Attic24

Elderflower Cordial Days

I've been making elderflower cordial in June for many years, ever since I moved house to this house where elder trees grow freely all around the neighbourhood. The frothy cream flowers are so distinctive that once you start looking for them you see them absolutely everywhere - roadsides, car parks, alleyways, train tracks, hedgerows, parks.

A few years ago we discovered a whole delicious run of elder trees growing in a part of the park that remains quite wild, where the grass grows tall and the hedgerows are left to billow naturally. As you can see in the above photo the flowers grow in abundance here, and crucially the elders are still in their young shrubby years of development (I think of them as unruly teenagers). What this means is that the flowers are at the perfect height for picking, which is like fragrant gold dust for the annual Cordial Maker (ie, me).

My two boys both absolutely LOVE elderflower cordial, especially as they were raised in a  water-or-nothing household where shop bought cordials or juices are a treat for special occasions. As a result, they both have a very invested interest in my annual cordial making ritual and as soon as we enter the month of June, they are both scanning the neighbourhood trees and discussing the state of readiness.

In years gone by I often had all three Little People with me for these floral gathering expeditions, but in more recent times it has just been me and Little B. Now keep in mind that Little B is no longer little, not at all, he is a tall, mature, fully hormonal teenager. And now picture him eager to come on this very special outing with his Mum, awwww, it really is the sweetest thing. He snips and gathers while I prance about taking photographs of the snipping and gathering, we have it all worked out between us.

We always go gathering on a sunny evening after a dry spell, to make sure the flowers are laden with fragrant pollen. I leave the bag outside overnight to allow any little critters to climb out and re-home themselves, then the following morning I set about snipping as much of the stalky bits off as I can (they can make the cordial taste bitter), and counting out the heads as I go. The recipe I've devised over the years needs 25 flower heads to 1kg sugar, and I usually make double this amount. This will result in around 4 litres of syrupy cordial which is then diluted with water/gin/prosecco, so does go a long way.

The basic ingredients are elderflowers, sugar, water, oranges, lemons and citric acid. You can find food grade citric acid very easily online and it lasts for years (the recipe only uses 60g, so check the quantities if you're looking on Amazon)

I have the recipe printed on a piece of paper pegged up in my kitchen, so am sharing it above - sorry if it's a bit blurry but hopefully it's readable if you want to follow it.

Keep in mind that this quantity needs a pretty big pan (or two normal size ones) as it's a surprisingly large volume of liquid, citrus and flower mush.

I strained and bottled my cordial yesterday after leaving it to sit for 24hours and I think it tasted better than in previous years, so maybe 48hours is too long. Yeah, I'd say leave it just a day before straining. You will need a nylon jelly bag for the straining bit (find on Amazon here), or a piece of old fashioned cotton muslin.

Yesterday the weather was an utter summery delight and perfect for having an Elderflower Cordial afternoon. I set up my yarden furniture with a gazillion crochet blankets and set about being the official Chief Taster of this year's batch. I splashed out and purchased a brand new glass for the occasion (£4 from Morrisons, they've a lovely summer range of homewares in at the moment), as well as a bottle of the finest San Pellegrino sparkling water.

In normal non-detoxing times I would have made some lemon shortbread or iced some pretty buns for the occasion, but as the cordial itself is a bit of a sugar bomb I opted for some strawberries and a peach instead.

Ahhhh, doesn't that look refreshingly good? It was indeed, very, very good. In fact, I had three glasses in total, spread across the heat of a very sunny afternoon.

An Elderflower Cordial day needs a suitable pleasurable, leisurely activity to go with it, you can't just sit there and guzzle. One needs to sip and browse beautiful pages or gently engage ones hands with some slow, colourful hooky. It's the rules of summer - loafing while being quietly, mindfully productive.

I remembered that I still had the unopened June edition of The Simple Things magazine to enjoy, what a perfect activity to accompany the cordial....ahhh, those pages are simply divine!

If you like following creative social media accounts, then I can highly recommend the Simple Things account, it's a distilled version of the magazine and will give you lots of lovely free seasonal inspiration if you don't wish to be spendy with the monthly magazine. Find them on Facebook and Instagram @simplethingsmag.

