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New Obsession with Jam and preserves

Food and Recipes

New Obsession with Jam and preserves

It used to be all about the soup but recently I have found myself becoming more excited by preserving. It started a few years…

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Food, home and cultural discovery in Yorkshire
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Restoring an Arts and Crafts villa called Penraevon

Kitchen curtains First time I have made curtains p

Kitchen curtains
First time I have made curtains properly with curtain tape - usually just use iron on hem.
Bought the fabric from @scrapleeds which was £6 m and I needed 3m in total so £18 plus some curtain tape from @dunelmuk which is 75p a metre so less than £20 to do all four curtains.
So have a go, it is easy and fun.
@sunbrellaeurope

I love looking round houses that are empty. The ow

I love looking round houses that are empty. The owner of this was a neighbour who died last year. He owned several houses all in a similar or worse state. It is being cleared out to go up for sale.

It is certainly for those who love original features and aren't phased by broken drainpipes and guttering which have led to the damp.

It has as they say "so much potential" the house clearance people had to smash the baby grand piano to get it out as nobody wanted it.

If you want to know any more drop me a message.

#leeds #ls7 #yprkshire #oldhouses

More rain expected this week but will it be enough

More rain expected this week but will it be enough to turn this grass green. Our beech tree is turning brown and dropping all it's leaves something it often saves for October.
Yorkshire gardens summer 2026

Upcycle, reuse. Charity shop chair @stgemmasshop ,

Upcycle, reuse. Charity shop chair @stgemmasshop , painted it using paint saved from landfill @seagullspaint and made new cushions from fabric bought @scrapleeds, who recycle creative and craft items. If you have not visited any of these places then you really should they all are a fun place to go to.

Great for the planet and your wallet.

Creating more work - bought fabric to cover skip f

Creating more work - bought fabric to cover skip find chairs (Elliott of Newbold mid century teak) it was a remnant. Discovered it was outdoor fabric - thanks Google lens- so made much needed outdoor cushions. I think they look great and I taught myself how to do a box cushion.

In meantime went on eBay and have bought this remnant , Abraham moon Holborn , discontinued, hopefully will go well with gold table and old gold velvet curtains.

Advice on life from the dog - it ain't what you do

Advice on life from the dog - it ain't what you do it's the way that you do it.

And remember there is always time for a cuddle

#lifelessons #dogphilosophy #poodle #doodle #gardens

@italianhomecooking I told you I would and I did.

@italianhomecooking I told you I would and I did. Hope it lives up to your expectations but also mine X smells delicious waiting for dinner later x served with probably the best uk yoghurt you can buy @theestatedairy - not an ad just facts though I love @yeovalley too xx

For those that don't know it is a courgette, chickpea, herb salad made with slow cooked courgettes and fresh herbs with a lemon and yogurt dressing. Delicious in this summer heat and so patient.

I have just returned from Tuscany staying in an undiscovered quiet rural location and then an overnight in the ever delightful Lucca. It prepared me for our heatwave and reintroduced me to slow cooking vegetables early in the day (or buying them prepared in the amazing Italian co-op supermarkets) to serve at room temperature with beans.

#courgettesalad #italiancooking

Things that caught my eye, on a trip to Italy. T

Things that caught my eye, on a trip to Italy.

The glory of small town civic pride makes me smile...that and a cat breaking out of prison.

Photos from various small Tuscan towns

Where to take your dog for a seaside day out Get

Where to take your dog for a seaside day out
Get your four legged friend running free in the waves, and rolling in seaweed - maybe that is just my 🐩

See link in bio

https://happen-upon.com/yorkshire-seaside-dog-guide/

#yorkshire #dogguide #yorkshirebeaches #dogbeachday #dogbeachyorkshire

Courtyard garden A secret escape from the heat. F

Courtyard garden
A secret escape from the heat. From linen and velvet to limewash and wicker. A house for all seasons.

Went to a beautiful @yorkshirengs garden today, it was a stunning bijoux stately pile with. Millpond, walled garden , fernery, tennis court, a beech hedge maze and obligatory wild meadow with a mown path.

