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June Snippets {five}

Hellooo.....!! A week into July already and finally I've carved out some time to sit and catch up with you all in Blogland. I've been busy; working endlessly on a new colour palette/blanket design which has challenged me at every turn, and also away last week teaching another Stitchtopia crochet retreat at Bagden Hall in West Yorkshire. I'll talk to you more about both of those things in another blog post, because today I've got one final June instalment that I'd like to share. It's been really nice putting these blog posts together during the past month, I like the quirky randomness of them which kind of perfectly sums up my life at the moment. I also enjoy that there is no real need for a well formed storyline or joined up narrative as this is just me sharing the many small, unrelated things that have inspired me or made me feel happy. I hope you enjoy the peeks into my days, and find something of value to take from them, even if it's just the quiet idea of appreciating everyday small pleasures.

☀ My morning walk with J hasn't always happened as regularly in June because of it being hayfever season. I think I mentioned to you that I take antihistamine tablets at night which very effectively cut the symptoms but also knock me out. I've been sleeping in much later and waking up very groggy-headed, but have really tried to still get out the house around 7am if at all possible. The last week of June was very warm and humid and we often walked in a fine, misty drizzle of rain. But I always enjoy the exercise - climbing up those steep steps through the trees gets my heart pumping and never fails to make me feel good.

☀ A pause in my morning to sit quietly with a coffee and think some thoughts. I often find the mild chaos at home makes quiet thinking/planning almost impossible, and taking myself out to a café allows my thoughts and ideas to free-flow. Sometimes all I need to do is try and work out some kind of to-do list for the day, other times there are bigger plans/ideas asking for my attention.

☀ Summer rain after a pretty long dry spell, what a beautiful thing. The feel of it in the air, the gentle sound as it pitter-pattered onto the garden and the visual pleasure of the droplets caught on the alchemilla leaves. The only downside has been the extremely high humidity which has felt quite tiring, but mostly it's a YES to light summer rain showers in June, so long as they don't hang around for too long.

☀ And petrichor too, the most wonderful, nostalgic scent of summertime. We've had our big sash windows pushed open most days (even during the rain showers) and that distinctive scent has been intoxicating at times.

☀ A spontaneous splurge in the flower department. I don't think I've ever seen cornflowers for sale in a supermarket bunch before and of course I found them utterly irresistible, especially paired with sunflowers. These blooms caught my eye, captured my heart and walked out the door with me in a hot minute, and then went on to deliver endless joy for well over a week. Bloomin' lovely.

☀Fruit appreciation #1 : summer stone fruits, specifically nectarines and those flat donut peaches that are bang in season at the moment. Oh, I do love them! In the above photo...Me, sitting on a shady bench in the church yard on a hot afternoon, about to devour this very juicy white-flesh nectarine purchased from Marks and Spencers. It tasted luxurious.

☀ Fruit appreciation #2 : afternoon snack time, strawberries and a juicy peach. And on the side, two mini stroopwaffels which are my latest addiction, inspired by my recent trip to Amsterdam. I bought two bags back from the city (my only purchase), then discovered quite by chance that Tesco sells the Daelmans brand and I can get them whenever I want. Who knew?

☀ Fruit appreciation #3 : the first brown paper bag of cherries from the market, expensive but too good to pass by. Deeeeelicious.

☀ Awww, a warm, sleepy kitty on the Fireside blanket. She absolutely loves the Big Chair and we do fight over it on a regular basis during the daytime. It's one of my favourite places to sit, especially in the summer when I have the bay window pushed open, but I also love how much she enjoys it and do give it up for her on many occasions.

☀ A new feather in the pot, it's that soft smoky brown one which I guess once belonged to a pigeon. I can't now remember exactly where I found it, but it looked absolutely pristine as if it was just waiting for me to gather it up and give it a lovely new home.

☀ Colour faffing, one of my main occupations at the end of June. I've been working on a new idea with a floral/coastal theme and wanted to double check my previous colour palettes - above is the Coast ripple, with the Dune (top) and Meadow (bottom) colour palette samplers layered on top. My new collection of colours is sufficiently different and I'm very, very happy with them, they've been giving me the excited butterflies. I'm looking forward to sharing more with you later in the year. And in other news, I've almost finished my current blanket...it's wonderful! More of that soon, too.

☀ And finally....farewell June, you've been a wonderful, summery month full of delight and I'm already missing you. Mind you, eight days into July and it's been a good'n' so far, lots to enjoy and lots to be thankful for.

