Attic24

The Buttercup Meadow

I was feeling a bit restless this afternoon, caught between feeling antsy and wanting to do ALL the things and feeling lethargic and wanting to do Sweet Fanny Adams*. So yeah......faffing about, wandering in and out of rooms, not knowing quite what to with myself. All of a sudden I just knew that I needed to be out of the house. So I grabbed my camera and took myself out the back door, up the cobbled back streets to the top of the park. Down the grassy slope and through the wooden gate into The Meadow. Just as I had hoped, the buttercups had already started flowering even though I don't usually think about them being there until early June - it was utterly spectacular. The air was full of pollen (atchooooo!) but I didn't care - the sneezing was worth it in exchange for the gloriousness of all that full-on floral beauty.

There is a cut grass pathway all around the edge of meadow (and right up the middle) so you can't go tramping about right amongst the flowers as such (the meadow is a protected site), but you still feel as if you are surrounded by it all. I picked a few stems  - nothing much really, just a few sprigs of cow parsley, buttercups, plantains and grasses. I popped them into a glass jar when I got home and sat them on my outdoor table as I can't have them indoors (they make me sneeze). I made a jug of iced water and sat a while to write a few notes in my planner, and felt so much better for being outside.

Later on after dinner, I noticed the sun was low and still beautifully golden in the sky. So I took off again just for the pure pleasure of going to see the buttercups for a second time. I had a desire to to see how the light would look skimming over the meadow in the early evening - oh, it was breathtaking! Long shadows and a golden glow over the landscape, it was really, really beautiful. I am constantly inspired by the seasonal changes in the landscape - the colours, the views, how it looks, smells, and feels. I especially like to feel the seasons somehow, to connect emotionally with where we are in the year as the months gently pass by. May is just so brim-full of emotion for me, ALLLLLLL the feels.

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*in case you were wondering, "Sweet Fanny Adams" is something that my Mum used to say and it tickles me to be able to write it in a sentence! You can look up the meaning if you like, but only if you don't mind a little bit of filthy language, be warned!

 

 

 

 

 

May Delight

I think possibly the word "delight" doesn't wholly apply to the above photo, given that underneath that pile of colourful hooky is a stubborn eight year old boy, completely in the buff, refusing to get dressed and ready for school. This was Friday morning with ten minutes to go before we needed to leave the house. I seriously felt like yelling, could feel the annoyance and frustration bubbling up ready to explode forth, but instead I talked myself down, got out my camera and captured the moment, reminding myself how fleeting these childhood days really are. And in case you were wondering, we did eventually make it out the door - we were late but not disastrously so.

Friday afternoon, and I realise that J and I have adopted something of a little weekly woodland routine, which I rather like the idea of. This is the third Friday afternoon in a row that we've decided to walk through the woods during the gap of time we have after lunch and before the school run. It's such a beautiful way to spend an hour, kind of a gentle decompression after the ups and downs of the working/school week. The scent of the woodland makes me giddy with delight at this time of year, the garlic is powerful and intoxicating and I love it.

I really do appreciate the floralness of May - the bluebells, the blossom and then the wild garlic, and very soon we will enter buttercup and elderflower season. I am so thankful to live in a town where I can find all these flowers within a short walking distance.

Friday 5pm and I'm relaxing with a glass of wine and a spot of mandala finishing. The back of our house faces west and for a short time each day we are treated to a golden stream of sunshine pouring in through the dining room window. It doesn't last long as the sun quickly dips behind the rooftops, but it's beautiful while it lasts.

Another mandala hoop finished, and Tilly gives it the once over. I was playing with the hoop, trying to capture the shadow on the table, but naturally she assumed I was doing it all for her benefit. Diva kitty.

I love these dream catcher mandalas, they work up quickly and the colour play is gorgeous fun. You can find the free mandala pattern here.

I don't have any photos from Saturday except for a solitary bowl of salad. It was a day of laundry and errands and sweat and toil at the allotment plot. Later on there was chilled white wine and hoards of children coming and going, a barbecue dinner in the back yard and this rather yummy Greek salad thrown together to accompany the outdoor cooked meat. 

Sunday morning I decided to set myself up at the front of the house which faces East and gets a full blast of sunshine from early on. We have a teeny tiny front garden with very little level space, but it's a real sun trap when the sun is actually out and doing it's thing. We have a minuscule patch of grass and an equally minuscule patch of old stone paving outside our lower/cellar front door, so there I sat with a coffee and some hooky, listening to the bees buzzing and the birds chirping. The kitty came to join me, the Little People and J were also in and out, reading, playing, chatting, sitting for a while then moving on. I chatted to neighbours passing by, and all the while my hands and hook were busy making colourful stitches in the May sunshine. It was lovely, it really was.

I took this photo just when we came home from school this afternoon, as miraculously the sofa didn't look like a small tornado had swept through the house. People often ask me What Do You Do With All Your Crochet Blankets? Well, they are all here at number 24 keeping us warm and cosy when the weather is cold, and bringing lots of colourful homemade cheer to the furniture all year round. They are draped over sofas and chairs and beds and I can't imagine living in a home without them. It makes me profoundly happy to have them around the place and to see them being used and loved.

This weather we are continuing to have, my oh my, it is a sheer delight. Sunny and hot with glorious clear blue skies day after day after day. It's a rare gift for us to have this number of sunny days one after the other, and it's making this month feel very special indeed. Little B has changed his swimming group and his after school slot has been replaced with an early evening one. This means that we have a little bit more breathing space and can choose to walk to the pool instead of leaping in the car and racing against the clock. It's made a huge difference, and the walk up the hill and through the park this evening was just gorgeous.

Don't you just love this time of year? The long hours of daylight suit me so well, my soul is happy when there is golden light streaming across the grass at 7pm.

And now it's 9.24pm and I am suddenly very sleepy after a busy day dashing here, there and everywhere. The moon is out but the sky is still light and blue, gosh I love this time of year, these long, precious sunny days, did I day that already? I love it all, right down to the depths of my bones.

Wishing you moments of delight and tranquility wherever you are and whatever you're up to. Enjoy the little moments won't you?

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Making Mandala Hoops

If you're a regular visitor to the Attic, then you will be familiar with my ongoing Mandala craze and my latest obsessive making won't be anything of a surprise to you. To be honest, I can't see a way that this obsession is ever going to leave me so I've come to accept its presence in my life and have learnt not to fight it. I guess I'm lucky in that my involvement with Yarndale gives me an acceptable outlet for my mandala output and so I don't feel guilty when the hoops begin to stack up. 

This year I started making a series of 30cm mandala hoops to add to the larger ones I've made for Yarndale in previous years. I'm not sure how many I'll be making in total, but I truly believe that more is more when it comes to creating a stunning visual display in an outdoor setting. So I'll just keep making and making until I run out of time (19 weeks to go!)

In the past when I've made my larger mandala hoops I've crocheted around children's plastic hula hoops. But for these smaller ones I've been using thin metal hoops instead and they are fantastic for this purpose. They are lightweight and very easy to crochet around, plus the simplicity of them really suits these smaller mandala designs. If you are searching for them online, you need to look for "metal craft ring" - they are often used for dream catchers and macrame projects. I buy mine from an Amazon seller called Crafty Capers who I can highly recommend. They sell these white coated metal hoops in 8 different sizes, from 10cm up to 45 cm diameter.

