Wandering Curiosities • Page 2 of 8 • A Yorkshire Based Lifestyle Blog

February 20, 2018

Hyde Park Book Club Brunch O’clock

If you’re from Leeds you probably know of the Hyde Park Book Club even if you don’t actually know it. That fancy dress shop in an old petrol station? Right? Told ya you knew where it was. Well for the last 2 years it’s been a cafe come events space with a corner of vintage and fancy dress. And I was lucky enough to be invited to try their brunch menu.

Hyde Park Book Club Leeds Hyde Park Book Club is a little rough around the edges, but I kinda liked that. There is a cozy feeling, one that isn’t pretentious but welcoming. I have a feeling it’ll be that place where locals want to keep it a secret but will recommend it too anyone that listens. As that secret cafe that you must visit.

The whole menu is vegetarian, something that the owners decided on early on. They stuck to their morals been veggies themselves and devised a menu which includes sausages from the vegetarian butcher!

Hyde Park Book Club Leeds Breakfast bagel vegetarian sausages

Hyde Park Book Club Leedsbig breakfast with ketchup and brown sauce

Hyde Park Book Club Leeds chocolate coconut waffles

Don’t they look good? I had the breakfast bagel which was egg, veggie sausage, avocado and spinach. Other offerings included rather fancy looking waffles topped with fruit and an almost rather healthy full breakfast.

So if you want to just pop for a coffee, hearty breakfast or check out some of the events that they this is the place to be.

Hyde Park Book Club Leeds Handpainted sign

Hyde Park Book Club Location

HYDE PARK BOOK CLUB,
27-29 HEADINGLEY LANE,
LEEDS,
LS6 1BL

February 14, 2018

Before and After: Den Makeover With A Velvet Sofa and A Giant Tropical Wall Mural

There are sometimes in life when you have to indulge yourself with them crazy plant lady vibes. And when you move into a new build house where every wall is white this urge comes sooner than anticipated. We’ve been in our home for 3 months now and I was getting that itch to decorate everywhere. I’ve even had Pinterest Boards filled with ideas on how I wanted to decorate right from the moment we started looking for a new house early last year.

So when PhotoWall* got in contact asking to collaborate with me, how could I say no? Bye bye white walls hello something bright and colourful. I did have to talk Kevin into this mural but it turns out he loves it now it’s on the wall … (actually he just said “I think it’s OK which I translated from man speak into “I love this”) You’ll find that it’s a recurring theme in interior decorating within my life. Someone can’t quiet visualise the end goal.

Before and After

Lets have a look at how we got to something that was just a bare walls, to a Pinterest worthy den area. I’m not sure if its technically a ‘den’. But its not a living room and the dining area is to the other side of the room. It’s a space where we listen too music and drink Gin if I’m completely honest with you. Oh and Pixel has taken permanent residency there.

The Wall Mural

Lets talk about the wallpaper first. It is a well known fact, that everyone hates wallpapering, or maybe I made it up. Who knows? But this was surprisingly easy. I chose this Tropical print in the premium quality as I loved the colours in the leaves and the fact that I am a crazy plant lady it felt like the perfect fit. (I was originally planning to have something printed up from our Iceland Trip as Photowall can also print your own images, maybe a mural of the northern lights but as they alluded us I went for this instead)

You measure your wall very carefully and double check the measurements. Pop them into the dimensions box and it magically works out how much paper you need and the cost.

The paper arrived within a couple of days and it comes on one giant roll. You then have to cut the roll into lengths (hopefully you checked your measurements because if its wrong the mural won’t fit your wall), mix up the paste, paste the wall and hang your lovely new paper.

Honestly we didn’t even have an argument while hanging it and it took less than 2 hours. Photowall even have some videos showing you how too hang the murals.

The Sofa

Hello teal velvet sofa of my dreams. Now this sofa has a history. I saw it on someones instagram stories when they went to the Tesco Christmas preview evening. Yes you read that right dear readers, TESCO. Well I instantly fell in love with it and knew it had to be mine. I eventually got to make my order in November last year and a whole 3 months later it arrived. It’s one of the best things I think I’ve bought for the house. It sits perfectly against the wall mural from Photowall and has the hint of vintage to go with the bar cart and the record player that live nearby.

