Attic24

Time Out

Just bobbing into the Attic to give you a wave and say ((Cooo-eeee)) and (Hellloooooo)) !!

Ahh life is busy-buys-busy right now and I'm enjoying it for the most part.

These pictures were taken on Friday, which was officially a Time Out kind of a day.

Time out of the house, time away from the perils of Extreme Nesting, time out in the open air with the one I Love.

J had taken the day off work, and we enjoyed a beautiful morning walk together through damp woodland at Bolton Abbey.

Talked and laughed, ambled and strolled. 

He even very kindly pushed me all the way up the hill :: a little humiliating but entirely necessary.

We laughed at that.

After all that exertion and nature and scenery and chatter and laughter, we drove to a picturesque village pub in the Yorkshire Dales to eat a most scrumptious lunch together in front of a roaring log fire.

Then back down to our town to stroll the market and have a quick cup of coffee in a dinky little Italian cafe before collecting the Little People from school.

It was a lovely way to spend the day....Time Out is most definitely a very, very Good Thing.

 

So yeah...back at home today on my tod, climbing the rather treacherous and dauntingly high Clutter-Mountain here at Attic24.

Am pleased to say I have at last left Base Camp.

Still in the Foothills, and still got a looooooong way to go till I get to the Summit, but I am making progress.

And progress is a Good Thing.

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Weekend Walking

 

 

A few pictures taken late on Saturday afternoon, the last day of October.

We often drive out of our town a few miles to walk around this quiet little reservoir sitting peacefully beneath The Crag.

Occasionally we do undertake a climb Up to the top of The Crag.

But most often we are content to walk rather lazily beneath it.

If you are age five and seven, the water provides paddling/stone-throwing opportunities which are very attractive.

And if you are age forty and forty one, the scenery provides soul-refreshment opportunities which are very attractive.

Yes, we like this type of lazy weekend walking.

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Walking to School

We've not had particularly nice weather here in North Yorkshire this week, and thats putting it kindly. Some days have been downright horrid, the worst kind of Autumnal weather :: think dark/dull, damp/wet, gusty/blustery, cold/bleak. It's been a challenge to face our walk to school with optimism, even though we are extremely lucky to have a very picturesque daily commute on foot.

I was looking back at an archive post earlier, a post about our School Run which I wrote way back in the summer of last year. Every photograph looked sooooo bright and beautiful in the summer sunshine! Very different to today, which was extremely dull and grey. Yet I felt determined to really try and appreciate these little snippets of my daily routine today, and to remind myself how lucky I am to have this daily jaunt. Its not half bad really.

So :: off we go :: strolling out into the grey autumn afternoon.....

 

The above picture is the view I have about a minutes walk from the Attic, stood at the very end of my street. You can see we live quite high up, looking down the hill to the canal, then across the town to the hills beyond. The very large building you can see is an old textile mill, now converted to appartments which overlook the canal.

Down the hill, across the swing bridge and onto the tow path now...the canal boats on the left hand side are permanently moored and don't move, they are lived on all year round :: little floating houses.

 

The boats on the right hand side come and go from day to day. Some of them are lived on permanently but travel up and down the canal, others are rented out to holiday makers keen to enjoy a little slice of the slow life up and down the waterways.

There is a smell of woodsmoke in the air which I love, and it's uinmistakably Autumnal.

Further along, and we are nearing the centre of the town now. This is a busy part of the canal, with a mixture of permanent moorings, holiday moorings and pleasure boats offering short cruises to holiday makers. The jaunty painted boat-planters on the left there are still flowering with summer annuals,  they were newly built this summer and have looked spectacular all season.

I had to photograph this boat to show you, I just love that colour blue with it's cheerful painted flower bouquets. This boat has only been on the canal for a few days and will probably move on again soon. I smile every time I walk past.

As well as looking at the boats on the water, I take time today to look up to the tress above my head....

.....and down to the ground beneath my feet.

I notice the little details of Autumn, the vibrant leaf colours, the shiny berries....

