Blogtober 2021 :: Day 19

Another rain-filled, blustery day with leaves swirling down from the trees as I walked my way into town. Raindrops bounced into the canal, and the roads and pavements were puddled everywhere, but do you know the air felt pretty warm for this time of year (my weather app said 17 degrees) so I didn't mind the wet at all.

My feet were toasty warm in my hand knit socks and beloved Fly London boots - this will be my fifth winter wearing them and I love them very, very much. 

This is the narrow street which runs from the canal side into the centre of town,  a very convenient short cut known mostly to locals. At the very top end, you literally emerge between two shops..... 

....onto this charming little street which is called Sheep Street. At the weekends it is a very bustling, busy street indeed but on a wet Tuesday morning it was extremely quiet as you can see.

Two minutes to nine, and I'm right on time to meet my friend at our favourite café for a much needed milky coffee and a natter. We've been meeting here for over a decade so it feels wonderfully comforting and familiar....

....and the coffee is absolutely scrumptious. Not pictured is the sourdough toast with homemade plum preserve, it didn't last long enough to be captured on camera. It was good to chat to my friend, she's the closest friend I have locally and knows me pretty well. We met when I was pregnant with Little B and she stopped me to tell me how much she loved the crochet scarf I was wearing. I made the scarf in the days before I started blogging, so not sure if I've ever shown it but I wore it so much it eventually fell apart (you can see it on Flickr here, I hope the link works as Flickr is very old skool these days!)

An hour and a half later and another coffee down the hatch, we parted ways and I made my way home....

.....turning down another one of the "cut-throughs" to head back down to the canal. I live less than ten minutes walk from the main town centre shopping streets, so it's no hardship to walk to and fro to meet friends, pick up groceries, grab a quick coffee or run errands.

My diet has been a bit rubbish of late with far too much chocolate consumption and not enough of a healthy balance, so I made sure to have something wholesome for my lunch. I went for poached eggs on wholemeal toast, followed by a plate of fresh fruit. I cannot imagine daily life without fruit, it's probably my most favourite food group of all and always makes me feel good.

After I finished my fruit plate I got up to go and grab a drink, and when I came back to my chair I found it had already been taken.......

.......ooooooo, cheeky kitty! You can just see by the look on her face that she was being oh-so-cute in an attempt to distract me!

I popped out into the rain-soaked back yard this afternoon to put some old magazines into the recycle bin and noticed that my flowers were looking very sodden out there. They are still flowering pretty well, but the days of rain have made them very droopy indeed and I felt a bit sorry for them. I decided to snip some stems to bring inside - popped into a little thrifted jug and placed beside my bed.

I love having little posies beside my bed, it's such a sweet thing to wake up to in the mornings. I washed my bedding this morning so it's all nice and fresh and waiting for me to enjoy tonight, I honestly can't wait.

I felt out of sorts this afternoon, it's day one of my cycle and I was not feeling the best so I took some paracetamol and made myself a hot water bottle to try and ease the discomfort in my lower abdomen. I decided that a frothy decaff coffee and a bit of snuggle time on the sofa would help.......

......and one of these too. Possibly my most favourite chocolate of all time, have you tried them? You know how much I love a good bit of descriptive blurb, well you just have to read this ::

" Experience bliss with Lindt Lindor smooth melting salted caramel chocolate truffles. The Lindt Master Chocolatiers combine expertise and the finest ingredients to produce the perfectly round milk chocolate shell with salt crystals filled with an irresistibly smooth melting caramel centre. Since 1845, Lindt has been dedicated to producing the finest chocolates and the recipes created by the Lindt Master Chocolatiers are of the highest quality to delight your taste buds. The Lindor salted caramel chocolate box is the ideal gift for every occasion, from Father's Day to Easter, birthdays and Christmas, as well as being perfect for indulging in a blissful moment all to yourself "

Well quite, they certainly do delight my taste buds.

The Little People did good with their gift-giving for my birthday this year, although I have been enjoying a good many "blissful moments", way too many actually. I need to ease off a bit, make them last.

The magazines are September issues which I had forgotten about, so the pages are a curious mix of summer and autumn. I found it ever so slightly lacking to be honest (lots of neutrals) but there were a few inspirational pages which made my heart leap. 

Later on in the afternoon I had to pull myself together and prepare to go forth and do parental things. Little Lady needed to go and have some blood tests done which meant a short walk to our local community hospital in town. Afterwards she asked if we could stop at the supermarket and buy pumpkins - I've no idea why she suddenly wanted to go buy pumpkins right after having a needle stuck into her arm, but I figured it would take her mind off things a little. We ended up buying a rather large orange one as well as two smaller squash which were only 50p each. The dark green one is especially lovely in all its knobbly autumnal glory. We'll carve the big'n' on Halloween (when I say we, I mean ME, obvs) - the smaller two will be accents only and then I fully intend to eat them. I seem to remember that green squash have a strikingly orange interior? Delicious.

