Attic24

Easter 2022

Thank you for all your lovely messages following my last post, you always show me such kindness and support and I am ever so grateful for that I can tell you. After a slow, restful week I'm feeling a smidge brighter so I thought I would spend some time trying once again to catch up here.

At some point I'll tell you a bit more about what's going on in Dorset, my Dad isn't doing so good and it's a huge cause of worry for me. I try and shake it off because worrying doesn't really help - at this point in time there is very little to be done other than to wait things out. So although I still absolutely LOVE to be in Dorset to reconnect with my special place, it takes a lot out of me emotionally.

I was really glad to come home after five days away, but I came back to a house that desperately needed attention on all fronts. J is really great at making sure the Little Peeps (and the kitty) are fed and safe, but that's the extent of his housekeeping. Things like laundry, basic bathroom and kitchen cleaning (which needs doing every day in house with three children), recycling, tidying, food shopping - it all got a bit neglected. It made me realise that even though I am very slack when it comes to cleaning, I actually do way more daily housekeeping jobs than I give myself credit for. Put it this way - there was a LOT that needed my attention when I got back, so I spent pretty much a whole day getting on top of the jobs, including four loads of laundry. I know I was missed, I got multiple hugs from two out of three children and J was definitely very happy to have me home again.

I've come to realise in recent years that having familiar routines and gentle structure to my days is a highly underrated source of contentment. I always used to say how much I value my freedom, but what I only recently realised is that freedom only feels good for me if it's underpinned by routine. I wonder if this is connected to me getting older, or if it's always been that way and I just never realised it before? Either way, I am grateful for the ease of my days and the familiar rituals which bring me pleasure.

Yeah, it's often all about the coffee for me - well, more specifically the little outings with family or friends which surround the coffee drinking. I just love hanging out in cafés, there is something about the happy, relaxed ambience of a good indie coffee shop that greatly appeals to me. It's been a part of my life ever since I moved here fourteen years ago and found my way into an unexpectedly wonderful "café lifestyle". Having J able to join me on many days of the week now is a real pleasure, I happen to really enjoy his company which is something to celebrate after being together for almost thirty years.

During the school holidays we've continued to take our daily walk but it's generally been mid morning rather than our usual early morning jaunt. Sometimes it's just us two and sometimes we manage to persuade Little B to come with us. Since I had covid I haven't had enough physical energy to do my home workouts but my daily walks give me some much needed gentle exercise each day.

Our little town has been very busy during the Easter holidays with a lot of folks holidaying here, but I don't mind it at all. I love it when the town feels jolly and bustling and thriving, it's a special kind of feeling to know that I live in a place where people actually choose to come on holiday. I quite like strolling leisurely around the place pretending that I'm on holiday myself and wondering if I look like a local or a visitor, have you ever done that? 

The canal is getting busy again now that the holiday season has started and there are many boats coming and going along the waterways. The boat in the above photo is a local resident, it's a small open air one which offers short 30 minute cruises. We've been on it a few times in past years when the Little People were small, ah, fond memories of playing tourist in our home patch.

We hadn't made any plans for  Easter weekend and that felt absolutely just right for me. I've been trying to conserve my energy and rest when I feel like my body needs it, so have kept socialising to a minimum just lately. Since my blanket making has been put on hold (sill undecided what to do with that) I've been spending time doing other creative things instead of crochet. Over the Easter weekend I occupied myself with this unbelievably cute little stitching project from the spring Craftpod box. 

This was stitching on a teeeeeeeny tiny scale - delicate little lines of blanket stitch to join the felt pieces together, and simple black embroidery to create the face....

......awwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!! Such a sweet project and well worth the effort involved in creating it.

My little lamb became the guardian of the mini eggs over Easter weekend - I think I refilled this dish three or four times but that's exactly how it should be at Easter. I bought the Little People a modest sized Lindt easter egg each (this one) and they were very happy with my choice (we are all huge fans of Lindt chocolate in this house). But for me it was enough to have these little eggs to enjoy, gosh, I do so love them and Easter is not complete without them.

I went into the Attic eaves and dug out the old shoe box marked Easter which contains much loved decorations gathered over many years.

Some are shop bought and some are handmade and I love the happy, colourful chaos of it all.

The pattern for the little flowers is ((here)) and the Mini Chicklet pattern is ((here)), with Mini Bunny variation ((here)).

On the absolute spur of the moment I crocheted some new decorations for my twigs on Easter Monday, but you'll have to wait until next Spring to see those. I know, so mean of me! But I've written up the pattern (they are crocheted eggs with little flowers) and have made a note to share it next year in good time for you to purchase the polystyrene shapes and make them yourself if you want to. 

When I unpacked my Easter box I discovered these really pretty paper honeycomb egg decorations that I'd purchased last year, but which had arrived too late to use for Easter '21. It was a lovely surprise to find them and I hung them up across the archway where I have fairy lights all year round. I bought them from eBay ((here)) - I don't think I'll ever tire of decorating for seasonal celebrations and in many ways I love Easter decorating more than Christmas.

Right now as I sit and write to you there aren't any flowers on my table (shock horror!) and the whole room feels bare without them. I had a beautiful jug of spring blooms flowering away over the Easter weekend, a mix of hyacinths, tulips and the most fabulous frilly daffs, oh, I did enjoy them. Having fresh flowers in the house is high on my list of priorities and I consider them a weekly essential on the same level as milk or pasta. I think we're lucky these days that supermarkets sell beautiful seasonal blooms for just a few pounds so you can easily pop a bunch into your basket along with the groceries. Highly, highly recommended as a feel-good treat.

I've managed to do quite a bit of gentle walking this holiday and  I think walking in a woodland is such a wonderful way to appreciate the seasons and feel connected to nature. Right now in the north of England the trees are just starting to show the very first signs of greenery, but it's on the ground where you really take note. The wild garlic is at its peak (in terms of leafage) and as usual it's looking (and smelling) absolutely magnificent in the woods where I live. As you can see, it grows in abundance so I always feel OK about picking a small handful of leaves because it doesn't harm the plants at all and there is just soooo much of it.

I made some delicious pesto using around 100g of wild garlic leaves combined with a small handful of fresh basil, olive oil, lemon juice, 50g parmesan and 100g cashew nuts. It was absolutely insane - the flavour was incredible and we've eaten it for several meals simply tossed through with a good pasta.

I've spent some lovely time with my Little Lady this holiday, making the most of these last few weeks of her childhood before she turns eighteen next week. She is such a delight and I love our easy friendship, in fact I was thinking just the other day how grateful I am for the fact that all three of my offspring are very low drama and cause us the minimum of parental concern. I am truly grateful and make sure to tell them often.

Little Lady is coming through a fairly stressful period in her life right now (A levels begin in just a few short weeks, and then the BIG decision about university), so I've been supporting her in every which way I'm able. Often times it just means regular check-ins with her to make sure she's doing OK, a quick chat to catch up and hear her current thoughts and plans. But sometimes I find the need to parent more strongly, to dig in and pull her out of her anxiety and over thinking. If the weather permits, the pulling is usually something physical - a walk through the woods or a visit to her favourite coffee shop to get her to detach from screen time and breathe in a different environment. I've found it's much easier for her to offload her worries when we are walking, it's less intense I guess and a more natural way for us to talk things through.

