I’m sat working in the garden today, the weather is far too nice to be stuck indoors.  I received some great feedback on the last ‘Something for the weekend’, so I thought I would do another!

I really love this time of year in Derbyshire….there’s always something to do, whether it’s a fair, carnival or traditional event the county offers something for everyone and with the weather being so very kind to us, there’s no better reason to head out for the day.

If you haven’t planned your weekend yet, maybe this post will help you decide…..

Chatsworth Estate
Saturday 30^th & Sunday 31^st May
Chatsworth are holding their first ever food and drinks fair this weekend, which I think I’ll head over to.  The fair is located on the hill leading up towards the stables.  There will be food and drinks producers from all over the Midlands, from Sheep dip malt whisky, cider perry fruit wine, handmade farmhouse cheeses and freshly made organic pancakes will be among the delicious goods on offer.  

Other ‘fabulous places‘ within the Chatsworth Estate are the Farm Shop Restaurant, Farm Shop, Interiors Shop & Carriage House Restaurant.  

 
Bakewell Farmers Market
Agricultural Business Centre Bakewell
Saturday 30^th May
I love a good farmers market and Bakewell’s is pretty fantastic for great produce.  The market offers a wide variety of locally produced foods for sale under cover at the Agricultural Business Centre, which is easily signposted as your approach the town.   The market runs from 9am – 2pm.

‘Fabulous places’ to visit while you’re in Bakewell are Chalet Home, Treeline Gallery, The Style House and Ag Gallery.

Chesterfield Farmers Market
Sunday 31^st May
Situated in the centre of town, the market runs from 10am – 2pm.

While you’re in Chesterfield some great ‘fabulous places’ to visit are Koo coffee Shop & Koo Deli, Libby’s and Created Gallery.

Other great ideas while the weather is so good are: 

Ice cream from Bluebells 

Lunch ourside at the Bottlekiln – there’s something quite wonderful about catching up with friends over lunch in the garden.  Quiche and salad washed down with sparkling Belvoir Elderflower, yum!  The Bottlekiln are also running a promotion where there is 25% off all their British handmade art pieces and jewellery.  I highly recommend a browse….I picked up a gorgeous necklace today.

Right, must go and prepare for this evening’s BBQ!  Have a fabulously British weekend!

I’ll be honest, before I launched fabulousplaces.co.uk in July 2008, I wasn’t the most environmentally conscious person, I bought free range eggs and recycled when I remembered to….shamefully, that was about it!  Well, over the past year I’ve discovered a whole new passion for making small positive changes to my lifestyle.  I’ve met some great people through the website who have shown me how easy it is and after a little effort on my part, I can honestly say I’m feeling pretty good about what I’ve done.

Here are some of the things I’ve been upto:

Electric cost gadget – my partner, David, won an online competition and we’re now the owners of a gadget that tells you how much you’re spending at any time.  This has been quite an education!  Little did I know how much it costs to boil the kettle and hoover the living room…it’s a gift and a curse, but life changing!  lol 

Bee boxes  & bee friendly plant seeds- I’ve put two bee boxes in the garden and also planted some bee friendly seeds (see photo above). 


Vegetables – I’m now the proud owner of a veggie patch (photo above).  It was super easy to set up….apart from the two occasions when I found my dog, Toby, having a great time digging in it!  I found some great eco chic gardening accessories at the bottlekiln and the alphabet gift shop.


Buying local – I love to visit farmers markets, they’re great for meats, cakes, bread and veggies.  Also, you’ll find other local producers like chocolate, crafts and art.  Click here for a list of Derbyshire’s farmers markets.
  Also, I now check what I buy in the supermarket and buy items produced in the UK wherever possible.

Recycling – this is a no brainer…all councils provide recycling bins now, so we recycle everything we possibly can.

Bags – I have so many eco shopper bags and never use supermarket’s plastic till bags.  I’m really pleased to see places like M&S charging for them…now if that’s not an incentive to take your own bag I don’t know what is!

I’ve made all sorts of other changes, but I thought I would share these with you as they were easy peasy changes and if you’re looking to make some…here are some to give you a good kick start!  If you have any good tips, do leave them below!  )

Country Living Spring Fair

A couple of weeks ago I went along to the Country Living Fair, held at the Islington Business Centre in London. The Fair was fantastic and full to the brim with great independent shops and producers. I was delighted to see Clare Gage exhibiting who won the Editors Choice Award – well done Clare! Also attending was Massey and Rogers with their fantastic range of hand printed textiles.

I came away with some great buys and will definitely be going along to the Christmas Fair, November 11th to 15th.

My favourite place for a skinny latte

It really is no surprise that The Bottlekiln Cafe has won awards for their coffee, it’s fabulous! I met a friend there last week and, I have to say, they do the best skinny latte! I love proper coffee and have tried coffees all over Derbyshire and I’m yet to find somewhere that comes close! So, well done The Bottlekiln, keep up the good skinny lattes!

Wirksworth Farmers Market
Saturday 4th April 2009

The first of what will be many outings to promote the website was Wirksworth Farmers Market. What a fantastic event, it was the first farmers market I have attended to promote the website and I’m so glad I did. I met some great producers of both food and goodies for the home.

Here’s what the FP stand looked like…

I found a fabulous producer there too! New to the website is Hearts & Homespun Soaps. The soaps, bath melts and liquid soaps are made by Elaine, in the Amber Valley, using only natural ingredients. They smell fantastic!

Have a wonderful Easter break…there’s no better time to head out and about around Derbyshire!

What can I say! The evening was a huge success and I’m now enjoying some much needed rest. Well, I’m sat on the sofa with a cup of tea and biscuits with the laptop typing this blog, that will do for now!

Thanks so much to everyone who came along to the Showcase – guests travelled from all over Derbyshire, Sheffield and Nottingham! I hope you had a fabulous time and enjoyed the opportunity to browse so many fabulous products in one place. I hope you all liked your goody bags too! You’ll find some really great goodies in there… a Teapigs sample, Weleda products, a packet of Crips, a Dorset Cereals bar and flyers/offers from some of the fabulous places featured on the website.

Below are a selection of photographs taken at the event. To view a larger image, please click on one of the thumbnails:

I have a few people who I would like to say a huge thank you to:

Firstly, thank you to all the fabulous businesses who took part in the event. I’m sure you’ll all agree, every stall looked fantastic!

Lucy….thank you for all your ‘fabulous’ help leading up to and during the event – you’re a star! )

Lastly, thank you all for coming along to the event and supporting the website. I would love to receive your feedback on what you thought of the event… please take a moment to enter your comments below.