Saturday Stuff

For a little while when I woke up this morning I thought that it was a school day and I experienced that wonderful surprised relief when my brain processed that it was in fact Saturday. It was quite early (just after 6am) and although I didn't manage to get properly back to sleep, I really luxuriated in that sort of light, drifty type of sleepy-awake state for a while. It was a lovely, slow, peaceful start to the day, and I don't ever take this for granted after having three children who've all been very early risers for most of their childhood years. I had more than a decade of abrupt, shouty, child-filled 5am wake ups, so believe me when I tell you that a slow start to the day with my own body clock setting the pace still feels like an absolute luxury. 

I love Saturdays, love the gentle routine of the day and the way that it usually unfolds so effortlessly. J and I walk into town together, usually between 8.30 and 9am or thereabouts, and do our market and local high street food shop. It's such a simple pleasure and makes me really appreciate living in a rural market town where the phrase "shop local" means supporting small independent traders. 

After we'd been round the market, we took a detour around to our favourite bakery to pick up a baguette loaf, then crossed over the stream to walk along the spring branch of the canal...

...down as far as the canal basin. Every Saturday we visit a small café down near the canal to enjoy a simple breakfast of eggs on toast and yes, you guessed it......

.....an outrageously good cup of coffee. You would think that with all the coffees I drink day in day out, week after month after year, that it would start to become a little bit routine and samey, wouldn't you? But for some reason it just never, ever comes to that. The pure pleasure and feeling of gratitude hits me right in the feels with each and every cup. Who knew that drinking coffee could be such an emotional experience?!

It's not really just about the coffee though, it's the whole experience of time and place too. Spending time chatting to J, appreciating my surroundings, taking time to sit, talk, drink, rest, recharge, plan, think, and be in the moment. 

Coming home from town on a Saturday morning is a time when I usually do a few jobs around the house. There is always a small mountain of fresh produce to try and get into our small fridge after our shop - it's a major challenge to make everything fit, I am an expert in food stacking you know. I also get a real kick out of filling up my very large oversized fruit bowl, and I love observing the visual abundance of it all.

Once the food is put away I kick start the first laundry load of the day, disinfect/clean the cat litter box, water my plants then tidy round in our downstairs living room which is usually in a state of disarray from the night before. I re-fold blankets, plump up cushions, tidy up the table surfaces and generally give our living space a re-set ready for the weekend. This morning I noticed my little pot of tete-a-tete narcissus has suddenly burst into bloom - I'm sure that the last time I looked they were just small shoots of green? Gorgeous little things, such a happy sight on my mantel.

I spent around 3 hours working on a new crochet design this afternoon, it's a commission project so I can't tell you about it just yet, but I'm excited about it. I can see what I want to create very, very clearly inside my Creative Mind, but my first sample didn't go too well so I had to step away and leave it for a while.

I really felt like I needed to clear my head and stretch my legs after spending so much time sat at the table crocheting (design-crochet is a very different beast to relaxing blanket making, it's pretty intense). I asked J if he wanted to come for a walk but he wasn't in the mood so I decided to just stride out by myself.

It's been a while since I went for a solo walk, and it was absolutely gorgeous out. It was bloomin' freezing cold mind you (don't be fooled by the blue of that sky!) and a wicked wind was blowing across the fields. I loved it though. I loved being able to just clear my mind and absorb the light and colours as I walked.

I heard a couple of curlews calling for the first time this year which made me really happy - it means they are beginning to return now after over-wintering by the coast so Spring must definitely be on the way.

As I was walking down this quiet little lane I had a text from J to let me know that he was walking to meet me, what a lovely surprise! I climbed over a stile just a  bit further down, crossed over a field, through a gate and there he was casually sitting on a bench waiting. 

There is a small holiday park just here, it's a few miles outside of Skipton and you can see it here if you fancy a nosy (there's a cute video to show what it looks like). There is a long, quiet road we walk along which is actually the private access road to the holiday park although the public are permitted to walk along it. It means that the grass verges are always kept neatly trimmed and there is very little traffic passing by - and today I was thrilled to see huge swathes of snowdrops, oh the joy!! I do remember seeing them in past years, but I don't ever remember there being this many. I couldn't get over how beautiful they looked.

I was really happy that J had come to meet me and we enjoyed our half hour stroll home together chatting about crochet of all things. I'm contemplating a new creative idea for something I want to work on this year, and it always helps to talk it through out loud. There is only so much noodling inside my messy brain that does any good, and J is very adept at helping me un-noodle my ideas. Exciting times!!

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[Alex of Log & Mitten]

I love the sense of mindfulness and joy this post carries Lucy. And, again, I totally get you when you say the cup of coffee never gets boring and it's not about just the coffee but instead the entire experience. Same here for me. I never get tired of it. It's the table location, the decor, the ambiance, the natural light, the chatty people around, the chat, the wait, the everything. For me it's a chai latte though :-)Your walks sound wonderful too (love the scenery).