In the above photo we had walked into town to pick up her favourite iced latté as a takeout, then strolled along the canal and into the park to sit, sip and chat. We spent almost an hour sat on the grass with the sun on our faces, taking in the view and talking about all sorts of things and later that evening she came to me just before bed to thank me for it. Sweet girl, she really is.

I absolutely love love love this time of year, in particular the light evenings that we are gifted after what seems like the longest dark season. In the above photo it's just after 8pm and I was walking home from my weekly Slimming World meeting. It's what I dream about in October when darkness closes in around 4pm, these beautiful, long, light-filled days of spring and summer are what my soul lives for.

I mean, how beeeeeeautiful is this sky? No filter, no editing, the sky really was this colour the other night.

It's been really nice to catch up with you, and I hope that my words are reading OK because I generally don't edit them once they have spewed out onto the page. What you read is what comes directly forth from my brain pipes, so here's hoping it all makes some kind of sense.

Today it's Saturday and we are back to work and school on Monday. I've enjoyed this much needed restful holiday but at the same time I do feel ready for some gentle routine to underpin my days again. It's all about the balance I guess.

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New Year by the Sea

I've been thinking the past few days that it has seemed strange not preparing for a Friday blanket post, like there's been something missing from my week. The past six Fridays have been filled with such a lot of colour and coastal feel-good, and I've really enjoyed creating the weekly CAL instalments for you all. So I figured that if I'm not filling your screens with blankety stripes today, then perhaps you would like some coastal views instead? I've been meaning to share this little jolly with you for ages and now seems like just the right time to do it.  

At the very, very start of January, on the very first day of a brand new year, we left our little town and drove seventy five miles north east to one of my favourite coastal places : Saltburn-by-the-Sea. I'd discussed the idea with the family a few weeks before Christmas and we all agreed that it would be a lovely, gentle way to see in the New Year. I managed to find a very homely terraced house to rent through Airbnb for two nights, and the Big Teen agreed that he would happily stay home and take care of the kitty for us, so we were all set.

We arrived around lunchtime on New Year's day and I have to tell you this quiet little seaside town was absolutely heaving with people. So. Many. People! And dogs, and cars and hustle and bustle everywhere you cast your eyes, I've never seen it so busy, not even in peak summer holiday season. It was a little bit of a shock to be honest, but luckily we had arrived well prepared with a packed lunch in our bags and a familiar walk to do which quickly took us away from the crowds.

We've been visiting Saltburn  since 2010 when Little B was just a weeny baby, and we fell instantly in love with this charming, rather old fashioned seaside town. It's fascinating to read about the history of Saltburn which was established as a holiday resort in Victorian times specifically as a destination for "health, leisure and pleasure". I am totally onboard with the idea of leisure and pleasure seeking, and I think taking in the sea air for health benefits is absolutely spot on.

The walk we set out on was familiar and easy going, a steep climb at the start which took us up onto the clifftops to join the Cleveland Way. I really love the huge iron charm bracelet sculpture which stands about seven foot high on the edge of the cliff overlooking the north sea. There's a bench here which made for a lovely resting point for us to eat our lunch - winter picnics are just brilliant I think, although the Little People probably wouldn't agree with me. It was a bit on the chilly side.

You can see from the above photo how bloomin' glorious the weather was on New Years Day at the coast, we were so, so lucky and it really made me feel like we were beginning a brand new year in the best way possible.

It was around 3.30 in the afternoon when our walk brought us back down from the clifftops to sea level at Saltburn, and at the start of January the light was already beginning to fade.

We walked for a short way along this small stony beach....

...listening to the waves roll in and breathing in all that fresh salty sea air.

The holiday home that we rented was in the heart of Saltburn town, an old Victorian terraced house that's been in the same family for more than half a century. It had masses of character - huge rooms with old wooden floors and lots of vintage furniture.

It also had a huge collection of books and dvd's so there was quite a bit of film watching in the evenings which we enjoyed (although I did fall asleep on the sofa quite a lot). It was cold when we were there in January, but the house had the most fabulous radiators in every room - they were the huge cast iron Victorian style ones and my goodness they were efficient. The house was super-toasty warm and felt ever so homely, it reminded me a bit of the Youth Hostels we used to stay in when the Little People were small. Kind of old fashioned and a bit worn out but charming nevertheless.

The following day we set off on another walk which is a firm favourite of ours, although we realised that it's a walk J and I have done together many, many times over the years but never with the Little People. It's a circular ten mile route which begins and ends in Robin Hoods Bay, and as the weather was once again looking stunning I was really excited for a day of coastal walking.

This is a walk of two halves - the first five miles or so follow an old disused railway (called a cinder track) and it's pretty flat and easy going if a little muddy in places. The beginning part is quite enclosed with tall trees and steep banks on either side.... 

....but after a few miles it opens out and you begin to get tantalising glimpses of the sea.

The long distance coastal views are absolutely spectacular, especially on a gloriously clear-blue-sky day. We ate a picnic lunch with the above view, all four of us sat together on an old bench chatting and munching and viewing the view. It's the kind of thing that makes me so indescribably happy right into the depths of my soul - sunshine, fresh air and sea views, and a simple meal enjoyed with my family.

After our lunch stop, the footpath meandered right down to the cliff edge to join up with the Cleveland Way back to Robin Hoods Bay.

It's quite tough walking with some steep ups and downs in places, and on this day it was also incredibly muddy underfoot. It made the going slow and a bit arduous to be honest, but the constant sea views really did keep me feeling on top of the world.

I think it's safe to say we all felt very weary by the time we arrived back into Robin Hoods Bay. 

We decided to stroll down the steep hill into the heart of the village in search of a café where we could have coffee and cake, and honestly, the very thought of that refreshment kept my feet moving.

Robins Hoods Bay is such a charming little place and I've enjoyed it (and photographed it) on many, many occasions over the years.

The streets are narrow and atmospheric, the cottages leaning into each other as if they are tumbling down the hill towards the sea.

Unfortunately for us, this day was a national bank holiday in the UK and most of the shops and cafés were closed. Deep, deep, sad sigh. I was ridiculously disappointed, especially since we had arrived at the very bottom of the hill with the realisation that we simply had to turn around and walk aaaaaaaaaalllllll the way back up again. Without coffee! Or cake!! And my feet were ten-miles weary and oh, I did feel like having a very small but significant toddler tantrum at this point in time. 

The other three quarters of us were apparently fine about the sitch and it was only me having a melt down. So I pulled myself together and listened to J who was selling me the vision of a steaming hot cup of tea and some toasted crumpets back at our holiday home, with my feet up and a very warm cosy ambience to relax in. Sold, to the lady standing on the edge of reason.

Did I mention how cosy the house was, and how fabulous it felt to be back there after a day of muddy miles? And yes, I did indeed have my Harbour blanket with me, I never go away on holiday without at least one crochet blanket packed.

