Attic24

Autumnal

Can you tell from this picture what kind of a weekend I had? Does it look colourful and cosy and homely and comforting? Yes, I think those four words pretty much sum up the last two days, and it was good. Very good. Remarkably similar to this weekend it has to be said, but similar is good.

This month, the October issue of Country Living arrived through the post on Thursday. And as you know, I cannot possibly read this magazine on a week day ::  it has to be a weekend activity, because I have to be in pyjamas for a  good stretch to get through from cover to cover in comfort. And weekdays just do not give me this opportunity like weekends do. So I was forced to sit and look at the cover for Two Whole Days before I was able to go in to the pages and the suspense nearly killed me. But on Saturday morning when i did eventually get to read it, sat in bed with my cup of tea, it was good. Very good. Worth the wait even.

On Saturday morning my train tickets arrived through the post too. Yes, I am off to The Country Living Fair in November, and I am way beyond excited already. I've never actually been to the Christmas fair before as I've never been organised enough to book train tickets in September. But this year, oh yippee, I was on the ball and the tickets are mine, all mine. Note to self :: better start saving up some spending money.

Country Living magazine, like many interiors/home magazines is very seasonal, and I love it for that. The October issue is unmistakably Autumnal, and I found that despite my resistance to Autumn arriving and my instance that it's still Late Summer, by the time I'd read through the pages I was firmly infused with Autumnal inspiration. I just love these images of carved pumpkin lanterns, and if I can find somewhere to purchase a lino-cutting tool then I will certainly be giving these a try.

The "seasonal Inspiration" section this month, called Autumn Treasure,  is especially inspiring and a reminder of the beauty to be found in Autumn colours.

I found a bit of my own Seasonal Inspiration yesterday when I picked these fallen leaves up from the pavement whilst walking home from town (Little Lady and I went to our little local cinema to watch Mamma Mia, oh we did enjoy it!). I thought to myself, how can I possibly keep insisting it's still Late Summer when the leaves are doing this? Silly me. Need to stop mourning the loss of Summer and begin to embrace Autumn like everyone else is doing.

In fact, I have been doing some very un-summery things this past week or two. I just didn't want to admit it to you. I've put an extra layer on my bed (my Laura Ashley quilt has come out of summer storage), and my hot water bottle is back in service. Not every night, but there have been some nights recenty when I've felt chilly and needed the comfort of it.

Last week, we also lit our fire for the first time in months, and it was an absolute delight. We had our chimney repaired and swept in May in order to  remove a hideous electric fire (complete with fake coals and light effects), and have an open grate installed. So this will be our first Autumn/Winter with an open fire to play with and we are so excited! Oh the joys of burning stuff, of having real bonafide flames and embers!

I took the above photograph late yesterday morning, when something magical happened :: the sun shined. Late Summer sun or Early Autumn sun I'm not sure, but it was very very welcome. It's been so long since we have had sun rays coming into our sitting room that I'd forgotten how lovely it is. We have a large bay window at the front of the house, and on a sunny morning this room is beautifully light and bright. On the window, I have one of these, so that when the sun does shine, it creates these magical little rainbows that dance across the walls and ceiling. The rainbow-maker was given to me for my birthday last year by a very dear friend who knows me well and knew I would love it. Which of course I do, very much.

I managed to do quite a bit of hexagon-making this weekend :: this project is giving me so much pleasure. The colours I'm using are so full of summer, that with every double crochet stitch I am thinking of Dahlia Walks and nasturtiums and geraniums and cornflowers and trailing lobelia.
Flowery Summer colour as we head into Autumn.

Summer hols :: Sea and Sky

Sat 23rd August :: Day 1 :: Craster (looking out from the cottage) :: 6:24pm

Sun 24th August :: Day 2 :: Driftwood cottage (from bedroom window) :: 7:14am

Sun 24th August :: Day 2 :: Craster (view to Dunstanburgh Castle) :: 7:42am

Sun 24th August :: Day 2 :: Alnmouth beach (laid on back sunbathing) :: 3:03pm

Monday 25th August :: Day 3 :: Boulmer beach (shell-finders paradise) :: 2.38pm

 

Monday 25th August :: Day 3 :: Driftwood Cottage (rainbow) :: 5:24pm

 

Tuesday 26th August :: Day 4 :: Driftwood Cottage (sunrise from bedroom) :: 6:15am

 

Tuesday 26th August :: Day 4 :: Spittal beach (strolling on the prom) :: 3:06pm

 

Wednesday 27th August :: Day 5 :: Holy Island (walking to the cafe) :: 1:36pm

 

Wednesday 27th August :: Day 5 :: Craster (back from the pub) :: 7.34pm

 

Thursday 28th August :: Day 6 :: Rocks near Craster (cloud watching) :: 3:48pm

Friday 29th August :: Day 7 :: Driftwood Cottage (sunrise part 1) :: 5:21am

Friday 29th August :: Day 7 :: Driftwood Cottage (sunrise part 2) :: 5:33am

Friday 29th August :: Day 7 :: Driftwood Cottage (sunrise part 3) :: 5:41am

 

Friday 29th August :: Day 7 :: Driftwood Cottage (sunrise part 4) :: 6:10am

Friday 29th August :: Day 7 :: Driftwood Cottage (yacht) :: 6:30pm

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So. It has taken five looooooong posts (87 photographs) to tell you about my Summer hols, and I hope it has been ok for me to take up five days of your visits to the Attic doing this, that you didn't mind too much. I've had the most marvellous time remembering and writing and reviewing, it has been like having the holiday all over again.

