I've loved writing my blog during this past month, and know from experience that these types of everyday-life posts are the ones that I'll most enjoy looking back on and re-reading in future years. Blogging is such an excellent way to capture memories and record the essence of time and place, and I so enjoy seeing my random photos come together to describe the little everyday joys of spending summer at home with the Little People. I guess this is my own personal window into the summer of twenty-nineteen, but I'm glad that you also enjoy peeking through my window with me.
24th August, a random Tuesday morning. We drove out to the beautiful village of Burnsall in the Yorkshire Dales and strolled along the riverside, it was sunny, bright and fresh and a lovely morning for a walk. Most of the river along this stretch is fast moving and quite noisy...
....but I loved this bit close to the riverbank where the reflections played on the still surface of the water amongst the mossy stones.
Turning away from the river, this part of the walk passes through beautiful fields and meadows. Mid morning and the sun is still low in the sky and the shadows are long in late August.
There is a definite feel of summer drawing to a soft, gentle close......
....and the very beginnings of the Autumn season beginning to show.
We walked as far as our favourite watering hole in Hebden and for the first time all summer we chose to sit inside instead of out in the garden. This was in part decided by the wasps, but it's sooo cosy and gorgeous inside I felt I could quite happily move in. A leisurely brunch is definitely the most enjoyable meal of the day I've decided. I know it doesn't really work on school/work days but that's probably why I love it so much because it's so very weekend/holidayish!
We've continued to make the most of the long days when the weather has been good, enjoying early evenings out and about after our dinner. It's mostly just Little B and me, the two of us seeking out the sunshine and enjoying a bit of playtime. We head to the park close to our house where I sit a while and daydream while he runs, balances, jumps, climbs and spins his way around the place.
There is another small park that we sometimes visit, it's a bit further to walk and sits at the top of a veeeeeery long, steep, hilly residential street so I need to be persuaded to take that particular jaunt in the evening. Little B is very, very good at the whole persuasive thing though, and I do love the peaceful tranquility up here.
It was definitely worth the steep walk as we got to watch the sun go down just after 8pm. There were rabbits nibbling the grass and a couple of people walking dogs, but mostly we had the whole place to ourselves.
Another evening, and this time it's Little Lady who asks me if I'd like to walk with her. I immediately sense that she is feeling restless and needs to walk and talk, and I am more than happy to be the legs and ears that she needs. We climb up the big grassy hill to sit on the dry stone wall and look out over our neighbourhood....
....well, that was the plan! As you can see, our usual peaceful long distance view was interrupted by the local residents who were very interested in coming to see us. Nosy things.
7.20pm and already the sun is low in the sky and the shadows are delightfully long. You can just make out myself and Little Lady in the photo above, well not us in person but our shadowy selves. Little Lady has grown tall this summer and is now around three inches taller than me (I am a shorty at only 5ft 3"), and I am still adjusting to that fact. It feels all wrong somehow.
On our way out of the woods we found ourselves at the top of the high street and with a tilt of her head and a big persuasive smile, Little Lady gently asked if perhaps we might go for a drink together. It was a beautifully warm, clear evening and I could tell she wasn't ready to head home, so I did the decent thing and obliged her.....
....oh, it was really no hardship, as you can see!!! Haha!! We were drawn to the outside terrace of Alexanders Bar which really comes into it's own on a warm summers evening. I treated Little Lady to a mocktail, she chose a White Russian (a "coffee and vanilla infusion with crushed ice & cream topped with salted caramel" in case you wondered) and I went with a very delicious chilled Sauvignon Blanc. It was such an unexpectedly good end to a long, warm lazy day, a delightful memory that has stayed fresh and bright in my mind ever since. My sweet girl, I do love her so.
