Home into Autumn

Hellooooooo to you all, how have you been? It feels like a good long while since I was here chatting to you but that's mainly because I've been away from home, and I think time away often moves at a different pace to the normal, everyday sort of tick-tock time on the home clock.

Actually, this time last week I was still travelling, making my way from the south France to London, then up along the backbone of England all the way north to Yorkshire. It took thirteen hours in total, a coach, a plane, the underground and two trains, with some weary walking up the hill at the very end. 

I've spent the last week resting quite a bit and easing myself back into gentle home routines. It's been a pleasure to allow my days to gently unfold and soak up the quiet, comforting homely vibes here at number twenty four. 

There has been a distinct chill in the air this past week and honestly, it has felt really beautiful. I've often said that I am happiest when our English seasons run true, and so far autumn is feeling wonderfully autumnal. Happy me!

It was my birthday last week and I celebrated fifty four trips around the sun. I had coffee with my good friend (we have a standing date at a favourite café every Tuesday morning) and she gave me a card, a little wrapped present, a bag of pears and a solitary beetroot (complete with roots and soil attached) which she'd dug up from the community veg plot on her way to the café. It was the funniest gift which made me double over with laughter, and that reminds me I really do need to cook it! I think I'm going to roast it in the oven. She also very kindly gifted me the most stunning bunch of fragrant stocks and I inhaled their sweet, peppery scent all the way home.

Don't they look lovely? Stocks and a muddy beetroot - what more could a girl want, eh?!

My birthday was on Wednesday and the day was bright and blustery, perfect for a lunch time stroll. 

J doesn't often take a proper lunch break when he's working (something which we often argue about), but on this day he made time  to come to the woods with me. We had Little Lady with us too, and I must say I am really, really loving the fact that I still have her at home for the time being. 

The leaves are just beginning to fall in the woodland and although it's still mostly green in the treetops, there are lots of leaves now on the ground. There is seasonal beauty all around, and I am absolutely here for it.

We are continuing to manage without our central heating, and I'm kind of getting used to the house being a bit on the cold side. I can't say I like it that much (I take after my late Mum, and really don't like to feel cold), but I am coping. I'm dressing in multiple cotton layers, adding a thick jumper when I need it, woolly socks constantly on my feet and blankets, blankets and more blankets. If I'm sitting, then I'm covered in at least two blankets. I shall be known as Lucy Layers this season. Thank goodness for the fire, my gosh I worship this thing, it brings me immense pleasure and comfort and I absolutely would not be without it.

Since I came home from France, I'm taking even more pleasure than usual from my every day views. I really do love where I live and looking at it as if I were a visitor is something I do quite often. Do you do the same I wonder? Or is this just another of my weird and wonderful habits?!

I walk along this narrow road beside the canal almost every day as it's the quickest route into the centre of town, and it's such a sweet way to observe the changing seasons too. 

On bright days when the sun has felt juuuuuust about warm enough for us to sit outside, J and I have had our morning coffee al fresco. There are a couple of small bistro tables outside our regular coffee shop and I've really enjoyed having the October sun on my face as I slurp my frothy coffee. These small pleasures bring such a lot of joy to my days.

I don't really have much to say about the above photo to be honest! It was an afternoon walk to the supermarket to pick up a few bits that we had run out of. The flowers caught my eye as I walked along the tow path to Tesco, and my immediate thought was to take a photo so that I could show you. Blogging is such a deep-rooted way of life for me that I very rarely stop to question myself over it. Take a photo of a boat with some flowers to share with the twenty thousand strangers who visit the Attic every day (give or take a few)? Completely normal.

I almost forgot that in between the slow, mundane, restful days at home last week, I took off on a very quick jaunt. Good job I snapped a photo of the platform or else I would have forgotten! So yeah...three days after returning from France I was back on the trains again, but a quick journey this time just over to York to visit some of my dearest friends. It was a reunion with the ladies who kept me sane during those very early new born baby days, celebrating twenty years of motherhood and friendship. It was honestly the best night, so full of laughter that I had to work hard not to actually pee my pants. I count myself very lucky to have these kind of friends, it's something special to be able to pick up with each other over the years and feel like no time has passed.