✤ 30cm white coated metal craft ring on Amazon ✤

Back in February I showed you my first 30cm mandala hoop, made using a free pattern by Tatsiana of Lilla Bjorn Crochet blog. 

✤ SPIRIT MANDALA FREE PATTERN ✤

I made the one on the right using the same pattern a few weeks after the first one (one is never enough).

The mandala on the left was made using the following colours of Stylecraft Classique Cotton DK (from the outside of the mandala inwards) ::

✤ Soft Lime ✤ Peppermint ✤ Sky Blue ✤ Wisteria ✤ Plum ✤Busy Lizzie ✤ Mauve ✤ Shrimp ✤ Fondant ✤

The mandala on the right uses the following colours (from the outside of the mandala inwards) ::

✤ Fondant ✤ Lavender ✤ Azure ✤ Peppermint ✤ Tropical Jade* ✤ Soft Lime ✤ Sunflower ✤ Seville* ✤ Poppy ✤

*these colours have been discontinued, but it's still possible to find the Tropical Jade shade on eBay

In March I discovered another lovely free pattern to try out - this one was designed by Emily of The Loopy Stitch blog.

 ✤ CROCHET DREAM CATCHER FREE PATTERN ✤

I created an ombre effect by using nine different shades of Stylecraft Classique cotton DK.

The colours from the outside edge toward the middle are as follows :: 

✤ Nocturne ✤ Lapis ✤ Denim ✤ Teal ✤ Greek Blue ✤ Azure ✤ Peppermint ✤ Sky Blue ✤ White ✤

I love Emily's pattern - the simplicity of it is extremely effective and it was very quick and easy to make (please note this pattern is written using US crochet terms). I altered the last round of the mandala so that I could create the final attaching crochet round in the same way as Tatsiana did for her Spirit mandala. This method is fantastic and creates a super-neat finish - thank you Tatsiana!!

Seeing this small collection of mine slowly grow over the weeks and months of this year has given me a lot of satisfaction. Each mandala is made using 10 rounds of crochet which makes them pretty quick to make, and for someone like me who adores playing with colour, mandalas are the perfect project to indulge this passion. I absolutely love creating mini colour palettes for each one of my mandalas and find that the colour selecting and photographing is as creative and therapeutic as the crochet itself. 

After making three mandala hoops following other people's patterns, I decided to have a go at creating my own. I've designed a small 18cm mandala before, as well as a 45cm "Boho Chic" mandala for Simply Crochet magazine last summer. Both of those mandalas were constructed in quite dense rounds of crochet (not all that many holes!) and I had an idea that I wanted to design something more open and airy for my 30cm hoops which will be hanging suspended in the air instead of flat against a surface.

I started out by designing a central flower with 10 petals, then worked out a way to make the flower sit inside a pretty decorative circle. Such fun to design and make, I LOVED the whole process.

When making a mandala to fit inside a hoop, the important thing is to make it smaller than the finished hoop size. I've found that you need around 2 to 2.5 cm all around so that the mandala can be gently pulled out and stretched when attached to the hoop. This creates a neat, taut finish (baggy, saggy mandala hoops are a no-no!)

So for example, if you have a 30cm hoop, then your mandala should measure around 25 or 26 cm across. If you have a 45 cm hoop, your mandala should measure 40 or 41 cm across.

I find it easier to attach the mandala to the hoop if I use stitch markers to hold the crochet in place. It stops everything twisting and slipping around as you work, especially at the start of the joining round. It also allows the crochet to be gently stretched out before you begin the business of working that final round. Remember that the crochet fabric will be under a fair bit of tension as you are aiming to create a taut surface, and you will need both hands to handle the actual crocheting without needing to try and hold it all in place at the same time. 

Once it's all crocheted in place, the results are so pleasing! The stitches look like they have room to breathe and the flower looks like it has opened out to full bloom. 

When choosing colours for this design, it helps to divide the choices into two sections. First choose four harmonious colours for the flower - these will make up the first 5 rounds, and will also be used again in the final two rounds. Once you're happy with your flower colours, choose four more colours to create the circular part of the mandala. The colour palette should work as a whole, but it definitely helps to think about the colours in two parts. 

So if you look at the above colours of Stylecraft Classique Cotton DK, you can see how I've divided them.

The 4 colours I used for the flower are on the left, and the 4 colours I chose for the outer rounds are on the right.

Top row ::

✤ White ✤ Shell Pink ✤ Fondant ✤ Busy Lizzie ✤ Soft Lime ✤ Peppermint ✤ Sky Blue ✤ Wisteria ✤

Bottom row ::

✤ Sunflower ✤ Shrimp ✤ Poppy ✤ Plum ✤ Tropical Jade* ✤ Leaf ✤ Teal ✤ Mauve ✤

*this colour has been discontinued, but it's possible to still find it online (eg on Amazon or eBay)

 I wonder what you think of my colour choices? Do you prefer the lighter version or the darker version?  

So up until this past week, I had five mandala hoops completed, with a view to making at least 7 more. A good dozen seems very achievable, although I would be seriously tempted to make twice that amount. I've been itching to make a tutorial for my latest mandala but with one thing and another I haven't managed it until this week. Tutorials take up a tremendous amount of time and energy, no doubt about it. There is a need for bright, consistent daylight for at least three solid hours while I make and photograph the step-by-step bits. Add on an extra hour when you go hideously wrong and miscount, throw a tantrum and have to start all over again. And that's before anything gets uploaded and written.

But on Saturday I had the time to sit and make/photograph, and I also had a rather lovely incentive...........................

.................oh Hello, you gorgeous little bag of yarn!!

Rather conveniently, this cute stash of Ricorumi yarn that I ordered from Wool Warehouse arrived on my doorstep in time for the weekend, and so it seemed like a good idea to put it to the test and use it to make my mandala tutorial. 

photo credit : Rico Design

I spoke briefly about the new Ricorumi yarn in my last post - this is a new range of 100% cotton yarn which is soft, matt (non mercerised) and crucially for crochet purposes, it is also non splitty (hurrah!!!!!). It's labelled as a DK weight, but with a hook suggestion of 3-4mm it means that it's quite a fine DK weight. As you can see from the above image, the colour range is seriously tempting, with a  delicious mix of stunning brights, soft pastels, delicate vintage tones and a whole host of animal-orientated neutrals.

But the winning thing about this yarn is the size of the balls and the low price  - these are dinky little 25g balls which retail at around £1. This means you can treat yourself to a good number of colours without laying out too much money, making it a perfect yarn for small decorative projects such as toys, bunting, wreaths, flowers, mandalas etc.

Interestingly, I could have sworn that I selected a dozen colours, but in reality only 11 made it into my basket. It seems I do prefer to create colour palettes which have an odd number of colours! 

I chose the following bright happy shades of Ricorumi, starting from the top and going clockwise ::

✤ Red ✤ Orange ✤ Tangerine ✤ Pistachio ✤ Green ✤ Turquoise ✤ Sky Blue ✤ Blue ✤ Berry ✤ Candy Pink ✤ Raspberry ✤

I took the above photo to show you what I mean about the Ricorumi being a fine DK weight cotton. On the right is the Stylecraft Classique cotton which I usually use for mandala making, and on the left is the Ricorumi. There's not a lot in it, and they both feel very similar to work with. I used a 4mm hook for the Ricorumi (I would usually use a 4.5mm with the Classique), and so there was a small difference in the finished size but not enough to really matter for the purposes of the mandala I was making.