The next day was our final morning, so we spent some time tidying up and getting our bags all packed away in the car for the 10 o'clock exit deadline. We hadn't planned anything for the morning, thinking we would simply go for a wander and find somewhere to eat breakfast. Saltburn has some lovely woodland nestled along the steep banks of the narrow river valley, and although the paths were very muddy we enjoyed the stroll from the woods, through the valley gardens and down to the sea.

It was such a stunning morning without a single cloud in the sky - it's just after 10am in the above photo and we are on the seafront searching (once again) for coffee and some breakfast. Luckily there is a great little café right down on the front which sells Illy coffee (I am a big fan) and even better, they were doing a roaring trade in bacon and sausage breakfast rolls too. Yippeeee!!

We took our breakfast out onto the pier where we enjoyed a very, very windy time of it, my goodness it was bracing. But the coffee was superb, the expansive beachy views even more so. Happy, happy me.

Fully refuelled and full of energy, I desperately wanted to get down onto the beach and take myself to the water's edge. The tide was out and there was such a lot of breathing space, I couldn't wait to go and inhale it all.

Now here's a funny thing - all the men folk in my family really happen to dislike beaches and only set foot on them if absolutely necessary. My brother and my Dad are really not keen and neither are J or Little B, or my Big Teen Boy. So on this glorious sunny morning when the sea was calling my name, I could not persuade J or Little B to set foot on the sand, they just point blank refused. Luckily, I have Little Lady who is very much like me in so many ways and she was only too happy to be my sandy sidekick. J and Little B strolled slowly along the promenade, while Little Lady and I got swept along the sands by the gusty wild winds.....

....all the way to the waters edge.

It was so so so so beautiful, unbelievably so I think you'll agree. This is winter at it's absolute brilliant best - icy cold and fresh, and gloriously bright. I can't explain how happy I was in this moment, it was just the best feeling to be beside the sea drinking it all in.

Eventually it was time to leave, and after we'd reunited with the two sand-hating promenaders we made the slow, steep climb back up to the cliff top. Saltburn is a place of two halves - the lower half is down at sea level and is known as the old part of the town, and the upper half at the top of the cliff is where the houses, train station and shops are situated. There are various ways to get up and down between the two parts - there are steps (lots of them) as well as slightly easier to handle zig-zag pathways. And then there is the famous water powered cliff lift - sadly closed when we were there, but we have used it in the past. You can watch a little video about it on YouTube ((here)) - it's a very historic and well preserved bit of engineering.

You can probably tell that I have a real soft spot in my heart for Saltburn-by-the-Sea and I love spending time there. Its quirky charms and well preserved Victorian style really appeal to me, not to mention the fact that the waves here are legendary (it's a real surfer's destination these days, because of the aforementioned waves). It's only a small place (around six thousand residents) and has a wonderful down-to-earth feel about it - there is something very relaxing about the pace of life and the simplicity of what's on offer here that I love. Whenever we come to stay I always feel it doing me good, it brings me energy and peace and is a place that supercharges my inner battery.

We were away for exactly 50 hours, and it was everything that I'd hoped for when I booked the trip before Christmas. Time to rest and recharge, a change of scene, fresh air, scenic walking and top notch family time. And such a beautiful way to begin a new year too. 

Tilly missed us of course, and actually I was glad to be home in the end. Fifty hours away was just right.

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Crochet Heart Inspiration

It's Valentine's Day today, and although it isn't a day I actively celebrate I do really appreciate the whole decorative hearts thing. Pretty hearts aren't just for one day of the year though, what a crying shame that would be!

I snapped the above photo earlier on today, goodness knows how many times you must have seen photos of my dining room fireplace with this crochet heart garland because it's been hanging here for many, many years. Every so often I contemplate making something new, but honestly I just can't bring myself to replace it because I don't think this room would feel like "home" without it.

This heart garland is rather old now - yep, it's so old that it actually pre-dates the Attic. I know, I know, it's a fourteen year old relic from life Before Blog (14 years BB!!) I had to delve waaaaaaaay back into my photo archives to find the creative evidence from 2008, and thought you might like to see what the colours originally looked like before they became a bit worn and sun faded.

I used Rowan Handknit Cotton  following a free pattern I found online ((here)), and the little button flowers were my own addition. 

Thinking about crochet hearts this morning got me pondering on the various heart-shaped projects I've designed and made over the years, and that perhaps it would be fun to see them all together in one place.

♥ Teeny Tiny Hearts : 2011 ♥

I used to make a lot of small decorative things at one time, and these little crochet hearts whizzed off my hook one day when I had a strong urge to be creative and play with colour. I wrote up the pattern for them ((teeny tiny hearts pattern here)) and then had a lot of fun making them into....

....a decorative twiggy display, like you do. You can read more about my creative process ((here)).

I've actually got no idea what happened to the teeny tiny hearts, where they ended up shall remain one of life's mysteries. I still have the very same twigs from 11 years ago sitting in a jug on my mantel as you can see in the first photo. Maybe I should make some more little hearts?

♥ Rose Heart Hanger : 2013 ♥

I've made quite a few of these over the years, all of them gifted to friends. The one pictured here was made in quite muted colours because I made it for someone who preferred this sort of colour palette, but I think brighter colours would look fabulous. 

You can read more about it ((here)) including pattern details.

♥ Valentine Sweet Heart : 2015 ♥

I shared this decorative heart on my blog in 2015, but I designed it the year before as a project for Simply Crochet magazine. I shared the pattern and how-to on my blog ((here)), and I've seen many versions of it being made and shared online over the years. The flowers are glued onto a heart shape made from pipe cleaners, but I've since found out that you can buy metal craft heart hangers that would work really well for this kind of project (like these ones on Amazon, or these ones). I'm squirrelling those links away for future reference....yes I do think I might need more floral crochet hearts in my life.

♥ Creative Heart Project : 2017 ♥

Crochet hearts filled the summer of 2017 when I worked on a large scale project for Yarndale. I designed some decorative hearts and shared the free pattern to encourage the worldwide hooky community to contribute to a big display at Yarndale, raising money for a mental health charity. 

I LOVED designing and making these pretty things, they were such a lot of fun and the resulting display (many hundreds of colourful crochet hearts) was a huge success.

You can find the pattern here on my blog ((heart decoration)).

And that brings us to the present. I decided yesterday that it was high time I created a new heart in celebration of Valentine's Day, and it just so happened that I've been crocheting some very sweet little spring flowers this weekend. I don't know how it happened to be honest - one minute I was thinking of frosty winter things for a new Winter Garland, and the next minute there were teeny little blossom flowers whizzing off my hook. One thing lead to another, and the blossom was joined by some cute little narcissus flowers, and then before I could stop myself there were violas too.....oh my......it was a bit of a Spring Flower Frenzy! Often times that's the way my Creative Mind likes to work, it really doesn't follow orders particularly well and much prefers to lead me on a merry dance of discovery.

Anyhow. Yeah....flowery things happened at the weekend, some new patterns which I am s-u-p-e-r pleased with and I'll be sharing with you here at some point, if you'd like them? In the meantime, let me show you the Valentine faffery that took place here in the Attic this morning......

.....do you like? The little blossom flowers (two sizes) were patterns I've used before, but the narcissus and viola flowers are the new designs. 

