Here in Atticland, we continue to hunker down beneath an almost permanent layer of low hanging greyness and I am doing my level best to stop whining about that fact. I realise that allowing my moods to be so affected by the colour of the sky is really rather silly and am trying to get over myself where this is concerned, honest I am. But still ------------- ugh (just a very small, acceptable amount of harrumph).
Waking up on Monday morning to yet another day cloaked in grey grey grey cloud and fog and I worked hard to squish the disappointment and look on the bright side. J and I were off out for a gad about, deciding to head upwards and take a little mooch around on the top of Ilkley Moor. I was worried as we drove through the fog, worried that we would end up a-top a rather bleak and wild moor enveloped in swirling grey mist. But the strangest thing happened as we drove up, up, up - we actually broke through the grey layer and found ourselves unexpectedly Above the Clouds!
The view across the valley from up here is usually spectacular, clear and far reaching, but on Monday the cloud did a fine job of hiding Ilkley away almost completely.
The cloud almost looked like smoke drifting about over the valley.....
....and it felt ever so slightly eerie to witness it constantly moving, shifting and changing as we strolled about on the moor top.
But look.....LOOK!!!!!! Up above the cloud layer there was blue sky and sunshine beaming down on us, oh what a treat!
We didn't walk far, this was more of a fresh-air gathering potter than a hike. We had no map, no route, just a vague feeling of wishing to walk around a bit to take in the blue sky (blue sky!) and breathe it all in. J and I talk non stop whilst we walk together, well that's to say that mostly it's me doing the yakking. I love that our conversations manage to dispel the feeling I often get where it seems as if my head is just too stuffed full of gumph. Writing helps enormously with this (here on my blog, and in my planner too), but there is something so comforting about talking it all out with someone who will simply just be there to listen. J is so good at doing it, he absorbs my almost constant stream of verbal gumph (plans, projects, observations, memories, thoughts, feelings, design ideas etc etc) so that I gradually feel relieved of the pressure of carrying it all around stuffed inside my head.
If I had to choose a place to go where I could release my mental gumph most effectively, it would most definitely be by the sea. But being an inland dweller, the next best thing is to get up on a hilltop high above the valleys, as close to the sky as possible. It's just so liberating, the feel-good for me when I do this simple thing is almost too much to put into words.
It's been quite some time since we were last up on Ilkley Moor, it really is lovely up there you know. Cold too, crikey, I most certainly wasn't "baht 'at" (Yorkshire dialect for "without a hat"). I was very glad of the crochet stitches on my head.
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...more little snippets from the Attic...
Nice fields there
Posted by: Joan | June 30, 2017 at 01:37 PM
You live in an astonishingly beautiful part of the world. Thanks for sharing your regular sojourns into the wilds in all weathers. Because of you I will definitely be making a trip to Yorkshire in the next year or so, hopefully around Yarndale time! A recent trip my husband and I did over this summer was to South Australia via Mildura and Renmark (citrus and grape country), skirting just north of the great Murray River which divides two states. Along the remote Goyder Highway we passed Dust Bowl Station and World's End Highway (no joke, google it!), so very very different to your neck of the woods. Can't wait to experience moorland wonders!
Posted by: Jenny | February 11, 2017 at 11:00 PM
Great photos Lucy - Ilkley Moor brings back many happy memories.
Posted by: Linden | February 11, 2017 at 10:08 PM
We had blue skies one day this week and it makes SUCH a difference to how I felt! My spirits were lifted and and my whole soul felt lighter! Isn't it strange? I always wonder whether or not I would feel like that all the time if I lived somewhere where there were blue skies every day?
When it IS grey outside, I love to get my 'colour fix' from paint or wool or fabric.
I agree that we need to always try remember that there IS blue sky behind the clouds!
Posted by: Debbie, Essex | February 11, 2017 at 11:15 AM
It is so easy to let the grim weather get you down; we love to hike but we haven't been out in months....It looks like to had a lovely time, we may have to follow your example!
Posted by: Sophie | February 10, 2017 at 09:04 PM
I find it helpful to remember that above the clouds there is always blue sky (metaphorically and meteorologically!)
Posted by: Caroline | February 10, 2017 at 12:20 PM
Jacqui, I've been in a crochet slump too but not because of the weather. I have a few different hobbies that I do and every once in awhile I seem to get burned out on one. Every tote bag I have has a work in progress in it! Do a lot of you out there have the same problem?
Lucy, thanks for sharing your blue skies! Here in Indiana we are having some blue sky and then ''poof"" it goes away and the shifting grey comes again. We had a touch of snow the other day and I loved watching it and the best part was that it was so little an amount I didn't have to shovel. I'm thinking
about doing one of your Bower birds when I get out of this slump and hopefully do a wreath. Thanks for another great read!
Posted by: Laurie Mowat | February 10, 2017 at 08:08 AM
I'm so glad to hear that you got up above those grey clouds and got some good sunshine on your head. Bravo.. and I'm also glad you had that lovely hat on your head!! ((hugs)), Teresa :-)
Posted by: Teresa Kasner | February 10, 2017 at 03:59 AM
Your pictures bring back so many happy memories. Hiking across the moor to Ilkley from Baildon, flying kites, tea and cake in the town then back again, (or catching the train if we were feeling lazy!) So lovely to see blue sky, especially a Yorkshire blue sky.