Things and a Cheeky Discount Code

Wall Mural – £168* use WanderingCuriositiesCampaign2018 for 20% off PhotoWall until Friday 16th March 2018
Teal Velvet Sofa – £379 (it was on sale)
Rug – From £99
Light Shades – £22
Side Table – £29 from Aldi so you’ll have to hunt for them

So there you have it. How I turned a dingy room into a bright, colourful and cosy corner. As always all words and love for the wall mural are my own and I only write about products I love and would recommend to others.

February 10, 2018

Alcoholic Iced Peach Green Tea

Do you know what I love? Iced Tea. Not the weird American Iced Tea though because thats just literally cold tea. Oh and alcohol. Not in a dependant way. In a ooo alcoholic iced tea sounds like a good idea way. So when Pago offered to send me crate of juice to create something with an idea was born.

Ok, it wasn’t really born. I wanted to make my own version of Starbucks Iced Peach Green Tea Lemonade. With a hint of something more weekend about it.

Pago comes in a variety of flavours but since I’m not so patiently waiting for summer to come and well my above mentioned love of iced tea I went for the classic peach.

Alcoholic Iced Peach Green Tea Ingredients

1 bottle – Of Pago Peach Fruit Juice Chilled
25ml – A Spiced Rum of your choosing (I used a cheapo Aldi one worked fine)
50ml – Chilled Green Tea
A Handful – of Ice
1/4 – sliced peach to make it look fancy

Directions

– Add plenty of ice to glass of choice
– Add sliced peach to glass if feeling fancy
– Next add spiced rum, green tea and peach juice
– Give it a good stir
-Sit back relax and enjoy *responsibly because you know alcohol

You can find all my other recipes here. And you can find Pago on twitter and instagram where they show case all there flavours. Next I need to try the Rhubarb and Pear because you know I live in the Rhubarb triangle and it would be rude not too!

February 8, 2018

Is It Worth Going On An Organised Northern Lights Tour? – Iceland

One of the many things Iceland is famed for is the chance to see the northern lights. The aurora borealis. They are elusive and notoriously difficult to predict, but they draw 1000s of tourists every year to Iceland on a hunt for these magical lights.

Spoiler alert: We didn’t see them.

So is it worth going on an organised tour to hunt for the northern lights?

Kind of. Hear me out on this will you.

Aurora the greek goddess of Dawn, it makes sense when you think about it. Dawn brings the light. Aurora Borealis. The Northern Lights are inspiring and captivating. They say seeing them once is never enough.

What Causes the Northern Lights?

My non astro physicist, GCSE science explanation is: The sun throws out solar flares (think of the sun been sick), these travel through space on the solar winds and hit Earth magnetic field. This is where the particles from the solar flares interact with the gases in our atmosphere. These then appear as the northern lights. Green most commonly seen is the interaction between these gasses and solar particles with oxygen, other gases such as nitrogen produce different colours.

If you want a elegant more technical explanation you can check out NASAs website.

Icelandic Mythology say the Northern Lights can predict the weather; if the lights are still in the sky there is good weather ahead, if the lights are dancing there are storms coming. Also more obscurely, if a pregnant lady looks at the lights while in labour the baby will be cross eyes and if she does not look at the lights she will have a painless birth.

Hunting the Northern Lights on an Organised Tour

This is where things get interesting of sorts. So our holiday had 2 tours included and one of these was a Northern Lights hunt. They call it a hunt because there is no guarantee you will see them. (If you don’t see them many tours will take you out again for free the next chance there is).

I’m going to be honest here, I was a little disappointed. In my head I expected to go with a small group of people into the country side miles away from no where and have this ‘romantic’ hunt for the lights. It most definitely was not that. We got on a coach, drove around an hour outside of Reykjavik to a golf course. It just happened that this was the choice of the evening for multiple companies and 10+ other coaches turned up too. Thats a lot of people in one area. You’re looking at close to 600 people. All looking for the Northern Lights.

The location wasn’t necessarily a bad one, there was a church to one side and they had some huge flood lights which made it difficult to see the night sky. (You can see in the bottom left of my picture the light bleeding in)

Even though there were lots of people around we managed to bag a spot away from the crowd and I set up my tripod and camera. And patiently waited.

We stayed in the location for around 3 hours, the clouds parted a few times and I managed to get some lovely pictures of the milky way but no elusive lights. I was expecting to go to a few different locations in one evening hunting the lights. But I guess that this would have been difficult with a coach load of people. More so that some people got fed up after an hour and went to sit back in the coach.

