Attic24

Camping

 
Hello folks, I am back from the green, green hills of Derbyshire, from the appropriately named Greenhills Holiday Park. We are all a little tattered after our three nights camping it has to be said, but still enamoured with tent life. Even though we actually no longer have a tent. Even though our tent was ripped beyond repair by howling winds and ended up in the skip. Camping is still Great!

 
I mean, just look at these views, how can you not love waking up to a view of green hills, trees and yellow buttercup fields?

 

Plot number 17 in Hawthorn Field was our home for 3 nights and for the most part it was lovely. Scenic. It was even sunny on Saturday when we arrived and I took these first few photos look. But even when the sun was out it remained cold. I spent the weekend dressed in almost all my clothes all on at once, layer upon layer of woolly socks, teeshirts, jumpers, fleeces and jackets. Luckily it remained dry until our last night, but the wind.....oh my, the wind was a monster. It howled and gusted and blew through the place like you wouldn't believe. Some folks lost tents completely, others (like us) just had a bit of ripping and shredding and flapping. It was ferocious, but we didn't mind too much because we were on holiday and with friends. And the weather should never get the better of you.



My Oxfam blankets hardly ever left me, I wrapped myself up in them day and night. Here we are, blanket and I,  with our morning cup of tea. Waiting for bacon and eggs to cook. When we camp, J does all the cooking. I don't think he trusts me with the gas stove, and thats fine by me, Blanket and I can just stay snuggled up together and wait for hot food and drinks to be handed to us.

The windy days are full of walking, playing, chatting, laughing, exploring, picnicing, reading, crocheting, tea-drinking and general merriment. And as the evening approaches we move on  to beer and a barbecue supper. It involves a surprisingly small amount of organising actually, to cook for 12 Big People and 12 Little People. The men light the fires, stand around drinking beer and manage to cook a staggering amount of meat and meat products. The ladies sit down under the gazebo to drink beer and open up bags of salad, crisps and bread rolls.The Little People run riot. And somehow it all comes together and we enjoy a lovely meal.



And after dinner has been cooked and the barbecue coals are smoldering nicely, we supervise the Little People with some marshmallow toasting.


All twelve Little People are snuggled in bed by 9pm and we light up more barbecues to provide heat under the gazebo. Blanket and I are  best buddies and we stay up chatting and drinking and laughing into the night with our friends.



Now then, what do you think of this most beautiful tart? It came from The Bakewell Tart shop  and was the one thing we bought home with us.
The Bakewell tart is a traditional English baked cake native to the town of Bakewell. The tart consists of a shortcrust pastry shell, covered in jam and covered with a sponge style filling enriched with ground almonds.



And it tastes bloody good. Rich and moist and sweet. Put the kettle on and make a cup of tea to go with it and we can sit in front of the fire. Indoors, home, cosy, and not a wisp of wind. I do love camping, but coming home again is bliss.

Blankets

Hand made blankets, don't you just love 'em? There's something so comforting and homely about having a pile of warm, snuggly blankets around the place, I don't think you can ever have too many.
So what do you think of these ones then?  Colours a bit suspect? Yarn a bit dodgy? So they can't be creations of mine then, that much is true. I haven't been secretly learning to knit and staying up all night long producing hundreds of knitted squares in a feverish attempt to surround myself with blankety goodness.

No, these two blankets came from my local Oxfam shop. They are called "Festival Blankets" (which I LoVe), as they are made with the summer music festivals in mind. Apparently, Oxfam has a large presence at festivals such as Glastonbury with a stall in the marketplace selling (amongst other useful stuff like wellies and waterproofs) these famous knitted blankets. The nice man in my local Oxfam told me they have a dedicated team of avid knitters who produce these wonderful blankets from all the donated wool they receive, so not only are they handmade, but they are recycled as well...ahhh that warmed the very cockles of my heart, it truly did.
These blankets are a fair size you know, and are made up from no less than NinetySix knitted squares. And do you know what amazes me more than anything else? That they cost a piffling £7.99 each. YES its true!!! Less than eight UK pounds for a handmade blanket, I could hardly contain myself.