Posted by: AnnieOB | February 09, 2017 at 11:28 PM
Now those photos brought so many memories flooding back from times looking down on Ilkley, even sitting on the Cow & Calf. I chatter a lot about the same things as you to my other half, but I know he only half listens, then doesn't remember much at all. Thanks again for the photos. Take care.
Posted by: Susan Smith | February 09, 2017 at 09:07 PM
I drove over Ilkley Moor from Guiseley on Monday morning and also stopped to take photos! You had nicer weather than me. My walk at Bolton Abbey was under a dirty grey sky :-)
Posted by: Claire B | February 09, 2017 at 07:38 PM
As always your post lifted my spirits and inspired me to get off my duff and do something. I especially love the way you manage to see the bright side of things when the weather is grim.
Posted by: Leah Lynch | February 09, 2017 at 07:06 PM
This is such a lovely post. I live in Seattle, also very gray. I'm having a hard time looking out the window right now because it's pouring rain and there is not a single bit of color outside, it's all just a varying shade of gray. But this post really helped me remember that above the clouds and the rain, the sky is still a glorious blue, and the sun is up there too! Thank you for this. Your joy in this post came through. :)
Posted by: Zoe | February 09, 2017 at 06:04 PM
Wow, how amazing to be up above the clouds. That blue sky is just divine. I was thinking yesterday how incredible flat and impenetrable our particular bit of grey sky was looking. Really matt and smooth, quite strange in a way. There wasn't much light underneath it. Hopefully there'll be a bit of sunshine on its way next week. CJ xx
Posted by: CJ | February 09, 2017 at 04:22 PM
Wow Lucy, you are so talented and inspiring!! If I had just a fraction of your ability I would be doing cartwheels!! I love your blog, the way you write and your passion for life, love and colour. I live in Kwa Zulu Natal, South Africa and I know just what you mean about the sky! Ours is huge, wide, high, vast and forever so when a bit of cloud comes our way I feel like the sky is falling down. I look forward to your hat pattern and am presently doing your cosy stripe afghan in a king size with a few africa inspired colours added. Please keep doing what you do, there are many of us out here who love, love, love what you so unstintingly share. Take care.....
Posted by: Ann Lovinia Gates | February 09, 2017 at 04:17 PM
How wonderful Lucy. so glad you got a sunny walk in the end. I'd love to climb through the clouds and arrive at the blue skied summit. Very special.
Glad you are still using your beautiful hat too.
Lots of love
Jacquie x
Posted by: Jacquie | February 09, 2017 at 03:37 PM
Oh I'm so with you on the grey and how it affects ones mood. I've had such a terrible cold these past couple of weeks that I just cannot shake but I feel convinced the constant grey is prolonging it. I feel very grumpy and frustrated at the moment. I'm trying my best to shake it off with warm blankets, yummy coffee, candles and crochet. It's helping.......but a nice big dose of blue sky and sunshine would do wonders! I find constant grey hard. I'd take freezing cold and sunshine any day over grey and mild!
Beautiful views Lucy. I'm trying to get walks in to clear the head!
Let's hope for sunnier days soon xxxxxxxxxxx
Posted by: Vanessa | February 09, 2017 at 02:57 PM
Perspective. Thank you for sharing yours.
Posted by: Laurie | February 09, 2017 at 02:57 PM
I'd take Yorkshire in the fog, in the mist, in the rain, in the snow ANY day over anyplace else in the whole world. It's all beautiful, awe inspiring, and wonderful. I can remember being atop the Rosedale chimney with the wind wildly whipping across the moors, and us pulling over, with only the sheep for company up there on a cold and blustery day in May! We loved every minute of it!
Posted by: Bex Crowell | February 09, 2017 at 02:46 PM
I think the cloud phenomenon is called an inversion or some such. It happened to me when walking in the Mourne mountains. Grey and drizzly lower down then sunny and warm as if we were in a different country above.
We are returning from sunny NZ and Tasmania so dreading the cold.
Posted by: Catherine Pritchard | February 09, 2017 at 02:45 PM
Thank you for sharing Lucy 💟
Posted by: Lisa-Sammamish, WA | February 09, 2017 at 02:38 PM
You could be the only people in the world when you're above the clouds, couldn't you? It's a strange feeling, and coming back through them to life underneath the clouds is a strange one too. At least you saw some sunshine! xx
Posted by: Winwick Mum | February 09, 2017 at 02:15 PM
So glad you were able to find blue sky! (I've about forgotten what that looks like.) But, on a more cheerful note, some of my daffodils have started to bloom! Yay! I hope that means spring is not far off. Here's to more blue skies! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Posted by: Angela-Southern USA | February 09, 2017 at 01:58 PM
I like walking when the sky is blue at this time of the year but we are in a valley and no hills really. So lucky to have hills like this.
Posted by: Carol | February 09, 2017 at 01:54 PM
I couldn't agree with you more about these grey days they are definitely affecting my mood so much that even my mad crochet all the time has turned into a slump popping to your page to look at patterns to see if something will lift me up!!!
Iilley looks lovely beautiful photo's
Posted by: Jacqui | February 09, 2017 at 01:51 PM