A bit later into the afternoon and the temperature reached 25 degrees which is pretty hot for our little patch of North Yorkshire. So I moved myself from the sofa to the chair to be in the shade and picked up my blanket to work a round or two. I'm up to round 33, and the mindful rhythm of these lengthening rounds is now absolute perfection. It's truly like meditation for me, I find my mind quietens and my hands just do their thing and everything settles into blissful tranquillity.

I really must make the time to share this blanket with you fully - I've just purchased some props for my photographs because I've got some creative ideas about how I want to share the visual story with you. I'm excited for it! I adore this blanket, my whole heart is invested.

By the way, do you like the petunias, aren't the colours wonderful? I also really, really LOVE the colour of the flower pot too, that gorgeous Tiffany blue/green shade will forever be my best favourite.

Right then my loves, it's almost midday and I need to be away from my laptop getting busy packing a few essentials into my flowery shopper because I am jaunting away for a few delicious days with the Hubs.....lucky me. Back soon!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

 

June Snippets {three}

☀ Tuesday evening ☀

Last night as I was pottering about tidying up a little downstairs, the sky caught my eye and called me outside. The blue up above was dotted with a whole layer of puff-ball cloudlets which looked so pretty and summerish that I had the urge to just leave the house and walk for a while. It was around 8:20 as I walked up the street, along the woodsy path and down the grassy slope to the meadow. Golden buttercups nodding in the golden light, the damp of the evening grass making my toes wet as I walked.

I carried on to the "wild bit" which has been calling me lately, the summer grasses growing taller day by day. Almost 9pm now with the sun sinking slowly out of sight as another day gently draws to a close.

The fairground is setting up in the park ready for the annual Gala and fireworks on Saturday. It's a time full of memories and complex layers of nostalgia, the unmistakable heartbeat of a beautiful, magical early summer.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

 

 

 

June Snippets {two}

☀ Friday : morning walk along the track towards the woods, stopping to take in the distant misty shape of The Crag and marvelling at the idea of us actually standing on top of it last week.

☀ Friday : good coffee + latest crochet crush = Bliss. Add into the mix a great bunch of friends and you can easily guess how my Friday morning went down. I had the added pleasure of spending the whole day hanging out with Christine and Emma who were visiting Atticland, it's always a pleasure to yarn and laugh the day away with those two. Emma and I are working on a little joint project which is so sweet and fun, I can't wait to share more with you later in the summertime.

☀ Sunday : a jaunt on the train to Leeds with the youngest, an outing he had asked for specifically because he is growing rapidly and desperately needed new trousers and also desired new trainers. While the offspring are still at school, we have an agreement where we buy essential clothing for them at reasonable high street prices, but anything non essential/over priced they agree to fund themselves. So new jeans from a high street chain is a Mum purchase, but another pair of non-essential Adidas trainers, well that's what his after school pub kitchen job pays for. I think it's a good balance and the ease of hopping on a train and shopping in this lovely city is always fun.

☀ Sunday : in amongst the shopping which included a trip to the Lindt shop (yes, I'm still on with my sugar detox, so this was a good test of willpower), we stopped for lunch and mocktails. Little B was delighted with his "shade-switcher" drink which is an Alchemist special. It tasted like liquid sherbet and smoked and bubbled like a science experiment.

☀ Sunday evening : a gentle stroll through the woodland with the middle Lady-child. 7pm and the air was heavy with the scent of wild garlic and damp earth, and the pond was still and reflective. It's such a lush time of year with the daylight stretching into the night as we approach the summer solstice in a few weeks. Love love love it all.

☀ Monday : stopped in my tracks by these amazing colours growing in front of the old mill apartments beside the canal. This is meadow cranesbill (a wild flower from the hardy geranium family) - just look at that colour, isn't it stunning?

☀ Monday : taking pleasure in making a small side salad to go with homemade pork and apple burgers (this recipe) and seasoned sweet potato fries. The fam all had baked beans with theirs which I'm not a fan of, so I made a single-serve salad for myself instead. A little crumbled feta cheese and pomegranate rubies elevated it to another level. Delicious.

