Attic24

Sunny Side Up

We had a cold start to the day yesterday, not quite a frost yet but pretty close I'd say. I am very aware of the shrinking hours of daylight with each passing day, it's most noticeable in the evenings as it seems to get dark quite early now, but it also feels as if the darkness still lingers in the mornings when we walk to school. 

A funny thing happened when I was stood at the side of the canal to take the above photo....I was holding up my phone to compose the image and all of a sudden a whole flock of pigeons took off from the other side of the canal basin and came flying directly towards me - and I mean that they literally swooped over the water and flew right at me!! I squealed in shock and nearly dropped my phone as I thought they were going to land right on top of my head!!!!

We managed to avoid an actual collision and instead I found myself standing amongst a flock of pigeons pecking around my boots and wondering where their breakfast was. Never a dull moment on the school run.

Yesterday there was a strange feeling in the air as it was the last day of "freedom" before our month long Second Lockdown began today (Thursday). I had a few errands to run in the morning whilst the shops were still open but I resisted the urge to try and cram in any Christmas shopping. It did briefly cross my mind, but no. No, that's not for me. I shall try and do things online  I think, supporting small independent businesses as much as possible, and hoping that all being well our local shops can reopen sometime in early December. I did manage to buy chocolate advent calendars for the Little Peeps while they were still available, and I was also able to order some much needed wellies (I went for these ones as sadly the floral ones I loved were completely sold out). After all that, I went and sat peacefully at my regular table in the window of my favourite café and ordered a restorative cappuccino to settle the low grade anxiety I felt creeping in. 

After the chill of the early morning, I noticed a bright warmth shining in through the window and dancing across the top of my coffee cup. I looked out to see the most stunning blue sky had materialised whilst I sat sipping my coffee.......

.....oh happy day!!!! It was like the most welcome gift on a day when we really needed our spirits to be lifted and I couldn't believe my luck.

I walked home with a spring in my step, thinking just how beautiful the trees were looking in the bright morning sun. It was glorious, and truly made me smile all over my face.

My little doorstep cyclamen looked like they were dancing in the sunshine, their petals all perky and upright....

....and this dinky little leaf caught my eye on the step too, it had blown right across the street from my neighbours pretty acer tree.

I came home from the café and settled myself at the dining table to make progress with my granny bag.

Aaaahh Tilly, you are such a little Diva!! She sat and watched me lay out my bag, watched me arrange the flowers just so, and then just as I got ready to start stitching she snook in and installed herself without hesitation. It was as if she'd decided I had prepared a little resting spot especially for her.....I present to you the Granny Josephine Kitty Relaxation Pad.

So I decided to leave her be for a little bit and went to make myself a bowl of fruit laden porridge instead. By the time I came back to the table she'd gone elsewhere - she was only interested in the bag when she knew she would be front and centre of my attention, of course. It's the Tortie way (have you heard of the word "tortitude"? Tilly definitely has it!)

I really couldn't wait to get out for our daily walk yesterday, the weather was absolute autumn perfection.

Ahhh, the colours!! And the light!! I thought it all looked so incredibly beautiful.

Everything delighted me and filled up my seasonal-loving soul to the brim. 

It was delicious in every way out there and I drank it in with eyes wide open. I could have walked and walked and walked, but J had to get back to his computer, and I had a basket of yarn waiting for me......

Don't those colours look luscious nestled all together? So pretty!!

I've had a few people ask about the small rope baskets that I'm using to store my small balls of yarn. I bought them a few months ago and really love them, they're the perfect size for holding small balls of scrap yarn for decorative projects (also wonderful for the small cotton Ricorumi balls that I like, you can see a photo of them here). They come as a pair - you can find them on Amazon ((here))

Yesterday afternoon I finished crocheting the floral embellishments for Granny Josephine (the bag version, not the cat mat).

And......

......I stitched everything in place and attached the handles.

So......

......that means the bag is officially finished. Uh-huh.......no longer a WiP!!!!

Yippeeeeeeee!!!! 

You can be sure of a Ta-dah flourish very soon - I need to find a willing photographic assistant to take some pictures of the bag and me doing our thing together, so that will most likely happen at the weekend. I'm so excited to show you!

Walking down the hill to school yesterday afternoon, I thought how particularly lovely my hill view looked in the afternoon light.

I also thought you might like to see the view at the bottom of the hill too - I walk down this cobbled hill street almost every day but I think this is the first time I've stopped to take a photograph. This cobbled street is actually a road which cars drive down although it doesn't look much like one (the above photo is showing the bottom part of what is a pretty steep hill down from the canal). The tall buildings on either side are part of the old historic cotton mill that dominated this town in the early 1800's. They've now become a mix of apartments and office space - the restoration took many years and these old buildings have been given a whole new lease of life.

I stopped to photograph this yellow leaf just because the glorious colour literally stopped me in my tracks.....

....and the same thing happened again on the way home with this tree laden with tiny yellow crab apples. Don't they look stunning against the blue of the sky?

I was in reflection heaven yesterday walking homewards along the canal.....I just wanted to stand and stare and drink them in. I can't get over how magical water reflections are, they make me feel like I'm dreaming or something, like I'm being offered a glimpse into an alternate world somehow. 

