I had the best nights sleep last night (finally) and woke up thinking that after a pretty tiring kind of week physically speaking I can feel my energy slowly coming back. I am beyond thankful as I really haven't felt like myself this week and I think it's mostly down to my sleep being so disturbed by my crazy out of whack hormones.
I've also come to recognise that during my forties and now into my fifties I suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder. I can definitely feel the SAD creeping in as our daylight hours shorten, it's the strangest thing to recognise and witness it in my own self, as if I'm looking in from the outside. I find I can cope because my life is generally very happy and low in stress, but close friends tell me they do see a noticeable dip in my mood, energy levels and general wellness between October and March. Time to dig out my daylight lamp, wherever it may be, I have a feeling it might be under my bed so will need to go rooting later.
Saturday mornings are market mornings, and J and I set out around 9.30 ish usually. I really do appreciate this gentle routine we have going on, it's just so ordinarily lovely and weekendish. In the years when we lived our city life in York we often talked about how much we would like to live in a small market town one day. We fantasised about walking to the market for fresh produce, visiting little independent shops and stopping for coffee in a small cosy café. And here we are, living the life we once dreamed of, and how very beautiful is that thought?! I feel so lucky, really I do, and trust me when I say that I do not take it for granted.
Up this little cobbled street we go.....
....and half an hour later here I am walking back down the same cobbled street laden down with fresh produce and looking very pleased with myself. The monstrous green leaves you can see poking out of my bag belong to the biggest bunch of celery you ever did see. It's absolutely ginormous and I couldn't resist it's leafy charms and impressive size. Today's market haul consisted of apples, pears, plums, grapes, oranges, cherry tomatoes, Yorkshire black tomatoes, cucumber, carrots, sprouts, celery, leeks and a butternut squash. Oh, and a dozen eggs too. I'm planning on making more soups this week - I'm thinking a green "swamp" soup using some of the celery leaves and the leek (along with some other greens and potato), and a roasted butternut squash soup too.
Following the road as it crosses over the canal, it was raining and I suddenly felt a little weary with my heavy bag of veggies. But in just a few minutes we were heading into our usual Saturday morning café spot.....
......ahhhhhhhhhh, that's better! Just what I needed! We treated ourselves to breakfast today, just a simple plate of eggs on toast but what a treat to sit in the warmth of a cosy café and wait for someone to bring me food. I love cooking and I especially love making myself breakfast but it's still a nice experience having someone else do it for a change. And did I ever tell you how outrageously good this coffee is (?!) I start to look forward to it around Thursday, no joke.
The weather has been absolutely horrid today. HORriD I tell you. Gusting winds and driving rain, the poor trees are being stripped of their leaves at a fast rate of knots. The little cherry tree in the above photo is in my neighbours garden - you can see how it looked just four days ago (4th photo down on Day 20) and now look at it, it makes me feel a rising sadness for the loss of the leafage and the true onset of the cold season. It's less than nine weeks till Christmas, can you believe this is true?
Mind you, horrid weather makes it feel all the more cosy inside and I made sure to set myself up for a top notch cosy afternoon with full blanket coverage and kitty warmth. She was on my lap before I had even spread the blanket out properly, having spied me settling down on the sofa and reaching for the hydrangea blanket she came leaping across the furniture to make herself comfy. Fortunately I already had my phone and my knitting to hand (plus a mug of hot coffee which isn't in the photo) so I was all set for a lengthy cosy-sesh.
Forty five minutes later and we were both still in situ, Tilly having spread herself right out making me feel super-warm, sleepy, comfortable and cosy-content. I managed to keep my eyes open and my brain engaged long enough to finish J's second sock (yay!!). Well I mean I finished the knitting but still have the kitchener toe closing business to see to, and I shall do that tomorrow when I'm not nearly so sleepy.
I lit the fire at four o'clock and J and I enjoyed a small glass of prosecco together. I've started buying the mini 200ml bottles as it's just enough for us to have one glass each in these beautiful vintage champagne saucers. These were given to me by my Dad's partner Lady B, she remembers them from her own childhood in Canada and tells me they were gifted to her mother in the 1940's. I absolutely adore them.
Before I go, I just wanted to say thank you so much for the commiserations you shared with me over the granny bag debacle. I was upset and cross yesterday but I woke up this morning with a workable solution of sorts in my head and in the next few days I think I'll be able to free the bag from the naughty corner. It's all good, and a reminder that the design process doesn't always run smoothly, but that's absolutely OK. For this particular project though, it means that the tutorial will be a bit out of kilter as the photos won't quite match the reality. But I'm hopeful that if I explain it as a general How-to, then you'll be able to understand the basics of it enough to give it a go should you wish to.
Right my lovelies, on that positive note I shall love you and leave you for today, thank you so much for reading my ramblings and for your wonderful comments and dialogue here of late. I appreciate you!
