The Economic Stimulus Holiday

J and I  decided we would probably spend most of our holidays in the UK this year to help local economies during the recession and cut down on flights for environmental reasons.  This is what led to our holiday in the Lakes originally although the final location was chosen because I haven't properly visited before and J wanted to show me round one of his main childhood holiday locations.  While we were there we also make a big effort to shop and eat locally, choosing local, independent  bakeries, butches, restaurants etc where possible rather than stocking up for cheap at Tesco's.  So far we have sampled the following, amazing local food:

    - Grasmere Gingerbread which is like a mix between a cake and a biscuit
    - Cumberland sausages
    - Herdwick Lamb
    - Eden Sunset local mature cheese
    - Local handmade butter
    - Local Bacon (very good quality - great flavour and no shrinkage)
    - Poppy seed bread
    - Smoked Stilton
    - Ewe's Cheese
    - Sticky Toffee Pudding (invented in the Lakes apparently)

All very yummy!

I also discovered a very small knitting and fabric shop about 5 mins walk from our apartment. There is a lady who weaves, spins and knits with yarn from her own sheep.  This was amazing and I just haunted this place.  She told me all about the diffferent breeds, and I got to watch her weaving rugs on a peg loom out of her own fleece.  I ended up buying 1.5kg of aran weight shetland wool in a natural cream colour from her own herd which she spun herself in an old mill.  I am planning to use it to foray into the world of dying and I want to make Wisteria out of it eventually.