Yesterday was such a lovely day, but today, it has felt heavy. I am trying very much to keep an open mind and a happy heart despite the gloom which seeps in around the edges if I stop and think about it too much. I'm hoping to still visit the market on Saturday as I heard that food stalls would be permitted to trade - I hope Mr Cheese and Mr Veggie will be there, I'm keeping fingers crossed. At least our local butcher and baker are remaining open, so I shall continue to try and shop small and local where I am able.

I hope you are all OK, I am sending out a huge virtual hug should you need one. Also, before I toddle off, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the beautiful comments left on my last post - I have read every single one (over a hundred) and it has warmed my heart more than you could ever know. The connectedness is stronger than ever, I feel it, and I am so thankful for it.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

 

 

Home Safe :: Week Two

Today marks the start of the third week of the UK lockdown due to Coronavirus, and although we are now into the Easter holidays for the Little People, it doesn't really feel any different to the past couple of home-school weeks. It's been a time of acclimating to our new routines, and I would say we are doing pretty well on the whole. I don't think our days in any way feel "normal" just yet, and quite possibly they never will while we are living with such restrictions. But we are managing to create some small daily habits and gentle structure to our days, and maybe that's the best thing to aim for as we all muddle through.

I am so very grateful for our daily family walks, an hour each day where we can breathe in deeply, stretch our muscles and soak up the calmness of our immediate local neighbourhood. It really does help to balance our days, it helps a lot actually. We are pretty much doing the same walk every day which takes us up some steep streets of houses, along a farm track and into the very top of the woodland. We then follow footpaths up and down through the trees in a circular loop until we come all the way back to the farm track. We climb an old wooden stile, heading up across a huge sloping field until we reach the dry stone wall at the top (you can see our hilltop view in this post). We rest a while here, taking in the sweeping view of our town nestled in the valley, before walking all the way down the grassy slope and back to the streets which lead us homeward. 

I find I don't get bored of this walk, even doing it day after day - every day has it's own unique feel depending on the weather and the time of day that we head out. It's been fantastic to witness the wild garlic growing ever greener, and to see fresh new buds and the may blossom emerging. The Little People complain a little about the repetitive nature of it all, but we are quick to remind them to be thankful for what we have on our doorstep, to be happy that we can take these walks and experience nature in all it's wonderfulness. 

Little Lady doesn't always come with us, but I do love it when she does. A few times she's been for a daily walk on her own, choosing to head out in the early evening now that we're into British Summer Time (yay!) and it's not getting dark until after 8pm. But I really appreciate her company and happy chatter, and try to encourage her to join us as I think in these strange times it does us good to be able to talk with each other. 

I always carry my camera with me when we walk, but don't always feel in the mood to take photos. But I had an idea that I'd like to chronicle these weeks here on my blog so that I can look back and remember in years to come. In my mind, I call these posts my "Lockdown Diary", but I decided to change the title to be more positive and have settled on "Home Safe". So these photos today are a mixed bag of things that were captured on my camera last week. I sincerely hope that you don't get fed up of seeing a stupid number of woodland photos, I'll try and hold back with sharing endless trees with you.

Little B and I did some baking last week, for the first time in a long time. It was my idea - a solution one afternoon when he seemed to be climbing the walls with boredom and in need of a distraction. He really enjoyed it, taking control of the weighing, mixing and beating like a little pro.

We made and iced buns, finding everything we needed already in the cupboards, including some rather dodgy looking blue food colouring and some charmingly named "unicorn sprinkles". Cadbury mini eggs are a permanent fixture on our weekly shopping list right now (they just hit the spot when a little chocolate fix is needed) so they provided the finishing flourish. The buns didn't last long, and I am thinking a tray of cranberry and sultana flapjack will be the next thing on my baking schedule.

The kitty is finding it hard having us around all the time, she is used to a quiet house during the day and undisturbed kitty naps in the Big Chair. She has started taking herself away somewhere in the house to sleep in the daytime, I've no idea where exactly she goes but I do get where her head is at - I often find myself wishing I could find somewhere to hide away for some solitude!

I tell you what though, she really can't resist the lure of my crochet blankets, especially if a convenient human is positioned underneath one. Within seconds of me getting comfy on the sofa for a bit of magazine browsing, she lands, turns a few circles then slumps down to nap. It's the most comforting thing to have the warm, heavy weight of a dozing kitty on your lap, but it never fails to make me feel reeeeeally sleepy myself, like I could just nod off sitting up. It's the ultimate sedative.

I'm making some progress on my cross stitch and am still really enjoying stitching this design. Last week I kept it out on the dining table and found myself picking it up and stitching little bits in odd pockets of time in between doing other things. I like it best when I can really get in the zone with cross stitching, but I've been finding it hard to settle for any length of time as my attention span has been quite short of late. I want to start the Craftpod Spring embroidery too, but also there's my crochet Spring Garland, and I feel like if I have too many WiP's going on at the same time my mind starts to feel overloaded.

Another day, and another walk to the woods, this time made a littler more exciting by the arrival of a sheep and lamb train! The farmer was moving them from the small field to the big sloping one, and it was just lovely to see and hear the lambs.

