Up River

Yesterday, the weather was deliciously, wonderfully springlike and we decided to take advantage of this fact and head off on a proper good Outing. J was very keen for us to head right up into the Yorkshire Dales to visit one of his favourite childhood haunts. We go to the river at Hubberholme once or twice a year, and it never fails to delight.

It's an idyllic place, and spending an extended period of time here is made easy by the fact that you can park your car right where you wish to be. Simply pick your spot, pull in to the left, park, unload all manner of picnicking paraphernalia, cross the tiny road and set up camp right beside the river. It's all very easy and convenient.

The river itself is just perfection here. It's the same wide, powerful river Wharfe that flows through Bolton Abbey, but here in Upper Wharfedale it is still in it's baby stages. It bubbles and gurgles it's way over the rocky river bed in a series of enticing shallow pools and tumbling mini waterfalls. The sound of all that bubbling, gurgling and tumbling is delicious.

This is our favourite part of the river right opposite that old ash tree, and we always try and find this particular spot when we come to picnic here.

There is just enough flat grass for us to put up our sun tent and "make camp".

I love our sun tent. J and I always have a mild tussle with the job of putting it up (it has three poles, and takes a little bit of concentrated effort to get it erected), but once it's up we remember how great it is. It's pretty spacious, and allows us to shelter from the wind and have some quiet snuggly time if needed.

It provided a perfect hooky haven. I had a fantastic view of the river, but felt beautifully warm and cosy (it was quite breezy yesterday and despite the sun there was still a nip in the air).

By the time we had set up camp, the Little People were already declaring starvation, so we got straight down to the business of providing lunch. This was to be something of an experiment as we had decided to try something a little different. We were going to be cooking, not on a barbecue.....

....but on our tiny little old gas camping stove. We have had this stove for sooo many years (it is this sort of one) and we love it. J loves cooking on it, he was so excited to get it out again and use it to fry up some onions.

While he was down on the rocks in raptures over the stove, I was cosy inside the tent preparing the rest. We had soft white finger rolls, ketchup and mustard (Heinz and Colmans of course), and in our fabulous food flask we had some piping hot frankfurter sausages.

And voila! Picnic Hotdogs which tasted surprisingly delicious, and Little People who were overjoyed at the departure from sandwiches.

I had hastily managed to bake and ice some buns at breakfast, and they tasted scrummy washed down with a brew of fresh coffee (we recently bought a couple of these for picnics and walks which are ace). Add in a punnet of fresh strawberries and some bottles of cloudy apple juice, and the picnic lunch was declared a great success.

The afternoon passed slowly, in a happy, sunny haze of watery activity.

There was a hunt for river wildlife....

....and some impressive dam building, which very sweetly involved all three Little Peeps. Little B was having such a fun time here, I can't tell you how excited he was with all of this.

The river is beautifully clear, and the flat, dry rocks make it a wonderful place to explore. It's possible to rock-hop right across the river from one side to the other, with only a little bit of help needed for Little B with his little legs.

It was very peaceful by the river, despite it's proximity to the road. A couple of tractors drove by, and a number of motorbikes, but mostly it was just sheep strolling past.

I love this old ash tree on the opposite side of the river. I love it's mossy roots and the way it leans gently into the old dry stone wall behind.

I spent a bit of time over here by myself, leaning against the old gnarled trunk and observing my family. J was relaxing in his chair reading, and The Little Peeps were very happy playing about in the water and on the rocks together, it made me feel so happy to watch them.

While I was over by the old tree, I had a sudden bolt of an idea. A whim. A desire.

I was overcome by a very strong urge to.....................

.....yarn bomb!!!!!!!!!!!

Hahaha! It was hilarious actually, I couldn't believe I was really doing such a crazy thing, but I somehow just had to give into the urge. I took the bunting triangle I had just finished and simply stitched it to the fence.

I thought it looked rather pretty against it's blue and green backdrop, and I really hope it manages to stay there. I would SO love to go back to the river later in the year and discover it still there marking our "spot".

I thought how lovely it is to see such beautiful woolly colour sitting in the landscape, and then couldn't resist taking my blanket out onto the sun warmed rocks for a wee photo shoot.

It ended up staying there for most the afternoon as the Little People took it in turns to lay down and rest on it. I took some lovely photos of them here. Lovely memories for this Hooky Mama.

Really, it was a pretty perfect day.

It's rather lovely spending time by the river in May.

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Comments

[Andréa Marques]

Oi Lucy,sou do Brasil adoro os teus trabalhos,já fiz vários que aprendi no teu blog,tu moras em um lugar lindo,UM abraço Andréa Marques.

[ella]

what a wonderful day....if the sun was more reliable here there would never be any need to leave the uk

[Lisa Pidgeon]

What a wonderfully colourful blog post. What a lovely day out you had creating lovely memories for your little ones. I love cooking outside. Last year we received this amazing outdoor cooking device called a trangia. They are very expensive but worth the investment. I also indulge in rather alot of yarn bombing http://kgb-123.blogspot.co.uk/

[Maggie]

Yes, all lovely but what about old ladies like me who need to pee?

[Louise]

What a beautiful place for a picnic, even better when it involves a bit of 'cooking' rather sandwiches. I have family that way and I think next time I go to stay I'll visit this stretch of the river as I haven't been to this spot. Beautiful photos as always and I love your bit of yarn bombing - maybe I'll spot it, still there, in August!