Incidentally, this floral Valentine's heart was arranged purely for photographic reasons as I really enjoy creating visual content for Instagram and Facebook. I haven't actually decided what to do with the flowers yet - maybe I'll buy one of those metal wire hearts I mentioned and make them into a permanent hanging decoration? Shall I???

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December End

Well as I sit and write this it's very, very close to the end of the year (less than four hours to go) and I'm happy to be looking forward to a new year beginning. I don't tend to celebrate New Year's Eve any more (I actually can't physically stay awake for it) and find I'm much happier looking forwards than looking backwards. A brand new start to a brand new year always fills me with positivity and it's a day I really look forward to. 

We had such a lovely, peaceful Christmas this year, and the days that followed have been slow and happy and very restorative. We've been out and about a little in the gloom of these short winter days, but most of our time has been spent cosy at home. I've absolutely love love loved ditching my carefully built routines for a while - no alarm clock, no morning workouts, no rush, no schedule to keep. I've enjoyed waking up naturally and spending an hour or so sat in bed with a coffee or two and my new daylight lamp filling my brain with much needed light.

The weather has been absolutely dire the past few weeks. J told me that apparently this has officially been one of the dullest months ever recorded as we've had so little sunlight in December. Today though, there was sun, and it felt momentous and glorious and soooo uplifting! You can see it in the last photo, and although it was only a few hours, my goodness, I soaked it in as much as I possibly could. 

Yesterday morning I went out with Little B, a necessary outing to get his wild mop of hair cut into submission. It's not all that often that we spend one-on-one time together any more, and I really did enjoy it. I gave him freedom to choose where to go for a spot of late breakfast as a treat and he picked a little creperie café that we'd not been into before. Goodness me, it was one of the best things I've eaten in a long time - a simple lemon and sugar pancake cooked to perfection, and it was huuuuge - in the photo above it was folded into thirds and still managed to fill the plate. Yummmm. 

I took down the Christmas tree and all the other little festive bits today ready for the new year and it feels good, if a little on the bare side. But tomorrow, joy of joys, we are heading to the coast to spend a few days pottering beside the sea, so I wanted to be able to return home on Monday and feel like everything is in order for school and work to begin again. Oh, the sea!!!!! I shall be beside the sea tomorrow, and I cannot think of a better way to begin a hopeful, positive new year. I'm very, very happy about it I can tell you.

Well I think that's all for now, I hope you're feeling good as we move into twenty-twenty-two, and I wish you a year of love, light, creativity and joy.....lots of it!

See you next week, with some sea views and salty good times....

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ps a little reminder that my annual blankety crochet-a-long starts next week on Friday 7th, all details in this post if you missed it xx

 

 

 

Christmastime 2021

It's Christmas Eve and all is calm and peaceful here in the Attic so I thought I would pop by to say hello and share some Christmassy bits and bobs with you. 

On Tuesday I celebrated the Winter Solstice in my own quiet way and as usual it made me feel super happy and contented. I love this gentle celebration of light, and the feeling of the year coming full circle never fails to uplift my spirits. I ventured out in the damp, murky grey afternoon to collect in some greenery and made a simple wreath from ivy, evergreens, eucalyptus and a few berry sprigs. 

My solstice candle this year is a green one called "Christmas Tree" and has a lush scent of pine combined with some other subtle festive scents. It's really lovely and makes the room smell ever so christmassy. Sometimes pine scented candles can smell a bit too much like toilet cleaner, can't they? This one is definitely a good one.

On Wednesday I went on the train to the city in the afternoon, something I'd completely forgotten I was doing until about half an hour before I needed to leave. Little Lady had a 4 o'clock appointment to sit her driving theory test so I'd offered to go with her for moral support. During the hour when she was doing her testing thing, I wandered around the nearby streets and soaked up the Christmas spirit - it wasn't very busy (no complaints about that from me) and I enjoyed just mooching about even though it was blinkin' freezing.

Little Lady came out of the test centre clutching her piece of paper with a big smile on her face and I don't mind telling you I was massively relieved that she passed first time. So happy for her! To celebrate, I treated her to a freshly made chocolate crepe from one of the christmassy food stalls, and then....... a spontaneous ride on a big wheel....!!

Confession from me :: I was a little bit wobbly about sitting in a little spinning box so high up in the sky but I think I coped pretty well all things considering. It was a lovely end to a rather hectic and slightly stressy day.

So, Christmas Eve today, and for the first time EVER (honestly) I managed to finish all the food shopping and all the present buying and wrapping with days to spare. I know, it was a minor miracle. We made a trip to the market early on Wednesday morning, and came home with....

....another small crate of clementines, yay!!!!I absolutely love these fruits and am so happy that I can buy them in large quantities.

YUM!!

Candy canes made it onto the tree again this year, much to Little B's delight.

I took a very low key and slow approach to decorating the house for Christmas this year and nobody seemed to even notice. We put our tree up during the first weekend in December (the Little People insisted on it) and since then I've gradually added a few things here and there when I was in the mood. My friend gave me a pot of hyacinths last week, so I popped them into an old  cup and topped it off with some moss from my front garden and the whole thing makes me sooooooo happy every time I look at it. 

My other hyacinths from the supermarket are on the mantel and just beginning to bloom in time for Christmas which is great timing, accidental, but great.

Over the years theses simple white flowers have become winter essentials for me and I can't imagine not having them in the house at Christmas.

By the way, did you notice the lovely painted wooden horses?

This was one of those to-me-from-me Christmas treats, a small gift for myself. They are from a lovely online shop called Frank and Lusia which sells hand made folk art from Poland. I absolutely love love love EvErYthInG in Zara's shop, the colourful homespun style is right up my street. Zara travels to Poland herself and sources all the items directly from traditional artisan makers and I love following her on Instagram.

I hung my beloved Christmas Wreath up yesterday, oh, what joy it is to unpack this creation every year! I love love love it so much. It was the start of my love affair with crochet wreaths nine years ago and I just adore the exuberance of it.

Another gift I give myself every year is a bunch of festive flowers. In years gone by I would usually buy some red tulips from the supermarket, but last year I upped my game and ordered a bunch from Bloom&Wild to be delivered through my door on Winter Solstice. As I'm on their mailing list I usually receive a worthwhile discount code to use at this time of year, so I take full advantage. I know it's still an extravagant purchase, but well, I do believe I'm worth it ;)

They really are very beautiful and usually stay looking good on my table for the whole of the festive period. 

I didn't really feel like decorating my mantels this year, the effort involved just seemed like a bit much for me to be honest. However, this morning I had a good tidy up and a clean in our downstairs space and suddenly felt like the room needed a little bit more Christmas cheer. I dug out some silver baubles and decorated the twigs that sit on my mantel all year round and the extra sparkle has really made me happy. Can you also see on my twigs I've hung some very sweet little white and red spotted toadstools? These were knitted and gifted to me by a friend and I absolutely love them. As you know, I'm usually very full on with my decs and use allllll the colours, but somehow the simplicity of red, white and silver is doing it for me this year.

Well, having said that, our tree is the usual over the top, full-colour affair that it is every year, nothing changes on these branches and I like it that way. I bought one new decoration for the tree, a little felt mouse that I found on the supermarket shelf looking rather lonely and in need of a loving home. 