Wood anemones are in full flower in the woodland and on sunny days when they spread their petals right out they look ever so pretty. Bright little beacons of Spring, I do love them.

One of the very best things that has come out of this strange stay-home time is the introduction of daily exercise here in the Attic. And I'm not just talking about the walking we do, but about actual, proper jumping about, heart-pounding exercise, the stuff that makes you heave to catch your breath and leaves your legs wobbling like jelly. Like many other families, Little B and I have been tuning into YouTube at 9am every week day to do a live PE workout with Joe Wicks the Body Coach. At first I decided to do it to encourage Little B to burn off some of his excess energy, and to create some structure to our school mornings. He eats breakfast at 8am, then at 9am we do the half hour of PE, then he gets straight into the shower afterwards and gets dressed ready to start some school work. The routine has been working very well for us, and I guess the half hour of PE takes the place of our usual walk to school along the canal and the 15 minutes of mad running around in the playground that Little B starts his day with.

Part way into the second week of following this routine, I suddenly realised that I was enjoying the workouts myself and now I actually wake up looking forward to it. It's been over a decade since I did any sort of exercise besides walking, and my muscles have been properly complaining! But oh, I do feel so good for doing it! And as you can see in the photo above, we have the best exercise mats ;) 

I have my breakfast after my exercise now on weekdays, which makes it around 10am. Like many of us at the moment I am pretty time-rich and so breakfast has taken on something of a weekend vibe for me lately. I'm really happy about that I have to say! Slow, weekendy brunch-style meals are my absolute favourites, and I am enjoying them enormously. I am obsessed with making these little oat pancakes, they make me sooooo happy, like I want to squeal with joy after every mouthful.

In these days of enforced stay-home, I am so, so grateful for my creative habits, most especially crochet. My Spring Garland is keeping me busy and making me ridiculously happy - the fresh happy colours, the floral cuteness, the simplicity of making small things which come off the hook at a fast pace, all of it. Love love love love love it. Last night I finished up all the crochet (40 flowers and 40 leaves) and today I worked on photographing the tutorial for my new Polyanthus flowers. Tomorrow I have the pleasure of pulling it all together and creating the garland, and I am very excited about it. I'll be able to share the patterns and making process with you all on Wednesday, I absolutely can't wait.

Last week was cold here in Atticland and even though we now in British Summer Time, the temperatures remain wintry. Luckily we have enough fuel in to last us through this month, and I am still relishing lighting the fire on the evenings when we need a little extra warmth and cheer.

I also pulled my Sunny log cabin blanket back onto the bed and love having the extra little bit of weight on top of me at night and the bright colours to cheer me up in the mornings. As always I've been finding a lot of quiet comfort at bedtime, climbing under the soft, well washed flowery cotton and feeling so thankful for the simple fact of being at home with my family all safe and under one roof.

I hope very much that you are all feeling safe and cosy at home, and that despite the worries we are living with at the moment, you are finding small joys in the ordinariness of your days.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

 

 

Today's Happy Things

♥ The bluest of blue skies today with not a cloud in sight and warm enough to walk without a coat (I still kept my vest on though, shhh, don't tell anyone). Sunny warmth is very high up on my list of happy-inducing things, and I've felt good right down to my bones today.

♥ The grass at the park is spotted with golden celandines which made me smile when we walked across it today.

♥ We took our daily exercise through the park this morning, walking up to the farm shop. We are pretty well stocked up with basic cupboard groceries and meat etc in the freezer, but as a family of five we eat a lot of fresh fruit, salad and veggies each week. I left J and the Little Peeps outside and went into the shop on my own and it took aaaaaaages to queue for the tills (keeping 2 metres distance from everyone). But finally coming out into the sunshine with a bag of fresh produce made it well worth it.

♥ Al Fresco hooky in the afternoon sun, always makes me happy! The sun stays in our back yard until around 3pm at this time of year, and I move my chair into the corner by the back door to catch the very last rays before they disappear behind the rooftops. We really need new outdoor chairs - this is a very old camping chair which is on it's last legs, but once I've draped it with a blanket it makes for a super-cosy movable crochet spot. I love this blanket so much, it's the Granny Patchwork blanket which I made in 2012/13. It's had a huge amount of use over the years, and still looks and feels wonderful. I'm very VERY tempted to make another scrappy patchwork blanket as it's a brilliant project for using up small amounts of stash yarn.

♥ A knock on the front door this afternoon, and a gift from my lovely neighbours from across the street at number 21. Their sweet Little Miss (who is around 4 years old) painted this glorious rainbow for us to stick in our window, I was so delighted! As I've probably mentioned before, our street is extremely friendly and even though we are social distancing, many of us keep our front doors open and spend time in our front gardens in good weather. It's really comforting to still be able to see each other and chat from a safe distance. 

♥ With the most delicious, juicy vine tomatoes from the farm shop, I made a Greek Salad to have with dinner tonight. Crikey, it was insanely good. We had it with small baked potatoes and sweet chilli hot smoked salmon (served cold), it's exactly the type of simple food which gives me all the happy feels. 