Old Sleningford Hall is in Nidderdale and is open tomorrow too. Everyone had taken a picnic and was dreaming about how it would be to live there.

Fun fact the gardener has worked there for 71 years pretty impressive, he was there wheeling his wheelbarrow.

Getting Bank holiday ready Built a stone patio ci

Getting Bank holiday ready
Built a stone patio circle. This is a limestone kit. Which left us with the job of marking out , digging out, hardcore, sand lay the slabs, then grout.

All ready for sunshine

Garden design, paving, DIY, gardens. ####

We built a stone circle. Not sure why it took us

We built a stone circle.
Not sure why it took us so long to realise this was a good idea. Previously it was just mud as the grass wouldn't grow under the table. (See story)

You buy them as pre cut limestone kits. You then have to dig out , hardcore and lay them. Total cost about £450 plus labour which was us and therefore free.

Searched around for parosol bases and found this granite beauty at jysk - weighs 45kg but has wheels. And was £40. Now they will put it in the car for you but how do you carry it from the car to the garden?

Easy, I quickly went out and bought it when the roofer was fixing the roof and then asked his lad if he would help me carry it from the car.

Obviously him being a 20yr old he said he was fine carrying it on his own. He just chucked it on his shoulder and carried it from the car without me lifting a finger. Problem solved, all I had to do was unwrap it and wheel it into place.

Chairs are a mix of vintage IKEA (wish they still did these) and habitat.

Yorkshire has some extraordinary gardens if you kn

Yorkshire has some extraordinary gardens if you know where to look. Plant nurseries, walled gardens and quietly obsessive places created by people who genuinely love plants.

We have pulled together ten of our favourite gardens and nurseries across Yorkshire. Places we return to repeatedly for inspiration, good plants, peaceful walks and a beauty all of their own.

Sweeping perennial planting and arts and crafts inspired garden rooms. These are the places that have genuinely shaped how we garden and what we grow.

There are also some brilliant specialist nurseries on the list for anyone planning a planting project or simply looking for something unusual.

Full guide now live on Happen Upon. See link in bio

https://happen-upon.com/10-best-gardens-and-specialist-nurseries-in-yorkshire/

#YorkshireGardens #Yorkshire #GardenDesign #PlantLovers #EnglishGardens #YorkshireLife #PerennialPlanting #PietOudolf #NorthernGardens #GardenInspiration #BritishGardens #GardenTravel #HappenUpon

Watch our garden transform over three years. Borro

Watch our garden transform over three years. Borrow from the landscape you love and hide the bits you don't

Did you know you can research who lived in your ho

Did you know you can research who lived in your house? Most people don't realise that the history of their home is sitting in public records just waiting to be found. Full story at link in bio 🔗

A Lord Mayor. A city planner. A man who lost the same dog twice 🐾
Our 1882 Leeds house has had some remarkable residents. Arthur Currer Briggs who became Lord Mayor of Leeds. Joshua Acfield the city engineer who designed the Leeds inner ring road. And James Cecil Sykes who somehow lost his red dachshund two years running. Every name we found led to another story.

Start with the Census 📜
It is free at your local library or via @ancestryuk @findmypast . Available every ten years from 1841 to 1921 plus a 1939 wartime register. One name is honestly all you need to get started.

Search the newspapers 📰
Try searching by the resident name or even just the street. We found for sale notices, wedding announcements and yes, lost dog adverts. The British Newspaper Archive is brilliant for this and your local library @leedslibraries gives you free access.

Check your deeds and local archives 🗂️
@westyorkshirearchive had plans and estate records we would never have found anywhere else, and you can do a quick search on their site. Most local archives are free to visit and the staff are so helpful.

Google Street View and old postcards 📸
Street View lets you scroll back through old images of your house. Also have a look on eBay for your area, you will be amazed how many old postcards of local streets turn up.

Your house has a story. Go find it. Have you ever looked into yours? I would love to know what you discover 👇 full details for how and what we discovered in bio@happenupon

#HouseHistory #HouseDetective #LocalHistory #YorkshireHistory #leedshistory

Meet Jack And Sadie I met them because they lived

Meet Jack And Sadie
I met them because they lived in our house for 16 months from 1943. They are quite the modern couple. They changed their names, they changed their fortune and we were a short step on their journey.

