Life Archives ⋆ Page 374 of 385 ⋆ Jupiter & Dann

A Night Out at Ashford Illuminates Carnival of the Baubles

Posted on December 23, 2019January 30, 2025 by Jupiter and Dann

Love Ashford has ran a bunch of festival, local events this year for their town! We were able to go down to the Carnival of the Baubles, unsure what to expect as it was their first year doing this event. The Carnival of the Baubles is the last of the three holiday events, which include an illuminated house and a magical illuminated forest. This last event had illuminated baubles made by all of the local schools, which were paraded through the town.

We didn’t really know what we were doing when we arrived. I suppose, looking back on it, we probably should have just been watching the carnival instead of joining in, but here we are. Standing near everyone lining up, there were several people asking if anyone wanted to hold the baubles. These came in so many different shapes and sizes, all hanging from different poles you can walk with. I grabbed one of the spare ones for Phoenix Primary School as many of the kids were not there to hold their bauble. Once we were in line, Dann went off to take some outside shots as I was told we were going to weave when we walked, given a headband and figured out exactly how high I needed to hold this pole.

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Lindisfarne Mead | Review

Posted on December 21, 2019November 14, 2024 by Dann Sullivan

[Ad- gifted product] The kind people of Lindisfarne Limited sent us along a bottle of their original Lindisfarne mead to try. Its a drink with a lot of history – predating wines, beers and every modern-convenience. But old doesn’t always mean gold.

Near where I grew up there is a place called Barn Mead, as a matter of fact, a good friend of mine from my schooling days, Sean, lived there. Growing up in Harlow, I was always told about the presence of a lot of historical relevance littered around the region – even though the town itself had only really been thrown together post-WWII it was laid out across half a dozen small villages which had Roman and Anglo-Saxon roots. I’m pretty sure that Barn Mead was simply just somebody lopping ‘Ow’ off the end of ‘Meadow’ but the word Mead had stuck with me since.

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Spiced Clementine Gin Fizz | Cocktail Recipe

Posted on December 20, 2019August 27, 2024 by Jupiter and Dann

[Ad- gifted product] Sue Telford has written a new book called How to Drink Gin – which contains all sorts of information on gin; from various gin types to how to make garnishes, you’ll have everything you need to know if you like gin. Not only does this book touch on sipping gin vs mixing gin, but it also provides a lot of tips and subtle differences between loads of different aspects of drinking, making, and mastering the art of gin. It’s a great book for someone who enjoys gin and wants to start making their own cocktails or someone who likes to entertain and would like to start with gin! There are lots of information on the methodology of mixology, rather than just being a recipe book. Personally, we tend to like citrus drinks, so when it came to covering one of Telford’s recipes, we went for the Spiced Clementine Gin Fizz.

The Spiced Clementine Gin Fizz has an almost sherbet taste, being on the sweet and botanical side, which is probably a combination of the citrus and the cloves, possibly leaning on the botanical from the gin. The syrup flavor is very present – it’s a really fun drink – one that would be good for entertaining, as apposed to a drink for late in the evening.

As this cocktail used soda water, we used tonic water provided by Yorkshire Tonic, as apart of our cocktails made with Yorkshire Tonic series.

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A Day Out at Winter Wonderland

Posted on December 18, 2019July 8, 2024 by Dann Sullivan

Winter Wonderland is a big, Christmas themed event that comes to Hyde Park in London each and every year. This year, Winter Wonderland runs until January 5th, bringing Christmas joy to anyone who attends. When it comes to this event, both families and individuals can really enjoy the day or night out, as there is something for everyone. Winter Wonderland has free entry, however all of the rides, attractions, food and games do cost (about as much as most London events cost). There are a bunch of DJ/Music stages that you can walk to and enjoy, as well as cosy indoor bars.

We’ve gone twice this year, once with the entire family and a second time as a little couples date. The first time we went, with the kids in tow, we were more focused on rides, games that did indeed allow us to take home a prize and seeing Santa. Winter Wonderland is divided into a bunch of different areas; the first thing we did was head to Santa Land, which lets you take a photo on Santa’s sleigh, as well as talk to the big man himself and get some photos done. The building this was in had an open front, but made a lovely backdrop. We were able to get a bunch of pictures, all of which looked lovely, with both the entire family on the sled and just the children with Santa. This was a pretty magical thing for everyone involved; Santa even gave out a few small gifts.

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Nim’s Christmas Share Bags – Vegetable Crisps | Review

Posted on December 16, 2019November 14, 2024 by Jupiter and Dann

[Ad- gifted product] When it comes to new foods, we tend to try whatever we can get our hands onto. Crisps are a pretty popular thing to snack on, however, we tend to purchase more of the vegetable crisps and baked crisps from our local shop. When Nim’s announced their Christmas share bags – three different varieties of Christmas themed vegetable crisps, we were very excited to try them!

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