And the truth of the matter is, that as much as I adore you visiting Attic24, and make no mistake I DO adore it, I pretty much write this blog to please myself. I love being a part of such a fabulous on-line community :: I know I said last week how much I am loving being a Blogger, and how much I enjoy your visits up to the Attic. Love that you come along with me and take pleasure from my words and pictures, take time to comment and give feedback. But amongst all this community and sharing and creating and commenting, Attic24 has become an important web-log of my family life. A way to record and remember how much love and fun there is under this roof, how much pleasure can be found in the day-to-day, how the little details that make up the whole deserve to be  remembered and appreciated.

I keep thinking about my own childhood and how little I can actually recall from those early years of my life. We have very few family photos. I consider "Childhood" to be such a humongously important part of ones life. I feel that as a Mother I have this huge, delicious, exciting, wonderful responsibility to help create a worthwhile childhood for my children, and by recording it, I can in later years present them with something priceless :: a window into their childhood years, a way to recall and remember not only themselves, but me too.

I so wish I had the same window into my own childhood, I would love to have an idea of myself at four years old, five years old, six years old. And an idea of my parents too, because I don't really feel I know them very well, if that makes sense. I would love to know what my Mum and Dad were like when I was young, how their lives took shape as parents and individuals, the ups and downs, the creativity, the things that made them tick back then.
It would be magical and precious beyond belief, don't you think?

Summer hols :: Shells, Seaglass and Sea life

Ahhhh the tide was out and we walked and walked along the seashore :: I remember this afternoon and my heart soars. I so love being by the sea. What's that? You already know? Yes of course you do, because I tell you often, and you are getting to know me quite well by now I expect.

Whilst we were in Northumberland, we visited various beaches throughout the week. Sometimes when it was gloriously hot and sunny (yes, we did have one day that fit this description) we would go to a seadsidey beach with swimming costumes and buckets and spades, and do the paddling/sandcastle-building thing. Other times when the weather wasn't quite as summery, we would wrap up in warm fleeces and go in search of a walking type beach such as this deserted stretch at Boulmer. Generally speaking, the beaches in Northumberland are on the huuuuuuge side. Big wide sands and big open skies. And empty, oh yes, they are often practically deserted, even in August. On this particular drizzly afternoon, we had the whole huge, wide, open stretch almost to ourselves. It was so peaceful and beautiful, if not a little damp and windswept.
Little Lady had fallen asleep in the car, so I left J with her and he was more than happy to sit looking out to sea in the warmth of the car reading the paper while Little Man and I braved the elements and went beach combing.

This was the first time we had been to Boulmer beach and it turned out to be fantastic for the likes of us. Not much good for sunbathing, but for beach combing, oh yes, it was first rate.We walked along the shoreline where at high tide the sea had deposited it's salty treasure in a great long meandering line.

We walk and bend and crouch, exclaim and examine and share.

I have a fascination for sea shells, I have done for as long as I can remember.
I have this little pocket-sized book called The Seashore, which I have owned for many years. I love being able to identify the things we find, to speak with a little knowledge to the Little People about sea-related nature. Love that I can pass this knowledge on, can perhaps pass on a fraction of my love for the seashore to them.

We collect a lot of shells, pebbles and sea glass during this week. Lots and lots and lots. We compete to be the One Who Finds The Bestest Bit :: the Prettiest Shell, the most Colourful Sea glass, the most Unusual Pebble..

We come back to the holiday cottage at the end of each day with pockets full of beach treasure to lay out, identify and admire.

We identify edible periwinkle shells, and the delightfully coloured orange and yellow flat periwinkle shells. We find whelk shells (and a large sea washed dog whelk shell), a small cockle shell, a trough shell, muscle shells, a wedge shell and a couple of tellin shells.

And limpet shells. Yes, we found a fair few of these. On Boulmer beach there were literally hundreds of sea washed limpet shells to be found. Little Man and I set out on a mission to collect ones with holes in so we can thread them to make shell mobiles.

Back at the holiday cottage and we stack them up in tens to count them. We have one hundred and forty five. Thats gonna be some mobile.

Or alternatively, they make unusual rings for Little Fingers.

Ahhh sea glass, to me it's just the most magical thing. The colours and the textures are so very, very beautiful. I have a large collection of sea glass, as you would expect. I have it in a glass jar on the bathroom windowsill and it captures the essence of past seaside holidays. A lovely reminder of sea and sand and sky.

This little lot came from the beach on Holy Island that I was talking about yesterday. Its the first time I've discovered sea washed pottery at the beach, and I loved searching for it. Loved those little fragments of colour and pattern from a time gone by. And in the middle, those are the St Cuthbert's beads :: you can see how small they are, some of the ones the Little People managed to find were only a few millimetres in diameter.