So these two lovelies are destined to be Outdoor Blankets rather than housey blankets. You know, the sort that can be slung in the car and dragged out for picnics, or trips to the park, that kind of thing. Oh and camping. Yes camping, hooray!! We are off tomorrow on our first camp trip of the year, and I am very excited indeed. We LoVe camping and this trip is going to be great because it's not just the Attic24 household venturing forth, but a whole gang of us :: 6 families (12 rowdy Little People) descending on the picturesque town of Bakewell in Derbyshire. It promises to be a fun filled few days, our own little May Festival.

Now then, can't be chatting about blankets without quickly showing you my current two WIP's.....

...my hex blanket is progressing nicely and it's an absolute joy to work on. Yesterday I drew up a plan on paper to work out roughly how many hexagons I should be aiming for. The answer is 240. So yes, I fully expect to be working on this baby through to Christmas, which is fine by me.

And the ripple? Here it is basking in the morning sun. I am still working on this blanket a-stripe-a-night, and have 31 more to go. So another month or so to go then :: just as I predicted back in March, it'll be ready for mid-summer. Then it's full steam ahead with the Hex's :: life is looking good!

Muggery

Hello all...as promised it's Mug Day today, oooh don't I treat you all well?! I have to confess this is not an original idea of mine, I was reading Julia's lovely blog Vintage Heaven t'other day and she was chatting about mugs and mentioned the post she had seen on Lucy Bloom's  blog about her mugs and the various rules that apply in her house. Oh I did chuckle when I read this post and was soo relieved to discover I'm not the only silly-moo with daft ideas about household items.
So let me introduce you to the Attic24 mugs. Well at any rate, these are the ones currently in regular use and the ones that fitted on the tray when I carried it upstairs to Little Lady's bedroom for the photo shoot.

Ok, are you paying attention? Top shelf, from left to right ::

• Very favourite mug of mine, makes me exceeeeedingly cross if anyone else even breathes on it, let alone dares to make a drink in it (unless they are making it for me).
• teeny-tiny handmade mug bought last year at Country Living show, perfect for a small morning coffee.
• Another of my teeny-tiny coffee mugs, this one was made by the potter Andrew Lloyd who also made my fruit bowl.
• Giant old Cornishware mug, this belongs to J and was found at an antiques centre a few months back. I tried to nab it and use it to plant up a polyanthus, but he was very mean and insisted on keeping it for his "after dinner brew"
• My large stripey on-the-wonk mug, perfect for big cups of tea or hot chocolate. Bought for me by the Little People (with Daddy's help) for Christmas, so love it, although to be honest its more often used for my secret stash of Divine chocolate eggs than it is for drinking out of.

Bottom shelf, from left to right, these are the mugs with rules ::

• Pink and blue spotty mugs. These are first-thing-in-the-morning-in-bed mugs, pink for me and blue for J. I hate drinking out of this mug at any other time of day. These are cheap supermarket mugs but I do like them, like the weight of them and the sizable cuppa you can get in one.
• Pink and blue flowery mugs. These are from British Home Stores, bought in the January sales for about £1 each. I like other people using these as I like to look at them but don't tend to like drinking out of them for some unknown reason. I always give them to folk who visit, and always pink for the ladies and blue for the menfolk. I have 4 of these altogether.
• Red spotty mug is the same style/size as the previous two but I love it 10 times more and it's my favourite choice for an afternoon cup of tea, but I don't like using it in the mornings (why not? I haven't a clue)
• Cream spotty mug, a recent £2 buy from Matalan. As this has only been around since Monday I haven't really worked out where it fits into my day yet, not sure if it's gonna be a tea or coffee mug (its an in-between size). I bought two of these.

I also still have these mugs which were our everyday mugs for years until I got fed up with them and stuck bulbs in them.


Awwww just take a closer look at my beautiful favourite mug, isn't it so sweet? Its handmade by Susie Watson Designs, and at £15, I think its' the most expensive mug I've ever bought, which is probably why I have a hissy fit if anyone else uses it.



