You may remember me chatting about Connievan at the beginning of June, telling you about how we moved her to a new home in the country? I've not written much about it since then, but in the six weeks that she has been there, we have managed to visit almost every week, sometimes twice a week. I don't always take photographs there to be honest. Something about being with Connievan makes me want to forget about technology and immerse myself completely in the simplicity of camping life. Weirdly I don't even seem to be able to crochet or read there either. I always take a project and a magazine with me but it rarely gets a look in. We tend to hang out as a family there, and the time passes easily without the need to look for diversions.
Here in North Yorkshire, like much of the UK, we are experiencing a really spectacular start to our Summer. We have had day after day of seasonal weather perfection, with blue skies and hot sunshine lasting well into the evening time. It has honestly been glorious, and life at the campsite in this weather is completely wonderful. There are many families at the campsite, and a really lovely gang of camping children for my brood to hang out with. It is sooooo wonderful to watch them at play, to watch the simple games they come up with, their joy in running, jumping, hiding, and (recently for the girls) learning to do cartwheels.
There is a sweet little play area at the campsite which Little B is very fond of, and often in the evenings after we have finished eating, J and I will bring a mug of tea each down here to sit on that bench and watch our littlest do his thing. He is happiest with an audience, that's for sure.
This time of day is so magical I think, it's about 8pm or thereabouts. Still another two hours of soft, golden daylight, another two hours of outdoor play before we all tuck into our cosy beds.
Our usual routine is to head to Connievan on a Friday evening, arriving around 6pm for a lateish dinner. I have found it best to keep the food very simple, and quick. Yeah, it has to be produced prettily speedily when we get there or else a small riot breaks out. Sometimes we have a cold spread of meats, salad, dips and crusty bread, and sometimes we have hotdogs in white bread rolls with lots of fried onions, ketchup and mustard. And there is always fruit. We eat a lot of fruit each week between the five of us, and it's especially good in the summer time. On a Friday I visit the market and come home laden with summer fruits :: bags of sweet cherries, plums and nectarines, punnets of strawberries and raspberries, and various varieties of melon. Ice cold wedges of watermelon are hard to beat on a hot summers day.
We have eased into the routine of sleeping in Connievan very well now, particularly Little B. Some of his initial sleeping-bag-induced over excitement has worn off and his caravan bed is now familiar to him and very cosy. Providing we all go to bed and have lights out at the same time (usually just after 10pm) then he happily climbs into his little nest and falls asleep within minutes.
I continue to love love love the early morning times best of all, oh I do LoVE it!!! I make myself a steaming hot tin mug of tea and take myself outside in my pyjamas with a camping blanket wrapped round my shoulders and sit. It is so peaceful, so tranquil and green and fresh and so completely different to being at home.
We have found that trying to sleep for two nights at the 'van simply does not work. It's just that weeny bit too long, especially for Little Man who misses his mates and his own space and is at an age (almost 11) where prolonged family time is sometimes a bit of a challenge. So we've come up with a compromise which seems to suit everyone. We arrive Friday evening, stay the night, then spend the whole of Saturday (including the evening meal) before closing up camp and heading back into town around 8pm. Saturdays are usually spent in a very lazy fashion, lots of lounging, eating and drinking. Lengthy picnic lunches which sprawl into the late afternoon, hours of happy idleness.
Sometimes we wander the short way down the lane to go play in the river.
Down through this green and leafy pathway.....
....until we reach the cool water.
It's a beautiful spot, shallow enough for the Little Peeps to play and paddle safely....
....and extremely refreshing when the days have been so hot.
The light is so beautiful at this time of year, I love the dancing leafy reflections in the still water.
We are at the very height of summer now, and the landscape is starting to lose it's lush greenery and look a little more parched.
Still beautiful though, especially with the late afternoon sun beaming down upon it.
I sometimes have little in-my-head fantasies about living out here. It is only half an hour drive from the Attic, but it is very rural and quite isolated out here. It sometimes surprises me when I realise I have really become a Townie! I always felt so sure I should be a country girl.
Life in Connievan continues to be sweet. I just love the simplicity of caravan life so much. I love the little routines that form around mealtimes and bedtimes. I love the gentle domesticity that feels like such a pleasure.
On a few occasions, we have found ourselves still longing for Connievan when the weekend is over, and have come up to see her for a few hours on a Monday night. It feels very special when we do this, as if we are somehow sneaking in extra time that isn't really allowed! But it feels wonderful to be making the very most of our summer months, of the long hours of daylight at this time of year, and the welcome time that we can spend outdoors surrounded by greenery.