....and the autumn flowers.

There is beauty to be found all around, and taking time to really see it and appreciate it feels good.

Really good.

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Birthday Day

It was my Birthday day yesterday :: tiptoeing into my fifth decade, I am now Forty One.

Did have a lovely, lovely day yesterday too, waking up to a cloudless blue sky and glorious sunshine which helped the day along enormously.  J had taken the day off work and after some deliberation about what to do with 6 precious child-free Birthday Hours, off we headed over the hills to visit an RHS garden called Harlow Carr.

It was a first time visit to a garden of this kind and we really enjoyed it.

There was a mixture of expansive woodland, lakes, big cultivated gardeny bits (above), and smaller cultivated themed gardeny bits.

And although at this time of year the summer flowers were more or less over, the autumn foliage and elegant grasses more than made up for the lack of flora.

You can see from the above picture how blue the sky was, honestly, I couldn't have asked for better Birthday Weather. It was perfect.

One of the themed gardens I really enjoyed was the Scented Garden. It was beautifully laid out with little pathways winding amongst the flower beds, hidden benches to rest a while (was glad of those) and some beautiful woven willow structures too.

 

In fact, there were various willow structures dotted around the gardens :: I really liked this Living Willow fence.

There was an area of small themed gardens called "Gardens Through Time", which started in the Regency period (early 1800's) and went through 200 years to the present day. These photos were taken inside a little painted potting shed which was the entrance to the Victorian period garden...

...I loved it in that little shed and didn't want to step out!

Out of all the gardeny bits, big and small, my favourite bit of all was without doubt the Kitchen Garden. It was set out in a series of small raised beds  which were interestingly constructed from planks made out of recycled plastic bottles, which pleased me enormously.

I can't describe to you exactly what kitchen gardens do to me, but they give me feelings of huge excitement. I would say that those feelings are right up there alongside the ones generated by bolts of fabric and shelves full of yarn, by little trays of coloured buttons and perhaps wrapping paper and greetings cards too. Oh, and jars of coloured sweets.

Do you get what i mean? It's something to do with how neatly arranged it all is, how pretty and promising and inspirational it all is, and how abundant too. Makes me want to immediately go home and create the very same set-up in my own back yard, well on a much teensier scale obviously. 

I loved looking at this garden as if it were a huge patchwork of colours and textures.

 

The little neat rows of vegetable plantlets made me want to cry with pleasure.

It was lovely. Lovely-lovely.

We ate a very enjoyable picnic lunch sat on a sun-warmed bench in amongst the very beautifully planted herbacious borders.

And then it was time to leave....not to go home though, no no, we still had a few hours of the afternoon left to accommodate Birthday Pleasures. So we decided on the spur of the moment to drive up over the big hills to the little picturesque village of Grassington, which is in the Yorkshire Dales and not too far from home.  We pottered about in the afternoon sunshine, walking the little lanes, bobbing into the most delightful little shops and eventually coming to rest at a small cafe to enjoy a sit down and a delicious cream tea.

Then it was back down the Dale to our town to pick up the Little People from school, and then home sweet home.....

....ahhh it was really good to come home! I bought the above sign yesterday from a gorgeous little shop in Grassington called the Rustic Rabbit. I had rather a big attack of The Wanties in this little shop, sooo many gorgeous bits and bobs to tempt ones pennies out of ones purse.

But I was very restrained as I knew full well that back at number 24 there was a colourful little stack of wrapped birthday gifts waiting to be opened. Thoughtful and beautiful gifts sent from friends and family, I felt very blessed indeed. Had a lot of fun (with help from Little Fingers) unwrapping these parcels and there was much ooohing and ahhhhing.

So that was my yesterday, my Birthday-day.

Forty-one, crikey.

Not sure quite how I'm feeling about my life at this particular point, I most certainly never, ever expected to find myself on my 41st birthday with a big round belly and twenty-five weeks pregnant, thats for sure. I appear to be experiencing something of a little emotional wobble to tell the truth, but am hoping very much it'll be short lived and I'll be back to my usual up-in-the-clouds self again very soon.

