Family connections

Day two of our holiday and more blue skies and sunshine, weren't we just so spoilt?!

I love going "home" to visit family. Even though I now have my own home and family, theres something very comforting about going back to somewhere thats so familiar and so much a part of who I am. We don't get to go down to see my folks often, maybe two or three times a year as it's almost 300 miles between our doors. When our offspring were Little Babies we had to go by car because of the huuuuge pile of Stuff needed to holiday with babies. But quite honestly, six hours of motorway driving sucks. Big time. So this time and the last, we have made the journey by train instead and although the journey is still a lengthy seven hours, it's a wonderful way to travel. I love train journeys, the changing landscapes, passing in and out of cities and towns, winding our way down the spine of England. A bit of crochet, a cup of coffee, a good book to read and much gazing out of the window, its not a bad way to spend a day.

When we holiday in Dorset we tend to have a handful of places that we return to each time. The beaches, of course, but also some lovely hills, woodlands and picturesque villages. Real picture postcard stuff. Just driving around the deep green lanes of rural Dorset is a something we love to do, even if we only end up going round in a circle. Up and down the lanes, shades of green and sunshine and shadows and pale yellow primroses in the hedgerows. But its not just the landscape we are there for, no no, it's family time too. In the above picture we zooming down the lane on the way to my Mums cottage for lunch in the garden.

My Mums cottage is next to a small river where trout jump. It's old and quaint and small, a two-up-two-down with thick stone walls and cottagey windows with curlywurly latches. Old floorboards and sun faded rugs, a wood burning stove. A wonderfully comfy sofa. Light streaming in through the windows, plants and flowers everywhere.

The plant below is on the bathroom windowsill and has always been there as long as I can remember so goodness only knows how old it is. Its called a Parrot plant, for obvious reasons, and I love it. I nip up to the loo so I can look at it. Mum did give me a cutting from it once when I was a student but sadly my fingers weren't very green back then and it passed away which was rather sad as I would very much like to have my own parrot-producing greenery.

Now let me tell you about Grandmas Easter Basket. Every time we visit, my Mum makes a small table display ready for the Little People. They telephone her weeks in advance to remind her about it, to be reassured she has not forgotten. At Christmas there's a miniature tree with tiny wooden decorations and chocolate coins. In the summer a little painted wooden beach hut appears surrounded by pebbles and chocolate shells. And at Easter here are the little chicks in their golden eggshells with their chocolate eggs. The Little People nearly explode with excitement, and Grandma is very generous in allowing little fingers to help themselves to her beautiful display.

My Mum is a superb knitter and crocheter and the blanket below is a lovingly remembered part of my childhood. Parts of it are made from our old baby clothes and blankets which were carefully unraveled and the wool re-used. It's so full of memories and of times past that I can't help but adore it. This isn't a brilliant picture of it a it was draped over the spare bed with a thousand other things piled on top so I could only photograph it from the side. But it really is a marvelous thing, you'll have to trust me on that one.

So you see it was no accident that I badly wanted to learn to crochet and chose a Granny Blanket as my first project. The urge was there deep down for me to follow in my Mothers footsteps. And that really does intrigue me, the way we are influenced by our family and friends, the way in which our own personal style, skills, creativity and passions are influenced and nurtured. I never thought I would end up so much like Mum as we are very different personalities but she has influenced me in so many ways, has given me a love of these creative, homely things. My instinctive passion for crafting, baking, decorating, homemaking, gardening and mothering is very much who I am. It makes me deeply content to know that this is what my life is about, this is what makes me happy :: my homely family life.

Comments

[Anja]

Lovely post. I can so imagine little cottage with treasures inside.

[Chris]

I agree with everyone else- this post made me feel all warm inside too.

[Gill]

What a lovely post, it made me feel all warm inside. My Mum lives in Cornwall which is a 300 mile trip from her, like you we don't see her as often as we'd like. Although we usually make the motorway journey, I have travelled down by train on a few occasions when the children were younger,it was part of the holiday for us and made it seem so exciting!Now they're teenagers,those days are over but I have such fond memories of special holidays spent at Nannie's home.

[MarmaladeRose]

OO! More pics of your mums scrummy cottage please! I dream of living in a cottage like that, preferably in the cotswolds, with a lovely cottage garden full of flowers and a veg plot, where hubby and I can grow old. I think its because as a child we spent our hols visiting an aunt in Bristol and went out for day trips to Bath and Chedder etc. and even Chesil Beach! And as for your mums crochet blanket, we always had one that was called the 'sick blanket' as children, because thats what we snuggled under on the sofa when we ill. So as soon as I left home and got married, I asked my dad to crochet me one, and now my children do the same!

[kathy]

Thank you again for a lovely blog. Kathy

[Shirley]

You are very lucky to get these things from your mum and now you are passing them on to your little one.... just as life should be.

[Louise]

Hi Lucy (Lucie!!!), thanks so much for your lovely comment on my blog and your memories of MLA. It is very much appreciated. I have put you down on my sidebar to visit again later. x

[sal]

Hi there..thanks for visiting my blog!
I travel by train a lot and love it! It beats the stress of the roads.
Dorset is such a lovely county to visit!
I am now about to read more of your lovely blog.Sal;-)

[Simone]

Your blog makes me feel warm and homely. I remember the excitement of going to my nans when I was little. She used to ask me if I wanted cordial (that was her word for fizzy drinks) and she always put extra sugar in the bottom so that the drink fizzed more! Your blog brings back fond memories for me. Your mum sounds like a lovely person.