Well, finally I have managed to stop fidgeting and faffing and sit myself down quietly for a while to chat to you - helllloooooo, how are you all???? March is speeding past and spring has sprung and life feels like it's powering ahead at full tilt, but really it's been the most delightful month so far. I hope all is bright and happy in your world and you've been enjoying this season of renewed light and energy (for us in the northren world that is). I suspect that if you're upsidedown in the southern hemisphere then you are probably looking forward to some cooler weather easing into your days while we here in the UK are waiting patiently for life to warm up a smidge.
During the past two weeks I've been thoroughly enjoying the early blossom displays around my neighbourhood, oh, it's been so, so pretty in the trees of late. My neighbour's beautiful ornamental cherry tree is poised on the brink of floral explosion and I feel like I'm holding my breath as I wait for the show to start.
We have some stunning blossom trees all around the streets here in my part of town so I am able to appreciate them every single day. I've no idea of the variety but the flowers are small and delicate and they bloom right the way through March in absolute abundance. We obviously don't always get the added joy of a blue sky backdrop, but on days when the weather is sunny it's such a visual treat.
I've been home from my travels for two weeks now (I was away teaching a crochet retreat in Italy), and J and I have really enjoyed spending time together when we've been free from work, which is generally a Monday. This week we visited a large National Trust property in North Yorkshire which was lovely - we packed a picnic to take and walked about five miles around the estate, following footpaths through fields, down quiet lanes, through sun dappled woodland and over streams. We heard the calls of so many birds (including some curlews and a million pheasant I think, at least), and I loved spotting all the wonderful signs of Mother Nature doing her spring thing.
I picked some wild garlic while we were walking through this quiet, unspoilt woodland which I must now turn into something fragrant and delicious (I think I'm going to try this recipe at the weekend). Cooking/baking plans are always good things to have penned onto the Weekend To-do List, don't you think?
We took the scenic route when we drove home after our day trip and the views were breathtaking from the high moor tops.
On Monday of last week I was still quite tired after my travels abroad, so when J suggested we head out to climb a veeeery steep craggy hill, I had to be honest and tell him that I didn't think I was up to it. Usually you wouldn't be able to stop me getting out there and walking up a great big hill to drink in the views, but I am very protective of my energy these days and know when I need to take it slowly. His Plan B suggestion was a day trip to the Fylde coast to amble along the beach, well now you're talking! Sign me up immediately.
I can't remember the last time we went to St Annes, it's one of those relaxing places that eases the soul and frees up the mind and I always feel so good after spending time there. We wandered along the beach to the Beachcomber café which is nestled right into the sand dunes, and enjoyed a frothy coffee with poached eggs on toast..such decadence for a Monday morning I know.
For once, we timed it right and the tide was in, meaning that we could actually stroll along the waters edge instead of gazing at acres of flat sand and wondering where on earth the sea is. As you can see, the weather was a bit dull and grey but I tell you it didn't take away an ounce of my pleasure. We walked all the way to Starr Gate at the bottom end of Blackpool (I had a hankering to go and see the Biggest Mirror Ball In The World) and then slowly retraced our steps all the way back along the sandy shoreline. Beach pootling is right up there on my happy-vibe list and it never, ever fails to make me feel amazing. And of course it was another happy day out with J, we've been strolling together for over thirty years and I'm so grateful for his easy company.
Back on the home front and now that we are fully into the spring season we're enjoying the return of the daylight in the early mornings. I've been naturally waking up without an alarm just before 6am, and it's felt so good to be out walking in this gentle morning light. It's been cold, but that's fine by me as I love a frosty cold morning when we have these amazing soft, spring-frost colours.
In late March, our walks time beautifully so that we catch the sunrise through the trees along the top woodland path. It's the loveliest way to start the day and well worth the effort it takes to get out the door before 7am.
It's not often I've a reason to be out and about in the evenings, but sometimes the colours in the sky catch my attention and I feel compelled to go out and enjoy the show. I took these sunset photos on the last day of winter before the spring equinox last week and thought it was a truly beautiful end to the dark season.
I had Little Lady with me for company, she loves watching the skies and being outside as much as I do and I recognise a lot of myself in her. It's a wonderful feeling when you notice the happy little ways in which you influence and shape your offspring and the good habits that you help them adopt. Sky gazing is definitely a Good Life Habit in my opinion.