Think I shall now go and eat cake :: always a good cure for the Wobbles.

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Edited to add :: Awwwwww, many thanks for all your birthday wishes, I really appreciate your kind words. My wobbles are gradually subsiding I'm pleased to say, the tea and cake (and chocolate) helped enormously. Will also be showing you some of my gifts soon too, in case you were wondering what was underneath all that scrummy wrapping paper! xx

Family Walking

 

We went walking on Sunday.

It was decided on Saturday evening that we would do a Family Walk if the weather looked half way decent when we woke up the following morning. So sure enough, after breakfast on Sunday morning we packed a picnic lunch, gathered boots and raincoats and headed up into the Yorkshire Dales to spend a day out in the open.

 

It wasn't an especially glorious day weather wise, kind of overcast and breezy, but quite mild and fresh all the same. And it felt oh-so-good to be out in the midst of the countryside, breathing it all in :: great lungfuls of fresh air, and great eyefuls of nature and scenery. Sooooooooooo good for the soul!

 

J and I have done this beautiful walk many, many times, it's one of our favourites. It's a picturesque 6.5 mile circular route, and in fact, I remembered just yesterday when looking at my photographs that J and I did this exact same walk at almost the exact same time last year. But this year, we had the company of the Little People, in their little walking boots, carrying their very own little rucksacks.

This was Family Walking.

Walking with the LP (as I think I've mentioned before) is alternately fabulous and frustrating. It's fabulous to get caught up in their excitement and exclamations over the things they see. It's frustrating to daaaaaaawdle so much of the time. But all in all, I would say the faulousness outways the frustrations. I think it does?? Yes, yes it does, of course it does.

 

Alongside the river Wharfe there are many horse chestnut trees, looking alarmingly Autumnal for this time of year I thought. The branches were already beginning to wear their Autumn colours, and it was beautiful but slightly melancholy to see the fallen leaves littering the grass.

 

But where there are horse chestnut trees with Autumnal looking leaves, there are also conkers to be found.

 

And oh! The Excitement!! This was certainly a huuuge part of the fabulous/frustrating walking experience with the LP. Such huuuuge excitement over the discovery of immaculately shiny brown conkers in their little padded cases! And such a daaaawdlingly long time spent searching for them under the trees. And then came the inevitable arguments over who had the most, who's were bigger/shinier/more conkery.

But hey-ho, it was not so bad, and soon the conker trees were behind us and we were all ready to stop for a picnic lunch break.
 

After lunch, and after the dawdling first part of the walk along the river, it was then time to get up into the hills. Time to properly walk, to stride out and climb.

 

I find this scenery so incredibly serene and uplifting, I just love it. Not quite as much as I love being by the sea, but a damn close second.

 

On this particular day, I really loved seeing the little patches of sunlight moving across the hillsides, I was mesmerised by the play of light and shadow.
 

I say to the Little People :: Look at how the sun is lighting up the hills, isn't it FABuLous????!!

They humour me, but really and truly, I think they prefer conker hunting and fish-spotting by the riverside. And chocolate.

They dutifully look at the sunlit hills and tell me their little legs are getting tiiiiiiiiiired, and their little feeeeeeet huuuuuuuurt. And they really neeeeeeeeed chocolate for energy.

Luckily I have come prepared for this eventuality and I begin to dish out little nuggets of chocolate at regular intervals to help with the tiredness and the hurting.

 

We are now in the mid afternoon and have been walking/dawdling/conkering/lunching for about four hours. And at this point, walking up this quiet country lane, the chocolate suddenly totally fails and Little Lady stages a sit down protest. She sits down in the middle of this road and declares that she can absolutely walk no further.

Its tricksy this, cos J and I know full well that we still have about another 2 miles to walk.

So we do what only Parents can do, and we lie.

We say it's SO not far, only just up the road and across a few fields, that's all, we'll be there before you know it and you can have an icecream at the village shop.