As well as beach combing, there was also rock pooling to be done.The coastline around Craster was absolutely perfect for rock pooling :: the rocks were easy to walk on and the pools were plentiful.

We found pinky red beadlet anemones, translucent shrimps, slippery sea slaters. And there were even elusive crabs to be found. We identified them as Shore crabs :: they were quite hard to find and involved lots of patient searching under rocks in the deeper pools, so the excitement when one would suddenly scurry out from under it's upturned rock was Huge. For Little People and Big People.

Mostly when we searched the rock pools, we observed and then left the sea life to pretty much get on with it's business. But once or twice, a net and bucket was involved and the challenge was on to actually catch a specimen. J was the main man for the job, with Little Man as back-up assistant number one. Between them they managed to catch a small crab, a shrimp, a rock and a fish. Us girls were suitably impressed, and the boys were proud, bless 'em.

Often we went down to the rocks just below the holiday cottage in the late afternoon before dinner :: these pictures were taken at 5pm or thereabouts. Searching for sea life has been abandoned and a happy, pottering playtime ensues.

We (J and I) sit on the warm rocks on this late summer afternoon watching our Little People play and I am so completely content within myself, so relaxed and happy, so warm and fuzzy.
Of course, it might've had something to do with the contents of my bag.....

.....life often feels warm and fuzzy when seen through a wine glass. Chin-chin.

Summer hols :: Buildings and Books

If you were to ask me what I love best of all about visiting Northumberland I would say without hesitation, the beaches, harbours and coastline in general, because for me, nothing beats the feel-good-factor of being by the sea. But there are other things about Northumberland I find captivating :: the accent of the local people, the oh-so-quiet roads where you can drive along for miles and miles and miles on an August Bank Holiday weekend and not see another car, and the unpretentiousness (is that a word?) of the Tourist Attractions because they are magnificent in their own right and do not need to be lit up and turned into theme parks.

I think out of all the places we visited, Alnwick Gardens is the most commercial, and after this years visit we are unsure if we would go back. Or maybe I should say we would not go back during an August Bank Holiday weekend. It is Popular and it was absolutely mobbed when we visited this year. I don't know about you, but I find it hard to really relax and enjoy a place when there are hundreds of other people clogging up the views. It felt a little bit mental at times with sooooooooo many people about, most especially in the The Treehouse.

Now the Little People adore this building, it captures their imagination and causes much excitement because they remember it from our previous visit. So the whole time we are walking round the gardens, all they really want to do is go Right Away to the Treehouse. They go on and on about it :: through the formal gardens, the fountains, cascades, mazes, rose gardens and woodland walks. The anticipation is Huge.
But the truth is, as wowy as this building looks, there is not a lot to do in it. The inside of the Tree House is in fact a rather pricey restaurant, so it was kind of off-limits for the likes of us who go everywhere with homemade sandwiches and a flask of coffee. There are some scarily high and wobbly bridges/walkways suspended through the trees, but quite frankly this unexpectedly caused my knees to shake and my stomach to resemble jelly, which was not very nice. And we had to queue to go across, which made me quite cross for some reason. It was noisy too :: lots of rowdy other-peoples-children running across the bridges, making it hugely scary for my Little Ones trying to cross gently and quietly. Oooo don't I sound grouchy and bad tempered??!! Not like me at all!! However, I am only one quarter of our family, and the other three quarters did really enjoy "the Wibbly-Wobbly bridges" as I don't think their knees wobbled in quite the same alarming way as mine did. And even I have to admit that as buildings go, this one is quite spectacular looking, even if it is lacking in substance. Just saying.

When i was a child, my parents never had much money, nor did we have the luxury of owning a car. So consequently we didn't often venture far from home and I can't ever recall going on day trips to visit houses or castles or gardens or estates. Maybe that's the reason that I've never really developed a love for these types of places, unlike J who has many childhood memories associated with grand old houses and the such like and absolutely adores them with a passion. But I have to admit that this house at Cragside is an absolute gem, and I enjoyed looking round it very much.

 You aren't allowed to take photos inside, but if you follow this link, you should be able to look through some photographs of the rooms. I loved the details :: the hand painted windows, the collections of things (shells, plates etc), the kitchenalia, the old patchwork quilts on the beds. It was grand but cosy at the same time, luxurious but homely. What surprised me most of all was how much the Little People enjoyed it, and how they listed Looking Round The Big House as one of their "Bestest Bits" of the whole holiday.

This is one of the lakes on the Cragside Estate and up to the right there is the tearoom, with picnic benches on the grass overlooking the water. Every day when we were out and about visiting places, we traveled with a picnic lunch. As a family, we adore picnics, and we enjoyed some very picturesque ones whilst in Northumberland. But after lunch we allowed ourselves a little treat and wherever we were we would locate the nearest tearoom/cafe and enjoy a  cappuccino with a slab of something, preferably something sweet and homemade. Ooooooo we did enjoy it!!! We sampled delicious Victoria sponge, damn fine chocolate cake, humungous raspberry and white chocolate muffins, tangy lemon cake and luscious carrot cake. Mmmmmmmmmmm :o) So I would have to say, my "Bestest Bit" of Cragside would be a close toss up between the Dahlia Walk and the Lemon Cake. Both were utterly delicious.