☀ Monday evening : a walk to the wild grassland beyond the buttercup meadow to gather in some elderflowers while it was dry. Little B is always my official Chief Gatherer on these expeditions, and we easily managed to obtain enough floral booty to make our first batch. In the photo above : Yorkshire Fog Grass still in it's early un-foggy state of growth.

Talking of foggy states, this week I've officially entered my hayfever season. The modern day anti-histamines do a great job but the unfortunate side effect for me is dense brain fog. I take them in the early evening as this is when my symptoms are peaking, so on the upside I've been sleeping like a dead thing. However, in the mornings I'm having to wake myself from the aforementioned dead state which isn't at all easy. On Saturday night/Sunday morning I slept for a record ten hours, which kind of horrified and impressed me equally.

☀ Tuesday : more flowers stopping my stride as I walked into town, this time a simple window box planted with different coloured pansies. So pretty.

☀ Tuesday : flowers growing out of walls/pavements is one of my many, many visual obsessions, I absolutely love to see them. There is something about the extreme triumph of a flower seed lodging itself in an inhospitable stoney setting and still managing to bloom it's little heart out which I find hugely inspiring. I don't know what these yellow flowers are called...hold on...let me investigate on the interwebs....Oh, here we go > it's yellow corydalis.

"A member of the poppy family with masses of trumpet-like yellow flowers, Yellow Corydalis is yet another European colonist. Originating from the Alps, it is well-adapted to wedging its roots into the gaps in walls. Known in the UK since 1796, it is not a recent introduction and can be quite common in terraced neighbourhoods".

Isn't floral information wonderful to have stored in one's brain? I'm going to really try to hold onto this for future reference. Corydalis, corydalis, corydalis.

☀ Tuesday : a solo coffee date, and the joy of having the whole upper floor of Caffé Nero all to myself for a while. Light opera vocals playing on the sound system this morning, it was such a beautiful way to sit and re-boot my brain and spend time gently planning out my day. 

☀ Tuesday : fresh flowers on my table, a glorious bunch of British grown Sweet William. The bunch was huge, enough for a large jug on my table and two smaller bonus jugs.

☀ Tuesday : floral sweetness beside my bed, one of life's pleasures for sure.

I hope June is treating you well so far, do chat to me in the comments and share some of your seasonal snippets, I'd love to hear what catches your eye, pleases your heart and stops your stride?!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

Saltaire Inspiration

I took myself on a very unexpected, unplanned and spontaneous outing on Thursday. I was sat eating my breakfast at the table and suddenly felt an overwhelming need to be out of the house, out of this town and immersed in an inspirational environment for a little while. So I booked a train ticket there and then and twenty minutes later I was walking along the canal to the train station.

Destination........Saltaire.

It's a twenty five minute journey and the train stop is located right in the heart of the old village, just a hop and a skip from the impressive Salts Mill building.

I am always in awe of this beautiful place and I've been visiting since we first moved to the area in 2007. It's a historic building that now houses many businesses, as well as three art galleries, two restaurants and various retail outlets. As you browse through the vast array of books, cards and art materials arranged over two huge floors of the mill, you can also view the large collection of artworks by David Hockney displayed on the walls. And best of all? It's free. Yes, completely free to enter, browse, explore, admire and fill your inspiration cup to overflowing. Isn't that something?

You can see one of the retail galleries in the above photo, these rooms are huuuuuuge and old and full of character. Much of the stuff is displayed on tabletops rather than on shelves, which encourages you to take your time and enjoy the browsing experience. There are large glass vases of lilies placed throughout the room and trust me when I tell you the scent in the air is beautifully intoxicating.

When I arrived at Salts it was late morning, so I took myself into the diner and ordered up a frothy coffee. It was busy and noisy in the café but the coffee was delicious and I enjoyed being out and about somewhere so lively. It's a great place for people watching :) 

I always like to browse in the Home store, not often to buy anything but just to absorb the beautiful aesthetic. I love this gorgeous candle rack and also the luxurious soaps and lotions that they sell as there are so many wonderful scents to enjoy (they are stockists of The English Soap Company soaps which look as beautiful as they smell).

