Attic24

In The Slow Lane

Hello my friends, thank you so much for paying me a  visit, it's really lovely to welcome you back into the Attic. Here I am, quietly and gently stepping through my days as we continue to navigate life in a global pandemic. During the past month quite a bit has changed here in the UK as shops, restaurants, cafes, pubs, bars and leisure centres have all reopened. Although we are still practising social distancing we are no longer in Lockdown, but for me personally I continue to live my life in a rather small, quiet bubble very close to home. 

Our "Daily Walk" which became an absolutely vital part of Lockdown is still happening. We don't go every single day but more often than not you will find us tramping along these very familiar and much loved pathways through the woods.

It really is glorious out there when the high summer sunshine streams down through the greenery.

Mind you, July was an extremely wet drippy month but often pretty warm too - there was a very damp, humid spell when a persistent light rain fell for endless days and it felt like there was never quite enough oxygen in the air to breathe properly.

We still walked in the woods even in the rain, and I tell you I inhaled so deeply that I nearly turned myself inside out - ohhhhhh, the scent of warm, damp earthy green woodland is such a wonderful, wonderful thing!

There is something very soothing about the gentle sound of rain falling in woodland - that soft, continuous patter as the droplets hit leaves is just magical. I've always appreciated having this ancient woodland just a short walk from our front door, but during the past few months I've been glad of it more than ever. It has been absolutely beautiful to walk the same paths almost every day and watch the seasons change slowly from Spring to Summer. I wonder how it's going to feel as we see Summer gently give way to the colours of Autumn? I will do my very best not to give in to the melancholy that often comes over me at Summers end. I shall embrace the change with a positive mindset (I will, I will!)

Last week I created a new midweek routine for myself. Of course I didn't know it would become a routine at the time, but after repeating it again this week, I think I've decided to officially adopt it as my weekly "Wednesday thing". This is how it is when you relish life in the Slow Lane.....these little routines become very important!

Ten o'clock and off I go, out the door, down the street, turn right and walk about five minutes or so down the road to one of my favourite little cafés on the edge of town. It's small with only a handful of tables at the moment due to social distancing. It is so charming inside with a bit of a continental atmosphere, and oooohmygosh the coffee is sensational. I just adore it, and can happily sit at a table all by myself, sipping my coffee and feeling like I am on holiday.

Once my coffee is finished, I am ready to head into town. Another few minutes walk along the side of the canal...

...then a quick jaunt up a little narrow cobbled cut-through (what do you call these, it's a narrow lane that runs between buildings and connects two roads? An alleyway, a snicket, a ginnel?) - anyhooo, up here I go, emerging into the very centre of the bustling main street in town.

The market comes to town three days a week on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday and it re-opened at the start of June. Since then we have been making a concentrated effort to visit a couple times a week to buy fresh produce and support small local businesses as much as we can. 

First stop is the cheese stall where I buy some "True Grit" which is our favourite farmhouse cheddar. Some soft creamy goats cheese also makes it into my bag.

Next stop is for fruit and veggies - oh my, such a treat. I admit that in recent years we had gotten very lazy with our food shopping, using the supermarket for pretty much everything as it was just so convenient. Lockdown has caused us to rethink our habits and find a new appreciation for shopping small. 

It's been a revelation, truly! Eggs, meat, cheese, the most incredible sourdough bread from a new local micro-bakery, as well as an abundance of fresh fruit and veggies are crammed into my bag. I absolutely love it. LOVE it! And I'm determined that this will be the only way to shop from now on. We still use the supermarket once a week for basic groceries, but I'm so happy to rediscover the joys of living and shopping in a small, rural market town.

There is such a lot of pleasure to be had from tasty, fresh wholesome ingredients and I really enjoy preparing, cooking and eating in this way. I very rarely eat anything processed these days, and I think it's making a huge difference to my overall health and well being. I'll be chatting some more about this at some point as my eating/health has undergone quite a big change in the past eight months (for the better I might add). For now, please just feast your eyes on the above photo (Wednesdays lunch following the aforementioned trip to the market) and get a load of those incredible "Yorkshire Black" tomatoes!! Wowsers, the flavour....oh, you have no idea. Too good for words.

I think one of the most difficult things for me personally during Lockdown has been the loss of my alone time. Our house is pretty small with just one open plan living/dining room which as you can imagine is a very well used space for a family of five. Sometimes I've found that I really, really crave some uninterrupted time to just be alone with my own thoughts, to quietly think and ponder, to noodle on creative ideas, to just allow my thoughts to run through my mind without any conversation or background noise interfering. This is pretty vital to my well being, I am an introvert through and through and I desperately need regular quiet time to process and make sense of life and all the things that seem to be on my plate each day.

Every so often I'll reach a point where I just know I need to get out and be by myself. Luckily the Little People are very self sufficient and J is working from home, so I'm (mostly) at liberty to take off out the door when I feel the need.

I don'd tend to go far - just five minutes walking brings me up the cobbled streets, over the hill, down through the park, through the wooden gate and into the meadow. I honestly feel my soul breathing out with utter relief when I am gifted with these far reaching views and the tranquil sounds of nature doing it's thing.

There is a pathway that meanders all the way around the edge of the meadow, and usually by the time I get back to the wooden gate I feel like my mind has cleared and my emotions have settled. Being out amongst nature is truly the best tonic.

The wild flowers have been amazing this year, what with the abundance of hot sunny weather through spring, then the shed-loads of rain we've had so far this summer. The meadows, verges and hedgerows have been a riot of living colour and I have really delighted in observing it. 

Right now the flowers are almost gone and the tall, pollen laden grasses are taking over but it has been so lovely to feast on the floral beauty while it's lasted. 

My climbing rose at the front of the house is doing well this year and I've really been enjoying having small summer posies on my table again. More than ever before, I've been appreciating the small simple rituals and seasonal routines that bring pleasure to my days spent at home. 

Snipping a few flowers to bring indoors....

....pegging laundry on the line to air dry in the sun (ooooo, fresh sun-dried bedding is one of most favourite things about summer!)

....pulling on a pair of hand knit woolly socks when the evenings feel unexpectedly damp and chilly.

They are such small pleasures in the scheme of things, but I value these little comforts enormously. 

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The Little People (who really aren't so very little any more) have coped remarkably well through Lockdown, and I feel so very grateful for the ease of parenting them at this age (they are 17, 16 and 10). I've especially relished all the extra time I've had with Little Lady, we get on extremely well and are very close. Like most teenagers she spends much of her time in her bedroom when she's at home, but she does still choose to hang out downstairs to watch a film or have a chat with us "oldies". By the way, I'm loving seeing my Aria blanket being so well loved and used around here since I completed it in May. More news about that coming up!

At the start of Lockdown my planner sat untouched - I felt like I had absolutely no reason to open the pages. Why bother planning when there is nothing to do and nowhere to go? Why make to-do lists when everything is on hold, things are being cancelled left right and centre and we feel like we are simply treading water? That was definitely my mindset for the first couple of months, but towards the end of May I really began to miss it. I felt adrift and lethargic, frustrated and a bit lost, and one day I suddenly had the realisation that getting back to my planner might just help me deal with all those feelings. 

I began to make some simple to-do lists for the week and noted down small accomplishments each day. And for the first time I also started to write down random thoughts, dreams and ideas as they occurred to me, a series of mini " brain dumps" if you like. This is the sort of stuff that usually stays firmly locked inside my head in a big giant tangle unless I make a deliberate effort to sort through it and release it all - it gets very congested inside my head if I'm not careful! Mental tangles are absolutely no good for the likes of me, they make me feel agitated, frustrated and weighed down. 

This is just a brief summary of how I've been feeling of late - there are other things that have been going on which have all contributed to me feeling very off kilter just recently, but I can tell you that I am good! I am emerging from my Personal Wobble feeling really positive and ready to make things happen. I have plans and dreams, and I am quietly hopeful for some changes in the future which will open up all sorts of wonderful things. I promise to elaborate when the time is right.

So yes I've been a bit wobbly, and I've been feeling doubtful and insecure about certain things, but honestly I really am not complaining. Life in my own personal Slow Lane has been pretty damn good and I count my blessings every single day. 