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hi Lucy, I’ve loved reading your blogs this month and it’s been lovely to see pictures of Skipton. We visited whilst on holiday this year ( down from Aberdeen). We loved the market and had a ride on Sam the canal boat. I’m originally from a village near York and always love to drink in its beauty and culture when we visit. I’m making some crochet socks just now - Cupid by West Yorkshire Spinners - tricky but I’m getting there! 😊 Good luck with the bag! My next project will be the Woodland blanket as the beautiful autumnal colours up here in Scotland have really inspired me! Thanks for all your lovely patterns!
Posted by: Dawn | October 26, 2020 at 09:32 PM
Oh Lucy you look like a teenager in that picture💕 Thank you for sharing your day with us, it all sounded so perfect. We have had a beautiful Fall here in Newfoundland, starting to get colder the past few days, have to wear my hat and gloves when I walk but I am cherishing my time outside walking and in the garden. Looking forward to cozy days doing crochet and watching Britosh TV, love to you and your family💕
Posted by: Bonnie Brocklehurst | October 26, 2020 at 12:34 AM
Sounds like a lovely routine.
We are in York just last year.. we found it so charming.
Posted by: Hena Tayeb | October 25, 2020 at 07:17 PM
Just eaten your chicken and pearl barley slow cooker recipe it is definitely a winner thank you for sharing the book with us Lucy
Posted by: Jill Wilson | October 25, 2020 at 06:40 PM
I was suffering from SAD in a big way when my doctor found that I had a severe vitamin D deficiency--a pretty common problem, I have found. It took over a year of 10K IU a day to bring it to normal. While I still have some "hibernation" effects from the days getting shorter, it's vastly better now.
Posted by: Brigid de Jong | October 25, 2020 at 03:14 PM
Hi Lucy,Mr B brought me a day lamp. It's amazing. I sit under it on the sofa and make sure your summer harmony blanket is drapped over me. If there's a little bit of sunshine coming in through the Windows it makes me feel happy. Can't wait to see your bag,once it's been allowed out of the naughty corner. I hope you have a great half term.
Posted by: Tracy Bache | October 25, 2020 at 11:52 AM
Loving your daily updates! Enjoy the half term with your chiddlers, hope the weather is fine for you!
Posted by: Jan | October 25, 2020 at 09:43 AM
Love your daily posts, Lucy, they really cheer me up. Thank you.
Posted by: Beverley Fleet | October 25, 2020 at 07:40 AM
You look fabulous, Lucy. So nice to see you in a photo. So sorry for the winter months that lie ahead. I have some friends who live in colder, darker regions and they experience SAD, too. We get little rain here. When my children were little I remember picking them up from school just as the very lightest of sprinkling rain was coming down and you would have thought all of the Marvel characters had landed on campus with the shouts and squeals and rush of excitement the school children displayed. At the sight of faint rain! Thanks for sharing your days with us. I look forward to your daily posts!
Posted by: Susan | October 25, 2020 at 06:53 AM
I love the about town pics as I love google map holidaying where you pic a place to visit and walk around the town on the map and look at things. Your market town is a great one for google wanders as it has such a mix of places. Your houses area which is lovely old stone terraces with their stepped rooves, the other side of the canal near B&M which has those newer buildings waiting to age into the stone look. The area where the canals meet which looks awesome and the place where the canal and river fun side by side. I think that is one I would love to wander along in real life. So many cool little streets like chapel hill which is so cute and of course the castle. Such a diverse and interesting little town.
Posted by: Vicky | October 25, 2020 at 06:36 AM
Always a pleasure reading your blog. You make a ordinary day in your life
sound so special. We are the total opposites when he comes to the weather. I come alive in the cooler months. I think that’s why I tend to book our trips to the UK Mid Sept to Nov. have to be back home for lead up to Christmas. I had plan our next trip to have been March next year but of course that won’t happen now, crossing fingers 2022-23. I love the idea of walking to a market to buy fresh veggies etc. we are hoping sometime soon to grow our own. My “Leo” Granny Square blanket is coming along nicely. I gifted it to my daughter for Christmas. Once again thank you for sharing your day to day life with us all. Take care. ❤️🧶
Posted by: Jacqueline Farrow | October 25, 2020 at 01:13 AM
Lucy I have so enjoyed visiting you here each day and draining up all the beautiful pics and love your Tilly kitty ❤ Here in Oz spring but you would think winter as been rather wet and cold in my area. Keep safe out there as are we trying.
Posted by: Wendy | October 25, 2020 at 01:05 AM
It cheers me to read your blog every day.
I too suffer from SAD October-March, my crochet helps me through it. Thats all thanks to you and your awesome blog. I don't believe I would of even started crocheting if I'd not found it.