By using historic archives @westyorkshirearchive and newspaper searches @leedslibraries I was able to piece their story together. I have taken advantage of Ai to illustrate them as I have no photographs of them so forgive the deception.

To read their story as brought to life by real research click on bio @happenupon

Children of Russian Jewish émigrés in the Leylands. They grew up in an area later cleared as slums. Their families worked in tailoring and the clothing trades that shaped so much of Leeds’ economy.

Their lives moved with the city. Leylands, then Chapeltown in the 1920s, Potternewton in the 1930s, a brief spell in our house in 1943, a venture to Blackpool, and finally Roundhay for retirement.

A small but telling thread in the wider fabric of Leeds’ 20th century story.

The full researched piece with census records, newspaper reports and dates is now on the website.

If you have connections to the Foreman family, I would be delighted to hear from you.
Full story on website @happenupon

Dog was obviously highly inspired by his recent vi

Dog was obviously highly inspired by his recent visit to the Yorkshire Sculpture park @yspsculpture.

Yellow or not Been playing to see whether to paint

Yellow or not
Been playing to see whether to paint inside window yellow. Got ai to make me a visual, it got it wrong but good enough. (Not planning on painting the wall or the pillar). Just the inside of the window.

Window is getting a makeover, new double glazing into old frames. They won't look any different but at the moment there is a crack in one and they are poor old repairs they originally would have been leaded. As it's partner is.

First off the dog follows me everywhere, so say he

First off the dog follows me everywhere, so say hello to Dandelion.

Fun fact - if you say cuddle he runs to give you a cuddle.

The garden is all kicking off at the same time which is strange - lots of things that I expect to be out early May are here already.
This includes apple blossom, bluebells all out.
Pictures are
1 👉 tulips , really don't remember this colour combo but it is making me smile.
2👉 back border all the triumphant tulips plus some returning Sarah raven (deep maroon) shows how many tulips you need this is 42 of the triumphant and 10 Sarah raven (returning from 2 years ago)
3 👉 camassias - these normally flower next week so are a bit early but also I have a new load that our neighbour dug up as she said they were getting out of control and are a metre tall so looking forward to them. Currently they are just in bud.
4👉close up of pink tulips with the round topiary on the background
5👉my father in law gave us tubs of tulips when we moved in. They stopped returning in the tubs so I dumped them in this dead corner 8 years ago. This year they are back bigger and better than ever. Gardening is great 😃
6👉 viburnum snowball - this plant is amazing in April big balls of white flowers and smells lovely too
7👉lunaria chedglow (dark honesty) has gone rogue this year, big muscley plants that the pollinators love as much as me. Such great early flowers and obviously the amazing winter seed pods.
7 👉trying to capture its true majesty of chedglow

Early April Yorkshire garden in the UK. Just showing what is doing well in our garden.

Meet Jack And Sadie I met them because they lived

Meet Jack And Sadie
I met them because they lived in our house for 16 months from 1943. They are quite the modern couple. They changed their names, they changed their fortune and we were a short step on their journey.

By using historic archives @westyorkshirearchive and newspaper searches @leedslibraries I was able to piece their story together. I have taken advantage of Ai to illustrate them as I have no photographs of them so forgive the deception.

To read their story as brought to life by real research click on bio @happenupon

Children of Russian Jewish émigrés in the Leylands. They grew up in an area later cleared as slums. Their families worked in tailoring and the clothing trades that shaped so much of Leeds’ economy.

Their lives moved with the city. Leylands, then Chapeltown in the 1920s, Potternewton in the 1930s, a brief spell in our house in 1943, a venture to Blackpool, and finally Roundhay for retirement.

A small but telling thread in the wider fabric of Leeds’ 20th century story.

The full researched piece with census records, newspaper reports and dates is now on the website.

If you have connections to the Foreman family, I would be delighted to hear from you.
Full story on website @happenupon

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