In June I quietly celebrated the Summer Solstice and faffed my mantel for my most adored season of all. Did I tell you how much I love the Summertime ;) Hahaha, of course I did, I probably dwell on it way too much, but summer, oh my, I do LOVE it so. I love the relaxed ease of these months, the outdoor living, the colours and the warmth, the flowers and the holiday vibes. But most of all I love the light in summer, these looooong hours of daylight feed my soul like nothing else. 

Take the above photo for example.

The date : 23rd June, the day after the solstice.

The time : 20:53.

Almost nine o'clock at night, and was in the park (on my own I might add, nobody else wanted to come) sat on my Aria blanket crocheting up a stripe sampler in the soft golden glow at the end of a hot day.

Look...................................

..........it was just so delicious! I didn't speak to anyone, just sat quietly with my own thoughts, feeling the sun on my face and the yarn run through my fingers, listening to the sound of laughter and music coming from a nearby group of teenagers. Watching the sun lower in the sky until it fell behind the trees, thinking how magical life can be if you just take the time to stop and soak it all in.

Incidentally - my Aria blanket is giving me all the happy summer feels, the colour palette is scrumptious I have to say. Did you know that the word "Aria" means "air" in Italian? It makes me think of the utter joy of breathing in lungfuls of fresh air after a long time spent cooped up indoors. Memories of lazy hours spent outdoors enjoying a light fresh breeze with the sun on your face. 

After a long, unavoidable delay due to the pandemic, the pattern and yarn kit for the Aria blanket should be ready in early September. I'll be able to tell you more about it a bit closer to the time - I am really looking forward to sharing it with you.

I really hope you are all doing OK and that you are practising lots of self care and prioritising your own wellbeing. I've learnt how important it is to check in with ourselves regularly and make sure all is well right down into our souls. 

Wishing you a fabulous weekend in your own lane of life, however fast or slow it is....!

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With Thanks

Hello!!!!!!!! I'm waving a meek little hello to you all from the Attic window and offering up some white scented stocks (which smell heavenly) in heartfelt thanks for your kindness and wonderings over  my absence of late.

It's been over a month since I was last here in my precious little patch of cyber space, and as is sometimes the case it was a completely unintentional break. The days drifted by and although I frequently thought to myself "I really should update my blog very soon", I somehow wasn't able to find my voice. All my instincts were telling me to stay quiet and lay low for a while, and so quite simply that is what I have been doing. 

I've found myself coming through a very introspective and questioning time and it's been cathartic I guess, if a little unsettling! I'm hoping to find a way to articulate my thoughts and to be able to share my realisations with you very soon - it's all quite personal stuff but I have always found great comfort and clarity in putting my thoughts and feelings into words here in this space. 

Anyhow, I promise faithfully that I will be back here in the Attic to continue sharing my days with you. Thank you so, so much for visiting me here, and for thinking of me. I appreciate you all very, very much.

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Home Safe :: Week Nine

Hello, hello, how are you all doing? I'm once again late to my own bloggy gig, being that week nine was over some time ago, but better late than never eh? I've been doing Ok, a bit up and down I guess, but the downs never seem to last for long thank goodness. So shall we have a little catch up? 

Middle May was an absolutely gorgeous time, full of warm breezes, blazing sunshine and much green lushness.

We continued our daily walks, appreciating the very fine weather and being inspired and uplifted by nature.

I love that these daily walks have become such an important part of lockdown for us, and I really appreciate the precious little snippets of family time that it gives us. As you know, I adore walking for pleasure and find that being surrounded by nature has a very positive effect on my well being, but family time adds a whole extra dimension to the experience. We usually walk in the early afternoon as J is ready for a break from his working day round about then. We walk the same route each time, day after day, and the familiarity of it is extremely comforting somehow.

Having said all that great stuff about family togetherness, every so often I find myself craving some outdoorsy solitude. It's easiest for me to sneak this in during the early morning before the demands of the day have a chance to catch me. I walk down through the park and around the meadow, ducking through flower-laden hedgerows and following well worn pathways.

I've been keeping my beady eye on the elderflower trees in the hedgerows as we are approaching cordial making season. I think after all the sunshine that it'll be early this year, so I hope to take a jaunt out to my usual place to gather some in when the time is right.

I brought some more cow parsley home while it was still in it's prime but my goodness it was totally laden with pollen so it didn't last long on my table before I had to evict it. It was certainly pretty while it lasted.

I've been trying out a new routine where I start my day with a little bit of healthy re-hydration instead of diving straight into my coffee. I think I've mentioned that I'm only drinking decaff coffee at home right now but I've been making a conscious effort to drink more water too. I add a couple of fresh lemon slices and a sliver or two of fresh ginger to my cup, then top up with hot water. I think this cup holds around a third of a litre and I do so enjoy the refreshment of it first thing in the morning. Somehow even inhaling the steam feels like it's doing me good. 

I'm continuing with my healthy eating and am absolutely love love loving preparing wholesome meals for myself. During these stay-home days we mostly all please ourselves for breakfast and lunch - even Little B has started making his own food for these meals after some encouragement and basic lessons in kitchen skills. So I get to faff with my own breakfast and lunch to my hearts content, making simple meals that please me enormously. I think breakfast/brunch is my most favourite meal of the day, especially at the moment when I get to take my time and truly savour it.

Middle May was peak asparagus season and as you might expect I've been absolutely making the most of it. Asparagus bundles come home from the supermarket with our big weekly shop, and in week nine we took a walk to the farm shop for the first time in two months especially to buy Yorkshire grown asparagus. My favourite way to cook it is on a griddle pan - first pour a teeny bit of olive oil onto the spears and massage it in well so that they are completely coated and glossy. Then pop them straight onto a hot griddle for around 10-15 mins until the spears are softened and lightly charred but still retain a little bite. A squeeze of lemon juice, salt and pepper and eaten pronto while they are still hot. Yum yum yum yum.

I finally found time to mount up my Spring cross stitch sampler from Cotton and Twine and I really love it. I took some photos of the seasonal samplers I've made so far (Autumn, Winter and Spring) and plan to show you those in a separate post, if I can ever catch up with myself. I have all the good intentions, just gotta try and follow through with the actual doing. I will try, I promise.

Week nine saw me dancing on the very, very exciting edge of The Edge of this  - my beautiful, joyful Aria blanket. When I picked out the colour palette for this blanket it was early December and of course back then we had no idea that Covid-19 would become a global pandemic. As I've worked on the design this Spring, it has been nothing short of magical. I have felt really uplifted by the positive, happy colours and the gentle creativity it has brought into my life at a time when I most needed it. I can't wait to share it with you.

I snapped the above photo on a random morning, two pairs of hand knit socks freshly washed and dried and waiting on the stairs to go up to my bedroom. The chore of doing the laundry made happier by pretty yarny stripes, domesticity at it's finest. Actually, the photo reminds me that during middle May we did have a bit of a cold snap, well certainly the evenings felt cold. I would spend all day wearing flip flops, wiggling my bare toes very happily, only to find my feet would be freezing in the evenings. Wooly socks to the rescue!

The kitty continues to try her best not to be irritated by her humans, occasionally deciding that we are worthy of her company. I find at the moment that I am very rarely sat still in one place for any length of time as I feel quite restless and unsettled most the time. But when I took the above photo I had settled into the big chair with a blanket on my lap to read, and of course I provided the perfect warm spot for a daytime kitty nap. There is nothing more comforting than the warm weight of a soundly sleeping pile of fur on your lap.

These home days are certainly strange things, bringing about a restless apathy and an almost permanent sense of unease, but at the same time delivering a huge dose of gratitude for simple home comforts and the closeness of family. I have relished spending more time with the Little People, although sadly that doesn't include the eldest Teen who at 17 is very much keeping himself hidden away in his lair. But Little B and Little Lady have been great companions during our days spent at home and I've really enjoyed their company.