One of the main reasons I wanted to visit Salts was to view the current David Hockney Exhibition up in the third floor gallery.

This collection of pictures is called "20 Flowers for 2025" and interestingly they are all digital works of art. Daivd Hockney is in his late eighties, and although he's still creating new art it's mostly drawn on an iPad. Part of the exhibition included a big screen where you could watch his process of creating a digital floral image and it was really interesting.

When you view the collection from a distance they look like traditional paintings....

...but up close you can really see the digital mark making. I think my favourites were the ones where flowers were displayed in glass bottles and cut glass vases, because miraculously they really looked like glass. You can see more of his digital iPad works ((here)).

Aside from all the browsing, I really, really just enjoy the scale of the place because this is definitely not your average book shop, and these are most certainly not your average pot plants. The plants are real and ginormous, more like indoor trees really, and I am always so very impressed by them.

Trains back to Atticland run every half an hour or so, and as I had about ten minutes to spare I walked to the station via some of the very beautiful old housing streets which are now a protected UNESCO world heritage site.

I love the old painted front doors and the very well kept front gardens which at this time of year were spilling over with early summer flowers....

....these roses smelt sooo good, such a sweet and fragrant perfume.

As I was waiting for my train I was thinking about the flowers of Saltaire - first the lilies (which are always in situ and form a core memory of visiting Salts Mill for me), then David's digital arrangements, and finally these fabulous roses. What an inspiring way to spend Thursday.

I bought two things from Salts - a beautiful sweet pea card by printmaker Grace Edkins (I've someone special in mind to send it to), and also a pair of sparrows. Yeah, sparrows. I just couldn't resist them, they're made from recycled cardboard and designed to be hung on the wall and there was just something about them that called to my heart. They're made by a Dutch company called "Studio Roof" who have a lovely website for you to get an idea of their gorgeous style. Very inspiring I think.

The sparrows have hatched and are hanging out in my mantel twigs where they look very at home already, I'll try and remember to take a photo to show you. Sweet things.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

 

Monday Views

Monday is one of my favourite days of the week, because six and a half years ago J changed his job role and reduced his hours so that he could take every Monday off, and only work a half day on Fridays too. We'd talked about the idea of it for so long, wondered if he could make it work, fantasised about how amazing it would be and endlessly discussed the things we would do with these precious child-free hours in the week.

And now six and a half years on, I genuinely still get such a thrill from Mondays, it's hard to explain how precious they are and how much I treasure them. If at all possible we try to get out and about for a walk which is something we both enjoy, and we've been walking together since we first met almost thirty two years ago.

You may recognise the above hill because a few weeks ago we walked around the reservoir which sits below it (May 22nd). It's only a few miles from the Attic, and climbing up to the top of the crag is something we've done many times over the years. Although full disclosure, I do have to be in the right frame of mind and have enough energy in my body to think about tackling it as it's a pretty steep haul to the top.

We walk a circular route starting in the village and it's not very long (less than four miles) but it is a bit of a scramble up from the waterside to the high point. You can see the pathway in the photo above, winding all the way up from the reservoir to the craggy summit.

Let me tell you that I was quite proud of myself for making it all the way to the top without feeling like my lungs were about to explode, and I only stopped a couple of times to take photos and gasp down a drink of water.

The views from the top are beautiful and stretch right out over the valley below.

At the top there are mahoosive gritstone boulders strewn here and there (for scale, the boulder in the above photo is taller than me), and it feels ancient and full of geographical history.

We have a particular place where we sit down to rest, it has a boulder for leaning your back against and always seems to catch the morning sun and be sheltered from the breeze. It's incredibly tranquil being this high up, with just the sound of the wind and the distant calling of curlews and cuckoo. It brings calm and energy at the same time, like a quick plug in to the Natural Energy Grid for a superfast internal recharge.

Stretching out beyond the craggy high point are endless miles of moorland (25 sq miles of it) as far as you can see. In another 2-3 months it'll be a stunning carpet of purple because this is heather country, and it's beautifully unspoilt and wild. In fact, this is part of the same moorland where I went a few weeks ago (May 17th) and the same moor that inspired my Moorland Blanket.

