Unkle Joz at The Whitby Bookshop

Jonathan Rhodes aka Joz or Unkle Joz was the first Goth to stay at The Waverley in many years as the previous owners wouldn't accept them after an incident with some black hair dye and stained grout in a shower.

Joz's first stay was in April 2006 since when he has become a regular guest and a friend who calls to see us whenever he is in Whitby.

Today he was at The Whitby Bookshop signing copies of his new book Distended Reason which was a follow up to his first book The Dark Alternative. Both books are collections of tales with an appeal to those who like supernatural or as the latest book's strapline indicates "A disturbing miscellany."

Hopefully when Joz becomes the male J K Rowling he will still remember his friends and call in for the odd tea or coffee. Joz can be found at www.myspace.com/unklejoz and if you would like to buy a copy of his first book click on this link The Dark Alternative - GOOD LUCK JOZ

Captain of Queen Mary 2 shows his respect

Today's Whitby Gazette reminded us that Cunard's flagship liner Queen Mary 2 was passing within 1 mile of our shoreline today and we could hardly believe that the liner would be passing Scarborough at 2:45 pm and Whitby at 3:00 pm, but it must be true as it was printed in the paper. Having been buffeted by the very cold wind coming in from the sea we decided to have a coffee at the Pavilion while we waited for the ship's eventual arrival at 3:30 pm, passing the harbour 10 minutes later.

It was hard to believe that something afloat a mile offshore could look so big, very impressive. It is also hard to believe that you could actually see the bows of this giant moving up and down ever so slightly on the North Sea swell, no good at all for Julie who feels seasick in the harbour.

The captain sounded the ship's horn as a mark of respect to Roy Weatherill, a Whitby lifeboat volunteer who died in June. The captain of QM2 was a friend of Roy. There is an online report in the Gazette and selection of photos will appear in Tuesday's edition which you should be able to find from the same link.

Falling Foss & Midge Hall

Several guests have told us about the tearooms at Falling Foss and as we had nobody arriving today we had time to check it out for ourselves. What a lovely place to live and make a living. The house is aptly named "Midge Hall" but we weren't really bothered by the little blighters (we don't know if this is the reason for the name though).

There is a 7 mile circular walk starting at Littlebeck which we will try to do in the not too distant future. Even if you don't fancy the walk take a look at the site for some fabulous photos.

The tearooms are open from early March until late October and then on some weekends or by arrangement. A large cafetière of coffee (enough for 2 mugs each), a lovely homemade scone with jam and cream plus an Italian chocolate slice only cost £5.60.

Wake Up, Freak Out – then Get a Grip

One of our friends involved with Friends of the Earth and Plastic Bag Free Whitby has sent us a link to an interesting and thought provoking film Wake Up, Freak Out – then Get a Grip. Worth taking 11 minutes and 35 seconds out of your day to watch!

Malton Food Lovers Festival

Yesterday we went to the Malton Food Lovers Festival where we sampled various local delicacies ranging from Whitby scampi to funeral cakes, no we'd never heard of them either. We later called in at Malton Relish in the Market Square and ordered figgy pudding for Christmas, a very large one! If it doesn't all get eaten at Christmas we freeze it and then have a second helping around July - yummee!!



After looking around we called into St Michael's church off Market Sq and had a coffee, no set prices just donate as you feel. There was a lovely lady in the entrance to the church selling her large variety of homemade preserves and we were discussing the difference, or lack of, between lemon curd and lemon cheese. As many of you who have stayed will know, Julie makes her lemon cheese/curd for breakfast and we tried to find a way of differentiating the two terms only to find that most commentators say that they are the same and it is a regional variation. Not so according to our lady at St Michaels, Lemon Curd has grated rind and therefore is "with bits" whereas Lemon Cheese is sieved and therefore smoother and is often used in pastries such as lemon meringue. You live and learn...



Here's looking forward to next year's festival.