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June Snippets {four}

☀ Enjoying... slow walks to the shops along this teeny riverside path. This is forever known as "The Tricky Way", as named by a two year old Little B. He LOVED walking home this way so much and used to beg me to do it. Because it's only wide enough for one person he had to walk incredibly slowly and carefully in front of me without holding my hand. Sweet memories.

☀ Enjoying... pretty self seeded poppies along the cobbled back street. You will have noticed that I seem to have quite an obsession with flowers that grow out of pavements/rocks/walls.

☀ Enjoying... Yellow Corydalis (yaaaayyyy!!! I remembered the name without having to look it up!) Remember me showing it to you in a previous post? I thought you might appreciate seeing it from the other side of the canal, isn't it wonderful?

☀ Enjoying... a full green canopy of leaves in the woodland, and the dappled light that filters through the treetops on our early morning walks.

☀ Enjoying... a leisurely stroll along the riverside at Bolton Abbey with a good friend, chatting, catching up and soaking in this beautiful summer season.

☀ Enjoying... evening walks to the meadow. These long golden days make me so incredibly happy.

☀ Enjoying... spending lots of time outdoors when the weather has been warm and dry.

☀ Enjoying... the sight of my freshly washed crochet blankets drying on the washing line.

☀ Enjoying... an evening decaff coffee made with cold frothed milk at the end of a hot day.

☀ Enjoying... a sunny outdoorsy lunch in my favourite bowl. This was courgette noodles (still LOVE this gadget), tossed with olive oil and lemon juice, topped with cooked chicken, cherry tomatoes, red pepper, red onion and a grating of parmesan cheese. So good

☀ Enjoying... a chilled glass of vino on a Sunday afternoon.

☀ Enjoying... spending time with my yarny tribe, truly the best friends I could wish for. Cafe vibes, crochet and coffee too...all of it makes me beyond happy.

☀ Enjoying... these self seeded meadow cranesbill flowers which have appeared in one of my back yard pots. The colour of the petals is incredibly beautiful.

☀ Enjoying... Summer Solstice last weekend. A gentle day mostly spent at home with the fam, and an evening walk to the meadow. The above photo was taken at 10pm, gosh I do so love this time of year, don't you?

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Midsummer Harlow Carr

We paid a visit to RHS Harlow Carr on Monday, on a damp, warm and humid midsummers day. Light summery rain showers with sunny spells in between, coat on, coat off, coat on again.

A delicious flat white in the café to escape the worst of the rain, then a slow leisurely stroll through the woodland area which was glowing with colour thanks to the expanse of candelabra primulas in full floral flood.

We were last here on the eighteenth of May, and since then the garden has exploded with growth and colour. The  wide mixed borders are nothing short of magnificent, and really the best is yet to come - this is just the warm up before the colourful August/September visual extravaganza.

On Monday we were sharing the garden appreciation experience with lots and lots of school children, their excitement and joy were palpable and very inspiring. By accident I found myself walking along with a large school group in the kitchen garden, and just loved their wonderment as they learnt about the actual real food that was growing right there in the beds. J was bench sitting, and I enjoyed my time wandering the small pathways in and out of the edibles.

As well as the abundance of glorious colour, there were so many scented flowers in bloom. The roses were stunning, spilling over archways and filling whole planted areas with their beautiful perfume.

It's also the start of the Sweet Pea season which as you know I absolutely love love love. Most of the SP arches and towers are in and around the kitchen garden, and as always I really enjoyed seeing so many flowers growing alongside the veggies, fruit and herbs in true potager style. Not just sweet peas, but marigolds and nasturtiums flowering in abundance amongst all the green leafy edibles, it was so lovely. I wish I'd taken more photos of these beds, but there were so many children I got very distracted listening to their excited chatter and lost myself for a while in reminiscing about my own Little People taking their summer trips to this very same garden.

Some of the sweet pea supports were very rustic indeed, just a wibbly tower made of twiggy sticks...

....but there were also some wonderful woven willow supports too. I think I could do with a couple beautiful towery willow things for my big yarden pots to replace the odd assortment of old sticks and bamboo canes currently acting as plant support.

I spent a lot of my time with my face in these blooms, gently inhaling the delicious fragrance. Natural floral scent is intoxicating, isn't it? Lavender, sweet peas, roses, jasmine, honeysuckle....I love them all.

As usual the RHS plant shop was looking incredible, I don't know how they manage to keep every single plant in such pristine condition.