As per usual, I've created a tutorial for my mandala which contains lots and lots of pictures and step-by-step guidance to help you from start to finish. 

I've done my best to explain the way that I carry out the joining to the hoop, assuming you will be using a thin 3mm metal hoop like the ones shown here. You can adapt the method if you are using something thicker (eg a wooden embroidery hoop), and of course you don't necessarily need to attach these mandalas to a hoop if you don't want to. You might prefer to keep your  creation flat and floppy and use it as a table centre piece (a bit like a modern day doily).

 ♥ POSITIVITY MANDALA TUTORIAL ♥

I used 8 colours of Ricorumi in total to make my Positivity mandala.

I chose four hot colours for my flower ::

✤ Orange ✤ Red ✤ Candy Pink ✤ Raspberry ✤

and four contrasting cool colours to create the circle ::

✤ Pistachio ✤ Turquoise ✤ Blue ✤ Sky Blue ✤

The last two rounds repeat the hot pinks from the flower which help tie the whole design together.

Mandalas are extremely therapeutic things to make, and I named this one the Positivity mandala because it really did lift my spirits to make it. It's an easy pattern which uses basic stitches to create something that looks delightful, whether it's hanging from the branch of a tree, or popped onto a plain wall to bring some good vibes into a corner of your home.

I'm really enjoying having my crochet hoops around and confess to playing with them quite a bit! They're very tactile and pleasing in their simplicity and I love just taking in the beauty of the colours......

.......aren't they just so happy looking?!

I can't wait until I've got at least 6 more to add, but even then I'm fairly certain it still won't be enough to satisfy my creative mandala urges. I think that particular creative itch will always need regular scratching. 

I'd love to hear if you feel inspired to whip up a hoop or two.....I hope you're tempted to to give it a go!

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ps here are the links all in one place for info :

♥ Positivity Mandala Tutorial (includes a free downloadable PDF pattern)

♥ Spirit Mandala free pattern

♥ Crochet Dream Catcher free pattern

♥ Stylecraft Cotton Classique DK 50g balls

♥ Ricorumi DK 25g balls

♥ 30cm white metal craft ring on Amazon

 HAVE FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

x

 

 

 

 

 

 

Filling My Days

I've been busy just lately but in the best possible way, and I am so very thankful for the way in which I get to fill my days with things that make me very happy. I was thinking this morning about the blog posts I want to write so that I can show you the progress I'm making on my banner, my cross stitch, my mandala hoops.....and I was thinking that nothing has been photographed properly, everything is still a work in progress and in a slight jumble and probably not altogether particularly blog-worthy right now. I should wait. I should finish some things, photograph them nicely and put together some proper blog posts for you. 

And yet......in my mind it all feels so deliciously exciting and happening right here and now, and I really don't have it in me to wait! Plus, I always feel a million times better once I've shared it with you, and that's the truth. YOU ----- are my therapy, did you know that?? And I am so grateful for your visits here to the Attic. So I thought...why wait?? I need to show you Right Now what's filling my days.....so please forgive the slightly jumbled nature of this post. It reflects the current state of my life rather well I think. 

I have little project piles all around my desk, piled up on the floor and on any available surface. Its' a mess around here, it really is. I have bags (many) of left over blanket-making yarn, bags of embroidery thread, bags of cotton yarn (for my mandalas), piles of printed patterns and piles of hand written notes about patterns, cross stitch fabrics and hoops of all sizes for stitching and mandala making. I have bits of yarn stuck to pieces of paper to remind me of ideas and colour palettes and things that sit patiently on the back burner. I have a pile which includes the endings of one design project (which I am SO excited to show you once I am given the nod!) and another pile which includes the beginnings of another design commission. It's fun and full-on, and I am enjoying the busy creativity.

If you skip back up to the top photo, you can see that I finished making and stitching up the squares for my banner. It's an 18 x 8 format so there are 144 squares altogether. I'm just trying to think about the right kind of border for it all, so I've folded it up and placed it back on the pile for now, waiting until I'm clear about what to do around that outer edge. 

I've taken a lot of photographs during the past week, everything out there is just so beautiful to me at the moment. My colour and light-loving soul is being fed an endless supply of visual and emotional feel-good which is quite intoxicating. The weather here has been outstanding, a beautiful and uplifting dollop of warm, sunny May perfection and I am positively reveling in it. I am taking almost daily walks in the woods to absorb the greenery whilst it's at it's vibrant best. 

The wild garlic is very nearly at its peak (these photos were taken 5 days ago), and I've been right there amongst it almost every day breathing it in, quite literally. The scent is incredible, it's almost like you can taste the very air you inhale. 

By the way, thank you so much to those of you who told me about the Japanese art of shinrin-yoku, or "forest bathing" - I found it fascinating to read about, and to know that my slight obsession with breathing in the woodland air is actually a Thing! That really made me feel good I have to say. Often I do feel a weeny bit bonkers in my head (especially as J is fond of telling me how I'm "not normal"), so it's good to have little snippets of knowledge which make me feel grounded and not quite so loopy la-la.

I continue to stitch when the mood takes me, quietly and blissfully. I can't begin to tell you how much I am loving my cross stitch journey which began on 17th February, it has taken me to a whole new level of personal creative achievement somehow, in the same way that my sock knitting has. 

I had a whole shiny neat blog post planned to talk to you about my cross stitch adventure (a follow up to this post), but for a weeny while I lost my second completed cross stitch so I couldn't photograph it. Yes, I really did lose it, it just disappeared in a puff of smoke one day, which drove me to the point of near madness. Anyhow, some weeks later I eventually found it (in the cellar, don't ask), but in the meantime I made terrific progress with my third cross stitch project which you can see above. So now I'm all out of kilter in terms of cross stitchy blogging, but I'll catch myself up at some point. I would really like to show you my embroidery thread storage solution too...oh, tis a thing of beauty! Honestly, it makes me so happy.

Talking of happy colours, I've been having a play with a new yarn this week, a spontaneous purchase and one which has delivered in spades (happy spades!). This is  a relatively new yarn on the block, made by the German company Rico Design. these balls are dinky and affordable - 25g of soft, matt cotton in a fine DK weight, and a gorgeous 60 colours to choose from. They were designed for making crochet toys (hence the play on the words "Rico" and "amigurumi"), but I've been trying them out for mandala making.

I can't remember if I've showed you my lastest mandala or not? I don't think I have. This is the "Positivity Mandala" which is my own pattern, designed to be attached to a 30cm wire hoop. I sat for many hours at the weekend photographing a tutorial for this mandala,  slightly hampered by the fact I couldn't seem to count and made/photographed 6 whole rounds before realising I only had 9 petals instead of the required 10. Anyhow, 83 photos (not including the 23 that had to be re-made) and many mugs of coffee later and I have all the visuals - I just need to carve out time to edit and upload them and write it all up. This week sometime, I'm hoping to make it happen.

These are the hoops that I've made so far this year - you can read about some of them in this post. More to come very soon.

More shinrin-yoku on Sunday, a morning walk with J and the Little People at Bolton Abbey. I took a tonne of photos capturing the essence of the greenery, but figure that you have probably seen enough of it by now.