♥ Although we've had the most glorious sunny spring days this week, the evenings have felt chilly and I've been lighting the fire after we've eaten to keep the downstairs room warm. But to be honest, I like having the fire going for the cosy factor more than anything, it's just so comforting to  look at and listen to. I realised earlier today that my mantel is still in winter mode, and I am really looking forward to faffing it with Spring things tomorrow. I have plans to make a simple Spring garland - I'm thinking something floral would do nicely.

♥ I hope your days are passing by gently and without drama, and that you are finding joy in life's small pleasures. Sending loads of love and rainbow brightness out to you all, take care xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

 

 

 

Teeny Crochet Stars

I've been feeling really upbeat and festive this week, and I've got the Little People to thank for it I'm sure. Their enthusiasm for decking the halls as soon as we turned the calendar into December seemed to light something up inside me and I'm LoViNg all the colour we have going on here as a result. Sparkle too, oh, I am LoViNg the glittery bits very much indeed.

Inspired by the tree and all the festive decs, I bought some new yarn - this is Ricorumi Lamé DK, the cutest little 10g balls designed to work alongside their current cotton Ricorumi range. It's deliciously sparkly, and although it feels a bit on the rough side, the prettiness more than makes up for the scratchy factor. 

The above ten shades of Ricorumi formed part of the bespoke colour palette I created for my French crochet retreats earlier this year. They are very "me" and I adore them. When I decided to make some teeny stars for a garland, they were the colours I immediately reached for....

....and this is what came off my hook. A super cute 3 cm star, worked on a 3.5mm hook. It took mere minutes to make, and the resulting satisfaction was really rather high. After working for so many months on my Dahlia blankets, it's been a delightful change of pace to work on small things at speed. Such fun! Once I'd finessed the pattern (it came out of my head very spontaneously), I scribbled it down on paper and immediately reached for the sparkle......

.....awwwww!!!!! These little diddy stars came out smaller than the cotton version, measuring just 2.5cm across. I can't honestly say I liked working with the lamé (it's a tad splitty) but just look at them?! So festive and cutesome.

Being that this pattern is so easy and quick, I wasn't sure whether it was worth making a tutorial, but I did it anyways. You see, when I get excited about making something, my immediate thought is to share it with you, so that's what I'm doing.........and the pattern is all ready for you........yipppeeee!!! Click on the following link to find it...

⭐ TEENY TINY STARS ⭐

Hoping you might find a use for these dinky little stars....

....I've strung a few onto a thin golden thread and hung them along my mantel, but this is only temporary. I'm working on a Festive Garland and have been making lots of stars for it today, I'm using Stylecraft Special DK and I can't wait to show you what I've been up to. 

I'm so excited by it, and there is nothing better than a happy Creative Buzz. More soon (I'll have another tutorial for you soon too).

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

⭐ TEENY TINY STAR PATTERN ⭐

 

 

Filling My Days

I've been busy just lately but in the best possible way, and I am so very thankful for the way in which I get to fill my days with things that make me very happy. I was thinking this morning about the blog posts I want to write so that I can show you the progress I'm making on my banner, my cross stitch, my mandala hoops.....and I was thinking that nothing has been photographed properly, everything is still a work in progress and in a slight jumble and probably not altogether particularly blog-worthy right now. I should wait. I should finish some things, photograph them nicely and put together some proper blog posts for you. 

And yet......in my mind it all feels so deliciously exciting and happening right here and now, and I really don't have it in me to wait! Plus, I always feel a million times better once I've shared it with you, and that's the truth. YOU ----- are my therapy, did you know that?? And I am so grateful for your visits here to the Attic. So I thought...why wait?? I need to show you Right Now what's filling my days.....so please forgive the slightly jumbled nature of this post. It reflects the current state of my life rather well I think. 

I have little project piles all around my desk, piled up on the floor and on any available surface. Its' a mess around here, it really is. I have bags (many) of left over blanket-making yarn, bags of embroidery thread, bags of cotton yarn (for my mandalas), piles of printed patterns and piles of hand written notes about patterns, cross stitch fabrics and hoops of all sizes for stitching and mandala making. I have bits of yarn stuck to pieces of paper to remind me of ideas and colour palettes and things that sit patiently on the back burner. I have a pile which includes the endings of one design project (which I am SO excited to show you once I am given the nod!) and another pile which includes the beginnings of another design commission. It's fun and full-on, and I am enjoying the busy creativity.

If you skip back up to the top photo, you can see that I finished making and stitching up the squares for my banner. It's an 18 x 8 format so there are 144 squares altogether. I'm just trying to think about the right kind of border for it all, so I've folded it up and placed it back on the pile for now, waiting until I'm clear about what to do around that outer edge. 

I've taken a lot of photographs during the past week, everything out there is just so beautiful to me at the moment. My colour and light-loving soul is being fed an endless supply of visual and emotional feel-good which is quite intoxicating. The weather here has been outstanding, a beautiful and uplifting dollop of warm, sunny May perfection and I am positively reveling in it. I am taking almost daily walks in the woods to absorb the greenery whilst it's at it's vibrant best. 