The descent down from the moor top is pure pleasure after the energy expenditure of the climb, and the pathways are easy and leisurely. Down through fields, past a small copse, then through the wooden gate to meet the farm track.

A little stroll down the lane, turn right to head past the church....

...then a gentle amble through the buttercup meadows back towards the village.

It's ridiculously satisfying to look over to the summit of the crag and think about us both standing on the very top of it, how wonderful is that? I massively appreciate my general ability to still walk good miles and climb steep hills, and I think about this often....life is for living and it's always a good day for getting out there and viewing the views.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

 

 

June Snippets {one}

☀ Strolling along the tow path towards home after our morning walk, the air was beautifully fresh after an earlier heavy downpour. It's been a day of sunshine and short, sharp rain showers.

☀ Stopping for my morning coffee, enjoying the music playing softly in the background (classical guitar today, very soothing). Experiencing a craving for outdoor European café life, with tables in sunny cobbled squares or clustered on cute leafy pavements. Making do with a sunny first floor Yorkshire window was pretty alright this morning though.

☀ Sorting out a gorgeous bouquet of flowers that was sent to me through the post almost two weeks ago. Some of the blooms had gone over, so I picked out the ones that were still fresh (mostly the Alstroemeria), chopped the stems short and arranged them in a small jug. Still loViNg my Flowerpress Mandala.

☀ It's always a pleasure having flowers on the table. They are something I yearned for in my twenties and thirties when I was living a very frugal life with no spare money for these kinds of non-essentials. So grateful every day for this luxury.

☀ I've embarked on a sugar detox this week, it wasn't planned as such, but during the past few months my peri-menopause symptoms have been giving me a hard time and I've experienced the most intense sugar cravings. I know that if I give in (which I was doing big time), I don't sleep well and also experience inflammation in my body, and really my working hooky-hands can't cope with it. So....time to stop. I'm allowing fruit to stay, but really improving my snacking habits is giving me a surprising amount of satisfaction. Day 4 today, I'll keep you posted!

☀ Now that I'm super happy with my blanket v2.0, and no longer needing to frog or make drastic changes, it's time to darn in those ends. It was a weirdly therapeutic thing to do on a quiet Wednesday afternoon.

☀ Colour planning the next set of stripes with my yarn sticks - gah, I LOVE these sticks that I made! This kind of design brain work is my very best favourite, by far. I cannot get over how excited I get when I'm colour planning.

☀ The kitty and me, in our daily fight over who gets to enjoy the comfort of The Big Chair. Today she got there before me, and oh, just look at how deeply snuggled in she is. I had to make do with the sofa :)

☀ Thinking about the walk that J and I did together on Monday, we climbed the crag and it was wonderful. I'm aware that I've shared a lot of walking and scenery with you recently, but I did take some lovely photos while I was huffing and puffing and enjoying myself out there. Maybe I'll pop them into a blog post tomorrow, and you can skim on by if you've had enough of my scenic views.

xx

Wellll, what-do-ya-know, yesterday I found myself really missing my Daily May routine, so I thought I would continue posting daily life stuff throughout June, not strictly every day but as often as I feel like it.

Also, I'd like to signpost you to my bloggy friend Barbara who shares her life in a very beautiful way - she's embarking on a "Mindful June" daily blog adventure and I really think you'd like it if you don't already visit with her. Her blog is called "Coastal Ripples" (she lives way down south on the island of Jersey).

Lots of love to you all, more from me soon - probably tomorrow with some scenery if you can bear it x

 

 

May Squared

Daily May Diaries :: thirty two days of a simple life lived in full colour :)

I thought it would be fun to pick out just one single image for each day and piece them together into a beautiful grid of squares.....wow.....that was way harder than I thought it would be! I took 794 photographs in total (yeah, seriously), so picking out just 32 images in a very photogenic month was a major challenge.

Every single day I tried my best to seek out inspiration and take note of the many happy moments so that I could share with you here. It's a wonderful way to practice mindfulness and gratitude, and even on the days when my energy was low there was always some little thing to spark joy. Most of the month was made up of my normal everyday life as it unfolded, but in amongst the ordinary day to day stuff I did take two memorable trips away - the first to Dorset (days 9-12) and then just recently to the south Lakes (days 30-32). I think/hope the ordinary days still make for interesting viewing despite some inevitable repetitiveness - this is the life blood of old-school diary-style blogging and I know I love to read these kinds of posts on other blogs.