[Chel C]

This all looks so beautiful. You are really lucky to live in such a beautiful area of the country. Wouldn't it be fantastic if next time you went there were other bunting grannies with clues as to what parts of the country they have come from?! Have a wonderful week. Chel

[Jones]

What a gorgeous day! Fab idea about the flask of frankfurters, never thought of doing that! As for your Yarnbomb, love it! Imagine the sheep do too - they'll flock from miles around ;)
Jones x

[Janette]

Oh Lucy what a delightful delightful blog re yesterday! Must get myself into the countryside too here in gorgeous Somerset! Maybe your Yarn bombing will take off? I know I've thought of a few places already I might add a bit of hooky colour to. So good to hear a mum who enjoys her children so much. Mine are 21 and 25 now and sometimes it feels like yesterday that they were young. It's one of our main jobs as parents to give our children happy chilhood memories. Thank YOU Lucy for brightening all of our days.

[Anne Bebbington]

Langstrothdale - so so gorgeous and on such a lovely day too - pining is the only word for it - thanks for sharing such gorgeous photos

[Rae]

This so reminds me of my Lovely Dad...as a young child in the early 60's, my parents had very little money,things were difficult.On a Sunday morning he would suddenly announce "We are going on a Picnic" Mum would find whatever she could in the cupboard... Dad would gather all the "picnic" gear together and Hey Hoe we had a make do picnic. We were the lucky ones because Dad was a motor mechanic and managed to have a little car on the road....lots of people didn't at that time. Those "Picnic" days out seemed to last forever....Thank you Lucy for sharing and continue to show your children that money does not buy everything. PS I love your Yarn Bomb I'm sure you will see it's picture on Flickr very soon lol........

[Susanna Auvinen]

Lovely spots you have over there. They look a lot like we have here in Lapland. Small rivers and brooks and high hills. Only we also have mosquitos, which you do not mention in your posts. So lucky you. Maybe they do not exist in Yorkshire Dales? Thank you for sharing again the beauty of english countryside. And best wishes from Finland.
Susanna Auvinen

[emma from toadstool tales]

Hi, I love your outings. I have a special place in my heart for tents ... And I love that you can decamp for the day. I have a yearning for both your food flasks and your mug - they look great. I love the idea of yarn bombing but haven't had the courage yet to try it myself!

[Judy]

Thanks for the memories of Yorkshire - we used to live there when the kids were small and we never ran out of places to go and visit - it really is a beautiful part of the world. We're toying with the idea of returning there one day. Judy.

[One-oh-four]

Love the yarn bombing! Was planning to sit outside and crochet today but have woken up to rain :( Your lunch looks great, I think my kids would have thoroughly approved of those hot dogs too!

[Μarieta]

I like very much your picnic hours near the river. I love the weather there, no hot and I like your triangles granny. Thank you for your sharing ideas and patterns.Marieta from Greece. You can see me here http://dimiourgia-epikinonia.blogspot.gr/

[maggie]

Oh really lovely Lucy, glad you had such a perfect day, it all looks so wonderful. I love the yarn bomb and I would really love to go there right now.xxx

[miellavande]

♥ Beautyful place and beautiful weather ! I love your grannys.....Thanks a lot Lucy....i'm french and live in south of FRANCE but the weather is so bad ....the chance : made crochet like you ....!!!!

✨See me in http://miellavande.wordpress.com.....✨

Thank you Lucy for grannys and colored idees !

[Jen Hart]

It looks like an idyllic day, we have a picnic on Exmoor (near where I live) planned for one of our summer outings and I wouldn't have thought to take the camping stove, which is wierd as I always take it to the beach. So thank you for sharing that. Well done on the yarn bombing :)

[Heather Leal]

you rebel Lucy!!! Yarn bombing is fab isnt it but quite scary!
Heather x

[Liz]

Your post today brings back such happy memories for me of holidaying in a cottage at Buckden and visiting Hubberholme with my children in the 80s. I really will have to go there again!

[Marylin]

Yarn bombing in the countryside...you rascal! You know I might have to succumb to that urge myself one of these days. Thx for sharing your day. Hugs, MO

[Peggy]

All of your posts really make me want to up and move to the English countryside!! And I love your yarn bombing.

[Cherie Lahood]

Hi. Do you have the pattern for the squares in your beautiful rug? (the one in the tent and on the rocks). Thanks, Cherie

[fabiola]

hola lucy:
me encantan todos los lugares y cosas que muestras, yo vivo en Santa Cruz Bolivia, me gusta mucho tu blog, tienes una vida muy linda y tranquila, con la que sone siempre, me gusta tu pais y el lugar donde vives y las cosas hermosas que haces llenas de color y amor
Parece gracioso lo que te voy a decir pero siempre he pensado que en alguna vida anterior vivi en esos lugares hermosos q muestras, me despido hasta otro momento y gracias por compartir las hermosas cosas q motras

[Carolyn]

This spot is amazing.Babbling brooks and children is always such a wonderful combination isn't it. I love that we as parents can just sit and watch them if we like and they will happily busy themselves safely for hours. My boys adore dam-building. Last Christmas at the beach two of them were still at it and they are 14 and 17!!!Wonderful....