Well, I think that's about all from me for now, I'm sat writing this by candle light at the dining table and J and Little B are sat at the other end of the room watching a film. I think it's time for me to go and warm up by the fire and crochet a few rows before bed.

Sending love and light to you through my Attic window, I hope this Christmastime is full of all good things. Enjoy every minute....

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Easter Weekend 2021

Hellooooo!! I thought I'd come and chat to you at the end of what has been a beautiful, relaxing Easter weekend, and to share some of the things that have been making me feel really happy the past few days.

Firstly, these daffies on my table, oh-my-gosh they are incredibly beautiful. I picked them up from the supermarket on Friday when they were still in bud and had no idea they would be this way - the petals are kind of a mix between pale yellow and a very subtle blush colour, they are so lovely. They have a sweet scent too and I'm having the biggest crush on them (can you tell?)

The weather has been mostly bright and sunny but very chilly, so we are back to winter coats and woollies it seems. On Friday morning I met with five of my yarny friends for a walk through the park and a long over due catch up with a take out coffee. It was honestly so good for my soul to have female company for a few hours, I'm very thankful for my friends and have missed them terribly.

In the afternoon we went for a quick walk, mainly to get Little B out and about for some fresh air, daylight and exercise. He's become very teen-like of late, spending most of his time hunkered down in his bedroom with the curtains closed, playing games, chatting to his mates and watching insane videos on YouTube. I sometimes find myself missing the younger Little B, but this more mature version is certainly very low maintenance. Just a bit of a walk every now and again and he's good.

I'm delighting in this new season we're in, soaking up every little scrap of fresh green growth that I come across. Every day I see more signs of Spring emerging, and it honestly makes me so happy.

Saturday afternoon saw us walking out again, this time the four of us. I really love having Little Lady with us because she keeps me company when the boys are chatting boy-stuff. Without her I'm a bit of a lonesome straggler on our walks as Little B is very much a Daddy's boy at the moment and I don't really get much of a look in.

We walked over the fields on Saturday, it was a bit squishy under foot still, but nowhere near the mud fest that we've had during the winter months. This pussy willow looked incredibly pretty against the blue of the sky....

....and as you can see it was in full-fluff mode. I stroked it (of course I did), and I can report that it did indeed feel as soft and fluffy as it looks.

This circular walk takes us across fields and along quiet country lanes, and it felt good to have the sun on our faces and some wide open views to drink in. I love waking in the woods, but on a bright sunny day I definitely feel the pull to be more out in the open.

I wonder if you can guess from these photos that I really quite like walking?? Can you possibly tell??!

The above photo was taken Saturday evening just after 7pm. Little Lady was feeling restless and asked if I'd like to go and watch the sun go down. She is SO like me in so many ways and I recognise huge chunks of my personality traits within her. Plus, there is this part of Mummying-me that just swells with joy when she seeks out my company. She is almost seventeen and the fact that she likes to be with me is just the most heart warming thing, I feel very lucky indeed.

We walked up into the park just as the sun was lowering down to the horizon, all golden and dusky. We decided on a whim to walk up to the farm shop to see if they had any little flowering plants. Re-planting my doorstep pot has been an item on my to-do list for far too long now.

The Easter display in the entrance was really lovely - possibly the biggest Easter tree I've ever seen. They also had a decent selection of potted bulbs for sale, so I bought three small pots to bring home.

It's such a treat to have daylight in the evenings now, and although the temperature has been very wintry, the lengthening days more than make up for it.

It's about 8.15pm in the above photo and we are crossing the canal bridge on our way back from the park and farm shop. Ready to climb up the hill and back into the cosy warmth of home.

Sunday morning now, and despite the hideousness of it, I'm showing you my doorstep pot with deceased cyclamen still in residence. You can see what it looked like back in October when it was at it's peak - to be fair the flowers did last much longer than I thought they would and they were lovely right the way through the Autumn and early winter. However, the above sight has been making me feel miserable for the past few weeks so it was high time for a little Spring makeover....

........ta-dah! I spent about £7 at the farm shop on these bulbs and they've made me so happy. I must gather some moss and cover up the earth I think, heaven knows I've got the mossiest grass at the moment in my front garden. Not complaining though, you know how much I adore moss. In fact I would be quite enchanted if the whole of my grassy grass was in fact moss.

I'm looking forward to coming and going in and out of the front door in the weeks to come and watching these flowers bloom. 

Sunday afternoon, and the very chilly weather meant that we decided to light the fire in the middle of the afternoon. Although I wasn't impressed with having near freezing temperatures for Easter, there is nothing nicer than lighting the fire at the weekend and settling down for some cosy fireside loafing. 

I think I told you during Blarch that I spent some time having a bit of a tidy up, and that I had some magazine reading on my to-do list? I already managed to read and pass on the March issues to my friend, and on Sunday I had the perfect opportunity to spend some time swooning my way through the April issues.  

Oh it was delightful, lots of Spring inspiration and Easterish feel-good, I drank it all in and felt very uplifted I have to say. Sometime these aspirational magazines make me feel a bit inadequate and needy/greedy (I want more!! More space, more garden, more beautiful things, more holidays, more freedom, more, more). But mostly I can flick through the pages and feel inspired by the gorgeous images and seasonal narrative.

Four pm, and I decided that a cheeky little glass of chilled Sauvignon Blanc would go very nicely with my fireside daydreaming. I just recently bought these new glasses and am so in love with them. They were only cheap from the supermarket, I think they are called "stemless wine glasses". I love the weighty curviness of them, they're a pleasure to drink from and not nearly so tricky as a tall wine glass when you are lounging on the sofa with a magazine.

We were forecast s.n.o.w. today, can you believe that? In fact we woke up to smattering of the icy white stuff on the ground this morning but not really what I would call a snowfall as such. Still, it was blinkin' freezing (literally, -1 degrees) but the sky was oh-so-blue and I couldn't wait to get out in it. Eight o'clock and I was heading up the hill to the meadow, to walk around a bit, stretch out my muscles and breathe in the freezing cold spring air.

Interestingly I had company this morning as J came with me - I didn't really think it through when I invited him along to be honest. He kept saying "where are we going?" and I said well we're just going here, right here, this is the meadow and we're walking around it.....he definitely didn't seem to feel the magic like I do. 

I'm trying to make better choices for myself with regards to what enters my mouth now, after a long weekend of wine, chocolate and buttery hot cross buns. The over indulgence is over, and I am hauling myself back in line. Yes, I really am. I'm feeling a bit plumper around my middle again and the heaviness doesn't feel so good. The saying "you are what you eat" is so simple yet so true, and I always do feel so much better in myself when I'm eating good things.

This morning's coffee was taken down by the sunny canal side, wrapped up in many layers against the chill of zero degrees. The coffee was superb, and honestly really cheered my day along. Such a pleasure as always.