As you can see, the campsite is very well kept. Only a small part of it is used for touring caravans like ours, and for tents. The rest of it is taken up with these pale green static caravans which are used rather like holiday homes.
On Monday night when we went there for dinner and an evening of warm, golden, sunny outdoor pleasure, I took a stroll around the site with Little Man. It's not often I spend time with him alone, he is actually great company, chatty and funny and such a good young man. As the camp site was practically deserted on Monday evening, we took the opportunity to sneak a peek through the windows of some of the statics. They are very, very orderly and caravanish inside, but oddly appealing. Little Man said we should make an offer to the owners of this one so that I could have it and rename my blog Static24. Made me really laugh out loud.....but maybe..........?
Actually what we ended up doing was going to fetch a bag and some scissors and making an impromptu elderflower harvest. We came across several elder trees at the camp site and I noticed with some vocal joy that the blooms were still pretty much at their peak, unlike here in town where they are pretty much over. We collected enough for me to make a second batch of cordial, and (still pending, but on schedule for tomorrow), a batch of elderflower champagne!! I'm planning on using this recipe, unless anyone can give me a better one. I hope it works out!
8pm now on Monday evening, and the Little People both ask if we can go for a short walk up the hill behind the campsite, the same hill that we climbed on the evening of Summer Solstice and saw the Super Moon. There is a vague pathway which winds it's way through the long summer grass.....
....isn't this pretty? It brought back a sudden but rather hazy stab of childhood nostalgia and out of nowhere I remembered it's name :: Quaker Grass. My memory often amazes me. It is so appallingly awful on a day to day short term basis, and yet the most quirky facts from many moons ago are still able to surface.
The hill climb is short and sharp. I am wearing inappropriate footwear (flip flops) so I am a little slow and a little clumsy, but eventually I catch up with my energetic Little Peeps at our agreed resting point. Oh, I do love a good view!
Interestingly, my Little People decide to lay down in the long grass and study the sky, which is something that I very often do and which they very often ridicule me for. I smiled inwardly and lay down to join them. Don't you just love summer evenings like this? I feel like I never want it to end.
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We have one of those green statics in a little Yorkshire seaside village and spend most weekends and holidays there. We never want to leave and I too often imagine living this simple life full time :)
Posted by: lazylol | July 29, 2013 at 09:32 PM
I just love your Connievan posts!!! Your summer vacationing is simply dreamy.
Posted by: Emily Clark | July 28, 2013 at 02:21 AM
Just popping in to say hello and I am sure u are excited about the new addition to the Royal Family! God Bless William and Kate's new baby boy! Kitty from the USA
Posted by: Kitty | July 23, 2013 at 05:13 AM
Looks like fun! :D
Posted by: Shelby | July 22, 2013 at 10:16 PM
Hahahahaha! Static 24 , what a BRILLIANT joke!! I really do love that!
And you now have your eye on the next 'upgrade' yes you do, I can tell! Meanwhile Himself and me...we are going to look at some caravans ourselves this week - to keep at a site in Wales where he loves to fish, and near a little town I can mooch around, and read, and stitch, and play my melodeon on the days he is fishing, or we will wander the lovely countryside...and I am already doing "Connie-van " plans in my head, and we haven't even found one yet! Oh such deep joy!
Posted by: Lynne Gill | July 22, 2013 at 07:22 PM
Lovely place!
Hi lucy!
Sara
Posted by: Sara | July 22, 2013 at 10:34 AM
Beautiful photos and absorbing blog as always. What a great start to life you are giving your children, and their personalities sound like they reflect your very positive ability to see through life's travails to the good stuff. Please keep posting - you lift me up when I most need it.
Posted by: Sara | July 22, 2013 at 09:51 AM
we really loved our time in our little touring caravan, we did the touring part and also the stay in one place (scarborough). We now have a static caravan in Heysham and its one of the best things ever! It's not the same as the tourer I'll admit but it's pretty close and fantastic in school holidays when we are near the sea x
Posted by: wendy | July 21, 2013 at 09:37 PM
What a happy, summery post Lucy. You sound more than happy, you sound blissed out! The warm weather makes every day feel like a holiday I think. xx
Posted by: Gillian | July 20, 2013 at 11:34 PM
Hi Lucy! What a pleasure it was to read your post about the van and the countryside - awesome photos! It would be nice to have one of the bigger static ones so you could really spread out inside. Maybe someday? Our daughter and 2 granddaughters are here for a visit.. we're loving it. I put some photos on my blog. We're having the same perfect summer weather. Enjoy! ((hugs)), Teresa :-)
Posted by: Teresa Kasner | July 20, 2013 at 10:17 PM
Please can I just tell you how much joy and pleasure your blog adds to my life. I'm so glad I "know"you Lucy ! Penny L in Dorsetxxxxxxxxxxxx
Posted by: Penny L | July 20, 2013 at 08:13 PM
Todo, todo muy hermoso!