Creatively, it was a sweet month for me - I designed and shared the Flowerpress Mandala pattern, crocheted some flowers which will eventually become part of a Summer Garland, knit about one third of the second Italian sock and also shared the beginning of my latest blanket journey which I'm going to write more about later this week.

May 2025, you were a total dream, and I'm so glad I decided to celebrate you in full.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

ps all my May posts are tagged, so we can access them via the "Daily May" category in the left hand side bar in future ((here)) x

 

 

 

Daily May # 32

Day 32 :: Sunday :: Grange, Arnside and home ♥

At this stage of my life, one of my absolute daily wins is waking up feeling refreshed and re-energised after a good nights sleep. Sadly it doesn't happen nearly as often as I'd like, but this morning...oh yeah...I had that pleasure. What a great nights sleep, and waking naturally just after 6am I felt really well rested and it was wonderful. J was already up and about, he is a seriously early riser and it's very rare for me to be awake before him.

I made myself a cup of tea and settled down on the spinny stool at the breakfast bar to sip, view-gaze and indulge in some happy hooky. The views from this first floor apartment, oh my heart, they were deee-licious, so full of light and tidal ebbs and flows, I was in heaven.

The above photo was taken this morning through the kitchen window (around 6:30am), such a beautiful vista to enjoy with that first brew of the day....

....and this was the view from the adjoining living room end. The apartment was quite small and the living space was open plan (kitchen/dining room/living room), gosh, it was all was sooo lovely and really contributed to the pleasure of the weekend.

About an hour after I took the above photos the weather started to change, and as the blue skies were replaced by brooding grey clouds the rain started to fall. Ahh well, not the weather for a walk after all, but never mind, we can pack up and head off to track down some breakfast and hope that it eventually brightens up.

We decided to drive the half hour to Arnside because we knew exactly where to go for Sunday breakfast and we would be closer to home on that side of the bay. I do really love this little place, it holds so many layers of happy family memories for us and I have a real soft spot in my heart for it. It's quiet and sleepy and tranquil and doesn't really alter much as the years slowly tick by.

A really good frothy coffee at the Old Bakehouse café for me this morning, I did enjoy it muchly. The cafe is ever so tiny with old wooden tables all jostled together inside, but such a cosy atmosphere and always a lovely place to call into.

In my mind when I think of Arnside, I think of ambling along the shoreline with the sun on my face, enjoying the extensive salty views and the tranquil atmosphere. Today though, it continued to rain and my walk along the shore was wet and blustery. J and Little B refused to come with me, taking shelter in the dry warmth of the car - they honestly thought I was completely mad for wanting to take a stroll when the rain was sheeting sideways. But I was determined to breathe in every last drop of salty air before coming home to my lovely but landlocked Attic life.

At this point when I could hardly stand upright against the wind, I admitted defeat and slowly turned myself back around....

....and quickly retraced my steps. It was bracing, but still....my heart loved the salty wildness and I was glad to be there breathing it all in.

Farewell Arnside, I'm sure we'll be seeing you again later in the year as we never stay away for too long. Lets hope the sun comes out next time.

And now we're back in Yorkshire again and all the gentle routines of home life resume. Our mini holiday was wonderful and for me personally it really did me good to recharge my batteries a little. I feel topped up with feel-good and ready for some weeks at home now as spring merges into the start of the summer season.

Thank you so, so much for all the really gorgeous, kind comments you've written here during this past month, I do so appreciate you taking the time to stop by and chat. I'll continue to show up here as we jaunt through June, sharing snippets of my life with you because it's impossible for me to keep my chattery thoughts to myself. More from me soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

 

 

Daily May # 31

Day 31 :: Saturday :: South Lakeland

Today was an early start because we've learnt from experience that to have any chance of getting a parking spot in this very busy region, you can't sit around twiddling your thumbs in the morning. We managed to be on our way by 8 o'clock (Little B's face was a picture of tired resignation), and an hour later we were parked up in a secluded little parking spot on the north western shores of Lake Windermere.