I've been cooking with Little B, teaching him how to make simple meals for himself. I have always made his meals for him whenever he's home, partly because I like doing it, but partly because I just didn't figure that he might enjoy doing it for himself (he is ten years old). So I showed him the tin opener, instructed on how to make up the perfect mix of tuna/salad cream/mayonnaise, let him handle a sharp knife to slice up cucumber and tomato for a sandwich, and taught him how to fry an egg. We started making scotch pancakes together on Sundays, a joint effort whereby he measures and mixes the batter, I heat the pan and do the dolloping, and he handles the spatula and flipping. It was fun, and that giant stack fed both Little B and Little Lady.

Little Lady is now 16 (strange to think that she was just 3 years old when I began writing my blog?!) and we get on extremely well. I have loved chatting to her about all sorts of things during these past months when we've been home together, and she has very kindly made herself available to me as my personal nail technician. Yes, once again I am attempting to grow and strengthen my nails. We play music in her bedroom parlour as she deals with my cuticles, files the nail shape and then paints 2 coats plus a topcoat. It takes time and is certainly way more of a procedure than I have ever afforded myself (cuticle conditioning???? It's all new to me). It's certainly soooo much easier having someone else faff around at the end of my fingers than trying to do the deed myself! My nails have never looked so good.

We often walk together in the evenings which is her favourite time of day - in middle May, this is around 8 o'clock when the sun is very low in the sky and all is glowing and golden.

The buttercup meadow is just starting to bloom and it is absolutely glorious, especially on warm, sunshiny evenings.

It's breathtaking, so, so beautiful and such a visual treat.

After lingering in the meadow we head out of the park and walk along the canal towards town....

....past the canal basin....

....then along the narrow footpath that runs underneath the castle. This path has been made one-way during the pandemic to prevent us having to squeeze past anyone coming in the opposite direction. 

Every time we walk out in the light golden evenings I am reminded why I love May so blooming much. It's just so  joyful, and I adore having so many glorious, light-filled hours at my disposal. Winter feels like a million miles away and I am beyond glad for the season we are in and the amazing weather we are being gifted. Thank goodness - I'm so grateful.

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Home Safe :: Weeks Seven and Eight

Hello my friends, I hope you are all well and doing ok out there, finding your way gently through these strange, strange days. Finally I feel I have just about the right kind of head space to be here opening up my Attic window for a chat, after what has felt like a very flat, deflated week or two. I have felt ok really, just a bit drained and lacking in any kind of motivation to get things done.

The days flutter past and I allow myself to drift rather listlessly through the hours, keeping a hold (just about) of the small, mundane routines that I've managed to form for myself during these stay-home days. I honour my natural body clock which always sees my eyes opening just after 6 am and wanting to close just after 10 pm. I make time for a morning workout, prepare and eat healthy food, drink more water and less coffee. Enjoy my daily walk around and about the neighbourhood. 

And yet I seem to spend lots of time in the day feeling like I am simply trying to fill the hours until the next meal time or snack time or bed time. I can't seem to settle on anything much and find myself doing the most random things at random times, as and when the mood suddenly strikes. Getting down on my knees and scrubbing those awkward tiles right behind the toilet. Defrosting the iceberg out of the freezer. Potting up some baby petunias that a friend gave me last week. Some stop-start crochet here and there, a flick through a few magazine pages.

It all feels quite disjointed as if I've somehow slipped out of the groove I'm supposed to be on and don't quite know how to get myself back into it. I guess it's just a symptom of these strange times and actually I haven't been too worried about my lethargy. It seems to be a natural result of spending so much extended time in the house, and I am quite sure I'll find my way back into a more productive state of mind soon enough.

It's funny because at the start of Lockdown (a whole eight weeks ago now) I felt convinced that I would be blogging way more than usual, using my days to write, to connect, to chat, to share, to remember. There would be loooooads of time to catch up with blog posts that I've fallen behind with (hello Dahlia Ta-dah post, I'm looking at you, half written in draft and waiting oh so patiently for me to return). But it hasn't been like that at all, has it?! Hahaha! I will try to be here more from now on as I really want to start feeling more productive and balanced again, and to ease myself away from this permanent sluggish weekend-vibe. Have to admit that I am deep down AdOrInG the perpetual weekend vibe mind you, but maybe after eight weeks it's time to make my days count for something more.

As you can see from these photos, I continue to find a huge amount of pleasure in the season we're in and my daily walks make me soooo happy even though they are extremely repetitive. The shadow above shows me and Little Lady, taking our walk one evening and loving the light and warmth that was still so glorious at 8pm.

The woodland is utterly captivating in May, and I absolutely love being out amongst it all. 

The wild garlic began to flower profusely during week 7.....

.....and the sight and scent of it all was almost overwhelming. So much natural beauty right there, and I'm extremely grateful that walking through the woods has become a part of our daily lives. It never fails to lift my spirits even on particularly flat days.

I'm still on with the Aria blanket, although it spent almost a week in the naughty corner. Poor thing, it wasn't at all the fault of the blanket. I started work on the border but didn't pay enough attention to what I was doing and managed to miss out a few colours which meant pulling out two big huge rounds to put it right. It took me almost a week to work myself up to the business of yanking out all those neat stitches, but once I got over myself and stopped sulking it was all OK again and I fell straight back in love.

As you can see, the Aria blanket is already being used around here, and truly the Little People seem to really love it especially as they've been quite involved in watching me making it during the past month. I am so close to finishing it - I'm currently poised ready to tackle the edge of The Edge, all very exciting. 

The kitty is her usual aloof crazy self, seeming to love having us all around but managing to look utterly bored by us all at the same time. I snapped the above photo of her early one morning when the Little People had yet to surface and all was still quiet and peaceful downstairs. She definitely finds Little B a challenge, he makes her ears constantly twitch as he is sooooooo  noisy and boisterous all the time. I do feel for her, my own ears are pretty twitchy these days as it's very, very hard to find any quiet space in this house.

Another week and another tray of lockdown flapjack, dried apricot this time. I don't get bored of making it (recipe HERE if you are interested in how easy it is) and the Little Peeps certainly don't seem to be bored of eating it.

I spent some time jaunting in Magazine Wonderland in week 7, allowing myself to finally open and devour the May issue magazines which arrived at the end of March. My, my, such beauty in those pages, even if the dreamy aspirational quality of the photos makes them ever so slightly deflating at times. I look at the huuuuuuuuuuuuuge grassy gardens and wish for some green space of my own.

I gaze at the huuuuuuuuuuuuuge roomy rooms and sigh with longing.

And then I remind myself to continue appreciating my modest house and tiny back yard as I always have done and not get swept up in a tide of envy as no good can come of it.  But isn't the above kitchen just so dreamy? I would really dearly love that kind of space.

Another weekend arrives and so we take our longer walk (around 6 miles), leaving the woods behind and striding out over open fields instead.

Cows have suddenly arrived in the fields to join the sheep and they are always curious about us humans as we pass by their open air homes.

We walk past a farm right next to the canal and have been watching these goslings grow over the past few weeks. Sometimes they are wandering about in the field and sometimes they come down to the water, they really are so fluffy and beautiful. I can't resist stopping to chat to them, even if  J and the Little People roll their eyes and look at me like I'm crazy.

It's extremely relaxing walking along this stretch of the canal as it's a few miles out of town and very quiet. Usually in May it's busy on the waterways with boats sailing back and forth, but of course there are no boats moving about on the water at the moment and that definitely adds to the tranquillity.

I love that lonesome blue boat, moored up quietly right on the bend there. I have no idea whether it's someones permanent home or a holiday boat but every time I walk past it I find myself wondering what it would be like to call a boat home?

The cow parsley is just starting to burst into flower in hedgerows and along footpaths and it is so beautiful. It's treated as a bit of a weed I suppose (it is very prolific and grows everywhere) but I absolutely love it, those delicate little froths of flowers are enchanting.

Another weed growing absolutely everywhere is the dandelion, and due to this long spell of dry warm weather they are already in seed. I don't love them quite as much as cow parsley, but those seed heads do hold a lot of childhood nostalgia. Even as we walked past this clump, Little Lady (age 16) plucked up a stem and blew away the seeds "to see what time it is". I wonder, is this a worldwide thing? Do dandelions grow everywhere on this planet, and do all children use them as clocks? 