Posted by: Diseño Web | July 20, 2013 at 02:40 PM
Oh this makes me so nostalgic. About 40 years ago we had a static caravan up at a site in West Witton. There were caravans around the ourside of the fields but the middle was left empty for a big playing field. Well it seemed big when I was 8!
We used to travel there on a Friday night and leave on Sunday evening (used to listen to Charlie Chester on the radio on the way home). I loved the smell of the calor gas stove, the patchwork covers mum made for our sleeping bags and the freedom to explore the woods and play on the fields. It was so quiet (that's why we went, so my dad's office couldn't contact him - oh for the days before mobile phones!).
I feel so lucky to have had the experience. It's so wonderful you have the opportunity too, and sharing it has made me tearful today - in a nostalgic way.
My best friend lives in Skipton, I'll let her know the next time you have an open house.
Thank you for sharing.
Min
P.S. We sold the caravan when I was about 14 because my brother (who was 19) and I wanted to hang out with friends rather than in the country. Of course now I think we were ridiculous.
Posted by: Min | July 20, 2013 at 06:04 AM
How utterly gorgeous. I think I know where Connievan is hiding! The Dales is my second home, my parents spent every spare moment up there from our home in the nearby city, which we obviously grumbled about as we grew up. Looking back though I appreciate how lucky I was - swimming in rivers, hiking up hills, adventures in the woods!
Enjoy! Some say Yorkshire is 'grim', it's not, it's out of this world AMAZING.
Posted by: Rosie | July 19, 2013 at 11:20 PM
Lovely stuff. I always feel that at fruit time of year it is one's duty to stuff as much fruit as humanly possible into the day.
Posted by: Kate | July 19, 2013 at 10:04 PM
Beautiful post, as always. Your son's joke is so clever that like Kate I laughed out loud. Then had to explain to my family what was so funny. Enjoy your summer, Lucy!
Posted by: Christine Laennec | July 19, 2013 at 09:16 PM
Gorgeous post - love your pictures of North Yorkshire in the sunshine. You can't beat it if you get the weather! Though I love it in any weather. xCathy
Posted by: Cathy Daniel | July 19, 2013 at 06:50 PM
Dear Lucy, After years and years of despair that my parenting was being ignored by my children, I see them doing and saying the things that I said to them. We become our parents and our children become us. I have come to believe that one can only plant the seeds and hope that they will grow.
Posted by: Jen | July 19, 2013 at 04:03 PM
Stunning views, but isn't the English countryside beautiful. Just love watching your blog as these days I don't seem to go anywhere with the shop and everything else. I tell my customers to go onto your blog for inspiration and tell them of the beautiful pictures that you have too.
Keep us all green with envy.
Anne x
Posted by: Anne Dawson | July 19, 2013 at 02:49 PM
I enjoyed your photos of your Connievan and the area. Beautiful scenery, the water, the quaker grass. I am from New England, USA. My mother was born in Lancaster and came to America when she was 20 years old. She returned for visits in her later years. I would love to visit England. I felt as if I had a small trip to England looking at your photos and reading your captions. Your site is wonderful. Thank you very much for sharing. Barbara Kothman
Posted by: Barbara Kothman | July 19, 2013 at 10:57 AM
So lovely. What a great idea to set the Connievan up permanently! Love your blog. Find it really inspiring.
Posted by: Piggywhistles | July 19, 2013 at 10:24 AM
Hi friend I love your blog always has nice things here, hugs ...
Posted by: Roberta Bortoluzzi | July 19, 2013 at 03:33 AM
I just love that your son suggested a "Static 24." Lovely photos, as always.
Posted by: Donna | July 19, 2013 at 02:35 AM
Too cute! Little Man is very creative. Static24. Made me laugh out loud, too. What a great escape for you and your family.
Posted by: Denny | July 18, 2013 at 10:39 PM
How lovely that you get away to Connievan each week. You are creating beautiful memories for your children. God bless you and your family Lucy - I hope the summer continues in such a wonderful way xx
Nadia
Posted by: Nadia | July 18, 2013 at 10:36 PM