Have you noticed I'm a bit more long-winded today, I've remembered how to write again (brain went West yesterday)...are you still with me?? We are still going with the Buildings here, hope you're not yawning. This is Bamburgh Castle, and was Little Man's choice for his 6th Birthday outing. Its a mighty fine castle, in a mighty fine location, with mighty fine views.

I think I preferred the views of Bamburgh beach to the actual Castle itself, but I was happy enough plodding round the rooms looking at suits of armour and more weapons than you could shake a stick at. We had a mighty fine picnic lunch up here on the battlements of the castle with a view to die for, and I can report that the Clochouse Tearoom does indeed serve a mighty fine slab of chocolate cake.

Ok, one more building to go, then a few books to get through. This is Holy Island, and Lindisfarne Castle. I absolutely love visiting Holy Island, there is something quite magical about consulting tide timetables to see which hours of the day you can cross the 3 miles long causeway. Something enchanting about being cut off by the sea for large chunks of the day. Something childishly exciting about knowing the road we are driving on will end up underneath the sea in an hour or two.

We start our day here by buying chocolate and heading down to a tiny beach where we know it be A1 for beachcombing. Due to the fact that in the olden days there used to be a rubbish tip a little further down the coast (so a local lady walking her dog informed us), the beachcoming treasure extends beyond shells and pebbles and into the realms of old sea washed pottery, tiles and glass bottles. The Local Lady walking her dog also shows us how/where to look for "St Cuthberts beads" and we aere totally entranced. All four of us proceed to scour the beach, bent double, searching for these tiny little prized fossils. Actually, I am hugely rubbish at spotting them and find only one, while the Little People (being closer to the ground), noisily and excitedly find dozens. We wrap them carefully in the kitkat wrapper and bring them home :: they are now proudly displayed on the mantel with bits of sea washed pottery, snail shells, a broken birds egg, a heart shaped pebble and a pheasants feather. Holiday Treasure.

When I can finally straighten my back and tear my eyes away from fossil-hunting, we head round the little bay. I love the fishing boats here, the bright colours and the rather ramshackle nature of it all. Just look at this little fishermans hut, isn't it just so appealing?? I could imagine myself living in there (well perhaps for short spells, in clement weather).

We are walking up to the castle, past the icecream van and the shack selling fresh crab sandwiches. It feels like it might rain, the sky is so low and grey, but in fact it stays dry all day and later when we are waiting for the tide to retreat and let us back onto the causeway, we get to enjoy coffee and cake (Victoria sponge, a big slab of it) in the garden of the little village cafe. We were so jammy with the weather during that week, and I remain thankful (*thank you*)

This little castle is lovely inside, take my word for it. Only ten modest rooms, but all lovely.

The view from the top, looking out across the island is fabulous. I never tire of looking at the sea and sky, it fills me with joy in much the same way that Good Cake and Dahlia Walks do.

Ah now, here at last are the books. These are to be found in the most wonderous second hand bookshop in Alnwick :: Barter Books.
This is second-hand book selling on a very large scale, the place is huge. Housed in the old train station, there is a fabulous model railway that runs around the tops of the bookshelves. It keeps Little People entranced and sitting still for a remarkable length of time.

It smells Booky in here, and J is doing his version of me in the Dahlia Walk and going all giddy in the aisles. He goes off in search of booky goodness and I am left to supervise the Little People.

I gaze longingly into the Old Waiting Room where adults without children are browsing leisurely through books and drinking coffee. It  looks peaceful, cosy and out of bounds for the likes of me with two offspring tugging at my coat and demanding to be taken to the childrens section where there are ride on wheely-bugs and a toy train to climb in. Sigh.

The childrens section is a lot of fun actually :: amongst other things, there's a whole section of nostalgic ladybird books for 99p each. And joy of joys, my Little Man manages to find a beloved Little Grey Rabbit book for me, which he presents with a flourish :: he knows me so well, knows I will love the book, and him for finding it, and he is right. There's something about those dear little blue and white checked curtains in Little Grey Rabbits house which makes my heart skip a beat.
Have you ever come across anyone as nutty as me??
On second thoughts, don't answer that one.

Summer hols :: Fountains, Flowers and Foliage

Northumberland has some wonderful locations to find the three F's, and today I'm sharing some of my favourite images of Fountains, Flowers and Foliage.

However, it appears I have temporarily forgotten how to string words together, don't ask me why but my brain is refusing to co-operate and I cannot for the life of me think of much to say. I've been trying to write this post all morning and it has just not been happening. So I appologise in advance for the large volume of photos in todays post...actually, no scrap that...I do NOT appologise at all. Sometimes pictures are better than words.

Magnificent water features seen at Alnwick gardens. A beautiful (if expensive) place to visit.

Not a lot in the way of Flowers when we visited, but Fountains, yes they excel themselves with these.

There are also some impressive Foliage structures to enjoy.

We loved these dappled green leafy tunnels, especially good for running through.

This stunning planting was part of the Bog Garden at Howick Hall, and was my favourite part of the gardens here.

It was inspiring and beautiful, with the additional bonus of making the Little People laugh their heads off saying the word "Bog" over and over again.