Is Worth Booking an Organised Northern Lights Tour?

So I guess is an organised tour worth it? I’m sticking with kind of. If you don’t have your own car then yes, the tour will take you to a relatively dark area which has a good chance of a clear sky. The staff will check the weather and take you to where they think is the best spot to see the northern lights. There is no guarantee though. You literally are at the mercy of the solar gods.

If you have your own car, I would recommend going hunting by yourself. The Icelandic Met office has its own website that tracks the solar flares and cloud cover so you can have the best chance of seeing the lights. But ultimately you need to remember a few things, 1. you need to be patient 2. there is no guarantee you’ll spot the northern lights and 3. get away from all light pollution.

May the luck of the Norse Gods be with you.

You can read about my other Icelandic adventures here

February 7, 2018

Is It Worth Visiting The Perlan Museum? – Reykjavik, Iceland

Sat on top of a hill less than a mile outside of Reykjavik is the Perlan Museum, housed in a huge glass dome, the Perlan is hard to miss. It has been undergoing a renovation over the last couple of years and is now open to the public again.

On our last day in Iceland the weather really took a turn for the worse and between gale force winds and heavy rain we decided that a museum day would be a good idea. Especially as we went to Hallgrimskirkja on our first day in Reykjavik all ready. I had read about the Perlan Museum and it’s observation deck and as I’m a sucker for a good view. I decided that we must visit.

Now the Perlan runs a free shuttle bus from outside the Harpa Concert Hall, this is near the Sun Voyager sculpture. There is a bus every half an hour and it is easy to find. It is covered in Perlan Museum branding. It is a short ride to the museum, once inside you can either pay to enter the museum and ice cave, the observation deck or just go to the restaurant or cafe on the top floor.

We choose to visit the ice cave and look around the glacier exhibition, also included in this price was the observation deck.

The ice cave was one of the best parts of the museum, at -10c it mimics an actual ice cave that can be found on a glacier only much colder. You are given a guided tour around the maze of tunnels by a member of staff that is clued up about all things ice cave related. The tour was in English and there was around 10 of us went into the cave. We spent around a quarter of an hour in the ice cave and this included time after the guided tour to wander around and take any extra photos we wanted too. There was also a warm fleece jacket that you could wear if you felt like your coat wouldn’t keep you warm enough. Do we warned though after 10mins my camera decided it hated the cold and stopped working until I came outside and warmed up.

The views from the Perlan observation deck are pretty impressive, even on a day where the weather was against us. 360 degrees around the glass dome roof gave us views that took our breath away. I can only imagine what it would of been like on a clear day!

Cost

An Adult Ticket is 2900isk (approx. £20, $28)

A Teenager Ticket is 1450isk and Children under 5 are free

There is also family ticket for 5800isk which covers 2 adults and 2 children/teens

Is it worth visiting the Perlan Museum?

Even though it is not a cheap activity, yes I think it is worth visiting the Perlan. The ice cave tour was guided and the ticket price also included the observation deck, 360 degree views over Reykjavik are amazing even more so if the weather isn’t blowing a gale. In 2018 new exhibitions are also set to open and these look really good. So if you are torn and not sure about paying £20pp I’d say go for it, especially if you are going when the new planetarium opens Fall 2018.

February 5, 2018

Finding Amazing Street Art in Reykjavik

Something that I wasn’t expecting to find in Reykjavik was amazing street art. Everything I read about Reykjavik never mentioned all the colourful art all over the city. Independent stores commissioning murals for their walls, public art seems to be a big deal around these parts. I wish Leeds and Wakefield had more public art work. It not only adds colour to the city but also adds to its personality.

I wish we had spent more time in Reykjavik it’s self so I could hunt down all the street art in the day light.

The stores with art work on their walls also made me happy. It seems such a simple thing to have the store logo painted on the your store front, it made the store stand out and well I had to go inside and have a look around. Yes I’m a sucker for good marketing.

I hope you enjoyed this post! Hunting out all these pieces of art was my favourite and I would love to come back to Reykjavik in the summer months to try to find all the art around the city. I can only hope more street art will appear closer to home.

You can find most of these amazing pieces of art while walking to the Hallgrimskirkja Church

February 3, 2018

Visiting Hallgrimskirkja Church – Reykjavik, Iceland

Iceland seems to be the place to go at the moment, but it has been on my list of places to visit for the longest time. The magical landscapes and the short flight seriously grabbed my attention for a long weekend.