And so with the idea of icecream, we finally persuade Little Lady to stand up and carry on....we play a game pretending that I am a steam train and she is the carriage, and I begin to physically pull her up the hill behind me. Now bare in mind that I am also pretty shattered by this point, I think I do rather well. I huff and puff (for real) and sound like a very impressive steam train. But we make progress, and the train game is kind of fun.

Eventually, after many fields, many stiles, many more ups and downs, and quite a lot more complaining we chug back into the little village where our car is parked. And I for one am exhausted. Desperate to sit down and rest. Well, we all are.

But oh, I did enjoy our family walk very much, so very much. Even with all the dawdling and conker-induced arguments, even with all the tiredness and hurting and protesting, even with all the huffing and puffing and exhausting steam-training.

Yes, the Fabulousness did outway the Frustratingness.

It really did.

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Where i Live

I love living where I live. Love the bustle of the town on market day (will take some pics of the market one day soon to show you), the fact that the town itself is very old and historical, that we have a castle and a canal and a park. And I really love that we also have Woods. The Woods are owned by the Woodland Trust which is a conservation charity. It's beautifully maintained and a Walk in the Woods is often a welcome solution to idle weekend mornings when we fancy a bit of local pottering and a spot of nature.

This is what the Woodland Trust has to say about our Woods ::

"A magical land in the heart of town - that’s one way to describe these Woods, a woodland haven by one of Britain’s best preserved, most popular medieval castles. The wood’s links with the castle date back at least 1,000 years. A canal towpath, following the line of the Castle ramparts and Springs Canal, provides a direct link between the town’s High Street and the woods, following the course of the Beck through a stunning steep-sided valley.

Most of this ancient woodland is dominated by ash but the occasional sycamore, beech, Scots pine, Norway spruce and hornbeam indicate a greater variety in the past. The woods are renowned for their vivid displays of bluebells and wild garlic and sustain five species of bat. Green and greater spotted woodpeckers add their colour, while kingfisher and heron may be seen fishing the waterways."

Doesn't it sound delightful? And it is, oh it is! And yes, we have indeed seen kingfisher and heron and have heard the tap-tap-tap of woodpecker too. Haven't spotted any evidence of the five species of bat yet though.

On Saturday morning we Walked in the Woods.
From our house, it's only about a 5 minute walk to the canal, so very little walking is done on the road.
We walk along the side of the canal for a way, then the pathway branches off and follows the beck around the bottom of the castle grounds.
It winds on through the tall trees, lush and beautiful and green.
I enjoy the play of light and shadow and the fresh woody scent.
On past the pond, further and further until eventually we emerge onto a narrow track.
Bright sunlight after the dappled shade takes us by surprise.
Turn left and follow the track before climbing over a stile into a lush green field with cows grazing.
A slight climb to reach the top of the top of the hill where there is a dry stone wall and a view...............

.....Ahhhhhhh the view!!! It's wide and expansive, hard to capture  on camera the fact that we can see so much from up here. We can see in almost every direction and this view gives us a real perspective of exactly where we live, where we are placed in the midst of this beautiful countryside.

Because if we look straight ahead, we see our town.

And if we cast our eyes to the right of the town centre, we can see our neighbourhood.

And if we look more closely we can see our street.

And if we look more closely still, we can see our house! 

Yes yes yes, thats it look!!! There! Yes, right there!! I know because I can see my Attic window, know that it's painted a different colour to all the other Attic windows on our street. So I know for sure that's Where i Live.

Trying to point something like this out to Little People is extremely difficult. Fingers point, eyes strain, understanding and comprehension is sought. They say they can see it, but I'm not convinced. No matter, because I photograph it and when we get home I make a print. And I put an arrow to show them our house.

The picture below is a zoomed-in view of the picture above....

...and there I am look, see my window?? See the window of Attic24???

Thats Where i Live.

And I love Where i Live.

It's HOME.