One of our absolute favourite places to visit in Northumberland is the Holy Island of Lindisfarne. Its a truly magical and very special place, and I'll tell you more about it later in the week when my brain cells have woken up again. For now, let me show you a little bit of this beautiful walled garden which is part of Lindisfarne castle and was designed by the famous Gertrude Jekyll.

The Flowers in this small garden is fabulous, generous and cottagey. Lots of roses, sweet peas, and marigolds.

A traditional kitchen garden bed of mixed flowers and vegetables, with espalier fruit trees against the warm stone walls.

Gloriously lofty hollyhocks remind me instantly of my childhood.

And these are the gardens at Cragside.

I loved these gardens very much. They were old fashioned (Victorian) and beautiful. There were enormous rockeries, a Victorian Fernery, a lily pond and a fantastic glass house full of Mediterranean fruit trees. The Little People loved this amazing carpet bed which contains a staggering 25,000 plants.

We were here early on this day and were fortunate enough to be able to wander around this beautiful flower garden with no other visitors around.

I drank in the colours of the flowers, they were intoxicating.

And that was before I came across the Dahlia Walk. Oh my, folks, I got myself so intoxicated I very nearly came unstuck.

I am not particularly good with the camera when in such situations, as I think I've mentioned before.

I get so unbelievably giddy faced with such powerful  colour that I cannot even walk straight,  let alone take crisp, in-focus photographs.

I was soooooooooo giddy in fact that I actually managed to fall right into the dahlia beds not once, but twice. 

To me, dahlias really are magnificent.

I can't think of enough words to describe them, they overwhelm me.

There was an article in the September issue of Country Living magazine about dahlias. It described them as "Floral Fireworks" creating "....late summer displays..an uplifting seasonal spectacle...."

"....from late July, their wonderful, spiky blooms fill the beds, putting on a show to quicken every garden lover's pulse". No wonder I fell into the beds, my pulse was obviously racing away making me incapable of remaining upright.

And whilst I was swooning with excitement in the dahlia beds, it suddenly came to me what they reminded me of ::

:: my crochet flowers.
Good job I can sit still while I crochet, or else I would be a liability.

Summer hols :: House and Harbour

Unbelievably it's only been ten days since we woke up to this glorious sea view from our bedroom window, but already it feels like such a long time ago, a lovely but somehow distant memory of Summer.
I've had a fabulous time this morning looking through all my photos from our week away in Northumberland, and I'm really looking forward to sharing it with you. I hope you're going to enjoy this little taste of an English seaside summer :: cosy cottages and  sea views, harbours and boats, castles and playgrounds. Early morning walks and lazy afternoon jaunts, the salty sea breeze and the smoky air, and the sun. Yes, the sun was there, it really was! Not all the time, no, but we were incredibly lucky and thankful for what we had in the way of mainly dry days with big chunks of sunny spells and blue skies amongst the cloud.

Its our fourth year staying at Craster and we absolutely love this little place. I remember reading Jane's Yarnstorm blog last year when she was talking about her annual family holidays to Suffolk, about finding a place that was so special that you wanted to return there year after year, somewhere that gives a feeling of "sweetness and light". I have always felt the same, had a strong desire to find our own perfect place to create layers of childhood holiday memories for the Little People. We are fortunate to have visits to my family in beautiful Dorset which do the job, but somehow our annual holidays in Northumberland give us something extra.

The photo above shows the little row of houses at the end of Craster village, just before you head out on the coastal path to the ruins of Duntsanburgh Castle. The house we stay in is the very last white house in the row, and is called "Driftwood". The house itself is not old, quaint, charming or especially picturesque. In fact it's quite an ordinary little house, with funny mismatched carpets, sentimental nic-nacs and old fashioned pictures. But it is warm and cosy, has a beautiful walled garden, an open fire, modern bathroom and kitchen facilities and views that take your breath away. And quite simply, we have come to love it.

Craster itself is a teensy tiny old fishing village with a teensy tiny little harbour and beach. Every morning we awake to the sound of the first fishing boat chugging out of the harbour at 6am or thereabouts, the lapping of the waves and the cry of gulls. It's a wonderful way to greet each day. The sea calms and stimulates me, relaxes and energises my soul.

When I am by the sea I alternate between wanting to sit idly in my pj's just gazing lazily at the horizon all day,  and wanting to run outside and jump up and down in a mad fit of happiness just because I am in sight of some salty water. Its most odd. I am overcome with a sort of sea-induced schizophrenia.

On the first morning we are there, I awake and get up early, sit by the wide open bedroom window drinking tea and taking it all in, doing the lazy-horizon-gazing bit. Then Little Man gets up (it's 7am or so by now) and I suddenly get the familiar streak of mad sea-induced energy and order him to get his clothes on RIGHT NOW because I need to go and be as close to the water as I can get (ie in it) as soon as possible. He obliges with enthusiasm and we pull clothes on and race out. We walk along past the row of houses with their gorgeous little front gardens brimming with late summer flowers, pebbles, worn wooden benches and old lobster pots.

We are now at the little harbour  :: we stop and say hello to the familiar Mermaid statue and take a look at the boats. Little Man is as excited as I am and he is talking nineteen to the dozen.