Days have been gentle and rather lazy during this past week or so. I've found myself lolling around the house in Holiday Mode and sometimes I've felt guilty about it and sometimes I've just been delighted by it. I found the above photo on my camera roll, and it just describes these kind of lolling days perfectly. I'm sat outside in my back yard, it's 5pm ish and I'm kind of in the midst of cooking dinner (well when I say "cooking" I probably mean plopping various bits of salad stuff onto a plate along with some cold roast chicken and appropriate condiments, crusty bread and dips). I remember it had been a warm sunny day because there is my duvet cover folded up ready to go upstairs after drying on the line (isn't that one of the most wonderful things about summertime weather?). I had been reading through some magazines after deciding to carry out a bit of decluttering around my desk that afternoon. Of course I had to read the magazines before passing them on to a good friend. Of course! And yes ok, that is a cheeky little gin and tonic there, hmm....I don't often drink during the week, but realise that these last two photos make it look like I really do. Holiday Mode and a relaxing drink go hand in hand, no?
I have to say that I don't enjoy the shortening days at this time of year and although I try not to allow it, I do experience a creeping melancholy at the thought of summer starting to wane. I try hard to be positive about it, but it's not easy for a summer-loving soul like me. I've been lighting up my candles in the evenings instead of putting the light on, and that does kind of ease the transition a little. I'm so enjoying this particular candle which was a gift to me from Lady B when she came to visit a few months ago. The scent is just beautiful, and it does feel like a real luxury to light it up and enjoy the fragrance as well as the dancing light.
On the mornings when I don't have any particular agenda or anywhere to be, I've been getting up at around 7am ish. I head downstairs, empty the dishwasher, bring the milk in from the doorstep, feed the cat and see to the laundry, then set about making myself a cup of coffee. I like my coffee with plenty of hot milk and a dusting of chocolate powder, and always in a mug that feels morningish and good to hold. I tiptoe back to bed and sit and sip my coffee in the quiet of the house before Little B wakes up. It's one of those lovely little pockets of time in the day when I can be still and quiet and allow my thoughts to meander. I appreciate this slow start to the day very much as it's not something that can easily happen during school time. By the way, do you like my new mug? I came across it in the supermarket and couldn't resist it's wonky charms....it cost £4, a little treat from me to me. Happy Summer, Lucy!!
Actually one day last week I woke up with a start at 7.15 and was just about to start my dishwasher-cat-laundry-coffee-back-to-bed routine when I remembered that I had a train to catch......and I only had 50 minutes in which to perform the catching!!!! Yikes, I had to rush around like a crazy thing to get myself ready and out the door in time for the 8.05 train, I only just made it. My destination was Hebden Bridge....
....and can we just stop a moment and appreciate what a picturesque little train station Hebden Bridge is, it's really very lovely!
Setting off so early meant that I was strolling the streets before it got busy, and that's a rarity in this popular little town. I don't know Hebden Bridge very well having only been there a few times before, but from what I've seen it's a truly amazing place with a very creative, quirky vibe. There are lots of independent shops and cafés and a real feeling of community spirit (it's very much like that where I live too).
To make this trip even more special, I wasn't wandering the streets on my ownsome. I had journeyed to HB to meet up with my very good friend Christine as we'd not had the opportunity to get together since before the summer holidays began. We thought it would be a fun place to spend the day together, an easy(ish) train journey for each of us and a great place for a leisurely pootle with plenty of cosy places to sit, sip, munch and chatter.
I hadn't really considered the shopping possibilities in HB, but of course the temptation was there and it was hard to resist the lure of pretty things. We called into a few different shops but this was definitely my favourite - it's the very lovely Yorkshire Soap Co. I didn't know until about 5 seconds ago that there are actually eight shops in Yorkshire, which just goes to show how gorgeous the products are and what a treat it is to step inside the fours walls.
Everything was just so very pretty, not only to look at, but the array of sniffing possibilities blew my mind!
I fell in love with the glycerine soap bars - the combination of beautiful glowing colours and tempting scents made me a bit giddy (to be fair, it doesn't take much to tip me over). There are more than 40 fragrances to choose from, and rather predictably I chose this one................
.......uh, huh.......Seashore. I've not used it yet but I have sniffed it excessively and can tell you it is delightful in every way. Fresh and zingy, it is meant to "capture the essence of a bracing walk along a seashore" which is right up my street.