Sometimes towards the end of a long day I'll find myself in desperate need of some alone time. I make myself a drink (often a peppermint or fruity tea infusion which I've recently rediscovered after not having them for ages) then head upstairs and gently close the door to my bedroom. I pull on some woolly knitted socks for comfort and settle on my bed to sip my drink and just relax my mind a little. I don't do anything specific, sometimes just sitting and allowing my mind to wander and ponder is enough, and sometimes I pull out my tablet and browse through favourite blogs, Pinterest, or YouTube.

I'm pretty new to YouTube as generally I much prefer digesting photos and written words rather than videos and audio. I don't really have much idea of what to look for on YouTube yet, or what sort of content might inspire me, but I'm quite enjoying discovering a new-to-me medium. I've been enjoying some food channels mixed with photogenic slow living, lifestyle/interiors and a little bit of motivational stuff thrown in. Pick Up Limes is a current fave and although I'm not contemplating going vegan, I have always been very inspired by wholesome, healthy cooking and eating. Also, I really love the passionate and beautiful way in which Sadia prepares, presents and adores her food, it's just so beautiful! If you have any recommendations for YouTube I would dearly love to hear them.

Another thing I do when I retreat to my bedroom in the evenings is light this jar candle beside my bed. It's an old one from last summer and I adore the clean, soft scent of it. It's these little rituals and pleasures which are really keeping me grounded at the moment, I'm holding onto the little things that bring quiet pleasure to my days.

Well another day has passed and this blog post is coming together veeeeery slowly in stops and starts, I'm so sorry if it all seems a bit disjointed here in the Attic. As you know I don't tend to edit my writing (other than a basic check through for typos) so I've no idea if my words are even making sense to be honest, but I hope that even if I'm writing absolute tripe you can still enjoy the pictures :)

Week 8 has very little to show for it as I didn't seemingly feel very inspired to point my camera at anything much. 

There is wild garlic of course, as I can't seem to stop myself trying to capture this season that I love so very much.

Almost every single day we walk this same route into the woods to feast on the green and white display.....

....it's just so abundant and fresh, both the visuals and the scent, and I wish I was better able to describe it to you.

Beautiful, intoxicating, uplifting, every single little bit of it.

We've only seen a smattering of bluebells this year as they are scarce in our local woodland (the garlic more than makes up for it mind you), and I think they are almost over now for another year. 

The lambs in the big field are growing large now, and they aren't at all bothered by us humans. We always linger a little at the top of the hill, partly to recover from the long climb up, and partly to take in the sweep of the view which has our home nestled into it. Sometimes on quiet, still afternoons when I'm sat in my little back yard, I can hear the lambs and sheep baaaaaaing from their hilltop field and it's such a comforting sound somehow. I do really love where I live.

Last week was quite a cold one, and woolly jumpers and socks were most definitely needed even inside the house. My hands don't do so well when I'm cold so I do my best to keep warm especially when I plan to crochet. Little B took the above photo of me warming up my fingers before getting on with the Aria border - this was after I had finished sulking and pulled out the Wrong Rows and I was happily enjoying this blanket all over again. 

The kitty doesn't take more than 2.5 seconds to jump in and claim my space if I happen to get up and leave the Big Chair for any reason. Mind you, I can't blame her as this over sized old chair is such a cosy spot and one of my favourite places to sit during the day. She really does seem to appreciate my crochet (especially after it has been warmed up by my backside first). 

I'll be working on the pattern and tutorial for the Aria blanket this week - it's a lot of work but I'm really looking forward to getting stuck into it. I'm sorry I don't have a release date for this yarn kit and pattern just yet but as soon as I know when it's possible for my friends at Wool Warehouse to make it happen, I'll be sure to let you know. 

Well I think that's about all for now, thank you as always for taking the time to digest my witterings and keep me company with your lovely, lovely comments, I appreciate them so much. I hope you are all keeping cheery, and that your spirits are positively inflated and not deflated. I am sending you all the brightest, cosiest happy stay-home vibes.

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Home Safe :: Week Six

Hello my lovelies, thank you as ever for calling to see me, and for so many wonderful chatty comments which I have loved reading on my last post. I'm sorry I'm late in writing up this instalment of my weekly not-muchness, I've been feeling a weeny bit off kilter this week and not really in a chatty mood to be honest. I find that when I feel this way it's best to just stay low and quiet, keeping myself to myself until I feel my bounce return. 

Week six (as far as I can recall) passed by in a slow blur of familiar routines and sameyness. I went just once to visit the cherry trees and saw that they were already on the wane, shedding their delicate petals like snow. I was so glad that I made an almost daily pilgrimage to see them the previous week when they were absolutely at their peek, the floral beauty has been spectacular this year, a real mood lifter for sure.

The start of week six was sunny and lovely and like many of us in the UK who are used to very changeable and inclement weather, I was full of gratitude for the dry, sunshiny days we were gifted throughout April.

On days when J isn't working and we feel in the mood, we can make our daily walks a little longer than our usual woodland strolls. I like the feeling of striding out across open fields, soaking up the warmth of the sun and enjoying the miles pass by under my feet.

We see very few people on this walk and absolutely no traffic along these small lanes at the moment. It gives a  lovely sense of freedom to be able to stroll along in the middle of the road, admiring the views and taking in the details of the season.

I love seeing the bracken ferns gently beginning to unfurl in the hedgerows, another layer of fresh greenery to remind us that Spring is in full swing.

On this day last week we extended our route to make a big circular loop, walking the last two or three miles home along the canal towpath. 

It's been a long while since we walked this far along the canal and I had forgotten how tranquil it is to walk beside such still reflective waters. 

On Wednesday last week the rain finally came, after more than a month of exceptionally dry weather in April. It was really rather lovely to experience it after so long - the sight, sound, smell and feel of it was delightful. It wasn't especially heavy rain, more a series of light showers which continued on and off for a few days.

We still took our daily walk on the wet days and actually we didn't really get too wet walking under the leafy trees.

I absolutely loved being in the rainy woodland that afternoon, the scent of the warm, damp earth mixed with fresh wild garlic was magical. It's just unbelievably beautiful out there at the moment and I can't get enough of the bright light and colour that is flooding our days after what has felt like a long, grey winter. The woodland suddenly seemed to green up last week, with the beech leaves fully open but still soft and droopy and that amazing vibrant bright green.

Talking of greens, we have entered asparagus season and I am so delighted by this simple fact. Fresh, locally grown spears are in the supermarket now and I am eating as much of it as I can. Asparagus x 6 on the shopping list if I could get away with it, although it's still quite expensive as vegetables go. Gosh, I do love it so.

We've been muddling through with Little B and the whole business of home schooling, some days working better than others. Last week was a bit hit and miss to be honest, some days he seemed quite engaged and productive, working away in his bedroom and uploading his work to the online portal so that his teacher can see what he's up to. Other days the procrastination levels were sky high and he did everything possible to avoid sitting and actually doing anything. I had to keep my frustration in check (it's soooooo tiring trying to keep them going with it all), and we pretty much limped through the week.

Probably the most fun thing we did was the stuff about Healthy Eating (I'm sure this is on the curriculum every single year) - I took charge and suggested we could make soup from scratch, encouraging Little B to do most of the work. He did good, and we made a simple tomato and red pepper soup which he ate (at great speed) and then wrote up the recipe to share with his class online. 

When I'm not doing the Mummy/teacher things with the youngest offspring (which seems quite time consuming some days), you can usually find me sitting at the dining table. I'm continuing to put healthy food into my body and feel so good for it. My breakfast is usually oat pancakes, or a bowl of oats/seeds, greek yoghut, grated apple, banana and berries. I really love breakfast, it honestly gives me so much pleasure to make and eat that first meal of the day. 

Oh my gosh, do you see that??? That thing of utter beauty right there ↑↑↑ ???  That's my new mug which arrived in the post last week, and is most definitely one of my most favourite mugs ever ever ever. I am a long time huge fan of the ceramicist Ken Eardley and when I saw on Instagram that he had some fresh new mugs for sale, well my heart was invested within a nanosecond. Pink and turquoise is one of my all time favourite colour combinations and this mug honestly couldn't be more perfect for me. That beautifully excessive  handle is everything, and every coffee in this mug is an absolute pleasure. Sigh......so in love with my mug!