We hold hands as we walk, and he touchingly says how nice it is for the two of us to be together on our own and how we don't get chance to do it very often (note to self :: must make time for regular one-to-one specialness with my Little Man)

We walk right round the harbour and out to the very end of the stone pier, which you can just see on the right of the picture above. We look out to the ruins of Dunstanburgh Castle in the distance and can see our little holiday cottage tucked at the end of the row there. Eventually we stroll back round to the small beach to do our first bit of beach combing and early morning paddling. I need to feel my feet in the sea on that first morning, and it is bloody freezing let me tell you! We scour the beach for shells and sea glass and are rewarded with a handful to carry proudly back for the first of many beachy show-n-tells.
On subsequent mornings, J takes over the early morning pre-breakfast walk-outs and Little Man gets to go on exciting daily rock-pooling adventures with his Daddy. Me and Little Lady resume the idleness and horizon-gazing, with tea-drinking and crochet thrown in.

Craster has a small visitors centre, a lifeboat station, a village pub, a famous Kipper smokery, a new art gallery and a closed down village shop (such a shame, I mourned the loss of that many a time during the week we were there). And that's the extent of the facilities, unless you are 4 and 5 years old that is. Because there is one particular facility the Little People adore :: the children's playground. It's a delight, situated right on the edge of the small cliff top, overlooking the sea.

Don't you think this has to be the most scenic see-saw (or should that be sea-saw?) you ever laid eyes on?

During our weeks stay in this quiet. sleepy little place, we do venture out each day to explore the delights of Northumberland. It's a beautiful county, with magnificent countryside and coastline and stunning places to visit. Each day we head off to our favourite towns and gardens and woodlands and castles and cafes and shops and sandy beaches. But always by late afternoon we are ready to head back to base. Ready for some local Pottering.

Yes, what we love most of all about staying in Craster is enjoying a good, leisurely potter around the local environs. As a family, we are exceedingly good at Pottering.
Down to the shoreline we go, with buckets and nets and tea and cake (or wine and crisps, depending on the mood), J and I sitting on the sun warmed rocks whilst the LP paddle and terrorize the rock pool inhabitants.

And round the harbour we go, to The Jolly Fisherman where the beer garden is beautifully situated overlooking the sea. We spend a late afternoon or two (or three) enjoying a pint or two (or three) of the local tipple.
A Brew with a View.

ps :: Very many thanks for all your get-well wishes for Little Lady and good-luck wishes for her foray into school life. I'm pleased to report that she is now fit and well and is so far enjoying her mornings at school enormously. She is happy, and I'm ok. Yes, I'm ok I think xxx

Sunday thoughts

Hello from the Attic :: I am up here supposedly trying to sew bloody name labels on bloody school uniform. With a Humungous Hangover (don't ask). I can't even seem to thread the needle let alone sew these itsy bitsy labels on (why oh why didn't I buy iron-on ones????). So instead I have been drinking tea and looking out the window watching the cloud shadows move across the hillside. And I've been pondering, thinking, contemplating life as it were. Been thinking about Blogland and my little patch of space in it, thinking about the way my life is going at the moment, thinking about the changing seasons.
I've been reading through Susan Hill's book, which is a wonderful celebration of the four English seasons, and trying to come to terms with the fact that Summer is almost over. During this past week, I've been forced to think about the imminent arrival of Autumn :: it seems you are all welcoming it in and looking forward to it in a way that I can't quite seem to do just yet. Its still Late Summer for me, although I can feel it fading fast.

In fact this whole year is speeding by so fast, I can hardly keep up with the days and weeks and months as they whizz by. I have been blogging my life for almost six months now, and the whole experience is everything I hoped it would be, with a hellava lot more besides. I enjoy it enormously, enjoy thinking about it all, photographing stuff, writing it all out. But it is time consuming, crikey, it really does eat away the hours, don't you find? J tells me (quite crossly) that I have become Obsessed, and I have to admit that he may well be right. And I know I'm not the only one :: if you haven't already done so, you must go and read Jane's post about this very thing, it rings oh-so-true with many of us I think, myself included.

Sometimes I wonder if it's normal to be quite so ecstatic when new comments appear in the In Box, you would have thought that after 100+ posts that I would be a bit more cool about the whole comments thing by now, but no not me. I still hugely enjoy the thrill of receiving your comments, I love the two-way dialog that begins to happen. Love that somehow my own life starts to push out into cyberspace and create little waves of influence. That has been such an unexpected thrill about blogging :: to hear about you trying out the recipes, learning to crochet, visiting the places I've talked about, or choosing to bring more colour into your lives. I have even had my first, delightful bloggy-friend meet up, which was absolutely wonderful. So it's all good, and I am thankful for the part blogging is playing in my life at the moment.

I've received some awards over recent weeks and am so sorry it always takes me an age to get around to acknowledging these things. I hope you don't think I am ungrateful :: I truly appreciate it, really I do. I just find it hard sometimes to fit it all in when there is always so much else to tell you about.

  The Friendship award came to me from  Notes from my Days.

   Thank you Lesley.

  And this Love your Blog award came to me from Petticoat Lane.

  Thank you Jane.