Our day was such a tonic, a chance to take some hours to be just Me and not Mum or Wife. I do really love the summer holidays and being home with the family but towards the end I always find myself craving just a weeny bit of breathing space. Christine and I meandered along the very picturesque canal, wandered in and out of shops and spent an extensive amount of time drinking coffee and eating cake in the cosy upstairs of a small café. We attempted a little bit of planning which ended up being just a bit of list making for me, but that's not a bad thing by any means. All in all it's often such good therapy just to talk things through with someone who knows you well enough to offer honest opinions and objective advice when it's needed. I certainly always feel like my head space is clearer after spending time with Christine, it's like whipping a feather duster around my cluttered Mental Cavities and opening up a window or two.
This week has seen us preparing for the return to school after our six week break and there has been a definite feeling of wanting to make the last few days count. On Sunday we decided to head up to to high ground and stride out across the moors. I was hoping for lots of purple but as you can see the heather on our local moor is pretty sparse this year. Still, we had a really lovely walk and I took lots of panoramic photos which I'm saving for another blog post. Lucky you.
Yesterday was the very last day before school returned today, and I'd promised my time to Little B. The previous day (Monday) I'd given it over to Little Lady, going with her on the train to Leeds for a day of shopping and lunch. She'd managed to save up a fair bit of money from working so many extra shifts at her waitressing job over the summer, and was excited for a little bit of a well earned spending spree. It was a lovely day for us both, but honestly utterly exhausting.
So back to Little B - I asked him what he wanted to do, suggesting all sorts of things including swimming, the cinema, a trip on the train to Leeds (even though the thought of doing it two days on the trot made me wither a little inside), and in the end he was adamant that he wanted to go here...................
..........Skipton Castle. Yes, that's right, this is the castle that sits at the top of the High Street, less than ten minutes walk from home. He had it in his head that he really wanted to see inside it - we had taken him years ago when he was toddlerish size so he was too young to remember it. So off we went yesterday morning, just him and me (J was suddenly very busy, funny that), walking through that grand archway to buy our tickets and go on a jaunt through an eight hundred year old building.
I adore this tree which sits proudly in the centre of the inner courtyard. It's an ancient yew tree, planted as a sappling waaaaaay back in 1659. Sixteen-fifty-nine!!!
I don't know how many times I've visited the castle over the years, we used to go when the Little People were small using an annual voucher from the local newspaper which gave us free entry. But no matter how many times you walk the rooms and take in the views and soak up the immense history of the place, it never fails to impress. It's just so very, very, very old!
I especially loved looking out of the windows to the side of the castle which overlooks the woodland as we've walk along that narrow pathway pretty much every week during the summer. There's something appealing about getting an aerial perspective of a well known place don't you think?
We really had a great time actually, and Little B absolutely loved it. We read every single information panel in every single room and being that is was first thing on a Tuesday morning we pretty much had the whole place to ourselves. We were able to freely wander in and out of all the magnificently huge rooms and generally breathe in the historical importance of it all. I'm not much of a one for historical appreciation, but even I felt impressed by the absolute ancientness surrounding us.
After buying a pencil from the castle souvenir shop, we ventured back into modern day life and went for a coffee in Starbucks, followed by a last minute dash to the school uniform shop. It's all about balance.
The afternoon was spent like this ↑↑↑↑ (well for Little B, not me, although I was very tempted). You can just see his hand waving out of his "den", telling me that he is still alive and hasn't suffocated under the huge weight of allllll the crochet blankets and alllllll the cushions.
And so......there endeth our summer holidays and it's been back to school and work for us all today. I think we've had a pretty great summer this year and it has felt beautifully long and lazy for the most part. Our trip to Dorset seems like it was ages ago now (well I guess it was six weeks ago), and although we haven't had any big exciting holidays or trips out this summer it's still been extremely lovely. Oh, I almost forgot, we did have a second short break three weeks ago up to Saltburn - I started to upload some photos for a seasidey blog post so I'll try and finish that up and write about it quite soon before it all fades and becomes too distant.
Yes, summer has been so, so good. And you know, it IS still summer, right up until the Autumn Equinox on Monday 23rd September. It really is still summer (it is, it is), so please don't talk to me about Autumn just yet. I'm not quite ready.
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ps. Here are links to previous summer posts ::
☀ Life in August PART 1 ☀
☀ Life in August PART 2 ☀
