happy about it but it’s better than it was for us in Newcastle. Here’s what I’ve been loving this week.

Last Sunday I made mulled cider, and it was bloody lovely. We had a bit of a Sunday funday at our local pub for Sunday lunch and a couple of bottles of wine, then came back and had the cider. The whole flat smelled like Christmas market and it lingered for days. Would highly recommend to feel a bit more seasonal, I’ve shared the recipe here.

I went shopping for the first time in ages this week, and bought a few things now all the gorgeous knitwear and winter clothes are in the shop. I’m loving H&M’s stuff this year, and I came away with some jumpers, chunky flat boots and a new jacket. I also found the fireside gin I tried at Barn on the Bay in Fenwick’s food hall, so that got purchased too, it’s so nice.

I couldn’t resist stopping for some food at Fuego as well. I was starving and I love their pardon peppers so I took myself for lunch. You have to try their chorizo Spanish tortilla as well, I’d never had it before and it was amazing.

On Tuesday I went pumpkin picking with Hannah and Aurora to Brockbushes Farm, and it was the best day I’m so glad we did it. She was adorable in the wheelbarrow and we had lunch from the cafe too. If you’re interested in pumpkin picking I would absolutely do it – I’ve wrote more about the full experience at Brockbushes here.

I took Arthur for a walk through Jesmond Dene and all of a sudden it’s turned very Autumnal down there. Arthur got absolutely filthy, but the leaves falling and all the trees changing colour were beautiful. We met up with my mum and dad, who I feel like I’ve barely seen so it was nice to get out and see them.

Yesterday I went out in Newcastle with the girls. My birthday drinks was another thing that was put off due to the local lockdown last month, so with the new rule of 6 outdoors in force we booked tables outside at a few places, wrapped up and went out. I can not tell you how much I think we all needed it, I had such a good time and all the tables were big enough to not be squashed in.

We began on the Botanist rooftop terrace, then went to Market Shaker and ended up at Beach Box. It took a bit of planning with table reservations but there are actually a lot of places you can easily meet outside, and they’re adapting with covers, heaters and blankets. I’ve fully updated my old post on bars and pubs with outdoor terraces in Newcastle, and it’s getting a lot of views at the moment so I think we aren’t the only ones trying to meet up outside now we can.

I need to keep making sure I have plans or I’d go insane, so with the hangover I’m nursing today I decided to move our reservation at Broad Chare today to next week. I have looked forward to a Broad Chare Sunday lunch for weeks, and I want to enjoy it.

One final thing, that I should have included in last weeks post but totally forgot was a new North East blog. I’ve been working with my friend Hannah this year to bring her wedding blog to life. Hannah is a full time wedding coordinator, and she’s put so much effort into creating The Wedding Taylor. Have a look it’s beautiful.

That’s it for this week. I’m going to get back to my hangover, pug cuddles and deciding what to stuff my face with all day. Hope you have a great week!