And here are a few extras that never get to see tea or coffee. This adorable little mug and teapot decorates my shelf and was made by ceramic artist Liz Riley. I bought them from her when we were both exhibiting at a contemporary craft fair about 7 years ago, and love them very much.
And this stripy mug below was a dear favourite of mine until it sadly got chipped, so now it's used for scissors and looks very cheery on my dining room shelf.



Gosh, haven't I been snap-happy with my camera this morning, I just couldn't stop! Mugs, a teapot, a scissor-holder, how about storage jars too? Here are my lovely glass sugar/tea/coffee jars from Whittards
I do like the ceramics from here too, the mix and match ranges are wonderful....oo now I come to think of it, yes, I do have some small striped coffee mugs from here too, I must've forgotten to carry them to the bedroom photo shoot.

And on the subject of mugs, I thought perhaps it was about time to show my own.
I had a rare 3 hour stint at the hairdressers on Saturday which was rather enjoyable, and emerged with my newly cut and coloured and coiffured hair feeling quite good about myself for a change...hence the photo.

You can see I don't wear makeup, and truth be told my hair never ever looks this sleek unless I have just been to the salon. I usually look more unkempt, a little rougher round the edges. A little tattier.
Some generous folk have labeled me "au naturelle".
I like that phrase, it puts a kinder slant on "can't be arsed"

Reasons to be Cheerful #9+10

Ahhhhhhhhh I have loved doing these Cheerful posts, loved thinking about it and collecting the photographs together. Really I could go on and on with it, could run away with the whole idea of every day being a reason to celebrate something cheerful. I could rename my blog Cheerfulness24...

So many things each day catch my attention and make me glad and grateful and thankful for this happy life of mine. Seeing, feeling, living, loving it all (well mostly loving it all :: Little Lady has not been well this week and I can't say I've been very cheerful about diarrhoea and pooy pants).
Hmmm well moving swiftly onwards, here are the last couple of photos from the Cheerful stash :: dolly mixtures and sea glass. It'll be Mugs tomorrow, in case you had looked in here expecting Muggy pictures.

Dolly Mixtures :: I had these sweets in the house a few weeks ago when I was decorating buns for Little Lady's birthday, and I just love the look of them. According to this brilliant website, dolly mixtures have been around since the 1920's, that's quite hard to get my head round actually, that they are so old! They're very pretty and sweet-looking aren't they, and so lovingly, nostalgically remembered from my own childhood when you still bought sweets by the quarter-pound in a paper bag.

 

And on the subject of nostalgic childhood, isn't sea glass just the stuff of perfect childhood holidays? Hmm yes, and adult ones too come to think about it, I am addicted to searching for these jewels, I cannot help myself. I have been collecting sea-washed glass for as long as I can remember. I have this big glass jar full of it (and see a few prized, sea-washed marbles too) and I never come back from a visit to the coast without a few pieces in my pocket. To me it captures the essence of happy seaside holidays :: it's a jar of sea-coloured memories and it never, ever fails to please me.

 So imagine my absolute joy when I discovered these braclets a few years ago...they are not technically speaking made of sea glass but they look very much like it don't they? They are in fact ingeniously made from recycled glass bottles by a small company down in Cornwall called Greenglass. I just love this jewellery (I have a necklace too) and it attracts a lot of attention, especially from the Little People. And not just my Little People either, several of my friends' children love these bracelets when I wear them and beg to try them on, I think they are fascinated by the fact that the beads are made of glass which is usually a material out of bounds for children.

Ahhh roll on August, we have a holiday cottage booked here and the teeny-tiny beach down at the harbour is a great hunting ground for sea glass jewels. Bring it on.

Reasons to be Cheerful #8 :: tea towels

I adore household textiles. I love tea towels and table cloths, runners and napkins. I love the texture and weight of this particular type of cotton and the fact that they get better the more you use and wash them. They bring colour and pattern into my kitchen every single day and make me feel cheery.

Very occasionally at weekends I am given special permission to abandon my duties as wife and mother and skip off to partake in some retail therapy. This usually involves a train or car journey to a city, any place with department stores or Large Shops big enough to contain kitchen departments. You see, when I go shopping I don't go for clothes. Or shoes. Or makeup. I go for household things. Tea towels/tablecloths are my favourites, closely followed by mugs. I have lots of both, I might show you my mugs tomorrow (ooo-er, bet the anticipation is killing you?!)

