Having been in London since the New Year- the smoggy air was getting a bit too much for my lungs, and I felt that it was time to take a little weekend trip back to the Motherland: God's own county, the happiest place in the UK (according to Mr Guardian journalist himself) or Yorkshire to you and I.. Harrogate was calling!
My train from Kings Cross to York was delayed, again! (I have the most hideous luck with trains ever. Train drivers literally have some sort of vendetta against me) but eventually I arrived at Harrogate station, a bit cold and tired, and was met by Daddy Simmo and my two very excited mini-me sisters, Em and Be.
When the girls were considerably younger (they are now 7 and 9 and far too tall for my liking) and I used to live at home, I used to host 'Girls Club' in their bedrooms at bedtime... This was a very simple and genius means of getting them into their PJs and into their beds before bedtime (Bravo me)! However, it is something that seems to have stuck- Girls Club is something that they always request we do when I am home (and, I have been duly informed, is an occasion from which Daddy is categorically banned!)
On this trip home, I proposed a 'Girls Club' day out (basically a cunning excuse to let me off the night shift so I could have some wine!) and the 3 of us adventured into the town centre for Girls club fun.
First stop: Marks and Spencer's toilet, Phoebe had had too much juice in the car.
Second Stop: Pots 2 Go. If you have ever go to Harrogate/ever plan on going to Harrogate and you have children in tow... Go to Pots 2 Go.
Positioned on Montpellier Hill, it is right in the town centre, and conveniently close to Betty's (any excuse, ey!) Pots 2 Go is essentially a pottery painting cafe.
It is advisable to book, as they are always very busy- but when you arrive, you are presented with a huge selection of white pot items from which you can select your pieces to paint- these range in price from about £5 to about £30 depending on what you choose (and obviously include the cost of painting and equipment)
I chose 2 egg cups (very practical), Em chose a bird shaped plate (somewhat practical) and Phoebe chose a rabbit ornament (practicality is clearly not a priority for Be)
You are seated at your table and given aprons, paint, a colour chart, about a thousand paintbrushes and some paint 'pens' for finer details/writing, and you're pretty much left to get on with it.
The reservation was for 90 mins which was plenty of time. I made MM a Sunderland inspired egg cup (as it was cup final weekend and I wanted to be a supportive girlfriend) and myself a suitably girly one. Em painted her bird plate purple and green (exotic) and Phoebe painted her bunny brown, with a pink tummy etched with the name 'Hopy'... An unusual spelling of Hoppy, but Pheebs is a rebel and breaks the rules.
The service is great, the girls that work there are ao helpful- they will help you choose colours and do any painting that you want help with.
The prices are so reasonable- you pay about the same as you would find the items retailing for in high street shops, and that price includes the experience and the finishing process over the course of the next week.
I think I can safely assume that the girls will suggest we make Pots 2 Go a regular girls club location.. And it gives me an excuse to paint pretty things, and shop in Betty's, naturally.
On the way back up Montpellier hill, we came across a tree that has been carved in advance of the 2014 Tour de Yorkshire.
Complete with a 'fairy door' round the back- we stopped for a quick photo op, before heading home for juice (wine) and a night in front of the fire watching trashy Saturday Night tv. Ideal!
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