Good luck with the bag
Posted by: Sandra | October 25, 2020 at 12:33 AM
Lucy i read your blog every night...i just love to hear about you incomplicated life.I have had a very hard year and so yearn for simple pleasures again and lovely frothy coffee...you are an amazing person dont stop what you are achieving xx
Posted by: Lynne barnbrook | October 25, 2020 at 12:21 AM
You have made me realise that celery wasn’t bought today when DH and I visited our weekly farmers’ market. The car park in which the market is held was busy, I am considered extremely vulnerable, we are in Tier 2, I stayed in the car and hovered whilst keeping an eye out for the parking wardens.
I noticed in CL that arrived today that the cast of All Creatures Great & Small stayed in Skipton during filming - did you see any of the activity? I do wonder who made the 1930 knitwear worn in the series.
Posted by: Madeleine | October 24, 2020 at 11:31 PM
Hello Beautiful you. Your 24 past days of blogs have sure kept me going Lucy i cannot thank you enough. It's exam time for me and my 48 year old brain has been in a hormone funk too. Finally my sleep has normalised. Ahh, Hallam's Yard-the cobbled street is where i stay when i visit. I love to hear all the people pootling too and from the market. I have the same bag and it always has celery popping out i think i like to go green veg style with it too. Your life is one i dream of being a Yorkshire lass in Australia it is still a dream but so lovely to see snapshots of your wonderful life. Thank you Lucy, you are an amazing lassie. I wish i could transport you here for some sun anyhow sending you lots of rays, and happy soup and sock days xxx
Posted by: Jo McGee | October 24, 2020 at 11:31 PM
I too suffer from October to March with SAD...but for me it is the Summer SAD in this very hot humid part of the world ☹️ I dream of living in the Northern Hemisphere one day and experiencing all the seasons in their time .... Stay well 🌺
Posted by: Juli | October 24, 2020 at 10:58 PM
Wet and wild here on the south coast today so we didn’t even get out of the house. I also lit the fire at 4 pm and sat down to watch Sherlock with the lovely Benedict Cumberbatch and work on my Shetland Wool Week 2020 hat. I love making these annual hats, makes me feel part of the Skye knitting community. I spent the day making Christmas crowns for the family which I hope we will all wear when we have a Zoom meeting at Christmas. I know we won’t see all the grandchildren and of course it makes me sad but at least we have Facetime.
Posted by: Jennifer Larking | October 24, 2020 at 10:23 PM
Oh Lucy, I hope you've had time to set your wonderful creative mind spinning and have thought of a way to finish the naughty granny bag without needing to undo all the work you've accomplished. Perhaps you have some lovely bit of fabric lurking that will contrast and complete the lining for the top of the bag in a truly designer fashion?
You are a brilliant young woman and will triumph!
Posted by: Alix | October 24, 2020 at 10:09 PM
Cats <3
Posted by: Tineke | October 24, 2020 at 09:49 PM
Damp chilly day here too, but I got a new espresso maker this week and now I can have my espresso and a nice foamy milk to put on top. (And I figured out how to use it without resorting to outside help...always a win when the technology doesn't out wit you.) Warm Sunday to you. (Also, I too have recognized SADS in me for a long time!)
Posted by: Helen | October 24, 2020 at 09:20 PM
I love the shape of those glasses, so elegant. Your Saturday morning sounds great, and that's such a lovely photo of you. I used to love going to a little street with a wonderful farm shop, an Italian grocery shop and some really individual cafes when I lived in Bristol, you have reminded me of it. Shocking weather here as well, but it made it lovely to be at home. The dog got wet twice and wasn't very pleased though. CJ xx
Posted by: CJ | October 24, 2020 at 09:11 PM
What a lovely picture of you!! I said before, Dorset maids wear well!
Posted by: Jo Hyde | October 24, 2020 at 08:54 PM
I had a terrible nights sleep last night, so am hoping the extra hour will put me back on track! Not been too well these last few days, but have loved your blog!
Skipton, to me , is lovely , as it something of everything! It can be bustling or it can be calm! I love the quirky side streets with their small shops and cafes. The canal always has a pull for as I love seeing the boats. Think they are marvellous and I love seeing the larger canal boats. They don’t fit on most canals!
My daughter uses a light box every day and says it really does help her! Can’t believe it’s only nine weeks to Christmas! I was sorry to hear about your bag project but you will find a way to satisfy you!
Enjoy your extra hour under the covers!
Posted by: Sally Spragg | October 24, 2020 at 08:38 PM
It sounds like a lovely day, and I am joining you in spirit working on the cupcake blanket in hydrangea colors. Not only do you have lovely Canadian glasses, but you also have some of their thinking. B.C. Motto is be kind, be calm, be safe, and have gratitude...all of which you seem to be doing❤️🇨🇦.
Posted by: Michele | October 24, 2020 at 08:34 PM