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One week down

Ahhhhhhhhh Monday morning, and we've survived the first week of the Summer hols :: one week down and only six more to go.

Last week, as I think I mentioned, we had J at home with us. It was a week consisting of very little in the way of plans, a week of taking each day as it came and muddling through. It was easy going, relaxed, quite lazy at times and due to the very unpredictable nature of the weather we found ourselves housebound for quite a lot of it, waiting for the rain to stop, hoping for grey skies to turn to blue. Some days it happened and we saw sunshine, but for many days it did not.

Because of the weather, we  predictably ended up with a fair number of extra children in the house at any given time of the day, with the number of pairs of shoes in the hallway giving me an instant headcount of visitors. Lots of surprisingly noisy games of hide and seek went on. Lots of thundering up and down stairs (boys can never just walk up and down stairs can they?).

And while the Little People did their thing, J and I spent the first half of the week attending to some very long overdue domestic chores and took on a bit of a clear out and sort out. Some rearranged furniture, some new storage solutions, a great deal of reorganization  and an incredible amount of junk turfed out and recycled/slung. It was quite a theraputic way to spend a few wet days indoors, if a little dull and unholidayish.

We took to eating quite a few of our meals picnic-style last week, all four of us sat cross legged on the floor around the little battered wooden coffee table. The Little People just love to eat this way, and I can remember feeling the very same when I was little, there's just something intrinsically happy and carefree about picnicking, even if it's done indoors.

Our normal, sensible, bowls of school-day cereal were replaced with holidayish warm chocolate chip brioche rolls. Fresh orange juice replaced water. The Little People thoroughly approved of this holiday breakfast routine. Smiles and chocolatey fingers all round.

In amongst the predominantly grey, wet weather of last week, we did experience some wonderful little spells of sunshine. Small pockets of summertime, small moments to be savoured. And on these mornings it was a delight to sit myself on the warm front step, coffee in hand, my face upturned to the sun, listening to the sound of the Little People and assorted neighbourhood children playing up and down the street.

Ahhhhhhhhh the sounds of the summer! Shrieking, yelling, excited children doing their thing. Wheels and balls, bubbles and chalk, blankets and dolls. Some squabbling too, tears as well, but mostly good natured play.

I tried very hard last week to feel positive about the weather, to feel OK about the endless droplets of rain that fell. My garden is loving it, plants are thriving. The countryside is looking green and lush and beautiful. Plus it made it reasonably OK to stay in pyjamas all morning, which quite honestly is a real bonus for the likes of me as I love love love wearing my pyjamas. Really. I am wearing them right now in fact, just so you know.

And yes, it wasn't all grey and wet all week, like I say, there were the odd pockets of sunshine...I took the above photo late one afternoon after it had been raining most the day. I had made myself a cup of tea and looking out the kitchen window I noticed that as if by magic, all the rain clouds had been blown away by the wind and the grey skies had indeed turned blue. I took my tea out in my little back yard and really, truly enjoyed that little snippet of summer weather before it too got blown away. You have to grab it while you can. Grab it and savour it, enjoy the moment.

 

As we did the day before yesterday too :: a spontaneous little mid afternoon outing to our local reservoir, when the sun was shining and blue skies were above. We parked the car at the boathouse then walked the footpath right around the water, stopping at this spot to spread a blanket and brew a cup of tea. Chocolate biscuits. Peaceful and tranquil, well thats if we can ignore the squeals of the Little People as they hurl stones into the water and see who can make the biggest splash.

Ahhhh summer holidays, I do have to say I love em for the most part, even in variable weather.

Here's hoping I'll feel the same at the end of week seven.

Ever hopeful, thats me.

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Easy Countryside Appreciation

Here in my part of the world, we are extremely lucky to live on the doorstep of some amazing countryside, being only a hop and a skip away from the magnificent Yorkshire Dales National Park. There are wild and rugged bits, beautiful bits and charming bits. Gorgeous villages and sweeping vistas. High hills and low valleys. Rivers and gorges and  tarns. And it's right there to enjoy, and mostly for free :: park the car, put on some walking boots and stride right out into the thick of it.