I haven't had chance to chat to you much about the Fireside blanket which launched about a month ago. But I just wanted to say a massive, heartfelt THANK~YOU to everyone who bought a yarn pack and started out on this cosy blanket journey, it's been wonderful for me to see so many new blankets taking shape in recent weeks. I know that many of you are new to using Stylecraft Highland Heathers yarn and it's been great to hear how much you've liked it. 

My own blanket is in constant use and it's the perfect size to wrap around my shoulders (my name is Lucy Layers, remember) or cosy across my legs.

A few days ago I came across a photo on Facebook which made my heart skip a beat, and I knew I had to show you.....

......what do you think?? Isn't it BEaUtiFuL??? It's made using the twelve Fireside colours following my random stripe order which you can find ((here)). The pattern is the Seashell Stripe (which I used to make my Dune blanket) and I think it looks absolutely stunning. Amanda, if you are reading this, I just love love love your blanket, thank you so much for sharing on Facebook, what an inspiration.

At the moment I'm using the leftovers from my Fireside blanket to make a circular cushion and I am absolutely crushing on the colours all over again. They somehow look different when in a circle, a bit brighter and more lustrous? Is lustrous a real word or did I just make that up...hahah....I kind of want to say Lush-trous?!! 

Anyhow, this is the second side of the cushion and I'm almost finished so I'll show you later in the week when it's done. I started the project when I was in France as I needed something fairly easy to work on in the teeeeny gaps of time when I was free from teaching and wasn't out walking and falling in love with stone walls and cobbled streets.

Speaking of France, I had a wonderful, amazing time teaching on my Stitchtopia retreat and I fell a little bit in love with beautiful Carcassonne. It was ridiculously picturesque and atmospheric and I took a gazillion photos which I've spent aaaaaages organising and editing over the past few days.

I'd like to share my trip with you, if you'd be interested to see what an Attic24 Crochet retreat looks like? It was pretty colourful (of course) and there was lots of crochet and coffee and beautiful views and the sunniest sunshine.....more soon!

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Comments

[Sarah]

Happy Birthday! Thanks for your lovely blog and photos. Autumn is such a gorgeous season - lots of little shafts of joy in the colours of the trees and the sky, and the misty mornings. Love it! Xx

[Jan Heywood]

Hi Lucy, don’t know you, but love you to bits!!
Sure we must have been sisters in another life.
Thank you for all the colour you bring to my life xx

[Maypole]

A lovely cheery post, lots of colour.
May I ask what fuel you use on your fire to get such a good flame?

[Nancy]

Reading this early in the morning, having only had a couple sips of coffee, I read it as "fragrant socks" and for the briefest of moments thought what a lovely thing?! (maybe it was party because I had recently hand laundered some of my homemade socks?). I would love to hear more about your trip to France. Thank you! (Another reader from Pennsylvania).

[Rosie Rogers]

Belated Happy Birthday wishes, Lucy. It is so lovely to have you back. Yes, please do share your adventure in Carcassone, somewhere I have always wanted to visit.

[Becki]

Hi Lucy, so lovely to read about your amazing adventures again and fantastic photos of your stunning area. It does look absolutely gorgeous in France and sounds wonderful to have been on the retreat. The makes looked really beautiful and I’m glad you all had such a lovely time. More pictures about it would be fabulous, thank you. ☺️ Happy belated birthday 🎉 for last week, glad you had a super day and managed some time with J too. I’ve yet to start your Fireside blanket but am really looking forward to making it and was very excited when my pack came from Wool Warehouse in its gorgeous organza bag! Thank you again it really was so nice to see your post.. Take care love and hugs, Becki xxx 🥰🤗

[Elizabeth]

Happy birthday, Lucy! I hope you had a wonderful day (and cake! And ice cream, too!). Each photo in this post brought a sigh of happiness. They were all so pretty. The stones with grass growing between them, and the misty canal, were especially lovely. I truly believe that beauty lifts the soul and makes us better people. The best part? We can each make our own beauty and surround ourselves with the fruits of our creative labor. Thank you for all you share.