So here's one of the sparkly river Wharfe instead. There were fluffy ducklings further along, and it was all very lovely indeed.

Yesterday was another stunner of a day, so J and I turned our backs on our planned chores (the de-cluttering can wait) and drove up into the hills instead. 

We walked a 6 mile circular route through the Yorkshire Dales around Burnsall and Linton and it was completely gorgeous out there. 

It was a hot, still day and the river was looking extremely tranquil and inviting....

....even Linton Falls was more slow and sedate than usual, although the water here never ever quiets.

Yesterday evening, we packed up our dinner and went back to Bolton Abbey to do al fresco food things, taking advantage of the long, hot sunny day which we never take for granted here in England. I wish I had stopped to photograph my plate to show you but in reality I was far too impatient and hungry to think about my camera. You will have to imagine the cutest little mini quiche from the farm shop, ripe cherry tomatoes on the vine and a big pile of homemade sundried tomato cous cous with garlic and rosemary roasted veggies. Oh, and oven roasted asparagus too - always room on my plate for asparagus. For pudding we had rhubarb crumble and ice cream, yes we really did! My fabulous mother-in-law made us the crumble which I had baked late afternoon. Wrapped in a tea towel and put straight in the car from the oven, it was still warm when we came to eat it. I shoved a small tub of vanilla ice cream in a cool bag with a couple of ice packs, and although it was slightly on the runny side, cripes it tasted a-maz-ing with the warm rhubarb crumble.

The Little People devoured everything from start to finish, and it was one of those really joyful family meals which makes you want to hold onto the memories and keep them close for a long time to come.

After dinner there was a huge amount of physical activity - well that's to say that the Little People ran themselves ragged while J and I slumped gently in our deckchairs and looked on. Competitive frisby playing, yes it's a real sibling thing.

When the sun had sunk below the hill we packed everything up and headed homeward.....

.....stopping to take in the bluebells on our way.

This bank on the way in/out of Bolton Abbey was looking very beautiful in the early evening light, and was certainly worth stopping the car for. 

I started making another mandala this afternoon as I was at Coopers Cafe and needed something easy to work on whilst I chatted to my friends. I'm using a free pattern by the Loopy Stitch which is simple but very effective - you can see the first one I made here. I have to say I'm really loving this Ricorumi yarn,  I'll give you more info about colours etc when I write up my tutorial pattern for you. 

Well, I think that's about all my ramblings for now, thank you as ever for continuing to spend time reading my words and viewing my pictures. I really do appreciate your company. Have a stunning week wherever you are in the world - don't forget to stop still once in a while and breathe it all in....

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Outdoor Loveliness

❤ Stepping out into a glorious, sunny Spring morning on Friday and noticing  how beautiful the treetops looked with their fresh new leaves against the bluest of skies. 

❤ Loving that I am lucky enough to have this woodland only a ten minute walk from my front door, enabling me to seek out some tree-induced freshness when the mood takes me (see my previous post) 

❤ Walking home from school on Friday afternoon, the canal beginning to busy up as lots of boats arrive into town for our annual Waterways festival. 

❤ Every day we walk past the ice cream tug boat on our way too and from school, and Little B knows that if he's done well at school then Friday afternoons will often bring about an ice cream treat.

❤ Mr Ice-cream makes Little B "his usual" on Friday afternoon which is a single scoop of Yorkshire farm vanilla ice cream topped with chopped nuts and chocolate sauce. We stop a while on a bench beside the canal to enjoy the afternoon sunshine and wait while Little B devours his cone. Pleasure all round.

❤ I am used to seeing canal boats come and go along our school run route at all times of the year, but during the first weekend in May when boats are arriving for the festival there is so much visual pleasure. I love to take in the small decorative personalities of each boat.

❤ Often it's the domestic homeliness of the boats which really capture my attention - neat piles of logs, laundry dying in the sun, a dog sprawled out on the warm deck, pots of herbs and flowers blooming on every available flat surface.

❤ This beautiful boat window cover immediately caught my eye - a combination of lacy crochet and delicate cross stitch, I might have swooned a little right there.

❤ Walking down the hill to the canal past this long beech hedge on Friday evening, a quick trip to the supermarket with Little Lady. I brush my fingers gently through the soft green leaves and chatter to myself, marveling at their softness and that particular lush shade of new-leaf green. Little Lady tries to pull my hand away, telling me not to turn into "the neighbourhood crazy lady who talks to the leaves". She actually tells me (with some mild horror in her voice) to "step away from the leaves!!" Never...I love the look and feel of their newness and they beg to be touched and cooed over.

❤ Saturday morning, more blue sky and bright sunshine. For the first time this year it's warm enough for me to sit in my little back yard and eat breakfast while still in my pyjamas....such a simple pleasure, but a hugely enjoyable one.

❤ Onward from my al fresco breakfast and it's mid morning now. I'm still in my pyjamas, slurping fresh coffee and listening to the gentle sounds of the neighbourhood going about it's business. I'm absorbed in my own wonderful hooky world making  little blue squares to add to my banner. It's absorbing and delicious and I feel like I could honestly sit there for the whole day working those rounds of blue.

❤ 6.30pm now, and I'm walking down to the train station to meet my Dad and Lady B who are arriving from Dorset for a week's stay. The early evening light is sublime, so clear and bright and uplifting. I love how the trees are showing their bare branches one minute, then in full leaf the next, and I can never, ever seem to catch the transition in action. It happens so fast! When did the leaves happen? When??

❤ Sunday evening, after a hot lazy day of hanging out with my Dad and socialising with the neighbours on our friendly street, followed by a seriously yummy barbecue dinner, I took Little B and Little Lady down to the canalside to join in with the boating festivities. There is live music playing on the temporary stage and a jolly party atmosphere as more and more people arrive. 

❤ I adore the long days we are have at this time of year - these photos were taken at 9.30pm as the crowds gathered beside the canal to wait for the "Illuminated Cruise" to start.....

❤....the first of the boats cruises into the canal basin just before 10 pm - it's been a long day for Little B so we only stay a short while before walking slowly back home to the comforts of bed.

❤ The first Monday in May is a national holiday in the UK and gives us a much anticipated Long Weekend. The weather can really make or break any weekend plans, but this year it was utterly glorious for the whole three days. For the third day running I'm sat eating breakfast in my back yard and enjoying the gentle warmth of the early morning sun. I love seeing those little wispy clouds (we call them "mares' tails" ) that arrive when the air is warm and clear.

❤ I am so so so happy with how my banner is coming together!! I absolutely cannot wait until I get to stitch on the white letters and see how they look against that beautiful patchwork of blue. These colours keep reminding me of "The Starry Night" painting by Vincent Van Gogh, kind of a patchwork of summer night blues dancing together and making me feel joyful.

❤ Monday lunch time, and I'm walking with Lady B. My Dad is feeling a bit flattened by the heat from the day before (we spent all day outside eating, drinking, chatting in the sun on Sunday), but Lady B and I are off on a stroll through the park.

❤ I am stopped in my tracks by these trees in full bloom, gosh the sight of them honestly took my breath away.

❤ I so enjoyed standing underneath them, gazing up through the layers of delicate white and pink flowers to the blue sky beyond. Absolutely stunning.