The wild garlic is very nearly at its peak (these photos were taken 5 days ago), and I've been right there amongst it almost every day breathing it in, quite literally. The scent is incredible, it's almost like you can taste the very air you inhale. 

By the way, thank you so much to those of you who told me about the Japanese art of shinrin-yoku, or "forest bathing" - I found it fascinating to read about, and to know that my slight obsession with breathing in the woodland air is actually a Thing! That really made me feel good I have to say. Often I do feel a weeny bit bonkers in my head (especially as J is fond of telling me how I'm "not normal"), so it's good to have little snippets of knowledge which make me feel grounded and not quite so loopy la-la.

I continue to stitch when the mood takes me, quietly and blissfully. I can't begin to tell you how much I am loving my cross stitch journey which began on 17th February, it has taken me to a whole new level of personal creative achievement somehow, in the same way that my sock knitting has. 

I had a whole shiny neat blog post planned to talk to you about my cross stitch adventure (a follow up to this post), but for a weeny while I lost my second completed cross stitch so I couldn't photograph it. Yes, I really did lose it, it just disappeared in a puff of smoke one day, which drove me to the point of near madness. Anyhow, some weeks later I eventually found it (in the cellar, don't ask), but in the meantime I made terrific progress with my third cross stitch project which you can see above. So now I'm all out of kilter in terms of cross stitchy blogging, but I'll catch myself up at some point. I would really like to show you my embroidery thread storage solution too...oh, tis a thing of beauty! Honestly, it makes me so happy.

Talking of happy colours, I've been having a play with a new yarn this week, a spontaneous purchase and one which has delivered in spades (happy spades!). This is  a relatively new yarn on the block, made by the German company Rico Design. these balls are dinky and affordable - 25g of soft, matt cotton in a fine DK weight, and a gorgeous 60 colours to choose from. They were designed for making crochet toys (hence the play on the words "Rico" and "amigurumi"), but I've been trying them out for mandala making.

I can't remember if I've showed you my lastest mandala or not? I don't think I have. This is the "Positivity Mandala" which is my own pattern, designed to be attached to a 30cm wire hoop. I sat for many hours at the weekend photographing a tutorial for this mandala,  slightly hampered by the fact I couldn't seem to count and made/photographed 6 whole rounds before realising I only had 9 petals instead of the required 10. Anyhow, 83 photos (not including the 23 that had to be re-made) and many mugs of coffee later and I have all the visuals - I just need to carve out time to edit and upload them and write it all up. This week sometime, I'm hoping to make it happen.

These are the hoops that I've made so far this year - you can read about some of them in this post. More to come very soon.

More shinrin-yoku on Sunday, a morning walk with J and the Little People at Bolton Abbey. I took a tonne of photos capturing the essence of the greenery, but figure that you have probably seen enough of it by now.

So here's one of the sparkly river Wharfe instead. There were fluffy ducklings further along, and it was all very lovely indeed.

Yesterday was another stunner of a day, so J and I turned our backs on our planned chores (the de-cluttering can wait) and drove up into the hills instead. 

We walked a 6 mile circular route through the Yorkshire Dales around Burnsall and Linton and it was completely gorgeous out there. 

It was a hot, still day and the river was looking extremely tranquil and inviting....

....even Linton Falls was more slow and sedate than usual, although the water here never ever quiets.

Yesterday evening, we packed up our dinner and went back to Bolton Abbey to do al fresco food things, taking advantage of the long, hot sunny day which we never take for granted here in England. I wish I had stopped to photograph my plate to show you but in reality I was far too impatient and hungry to think about my camera. You will have to imagine the cutest little mini quiche from the farm shop, ripe cherry tomatoes on the vine and a big pile of homemade sundried tomato cous cous with garlic and rosemary roasted veggies. Oh, and oven roasted asparagus too - always room on my plate for asparagus. For pudding we had rhubarb crumble and ice cream, yes we really did! My fabulous mother-in-law made us the crumble which I had baked late afternoon. Wrapped in a tea towel and put straight in the car from the oven, it was still warm when we came to eat it. I shoved a small tub of vanilla ice cream in a cool bag with a couple of ice packs, and although it was slightly on the runny side, cripes it tasted a-maz-ing with the warm rhubarb crumble.

The Little People devoured everything from start to finish, and it was one of those really joyful family meals which makes you want to hold onto the memories and keep them close for a long time to come.

After dinner there was a huge amount of physical activity - well that's to say that the Little People ran themselves ragged while J and I slumped gently in our deckchairs and looked on. Competitive frisby playing, yes it's a real sibling thing.

When the sun had sunk below the hill we packed everything up and headed homeward.....

.....stopping to take in the bluebells on our way.

This bank on the way in/out of Bolton Abbey was looking very beautiful in the early evening light, and was certainly worth stopping the car for. 

I started making another mandala this afternoon as I was at Coopers Cafe and needed something easy to work on whilst I chatted to my friends. I'm using a free pattern by the Loopy Stitch which is simple but very effective - you can see the first one I made here. I have to say I'm really loving this Ricorumi yarn,  I'll give you more info about colours etc when I write up my tutorial pattern for you. 