But sometimes, getting out into the wilds of the countryside can seem like quite hard work. And when you get to feeling like that, like you really want to be out amongst nature, but don't necessarily wish to prepare or work at it, then you choose the Easy Countryside.

For us, the easy option of choice is without question Bolton Abbey. It's easy as you can possibly get. A way to enjoy some magnificent scenery without having to really exert oneself. And crucially for the likes of me, there is no map reading involved and no danger of getting lost either.

 

So when my Dad and his Lady were staying last week, I decided on a simple jaunt to Bolton Abbey, to share the delights of the Yorkshire Dales and our local countryside without  the need for maps, rucksacks or clonky footwear.

It was great. We rolled up mid morning last Monday and found only a handful of other folk about, stepped out the car and followed a beautiful wide and easy to negotiate pathway through lush, damp and very green woodland along the banks of the River Wharfe. We were headed for The Strid, to sit a while on the mossy rocks and be wowed by the forces of nature and the power of water.

 

After the noise and rushyness of the Strid waters, it was delightful to stroll back again and take in the calm reflections in the slow moving water further down river.

It was maybe an hours walk all told, nothing remotely strenuous, yet very good for the soul nevertheless. And at the end of the walk, a stop at the Cavendish Pavillion for my favourite spot of elevenses :: frothy cappuccino and a maple/pecan slice.

Between mouthfuls of maple and pecan slice, I was telling my folks the story of The Little People and The Money Tree. They found the whole thing intriguing, and asked to be taken to this magical place. So off we set, over the bridge and along the opposite side of the river to climb through the lush woodland....

 

...until we reached the Magic Tree.

 

We payed our respects, and shamelessly Wished Hard for Money.

 

I am still waiting for my wish to come true, but hey, I am patient.

 

After all that hard Wishing work, we set off to have a little explore of the ruins of the ancient Priory.

 

It was really beautiful, and quite peaceful even given the large party of school children  who were visiting at the same time as us.

 

I'm not much of a one for history :: I can appreciate that these wall are pretty damn old, but I do not really need to know details. I prefer to wander round absorbing the views and atmosphere without needing to know the exact date of construction.

We emerged out of the small church to find the sky had darkened and a rather menacing storm was rolling our way. The quality of light was incredible, as was the speed at which the storm was approaching.

We turned our backs on the Abbey and walked rather speedily back to the car, arriving just as the first huge drops of rain were beginning to fall.

I was rather glad that we were not on top of a remote hill.

I was rather glad to climb back into my warm dry car and feel smug.

Sometimes, Easy Countryside Appreciation has it's definite advantages, most especially when thunder and lightening are involved.

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June

Hello, yoooohoooooo, I'm back!

Pheww what a week it's been! Such a full week I've had, so very, very Brim-Full of happy, exciting, memory filled outings, trips, jaunts and jollies! And now I am home again and desperately trying to regain my balance and catch up with myself :: not easy as it happens. J is reluctantly back to work with a sulky, downturned mouth, and the Little People returned to school today too. So I am all alone in the Messy Zone, missing my three buddies, and trying to tackle the chaos that comes after living out of a suitcase for a week.

But hey, today is the first day of June, and its absolutely glorious in my neck of the woods. I don't know about where you are, but up here in North Yorkshire we're having the most amazing azure blue cloudless skies at the moment, and some heat happening too. It truly feels like the tentative beginnings of the Summer Season, and oh I'm happy about that!

Up in the Attic, I have two windows :: there's a cute little front window with it's own little pointy roof which faces East(ish) and has the above view out across town to the hills. The photo from this window was taken at around 9.30am or so, and because of the sun shining so brightly from this direction in the mornings, the scenery often looks quite washed out. But I also have a back window which faces west(ish) and in order to take in this view I have to balance rather precariously on a chair and stick my head out of the sloping velux roof window to look out. So I don't tend to do it very often, but I do enjoy this view of the cobbled back streets, of the roofttops and chimney pots and most especially the sky look.....

