A Week of Taking it Slow

So this has been the sloooooooow week following on from the rollercoaster week, and to be completely honest I am very glad it's over. There has been underlying stress to our days as J took the week off work to recover, which in itself has felt rather strange. He is very rarely unwell and the concept of time off work with enforced rest and recovery didn't especially come naturally to him. Luckily I was able to gently help him ease through the days as he took some necessary time out, and I think we managed pretty well all things considered.  

One of the things we did last week was make sure that we took a walk every day - nothing too strenuous, just some gentle strolling around our neighbourhood. We would drop Little B at school, then off we would go to stretch our legs and breathe in the Autumn air.

I know I talk often about the woods in our town as it's one of our favourite go-to places when we don't want to take the car out. It's absolutely wonderful to have this place so close by as you can literally access it just a minute or two from the high street, gosh I do so appreciate it!

The Woodland Trust do a great job maintaining it and creating some wonderful additions too (I love this beautiful carved poem bench which is fairly new). Just recently a couple of amazing willow sculptures have arrived, created by a North Yorkshire willow artist. This one is right by the main entrance and is called "Willow Hunter". It's a crazy-beautiful thing, so much energy, movement and feeling created by a collection of twigs. 

It's been cold and dry this week, and so we've had the pleasure of kicking through the fallen leaves as we've walked. No, you are never too old for this activity, not ever!

The colours in the woodland are really reminding me of my Woodland blanket, and I think that this week I might take it out on location for a little bit of a photo shoot. I get a bit nervous about doing this sort of thing, but I need to not care what anyone else thinks because, well......it'll be worth it, right? I think I'd very much like to see my Woodland stripes in situ, so I'll muster up some braveness and make it happen.

I went up to the allotment this week to have a poke around, it's all looking a bit forlorn and in need of an end of season tidy up. I keep thinking that the sweet peas are over as the plants themselves are looking rather bedraggled and my bamboo and string trellis collapsed in the last storm that whipped through here a few weeks ago. But when I was there this week, miraculously there were indeed more flowers to be picked, which made me insanely happy.

The colours are so beautiful - I don't edit my photos at all (too lazy for that), so the brightness and contrast in the above image is naturally how these flowers are in real life. Ah, I LOVE them!!! So much!!!

I've had the pleasure of this teensy little posy on my table all week, making my happiness levels rise with every sniff of those petals. The scent isn't quite as strong as it was with flowers picked in the height of summer, but nevertheless it is still blooming lovely.

As you can see in the above photo, I've been inspired by these sweet floral colours, and I've been sampling up some colours ready for my next CAL (Crochet-A-Long) blanket. YES!!! Consider this a sneak-peek!!!!!

Yarn packs will be available at the beginning of December and the CAL will begin on Friday 4th January 2019, and run for 8 weeks in total.
I've designed a new stitch/stripe which is perfect for beginners, or for people like me who need some therapeutic, soothing rows of colour to start the New Year off beautifully. Just to reassure you, the sneak peek in the above photo is part of my colour sequence sampling and NOT the actual blanket pattern. The pattern for the Sweet Pea blanket is new, and will be worked with two rows per stripe, as is usual for my blanket designs. I'll be able to show you a little more of the pattern closer to the time. I am very (very very very) excited about this blanket, it makes me want to squeal just a little.

On the days when we didn't walk in the woods, we walked along the canal, through the park and up to the farm shop instead. The bonus of walking that way is that it involves not just a nice walk but the possibility of some refreshment too, which does hold a certain appeal I have to admit.

We walked up one afternoon after J had been at the hospital to see a consultant and we both instinctively needed to be out in the sunshine to take the edge off.

Rather than sit in the farm shop cafe, we picked up a couple of take out lattés and some chocolate, then came back into the park to sit a while on a wooden bench. It was so nice to feel the sun on my face, I really love it when you close your eyes to the sun, and it's all pinky-orange inside your eyelids. That glowing warmth is so comforting somehow.