In May, the displays that caught my eye were lupins and foxgloves - in June is was all about the hydrangeas and of course the roses. There was a huge display of David Austin roses, oh my, they were so incredibly beautiful and fragrant and desirable. Thirty three pounds each mind you, but they were super lovely, every single one flowering beautifully.

Lots of potted dahlias looking very glamorous and showy too....

....and I really fell for this open variety, isn't it a beauty? Sadly I didn't think to name check it, but trust me, it was stunning.

Pots, pots and more pots, who knew they could be so inspiring? I think any kind of shop display which organises items by colour will immediately please me to no end, I am very predictable like that. 

We had a browse through the gift and homewares shop which was as lovely as ever, so many beautiful things displayed to perfection. More English Soap Company paper-wrapped soaps (I've seen them in a lot of shops just lately). I lingered by the chocolate for way too long, but luckily for me they didn't have my fave Lime and Seasalt flavour so I was able to walk away empty handed. Felt secretly proud of myself for that.

It's always a joy to visit these gardens, and even on a drizzly day the colours, scents and vistas were hugely inspirational. Next time we go I think the huge main borders will be in "Sungold" mode and I absolutely can't wait for that to come around.

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Amsterdam, Again

Hello! Sorry I've been gone a while, I think when I was last here I was drinking elderflower cordial and just about to jaunt off for a few days. Since then life just got kind of Life-y and I've been fully enjoying these glorious days of midsummer and not spending very much time online. So now it's time for a catch-up - I've been taking photos most days to document as many happy June moments as I can, and I'll be sharing those snippets with you during the next few days. Today though, we're going to sail over the North Sea and enjoy a slow day in Amsterdam.

Ahh yes, Amsterdam......agaaaaain....I know, I know, it's a city which J and I both love and I think I told you back in October (here and here) how we really like to travel to this part of Europe by sea. It's the most delightful kind of slow travel and I've lost count of how many times we've done this trip, almost a dozen I should think, since the days before children when it was just J and I back then. We used to be able to sail to Zeebrugge too (for a day trip to beautiful Bruges) but sadly that crossing no longer happens so Rotterdam/Amsterdam are the cities of choice now.

The ship sails at 8.30pm when it's still beautifully, deliciously light at this time of year, and we enjoyed the sunset with a few beers up on the sundeck as we slowly made our way out to sea. It was sunny, warm and calm which made for a very smooth crossing.....

....and the next morning we woke up to allllll the blue skies and sunny sea views. What a beautiful way to start the day, with a cup of coffee up on the top deck and the anticipation of a whole day pootling about in beautiful Amsterdam.

Once the ferry docks, foot passengers (that's us) disembark and there is a coach waiting to whisk us right into the heart of Amsterdam city. We arrive in the city around 10.30am, and after a short stroll along the river IJ we come to the very busy Centraal Station area and the iconic row of old houses which line the Damrak canal. This part of Amsterdam city is very, very, very busy (people, bikes, cars, buses, trams) and not for the faint hearted, it's Hectic with a capital H. But Amsterdam is a pretty compact and very walkable city, and it doesn't take long to ease away from the crowds and find a little breathing space.

Ahhhh, that's much better!

Every time we come to Amsterdam we have a slightly different idea of how to spend our time, and for this trip we decided that it would be mostly a leisurely and relaxed jaunt around some of the city's oldest brown café bars. So basically, a historic pub crawl (!), taking us through the old heart of the city and around all the picturesque canals and small streets that we enjoy so much.

I had made a short list of potential places we could visit, and appointed J as our official map reader and route planner.

We strolled through an art and book market which was very atmospheric....

...on our way to the first place on our list, and there it is look, overlooking the pretty Spui square. This is Café Hoppe, a very traditional and old brown cafe dating back to 1670.

I took this photo inside to show you what a traditional "brown cafe" looks like - they really are incredibly brown!!

On this Friday in mid June it was hot and sunny, and so we opted to sit outside at a small round table overlooking the square. I often find myself really craving this sort of European outdoor café lifestyle (I think I mentioned it to you a little while ago?) I know I mention it often to J, haha, poor man, I have many, many obsessions, and sunny European travel is just the tip of the iceberg of my wants and desires.

Actually, this particular trip was his idea so I know he does listen to me and takes note, bless him. He most likely heard me saying how much I love leafy squares and sunny pavement tables, and decided Amsterdam could very well deliver that in spades.

Anyhow, yes, it did deliver in fine European style, and Café Hoppe was a delight. It was around 11.30ish and so I ordered the French Breakfast which was a coffee, a freshly squeezed orange juice and a croissant. It was perfect.

