Home Safe :: Weeks Seven and Eight

Hello my friends, I hope you are all well and doing ok out there, finding your way gently through these strange, strange days. Finally I feel I have just about the right kind of head space to be here opening up my Attic window for a chat, after what has felt like a very flat, deflated week or two. I have felt ok really, just a bit drained and lacking in any kind of motivation to get things done.

The days flutter past and I allow myself to drift rather listlessly through the hours, keeping a hold (just about) of the small, mundane routines that I've managed to form for myself during these stay-home days. I honour my natural body clock which always sees my eyes opening just after 6 am and wanting to close just after 10 pm. I make time for a morning workout, prepare and eat healthy food, drink more water and less coffee. Enjoy my daily walk around and about the neighbourhood. 

And yet I seem to spend lots of time in the day feeling like I am simply trying to fill the hours until the next meal time or snack time or bed time. I can't seem to settle on anything much and find myself doing the most random things at random times, as and when the mood suddenly strikes. Getting down on my knees and scrubbing those awkward tiles right behind the toilet. Defrosting the iceberg out of the freezer. Potting up some baby petunias that a friend gave me last week. Some stop-start crochet here and there, a flick through a few magazine pages.

It all feels quite disjointed as if I've somehow slipped out of the groove I'm supposed to be on and don't quite know how to get myself back into it. I guess it's just a symptom of these strange times and actually I haven't been too worried about my lethargy. It seems to be a natural result of spending so much extended time in the house, and I am quite sure I'll find my way back into a more productive state of mind soon enough.

It's funny because at the start of Lockdown (a whole eight weeks ago now) I felt convinced that I would be blogging way more than usual, using my days to write, to connect, to chat, to share, to remember. There would be loooooads of time to catch up with blog posts that I've fallen behind with (hello Dahlia Ta-dah post, I'm looking at you, half written in draft and waiting oh so patiently for me to return). But it hasn't been like that at all, has it?! Hahaha! I will try to be here more from now on as I really want to start feeling more productive and balanced again, and to ease myself away from this permanent sluggish weekend-vibe. Have to admit that I am deep down AdOrInG the perpetual weekend vibe mind you, but maybe after eight weeks it's time to make my days count for something more.

As you can see from these photos, I continue to find a huge amount of pleasure in the season we're in and my daily walks make me soooo happy even though they are extremely repetitive. The shadow above shows me and Little Lady, taking our walk one evening and loving the light and warmth that was still so glorious at 8pm.

The woodland is utterly captivating in May, and I absolutely love being out amongst it all. 

The wild garlic began to flower profusely during week 7.....

.....and the sight and scent of it all was almost overwhelming. So much natural beauty right there, and I'm extremely grateful that walking through the woods has become a part of our daily lives. It never fails to lift my spirits even on particularly flat days.

I'm still on with the Aria blanket, although it spent almost a week in the naughty corner. Poor thing, it wasn't at all the fault of the blanket. I started work on the border but didn't pay enough attention to what I was doing and managed to miss out a few colours which meant pulling out two big huge rounds to put it right. It took me almost a week to work myself up to the business of yanking out all those neat stitches, but once I got over myself and stopped sulking it was all OK again and I fell straight back in love.

As you can see, the Aria blanket is already being used around here, and truly the Little People seem to really love it especially as they've been quite involved in watching me making it during the past month. I am so close to finishing it - I'm currently poised ready to tackle the edge of The Edge, all very exciting. 

The kitty is her usual aloof crazy self, seeming to love having us all around but managing to look utterly bored by us all at the same time. I snapped the above photo of her early one morning when the Little People had yet to surface and all was still quiet and peaceful downstairs. She definitely finds Little B a challenge, he makes her ears constantly twitch as he is sooooooo  noisy and boisterous all the time. I do feel for her, my own ears are pretty twitchy these days as it's very, very hard to find any quiet space in this house.

Another week and another tray of lockdown flapjack, dried apricot this time. I don't get bored of making it (recipe HERE if you are interested in how easy it is) and the Little Peeps certainly don't seem to be bored of eating it.