Right now, this is what I'm viewing just beyond my laptop. I've moved the jug of lilies by the way, after many of you told me how toxic they are to cats, so thank you for that. I had no idea. I've put them up on top of a tall chest of drawers where the kitty cannot get near them and I'm still able to adore them, so all's good.

I don't think the pumpkins can stay on the table until Halloween as the orange one is pretty massive, but for now I'm really enjoying the seasonal appropriateness of it.

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Comments

[Lee]

Hi Lucy, your Flickr link worked and I *love* that scarf! It's so cheery but also delicate. I will have to see if I can figure out how you did it; I have a friend who is quite petite and always complains that most scarves overwhelm her. Hope you feel better soon ~

[Cindy Conaty]

Hi Lucy, I love ALL your blogs especially the ones with your crocheting and your walks around your town and the countryside. I especially love October because I feel like we become real friends since I hear from you every day ❤️ Can I ask on the photo with the fruit what is that lovely blue and green ruffly item on the left side of the photo? Have a good day and I can’t wait to see you tomorrow, Cindy from the US

[Tineke]

Oh yes, Lilies are deadly! It's the stamens dust, I remember as a little one our help cut them out for the bouquets inside. I have Turkish lilies in the garden, high stalks, and far behind against the wall so no animal can reach it. Just like Chrysanthemum, you don't know how deadly they are, made into pest control chemicals. Indulge yourself in your period. You need a little chocolate and coffee to feel better.

[Lynda Robinson]

oh a lovely autumn post thank you. We have not been to your little town for ages, we must try and get there soon. I am currently snuggled on the sofa with one of my cats but I haven't been as creative as you, no posy of flowers or ideas for pumpkins but I did light a candle on the hearth.
xxx

[CJ]

A bit too much chocolate here as well. My middle son bought me some Co-op dark chocolate with raspberry which has been delicious and has the prettiest packaging which I'll probably turn into a bookmark or something. I love that you met your friend through your lovely scarf, brilliant. Flowers also bedraggled here, although my Sarah Raven pink butterfly pots are hanging on quite well, they've been so brilliant for months now. CJ xx

[Jacqui]

Ooh your town is so lovely and the canal.
Another lively blog Thankyou .

[Sue Roberts]

I love that you have ‘local’ shortcut routes into town. We have some here too in this lovely Estuary Village.
I’m hoping to Bob-in later for a coffee at a favourite caravan site cafe and if the rain stops enjoy those Estuary views.
Loving Blogtober. Thanks for sharing.

[Meredithe]

I do so enjoy your walks through, out, about and around your town. Hoping you’re feeling better and that Little Lady is also - such a tough time for you both. Sending hugs xx

[Lauren]

I loved going for a walk with you too and reading your description of your day. I’ve never been to Skipton but have been to the UK quite a few times which makes it easier to imagine the sounds and and surrounds of your lovely village. I also think it’s great how you got to meet your closest friend years ago. It shows that chance encounters and compliments given can be very important.
From Friday in Melbourne (Australia) we can have 10 people to our houses and I’m looking forward to meeting up with my craft group again and catching up whilst crocheting. We’ve known each other since our children were at Primary school and now they’re in their 20s and 30s.

[Patricia]

Loving your pictures of Skipton. Cherish your friendships, they are so important.

[Rachell]

Wondering…. if I put you on a sponsored no coffee day how many hours would you last?! XX

[Charlotte]

Cooked the green squash last night. It was delish. Envy your small village and the ability to walk to so many places. I think that we would all be in better health if we could walk instead of drive to do our visiting and shopping. Thanks for sharing.

[Marylin Ollivier]

Hi Lucy The scarf does look familiar. Also I believe you have a striped neck warmer/cowl thing that I copied. I get comments on it when I'm out and about shopping. I wish things were a bit more 'normal' out there, then I think I would teach basic crochet classes. There are so many young people that ask me about my scarves, hats, fingerless gloves, and me thinks there is a whole generation out there to take up this hooky business. My young niece of 15 has started crocheting but she is 1500 miles away, but we share via the internet. Thank you for a lovely walk...just love the stone houses and walkways, and the oldness of it. Things are too new and modern around me. LOL Take care, Hugs, MO

[Charlotte Pountney]

Pretty good to be enjoying the seasonal treats of autumn, at the same time as fresh flowers from your garden and temperatures we might have had in summer!

[Louise]

How funny that we have the same shoes! Mine are a different brand and a little pointier but basically the same green in a Chelsea boot style! What a lovely walk, thanks for that! I carved my first pumpkin ever last week, but despite my best efforts, it's now looking quite wrinkly and sunken so Im reluctant to chop into pumpkin number 2 until closer to Halloween. Got any tips for a pumpkin newbie? Xox

[Linda]

I remember that scarf photo from years ago when I first found your blog. Lovely to see it again.

[Jean Stein]

Laughing, because my cats burn their whiskers looking at my candles, so I'm very careful when they're lit. Good thing the cats have nine lives (or more)!

[Carol]

Hi Lucy, love "walking" with you! Looked at your floral scarf, lovey! Carol