❤ My favourite bench was calling to me, but we couldn't stop as we were walking to the farm shop to buy fresh produce for our evening meal. We bought bright red cherry tomatoes still on the vine, a tub of herby olives, seeded flatbreads, butchers lamb and mint burgers (yay, another barbecue dinner!), and best of all........................

❤ ..........locally grown asparagus. Oh my goodness, how I LOVE these green stalks!! I toss them in a little olive oil, season with fresh ground black pepper and Maldon sea salt, then cook on a hot griddle pan until they go all toasty and lightly charred. Fresh parmesan grated over the top and eaten with fingers whilst still hot. Yum yum yum.

I love this time of the year so so much. I love the first real warmth of the year, the frothy blossom, the greenest of leaves, carpets of wild garlic, bluebells and local asparagus. It really is a season of all round outdoor loveliness.

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Woodland Wander

Often when I am feeling a weeny bit low in energy, I find myself craving the sort of super-fresh air that can only be inhaled underneath a canopy of trees. A slightly damp shady woodland walk has such a unique fragrance, especially at this time of year when there is so much lush green growth springing forth. On Friday afternoon J and I had just over an hour to fill before the school run, so even though I felt soooooo tired at the time, we decided to take a short walk through the woods to inhale the greenery.

The treetops are just starting to turn green after our long winter and the newly unfurled leaves are such a stunning colour, it almost doesn't look natural. I loved the floral element too - wood anemones still blooming in amongst the first of the bluebells, and great swathes of hawthorn blossom too. The wild garlic hasn't flowered yet, but the leaves are adding an extra layer of vibrant green to the woodland floor. It's all so lush and beautiful, and almost too much to take in. Almost. I do take it in of course, and every lungful of woodland air I breathe feels like it's doing me good. But it's the visual effect of being surrounded by nature that is the very best therapy. It's restorative and energising, calming and invigorating all at once.  I can highly recommend a short Woodland Wander if you have a spare hour or two to while away at the end of a busy week. 

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Making a Crochet Banner

Since mid March I've been spending small pockets of time working on an Attic24 crochet banner and I'm really enjoying the process of watching it slowly take shape. Usually I am quite single minded when I work on something which excites me all the way to my toes, but I've allowed this project to become something of a slow burn. I pick it up as and when I need a quick and colourful hooky fix - it has fit around my mad crazy stitching obsession, and has helped me pass the time during two jaunts away. It's also been a fabulous project for me to take to the cafe during the past few months, probably because I can crochet these small solid granny squares with only a few sleepy brain cells engaged - this is in fact the perfect chatter-project.

After making so many blankets from Stylecraft Special DK over the years,  it's no surprise that I've gathered a rather impressive stash of oddments. I have a large tub in my studio which is full to the brim with partly used balls of yarn, as well as a bag or two of much smaller balls which I dip into for stash busting projects such as this one. 

I went away on a short holiday in the middle of March and as I was travelling with my lovely knitty friend we made sure to find plenty of time for hooky/knitty relaxation during our time away. These squares were perfect for a bit of happy holiday hooky and I came home with a whole satisfying stack of them. I had no idea how many I had made at the time, but when I tipped them all out of the bag there were 44 of them!

 The lovely thing about making these solid granny squares is that you really can use up the smallest amounts of yarn hiding at the bottom of your stash. You need approximately 6g of DK weight yarn to make a 3 round square. You might remember that I made a whole load of them a few years ago for my Colourblock Cushion?

At the time that I made my cushion, I also created a full tutorial to share the pattern....

{SOLID GRANNY SQUARE PATTERN}

It's a full picture tutorial, and includes detailed instructions which show you my joining method too.

My joining method for these squares involves leaving a longish tail end when you fasten off each square - you then use this yarn to stitch a seam which creates an almost invisible join. It's neat and easy, and very soothing to sit and do.

So lets talk about this banner idea of mine, shall we? I decided I wanted to make an eye catching yarny sign to display in my corner at Yarndale. Those of you who've been to visit me at the festival in previous years will know that the space where I hang out at Yarndale is a little on the rustic side (its a farm animal auctioneers ring), and it really does need a lot of cheering up. It's generally insanely busy and crowded inside my ring during the weekend, and unless you know I'm there it's not especially obvious that there is anything Attic24-ish going on, other than lots of giddy and excited crocheters milling about! So I decided to make myself a banner, you know, because I absolutely love to dream up these non-essential, creative projects right at a time when I should be busy doing other things.

The banner that you always see at the very top of my blog ↑↑ was stitched by me way back in 2008 and I still love it as much now as I did when I first designed and made it. I used the classic Times New Roman font to create the Attic24 text in fabric and stitch, so I thought I may as well stick with that for my crochet version.

I used Microsoft Word to print out the individual letters onto sheets of A4 paper as large as I could get them - they measure round about 20 cm / 8 inches high. I used these print outs as a template, working each letter in a bit of a slapdash freestyle way using double crochet in short horizontal rows. I started with the A, working from the bottom upwards, and simply tried to recreate exactly the size and shape that was on my paper print out. It was a bit hit and miss, and I did have to pull back and re-make a few of the more tricky letters. The curves were especially hard to get right and I struggled with the c and the 2, but having the full sized print out to use as a kind of a "map" really helped.

I didn't write anything down, so I'd be hard pressed to tell you much about the way I created patterns for these letters and numbers. Some of them were made in one whole piece, and some of them had little bits made separately and stitched on afterwards (like the little sticky-out bits on the t's). I kept the width of my characters consistent - this worked out to be 7 stitches across the wide parts and 4 stitches across the narrow parts. I finished each character with a round of double crochet all along the outside edges and this really helped to give a neat finish and smooth out any lumps and bumps.

When each letter was finished, I pinned it out on my blocking board (which is just a 1 inch piece of foam with an old towel over it) ready for steaming. I actually pinned the crochet directly into the paper template, gently stretching and shaping the crochet to follow the printed shape. Then a thorough steam with a medium hot iron and the letters turned out beautifully relaxed and really, not half bad if I do say so myself............

...................ta-dah!!!!

Attic24......yeah, I totally forgot to make the dot for the i!!!

No worries though, 4 rounds of an amigurumi circle and that was soon done.

Yesterday, I took my bag of banner making stuff down to the studio and for the first time got to lay it all out and see how it was looking. 

The above picture gives you an idea of the scale, and you can see that I still need to make and join another row of 8 squares on each of the short sides. But it's gradually coming together, and I'm so pleased with it!

Remember a few days ago I showed you a small collection of blue squares? Well I had this in my mind right from the very start of the project, that I wanted to put the white letters against a rich blue background. So I picked out 8 different shades of blue which include the darker colours Lobelia, Royal and Lapis....

 ....with the idea that the white letters will really stand out against the depth of the background colour.

Yesterday I spent the whole day working in my studio and managed to make and join the first bit of the blue section.....

....and this is where I'm up to right now. I've 16 more coloured border squares to make and 40 more blue squares. Then I'll stitch on my white letters and make something of a border around the whole thing to finish. It's going to be like a small blanket by the time I'm done, and that's exactly how I saw it a few months ago, like a vivid photograph inside my Creative Mind. It's a major thrill for me to be able to bring my ideas to life in this way, and I can't tell you how happy it makes me. 