Grabbing an early flight leaving Manchester at 07.20 meant we landed at Keflavik airport at 10.30, it’s only a 45min drive to Reykjavik. We arrived at our hotel by lunch, decided to drop our cases and head straight out into Reykjavik. It was around a 30min walk into town, which was easy to navigate even if a little slippy underfoot.

Hallgrimskirkja Church

Visiting the Hallgrimskirkja Church to see the iconic views over Reykjavik with the colourful houses in neat rows, was high on my list to visit and it’s easy to see why. It is the largest church in Iceland and when you reach the top of the Tower the views are spectacular. The tower can be seen from almost everywhere in Reykjavik, serving as a landmark for the town but also for the 1000’s of tourists that visit every year.

The church is a relatively new building with construction completed in 1986, it is home to the largest concert organ in the country which is pretty impressive by its self.

There is a small lift that fits 6 people and this takes you up to the top of the tower, there are then a flight of stairs to take you to the view platforms. There can sometimes be a queue to reach the top of the tower depending on how busy it is.

It is chilly at the top so make sure to wrap up warm to stay and enjoy the views.

Cost

Entry to the Hallgrimskirkja Church is Free
Entry to the Tower is currently 1000isk for Adults (approx.. £7, $10)
Entry to the Tower is currently 100isk for 7-14 year olds (Approx. 70p, $1)

Is it worth visiting?

For the relatively low admission fee to the tower, most definitely yes. We spent a good ½ hour at the top of the tower watching the world go by below our feet. To my knowledge there is nowhere in the city that you can get views like this for free. Even the Purlan observation deck isn’t free anymore.

January 29, 2018

My Ever Growing Record Collection

My record collection is growing at an almost alarming rate, I am also very proud to say that almost all my records have either been bought from an independent record stores, record fairs or charity shops. Some would say my taste in music is questionable, but I like to go with eclectic.

We play music on an evening while cooking tea and we play music on a weekend instead of watching tv. Since we got a record player almost 2 years ago, music has become a bigger part of our lives.

I have a thing for soundtracks, it can be movie soundtracks or soundtracks from TV shows. I can safely say that 80% of my collection is soundtracks. And I love it. They range from the 70’s to 2017. I think it’s because when I listen to music I get normally get bored very quickly, I’ve never really been a massive boy band fan. My friends will happily tell you that when they were going crazy for Busted and Mcfly, I was the weirdo that didn’t know the names of the members or any lyrics.

I was brought up on YES, Genesis and lots of prog rock by my Dad. My Mum was all about Robson and Jerome and cheesy pop. Throw in a bucket of Disney and the odd Musical, a early 2000 Emo phase oh and my new found love of country music and you have my musical taste.

So yes, it’s very very random.

When I travel to new places, I always try and pick a record. Sometimes I know the album I want, sometimes I just pick a pretty cover. In Memphis I picked up Elvis with the London Philharmonic orchestra. What will always haunt me is the record I didn’t buy. It was Kacey Musgraves first album from the The Grand Ole Opry in Tennessee, I still think of that album all the time. It was limited edition and pressed on bright pink vinyl.

On our recent trip to Iceland I picked up this album by Himbrimi, I didn’t realise until I got home that it was pressed on red vinyl. In all honesty I picked it up because I loved the album art work. I was just hoping that I would like the music. I was lucky that it paid off in this case and I do indeed like the music. Sometimes taking a punt on music isn’t a bad thing.

There has been a couple of incidents where I have purchased a record, popped it on the record player and my ears have almost bled. A ‘Beach Boys’ album that I picked up for £2 was most definitely not The Beach Boys as we know and love. It was horrible. I laughed and made Kevin listen too it, who also agreed that it wasn’t The Beach Boys. Not even a secret rare recording or an un published album. It was dire. It went back to the charity shop that I purchased it from.

Organising My Collection

All my records live in the record cabinet that I up-cycled, I also have an over flow box that lives in the understaffs cupboard. In there lives the 7″ singles and seasonal music such Christmas records.

I also am starting a spreadsheet (super geek alert) so I don’t end up accidentally buying doubles. I have picked up a couple over the last few years including 2 copies of the Jaws soundtrack from 1975.

Do you have a record collection? I know mine is tiny compared to some but I love it all the same.