Well, I think that's about all my ramblings for now, thank you as ever for continuing to spend time reading my words and viewing my pictures. I really do appreciate your company. Have a stunning week wherever you are in the world - don't forget to stop still once in a while and breathe it all in....

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

 

 

Outdoor Loveliness

❤ Stepping out into a glorious, sunny Spring morning on Friday and noticing  how beautiful the treetops looked with their fresh new leaves against the bluest of skies. 

❤ Loving that I am lucky enough to have this woodland only a ten minute walk from my front door, enabling me to seek out some tree-induced freshness when the mood takes me (see my previous post) 

❤ Walking home from school on Friday afternoon, the canal beginning to busy up as lots of boats arrive into town for our annual Waterways festival. 

❤ Every day we walk past the ice cream tug boat on our way too and from school, and Little B knows that if he's done well at school then Friday afternoons will often bring about an ice cream treat.

❤ Mr Ice-cream makes Little B "his usual" on Friday afternoon which is a single scoop of Yorkshire farm vanilla ice cream topped with chopped nuts and chocolate sauce. We stop a while on a bench beside the canal to enjoy the afternoon sunshine and wait while Little B devours his cone. Pleasure all round.

❤ I am used to seeing canal boats come and go along our school run route at all times of the year, but during the first weekend in May when boats are arriving for the festival there is so much visual pleasure. I love to take in the small decorative personalities of each boat.

❤ Often it's the domestic homeliness of the boats which really capture my attention - neat piles of logs, laundry dying in the sun, a dog sprawled out on the warm deck, pots of herbs and flowers blooming on every available flat surface.

❤ This beautiful boat window cover immediately caught my eye - a combination of lacy crochet and delicate cross stitch, I might have swooned a little right there.

❤ Walking down the hill to the canal past this long beech hedge on Friday evening, a quick trip to the supermarket with Little Lady. I brush my fingers gently through the soft green leaves and chatter to myself, marveling at their softness and that particular lush shade of new-leaf green. Little Lady tries to pull my hand away, telling me not to turn into "the neighbourhood crazy lady who talks to the leaves". She actually tells me (with some mild horror in her voice) to "step away from the leaves!!" Never...I love the look and feel of their newness and they beg to be touched and cooed over.

❤ Saturday morning, more blue sky and bright sunshine. For the first time this year it's warm enough for me to sit in my little back yard and eat breakfast while still in my pyjamas....such a simple pleasure, but a hugely enjoyable one.

❤ Onward from my al fresco breakfast and it's mid morning now. I'm still in my pyjamas, slurping fresh coffee and listening to the gentle sounds of the neighbourhood going about it's business. I'm absorbed in my own wonderful hooky world making  little blue squares to add to my banner. It's absorbing and delicious and I feel like I could honestly sit there for the whole day working those rounds of blue.

❤ 6.30pm now, and I'm walking down to the train station to meet my Dad and Lady B who are arriving from Dorset for a week's stay. The early evening light is sublime, so clear and bright and uplifting. I love how the trees are showing their bare branches one minute, then in full leaf the next, and I can never, ever seem to catch the transition in action. It happens so fast! When did the leaves happen? When??

❤ Sunday evening, after a hot lazy day of hanging out with my Dad and socialising with the neighbours on our friendly street, followed by a seriously yummy barbecue dinner, I took Little B and Little Lady down to the canalside to join in with the boating festivities. There is live music playing on the temporary stage and a jolly party atmosphere as more and more people arrive. 

❤ I adore the long days we are have at this time of year - these photos were taken at 9.30pm as the crowds gathered beside the canal to wait for the "Illuminated Cruise" to start.....

❤....the first of the boats cruises into the canal basin just before 10 pm - it's been a long day for Little B so we only stay a short while before walking slowly back home to the comforts of bed.

❤ The first Monday in May is a national holiday in the UK and gives us a much anticipated Long Weekend. The weather can really make or break any weekend plans, but this year it was utterly glorious for the whole three days. For the third day running I'm sat eating breakfast in my back yard and enjoying the gentle warmth of the early morning sun. I love seeing those little wispy clouds (we call them "mares' tails" ) that arrive when the air is warm and clear.

❤ I am so so so happy with how my banner is coming together!! I absolutely cannot wait until I get to stitch on the white letters and see how they look against that beautiful patchwork of blue. These colours keep reminding me of "The Starry Night" painting by Vincent Van Gogh, kind of a patchwork of summer night blues dancing together and making me feel joyful.

❤ Monday lunch time, and I'm walking with Lady B. My Dad is feeling a bit flattened by the heat from the day before (we spent all day outside eating, drinking, chatting in the sun on Sunday), but Lady B and I are off on a stroll through the park.

❤ I am stopped in my tracks by these trees in full bloom, gosh the sight of them honestly took my breath away.

❤ I so enjoyed standing underneath them, gazing up through the layers of delicate white and pink flowers to the blue sky beyond. Absolutely stunning.

❤ My favourite bench was calling to me, but we couldn't stop as we were walking to the farm shop to buy fresh produce for our evening meal. We bought bright red cherry tomatoes still on the vine, a tub of herby olives, seeded flatbreads, butchers lamb and mint burgers (yay, another barbecue dinner!), and best of all........................