Incidentally, my above tea towel stash is stacked on a wobbly, sloping, broken kitchen shelf which is a source of much annoyance :: the tea towels frequently slide off onto the floor, along with my red spotty cake tin. The sound of a cake tin landing on the floor is actually quite loud and startling. It makes one jump in ones skin. The tea towels land quietly but are ten times more irritating as re-folding and re-stacking is required. There is lots of cursing when this happens, most especially when it happens to J. But alas it's not quite irtitating enough to get him to tackle the fixing of the shelf. He's allergic to DIY, he would rather fold tea towels and curse.

 

Reasons to be Cheerful #7 :: beady necklace

I bought myself this little necklace when I visited the Country Living fair in March. The beads are handmade Venetian glass and as soon as I clapped eyes on it I loved it very much. No two necklaces were the same as as all the beads are handmade and randomly strung, which pleases me no end. And yes don't you all  just know how much I love these jewel-bright colours, don't you think it's so very me?! It makes me really happy to wear this necklace (I'm wearing it now in fact) and I often get complimented on it. 

I would so love to give credit to the person/company I bought it from but it was one of those times when I saw/handled and purchased in ooooh about 47 seconds flat, paying no attention whatsoever to any names, only my desire to own this little beady treasure.

Reasons to be Cheerful #6 :: eggs

Sunday morning breakfast made for me by J is nearly always an egg. Just the one, usually beautifully poached to perfection with the yolk oooooooozing out across the toast, just the way I like it.
J stops at a farm on his way home from work and puts £1 in the honesty box in exchange for a box of six eggy beauties. They are truly free range (the chooks have free run of the farm) and also organic. I tell you, I nearly hyperventilated with excitement when he opened this weeks box, they are so beautiful, don't you agree?! The deliciously coloured pale blue one, the dinky little dark brown speckled one.

And oh my :: the taste of them is divine. I dearly wanted to photograph my breakfast just to show you the rich yellowy/orange colour of the yolks, but alas I could not wait to eat. But believe me when I say these little beauties are the yummiest-scrummiest!

Reasons to be Cheerful #5 :: new bag

The lateset addition to my shopping bag collection. I still love my paperchase book bag but sadly it hasn't got a big enough bottom (unlike yours truly) and therefore is not quite roomy enough for a visit to the supermarket. This one is very jaunty though, and sufficiently gusseted. I spotted it in the window of a little local shop and snapped it up for the delicious price of £2.50. Don't you just love a bargain?

Reasons to be Cheerful #4 :: blossom

These cherry trees are just up the road from my house near where I park the car, and the little pathway in the top photo leads to the top of our local park.  I took these photos a week or two ago now, and I noticed this morning that the blossom is already past its best.
I so love the fleeting blossom season, it always amazes me how it seems to suddenly appear almost overnight :: one day there is a fairly boring, unremarkable line of trees, the next day a magical froth of pink blossomy lovliness. I only wish it lasted longer, its a truly lovely part of our late English springtime.

Reasons to be cheeful #3:: Pimms

4pm and the afternoon sun's still in the yard. Can we, should we? Do you think it's too early? Oh, but it's your birthday, yes why not, I think we can, I think we should, even though it's only four o'clock. The sun's shining and yes it is your birthday. Get the jug, lets make a Pimms No.1 cup, no it's not half and half (!!) its 1:3, yes that's right it's one part Pimms to three parts lemonade, plenty of ice and a sprig of mint. A clink of glasses and Birthday wishes, we enjoy the most refreshing drink ever ever. Happy Birthday C. Pimms in the sun :: most definitely-absolutely a reason to be cheerful.

Oh, by the way, see the red enamel coffee pot there? A generous house-gift from my lovely house-guests, we went rooting round a local antiques shop yesterday morning and I fell in love with it. That and a bright red Lloyd Loom chair which I am hoping to purchase any time soon when I've whispered sweet nothings into J's ear.