Windermere is England's largest natural lake at eleven miles long and one mile wide. In past years we've spent time on the water, riding pleasure cruises when the offspring were little and massively impressed and excited by such adventures. I really wanted to do a boat trip today to be honest, but a) it's pretty expensive these days, b) it was raining, and c) it was only me who had the boat craving, so I had to be content with walking the shoreline instead.

It's easy, pleasurable walking along these pathways, and even though we were walking in soft, light rain and everything was a bit misty and grey, it was still beautiful.

I stopped at the water's edge to talk to this mummy duck who was swimming very close to the shoreline....not realising the reason why she was so close. I genuinely didn't see them at first, did you spot them in the above photo???

A clutch of ten baby floofy ducklings!! Awww, it was the sweetest thing ever and made my mummy heart beat double time.

We knew that it was going to be a damp walk and were prepared with full waterproof coverings from head to toe, and really it wasn't too bad. It was certainly atmospheric and very typical of the Lake district, you don't really come to this region for the weather.

The walk took us into the National Trust grounds of Wray Castle - we've been here before when the Little Peeps were small and it's an interesting property, but today I was really only after one thing......

....ahhhh, here we are, arriving damp and soggy at Joeys Café in dire need of some restorative refreshment. We cosied up inside and enjoyed some really top notch coffee, with a side of freshly baked cherry and almond scone.

After our delicious stop at Wray, onward we went, down damp quiet tracks and scenic lanes...

....to the shores of Blelham Tarn.

Steeply climbing out of the valley now, and you can see how misty-moisty it's been today. It wasn't cold, quite the opposite actually, the air felt warm and humid.

I think the views of the distant fells would usually be spectacular from up on this high road, but sadly we didn't get to see them at all today, it was far too misty for them to be revealed. It's still gorgeous though, isn't it? So, so lush and full of spring energy.

The last few miles of the walk were all downhill, dropping quite steeply at times down rocky pathways through dense woodland. It's surprisingly hard work walking down steep rocky terrain, I think you use muscles in a way that doesn’t often happen and it really made my legs ache!

After our walk, we still had most of the afternoon stretching ahead, so we decided to visit another lake in the southern region - Coniston Water. Not for walking (no more walking, I know my limits), but more for seeing the scenery and enjoying visiting somewhere new to us. As we were coming in to Coniston village, we passed this very fine looking pub and J immediately swung the car off the road and straight into the car park. What an inspired, spontaneous decision, because this place was amazing.

I mean, just LOOK at the setting, isn't it magnificent? That's some backdrop! Inside it was all old warm wooden surfaces and was beautifully atmospheric (you can see the inside of it here). We decided we were all hungry enough after our walk to enjoy a light bite to eat and it was ever so good.

After our lunch we strolled down through the pub garden to the edge of Coniston Water (yes, the pub sits right on the lakeside), it's an idyllic setting and there were a few cruise boats sailing which added to the holiday atmosphere.

I also highly approved of the car park, because that's it pictured above, I kid you not. Our car was parked just behind all the rhododendrons and stunning iris beds, you couldn't get any more scenic if you tried. You can see that the clouds were slowly starting to lift, although that huge fell behind Coniston was still shrouded.

This is a fantastic hiking area, and Coniston village seemed like a charming place. I would definitely love to come back to enjoy some boating time on the lake, and maybe a craggy climb if I'm feeling energetic, but also....Coniston Inn, I am returning to you one day. It's an upmarket place to stay, but maybe I can sweet talk J into a little romantic getaway....(secretly manifesting)....♥

Our drive back to Grange was wonderful for me as the passenger, because just look at the passing scenery (that's the village of Coniston in the above photo, taken through the car window). For J it was a bit more stress inducing, because the lanes were narrow and there was a lot of stopping and starting and squeeeeezing the car right into the hedgerows to pass by oncoming vehicles.

We drove all the way down the eastern side of Coniston Water with watery views for miles. We stopped a few times just to get out of the car and take it all in as it was too beautiful to just drive on by.