January 26, 2018

How to Update a Vintage Record Cabinet with Rust-Oleum Chalk Paint

I may have accidentally bought an early 80’s record cabinet from a charity shop, manage to get it in my car and bring it home. It was ugly. Kevin’s face was a picture. He just couldn’t see my vision at first for this vintage lump of wood. But a tin of Rust-Oleum Chalk Paint later and a set of hair pins later I love my mid-century style cabinet.

*FYI this isn’t a sponsored post, I just happened to accidentally buy all the rust-oleum products and loved them.

Did you see my post on how I styled my record cabinet with an awesome neon light? A few people asked me about the record cabinet so I thought it was time for a make over post.

Vintage Record Cabinet After

So how did this become a rather lovely mid-century inspired cabinet I hear you ask?

Vintage Record Cabinet Before

Costs

Cabinet £10

Hair Pin Legs £26 (eBay)

Rust-Oleum White Chalk Pain £12 (B&Q)

Rust-Oleum Gold Paint £2 (B&Q)

1 bottle of cider £1.50

Total £51.50

I spent a rainy weekend with a sander, a paint brush and a bottle of cider because why the hell not.

I *read Kevin* sanded the cabinet lightly, just enough to remove any gunk and rough up the surface so the Chalk Paint would adhere better. I then gave the cabinet a quick wipe down with a damp cloth to remove any dust.

The hairpin legs attached super easily and once on I flipped the cabinet on to the feet. This makes it much easier to paint, as it’s not sat on the floor.

I gave the cabinet 2 coats of Chalky Finish Furniture Paint in Chalk White, one on Saturday morning and one coat on Saturday evening, it needed a few hours to dry in-between coats.

Sunday Morning I just topped up a couple of missed bits (oops).

I then used a make up brush because I didn’t have a brush small enough to paint the gold bits on the cabinet, it needed 2 coats to be a deep gold colour I was after.

Sunday evening I popped the records back in.

Hows it holding up?

Well 1 month after the paint is holding up pretty well, there is a few scuffs in the paint but its not chipped at all. I did have the option to wax the chalk paint but honestly I didn’t want to pay the extra pennies and I couldn’t be bothered. I’m more of a quick DIY kinda girl. I’m looking forward to seeing how the cabinet ages.

January 24, 2018

A Heart Shaped Valentine’s Neon

When Gingersnap offered to send me a heart shaped neon light to review how could I say no? I mean I love neon, I make Kevin pull over when we’re driving so I can take pictures of neon. The neon love runs deep. And it’s almost Valentines Day, a heart shaped neon seemed like the perfect fit. How many times can I say neon in the first paragraph? A lot obviously.

I think everyone knows that I love Records too, if you didn’t where have you been? My soul is lost in a bygone era. One where all advertising was done in neon and hand painted signs. There is a certain romance about it, one where the warm glow of light touches my skin and a vinyl softly clicks on the record player. Gingersnap’s Pink Heart Balloon fits perfectly just above my record cabinet.

I was super impressed with delivery from Gingersnap, the neon was well packaged and arrived quickly. I opened the box very carefully in anticipation because this was the first neon I’ve ever owned and it was as perfect as I hoped. Clean crisp and very pink, a hint of the 1960s and a time long lost. One that calls me from within. The neon mounts on the wall and comes with easy to follow instructions. I got Kevin to drill a hole through our wall into the adjoining garage and feed the power from there. The plug that comes with the neon is black, it stuck out trailed down our white walls so hiding it was our best option.

Since Valentines Day is just a few weeks away why not treat yourself or your loved one to a neon sign? They even do a super cute table top neon heart in red that I totally adore too and may have to purchase for Kevin* because a girl can’t have too much neon can she? *our bedroom.

You can find Gingersnap on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook

*I received this light in exchange for a review but all thoughts and neon love are my own*

Hyde Park Book Club Location

Before and After

The Wall Mural

The Sofa

Things and a Cheeky Discount Code

Alcoholic Iced Peach Green Tea Ingredients

Directions

What Causes the Northern Lights?

Hunting the Northern Lights on an Organised Tour

Is Worth Booking an Organised Northern Lights Tour?

Cost

Is it worth visiting the Perlan Museum?

Hallgrimskirkja Church

Cost

Is it worth visiting?

Organising My Collection

Vintage Record Cabinet After

Vintage Record Cabinet Before

Costs

Hows it holding up?

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