Life in the Attic has been gently therapeutic, with slow days of recalibration after my return from Italy. I always find It takes a while to resettle into domestic life after a trip away, most especially after one of my retreats which are so incredibly uplifting, inspirational and stimulating, but also involve a lot of social energy expenditure and travel weariness. I had almost 15 hours on the move to get home on the Friday, then the very next day I was pulled straight back into the usual weekend life stuff. Market shopping, laundry loads, re-stocking the food cupboards, cooking, and generally spending lots of time catching up with J and the offspring who seemed to have missed me quite a lot. It took me almost a whole week to mentally catch my breath. But -- it was no hardship and I was reminded how lucky I am to have a very happy home life to return to after a fantastic week following my passion for crochet, colour and travel. Yes, I feel very blessed indeed.
I have some small rituals that I carry out when I come home from a trip, and one of them always involves fresh flowers. This is part of my recalibration process I think (I only just realised this now as I'm writing about it), and my flowers of choice have of course been tulips. I got a bit giddy and treated myself to two bunches (two!), because, well because M&S have these fancy varieties in at the moment which I find utterly irresistible. They are only £3.75 a bunch and last on my table for almost two weeks, oh, I adore them so much. Floofy insides on one bunch and feathery edges on the other, and the bolt of glorious colour every single time I walk into the room (which is many, many times each day).....Recalibration Therapy at its finest.
When I was in Italy, there were a few days where I was lucky enough to wear sandals. Yes I know, the luxury of painting ones toenails a deep red colour and having actual warm sunshine to wiggle them in in March was divine. We did have a few rainy days too, and I wore my usual Fly Boots + handknit socks on those days. I wore and washed these three pairs and they were drying on the radiator last week and I suddenly felt so proud of myself for being a person who makes their own socks to wear. Isn't that something? I've been knitting socks for almost ten years now, and you can read about the start of my journey right here on my blog (this post contains my very first pair, and all the beginner sock knitting details if you are curious).
Talking of socks, what do you make of this ball of sock yarn?? Isn't it rather glorious? It's my Souvenir Yarn from Italy, an Italian brand called Laines du Nord. The stripes promise to be very funky - you can see what the sock will look like online ((here)) - the clourway I chose is "03 Leonardo"
I thought you might like a glimpse of the shop I bought it from, a tiny little yarn haven tucked away in a quiet backstreet in Trieste. You can see from the window that the owner loves to crochet and there were many colourful crochet makes dotted all over the shop. Inside, it was a weeeeny bit chaotic.....
....I mean, the sock yarn I bought was unearthed from this actual mountain of yarn balls, no joke! But the owner was super friendly and even though she didn't speak English and the only Italian word I could think of was "bellissima", we communicated beautifully through the language of yarn and colour I think.
I couldn't wait to cast my Italian socks onto my needles, and two days after returning home that's exactly what I did. It made for a perfectly relaxing Sunday afternoon....
....and of course here in North Yorkshire it's still cold enough for woolly socks and fireside knitting. No naked wiggly toes here just yet.
The kitty did make me laugh, I literally got up from my spot in front of the fire for one single minute and when I came back she had firmly installed herself in my warm seat. Just look at her contented face, I didn't have the heart to evict her.
So Italy - ahhh, yes it was as fabulous as I had imagined it to be, more so in fact. Venice in particular was an absolute treat, my goodness, what a unique and beautiful city it is.
I wonder if you'd like to see some of my photos, because I do have one or two images I could share....I think you'd enjoy my visuals, I found Italy to be incredibly photogenic, the light was crazy beautiful even when it was raining.
I do have some crochet/yarn things I'd like to chat to you about too, so I'll try and work out what order to do things in. I've got something new on my hook, and the start of two new blanket journeys in the early design stages, and I won some awards and I've got some incredible new retreats to look forward to during the upcoming eighteen months, so lots to chat about.
Eeeeeeep, it's sooooo good to be back, I've missed you!! And I can't wait to share more of what's brewing on my multiple back (and front) burners, I hope you're going to like what's been fidgeting inside my Creative Mind of late. More soon!
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