  And this Brilliante Weblog award came to me not once, not twice,   but three times.

It came from Serendipity Loves New York, thanks Claire.
And Clairey too, thanks hun.
And also Dasiy Quilts, thank you Robyn.

So :: I am not going to pass them on (it causes me too big a headache), but I am truly thankful for your frequent visits up to the Attic, and your wonderful comments and awards. I love that you take time to stop by, and that you enjoy sharing my ordinary life with me.

Now I must get back to those pesky name labels, see you tomorrow for sea breezes, cute harbours and tales of my summer holiday.
xxxx

 

Unexpected

Some days just do not go the way your are expecting them to go. You spend hours/days/weeks psyching yourself up for a particular Big Event, and then all of a sudden you find yourself with an unexpected turn of events and everything crashes and wobbles for a while. Yesterday was just such a day under the Attic24 roof, and I can't say it was entirely unwelcome.

I know that this week in Blogland there have been many of you with your Little Ones starting out at school for the first time. I've been thinking of you (Ali, Julia) and in return I've had some lovely, warm, supportive comments and emails sent my way this week for my own Big Event.

 

Only it didn't happen. No, I've had an unexpected, temporary reprieve from classroom tears and snot and heartbreak. Pheww.
Instead of shiny, new school shoes we had bare toes.
Instead of stiff, grey pleats, we had soft, pink pyjamas.
Instead of the classroom and playground, we had the blankety sofa and Cbeebies.
Instead of goodbyes we had lengthy cuddles.
Instead of cheese sandwiches we had Nurofen and Calpol.

Yes, we had illness. Little Lady awoke early on Wednesday morning looking peeky and a bit hot and flushed. And by mid morning it was apparent she was really not well at all, with extreme tiredness (she slept on and off all day), loss of appetite (she couldn't even eat weetabix), aching limbs (crawling up the stairs on hands and knees) and a raging temperature (102 degrees). It did not get any better by the time Thursday morning arrived and I had to inform her new teacher that she wouldn't in fact be coming after all.

I find it very draining administering medicine. I mean, I know it's not difficult to pour out 5ml of liquid and spoon feed it to a child who loves the taste of it and laps it up eagerly, but somehow the constant use of the thermometer combined with obsessive clock watching to get the timing of two lots of medicines right completely drains me of energy. I can feel it flowing out of me even as I sit on the sofa under the Ripple with my feet up.

But yesterday, as well as tiredness and drainage of energy, there was also love and warmth and kindness. See the photo there above, see the orange card? Well Little Lady was feeling well enough by late afternoon yesterday to get up from the sofa and do some drawing at the table. I was not really paying much attention as she gathered orange card, crayons, pens and stickers and set to work. She made me a card,  presented it to me with a flourish. I was overwhelmed. She had managed to have a go at writing my name (L-oo-s-i-y), with a sweet little flower drawing, and oh I nearly wept with gratitude and pride.

The postie also delivered me a parcel yesterday, it was from Sally. She had oh-so-thoughtfully sent me a a little something, timed to arrive on the day that Little Lady (should have) started school. See that lovely flowery card up there on my mantel, and to the far right the packet of Burnt Sugar Crumbly Fudge? And see in the second photo up above, my gorgeous little blue and pink spotty slipper socks? Aren't I so bloomin lucky? Sal, I appreciated that parcel more than words can say. Thank you so very much.

On Under-the-Weather days, there are some things that are guaranteed to lift my spirits, to nourish my soul and make me a feel a little less deflated. A good magazine to read, something delicious to eat, and fresh flowers. Hang on, I think I may have said this before? Well no matter, it still remains true for me. So yesterday I bought the latest issue of CH, and ventured out into the cold drizzle to pick some flowers from the garden. The nasturtium seeds that I sowed back in June have finally produced flowers, hooray!! I did think they had frozen/drowned, but nope, they were just taking their sweet time.

The variety is called "Jewel Mixed" and they are quite lovely. I find nastutiums captivating :: so humble, yet so stunning. I popped them in a little glass pickle jar with a few verbena and cornflowers, and they are beside my bed looking radiant :: it was a delight to wake up to them this morning.

I also picked some flowers for the bathroom :: a few remaining sweet peas and pink geraniums. I love walking in to a room where you wouldn't ordinarily expect to find fresh flowers and seeing a few fresh colourful blooms, it cheers me no end.

A few days ago I treated myself to some new Bath Soak and a new face flannel. Gosh, I am cheap to please :: life's little luxuries folks, I can find pleasure in the smallest things, its another one of my talents. So last night when Little People were safely in bed and asleep, I ran myself a deep, hot bubble bath, lit a few candles and lay reading my magazine. It was bliss (although keeping the magazine out of the water was something of a challenge).

And then I was in my pj's, and snuggled up with a hot water bottle for the remainder of the evening (much better magazine-reading conditions).

Not the day I had envisaged, but unexpectedly good all the same. If I can admit to my daughter being sick as being Good? Lord, I have no shame do I, but at least I am honest.