❤ ..........locally grown asparagus. Oh my goodness, how I LOVE these green stalks!! I toss them in a little olive oil, season with fresh ground black pepper and Maldon sea salt, then cook on a hot griddle pan until they go all toasty and lightly charred. Fresh parmesan grated over the top and eaten with fingers whilst still hot. Yum yum yum.

I love this time of the year so so much. I love the first real warmth of the year, the frothy blossom, the greenest of leaves, carpets of wild garlic, bluebells and local asparagus. It really is a season of all round outdoor loveliness.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

Loving...

Loving....the sound of the wind in the pine trees.

There are a dozen very tall pine trees going down the hill which we walk past every day, and I just love to stand underneath them and tune into the sound of their branches. On super-windy days, I can hear their noise all the way here in the Attic. It's oddly comforting and touches a very distant but familiar nostalgic childhood memory which I can't quite place.

Loving...the collection of pine cones I gathered in the Summer from the aforementioned tall trees which have sparked a creative idea this week.

I'm sooooooooooooooooo excited about it and can't wait to give it a go, but am waiting for supplies to arrive in the post. Tomorrow maybe the postman will bring me an envelope and I can get busy (fingers and toes crossed!)

Loving...swooshing through piles of freshly fallen cherry tree leaves on the school run.

They are almost all down now, just a few left on the branches waving like colourful flags. The colours of them are sensational and perfectly Autumnal, all glowing ambers, yellows, oranges and reds.

Loving... cosy fireside crochet.

Oh how I'm LOViNg this!!!! I sat beside the fire on Sunday afternoon and worked a few rows on my Cosy Stripe blanket, such a beautiful aspect to these cold November days spent hunkering down at home.

Loving...the very last few blooms from my back yard, for I feel sure there really won't be any more now.

I snipped just four beautiful flowers this morning, not quite a posy but they look perfect on my bathroom windowsill in an old glass bottle.

Loving...the start of Hyacinth Season - YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I cannot tell you how happy I am each year when the first pots of hyacinth bulbs appear in the supermarket mid November. It's become something of a personal tradition of mine (every year since 2008), when the first pot comes home and my old Cornishware bowls are pressed into action.

Loving...the anticipation!

Oh, the waiting for these buds to grow and bloom is so, so sweet! I've gone for pink flowers to start the season off, I just cannot wait for that colour and that scent.

Loving...the setting sun.

Our days are so short now in November that we get to see the setting sun on the walk home from school at 3.40pm. It lights up the boats and bounces across the water making everything glow. In general, I find the low light levels, heavy clouds and long hours of darkness a bit hard going at this time of year, so I really appreciate the sunlight when we get it.

Hoping you're all having a good week and finding some simple things to lift your spirits and brighten your days. Stay happy!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

♥...more little snippets from the Attic...♥

Cosy Blanket CAL : Part 3

Cosy Blanket CAL : Part 2

Cosy Blanket CAL : Part 1

The Here and Now

Autumn View

Five Daily Happies

:: Happy #1 :: my back yard ::

Daily pleasure guaranteed in this teeny tiny little outside space of mine. I potter around out here many times a day, deadheading, watering, inspecting, and sometimes just sitting peacefully and breathing it all in. And by the way, I've decided not to paint the wall after all. Next year I want to grow lush leafy things up against it, I want it to become a wall of living greenery.

Things are really growing like billio out here, like really thriving and not just merely surviving! Little B's pumpkin is going great guns and this week I noticed that I have actual strawberries on my strawberry plants, so I'm very happy about that.

:: Happy #2 :: elevenses ::

I wonder if this is a particularly English thing or whether it's worldwide, do you know of "elevenses"? I really love this little ritual when I make time to sit a while in the late morning and enjoy something sweet to eat with a hot drink. This week I baked banana bread (this recipe) which makes rather a fantastic 11 o'clock treat.

I drink a good few mugs of fresh coffee each morning, but I especially enjoy the one that washes down the sweet treat at 11 o'clock.

:: Happy #3 :: flowers ::

Flowers always make me happy, but never more so than when I'm snipping them from my own pots. The snipping isn't a daily thing actually....

....but enjoying them indoors certainly is. Such simple pleasure, and a source of daily happiness for me.

:: Happy #4 :: crochet ::

Of course, I have to mention my daily fix of hooky feel-good!

Weirdly I've not been crocheting much of late, but a few days ago I got out my jolly bag of colourful chunky yarn and immersed myself in those gorgeously squishy rows (I'm making background stripes for my YARNDALE letters). It felt really good to be back with it again after an unplanned break.

:: Happy #5 :: sky gazing ::

I blame my Dad entirely for this habit as it was him who taught me the wonders of sky gazing when I was a small child. When I was growing up we had many books about the night sky and I used to know a lot about stars and the constellations. Clouds too, my Dad has some serious books on clouds. Today the clouds have been especially lovely, all puffy, fluffy and white, and I've spent rather a lot of time watching them breeze across the sky.

We had a terrific storm here yesterday afternoon, torrential rain, thunder, lightening, the works. A few hours later after the storm had blown out of town we were left with a most incredible evening sky and the whole house was lit up in a glorious glow of pink.