So yeah - lots of hours sat at the table, eating, drinking, pondering and hooking. Last week I worked a lot on my new Aria blanket, every day making the most delicious colour decisions, crocheting like the clappers and joining squares to make row upon row. Building a blanket from squares is huge fun, and although it's more stop-starty than working a striped design, I get such a kick from seeing it all come together. After a whole week of solid work I managed to join all one hundred and forty four squares. I am beyond excited by it and very proud of it too as it's been a major testing of my colour-design skills I have to say.

I find it easier to crochet join-as-you-go squares sat at the table, but throughout the making of this blanket I've had to frequently use the floor to make layout and colour decisions. I think it's been interesting for the Little People to see me at work actually, and they've been commenting, encouraging and occasionally making suggestions as I've spent countless hours on my hands and knees trying to work everything out.

I took the above photo a week ago on the same day when we took that drippy wet walk in the woods. The day felt chilly and even though I thought we were finished with the fire for this season, I couldn't resist a few hours of cosy warmth and fireside comfort. I really love having the fire lit, but it IS Spring and I really hope that there won't be another fire in that grate until October. Well possibly September would be acceptable, if it really came to it.

I had a few more bluebells and cow parsley stems on my table last week, very modest pickings from the verges and allotment.

I keep thinking about Bolton Abbey as this is the exact time of year that I so love being there, but I'm trying to be content with what I can find close to home and not dwell too much on what I'm missing. A couple of little bluebell stems in a glass jar on my table has been making me absurdly happy, so there is that. Pleasure in the little things - always.

And even though I'm not able to feast my eyes on the glorious bluebell banks this year, I've certainly been having fun stitching them! Last week I put the final crosses into my Spring sampler from Cotton & Twine and have to say I was a bit sad when it was all over - I've LoVeD stitching this design so much. I need to make time to get it mounted now, the Aria blanket has really had me in it's creative grips this past week and I've not been able to think of anything else. 

Well I hope you're all keeping well and content out there in your own stay-home bubbles, and that life is giving you more ups than downs. Remember to seek out the little things that give you pleasure and I really hope you're having a peaceful, restful week.

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Home Safe :: Week Five

Looking back at my photos from last week it seems like it was all about the blossom for me.

I've been waking up early, well six-ish which feels pretty early for these weekendish kind of days. Sometimes I doze back to sleep for another hour, but mostly I've been finding myself so wide awake that I absolutely have to get up and start my day there and then. I've been leaving my pjs folded in a neat pile and instead pulling on what I call my "workout gear". Ha!! In reality, these clothes are very un-sporty and consist of an old, comfy pair of 3/4 leggings, a baggy vest top which I think once belonged to a summer pj set and an oversized sweatshirt of some sorts (I have several to choose from). About the only item I wear which could be considered remotely exercisey is a sports bra, as I cannot contemplate doing any sort of leaping about without full coverage lock-down on my top half. 

As the live PE sesh doesn't start until 9 am and I'm generally up and dressed by 7, I've been heading out to partake in some early morning blossom worshipping. It takes me less than 10 minutes to walk to my favourite park bench which sits beneath these beautiful flowering trees. Gosh, it's just so beautiful there at the moment, and standing underneath such a heavenly load of floral perfection gives me an almost overwhelming surge of emotional feels. I can't quite articulate what the feelings are about - joy maybe? Gratitude? Abundant thankfulness for the fact that Winter is behind us?

Whatever it is, I find I need to just stand still and let it flow over me for a short while until my equilibrium is restored.

I've really been enjoying these short early morning walks as it's pretty much the only time when I can truly be alone. I love being home-safe with the family, but at the same time I do miss having time by myself. 

There is much peacefulness to be found quietly walking the narrow path through the woodland with just my own internal dialogue and the sights, scents and sounds of a Spring morning gently unfolding.

The woodland path is short (the woods are small and sparse along the top edge of the park) and it's not long before I emerge into the sunshine and see the blossom trees in all their glory.

A couple mornings I've made myself a coffee to take with me, just to up the happy stakes and make my heart content. Finding pleasure in the small things, well that happens to be a special talent of mine :)

Cow parsley is a wild hedgerow flower which usually belongs to the month of May up here in Yorkshire, but it's just beginning to bloom now due to the very warm sunny weather we've had. It grows in abundance along the woodland edge at the top of the park so I picked a couple of little stems to bring home. I called in at the allotment to pick a few more bluebells to bring back too, and the resulting small wild posy on my table has been making me very happy.

We're going to miss seeing the bluebells at Bolton Abbey this year, so I'm super grateful to have a few to bring home from the allotment to enjoy up close.

Talking of bluebells, I spent much of last week stitching them, little crosses in two shades of blue creating the prettiest little flowers on my Spring sampler. I almost finished this picture too, but not quite. I was making good progress but then got completely overwhelmed by a crochet project which all of a sudden demanded my attention and refused to let go. I'll show you a bit of that in just a while, if you're interested to know what has got me into a giddy spin.

I count my early morning solo blossom jaunts as mental/spiritual exercise (yes, it's a thing) and my afternoon family woodland jaunts as physical exercise. I love both of these types of walks for different reasons, and am very grateful to have these beautiful places within walking distance from my front door.

The wild garlic is oh-so-close to flowering, the flower buds teetering on the brink of eruption. I absolutely cannot wait for the floral explosion, the sheer abundance of it (not to mention the intoxicating scent) is something I look forward to every year. 

During the past week of never ending sunshine and warmth the treetops have finally started to wear their greenery and it is just so bloomin' lovely.

It feels like I've been waiting such a long time for it, gazing up through endless bare twiggy branches and wishing for leaves to appear. And now that they are here, well I am hugely happy.

It's mainly the tender young beech leaves which are giving us that delicious bright limey green - the oak and ash are still in bud. But I'll take whatever is there right now, drinking in all that freshness and colour. I love it so much, this time of growth and abundance.

On the home front, week five has felt slow, slow, slow. I've been content though, continuing to enjoy my gentle routines and pleasures.

I baked flapjacks again last week, for the second week in a row as the Little People love them and they make a great after dinner treat. I've perfected the art of baking them but not actually eating them, which believe me I'm very proud of. Small victories in my quest for good health, I'll take them.

Ah, remember last week I was telling you that I cleared and tidied this little corner of my back yard? Well I thought I'd show you, so you can picture me sitting in that tired old camping chair in the afternoons when this teensy little space becomes a sheltered sun trap. 

I love love love that I now have trees (trees!!!!) growing in my back yard, thanks to a very kind hand-me-down from a friend who moved house and couldn't take them with her. So I am the proud owner of a pear tree and a cherry tree - and even have my very own blossom!!!!! It's oh so magical, and I can often be found sitting in that chair just gazing up at the wonder of those floral branches above my head.

See how sunny it gets? It's a very sheltered little spot and perfect for some quiet alfresco stitching or hooking.

I mentioned earlier about a crochet project stealing all my time and attention this past week, and here I am hooking away like a woman possessed. Yes, it's a new blanket that I'm working on, and it's such a joyful thing full of rich colours that sing to my heart. I can't wait to show you more. It's a square blanket with some glorious colour play and I am absolutely loving it, to the point of obsession. My hands are blessedly also *ok* with the hours I'm spending with the hook, and I am seriously delighted by this fact. Crocheting in the warmth of the sun most definitely helps.

Ahhh........crochet life on the home front, it's just so so so good.

Aside from sunshine and crochet last week, let me see what else there was.......oh yes..........did I mention the blossom???

I might have taken rather a lot of blossom photos as I visited the trees almost every day.

And I think we may have reached peek blossom froth too. Blossom season is short and although this sometimes makes me sad, I don't think these flowers would have quite the same allure if they lasted for ages.

Walking home through the trees I am usually only aware of the birds, but one day I came across a squirrel going about his morning business. I wished right then at that moment that Little B had been with me as he loves wildlife, but he was still deeply in dreamland when I left the house which seems like a miracle to me. We've had sooooooooo many years of very early starts (like 5am early) with our offspring all being extremely early risers. So I'm very much enjoying the quiet of the house first thing when all three children are still asleep, it's really something of a novelty. It's blissful actually, especially as I am sleeping well myself at the moment (although it does change from week to week) and am waking up feeling rested and energised and ready to get going. 