Fuelled by sunshine and good coffee, I came home and spent many hours sat with my crochet hook today. During this past week I've been working on a new blanket design - lots and lots of sampling to work through colour palette decisions and then pattern ideas. I think I'm finally there with it, both the colours and the design and I am sooooooooooooo excited by it. It's something different for me, and I absolutely cannot wait to get going now that the nitty gritty design stage is complete. I'm working a long way in advance for this one as the launch date isn't until early September, but I'll be showing you some of my progress as I slowly work on it during the next few months.

Well I think that brings us to a gentle close for now, I'm suddenly hearing my flowery pillow calling to me and I think I'm ready to be right there in my comfy bed as it's almost ten o'clock. I hope you've enjoyed a wonderful Easter weekend full of things that have made your heart sing...

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First Day of Spring

Well winter is now officially behind us and today is the Spring Equinox which is when day and night are of equal length. I am very much in the astronomical camp when it comes to the changing seasons (more about that here) and I enjoy celebrating the equinoxes and solstices each year. They seem to me like a really good opportunity to pause and take stock, a gentle quarterly review if you like. We are now into my favourite quarter by far as our days lengthen and we start jaunting through to the Summer Solstice in June. I love these months very, very much.

The weather today has been very un-spring-like (often the case on the Spring Equinox), but I thought you might still like to see how my hill view looked today. It was dull, murky, still and cold. But hey, no rain, so I'm thankful for that at least.

Being Saturday, J and I set off into town this morning for our weekly market and local food shop. It's less than ten minutes walk to the main high street so it's no hardship and I really look forward to it. Once we've gathered in our produce (fruit, veggies, cheese, meat and bread), we pick up a takeout coffee to drink sitting beside the canal. In our non-lockdown life we would visit our favourite little café and cosy up inside with our drinks, but right now we are making the best of our al fresco experience. It's cold though I have to admit.

I thought I would share my market haul with you today - everything goes straight into my canvas shoppers and often times we don't even bother with paper bags. Tilly was very eager to inspect the goods, she is always right there waiting for us when we come home.

The above selection is a typical weeks fruit and veg for us, although we usually end up needing to buy more fruit towards the end of the week. Isn't it so pleasing to look at? So satisfying to see it all laid out!

I love buying, cooking and eating fresh ingredients, it gives me a lot of pleasure to feed myself and my family in this way.

We also buy eggs from the veg stall and they are always these snowy white ones which have the most gorgeous, rich orange yolks. 

Ah Tilly, you are such a crazy little kitty! 

I made myself a late breakfast once I'd packed away all the food, then decided the time was right for some Equinox faffery on the mantel. Time to pack away Winter and welcome in the Spring.

I was a little sad to say goodbye to my Winter TreePeep, I've loved having her on my mantel. I can't remember if I've showed you my TreePeeps before? They're painted by my super-talented Instagram friend Lynn (@silverypaws) and so far I've collected Autumn, Winter and Christmas. Lynn is painting me a Spring TreePeep this week so I'm VERY excited for that (you can see some of her Spring peeps here), I'll be sure to show you when she arrives in the Attic. If you'd like to give a TreePeep a home, do get in touch with Lynn via her Instagram.

Once Winter had been collected and stored away, I gave the mantel a good clean and changed over my candelabra. As always, it was really nice to unpack the new seasons decorations and remember what I had collected - do you know I had actually forgotten all about the Spring garland that I made last year? It was a delight to see it again! You can read all about the making of it in this post, and I wrote up the patterns for the flowers if you would like to create your own.

You can also see the Spring cross stitch canvas I made last year from Cotton & Twine. I really enjoyed stitching all those beautiful bluebells, it was my lockdown project at the start of Covid almost a year ago. I've just started stitching the Summer design so that it'll be ready for June, I'll show you that once I've made a bit more progress.

Loving the look of my Spring mantel, most especially the garland. So pretty! By the way, can you see the bare twigs up there on the right hand side? I'm going to crochet some blossom flowers to decorate them this week, and I am really crazy excited for that to happen. I've not done any crochet at all since finishing my Meadow Blanket last month (my hands really needed a rest) so I'm more than ready to have my hook back in my hand again.

I bought myself a new scented candle this week as I've been without one on my mantel since the mulled wine binge over Christmas. I opted for "Quiescent" from the Botanical Candle Co (you may remember me going on about their "Late Summer" candle that I obsessed over last year)

Would you care to know how this one smells? Here's the official blurb....

"Eucalyptus is uplifting, cleansing and fresh whilst the floral notes of lavender soften this scent and provides a sense of calm. Frankincense delivers a resinous base note that's grounding, complex and earthy. Overall, Quiescent is comforting, pure and luxurious."

It is a delight I can tell you, well anything with eucalyptus in immediately gets my vote to be honest. It's the perfect winter/spring scent I think, and yes I would agree that it is cleansing, fresh and calm. Just the thing for pandemic lockdown life.

Spring may be here but it's still fire lighting weather in Atticland with single digit temperatures. At the weekends I light the fire in the mid afternoon as J and I are usually spending time together in our main living room. I just can't get enough of the cosy vibes at the moment, I guess winter comforts are still needed for a while longer until the weather begins to do it's Spring thing. 

Before I go, I wanted to say a huge big thank you to those of you who have clicked on my little "buy me a coffee" button just lately. I have been so humbled and deeply touched by the kindness that has come my way and have felt overwhelmed with gratitude. I appreciate you all so much, and I'm really happy to be back here in my patch having a chat with you. Your comments on my last couple of posts have been incredibly heart warming, so thank you for the hot milky coffees and for your kind words and all that you do to make me feel cherished.

A few days ago I was reading back through my Blogtober archives and remembering how much fun it was to create a daily blog for a while, and I've decided that for the remainder of March I'm going to be here every single day to chat to you. Blogtober had such a cute ring to it, but I'm thinking Blarch doesn't sound quite so appealing?! Haha, well we don't have to name this thing do we, but I hope you'll enjoy a daily dose of Attic life during the next eleven days. 

Happy Spring (or Autumn if you're down on t'other side of the planet), I hope today has been a good one. See you tomorrow!

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ps my lovely friend Christine (she who knits alllllll the socks) has decided to join in with my Blarch adventure, so you're very welcome to pop on over to Winwick and enjoy her daily words and photos x

 

 

 

Festive Spirit

Helloooooo!!!! How are you all doing? I hope that you've had a good week as we prepare for Christmas to come, and that all is calm and bright in your nest. We've had a very chilled week pottering about close to home and enjoying the relaxed pace of our days. J is taking a break from work for a whole two weeks, and the Little Peeps are home from school too, so despite the huge amount of uncertainty in the world at large, life here at number twenty four is filled with happy.

I have twinkly white fairy lights strung along my mantels all year round and I absolutely wouldn't be without them, but it doesn't mean to say there isn't the need for a whole load more at Christmas. I've been enjoying the bright glow of our Christmas tree very much, especially in the early morning when I get to perform the daily switch-on. The magic of Christmas lights never gets old.

Candy canes made it onto the tree a little late (as per usual), but I think they were appreciated. They never hang around for long and as far as I know they are all now deceased. RIP candy canes, you lasted just over a week which is good going.

