Well I have to say the weather beat me completely last week.  The stormy winds and rain soaked me through and the closest I came to the European Markets was the side of the Town Hall and the ‘Santa’ over the main entrance.  It was a truly horrible weather day and I spent the vast majority in the pub catching up with former work colleagues.  Coming home I was stuck due to a lorry overturning, and was throughly frozen!

So to make up for the disappointment of last week, I went back in to Manchester for a wander round.  I’ve recently discovered the shop Purl City Yarns on facebook, and decided to have a visit.  What a lovely little shop.  Light, bright and full of gorgeous natural fibre yarns.  I could quite happily have stayed there all day just looking at all the beautiful colours and shades, but the Christmas Markets were calling!

As usual the markets were busy, full of visitors and stall-holders, bright colours and fabulous aromas. There are some lovely stalls, with crafts, food and drink from the North West, UK and Europe. It was a little disappointing as all the stalls seemed to be the same as in previous years and all in the same place! Some of the food was particularly lovely though. My favourite was the tartiflette from the Provencal Kitchen. Delicious! Potato, cheese, onion and bacon. Great to share too! I might be attempting to make this, I think some gorgonzola would make a very tasty alternative!

I didn’t spend all day eating! I did look around at the shop displays and decorations. One very beautiful garland I spotted on the Hermes shop was all around the entrance doorway. Packed full of flowers, leaves and berries, it really stood out amongst the decorations on the shops.

Back in the Northern Quarter and close to Purl City Yarns again, I came across this lovely painting on the side of a building.

Not a very Christmassy image, but such a lovely sight I just had to have a photo!

That’s reminded me, I must feed the birds in my garden!

Happy crafting
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