I was wondering to myself about these lockdown days, and whether after 5 weeks that this all feels like a new kind of normal? I'm not sure to be honest - in some ways the extremely repetitive, slow nature of our days makes it feel like we've been living this way for much longer than five weeks. I do quite enjoy the gentle structure of our days, the work and play punctuated by food and exercise. It's not always easy for all five of us to be together in one smallish, tall thin building, but we are managing OK. Normal though? I just don't think our lack of freedom will ever feel normal to me. 

I hope you are all doing OK out there in the big wide world - tell me about your routines and your days and whether you are enjoying the slower pace of life? I wish you all the joys this week, I hope that there are many little things that make your smile :)

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Home Safe :: Week Four

Here I am again, gently navigating the continuing strangeness of our Home Safe days. Last week was week four and the second week of our school holidays, so it felt especially slow and indulgent in many ways. 

The weather has been very dry and very sunny, although my goodness it has been super chilly too with a couple mornings where we woke up to ground frost. But oh, the blue, blue, blue skies have been heavenly, and I am drinking in all this bright light and colour like a parched starved thing!! It's almost too delicious for words, the frothy gorgeousness of Spring in full tilt. The large blossom trees around the neighbourhood are just this week beginning to open their flowers (we are many weeks later up here in north Yorkshire than the southern counties) and it is such a delight.

We continue to walk every day, enjoying the precious chance to escape these four walls and stride out along our local footpaths, tracks and fields. I am so grateful for what we have close by, and although I feel a little envious of those with gardens and greenery right outside their back doors, I do appreciate how lucky I am to have fields, woods, canals and rivers I can easily walk to.

We often rest a while at this curved stone bench to catch a breather, it's such a lovely addition to the woodland (you can read about it here) and offers a beautifully peaceful little stopping point along the walk. There is a woodland poem carved all along the stone seat, next time I'm there I'll make a note of it to share with you.

It amazes me how much change we see in the woods every single day, even if that change basically amounts to the ever expanding shades of green appearing all over. It is just so LUSH. Wild garlic reaching its peak (no flowers yet, but soon...) and many of the trees beginning to unfurl their delicate new leaves. I adore the feeling of Spring rushing towards us, there is such a palpable energy in the woodland air that you can't help but feel uplifted by it.

We walked out across the fields to Tarn House again on Sunday (this has become our weekend walk) and it was nice to be out in the open air for a change. I love woodland walking but sometimes I crave the open countryside and long views out across the surrounding hills. 

I did a couple of evening walks with Little Lady last week which is always a pleasure, she is great company, very chatty and we get along extremely well. Walking in the evenings has a completely different feel to our daytime jaunts, it's more relaxing in many ways with the soft golden light, low, low sun and lengthening shadows. 

Life on the home front has been a slow plod, and there isn't really much to report. I spent an afternoon clearing up the back yard, dismantling my collapsed and dilapidated old plastic tent-greenhouse, shifting around some large fruit trees in pots (inherited gifts from my very good friend who relocated earlier in the year and couldn't take them with her) and generally having a long overdue sweep up and tidy. I cleared my pots and they are now awaiting fresh compost and fresh flowers/plants, although at the moment I really don't quite know where/how I am going to get those from. I've been sitting out in my old camping chair in the afternoons, making the most of the newly cleared sunny sheltered corner (where my greenhouse used to be), sometimes wishing I had a real garden to play in but also quite content with my low-maintenance little yard situation.

I've also LOVED (really, really loved) hanging out my freshly laundered bedding to dry on the line, it's such a simple thing, but the pleasure it delivers at bedtime is massively huge. Sun-dried cotton bedding is just heavenly to sleep in, no two ways around it.

Another week of menu planning, food juggling and cooking, and all is well. I do really enjoy being in my teensy-weensy kitchen rustling up healthy home cooked meals for myself and the family. I need to get a bit better at writing the Monday Morning shopping list though, as I keep managing to miss off vital ingredients. It's no good making a menu plan if you don't actually look at it when making the shopping list. Ah well, we've been managing and our evening meals when we all eat together are real highlights of my days.

I continue to stitch, stitch, stitch my way through these slow home days. I'm so mad at myself as I managed to hurt my hand again last week picking up a very heavy shopping bag (osteoarthritis in my joints) so I am not able to crochet for a little while until that eases up again. I am very, very glad to have my stitching projects waiting in the wings to carry me through the days when my hook isn't an option.

I finished my "Love is All You Need" cross stitch and framed it up last week, so so happy with it! I'll take some photos and share with you later this week. I've now started stitching the April subscription project from Cotton and Twine which I've been very lucky to receive as an early preview. It's an absolute joy to work on and I've been quite obsessive over it.

Mostly I sit at the dining room table working on it in a quiet, solitary frenzy, but a couple afternoons last week I took it outside to stitch in the sunshine. My first ever alfresco stitching, and it was oh so good. I promise to show you more this week. If you want to see what the finished design looks like, click ((here)) for a peek - it's super lovely!

A dinky white fluffy cloud in a blue, blue sky - just a little moment in my day when I looked up over the rooftops and felt elated by the weather and the season. No more winter. No MORE WINTER!!!! Just a bit happy about that state of affairs, might have squealed a little at the joy of it being Finally Spring.

Soft and gentle routines continue here in the Attic, the days punctuated by many trips into the kitchen to prepare and cook food and drink, either for myself, Little B, or the fam at large. I drink coffee throughout the day (all decaff I might add), and really enjoy the familiar ritual of both making it and drinking it. I like to heat up and froth my milk (just by hand using a little whisk, nothing fancy) then stand as close to the coffee machine as I can while it slowly empties into my mug as I absolutely adore the smell of fresh coffee. I really miss my daily cafe visits, as much for the aroma and the familiar, warm comfort as for the milky caffeine drinks. 

Last week I completed five more morning PE workouts, making four whole weeks now. I am so bloomin' surprised by a) how much I enjoy it and b) how much stronger my body feels. Little B still does it with me, but his enthusiasm isn't always A grade. Sometimes he spends half the time rolling about on the floor wrapped in a blanket, sometimes his sole purpose seems to be to put me off balance and make me wobble, but we have fun with it and I'm careful to encourage him without trying to enforce it. 

I did a little bit of internet shopping last week, small treats and indulgences that arrived on my doorstep and made me happy. I bought a new candle tin in one of my fave scents for Spring - Bergamot and Green Tea. I also replaced my run-out posh hand soap (this one) which I love so much, it makes the ordinary  business of hand washing feel like a treat every time.

And there we are, another ordinary, very mundane week in the Attic, staying home and keeping safe and relishing life's little pleasures and small joys. Family time, quiet time, familiar walks and home routines. I'm so happy it's Spring, did I say that already? This week, my plan is to go out every single day to walk underneath the blossom trees, and that's as much planning as I'm prepared to do. 

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Oat Pancakes

I can't remember quite when I started making these little oat pancakes for breakfast, they are a fairly recent discovery but in the past couple of weeks I've been obsessed with them. They are the perfect mix of wholesome and indulgent and somehow deliver a level of satisfaction which far outweighs their humble ingredients and simplicity. The pancakes themselves are pretty plain and rely quite a bit on the generous toppings to really make your toes curl with pleasure. As with any pancake recipe you can add whatever toppings tickle your fancy - I tend to stick with a healthy combo of fat free Greek yoghurt and fruit.

To make three small pancakes (enough for one person) you will need just three ingredients :

❤️ 1 egg

❤️ 1 heaped tablespoon of Greek yoghurt (I use good quality 0% fat free)

❤️ 20g oats or oatmeal

That's it! There is no flour in this recipe which makes them low calorie and very healthy, and you'll notice that I haven't suggested any sort of sweetener either. If you wanted you could add in a teaspoon of runny honey or maple syrup or maybe a dash of vanilla essence, but I think if you have enough sweetness in your toppings then the pancakes themselves can remain unsweetened.