My second hyacinth grew, bloomed and faded and it was a blue delight, although to be fair it really was a stinker. Even I had to admit to feeling a bit nauseated by it towards the end when it was in full throttle. It has now been replaced by Miss Hyacinth the third, and I opted for another white one for Christmas. Unfortunately I mis-timed it as it's still tightly in bud, but I think it should bloom for the start of the New Year which will be just lovely.

I selected some colours to crochet up a Festive Mandala for the Christmas table, and I love the mix of red, greens and blues with a touch of sparkly gold added for good measure. Alas the days ran away with me this week and the yarn balls are still sitting patiently in the little project basket, so I feel a bit annoyed at myself for that. And being that today is Christmas Eve, I can't see any last minute hooky miracles occurring, particularly as there has been gin involved in my afternoon. But this could well be the perfect Twixtmas project so I shall see if I can make it happen.

Ah, talking of gin, this glorious bottle of festiveness has been making me ridiculously happy during the past few weeks. It's sooo beautiful!! It's this years limited edition offering from Marks and Spencer, a fruity clementine gin liqueur which also does double duty as a light up snow globe. I know!!!!!!!!!!!! Tis a magnificent idea beautifully executed - the "snow" being 23 carat edible gold flakes (oh, the luxury!), with a built in light in the base of the bottle which gives 40 seconds of enraptured entertainment for all ages. We've had so much joy from the bottle alone, never mind the scrummy alcohol it contains. 

We've been enjoying it with lots of ice, tonic and some fresh clementine slices and it tastes so so good. A real festive treat and I'll be sad when it's all gone.

We've also been enjoying our annual box of Extremely Chocolately biscuits, well the Little People have at any rate. This has become one of our festive traditions, and it amuses me to watch the Little People deliberate (at high volume) over which one to have as an after dinner treat each day.

Outside of the home we've been tramping around the woodlands as per usual, and I continue to take great pleasure in watching the seasons unfold in nature.

Winter is my least favourite of all, yet there is still beauty in the landscape especially when the low slanting sun comes out to play.

But oh my life, it's been a mud fest out there beneath the trees and I've never been more glad to have my feet tucked up warm and dry in hand knitted woolly socks and comfy wellies. 

We continue to walk most days, J and I, in all sorts of wintry weather. Of course I am happiest when it's sunny and bright but there is a certain calming pleasure to be found when the rain falls lightly through the bare trees making rings in the still water. 

We very rarely leave town at the moment and don't often use the car either, so a simple trip out this week felt rather exciting. This was on Tuesday, a quick drive out over the moor tops to walk at Bolton Abbey. I love this narrow rural road where I am required to leap out of the car and open the gate for J to drive through. It's a public road, but further down it runs right through a farm and there are often sheep free roaming the road here. We passed by the big barn where we spotted three glorious peacocks strutting around looking regal and fabulous, a bright jolt of vivid colour against the dullness of winter.

It was such a tonic to walk along the riverside, it was bitingly cold but with a welcome amount of brightness. We walked a long loop, criss crossing the river and stopping for a much needed hot milky coffee and a mince pie half way round.

I decorated the house for Christmas at leisure this year, and after the tree went up and our main mantel was complete, I took my time with the other bits. My granny star Advent Garland is still going strong (made in 2009) and it's such a pleasure to unpack these hand made decorations year after year. I do so enjoy the familiarity of them and the memories they bring to the fore. I find it crazy to think that when I made this garland I must have been heavily pregnant carrying Little B who was born in early January 2010. Wow. I can't even get my head around the the fact that it was over a decade ago. (Oh, I just hopped back in time to December 2009 to see my baby bump....hello Little B!!)

Although I do truly delight in keeping the same Christmassy things going year after year, it's also nice to occasionally bring in something new. I've always wanted a Christmas mug, one that gets packed away with the baubles and unpacked with ceremony at the start of Advent each year. I pootled around on eBay and found a pre-loved Cath Kidston one featuring a Christmas street scene which I fell in love with. It has even has a reindeer sleigh flying around the inside of the mug. I can't tell you how happy it makes me to drink coffee in this mug, and I know for sure that it'll make me giddy for years to come when I get to bring it out again and again. I am easily pleased, we have long established this simple fact I know.

About a month ago, I received an advertising email from the flower delivery company Bloom & Wild with a generous discount code attached. I was curious enough to go take a look at what was being offered up for Christmas as I do have a soft spot for seasonal blooms. I usually have cheap and cheerful red supermarket tulips on my table at Christmas, but when I saw that the "Florists Festive Pick" was discounted by 30% I decided on impulse to treat myself. Have you ever done this, ordered expensive flowers as a gift to yourself? It's ridiculously indulgent and I confess I did feel a smidge guilty for spending on myself in such a frivolous way......but well, I think every so often it's perfectly OK to have a treat.

I placed the order, choosing for them to be delivered to me on the day of the Winter Solstice. Of course I completely forgot  about it and was suitably surprised when they dropped through my letterbox on Monday. Happy Solstice to me!

I have to tell you the flowers (and foliage) are absolutely stunning, and seeing them on my table every day has been the best kind of visual treat this week. I want to show you my new jug too, it's an enamel water jug but I bought it especially for my annual festive flowers. I love love love to have my flowers in a jug rather than a vase, there is something so charming and homely about displaying flowers this way, even posh blooms.

So here we are on Christmas Eve and all is feeling quite wonderful in the Attic. Present wrapping happened very last minute of course (late this afternoon in fact, after we came home from a lovely but bitterly cold walk). We've kept things very simple for the Little People this year, opting for consumables (and by that I mean indulgent sweet treats and smelly body products) and spending money. Oh, and there are new pyjamas too as this is a tradition in our house and the Little People always seem especially excited about this bit of Christmas.

So we shall wait and see how the day unfolds tomorrow - it's all different this year as for the first time the Little People didn't write Christmas lists and I don't think we will be putting out snacks for the Big Fella and Rudolph this year either. It's all a bit precarious as Little B (who is almost 11 years old) hasn't come right out and said that he doesn't believe, but we are fairly certain that's where we're at. It's bitter sweet I can tell you. I'll still make sure the stockings get magically filled with (edible/smelly) gifts tonight as I can't imagine a time when that won't still feel like magic. It's like the candy canes on the tree - a few years ago I decided the Little People were possibly too old for them and didn't bother to buy any, but of course they gave me an earful and told me that there just HAD to be candy canes on the tree. I suspect it's the same with the stockings.

I would love to hear from those of you with older children - how do you do Christmas gifts and do you still hold onto any traditions and rituals from their childhoods? Do you still hang stockings?

Even though everything feels strange for the world this year, for us personally our quiet Christmas traditions remain intact. I shall continue to embrace this simple time staying home with my family as we always have done, enjoying the pleasures of good food, relaxation and a warm, cosy home. Holding onto the familiar rituals and looking forward to it all gently unfolding.

I hope that these festive days are full of light and sparkle, and that there are some brilliant moments of fun and joy, laughter and love, peace and calm. Enjoy and savour every moment, and I'll see you all on the other side......

Merry Christmas!