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Spring Tuesday

So my black embroidery thread arrived in the post yesterday and my very first thought was how very, very black it looked. My instinct was to quietly pop it back in it's bag and pretend that I hadn't ordered it. No black here. But then I thought about the flowers that I'd meticulously embroidered, and how cutesome a little buzzy bee would look hovering above the petals and told myself  to stop being such a wuss and deal with the black. And I'm glad that I did because I love the bee, I really do.

This morning I was all set to start making a tutorial for you (the pattern for my latest mandala hoop, which I'm naming the Positivity Mandala), but I'm afraid to say that I got completely sidetracked with essential spring time pootling activities. I set about finishing up my Hello Spring hoop as yesterday I'd sponged off the blue marker ink and dried out the fabric so it was ready for the final finishing stage. After a good press on the reverse side I trimmed the fabric into a circle leaving an extra inch all around the finished hoop size.

I took a length of embroidery thread and stitched a running stitch right around the edge, then pulled it tight to gather in the fabric.

This isn't an especially neat finish, but I like the honesty of it. I think the original embroidery instructions suggested gluing a circle of felt to the back of the ring to cover up the back completely, but I happen to really love seeing the reverse side of stitching work. It's a reminder that this is something hand made, that there were snags and knots along the way but the finished piece is all the better for it.

Today is the first day of May and here in North Yorkshire it is finally starting to feel like we can let go of our long Winter and welcome in Spring. Thank goodness, because I've been ready for many weeks! 

I haven't really faffed with my mantel all that much for the Spring season just yet, so it's still a work in progress. But I'm so happy to have my hoop on display. I think I might tie some ribbon around the hanging loop to finish it off.

It's been chilly cold still today but the sun was shining this morning and I had my flip flops on, yippeeeee!!! Mind you, as I've been sat here at my desk writing I realised that my toes are flippin' freezing so I've kicked off my flip flops pulled on a pair of my hand knit woolly socks. Oh the blissfulness of that is not to be underestimated, it feels sooooooo good! 

This morning when it was bright and sunny and feeling a weeny bit Springlike out there,  I popped outside to pick a few of these gorgeous little pansies to bring indoors. 

I only picked 5 small stems to pop in one of my favourite old glass ink bottles (I love that I found this bottle dusty and forgotten, hiding in a box under a table in the collectors centre. I paid 50p for it). Having a small posy of flowers in the house is one of my deepest joys - there is something so endearing about the simplicity and the small scale of it all. I would much rather have this than a big fancy bouquet in a posh vase, any day of the week.

Whilst we're here chatting, I'd like to gently introduce you to the amazing work of Emma Verner. She creates the sweetest little decorations out of old pencils and rulers which tweaked my heart strings the second I first came across them. They are just delightful - do go and peek in her shop on Etsy to see more of her designs. I have such a major soft spot for little houses and I've absolutely no idea why?!

The four legged residents in the Attic have been enjoying the sunshine today - the kitty took full advantage of a sunny spot in the Big Chair....

....and out little piggy Lola appeared to be rather ecstatic when I deposited her into our very overgrown, unruly patch of  grass. A lush al fresco banquet, for sure.

This afternoon was all about the blues for me, as I sat in the cafe with my yarny ladies and hooked up some more solid granny squares for an ongoing project. I'm a long way from being finished, but I'll show you a bit more of what I'm doing very soon. I keep forgetting that it's OK to show projects that are still in progress, more than OK in fact. I've always enjoyed documenting and sharing my creative journey and feel like you might like to see this particular project in it's early stages, even though it's all a bit abstract at the moment. I tell the ladies at the cafe what I'm making, and see them trying hard to understand my vision, but only I can know what I can see so clearly inside my Creative Mind. And I can see this project soooo clearly, it's as if I have a photograph of it already. I'll show you soon, I promise.

Actually, I was thinking earlier that I really, really want to be here in the Attic more, I want to make time to chat and share more of the little things that make up my days. At the weekend I was reading through some old blog entries from way back in the depths of my archives. Back then, my blog entries were often quite short and fairly insignificant in the big scheme of things - just little snippets of ordinariness, things that caught my attention, made me happy, sparked off ideas, filled up my mothering hours. But they provide an absolutely priceless view back in time, and I've found that the blogs of mine that I enjoy re-reading the most are the ones that are about nothing in particular. Just ordinary day to day life bobbing along. 

And on that note, I need to go see to the laundry and chivvy Little B away from cartoon insanity and upwards towards his bed. Ordinary life calls....xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

 

Making the Seasons :: April

Sitting here to write this post a whole month after my March Making the Seasons write-up hardly seems possible somehow. How has a whole month passed by in the mere blink of an eye?!

I really love thinking about creating in tune with the seasons and as the months pass by it's interesting to see how my Creative Mind responds to the changes in weather, colours and seasonal celebrations. As soon as I saw this spring embroidery created for Mollie Makes, I fell in love with the bright, jolly colours and the gorgeous floweryness of it all. I knew that I would love to try making it, and it felt absolutely perfect for celebrating April and the start of Spring here in Atticland.

This embroidery was designed as a stitch-a-long, with pattern installments released each morning over the course of five days. However, there was no information given about what threads would be needed before the project started which I found frustrating, as it made it impossible for me to join in at the time the patterns were released. I'm guessing the Mollie Makes team assumed that this sort of project would appeal mainly to folks who already have embroidery supplies at their fingertips.

No matter, I was still keen to do it in my own time and figured that so long as I downloaded and saved the five installments then I could start stitching the following week once my threads arrived in the post. I manged to find some lovely fine linen fabric in a local remnant shop (it was a bargain as it had a stain at one end and the lady in the shop heavily discounted it for me), and I already had the 7 inch white flexi hoop. I bought a water erasable fabric marker {from Amazon UK} and set about tracing the design onto the fabric. I tried out the marker on a spare piece of fabric first - I was a bit doubtful about it actually erasing completely but this marker is amazing and literally disappeared completely in a split second as soon as it touched water.

Some of you may know that embroidery and stitching was my first creative love before I discovered a passion for crochet. In fact, I actually studied textiles and embroidery for three years at university (yes, I have a BA (hons) degree in Embroidery, believe it or not), so this type of decorative stitching isn't a new thing for me. However, it's been a long time since I worked any hand embroidery and I felt weirdly nervous about starting this pretty hoop design. I wondered if I would remember the different stitches, and if I would still have the skill to make them perfectly neat and precise? Only one way to find out.......

Day 1 of the stitch-a-long actually began with the main flower in the centre which was a mass of solid filling stitches in multiple colours. I was unsure about diving straight into this large bit of stitchery so I opted to begin with the smaller flowers first, hoping that I could find my stitching mojo and ease myself gently in. These little flowers are made using back stitch, straight stitch and satin stitch - oh yes, I can do that! Although my leaves came out a little bit uneven, I was so pleased to see some floral goodness emerging on my fabric that I didn't much mind the wobbliness.

The next thing I tried my hand at was the round and round "ranunculas" which were formed with a combination of French knots in the centre and a woven wheel around the outside. 

I've never made woven wheels before so I went to YouTube and watched the lovely Chrissie making them look easy-peasy.

The finished effect is gorgeous (especially using two different colours) and it made me want to make a whole load more just for the fun of seeing those plump floral circles materialise in front of my eyes.

Sitting in a sunny spot with the aim of simply stitching for pleasure is a really enjoyable thing to do. Although I still found myself feeling a little nervous about making a huge stitching blunder, I really loved the creative process.