Lets talk a little about the oats - in the above photo I'm showing you stoneground oatmeal on the left and ordinary porridge oats on the right. We've only had oatmeal in the cupboard just recently, bought from the supermarket when there were absolutely no other oats to be found during the panic-buying food frenzy at the start of the pandemic. I love the texture of the oatmeal and it suits these pancakes really well. If you have ordinary rolled porridge oats then they are fine too - I like to blitz a few handfuls of oats up in the blender to make them super-fine, storing them in an airtight jar. I definitely prefer the way the blitzed up oats work out in these pancakes - if you leave the oats whole the pancakes are a little chewy and slightly lumpy. 

By the way, 20g of oats isn't a huge quantity - it's roughly 2 heaped tablespoons, if you don't have digital scales.

First of all, whisk up your egg in a bowl, add in any sweetener if you want it and dollop in the Greek yoghurt.

Whisk the egg and yoghurt together - it will look alarmingly lumpy at first as the Greek yoghurt tends to separate so don't panic. Keep going and all of a sudden the lumpy mixture will transform into a wonderfully smooth, pale yellow batter that makes you sigh with relief and rest your whisking arm.

Stir in the oats/oatmeal, then let your batter rest for five minutes or so while you heat up your non stick frying pan.

I use a little spray oil to lightly coat the pan, you don't need much oil so long as your pan is a good'n'.

Get the pan nice and hot, then dollop two spoonfuls of batter to make each pancake (three pancakes in total)...

....and use the back of your spoon to immediately spread the batter out as evenly as you can.

Cook for around 3 minutes - you will begin to see the pancakes "set" and turn slightly golden at the edges. Don't try and flip them too soon as they are delicate and will break, and hissy fits are never any good on an empty stomach. When you think they are ready, use a spatula to gently lift and flip each pancake....

....they should be beautifully golden when they turn over.

Cook the second side for another minute or two, then gently lift them out onto a plate.

Now pile on your toppings of choice - fat free greek yoghurt for me, sometimes with a little dribble of maple syrup if I'm feeling needy.

I slice up half a banana, and have ready a generous portion of frozen summer berries which have been defrosted in the microwave until they are oozy and soft but not cooked. I LOVE the way that frozen berries become so juicy when they are defrosted and much prefer them to fresh berries for breakfast toppings (also brilliant on muesli).

I've not tried any other toppings (well I have varied my fruit and loved a passion fruit/mango/raspberry combo) but I imagine chocolate sauce or spread would go down well, or maybe something caramel-ish? I'm more than happy with my fruit and yoghurt though. 

I can honestly tell you that every single mouthful will have you groaning out loud in pleasure, they are that good. It's like eating an indulgent pudding for breakfast knowing that they are freakishly wholesome and bloomin' good for you. Filling too. Oats, egg, yoghurt and fruit, it's all great stuff for keeping you satisfied and pleasured from the inside out. 

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Home Safe :: Week Three

Hello my lovelies! I find myself often thinking about you all out there around the world keeping home-safe as we go gently through these surreal days. I really hope you're all doing OK and that you're having many more ups than downs. Life here in the Attic this past week has been very peaceful for the most part - I had a couple of  "off" days where I felt a bit low and in desperate need of some quiet time away from the rest of the fam with nothing but my own company. There isn't anywhere that I can retreat to at home as we only have one open plan living room, so I told everyone that I needed to be left alone for a while and closed myself off in the bedroom to read and stitch a little. It did help, and yesterday I felt back to my usual cheery self again.

We continue to walk every day, our one stint of permitted outdoor exercise and it always feels so bloomin' good to get out and about.

We walk the same daily route, following very familiar pathways in a loop through the woods....

....then a climb up this vast hilly field to reach the wall at the top....

...ahhhhh, always such a great feeling to reach the highest point!

We have to climb over by means of a stepped stone stile - these are common features in Yorkshire where a pathway crosses over a dry stone wall. It makes a good place to rest a short while, catch our breath and spend some time chatting as we look out over our town spread out in the valley below.

A couple times last week, J and and Little B went off on an afternoon walk without me. I know that Little B sometimes really craves one-to-one attention and seems quietly thrilled when I duck out as he then gets to have his Dad all to himself. On these days, I've still taken my walk but have chosen to go out later in the day, making the most of the deliciously light, golden evenings we are gifted at this time of year.

Little Lady often prefers to walk in the evenings and will happily come with me for a late jaunt if I ask her. It's not late really (we are home by 8pm) but getting to see the sun go down and the moon rise behind the trees always feels quite magical.

I've made good progress on my cross stitch project (it's a design by Tiny Modernist on Etsy) and have really enjoyed the quiet me-time it has afforded me just lately. I talked in my last home-safe post about enjoying being "in the zone" with a cross stitch project like this one, and boy, have I been there! 

I have stitched and stitched and stitched, hundreds of tiny crosses, needle in and out, in and out. Breeeeathe, and let my mind just be full of the colours and the slow, satisfying business of seeing thread turn into leaves and flowers.

Last night I finished putting in the final little spray of flowers, and my goodness, the feeling of achievement was immense!! Finally finished after nearly two years as a WiP!! I'm working on a little DIY upgrade to the hoop frame for it now, so I'll be sure to show you when it's all washed, pressed and framed up beautifully.

Being at home all the time does have it's positives, and for me that equals plenty of creative opportunity as well as extra time to bake and cook. During the past couple of years I've been menu planning and food shopping daily as part of my morning walk to and from school. We have a tiiiiiiny kitchen with only two small cupboards for storing food and a standard size under-counter fridge. This makes it impossible to actually store enough food to last us a whole week without performing a major jenga-style stacking game. But at the moment we don't have a choice as I am now menu planning so that J can do a big weekly shop every Monday. It's taken a little bit of getting used to and we are having to use our stone floored cellar as a bit of a cool-store/pantry for the stuff that just won't fit in the fridge/cupboards in the first half of the week after the Big Shop. But we are getting by just fine, calling at our local bakery to buy fresh bread (we walk right past it on our return route from the woods), and thankful that our milkman is still delivering milk to our doorstep.

I love cooking for the family and every day I make a meal from scratch using fresh ingredients. We aren't a family that eats ready made or convenience food very often (save for the odd frozen pizza for the Little Peeps) so the cooking isn't a new thing by any means. I think what I'm enjoying the most is having my weekly menu mapped out in advance (I did this for many years but oddly got out of the habit in recent times), and not feeling quite so rushed in the late afternoons which would usually be taken up with the school run and after-school snacks/wind-down time.

For the first time in absolutely ages I made some soup for my lunch last week, gosh it was so satisfying and quick! I had left over garlicky roasted veggies from the day before (peppers, onion, courgette, sweet potato and carrots) and half a tin of chopped tomatoes in the fridge left from the day before that. I simply bunged everything in the blender, added in some hot stock and seasoning and whizzed it all up. There was enough for the Little People to have as well and even the Big Teen decided that a soup brunch would suit him very nicely, thank you very much. Actually the Teens both usually make their own breakfast/brunch/lunch but I know that when I offer to make them something (especially poached eggs) it does seem to make them very happy.

Baking is another thing that I've gotten out of the habit of doing, especially in recent months as I've been trying hard to eat a healthy diet. But during these home-safe weeks I've remembered that baking isn't just about eating the end product. It's an activity which the Little People really enjoy, the delicious, comforting smells that waft out of the kitchen, the cosy familiarity of keeping busy on the domestic front as a means to relieve low-grade stress. This week Little B and I baked sultana and cranberry flapjacks and the smell of them as they were cooking was so good! The Little People tell me they were yummy and asked what's coming next - I'm thinking some Oaty Cookies would go down well.

 I found that during the Easter weekend it was essential for me to indulge a little. The need for foodie feel-good was running high, and so there was chocolate (of course) and melty buttered hot cross buns eaten outside in the sunshine. I think it's always good to have balance, and although I've changed my diet quite considerably since December, I haven't eliminated anything at all and really enjoy the odd sweet treat.

I've been missing having fresh flowers on the table after so many delicious weeks of having daffodils coming home with the groceries. I ventured up to the allotment last week to see what might be growing in the wild banks of our plot which the previous people planted with bulbs and wild flowers. It was such a delight to pick a little posy to bring home, a rather raggedy bunch of muscari, bluebells (and pink bells!) and a pretty white flower who's name I don't know.