[Simon]

Welcome home Lucy! And Happy Birthday for last week!💐💐 I'm looking forward to seeing photos from France, I bet it was warmer there? I'm a bit jealous that you love where you live so much, 'coz I'm really not that keen on it here any more.🥱 That Dune blanket looks amazing in the Highland Heathers!! I'm still plodding on with the Yuletide blanket, among other things. There had better been cake! It's one of your 5-a-day!😀

[DeLynn]

Of course we want to read about your trip! :)
I often look at where we live with a visitor's perspective in mind!
The canal boats in your pictures *always* intrigue me. It's just so different than anything I have ever seen except in pictures or tv shows.
Happy birthday! Many blessings on you!

[Norma]

Thanks Lucy for you Lush-trous photos & happy blog catch-up. Glad you had a great time in France & a very Happy Birthday to you too. Look forward to more French crochet adventurous photos xx

[Ruth]

Happy birthday for last week ! X I’m sure we would all love to read about your trip to Carcassonne, it looks beautiful there.
I’ve started the fireside blanket, loving the Highland Heather yarn, such deep vibrant colours. And I’m now au fait with join as you go, I’ve tried several times to master it before, but this time it just clicked.
I too look at my town as if I were a visitor, but then I also live in a beautiful historic town ( although I don’t actually live in that bit).
Good to see you back Lucy!

[Angela]

Happy happy birthday to you! I’ve been around the sun only once more than you! What gorgeous flowers you received, I could almost smell them in my mind while reading your blog! I just love the fireside colours in the dune pattern! The shell stitch really makes the colours pop even more! You do live in such a beautiful little town. The canal, lovely old buildings and all the nearby walks you go on you just about have it all really! Looking forward to seeing pics of your trip to France and the crochet workshop. Thank you for yet another lovely post! Angela x

[Hedy]

Happy belated birthday! My birthday was on Thursday the 13th, but 77 years ago. Time flies by so fast. I love reading your blog and look forward to the pictures from France. I’ve been all over France and love it. Your Fireside blanket looks similar to one I crocheted about 50 years ago. I have no clue where it is now but I did buy a similar one in a thrift store several years ago. Yours is actually prettier but I sure enjoyed mine. I’m going to get involved with a crochet group so that I can do better, I seem to have forgotten some basic things. You have inspired me!

[Cathleen Yvonne Lindell]

♫♫Happy happy Birthday♫♫

[Louise]

Happy Birthday fellow Libran! What a lovely early Autumn post. I do like those days when there is a fresh crispness in the air and a few yellowy leaves sprinkled on the ground. However I am thoroughly soaking up the Spring after a long, dank winter. Enjoy your beetroot! Did you know you can regrow the tops? I found a beetroot top and chucked it in my compost about a year ago. Then a week or so later when I was adding more scraps to the compost, saw the little green shoots popping out so retrieved them and realised they were from the old beetroot top. We decided to pop it in the vegie garden to see what would happen. Lots of fresh, young beetroot leaves! But I kind of forgot about it as it got over grown with Strawberries. Then a couple of months later I 'rediscovered' it and discovered it had grown a whole new (slightly smaller) beetroot! Apparently you can regrow for the young leaves in salad so I don't think that it realised it wasn't suppose to regrow a beetroot. You do live in a beautiful part of the world. We were thinking of incorporating it into a little trip we may take to your part of the world next year. The town, along the canal and the woods look so beautiful. xox

[BillieJo]

Happy Birthday! And I so enjoyed spending time in your beautiful part of the world. Have a cozy evening from Pennsylvania!

[Isabel Johnston]

I would love to visit Carcassone! Have you read Citadel by Kate Mosse? A fabulous book set in Carcassone. . Happy Birthday.

[Kath]

I don't have the words to tell you how much I enjoyed your post!!! Belated Happy Birthday.

[Brenda]

HaPpY BIRTHDAY!!!! Your life seems so gentle and just downright lovely.
Hope there was cake. Brenda