[Janette Surtees]

Lovely writing Lucy. Your descriptions of your day to day life, the landscape, Crochet and other stuff is such a tonic to my soul.

[Anne]

I'm quietly sitting here with my early morning coffee in Hervey Bay Queensland Australia. I hadn't seen one of your blog posts for a long time. I have so enjoyed reading it and following along on your walk. I felt like I was really there with you. Thanks Lucy for sharing this beautiful moment and scenery with us.

[Sharon Sellens]

hello Lucy, I can't wait to come back up to walk around Skipton again this year, fingers crossed!
I'm sure you will have heard that our dear Aunty Betty died on Feb 23rd, she didn't quite make it to her 100th birthday 😪
I shall really miss her sense of fun as well as losing the final link to my Dad and the Rickets family 💖
Love to you all xxxxx

[Liz]

What a lovely post, hearing about your Saturday. The countryside where you live is gorgeous.

[Charlotte]

Another lovely post. Thank you.

[Andy]

Hi Lucy
I sure envy you to be living in a beautiful place like this i can only dream of living there and going for long walks ,stopping in for a cup of that delicous coffee
I so love the scenery

[Geeha]

So glad you've got J to talk and walk with as well as enjoy coffee and eggs with, to me they are the things that make a marriage. I have known my husband for 50 years, married for 46, and talking, walking and taking time to be together has got us through all manner of difficult times.

[Linda]

Another lovely post. You certainly live in a beautiful area. I think snowdrops have been better than ever this year - much taller too than I remember from other years and also they seem to have lasted forever. Gorgeous little flowers.

[Ruthie]

Sounds like a perfect Saturday!
I must say the image of J casually sitting on a bench waiting for you is lovely.!
I adore snowdrops too, they are so pretty and fresh looking x

[Regina]

I love reading your stories! Please continue to share.

[Susan]

I can feel the enjoyment in your words & the accompanying photos are gorgeous. Glad to hear that you can mull over your hobby with J especially over the last 2 years with so many isolation issues. The snowdrops are to die for, as we don't see them here in Oz. Thanks for sharing your Saturday & the beautiful dales scenery too. Take care & hugs.

[Julia]

Hello Lucy. I just love reading your blog and seeing what you are up to. Your photos are always the loveliest. I do love your Saturday morning routine - the coffee looks amazing! What a great start to the weekend. It's my dream to visit the beautiful country of England someday. Have a great week ahead.

[Vicky]

You have inspired me to have a bowl of hyacinth bulbs in my bathroom. They are just at the stage where I expect to enter the room to a sea of blue flowers. Any time now they will go ping.

[Brenda Martin]

Thanks once again for your inspirational blogs Lucy! Always look forward to them. Like you I feel blessed to live in rural Yorkshire with daily access to countryside walks. Also totally understand the joy of the 'coffee experience'! It's so much more than the taste of the coffee. I understand the Swedes call it 'fika' - a celebration of the whole feel good factor. Glad you've survived the dark months a little easier this year.Please keeep creating and inspiring us all!👍

[Lynn E. Claytor]

I must tell you that I so love reading your blogs and trying your patterns. Crocheting makes me happy, and I am quite glad that others do as well. Thanks for spreading the love!!!!!

[Klaudia Zuberska]

Hello ♡
You have a wonderful, very inspiring blog! Great photos, beautiful photo report.
Regards nice and warm from Poland ♡

[Diane Koele]

Thanks for taking us along for a stroll through your Saturday. It sounds like a lovely day. Best wishes on un-noodling and sorting our your project. :)

[Jo]

Perfect Saturday. Love the snowdrops and so glad you have some exciting projects to mull over.

[CJ]

What a lovely Saturday. I enjoy a coffee very much as well, and when it's brought to me in a cafe that is extra special. I went for very many years not drinking it, which makes it even better now I think. The shouty 5am wake ups made me smile. You're right, it is utter bliss to wake up without them. CJ xx

[Jill]

Beautiful snowdrops :) And I love that you can chat crochet with your hubby :)
I've just restarted my blog over at emeraldcottage.blogspot.co.uk would be lovely to see you over there :)
Jillxx

[Karen Dodgson]

Thank you Lucy for sharing your happy Saturday. I love that J came to meet you! I love walking with my own J, and the time away from phones and technology to just hold hands and talk. As you know the St Anne’s coastline always takes my breath away….although this weekend we’re having a very short city break in Glasgow, and I’m loving taking it all in and sketching the sights for my college work. Hope your Sunday is lovely too x

[Christine Summerhill]

Thank you again Lucy for your beautiful blog. I have so enjoyed your lovely Saturday and could so understand the early mornings, we had the same with
our children, precious memories now, but what i would have done for that extra hour. Your walk was idyllic.....thank you again!