♥

I hope you are enjoying your days too and finding plenty of happy things to make you smile...

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

♥...more little snippets from the Attic...♥

Funky Lamp Yarnbomb :: Ta-dah!

Crocheting Daffodils

Creative Swapping

Artisan Bread

May Rose Wreath :: Ta-dah!

Little Joys

♥ a jug of bright yellow daffies on my table reminding me that yes, despite the persistent cold temperatures it is in fact Spring. I love that I can pick up a sweet bunch of daff's for 80p from the market at this time of year, hard to resist their simple charms ♥

♥ a super-sweet picture made for me by Little B at nursery, for Mothers Day. Apparently, there was a vase of flowers with a sheet of glass propped up in front. The children then painted directly onto the glass, trying to copy the real flowers sitting behind. The resulting glass-painting was then used to make a print onto canvas, it's such a great idea don't you think? Just trying to decide where to display it, I think I might take it upstairs and hang it in my bedroom ♥

♥ a homemade Mothers Day card from my gorgeous Little Lady (age 9), it made me very happy. I love the sentiment so much, but I wonder if I should now be providing lollipops on a regular basis? ♥

♥ a homemade Mothers Day card from Little B (age 4). Although he has been writing for six months or so he has only very recently started to draw. I think his expressive little happy people are particularly lovely ♥

♥ having a bit of a crush on toasted hot cross buns with proper butter, such wonderful comfort food at this time of year ♥

♥ loving issue 17 of Simply Crochet magazine which plopped through my door at the weekend (it'll be in the UK shops this Thursday). Lots to inspire, I love those big pouffy roses designed by Kate  who writes "Greedy for Colour" blog. Have you seen Kate's own bike? Go look...seriously lush ♥

♥ still working my colourful, chunky rows and loving it very much. I have been working two new bag designs plus this, a circular cushion with a chunky flower in the centre. I'm sorry to seem so secretive with my crochet at the moment, hoping it won't be too much longer before I can show you what I'm up to ♥

Wishing you a heap load of Little Joys to brighten your hours this week xxxxxxxxxx

 

♥...more little snippets from the Attic...♥

Crocheting Daffodils

Monday Moments

Open Studio :: June 2013

The Last Days

Parenting Joy

Today's Happy Bits

#1 :: fluffy puffy white clouds. I am so loving this summer we are having, blue sky makes me very happy indeed.

#2 :: my Attic view. Looking mighty lovely in all it's green summer finery.

#3 :: a walk. Going to the shops along the canal and thinking for the gazillionth time how much I LOVE living in this sweet, picturesque little town.



#4 :: my new plant. Watering my new bathroom greenery which I really love but which drives J mad as it is always tickling his head he says.

#5 :: my lunch. Trying to practice mindfulness with regards to my eating as I had become a bit grab-and-stuff lately. This is my current fave thing to eat for lunch :: roughly chopped avocado and cherry tomatoes, mixed with a dash of olive oil, squeeze of lime juice, chopped corriander and liberal seasoning. I have it piled onto crackers/crispbreads/melba toasts and it is seriously mmmmmm.

#6 :: summer berries. Unbelievably sweet and juicy raspberries bought very cheaply from the market, eaten with a generous dollop of vanilla ice cream.

#7 :: my wrist. I taught my neighbours six year old how to finger crochet a few days ago, and she has gone into production with my Little Lady producing woolly friendship bracelets. Makes me smile every time I glance down and see them.

#8 :: Little B's building. He made this Duplo tower all by himself this morning, it was accompanied by the sweetest chatter as he talked his way through the entire process.

#9 :: glorious yarn. After doing so much work with Stylecraft acrylic yarn recently, I have to confess that I am really, really enjoying the feel of soft merino running through my fingers again.

#10 :: the morning light. Wow. The light was soooo incredibly beautiful this morning, streaming in through our bay window in a long golden shaft. I'm working on yarn bombing my old lamp to dress the Knit n Natter Lounge at Yarndale. It's crazy-good fun.

#11 :: my Little Painters. I had company at the table this morning when both Little B and Little Lady came to do some painting. Little B is very particular about how he uses his colours, I really enjoyed watching whilst I sat and crocheted at the table.

#12 :: sitting. Something of a little ritual of mine this holiday, I sit on the front doorstep with a coffee and enjoy a bit of hooky time whilst keeping an eye on Little B. It's not very comfy on the top step (I need a step cushion!) but it is elevated (9 steps up) and I like observing the comings and goings of our little terraced street as I work.

#13 :: flutter-butterflies. Loving all the fluttery butterfly activity on my budleia bush, makes me so happy to see them visit. I tried to photograph a huuuuge Red Admiral this morning but it fluttered away before I could get close enough.

#14 :: summer flowers. I picked this dinky little posy this afternoon from the front garden and it's giving me such a lot of pleasure seeing it sitting sweetly on the table. I have been feeling liberated by the lack of need in my back yard this year, but oh, I do so miss my little posies.

♥

I hope you've found some bits and pieces in your day to make you happy xxxxxxxxxxxxxx