Hello, hello, how are you all doing? I'm once again late to my own bloggy gig, being that week nine was over some time ago, but better late than never eh? I've been doing Ok, a bit up and down I guess, but the downs never seem to last for long thank goodness. So shall we have a little catch up?
Middle May was an absolutely gorgeous time, full of warm breezes, blazing sunshine and much green lushness.
We continued our daily walks, appreciating the very fine weather and being inspired and uplifted by nature.
I love that these daily walks have become such an important part of lockdown for us, and I really appreciate the precious little snippets of family time that it gives us. As you know, I adore walking for pleasure and find that being surrounded by nature has a very positive effect on my well being, but family time adds a whole extra dimension to the experience. We usually walk in the early afternoon as J is ready for a break from his working day round about then. We walk the same route each time, day after day, and the familiarity of it is extremely comforting somehow.
Having said all that great stuff about family togetherness, every so often I find myself craving some outdoorsy solitude. It's easiest for me to sneak this in during the early morning before the demands of the day have a chance to catch me. I walk down through the park and around the meadow, ducking through flower-laden hedgerows and following well worn pathways.
I've been keeping my beady eye on the elderflower trees in the hedgerows as we are approaching cordial making season. I think after all the sunshine that it'll be early this year, so I hope to take a jaunt out to my usual place to gather some in when the time is right.
I brought some more cow parsley home while it was still in it's prime but my goodness it was totally laden with pollen so it didn't last long on my table before I had to evict it. It was certainly pretty while it lasted.
I've been trying out a new routine where I start my day with a little bit of healthy re-hydration instead of diving straight into my coffee. I think I've mentioned that I'm only drinking decaff coffee at home right now but I've been making a conscious effort to drink more water too. I add a couple of fresh lemon slices and a sliver or two of fresh ginger to my cup, then top up with hot water. I think this cup holds around a third of a litre and I do so enjoy the refreshment of it first thing in the morning. Somehow even inhaling the steam feels like it's doing me good.
I'm continuing with my healthy eating and am absolutely love love loving preparing wholesome meals for myself. During these stay-home days we mostly all please ourselves for breakfast and lunch - even Little B has started making his own food for these meals after some encouragement and basic lessons in kitchen skills. So I get to faff with my own breakfast and lunch to my hearts content, making simple meals that please me enormously. I think breakfast/brunch is my most favourite meal of the day, especially at the moment when I get to take my time and truly savour it.
Middle May was peak asparagus season and as you might expect I've been absolutely making the most of it. Asparagus bundles come home from the supermarket with our big weekly shop, and in week nine we took a walk to the farm shop for the first time in two months especially to buy Yorkshire grown asparagus. My favourite way to cook it is on a griddle pan - first pour a teeny bit of olive oil onto the spears and massage it in well so that they are completely coated and glossy. Then pop them straight onto a hot griddle for around 10-15 mins until the spears are softened and lightly charred but still retain a little bite. A squeeze of lemon juice, salt and pepper and eaten pronto while they are still hot. Yum yum yum yum.
I finally found time to mount up my Spring cross stitch sampler from Cotton and Twine and I really love it. I took some photos of the seasonal samplers I've made so far (Autumn, Winter and Spring) and plan to show you those in a separate post, if I can ever catch up with myself. I have all the good intentions, just gotta try and follow through with the actual doing. I will try, I promise.
Week nine saw me dancing on the very, very exciting edge of The Edge of this - my beautiful, joyful Aria blanket. When I picked out the colour palette for this blanket it was early December and of course back then we had no idea that Covid-19 would become a global pandemic. As I've worked on the design this Spring, it has been nothing short of magical. I have felt really uplifted by the positive, happy colours and the gentle creativity it has brought into my life at a time when I most needed it. I can't wait to share it with you.
I snapped the above photo on a random morning, two pairs of hand knit socks freshly washed and dried and waiting on the stairs to go up to my bedroom. The chore of doing the laundry made happier by pretty yarny stripes, domesticity at it's finest. Actually, the photo reminds me that during middle May we did have a bit of a cold snap, well certainly the evenings felt cold. I would spend all day wearing flip flops, wiggling my bare toes very happily, only to find my feet would be freezing in the evenings. Wooly socks to the rescue!
The kitty continues to try her best not to be irritated by her humans, occasionally deciding that we are worthy of her company. I find at the moment that I am very rarely sat still in one place for any length of time as I feel quite restless and unsettled most the time. But when I took the above photo I had settled into the big chair with a blanket on my lap to read, and of course I provided the perfect warm spot for a daytime kitty nap. There is nothing more comforting than the warm weight of a soundly sleeping pile of fur on your lap.
These home days are certainly strange things, bringing about a restless apathy and an almost permanent sense of unease, but at the same time delivering a huge dose of gratitude for simple home comforts and the closeness of family. I have relished spending more time with the Little People, although sadly that doesn't include the eldest Teen who at 17 is very much keeping himself hidden away in his lair. But Little B and Little Lady have been great companions during our days spent at home and I've really enjoyed their company.
I've been cooking with Little B, teaching him how to make simple meals for himself. I have always made his meals for him whenever he's home, partly because I like doing it, but partly because I just didn't figure that he might enjoy doing it for himself (he is ten years old). So I showed him the tin opener, instructed on how to make up the perfect mix of tuna/salad cream/mayonnaise, let him handle a sharp knife to slice up cucumber and tomato for a sandwich, and taught him how to fry an egg. We started making scotch pancakes together on Sundays, a joint effort whereby he measures and mixes the batter, I heat the pan and do the dolloping, and he handles the spatula and flipping. It was fun, and that giant stack fed both Little B and Little Lady.
Little Lady is now 16 (strange to think that she was just 3 years old when I began writing my blog?!) and we get on extremely well. I have loved chatting to her about all sorts of things during these past months when we've been home together, and she has very kindly made herself available to me as my personal nail technician. Yes, once again I am attempting to grow and strengthen my nails. We play music in her bedroom parlour as she deals with my cuticles, files the nail shape and then paints 2 coats plus a topcoat. It takes time and is certainly way more of a procedure than I have ever afforded myself (cuticle conditioning???? It's all new to me). It's certainly soooo much easier having someone else faff around at the end of my fingers than trying to do the deed myself! My nails have never looked so good.
We often walk together in the evenings which is her favourite time of day - in middle May, this is around 8 o'clock when the sun is very low in the sky and all is glowing and golden.
The buttercup meadow is just starting to bloom and it is absolutely glorious, especially on warm, sunshiny evenings.
It's breathtaking, so, so beautiful and such a visual treat.
After lingering in the meadow we head out of the park and walk along the canal towards town....
....past the canal basin....
....then along the narrow footpath that runs underneath the castle. This path has been made one-way during the pandemic to prevent us having to squeeze past anyone coming in the opposite direction.
Every time we walk out in the light golden evenings I am reminded why I love May so blooming much. It's just so joyful, and I adore having so many glorious, light-filled hours at my disposal. Winter feels like a million miles away and I am beyond glad for the season we are in and the amazing weather we are being gifted. Thank goodness - I'm so grateful.
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