I spent some time jaunting in Magazine Wonderland in week 7, allowing myself to finally open and devour the May issue magazines which arrived at the end of March. My, my, such beauty in those pages, even if the dreamy aspirational quality of the photos makes them ever so slightly deflating at times. I look at the huuuuuuuuuuuuuge grassy gardens and wish for some green space of my own.

I gaze at the huuuuuuuuuuuuuge roomy rooms and sigh with longing.

And then I remind myself to continue appreciating my modest house and tiny back yard as I always have done and not get swept up in a tide of envy as no good can come of it.  But isn't the above kitchen just so dreamy? I would really dearly love that kind of space.

Another weekend arrives and so we take our longer walk (around 6 miles), leaving the woods behind and striding out over open fields instead.

Cows have suddenly arrived in the fields to join the sheep and they are always curious about us humans as we pass by their open air homes.

We walk past a farm right next to the canal and have been watching these goslings grow over the past few weeks. Sometimes they are wandering about in the field and sometimes they come down to the water, they really are so fluffy and beautiful. I can't resist stopping to chat to them, even if  J and the Little People roll their eyes and look at me like I'm crazy.

It's extremely relaxing walking along this stretch of the canal as it's a few miles out of town and very quiet. Usually in May it's busy on the waterways with boats sailing back and forth, but of course there are no boats moving about on the water at the moment and that definitely adds to the tranquillity.

I love that lonesome blue boat, moored up quietly right on the bend there. I have no idea whether it's someones permanent home or a holiday boat but every time I walk past it I find myself wondering what it would be like to call a boat home?

The cow parsley is just starting to burst into flower in hedgerows and along footpaths and it is so beautiful. It's treated as a bit of a weed I suppose (it is very prolific and grows everywhere) but I absolutely love it, those delicate little froths of flowers are enchanting.

Another weed growing absolutely everywhere is the dandelion, and due to this long spell of dry warm weather they are already in seed. I don't love them quite as much as cow parsley, but those seed heads do hold a lot of childhood nostalgia. Even as we walked past this clump, Little Lady (age 16) plucked up a stem and blew away the seeds "to see what time it is". I wonder, is this a worldwide thing? Do dandelions grow everywhere on this planet, and do all children use them as clocks? 

Sometimes towards the end of a long day I'll find myself in desperate need of some alone time. I make myself a drink (often a peppermint or fruity tea infusion which I've recently rediscovered after not having them for ages) then head upstairs and gently close the door to my bedroom. I pull on some woolly knitted socks for comfort and settle on my bed to sip my drink and just relax my mind a little. I don't do anything specific, sometimes just sitting and allowing my mind to wander and ponder is enough, and sometimes I pull out my tablet and browse through favourite blogs, Pinterest, or YouTube.

I'm pretty new to YouTube as generally I much prefer digesting photos and written words rather than videos and audio. I don't really have much idea of what to look for on YouTube yet, or what sort of content might inspire me, but I'm quite enjoying discovering a new-to-me medium. I've been enjoying some food channels mixed with photogenic slow living, lifestyle/interiors and a little bit of motivational stuff thrown in. Pick Up Limes is a current fave and although I'm not contemplating going vegan, I have always been very inspired by wholesome, healthy cooking and eating. Also, I really love the passionate and beautiful way in which Sadia prepares, presents and adores her food, it's just so beautiful! If you have any recommendations for YouTube I would dearly love to hear them.

Another thing I do when I retreat to my bedroom in the evenings is light this jar candle beside my bed. It's an old one from last summer and I adore the clean, soft scent of it. It's these little rituals and pleasures which are really keeping me grounded at the moment, I'm holding onto the little things that bring quiet pleasure to my days.

Well another day has passed and this blog post is coming together veeeeery slowly in stops and starts, I'm so sorry if it all seems a bit disjointed here in the Attic. As you know I don't tend to edit my writing (other than a basic check through for typos) so I've no idea if my words are even making sense to be honest, but I hope that even if I'm writing absolute tripe you can still enjoy the pictures :)

Week 8 has very little to show for it as I didn't seemingly feel very inspired to point my camera at anything much. 