Our Summer :: Lemony Goodness

I just adore lemons. I think the first recipe I posted on my blog back in March was for Lemon Drizzle Cake, which remains one of my all time favourite cakes to bake (and scoff). But this time I'm not using lemons for baking, but for drinking :: for creating a bit of zesty refreshment,  ideal for quenching thirsts at picnics, trips to the park, or just idling around at home.  Its a great summer drink, this one. Just thinking about it makes me want to glug a big chunky glass of it down, right now.

I've been making this lemon drink since I was about 17 years old. The recipe was given to me by my school friend's Mum Jane, because she always used to make it and I loved it so much when I visited their house (which was often). And now more than 20 years later I am still making it and it's always an instant reminder of long, warm summer days, of picnics in the countryside, of afternoon tea in Jane's orchard under the apple trees.
I made several lots throughout this summer as I do every year and kept meaning to share the recipe with you but kept forgetting. Until now of course.

The ingredients are refreshingly simple :: lemons, sugar, water.

Into a large bowl put 1.5lb (680g) granulated sugar, and the rind and juice from 5 ripe, unwaxed lemons.
The zesty smell is divine.

 Add 1 pint (568ml) boiling water and stir well until sugar has dissolved.

Feast your eyes on the zingy yellowness of it.
Cover with a tea towel of your choice (decisions, decisions), and leave to stand for 24 hours.
Sniff it every time you walk past :: at least 14 times in 24 hours.

 

Strain and bottle :: I used 2 x half-litre bottles, the old fashioned glass kind I found in an old fashioned type of kitchenware shop in my town (don't you just love those types of places?)

 

This makes a concentrated juice that needs to be diluted with water as you would do with shop-bought squash. Still water is good, sparkling water is even better.

Of course you could make this drink at any time of year, but somehow it is so essentially summery to me that I only tend to make it during June, July and August.
A taste of Summer in a glass.

Our Summer :: the Dry Days

In the days and weeks that we were home during the summer holiday, the weather was extremely variable here in North Yorkshire, not just day to day, but hour to hour. Some days we would wake up to beautiful cloudless blue skies, yet by mid morning it had somehow become cloudy and wet. Actually, yes, there were rather a lot of days with this pattern now I come to think about it. But other days it was the opposite way around and after a dismally wet, grey start where we slouched around in pyjamas till 11am (don't I have the hard life eh?), the afternoons were often bright and sunny, albeit with intermittent rain showers. 

We learnt to act quickly during the dry, sunny spells. We kept a crate in the hallway filled with outdoor stuff :: rackets, balls, chalks, bubbles, water pistols, towels, picnic rugs. Scooters were always on standby and homemade fruity icelollies were always in the freezer. Unless it was absolutely peeing down with rain, the Little People chose to spend most their time outside.

We have a small front garden with a teensy square of grass (small enough for me to be able to clip it with shears), and as I mentioned yesterday, for some unspoken reason, our house/garden became the hub of activity for all the neighbourhood children this summer. If they weren't playing up and down the street, then they would be in our little patch of garden. I took to propping the front door open with a rock for most of the day so I could potter about inside whilst listening out for signs of trouble (often Little Lady wailing because she had been soaked with a water pistol, or Little Man crashing off his scooter).
We are fortunate to live in a relatively safe neighbourhood, a narrow street of terraced houses where everyone watches out for the children and cars drive up and down with care.
As this was our first summer in this house, we approached Street Life with real caution at first, would always sit on the steps watching over the Little People when they played out, making certain they were safe. But as the weeks went on we began to allow them to come and go as they pleased so long as they remained on our street and it was wonderful to see them thrive on the freedom and trust we allowed them.

These photos were all taken on one particular afternoon :: Thursday 7th August.

There was chalking :: most days the box of chalks came out to play. The age range of Little People in our neighbourhood goes from 20 months to nine years, with my two offspring (age 4 and 6) somewhere in the middle. But everyone loved to chalk. They decorated our front wall day after day and, chalked games of hopscotch or noughts and crosses on the pavement.

There were bubbles :: nothing elaborate, just the usual small bottle of magic liquid that I remember fondly from my own childhood. I love that in this age of computers and hi-tech games, the simple activities like chalking and bubble blowing are still able to entertain.

There was water :: After blue chalk was scrawled all the way up our front steps and consequently trodden in through the house on this day, I presented the Little People with tubs of warm, soapy water and scrubbing brushes and instructions to clean the place up.

They did indeed clean up thoroughly and enthusiastically, then decided to climb into the water. There was much excitement and the tea set was requested, and lots of soapy, watery fun followed. No need for big paddling pools folks :: a tub trug of water is just as good.

There were water fights :: oh yes, there were long, elaborate, calculating, scheming battles on our street this summer. I bought Little Man this "Blaster" for about £6, and he suddenly became  a Force to be Reckoned with in the world of Neighbourhood Water Fights.

He had a good aim.
The jet of water could cross the street from one side to the other.
He had Power.
And he loved it.

There was scootering :: Many, many hours were spent this summer cruising the street on two wheels. We live towards the top of a hill which is perfect for whizzing down :: not too scarily steep, but enough of an incline to gather good speed. There were injuries, but it didn't seem to matter too much. A bit of a cry, some antiseptic cream, and then back out to play so as not to miss out on anything.

So that was our outdoorsy day that was 07:08:08.
It was ordinary, but oh so worth remembering.