Another day and another walk to the woods, the repetitiveness of our routine honestly doesn't seem to bother me, although it hasn't been a full month yet.

The wood anemones are looking so beautiful....

....and I even spotted some dinky little violets which instantly reminded me of my Mum. She had such a love of wild flowers, especially primroses and violets as they mark the start of Spring which was her favourite time of year.

At the weekend we actually walked a different walk, one that takes longer than our usual hour long woodland ramble. This is a stride out across fields and down small country lanes to a neighbouring village which has a rather old fashioned but charming country inn with a beer garden for when times are normal. It's a gentle, quiet walk, well as quiet as it can be with Little B going at full pelt.

I loved seeing these sticky buds breaking open to reveal the very first new leaves (this is a horse chestnut tree), and realising that Spring really, really  is here. We've had some beautiful Spring weather this week with plenty of sunshine, although it has remained very cold.

I had a couple of lovely surprises at the weekend which made my heart very happy. The first surprise was left on my table in the back yard by my very good friend who is a nurse and working hard on the NHS frontline right now. She sent me a text early Saturday morning to tell me to to go look on my table, and there she'd left me a painted rainbow pebble and a bottle of prossecco. Well, what a generous Easter gift - rainbows and bubbles, I was so touched!

J also surprised me with a chocolate heart, he said he saw them in the bakers when he called in to get our weekend bread and thought I might appreciate a bit of a treat. Well yes indeed, unexpected chocolate is always a lovely treat.

Over the weekend we did not one but two jigsaw puzzles, which came about because Little B seemed to be absolutely beside himself with frustrated boredom. On the whole he has been absolutely brilliant during this lockdown and has entertained himself extremely well during the long, samey days. We've been keeping up with our 9am PE workout, and of course our daily afternoon walk, but when he has tired of watching films or gaming, he doesn't seem to know quite what to do with himself. He's grown out of toys really, although he will quite happily sit and play solitaire or jacks with himself. J plays cards or draughts with him most days, but he isn't remotely interested in anything creative that I suggest, other than baking. However when I suggested we do a puzzle together he shrugged and said OK (in a very unsure way I might add), so I immediately went with it. We've had these jigsaws for such a long time that they may almost be vintage (J and I bought them over twenty five years ago), one that has tropical fish and another one which has rainforest birds. They are fun to do, the different shaped pieces fitting together in unexpected ways, and certainly kept Little B (and me) happy for many hours.

I was thinking last week that I really miss walking along the canal - in normal times it's such a familiar part of my days as I walk to and from school, home from the supermarket or down to my studio. So on the spur of the moment I decided to stroll out early one evening, just to take in the sight of the water and reconnect with a little bit of my usual normality.

It was a beautiful, still evening with perfect reflections and soft light. This white flowering cherry tree towers over the tow path and looked absolutely spectacular as I strolled underneath it.

I am naturally accustomed to being very aware of my surroundings when I am out and about and always try to practice a sort of mindfulness as I walk. But during these home-safe weeks when our outside freedom is so limited, I find I am tuning in even more than usual to the little details, soaking in every teensy bit of natural beauty and colour. It's a good life lesson I think - to slow down a little and really pay attention to the beauty that surrounds us every minute of every day. It's right there to be enjoyed, so good for the soul.

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Spring Garland :: Ta-dah!

photo credit : www.gardeningdirect.co.uk/

When I was thinking about making a Spring garland for my mantel, the very first flowers that came to mind were polyanthus. They are so cheery and uplifting and the bright mix and match colours are perfect for using up all those little scrappy left over bits of yarn from other projects.

Polyanthus flowers have very distinctive colouring in the centre which creates a little pointed star shape - this was not at all easy to recreate in crochet I can tell you! But after a lot of experimentation I came up with a simple but beautifully effective design, and I'm really happy with it.....

....awwww!!! I think they are really lovely and I promise you they are easy and quick to make. They are maybe a little fiddly to crochet at first but I find that's the case with most crochet flowers until you get into the zone with them, and then they fly off your hook at speed. And I do love a quick little flying project every once in a while, it's good for the soul.

I gathered together a colour palette left over from making the Sweet Pea and Dahlia blankets...

The greens are from the Sweet Pea palette :: Cypress, Pistachio and Meadow ( I did end up adding in Sage, Lincoln and the new and beautiful Apple green)

Then I've got Mustard, Saffron, Lemon and Cream.

Spice, Pomegranate, Shrimp, Boysenberry and Magenta make up the darker end of the floral palette.

Apricot, Fondant, Blush, Powder Pink and Clematis make up the lighter end (I added in Lavender too).

Once I'd finished all the faffing and finalised the design, my polyanthus flowers bloomed very quickly. Ten out of ten for satisfaction I'd say.

I made twenty flowers in total for my garland.

The leaves were a bit more laborious, especially as I decided on two for each flower, meaning forty in total. I confess I did get a bit fed up towards the end.

But just look how beeeeautiful they are!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Glorious, floral deliciousness.

Earlier this week I photographed the making process, and I've just finished writing it all up. There is my usual step-by-step photo-heavy tutorial as well as a simple one-page PDF pattern that you can download/print. Click on the following link to go to the tutorial page >>

🌸POLYANTHUS TUTORIAL🌸

As I mentioned in my post the other day, I've also been making some teensy little hawthorn blossoms to go along with the polyanthus. These are such easy flowers to make, a chain-4 ring, then all five petals worked in one easy round. As follows: 

Hawthorn Blossom Flower

Using Cream/White yarn, ch 4; sl st into 1^st ch to form a ring.

All stitches in round 1 are worked into the ring.

Round 1 : *ch 2; 1 tr; ch 2; sl st;

Repeat from * 4 more times; sl st into 1^st ch of beginning ch-2 to close the round; fasten off [5 petals]

Note : if you crochet over the tail end as you make each petal, you can give it a firm pull when you finish and close up the hole in the centre. Alternatively, you could use the magic ring method if you prefer.

Inspired by Kate of "Just Pootling" on instagram, I coloured in my flower centres using felt tip pens.

I LOVE how these turned out - I did a mixture of yellow with orange and yellow with lime green for the centres, and I do think they look very blossom-like. I made 21 for my garland.

And now with all the flowers and leaves made, it's time for the fun bit, yipppeeeee!!!

First I arranged the flowers in the order that I wanted to join them for my garland.

I chose Pistachio yarn to make my chain. To make the hanging loop, chain 12, then slip stitch into the 1st chain to form the loop (you darn in the tail end afterwards)

You need to work out how many chains you want between each flower and make it consistent along the length of the garland. I chained 8 between mine.

To attach a flower, have the working yarn at the back, then insert the hook through a single back loop at the top of a petal and make a slip stitch.

Use the same number of chains in between each flower.....

....and the same slip stitch method through single back loops to attach each flower.

After all the flower and leaf making, the actual garland making is turbo-charged and incredibly quick.

Ahhhhhh, it's happening!!!!! My garland is growing by the second!

Soon enough the end is in sight - time to make the other hanging loop. Chain an extra 12, then count back and slip stitch in the 12th chain from the hook. Easy peasy.

The excitement is real - the garland lies in a pretty heap and I absolutely can't wait to see it all stretched out.......

.................Oh!!! How very, very pretty and Springlike!! Ta-dah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm so happy with it, it's exactly what I could see inside my Creative Mind when I first decided to create a Spring garland.

And this is what it looks like in situ. It really brightens up our wooden fireplace and it makes me smile every time I walk into the room.

The little copper wire lights are set on a timer so that they come on in the late afternoon and switch themselves off after eight hours (so clever). I love the extra little bit of twinkle that they bring.

When I was making the hawthorn blossom I got a bit carried away and made too many. So I decided to add the extra ones to some little twigs on my mantel and the simplicity of it makes me so happy.

I'd love to hear if you decide to make yourself  a garland - I can promise you that it really does bring a lot of joy, both in the making and in the decorative faffery potential. Give it a go, you know resistance is futile!!

🌸POLYANTHUS TUTORIAL🌸

x

ps Do you remember my Autumn Garland?? I thought it would be fun to see them both together >>>

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