After our late breakfast stop, we made our way slowly into the heart of historic Amsterdam to the Jordaan area. I don't think I'll ever tire of taking in the beautiful architecture and tranquil ambience of the canals in Amsterdam, they are impossibly, utterly charming.

Everywhere you look there are beautiful little vistas to enjoy....

....and I fall just a bit more in love with it all each time I visit.

We are now in a very old part of the city, in the heart of Jordaan. Our second stop of the day was at Café Chris which is known to be the oldest brown bar in Amsterdam, dating back to 1624. We found it on the corner of a quiet little street just down from the imposing tower of the Oude Kerk (old church) which you can see in the above photo. We took a seat on a wooden bench outside and ordered up a couple of beers, ready to relax and watch the world go by for a little while.

The café owner was very friendly and spent a lot of time talking to us, telling us stories about the history of the area and the houses and buildings that made up the immediate neighbourhood.

A lovely thing happened while we sat there in the sunshine - we heard the carillon bells of Oude Kerk play, which is the most beautiful sound. Apparently this particular carillon in the tower has a whopping 47 bells and the tune they play is beautifully old fashioned and surprisingly melodic. You can hear/see what it sounds like on YouTube if you're curious!

The inside of Cafe Chris is beautiful and incredibly atmospheric, and we really enjoyed it there.

Our third stop was a bar called De Tuin, but to be honest I wasn't so keen on it there. It was on a busy street, so sitting outside on the pavement was a bit too full of traffic for my liking.

Our next stop was an old favourite of ours - Café t-Smalle. I don't think we've ever visited Amsterdam and not called in here for some ambient refreshment! Like all the other brown cafés, it's incredibly old (and brown) and atmospheric inside, and in the past we've really enjoyed cosying into the little upstairs bar area which entails a very steep climb up some very, very steep narrow stairs.

But on a hot, sunny June afternoon the higgledy piggeldy chairs and beer barrel tables right on the edge of the canal were perfect. We ate a fantastic ham and cheese toasted sandwich here (highly recommend) and enjoyed our cold beers while watching the city do its thing. Beautiful people gliding by on bicycles, boats passing by on the canal, locals and tourists coming and going and enjoying an afternoon drink and a chat.

It was wonderful, all of it, and really topped up my "European sunny outdoor afternoon" pleasure cup.

It's late afternoon now, 3pm ish, and we have a few hours before our pick up to go back to the ship. J doesn't like to rush anywhere at all, for any reason, so we slowly begin to wend our way along the canals back towards the train station.

It is sooooo beautiful, everywhere. So many pots of flowers....

.....and picturesque little bridges overflowing with colourful summer blooms.

Did I mention how hot is was? By 3pm it had reached 31 degrees, and I was very glad to be wearing a strappy cotton sundress and sandals. One of the lovely things about visiting Amsterdam on a day trip is the total lack of luggage needed. On the ship you keep the same cabin for outward and return crossings, so you can leave luggage safely on board and just travel with a small bag, it felt very liberating I have to say.

The last hour of our day was spent sitting on the banks of the IJ river drinking ice cold water and eating a very good apple pastry. This part of the river is huge and very busy with boaty traffic (see here for an idea of it), so it's a great place to just sit for a while and take it all in. The coach pick up point is about a twenty minute stroll along the riverbank and it's a lovely way to round out the day, especially knowing that the ship will be waiting for our arrival and it feels a little bit like coming "home" when we get back to our familiar little cabin up on deck ten. I didn't take any photos on the ship, but if you're curious, you can see what a cabin bedroom looks like (here). They are simple and basic but really cosy and I tell you what, I always sleep really well when travelling by sea.

Sailing out in the light evening was a joy, it was still really warm with a light breeze and many passengers were up on deck enjoying a drink or two while watching the passing views as we made our way slowly out to sea.

There is something very relaxing about slow sea travel - we were away for two nights, arriving back home on Saturday morning and it felt like we'd been away for ages. If you hadn't already guessed, we LOVE these mini holidays (they are very affordable too) and are already planning our next one as we'll be taking Little B with us next time and visiting Rotterdam for a change.

Thank you as always for coming along with me on my trips and jaunts, it's always a pleasure to share my words and visuals with you xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

edit ::  thank you so much for your suggestions about visiting Haarlem in the future, apparently it's only 16minutes by train from Amsterdam? It looks gorgeous! Definitely going to think about that xx

 

 

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!

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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.

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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?!

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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.

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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.

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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