There is wild garlic of course, as I can't seem to stop myself trying to capture this season that I love so very much.

Almost every single day we walk this same route into the woods to feast on the green and white display.....

....it's just so abundant and fresh, both the visuals and the scent, and I wish I was better able to describe it to you.

Beautiful, intoxicating, uplifting, every single little bit of it.

We've only seen a smattering of bluebells this year as they are scarce in our local woodland (the garlic more than makes up for it mind you), and I think they are almost over now for another year. 

The lambs in the big field are growing large now, and they aren't at all bothered by us humans. We always linger a little at the top of the hill, partly to recover from the long climb up, and partly to take in the sweep of the view which has our home nestled into it. Sometimes on quiet, still afternoons when I'm sat in my little back yard, I can hear the lambs and sheep baaaaaaing from their hilltop field and it's such a comforting sound somehow. I do really love where I live.

Last week was quite a cold one, and woolly jumpers and socks were most definitely needed even inside the house. My hands don't do so well when I'm cold so I do my best to keep warm especially when I plan to crochet. Little B took the above photo of me warming up my fingers before getting on with the Aria border - this was after I had finished sulking and pulled out the Wrong Rows and I was happily enjoying this blanket all over again. 

The kitty doesn't take more than 2.5 seconds to jump in and claim my space if I happen to get up and leave the Big Chair for any reason. Mind you, I can't blame her as this over sized old chair is such a cosy spot and one of my favourite places to sit during the day. She really does seem to appreciate my crochet (especially after it has been warmed up by my backside first). 

I'll be working on the pattern and tutorial for the Aria blanket this week - it's a lot of work but I'm really looking forward to getting stuck into it. I'm sorry I don't have a release date for this yarn kit and pattern just yet but as soon as I know when it's possible for my friends at Wool Warehouse to make it happen, I'll be sure to let you know. 

Well I think that's about all for now, thank you as always for taking the time to digest my witterings and keep me company with your lovely, lovely comments, I appreciate them so much. I hope you are all keeping cheery, and that your spirits are positively inflated and not deflated. I am sending you all the brightest, cosiest happy stay-home vibes.

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Comments

[Tracey Ogden]

I have been feeling the same Lucy; just not myself and could easily cry. I worry that I’ll come out the other side wishing I had done more , I have crafted , updated my blog , tidied , baked , but somehow this week and last have felt different x

[Ros]

I think you'd enjoy The Last Homely House on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpWKp6lHakdUNsy49_TLDzA

[Tineke Joldersma]

You need fingerless gloves for those cold hands, I wear them often. A day at the computer writing reporst always ends in fingerless gloves with hot tea and a cookie. I am alone in lockdown, job, and kids far away. Miss them terribly as they light up my existence with their joy and adventure. Thank goodness for my garden and cats. Clumsy June bugs in the garden in the evening and watching my cats follow them with big eyes is such a joy. Love your little views of your crochet colourfull life and the pictures framing it.

[Adele O'Leary]

I love reading your blogs Lucy over here in New Zealand. You have such a way with words and your images are glorious! I was born in Manchester and emigrated here as a 6 year old, so your blog connects me to my roots. I think Yorkshire is a wonderful spot in the world! xxx

[Mary Green]

I really love your writing and your pictures, it's like a little retreat for me to go over.
I wish you would write something on how you choose your colors. I'm really drawn top your combinations.

[Linda Harvey]

I have been feeling much the same. The longer the lockdown goes on, the more listless I feel. Not depressed but just not much motivated. I'm feeling my age (71) and low energy level but I do really enjoy hearing about your walks and seeing your pretty pictures!

[Jacqui]

Beautiful as ever.
Talking to others and reading your blog there are many of us lost souls,we have so much time to get stuff done somehow we cant summon the will.Days are just melting into each other strange times.
Hopefully life will return to some kind of normal soon.

[Val Hayward]

Hi Lucy,
I think we should be thanking YOU - for your beautiful pictures and your amazing crochet. Long may it continue!
Always look forward to reading about your days.
Val