I picked up the above leaf for no reason other than the colours called to me, aren't they beautiful? Autumn right there in my fingertips.

The drop in temperature this week has drawn us to light the fire in the late afternoon, as much for the comfort factor as the warmth. This will be our eleventh autumn/winter with an open fire (there was a horrid electric fire shoved into the brick fireplace when we first moved in), and I wouldn't trade it for anything. We have central heating radiators so our house is generally very warm and cosy in winter, but the open fire adds such a lot of feel good - it's warmth for the heart and soul. 

Whilst I faff with my sweet pea colours and ponder on the stripes for my next blanket, I have needed a crochet project to keep my creative self occupied. As is often the case for me when I'm in between blankets, I find that mandala therapy delivers just the right amount of creative satisfaction. I found a lovely free pattern called the "Bougainvillea Doily" by Zelna Olivier, it's a beauty! I was working on the first version at the cafe and went a bit wrong in the light blue rounds (I didn't read the pattern properly and mis-counted the clusters), so I ended up having to wing it a bit after that. I'm hoping that my second attempt will work out better as it's such a beautiful design - please note that the pattern is written in US crochet terms, so UK hooksters will need to translate. I'm planning on crocheting these to metal hoops to add to my collection - I might crochet some additional rounds and make them bigger, I haven't decided just yet.

This weekend I've deliberately tried to take some care to relax and fully recharge my batteries after a rather draining week. I took myself back to bed yesterday morning following an early start, and ended up sleeping until 10am - I guess I must have needed those extra hours more than I realised.

Yesterday I unearthed a small pile of magazines that had remained unopened since Yarndale took over my life - this is the September issue of Country Living UK which has some beautiful floral inspiration in it's pages. Ahh, beautiful hydrangeas, still not my most favourite flowers, but I do so love the blanket that they inspired.

I've spent a fair few hours nesting on the sofa this weekend, sometimes on my own, sometimes with Little B snuggled up....

....and sometimes with the kitty. She likes to flollop down on my legs in a big long, heavy heap, which I'm not complaining about as she is super cosy and warm when she sleeps like that. She's like a living hot water bottle. 

 

I lit my jar candles earlier on today, and thought to myself that I'd like to crochet some more jar covers in Autumn colours, perhaps decorated with an acorn and oak leaf or two.

Tomorrow.......tomorrow yes I think I will conduct some seasonal mantel faffery. I'll dig out my pumpkins and hang my garland from last year. And yes, maybe I'll pick up my hook and crochet some lacy lime, orange and gold and bring a little bit more Autumn colour into my home.

The Little People are off school now as it's our half term break - it's a week later than it usually is, so I've had three rather tired and grumpy offspring to deal with this past week. We've absolutely no plans whatsoever  - we shall drift through the days as the mood takes us, perhaps going out locally, perhaps just staying close to home. I predict that we shall spend rather a lot of time enjoying fireside treats and really that is absolutely fine by me. 

Have a good week, whether you are venturing out or staying close to home. I hope your days are full of slow, cosy, happy.

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Comments

[Ellice McLaren]

When I saw those Sweet Peas my heart and mind went in to a reminiscence of time when I would pick Sweet Peas to take to school for the teacher . ☺️
Your time with your family is so special the hard work you put into will reap the rewards in the future . Your wonderful walks are special . I love reading your posts . I don’t always comment but will they always stimulate my senses . 👍🤗💕

[Karen]

that park that you show is just so pretty! I love it I would be walking there all the time. Your yarn projects are all so pretty - hope your hubby is improving.

[CJ]

Ah, home is a blissful place isn't it. And homegrown flowers at this time of year are a real luxury. I hope you all have a lovely week, and that J is well on the mend now. CJ xx

[Maxine Lesbirel]

Glad to hear your hubby is improving. Our half term here too, it's been a long time coming. The weather has changed dramatically and we plan to do very little!! Enjoy your week xx