Embroidery is a  slow, mindful hobby that can't be rushed, and I really do love it for that. And I really, really have a thing for french knots.....

......oooo I do love to see a collection of perfect little knotty, bobbly stitches! It was unbelievably satisfying to make those, I have to say.

Once all the small flowers were finished, I felt confident enough to tackle the Big Flower.

The embroidery on these large petals used four different shades to fill in the shape completely. This is known as "long and short stitch" and takes a surprising amount of care to gently blend the different colours subtly together.

There were some brief instructions given on how to use the direction of the stitches to define the petals and create a shaded colour effect, but mostly I just tried hard to copy the photo and make my flower look as good as the original.

I don't think I did too badly with my colour blending?

I worked on my spring stitching over the course of a week, picking it up when I had enough time to sit quietly and get myself into the creative zone.

I was especially pleased to finish off the large flower which was probably the hardest bit of the embroidery for me. Once it was done and I showed it to the kitty for approval, I felt a bit of a relief. Phew. All those stitches, oh soooooo many stitches!

The banner and words were pure pleasure, I do love the simplicity of a neat bit of back stitch.

Actually, the word SPRING was embroidered using chain stitch which I had to remind myself how to do....

....it came out a bit uneven but I'm not too bothered. I'm one of those people who really like handmade things to look and feel genuinely handmade - the imperfections and little mistakes are all part of the process. Big giant glaring mistakes would make me want to pull it out and re-do, but little wibbles are good to stay.

I really like the happy colours and pleasing texture of this embroidery (those woven wheels are delightfully three dimensional), and I did enjoy the creative process. Oddly enough though, the stitching didn't feel as relaxing as I thought it would - I had to really concentrate a lot (a bit like when I'm knitting), and it reminded me exactly why I love crochet so much. Crochet is the ultimate in relaxed creativity, and oh I do so adore it for that!

So have you spotted the thing that's missing? Yes, it's the bee! 

The reason there isn't a little buzzy critter hovering above my flowers is that I forgot to order black thread....! I was so overwhelmed with the beautiful floral colours that I completely overlooked the need for black (I think my subconscious mind must've blocked it out on purpose), so I'm waiting for that to arrive in the post.

The missing bee means that I've not been able to soak away the blue marker pen just yet, so I'm sorry that I can't really sing and dance and show you a final stitchy ta-dah. I've got in mind to carry out some Spring mantel faffery, with pretty jars of flowers, colourful cards and my lovely new spring hoop looking all seasonal and beautiful in the morning light. I'll be sure to share with you when it happens........very soon I hope!

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ps you can find all my previous Making the Seasons post here, and you can catch up with Gillian's beautiful monthly seasonal makes here.

pps. I forgot to mention that this lovely design was created by Anne of "LolliAndGrace". You can find more of Anne's designs in her Etsy shop xx

 

 

Bruges in April

We've been talking about taking a short trip to Bruges for ages, several years in fact. You see, Little B has heard all sorts of stories about the two trips we made there before he was born, when his older brother and sister were still proper Little People. He absorbed the stories about sailing the sea on a giant ship that you sleep on, about the gazillion shops stuffed full of nothing but the lushest Belgian chocolate, about the cafes where you sit under the trees and eat your meals outside. But for this particular Little Boy it was always the mention of waffles that made his eyes go wide with longing. The waffles in Bruges are the size of your head and are topped with all manner of delicious sweetness! You can have them drizzled with real melted chocolate! You can add whipped cream and fresh strawberries and ice cream too if you want! There are waffle restaurants where the whole menu is dedicated to waffles, just imagine that!!

And so Little B began a long held Waffle Crusade, with the sole aim of persuading his family to take him to Bruges so that he could experience proper fresh, fully loaded waffles, the bigger the better. It took years of asking (and waiting for his Daddy to renew his passport), and even though there were promises made, there were never any definite plans in place. He continued to ask, and to hope, and to be very patient. His Mum said things like "We'll try and go very soon, I promise. This year sometime, we'll make it happen". His Dad said things like "We'll wait until the weather gets warmer. Bruges will be nicer in the Summer".

And then one Tuesday in the second week of the Easter holidays, I decided I had had enough waiting. I really, really wanted to make this trip happen, not just for Little B, but for us as a family of five. So I researched it, checked the weather forecast (which really did help swing it), ran it quickly past the family for approval and then booked the tickets there and then. Booked on a Tuesday afternoon for a departure three days later. Boom!!! So liberating!!!

As you can see from the picture above, we didn't fly to Belgium. Instead we took the slow route sailing from the North East of England across the North Sea by ferry. We discovered these short "mini-cruise" ferry trips many years ago before the Little People were born, when J and I were at liberty to pop away for a few days to lark about in a foreign city. We visited Amsterdam a couple of times back then in our life before children, then twice to Bruges as parents with Little Peeps in tow. We love this slow, easy way of travelling, and I can certainly recommend it if you have small children. Or even big children. 

 The mini-cruise idea is a simple one - you park your car at the port and travel on the ferry as a foot passenger. The ship sails in the early evening (you get to sleep in a dinky little cabin) and by the time you've eaten breakfast the following morning you are sailing into a foreign port, ready to be whisked away and delivered to the city for a full day of exploration. At the end of the day, you are picked up and taken back to the waiting ship, where you settle down for a second night of being rocked to sleep by the sea. The next morning you are back on home turf with a few souvenirs, plenty of photographs and lots of lovely memories. Spending two nights on the ferry saves the expense of finding and booking accommodation, and although there was only an eight hour window to explore Bruges, we found this was just right when Little People are involved.

We traveled from Hull to Zeebrugge on the Pride of Bruges, which is a pretty big ferry, especially when you are eight years old. Little B LOVED the whole experience offered by this mode of transport - the endless rows of corridors and cabins, the many decks to explore, the huge shop, the lounge/bars, the cafe. He loved our cabin with his bunk bed and a sea view window. We spent the evening exploring the decks and drinking and playing in the chilled out lounge bar to the sound of the piano playing. I sat and crocheted a little while the rest of the family played cards, interspersed with frequent trips out onto the windy deck to view the sea. It really was a very fine way to begin our short little holiday away.

We woke up early to an expanse of very foggy sea, and I began to worry a little about the weather. Our previous trips to Bruges had both been rather wet and bedraggled, so I was really holding out hope for a dry day. I didn't mind if it was grey, but I desperately wanted to avoid the rain if possible. The weather app on my phone promised warm temperatures with a mixture of sun and cloud, so I peered  out to the foggy horizon, crossed my fingers and hoped for the best.

It only takes 25 minutes to travel from the port of Zeebrugge into the centre of Bruges by coach, so by 10am we were strolling though the gorgeous Minnewater park. If you know me in real life you will know that I have the most atrocious memory, and an even more astoundingly bad sense of direction. I retain absolutely nothing in my brain that will help me find my way around a place that I've been to before, and I cannot read maps. Luckily for me, J has a brain that has a fantastic working memory as well as a built in sat-nav so he was able to guide us easily through the park, across courtyards and bridges and cobbled squares as if he walked that route every day. It was marvellous!

Bruges is a truly beautiful and atmospheric old medieval city, and it's pure pleasure to wander about the streets. The canal network is extensive and I loved being able to walk around and over so many pretty bits of water. Around every corner there was a picturesque view, which pleased me no end.