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Winter Solstice 2020

Today marks a turning point in the year as we celebrate the passing of the shortest day. As you may have guessed by now, this is one of my absolute favourite days of the whole year, and I woke up this morning feeling very happy and more than a little emotional. Winter Solstice is traditionally a day for rest and quiet reflection, for staying close to hearth and home and counting your blessings. It's a time to welcome in the winter months as we prepare to rest our bodies, nurture our souls, and make gentle plans for the year ahead. I like to think about these kinds of things as I go about my solstice day, and to remind myself (at frequent intervals) that every day from now on will be a little bit longer and a little bit lighter than the day before. Thank goodness, oh ThAnK GOODnesS!!!!! Bring. Me. The. LIGHT!!!!!

Hmmm......as you can see from the above photo, the weather today in Atticland was truly dire. It's been cold, grey and wet all day, but honestly I didn't mind too much. A day of hearth and home, remember? J and I walked into town this morning to run some errands and it was quiet on the streets with not very many people out at all.

We stopped off for a coffee on our way home, enjoying the warmth and comforting familiarity. I know we are very fortunate to still be able to go and enjoy a drink out here as our area isn't in a severe lockdown. Although we still have restrictions (we can't socialise indoors), for me and J it means that our little café jaunts are still happening and I'm so, so grateful for the normality of it.

On the way home from the shops I took a very quick little detour along the muddy footpath which connects the canal to the park. I was on a speedy foraging mission to gather in some ivy stems, and I knew there was a vast amount growing rampant along that pathway so I didn't feel too bad about snaffling a little bit into my bag.

I always buy a special candle for Winter Solstice - this year I went for a very seasonal red Cranberry and Vanilla with the most delicious scent to it. 

When I got home I set about performing my usual Winter Solstice celebrations. It was a simple, low key affair which I enjoyed very much, pottering about by myself while the rest of the family were scattered elsewhere in the house doing their own thing. I took the foraged ivy and some eucalyptus I already had and twisted it around a simple wire wreath. There see, I told you it was simple, it took me less than ten minutes to create but oh, it was so pleasing to do! I adore the scent of eucalyptus, it really is one of my favourite seasonal smells I think. 

I lit my candle at around 3pm when the daylight was already fading....

....and I sat quietly with a milky coffee in hand and the kitty for company, feeling very content with my lot. One of my dear friends sent a message into our WhatsApp group this morning (it's the group for my real life yarny tribe who I chat with pretty much every day). Her words were so charming and heartfelt that I thought I would steal them quote her on this special day of celebration.

She said "it is a morning of unremitting murk....I am going to light every candle and turn on all the Christmas lights to shine a light in the darkness. The days get longer and we can hope for light in all parts of our lives from tomorrow....happy Solstice".

Isn't that just a lovely thing? The simple act of lighting a candle to shine brightness out into the world and wish for happier days to come. Yes. Yes yes yes. Count me in! Light ALL the candles!!!!

I sat for ages in front of our fire this afternoon, watching the daylight fade and darkness slowly creep in. Fairy lights, candle light, firelight and lots of hopeful wishes for a brighter tomorrow.

 Happy Solstice to you all, sending all my love and light out into the dark, I hope it finds you....

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Festive Garland :: Ta-dah!

Finally!!!! It's only taken me a year to share the making of this garland with you, a year almost exactly to the very day. In fact, if I had waited until tomorrow to dance my ta-dah moment then it would have been exactly a year on the nose - how about that? It seems that this particular week in December is full of creative fun in the Attic, and I'm really excited to how you how this Festive Garland took shape.

Firstly, lets chat about my colour palette. I used a collection of bright, jolly "Quality Street" colours which are a nostalgic reminder of many childhood Christmases - these are all oddments of Stylecraft Special DK. I adore these colours so so much, they are full of Christmas spirit for me, and the joyful exuberance of them makes me really happy. Of course you can use any colour combinations you like  - traditional red, gold and green, or maybe a winter palette of frosty blues? Or how about a simple Scandi red and white colour scheme?

For reference, here are my own festive colour choices as shown above :

Top row : Plum : Bright Pink : Magenta : Lapis : (Ricorumi Silver lamé)

Middle row : Kelly Green : Grass Green : Spearmint : Turquoise : Empire

Bottom row : Lipstick : Tomato : Spice : Mustard : Gold

As you can imagine, I had lots of fun playing with the colours as I was crocheting the baubles, especially selecting the first two colours. Rounds 1 and 2 need to have a high contrast with each other, and you can see in the photo above how I chose the colours to create the maximum amount of "pop". Turquoise on red, bright pink on teal, green on mustard. YUM!!

Such a delicious array of colours, couldn't you just eat them up?!

You'll notice that I've left especially long tail ends - with the start and end of each round I made sure to leave a 15cm tail dangling. When the crochet is finished, these ten tails will be carefully darned through the rounds of stitches to form the tassel....

....see what I mean?? It takes a little time, but it's a really neat method. 

Once all the ends are darned into place, you can simply steam them straight, twist and knot them, then trim to size.

Neat eh?? 

As a final finishing touch, I stitched little golden stars in the centre of each bauble to add a weeny bit of festive sparkle.

These tassel baubles turned out even better than I had imagined inside my (very messy but quite brilliant) Creative Mind. When I set out to create a project I can usually already visualise it really clearly inside my mind. It's almost like looking at a photograph, which forever amazes me and I am extremely lucky to have this ability I think. I don't take it for granted as it doesn't always work out, but with these cute little decs, well, they turned out just beautifully. 

You might also remember these Teeny Tiny Stars I made last year? I shared the simple pattern for them here on my blog and you can find it in the usual place, or click ((HERE)).

I used the same bright palette of colours and crocheted 24 of these little stars, to sit in between the 12 bauble decorations.

As this is a Festive Garland I decided to add a bit of sparkle and use silver lamé yarn to crochet the connecting chain.

I placed one star at each end with two stars in between each bauble and it was a fast process to connect everything together once I'd decided on the colour placement. The crochet motifs are simply attached with a slip stitch, and separated by chains, it's ever so easy. I've explained it all in more detail within the tutorial.

Finally, I decided to add a little tinkle to the sparkle and bought some brightly coloured 10mm bells to finish the garland off. I tried various way of attaching them and in the end the only way I could make work was to tie short lengths of yarn to each bell, then tie the bells directly onto the crochet chain. It was a bit fiddly but not too bad (the fiddliest bit was threading the silver yarn through the tiiiiiiiiiiny hole at the top of each bell, gawd, it was so frustrating!)

I found the bells on Amazon ((HERE)), and there are also various plain silver and gold options on Amazon if you prefer something simpler.

I love that these bells actually tinkle! When I unpacked it from it's tissue paper this year, the garland made the most beautiful sound and I was utterly enchanted, honestly it doesn't take very much to make me happy.

So my bright, jolly, sparkly, tinkly Festive Garland is complete........................

...................Ta-dah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's very me, don't you think?!

Of course I love love love love love it.

I loved it last year when I first hung it in place and I love it even more seeing it again this year.

As promised, I made a full tutorial for the Festive Garland - there are lots of photos to guide you through the making process, and there is also a PDF pattern that you can download/print as well.

You can find both by clicking on the following link >>

★ FESTIVE GARLAND TUTORIAL ★

I hope you like this colourful project, and that you might feel inspired to crochet a little festive happiness for your home. 

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