.....ahhhhhhhhhh that sky!! Isn't today just perfectly June-ish? It's Gorgeous, isn't it?

 

The calendar pages were ceremoniously turned from May to June this morning, and there is a distinct Summery feel to the images. Can we really, honestly be heading into Summertime already?? It seems to me hardly a heartbeat ago that we were welcoming Spring in. Yet I am ready for Summer, ready to enjoy all that these long, warm days have to offer.

 

I was really intrigued to find out what the Bossy Calendar would be carping on about for this month, and was really delighted by it actually. So much more relaxed than last month thank goodness (an order to Spring Clean, if you remember?) Our bedlinen (duvet cover and sheet) remains the same all year :: plain, crisp white egyptian cotton which I love. But I do like to add a little colour with some pretty pillowcases. Actually I only currently have two coloured pairs (Cath Kidston roses and Designers Guild stripes), the rest are plain white. So yes, I think that this month I shall shop for a new pair of sweet summer pillowcases. Gosh, you know what? The very idea of buying new pillowcases has made me feel absurdly happy! I can't wait!

Ahhh.....the Ideal Home calendar is, as always, so beautiful this month. I have this calendar hanging in my small kitchen and it really does flutter my heart on a daily basis. June's page is quite simply beautiful, and the absolute essence of summer. Love it.

 

I have a great many photographs to share with you from last week as we really did get out and about a great deal, both in this country and abroad. I still need to ponder how to post about our jolly-holidays, but oh we did have a wonderful, wonderful time! At the beginning of last week we went to Belgium (Bruges to be precise, well done to those of you who guessed) followed by a trip to the English Lake District at the end of the week. Both beautiful, both memorable.

But for now, a few photos taken yesterday, back on familiar home turf.

 

This is the picturesque Yorkshire Dales. About 15mins drive from home and an hour or so walking and this is where we found ourselves :: somewhere quite remote and high up and very, very beautiful. Green green fields and blue blue sky. Noone else but us four, walking and chattering, enjoying the the last day of May.

We walked a seven mile circular route yesterday which took us almost the whole day (9am-3pm) with plenty of stops for a leisurely picnic lunch and icecream/pub beer garden refreshments along the way. The Little People are turning out to be amazingly good walkers and for J and I, it's opening up a whole new Walking Chapter. After many, many years of us enjoying walking together as a couple, we are now enjoying walking as a family. And it's great!

I spent a little time looking back through last month's photo album this morning, and made up my Monthly Mosaic for May look. I do enjoy creating these little collections of images, it's just the sort of frivolous activity that pleases me enormously.

But now I must reluctantly remove myself from my cosy attic and my frivolous activities and go and attend to some household duties. Yes, I think I might be able to manage a bit of pegging out, nothing too strenuous for a Monday.

See you tomorrow folks, I think I'll take you to Bruges, if thats ok with you?

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ps Good to be back, I missed ya last week!

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Sunday Lunch

:: wake up to the bluest of blue skies ::

 

:: pack a picnic lunch and head out for a walk ::

 

:: a family outing to climb The Crag ::

 

:: Follow the track as it winds it's way upwards ::

 

:: pause for breath and look back to see how far we've climbed ::

 

:: steeper now, rocks to scramble over as we near the top ::

:: ahhhhh we made it to the top! Sit by the warm rocks to eat our lunch ::

:: remember the last time we came here, in snow and ice ::

:: a cup of tea and a well earned rest ::

:: begin the descent, down the other side across moorland and pasture ::

:: loving the cow parsley flowers, frothing in the hedgerows ::

On the way back we pass one of our favourite pubs, whose beer garden conveniently sits right next to the footpath. We sit and drink beer/lemonade and look across the field to The Crag, and marvel at the fact that we ate lunch up on the very top there today.

Sunday Lunch with A View.

And how lovely it was too.

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