On this sunny Saturday morning I was on an absolute high of happiness....I could hardly believe that we were suddenly in a different country, that we had actually managed a spontaneous family trip abroad! Just the thought of what we were doing thrilled me every time I thought about it (which was a hellava lot of times). Such a fun thing to do, to pop over to Bruges for the day! And the weather....oh, the warm sunny weather really did make the whole day extra special.

We are not a family who plans anything ever. We don't really do maps or guide books or advance research. We are pootlers and wanderers, going with the flow, gently taking it all in without quite knowing where we are headed or what we are looking for. I like most of all to just "feel" a place, to soak in the visual delights, absorb the atmosphere and just be there in the moment. 

As a result of this approach we do miss quite a bit I guess. On occasion I did wonder about the history of certain things (buildings, statues etc) but somehow the thoughts were fleeting and it didn't seem to matter all that much that I didn't get to know. I loved the above square ↑↑, with it's tall trees, quirky old buildings and beautiful cobbles. There were so many empty tables and chairs waiting patiently for customers to arrive and enjoy an al fresco drink in the sunshine, it all looked very inviting. I had no idea what it was called when we were there, but thanks to the internet I can tell you it's name now - it's called Walplein. There you go, should you ever wish to go there, I can tell you that it is indeed delightful to sit under the trees and while a way an hour with a cold drink to hand.

We much prefer to be outside rather than inside so don't tend to venture inside museums or buildings or shops when we visit a place. And in a city like Bruges, there is sooooooooo much to see and appreciate on the outside, especially when the sun is shining!

By mid morning we had made our way to the main market square which was bustling with tourists. As main squares go, the Markt is pretty spectacular...it's huuuuuge! Our main aim at this point in the proceedings was to hunt down some amazing waffles, as Little B was absolutely beside himself with longing. J harnessed the power of the internet on his phone and guided us to Fred's which is just down a little side street off Markt square. It was a good call - the magic waffle making machines were going at full tilt, producing hot, fluffy, freshly cooked waffles of perfection.

Freds is a waffles-to-go kind of a place, so we took our cardboard trays of sweet booty and made our way back into the centre of the market square to perch on the statue steps. It was absolutely fantastic, watching the Little People tuck into their morning treat. I'm sure Little B nearly fainted from pleasure overload, he was so bowled over by what was going into his mouth. He said it was honestly the best thing he has ever eaten in his entire life......just brilliant to witness his waffle pleasure after he had been looking forward to it for so long.

While we were sitting in the square, we were treated to the sounds of the carillon bells playing from the famous Belfry tower (this apparently happens on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays between 11 and 12). It was an incredible sound, very different to the church bells in England that we are used to hearing - you can see someone playing the Bruges carillon on YouTube, it looks devilishly complicated!  

The outdoor waffles accompanied by the forty seven bell soundtrack kept us sat in the square for quite a while. But eventually we upped ourselves and decided to just have a little bit of an aimless potter around the quieter streets away from the main bustle.

Just a few minutes from the busy market square, the side streets were practically deserted. 

I would have loved to linger for longer along these quiet little overlooked bits of Bruges.....

.....taking my time to observe all the delicious details of doorways and rooftops, flower pots and cobbled streets. But the rest of the family were keen to keep walking, so I went with the flow, absorbing as much as I could as we strolled along.

I remembered that last time we visited Bruges we had taken a boat trip and I really wanted to take Little B in one of the small tourist boats that you see pootling all along the canals. The rest of the fam weren't keen (I've no idea why, it was only 30 minutes and I thought a pretty great thing to do?), but that didn't stop Little B and me.

We were the last people to get into the boat and so had the pleasure of sitting right at the very front just behind the driver. It was such a lovely feeling to be swooshed around the streets at water level, passing under bridges and around some truly beautiful old buildings. Thanks to our driver and guide, we got to pass underneath the lowest bridge and glimpse the smallest window in the city - I love that it wasn't all about historical facts. Little B said it was his second-best bit of his day in Bruges (nothing could top the waffle), and I really enjoyed it too. 

Meanwhile, the three-fifths of the family that weren't riding the canals had settled themselves into a waterside location to await our return. You can see it in the above photo look, a cute little restaurant called La Pergola with a spectacular outdoor terrace overlooking the water. 

It was charming - the waiters were super-friendly and took the time to explain the non-English menu to us so that we could order a selection of sharing platters. We sat and ate and drank and laughed and chattered well into the afternoon, enjoying the view, the music and the continental ambiance. I absolutely love eating and drinking outside, and although it had clouded over since the morning it was such a rare treat to be able to sit comfortably in the open air with no coat to enjoy being in the heart of a foreign city.

After our lengthy lunch, we carried on our wander, heading back towards the south of the city in the general direction of our coach pick up. 

There is a lot of movement in the streets of Bruges, with a large number of bicycles and horse drawn carriages doing the rounds. The continuous sound of horses hooves echoing in the streets is a memory of Bruges which stays with you long after you've left.

We stopped in a few chocolate shops on our way and purchased a few modest slabs to bring home...oooooo, Belgian chocolate is mighty fine stuff I have to say. My slab was (past tense, all devoured) a swirly mixture of milk and dark chocolate which was absolutely divine.

The old parts of Bruges are captivating - ancient wonky buildings with their distinctive stepped gable roof tops just oozed charm and character, even when they housed simple touristy shops. 

We found ourselves back in the Walplein, and at 3pm it was very much busier than it had been when we walked through that morning. 

We managed to find a free table and enjoyed a leisurely drink in the afternoon sunshine. 

I absolutely love Belgian fruit beer - here in my town there is a small pub that serves a strawberry one that I'm rather partial to every so often, but the one I had in Bruges was a cherry beer....oh so so good! I can highly recommend it if you ever come across it and find that a bit of a thirst needs quenching in a fruity way!

By the time we came to head back through the Minnewater park, the weather was on the turn and a low grey cloud had descended. It had been such a beautiful day and I was so thankful for the slice of warm, sunny Spring weather that allowed us to spend all day outdoors.

And so eight hours after arriving in Bruges, we said goodbye and journeyed back to the ferry to enjoy the return journey homewards. 

Being back on the ferry felt weirdly comforting - you get to keep the same cabin that you had on the outward journey which means you can leave your bags and clobber safely on board whilst you spend the day in Bruges. Our return journey was much the same as our outward journey - lots of walks around the decks, lots of leisure time in the bar/lounge and a surprisingly  comfortable bunk bed to rock to sleep in. 

The ship wakes up quite early and the cafe opens at 6.30am with warm croissants and frothy coffee to make it worth getting up for. I loved being out on the deck at all times during the trip, but it was especially lovely first thing in the morning with a hot coffee in my hand and the sun rising above the sea.

Out of all the journeys we've made across the North Sea over the years, I think this was by far the calmest crossing. It was so smooth that for most of the time at sea you hardly felt like you were moving at all. J and I once traveled on this ferry in the depths of winter through a snow storm and high winds and believe me, you certainly feel the movement of the sea in those conditions.

We had such a lovely (truly lovely) time away - less than forty eight hours but it felt like so much more. I hope the memories last for a good long while to come - Little B is already asking when we can go back again, so I guess the trip was a good one for him. He is still talking animatedly about the best waffle he has ever tasted in his entire life.

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