We got back to Grange-over-Sands in the late afternoon, and J and I went for a short walk around the town together. We strolled through the ornamental gardens, along the very pretty main street with it's Victorian architecture, and then to a small convenience shop to buy something for our tea. I didn't feel like cooking, so I bought a carton of tomato and basil soup, a loaf of fresh crusty bread, and some rather decadent chocolate chunk cookies for afterwards.

And now here I am, it's 8:30pm and I'm sitting at the very well placed breakfast bar on a spinny high stool with the above view over the top of my laptop screen. It's so dreamy here, the ever changing light and colours of the bay down below is absolutely wonderful for this sea-loving soul.

Over on the other side of the bay is the Lancashire town of Morecambe, which isn't all that far away from the Attic really (around 44 miles I think?). Last year I went there on my own by train on the day of the Summer Solstice, and spent hours walking the shore and crocheting on the beach.

Tomorrow we head home because it's back to school for Little B on Monday. Depending on the weather, we might do another walk in the area before heading home, but we're going to wait and decide in the morning. I've just this moment realised that today is the 31st of May, but like October, there are 32 days in this month, so I'll pop back again tomorrow to chat a little more....thank you so much for joining me on my May jaunt through life, it's been a delight.

See you tomorrow xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

 

 

Daily May # 30

Day 30 :: Friday :: Silverdale and Grange-over-Sands

This morning we packed a few things into the car and drove forty three miles north west to the coast, heading to the Lancashire village of Silverdale which sits close to the border with Cumbria.

It's a beautiful, unspoilt place, perched on the edge of the wide expanse of Morecambe Bay. We've been here many times over the years as a family (it's close to Arnside which is also a favourite place of ours), to walk and picnic and enjoy the huuuuuuge tranquil views of water, sand and sky.

We walked a six mile route, much of which followed the coastal pathways all around the watery edge of the bay.

It's a very tidal place with dangerous sands which make it a no-go for walking on the beach, but the footpaths keep you safely on firm rocky ground. As you can see the tide was kind of half way in and half way out when we were walking this morning - at high tide you don't see any sand at all, and at low tide there is barely any water.

We stopped close to this chimney to eat a picnic lunch, perched on the rocks watching oyster catchers wading in the shallow waters.

After our lunch stop, the second half of the walk took us inland, following wonderful footpaths through ancient woodland, across flowery meadows and along well marked trails. It was ever so lovely, a new walk for us and one we will most definitely do again I expect. I love walks that have a lot of variation (woodland, fields, coast, villages) and with only a couple of steep climbs the going was easy and ambling.

We love walking as a family, and our Little People have always enjoyed these simple kinds of holidays that we've taken over the years. It's about spending time together, talking, exploring and learning about the natural world, and I can't think of any better way to spend a few days.

After we'd finished our walk, we drove a little further north to the place where we're staying for a few days. This is Grange-over-Sands which is just over the border into Cumbria and at the southern edge of the Lake District. Similar to Silverdale, we've been here quite a few times over the years when the Littles were little.

It's well known for it's very, very long promenade which is over a mile long, a gorgeous place to...well, to promenade, in the old fashioned way that the Victorians loved to do. There are flowers galore, and endless views out over the grassy/sandy tidal bay.

About half way along there is a very sweet little cafe that I remembered from the times we've been before, and it sells the most delicious ice cream. This flavour is its speciality and is called "Thunder & Lightening" - it's a creamy vanilla with chocolate ripple running through it, and chunks of sticky cinder toffee. My goodness, it's the bees knees.

Grange-over-sands is only a small town, kind of old fashioned and sleepy with a lot of charm. I found a very cute apartment for us to call home for a couple of days, and it's about half a (steep) mile up the hill above the town, with amazing views out over the bay. 

What an absolute treat to have all this coastal beauty for my soul to dine out on - I LOVE it!! There are big trees all around and we've got the glass doors wide open to let the sea breeze in and listen to the birds singing.

I took so many photos today, far too many to share in a Daily May ramble, but hopefully you've got an idea of how lovely my day has been, and how happy I am to be here. I'm sat chatting to you as I watch the light change outside and the clouds move over the watery sands down below (the tide is out). Life feels almost too good to be true sometimes.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx