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January Days

It's Thursday afternoon and I really should be writing my Sungold CAL post ready for tomorrow, but as you can see I'm here on this page chatting to you instead. My CAL post is patiently waiting in draft-mode because I suddenly really missed writing my normal, every day blogs, you know, the ones that don't really have much substance to them but tell the gentle story of my day to day life.

As it happens, I don't have a huge amount to tell you but I didn't want this brand new month to skitter on by without some sort of acknowledgement. I gathered all my January photos together yesterday and the general overview is a mixture of outdoor views/winter weather and colourful crochet stripes....does kind of sum up my days rather well come to think about it?! 

My white hyacinth is finally in flower on my mantel and it smells so good, a really pretty sweet perfume that lifts my spirits when I get a waft of it. As predicted it didn't flower in time for Christmas, but then maybe having it blooming into a new year month is better than it belonging to the tail end of the old year? 

Two weeks ago we were still in new year holiday mode, but we also had a birthday in the family. It was good timing because J was still on holiday from work so we were able to plan a day out to celebrate Little B's fourteenth birthday. We went on the train to Leeds and it was just the kind of easy outing which ticks so many boxes with a teen. We went clothes shopping with him because he is very minimal when it comes to clothes and wanted to add to his one solitary pair of trousers. We had great success and he managed to find exactly what he was looking for (black, slim fit cargo trousers) - it's such a relief when clothes shopping for the offspring goes well because honestly it can be a very dismal experience otherwise. So yeah, he now has two pairs of trousers instead of just one lonely pair of jeans and I think he's happy about it. A bit hard to tell with Little B, he is very minimal with his words as well as his clothes.

We had a fabulous lunch out at The Alchemist, it's one of Little B's favourite places to go for a drink because they have a good selection of non alcoholic cocktails. I found myself thinking back to when he was born (it's impossible not to reminisce on kids birthdays), and struggling to comprehend how fourteen years can have passed. How do I have this larger than life boy who looks so grown up and asks to go to a cocktail bar for his birthday lunch?

Aside from birthdayish things, January has been all about easing gently back into routine....

.....walking familiar paths....

...and spending time in much loved places that provide a sense of comfort and familiarity. I do really appreciate the gentle routines and habits which I have built over the past few years, the ones that stay the same week after week and yet still feel so good. 

On Wednesday last week my slow stay-home routine was upended because I had a meeting to go to out of town and found myself setting out to commute there by train. I am mighty glad that this happens only once in a blue moon because it hit hard! Setting out at 7.30am when it was still dark, and then the stress of the trains being delayed and connections being missed and getting myself into a such a fluster with it all.

I arrived two hours later in West Yorkshire, the weather misty, grey and damp. You can see in the above photo, over to the left there is a tall chimney and a solid old mill building beside it? That's where I was going, to the home of Stylecraft yarns.

It was a wonderful day, a time to discuss plans for the future (theirs and mine) and get all over giddy about colours. I have been sworn to secrecy so I can't spill the beans and tell you what the yarny future holds (well not yet anyway) but I came away feeling very excited and inspired.

Other than our trip to Leeds and my trip to the Stylecraft Mill, January has been slow, gentle and home-based. I've really been enjoying the simple pleasure of lighting the fire in the afternoon and settling down to hook up some colourful stripes. Having a crochet blanket on the go at this time of year is honestly such a joy and I can't imagine a January without it. I'm looking forward to sharing some more photos with you tomorrow.

We've been in a very wintry cold snap this week with some snow and hard frost - it's been great! I much prefer these cold, clear, crisp winter days to the dreary, wet grey weather that plagued us through December. This is much more my thing, well,  sunshine will always be my thing.

Almost a month since Winter Solstice and I am really starting to notice the extra daylight in the mornings and evenings now. It's glorious to recognise that the real darkness of winter is behind us and we are slowly heading towards longer, lighter days. Happy, happy, happy about that!!! 

It's been lovely to chat - do tell me how your January is looking and what things are making you happy, I'd love to know.

For me - candlelight, floral scent, family time, routine, colour, yarn, crochet, fireside loafing, frothy coffee, crisp winter walks and the glow of sunset.

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Yuletide Season 2023

Hey - hi - hello - happy new year !! 

I thought it was high time I dusted off my laptop (literally) and opened up my attic window to let some fresh air blow in. I've been hibernating it seems, content to shuffle about in my own little world enjoying the Yuletide season and grounding myself in my real life world for a while. Don't get me wrong, you know I adore our online community, but every so often it's good for me to gently disconnect from my digital world for a bit and take a rest.

I've had a super-relaxing few weeks spending quiet time at home with J and the Little People. I know it's a bit ridiculous that I still refer to them as Little People because they are anything but little these days - my two boys (age 21 and almost 14) are enormous humans compared to my short five foot three self. Our school holidays fell very late this year and Little B didn't break up until Friday 22nd. On the plus said it has given us this whole week at the start of January where we are still in holiday mode and it feels like a luxury to be able to start the year in a deliciously slow way. Back to school next Tuesday.

J decided to take a full two weeks off work to coincide with the school holidays which has been so, so nice, I can't remember the last time he took such a long holiday. There was a part of me which desperately wanted to take advantage and organise some sort of New Year holiday or short break away (the sea is always, always calling me) but nobody else wanted to do anything so I had to quieten myself down and accept the reality. In hindsight I realise it has been the right decision and there is a lot to be said for gentle, slow, stay-home days where the focus has been on rest and relaxation. 

The photos above were all taken in the late afternoon in mid December, which shows how very long our dark hours are at the moment. The first two images were around 4pm, and the one just above where you can see the moon is 4.30pm. I was looking at it just now and wondering what on earth I was doing walking along that particular stretch of road as it was getting dark, and then remembered I was heading to the pub with Little Lady for a cheeky pre-dinner drinky. So often it catches me by surprise that I have these wonderfully mature, grown up offspring now, I somehow keep forgetting that. 

I decorated late and slow for Christmas, the tree went up on Sunday 17th and other decorative bits and bobs happened in stops and starts over the following week.

I enjoyed the tree just as much as ever, the familiar clash of colours and decorations gathered over two decades of family life. Nothing new on the branches, but I've come to adore the sameyness of our old Christmas tree and the nostalgic memories that pour forth from its branches. It's been an absolute joy to have my latest blankets around too - the Starbright colours make me so, so stupidly happy. Colour-filled happy nostalgia is the very essence of Christmas for me I think.

Unpacking my homemade Christmas decorations is always a bit special and I love the quiet rediscovery of them each year. This is my Festive Garland from three years ago (the blog post and free pattern is ((here)), ahh, the colours are just so good!

I didn't take very many photos of my mantels this Christmas, but they are the same kind of thing that I do every year. I don't really go all out with my mantels, I have fairy lights and candles on there all year round so I simply add just a few decorative things along with the garland change. 

Winter Solstice was a day later than usual and fell on the 22nd which was the same day the schools finished for Christmas so it felt like a lovely time for quiet celebration. I lit a Clementine scented candle and made a small ivy and eucalyptus wreath to go around it, and it was just enough. I've learnt over the years that it's only me who cares about celebrating the four turning points in the year as the rest of the family don't share my love of the seasons. So these days I resist the urge to drag them all into it, and just go about my own personal little rituals which have meaning to me.

For quite a few years now I've been treating myself to a special festive bouquet, usually timed to arrive for the Winter Solstice. This year I decided not to use the usual online letterbox flower company (their festive bouquet had flowers in it which I didn't really like all that much), but instead I went to a local florist shop in town. I told the lady what I liked - mainly foliage and berries with some bold red flowers so long as they weren't carnations (!) -  and she said she would need an hour to make something up specially for me. I honestly was a bit nervous as this is a real indulgence and I only ever buy myself expensive flowers once a year. But my goodness, the bouquet they created for me was stunning! You can see in the photo above, I had just collected it from the florist and the single Amaryllis stem has five beautiful buds just about to burst open....oh I was soooo excited that they included one of my favourite blooms. In fact, I never realised that you could buy an actual amaryllis stem in a florist shop?

Over the Christmas week the flowers opened....

....and I couldn't love them more. In fact, two weeks on and the bouquet is still looking really good - I've thinned it out a bit and re-cut the stems and I reckon it'll be good for another week yet. What a wonderful treat I gave myself.

Christmas day itself was wonderfully relaxed, just the five of us taking it easy, enjoying good food and drinks and simple family time. I know I've said my Little People are no longer little children, but every year they do seem to delight in the same traditions that we've built throughout their childhood. One of those is party poppers at the dinner table - does anyone else do this? My kidlets absolutely love them, and there is always a competition between them to see who can get the perfect aim with the streamers over the lampshade.

We had old fashioned Christmas crackers with paper hats, jokes and little gifts inside. This origami frog was made by the Big Teen who has always loved paper folding since being young. I've kept the frog on my mantel, a little memento of a wonderful Christmas time full of simple traditions.

Something else we did a lot of this Christmas was jigsaw puzzles. Again, this is such a strong, long standing tradition carried forward from my own childhood. There is something so enjoyable about sitting at the table on a quiet morning to work on a jigsaw, the slow simplicity of it really makes me happy. All the family join in too, the Little People and J, all of us taking turns over the course of a day or two. We favour the smaller 500 piece puzzles which can pretty easily be completed in a day - we have two Christmassy ones which we bought many years ago, and this year I also purchased a new one.....

 

.....Nutcraker Magic. Oh, this one was SO MUCH FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was interesting all the way from start to finish, and the puzzle pieces themselves were so, so good to fit together, do you know what I mean? When there is zero wiggle room and every piece just plunks in place in a really tightly, satisfying way? Well, this puzzle delivered peak jigsaw satisfaction, can ten out of ten recommend.

I can honestly say that these quiet days at home have been restorative in the true sense of the word. I've spent a lot of time on the sofa wrapped in colourful blankets, passing the time doing nothing of note. Sometimes reading, sometimes snoozing, sometimes watching easy films which the Little People chose, and sometimes just daydreaming and allowing my mind and body to be completely at rest. It's been absolutely bloomin' lovely. 

The weather has been awful really. I honestly think it has rained almost constantly for about three weeks now, so much water falling and everywhere so waterlogged and sodden. Of course I've still been out and about as my lifestyle involves a fair bit of daily walking, but it's been very uninspiring out there.

The woodland paths are exceptionally wet, more like little streams than footpaths, so it's been wellies for the win. 

It's not been possible to get into the countryside for walking because fields and paths are just mud slides at the moment. But last weekend we drove out into the Dales to see how the river was looking at Linton Falls.....

.....this river is always impressive but right now it is mind blowingly full. It was exhilarating just standing near it - the noise of it was incredible. 

One day last week we decided to go to Salts Mill, it's been a while since I've been and amazingly we realised that J has never been. Not ever?! Surely he has?! But no, in the sixteen years of living here it's always just been me and the Little People who have visited and I was keen to show him what he's been missing.

It was so beautifully decorated for Christmas, and although it was busy it still felt very restful and just a wonderful place to slow down and spend idle time. We took our time browsing the whole two floors, taking it all in and marvelling at this incredible building. J and I both share a love of art materials, so I knew he would adore Salts - it has a massive art shop section full of pens, pencils, paints and all manner of creative inspiration (he bought new pens, I knew he would)

The Home shop was looking glorious, it's always very special at Christmas time with a lot of effort put into the displays.

I mean, just look at this ^^ isn't it beautiful?

It was a really enjoyable family outing - top notch browsing and then a late pub lunch down by the river in Saltaire village. Wonderful, wholesome holiday stuff.

I bought a few cards from Salts like I always do, they have a very extensive selection of artists cards there. I fell in love with the above image titled "the Strollers" by Dee Nickerson - it reminded me so much of our many visits to Saltburn over the years, and honestly I am madly craving a visit to the coast right now. Maybe sometime in January I will just go off for a few days like I did in October, the call of the sea is running strong.

I packed Christmas away yesterday, boxed it all up for another year. My Starbright blankets are staying though, I can't bring myself to lose the joy of those colours in this season of low light and greyness.

Creatively I've been in a bit of a lull during the past few weeks. I've been slowly, slowly working on my new Sungold stripes which I'll talk to you more about in a moment. I did pull together the above collection of yarn balls before Christmas though, and I sat for a few solid days and crocheted some Christmas gifts for friends. It was a fun thing to work on a new design, sitting and hooking and stitching something new - I'll show you next week what I made because I think there could be a new pattern to share which you might enjoy. 

So Sungold stripes - oh, they are looking so so so GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm not going to spoil the surprise because you will see them soon enough when the Sungold Crochet-Along begins.....ToMoRRoW!!! Eeeppppp.....it's come around all of a  sudden and I have much still to do. Thankfully I had the sense to get the pattern all written up a while ago and J (love him) has already made the charts and worksheets and PDF things for you, but my job for today is to pull together the tutorial. And by pull together, I mean I need coffee first and then I am photographing and editing and uploading and writing and checking and checking some more. Always so last minute, but it's just the way I am.

If you are joining in, then we shall be getting going on Friday morning - I think between 9 and 10am tomorrow I should be ready to sing and dance with you......see you then!

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Feels Like Winter

In my humble opinion, the end of November should really still have an autumn feel to it, because in all honesty our winters are long enough when they span from December to March. This year however, winter came howling in at the end of November and snatched away any hope of a gradual seasonal shift. Yes, it's safe to say there's been nothing remotely gradual about the early arrival of winter this year, and the sudden icy freeze came as a bit of a shock.

Despite the freezing chill, it's been beautiful out there, a real gift to have days (yes, multiple days!) of blue sky and sunshine.

These photos were taken in the middle of last week during the final days of November, and as you can see it looked and felt very, very much like winter. The temperatures stayed on the low side, and waking up to a minus four icy start was bracing.

You've probably gathered by now that I walk a lot in my day-to-day life, and I am not generally put off by the weather. I mean, I much (much, much) prefer walking when it's bright and sunny but getting outside to walk at least once a day is a non negotiable part of my wellness routine, rain or shine. I usually have two walks each morning, the first one is a fast "wake-up walk" at 7am with J, and then the second one I usually take on my own as I head out to do our daily grocery shop.

This second solo walk is much slower, and I love to take my time. I find that walking is a wonderful opportunity to practice mindfulness, and for me personally, my morning stroll is often a time of mental clarity and creativity. It's a time when I absorb my surroundings, often stopping to really look at things in detail....

....it's a wonderful practice, to consciously slow down and spend time appreciating the seasonal details of nature.

Taking daily photographs has become a way of life for me now, after so many years inhabiting Blogland. I just can't imagine going through life in too much of a hurry to stop, appreciate and photograph the things that inspire me.

Frost is such a beautiful thing, a sparkly dusting of winter magic which makes even the dullest plants look enchanting.

On this morning I was actually on route to the supermarket, with a spur of the moment detour around the meadow and along the canal bank. I am so thankful that I have such freedom in my days that allows me to spend time outside....

....I'm someone who needs a regular sun/light fix and I feel my whole soul craving it if I go too long without.

We had our first dusting of snow last week, it wasn't much, just a soft sprinkling that made the landscape look beautiful.

The canal froze over too, always a sure sign that winter is most definitely underway. I took a slow, slip-slidey walk to Coopers café on Friday morning, it's a highlight of my week and I always wake up on Friday's with a happy heart.

It was extra special last week because I had friends visiting, so my stripy Starbright was not alone for long.....

.....awwww, I had the best kind of yarny company! I LOVE the above photo, it's the three of us sat around the table laughing and chatting and eating caramel shortbread and yarning along all day. In case you are curious about my visitors, the sock-in-progress belongs to Christine Winwick Mum, and the delicious granny squares belong to the lovely Emma Varnam. We try and get together every few months if we can (out last meet up was early September), to chat all things yarn and design and blog and creative living. We can quite literally talk all day long without pausing for breath, it's just the best thing having friends who are totally on your wave length.

Our days are so short now as we head through December, but it does mean that I often get to see the most beautiful light in the late afternoons.

It's Saturday morning now, and I'm out walking the hilly streets of my neighbourhood with J and the Peeps. Well, two of the LP at least - the eldest Giant Child lives a very independent life these days. I so appreciate still having our 19 year old and 13 year old come out with us though, and more and more often they are asking to come without an ounce of bribery or coercion needed. It's just before 9am in the above photo....

.....and yes, it was proper cold and frosty still.

We walked along the farm track...

...stopping often to oooo and aaaaah over the beautiful iciness of everything.

It was lovely and still in the woodland, a gentle, chilled quiet as we strolled along and breathed in the cold air.

I love that we get to start our weekend in this way, it makes me SO happy. It might seem a bit odd to walk up hills and through woodland and around a castle on the way to do a grocery shop, but adding on that extra hour of time is worth so much and I love that the Little People are living this kind of life with us.

My flowers for this week came from the market which I'm delighted about - a wonderful lady who is fairly new to the market, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to be a regular customer. She had some mixed bouquets and wreaths for sale, but it was her buckets of floristry blooms that really caught my eye. Buying individual stems is not something I get to do very often because I am usually just buying the standard cheap bunches that the supermarkets sell. But just look at these flowers, aren't they spectacular? The flower lady told me they are a chrysanthemum variety called "fuego" which is Spanish for "fire" and I fell instantly in love with them. She wrapped them so nicely for me in brown paper tied with rafia, and I could not take my eyes off them all the way home.

I only bought two stems as they were quite expensive, but I am so enjoying them on my table. Such beauty right there. Love 'em.

Something else I'm loving right now is the return of the leafy clems, a regular seasonal supermarket purchase which always makes me glad for winter.

The leafage is a bit extra on this batch (more leaf than fruit) but I love the look of them on my table, and the fruits themselves are just sooooo sweet and juicy.

I've been feeling quite tired of late, kind of like my body is naturally wanting to send me into some sort of mild winter hibernation state. I took a nap on Saturday afternoon, it wasn't planned, but I found that I simply could not keep my eyes open. I was on the sofa with the kitty (you can just spot her in the above photo) and what with the cosiness of the blankets, the gentle weight of the cat, and the rhythmic rows of gentle v-stitches on my hook, well, I was tipped over the edge into a deep and restorative power nap. I woke up a bit disorientated but felt so much better for having the extra zzzz's.

All this talk of winter, and we are in December of course, but I just can't quite bring myself to face up to the idea of Christmas just yet. All over social media it seems like Christmas things have been happening for many weeks already, but here in the Attic I'm still weirdly embedded in Autumn. 

I did hang up my one solitary strand of tinsel.....

.....and I've been eating mini mince pies which is about as festive as I can manage this early in the month. The Little People are nagging about the tree, so I guess I will have to rally myself quite soon and get on my hands and knees and into the attic cupboards to perform the annual drag-out of the Christmas Boxes.

How's it with you, are you all decked out or are you taking your time like me? And do you do a real tree or a faux job? We'll have our usual ancient old tree-in-a-box again this year, it must be at least twenty five years old, an old friend. I really should get a move on and let it see the light of day.....

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Dorset :: September 2023

I was down in Dorset for a few days just over a week ago and despite the reason for me being there (which was important, but rather on the difficult side), I did enjoy my short stay. I had a fairly early appointment on the Thursday morning in Dorchester which is the county town, so I opted to actually stay in Dorchester the night before. It was a new experience for me for sure, I don't think in all my years I've ever stayed in a hotel when I've visited Dorset. I guess it's something I'll be getting used to in the future as  everything begins to shift and change in the months to come. And actually the convenience of being based a stones throw from the train station (instead of fifteen miles away) made things a whole lot easier in many ways. 

After the meetings were done, my brother and I drove along the coast to the place where we both grew up, and honestly, it felt like medicine for the soul. I took a little time to myself to walk around the harbour and onto the shingle beach, seeking the reassuring familiarity which always makes me feel grounded and at ease. We were experiencing the tail end of storm Agnes at the time, and it was very windy with rough seas and loud crashing waves.....oooo, I absolutely love it when it's wild at the coast! I thought I'd share a spontaneous stormy selfie with you, I think I wear the windswept look rather well ;). Glamorous, I am not.

Spending time with my younger brother who'd travelled from his home in Kent is quite rare. Before this year and the decline in my Dad's health we haven't spent a lot of time together as adults really, although we were close when we were younger. Living two hundred and seventy miles apart has made logistics difficult over the years, but we've both said just recently that making time for family is so important, and worth some solid planning to try and make it happen more frequently.

We hung out in one of our favourite pubs by the beach which hasn't changed much over the decades. Old stone floors and low beamed ceilings, it's a very cosy spot to while away some hours while having a long overdue catchup. I took the opportunity to sneak in some V's while we were chatting - I mean, my brother had some work business to see to on his phone so I didn't feel too bad about seeing to my own  hooky "business" at the same time. I truly love how sociable and portable crochet is, even when it's blanket shaped.

The following morning, I woke up at Lady B's place, a little disorientated, a little hungover and a little down in my soul. Things in Dorset are so hard at the moment, such a constant source of worry and a pull on the heartstrings which isn't at all comfortable. I decided to default to the thing that I know always helps me feel good about the day - an early morning walk. 

7am and I was out the door, striding along very familiar footpaths across fields that I know like the back of my hand.

It was such a beautiful morning, bright and clear but with an unmistakable autumnal feel in the air. There was still a low mist creeping over the meadows which made the views very atmospheric, it really was the most peaceful and restorative way to start the day.

On my way back I stopped off at my favourite café in town which opens it's doors early, and enjoyed my first coffee of the day, goodness me, it was bloomin' good. It was warm enough for the café to open up its big bi-fold windows so I was able to sit inside but feel the early morning breeze and drink in that glorious September sunlight while the town slowly woke up.

It's the middle of the day now, and I've said goodbye to my brother knowing that we'll both be pulled back to Dorset again very soon as decisions gets made and big changes come rolling in.

We went out for lunch, Lady B, myself and my Dad, and afterwards when I only had a few hours left before I had to catch my train, I asked if maybe we could go back to the beach for just a little while. 

Being by the sea calms my soul in a way that nothing else can, and I am drawn to the waves by a very powerful longing. I never feel like I quite have enough time by the sea, and yet even the briefest moments spent along the shoreline seem to do me the world of good.

It was lovely to be on this little pebbly beach, absolutely lovely. Of course I didn't want to leave, but at the same time I suddenly felt desperate to be back with J and the Little Peeps, back to my easy, familiar home life where all is well and no big changes loom.

My journey home from Dorset is roughly seven hours by train - I really don't mind it actually and enjoy the gentle pace of train travel very much. The above photo is me sitting in the afternoon sunshine passing a little bit of time before my train was due to leave. Thank heavens for those gorgeous Starbright stripes, they are saving my bloomin' sanity at the moment I can tell you.

I don't know what more to say about the situation in Dorset, I'm trying my best not to let it floor me. I don't wish to talk details, I know so many of you have walked this path caring for ailing relatives and will know the heartache of it.

Anyhow. I refuse to be down about it, life is for living and smiling and finding the joy in the everyday, even in times of challenge. Onwards and upwards!

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Away and Back

Hello, hello, hello, I'm baaaaack!!! Maybe you didn't even know I'd been away, but I did indeed journey far away from the Attic (1526 miles to be precise) and now I'm home again trying to navigate myself gently back into normal life. Did I tell you I was going to Madeira? I think I might have mentioned it in passing - I was teaching a crochet retreat with Stitchtopia and it was absolutely, utterly and completely wonderful. Oh, I LOVED my week in Madeira, it's such a lush and beautiful island with a sub tropical climate and the sunny warmth did me a lot of good. The above scene was part of the expansive vista out of my floor to ceiling bedroom window, and I snapped that photo on my first morning....imagine lying in bed and waking up to that view, it was honestly the loveliest thing. 

Me being me, I took a ridiculous number of photographs during my week flouncing around that beautiful island. I just had a look and did a quick count - 369 images, seriously, I need to get a grip. I'll try and get them into some sort of order and work out the best way to share my Madeira experience with you. I have so much I want you to see!

Three and a half days out of the week were workshop days, and I was teaching a crochet project to a group of fifteen lovely ladies. I created a bespoke yarn kit and designed something brand new, but I'm going to wait and show it to you a bit later in the year. The reason being, I have a second group of ladies coming to Madeira with me in September and I don't want to spoil the surprise for them. I feel it's OK to show you some of the touristy outdoor things we did, but I do want to keep the crochet element under wraps for now. Suffice to say, it all went really well and the feedback I received from the ladies was glowing so I feel like I did a pretty good job. I was reminded what a privilege it is to be able pass on knowledge and inspiration, it's truly my passion to inspire creativity and share my love of colour. How lucky I am.

I arrived back home last Thursday night after a long travel stint - a coach, a plane and three trains which was roughly twelve hours on the move. Oh, I was missed it seems! My Little People were so happy to have me back and I got the biggest hugs when I stumbled in through the door. The kitty was waiting for me too, and J of course, yes, I think he was VeRy pleased to have me back and be relieved of domestic duties. He does a terrific job when I'm away, combining his high tech professional  world with additional cooking, shopping, laundry and the general parenting stuff required for a school age child. I'm very grateful I have to say.

I found I was quite tired for a few days after all that excitement and travelling, so I spent my weekend pottering around quietly, seeking out pockets of stillness and calm. Apparently it rained a lot during the week I was away and my sweet peas seemed to suddenly come alive. I'm only picking small handfuls, but they are so precious and fragrant. 

I like to put them in a little jug or small glass bottle and then I can move them around the room with me so that I catch the scent wherever I happen to be sitting. A divine summer pleasure.

I enjoyed reconnecting with my little patch of home turf at the weekend, even though it's been pretty grey and wet for a lot of it. We strolled around town, visited the market, walked along the canal, through the park and I took time to appreciate the visuals of my daily life. Sunflowers in painted pots on top of a narrowboat roof - I do live in a really pretty place.

I snapped the above visual for my Instagram stories on Sunday morning as I was waiting for the barista to froth up my cappuccino. I absolutely love going out for coffee, did you know that about me already (??!! kidding, of course you knew, I tell you often enough). A Sunday morning coffee always feels just that extra bit special to me, it's a slower pace with more time to sit and sip and chat with the fam (J and Little B with me on this occasion). We shared some cinnamon swirl pastries and it felt indulgent and pleasurable and just down right lovely.

I'm taking time to make nourishing food for myself this week after an awful lot of indulgence while I was away. Hotel food, what can I say? It was abundant, tempting, full of variety and extremely hard to be moderate really. I ate and drank a lot more than I'm used to and now I'm trying to regain some sort of balance - I'm enjoying it actually, and enjoying cooking again too after the luxury of not having to do it for a week.

Yesterday was damp and humid and as J and I both have Mondays free from work, we drove to Bolton Abbey to walk along the river.

The riverbanks are a wild, tangled mass of tall summer grasses and wild flowers at the moment and it's such a joy to see. There were masses of these glorious purply-blue flowers (Meadow Cranesbill) which are so pretty - that violet colour is stunning.

On Sunday afternoon something very rare occurred. VERY rare indeed. Shall I tell you? Well, I was here in the house pottering about and suddenly realised that the house was unusually quiet and for the first time in a very long while I was all alone. The big two kiddos were away at a muddy music festival, and J had taken Little B to go and play pool, so it was just me and the kitty in a silent house.

Peace. Solitude. Space.

I was lost for a while, wandered up and down the stairs a few times, folded a pile of laundry, ate a banana, talked to the kitty and then suddenly out of nowhere I was hit with an overwhelming desire to create. I dug into the Cupboard of Doom, pulled out my stash of Ricorumi cottons, and pulled together a spontaneous bright summer colour palette. I had this idea I wanted to try out, something that I'd been thinking about for a while, and a quiet Sunday afternoon seemed like the perfect time....

....can you see what I'm up to? I've had this stack of plain canvas zipper pouches for a while, I bought them a few months ago with the idea to crochet little flowers and things to appliqué onto the front. But somewhere along the line I changed my mind and thought about trying to cover all of the canvas with crochet stripes. I had a play, and with some trial and error I eventually worked out a way to crochet into the zipper at the top, then build my stripes downwards. 

Oh. My. Goodness. Such fun!! Such colourful, stripy, happy, creative hooky fun! It's been a long, long time since I felt this overwhelming urge to design and create just for the joy of it, and I can't tell you how good it feels to have my spark back.

This is as far as I got on Sunday, but today is Tuesday and I've since finished the first pouch and started making a second one so that I could photograph the process for a tutorial. I'm excited about this crazy little project, and I'm excited that I'm excited, if you see what I mean. For a lot of this year I've felt like my spark might never return which had me all kinds of worried.

Anyhow.....I've got a busy few days ahead because we're off on a little holiday on Friday and I want to try and write about Madeira before I go while it's still fresh in my mind. But I'll  see if I can manage to create a photo tutorial for this crochet zipper pouch idea - if I can't make it happen this week, then definitely when I come home from my jolly.

Well I think that's about all my news for now, thanks as always for calling in for a catch up. Life's good, isn't it?

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Postcards from Dorset :: day 7

Friday was our last full day in Dorset, and we spent the morning looking after my Dad. There's been a LOT going on in the background of my holiday that I don't feel I can share at the moment, but I think/hope we are finally on the way to getting some much needed help. J drove us back to the caravan via a beautifully scenic rural route and I thought Dorset looked very beautiful indeed.

On the spur of the moment we decided to go for a walk on Friday afternoon, a five mile round trip from the caravan following the South West coast path to Hive beach at Burton Bradstock.

Much of the walk was through fields which I was grateful for, because I think I mentioned the other day that walking on a shingle beach is deceptively hard. But it's such a unique experience and I never tire of walking any path where there are continuous sea views.

The last part of the route was on the cliff path and it felt wonderful to walk on solid ground again after the trudge of shingle under foot. We know this beach very well and have come here many, many times over the years to have coffee at the beach side café, or to picnic/barbecue beside the sea.

On this day it was a short but tasty refreshment stop, followed by a quick paddle because we had to be back at the caravan for my Dad and Lady B arriving. We'd made arrangements to take them to the village pub which we've been enjoying most days of our holiday, and then we were cooking our dinner on the barbecue back at the caravan.

I'm sorry if you're not into wild flowers because I couldn't seem to stop photographing them.

I spotted these pink and white striped beauties (sea bindweed) which made me smile - gardeners amongst you will be familiar with the choking nature of bindweed, but this pretty little coastal relative is not a thug I promise.

If you look closely at the beach in the above photo, you might just be able to spot a few sun worshipers and swimmers along here. This is a lovely, quiet and very unspoilt place where you can park the car just off the coast road and walk down a track to the beach. I actually swam here with the Little People in the very very hot summer of 2020 (yes, full body immersion into the sea, it was that hot!)

We really enjoyed our last meal at the caravan - J very expertly cooked some steak burgers on the barbecue and they were absolutely delicious. I'd bought the fixings for the Little People to make s'mores over the hot barbecue coals once the burgers were all done and dusted and they went down a treat.

During our week's holiday there was only one meal that we ate indoors (at the pub in town) as every other meal was eaten outside. The weather was such a blessing, staying in the low 20's all week which added so much joy to our holiday. I love love love eating outside especially if there is a scenic view to accompany the eating, it's one of my favourite things about holidaying in Dorset when we get lucky with the sun.

I only took a couple of snaps inside the caravan just as we were packing up to leave yesterday morning, but I thought you might be interested to see them. 

Modern static caravans are fantastic and totally surpassed my expectations - no crazy furnishing fabrics or weird carpet to be seen. Everything was spotlessly clean and the minimal style was extremely relaxing.

I also loved the abundance of windows because I am very affected by light levels and this caravan gave me alllllll the sunlight, sea views and cooling sea breezes I could wish for.

The front of the caravan had floor to ceiling windows - these didn't open but gave a wonderful feeling of letting the views come inside. I especially loved curling up on the sofa in the early morning with a cup of coffee, just taking in all that glorious blue and green.

The caravan had two bedrooms, and I'm so grateful to the Little People who shared a very snug twin room with very small,  single beds without complaint or fuss. Our double bedroom was also a little short on space but the bed was exceptionally comfy and I had the best sleep I'd had in months.

I would definitely, definitely book a caravan again for a family holiday, we all loved it. I especially appreciated this kind of rural and very quiet, peaceful site - I know it's not for everyone but we've always preferred to stay places with minimal noise/crowds.

Yesterday was our day to drive the three hundred miles back north, but before we left the area we took another quick visit to Abbotsbury Gardens which was only a few miles from where we were staying. You can park and visit the very lovely café without having to pay to go into the gardens so it's a great place to have a drink if you're in the area. J and I shared some Dorset apple cake with our coffee which was outstanding, and a very enjoyable way to end our week in Dorset.

Although I hadn't really wanted to leave Dorset I was still glad to finally get home after many hours on the road. There is something very comforting about coming back to my crochet-laden furniture and a house that is always in a slight state of welcoming disarray.

It's been lovely to have you with me on this holiday and writing these postcards each day has given me a lot of pleasure. I've shared 93 images with you during the past week and I hope you've enjoyed your virtual vacation by the sea?! 

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Postcards from Dorset :: day 6

A trip to Lyme Regis was one thing I really wanted to do while we were here as it's one of my most favourite places in Dorset with so many layers of good memories residing in this picturesque place. Sadly, we didn't have a very big window to visit yesterday as we were needed back in town for a very important meeting with my Dad. But four hours is just about enough when you know a place well and we really enjoyed our time.

We parked the car just a little way out of town and walked down the hill, turning off the main street and walking along the most beautiful winding little back lanes to avoid the busy crowds.

Emerging at the top of the town gives a lovely view down the main shopping street which was all decked out with bunting and flags and looked very jolly.

On this sunny morning we actually had a particular place to be......

Just by chance, some good friends of ours from home happened to be holidaying in Lyme Regis this week, and we'd made arrangements to meet for a coffee. This café was recommended by our friends and it was wonderful, such a friendly, relaxing vibe and the coffee and homemade food was outstanding. We were able to sit outside in the sunny garden and it was very enjoyable and holidayish, what a treat.

After our coffee date, we strolled on down to the beach.

We had taken towels and the Little People had their swim things on, but when it came down to the crunch it just wasn't warm enough for them to take the plunge. We did have fun paddling in the rolling shallows though, and I even got my knees wet. It was ever so bracing and at one point I lost all feeling in my ankles.

After I'd recovered from the sea dip, we bought ice creams and took a slow stroll around the harbour...

....before retracing our steps and heading upwards through the beautiful gardens which are built in narrow terraces into the side of the cliff. You can see the beach in the above photo, it was really crowded and I was glad to leave the hustle behind and find a more peaceful atmosphere amongst the flowers.

We ate a picnic lunch up here sat on a sun warmed bench and it was so good. I adore picnics in all weathers and at all times of year, but there is something super-lovely about a warm, sun-drenched homemade lunch.

The clock was ticking, so it was soon time to make our way back to the car. We strolled along the prom, then out along the sea wall with amazing coastal views the whole way.

I wish we'd had longer to spend in Lyme, but it was a truly pleasurable time with J and the Little People. 

The important meeting that I rushed back for was long and stressful but also kind of reassuring. Afterwards I felt very emotionally drained, so it was a relief to be able to come back to the tranquillity of the caravan and quietly decompress.

We have absolutely LOVED staying in the caravan, the stunning views and rural coastal location have been really restorative and wonderful. The site is extremely quiet as most caravans are privately owned and during the week I don't think there are many caravans occupied. It's about a mile away from the sea - mostly we would follow the footpath down through the fields but yesterday we walked down the narrow lane as we were going to stop off at the pub on our way.

We decided to treat ourselves and eat out at the pub last night, and we couldn't have asked for a more beautiful setting.....

....I mean, isn't this just the nicest place to sit and eat? A secluded terrace with expansive sea views, and being warm enough to relax and eat outdoors is something very special for us Brits. We just aren't used to this kind of luxurious weather!

The food was extremely good - I had "pan fried seabass with creamy pea, tarragon & chorizo gnocchi and samphire" which was soooooo tasty that I didn't want it to end.

After dinner  we walked to the beach and sat for a while right next to the waves, taking in the relaxing sound of the sea and feeling very blessed.

A very full day for various reasons, but mostly the best of times.

Tomorrow we pack up and head home, and I think I'll have one more set of postcards to share with you. I hope you've enjoyed coming on holiday with me, it's been fun for me to share it with you..

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Postcards from Dorset :: day 5

♥ Another beautiful May day, so unbelievably grateful for this heavenly weather.

♥ A morning of domestic duties with my Dad, followed by a much needed coffee in town and a trip to the toy shop which hasn't changed  a jot since the Littles were very small. Purchased a deck of playing cards for £1 and some sherbet because I felt sentimental for the olden days of mothering little Little People.

♥ An afternoon stroll down the lanes to the pub, I just can't get enough of this beautiful garden.

♥ An hour later, a slow amble back up the  lane to the caravan. Loving the simple, quiet, rural lifestyle here.

♥ We took my Dad and Lady B out to a pub in town for dinner. I snapped the above photo on our way back to the car afterwards, I love how poppies often self seed and spring up in the most unlikely places.

♥ An impromptu detour to Burton beach on our way back to the caravan. J didn't fancy the sand so stayed up on the low grassy cliff while I went down to the sea with the Little Peeps.

♥ Soothing, calming waves at the end of a slightly tricky day.

♥ I bravely stuck my feet in the shallows and.....it was freeeeezing!

♥ Little B adding pebbles to some rock stacks that we found.

♥ Sitting out in the evenings is one of my favourite things to do here at the caravan, watching the first stars appear just before ten o'clock. It's been clear like this every night, and I can't put into words just how much I appreciate the abundance of sea views I've had this week.

Just a short set of postcards from me today - the past few days have been quite fraught as things with my Dad have taken a lot of my time and energy. I'm so grateful for J and the Little People who have been incredibly supportive and understanding, and we have still managed to spend some wonderful time together despite the difficulties going on in the background. I'm cherishing these precious days with family, we're making lovely memories here and it feels really good. 

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Postcards from Dorset :: day 4

If it were up to me, I'd be out walking every single day when I'm on holiday, especially if we're in a coastal location as I'm absolutely, hopelessly addicted to sea views. Luckily for me, the Little People have had a lifetime of walking practice and are very happy to stride out so long as there is food involved and the promise of refreshments along the way.

I expect you can tell from the postcards I've been sharing this week that the weather so far has been an absolute treat. We've felt ever so lucky to have endless blue skies and hot sunshine for our holiday week - the temperature has been around 21 degrees each day which suits me down to the ground. I do really love having the sun warming my bones.

We set out yesterday morning to do a circular walk directly from the caravan, heading up and away from the sea for the first part of the route.

The non-stop coastal views were soooooo good! In the above photo you can see the coast road which we've been driving on every day. It's ridiculously scenic, with far reaching views all the way along the south west Dorset coast to Devon.

The footpath took us up onto the South Dorset Ridgeway where we stopped a while at the trig point to rest. We had a 360 degree view from up here, it was absolutely spectacular.

Ah look, can you see that cute little building on the top of the hill overlooking the lagoon? That's where we're heading to, it's St. Catherine's Chapel.

We need to start our descent now, down across the fields.....

....down along this sun dappled leafy track.....

...and into the picturesque little village of Abbotsbury.

St Catherine's Chapel is another one of the places that the Little People were happy to go to because they have such strong memories from our many, many visits here over the years. It's a very peaceful, atmospheric place and as is our tradition, we ate a picnic lunch resting against the old, sun-warmed walls of the chapel.

After our lunch it was time to head down hill again, making our way directly to the shingle beach. You can see the Little Peeps in the above photo walking waaaay ahead of J and me, they get on very well and for most of the walk they kept up a non stop chatter.

It's 1pm now and we've reached the beach a little bit hot and in need of refreshment. Thank goodness for the tiny little kiosk at the beach car park where we could buy ice lollies......oh, lemonade lollies are just the best on a hot sunny day!

Time to start walking along the footpath which runs all along Chesil Beach, heading back towards the village where our caravan is.

We saw so many gorgeous wild coastal plants and flowers along this stretch of the beach. These strange pointy flower buds were everywhere.....

.....loads and loads of them. I thought at the time that they looked like onions or leeks that have gone to seed, and I was pretty spot on as I found out that they are in fact wild sea leeks. I bet they'll look amazing when those flower buds burst into bloom.

I do know the names of some popular coastal flowers...the ones above are Sea Campion....

...and these glorious pale pink flowers are Sea Thrift.

It was amazing to see so much of it in bloom at this time of year, because usually when we visit in summer it has already finished flowering. I adore it, that shade of pink is such a wonderful colour against the blue of sea and sky.

It was easy walking along this stretch because the trail was more like a very narrow road so we didn't have to trudge all along the shingle beach. If you've ever walked on a shingle beach you will know how exhausting it is - you use the weirdest muscles that don't usually get much of a workout!

Walking along Chesil beach, we were actually walking part of the South West Coast Path. This is the longest National Trail in England and is 630 miles long (which blows my mind every time I think about it). I've walked a lot of the Dorset coast path over the years, but the SW trail takes in the coastlines of Somerset, Devon and Cornwall as well. I'd dearly love to walk more of it at some point in the future {*adds to Bucket List*}

Oh, more splashes of colour - this is the Yellow Horned Poppy, in case you wanted to know. I used to read seashore books as a child and have quite a bit of coastal nature knowledge tucked away in my brain. 

Now this - this sight literally stopped me Dead. In. My. Tracks.

WOW, just wow.

Have you ever seen such glorious wild flowers by a beach??? Never have I seen these before, so as soon as I came back to the caravan I had a chat with Google to find out more.

May I present to you...... "Gladiolus communis" or wild gladiolus. There - now we know.

According to Google, this plant is an introduction from Mediterranean countries that grows on rough ground, particularly in the southwest. I can tell you it is StUnNinG.

The last part of our walk was an uphill jaunt through West Bexington village, and we were all fantasising about an ice cold drink at this point. The pub just so happened to be right there calling to us, so we took our weary feet straight into the garden and a round of drinks were bought. Mine was the tall golden one on the left - a pint of icy cold lager and lemonade, my goodness it tasted soooooo good.

Our walk was just a smidge short of ten miles and I honestly loved every single step of it. Love love loved it.

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Postcards from Dorset :: day 3

Yesterday was another hot, sunny day which felt way more like mid summer than spring.

The Little People asked if we could visit Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens as it's a place we've been to a lot over the years and they both feel very nostalgic about it.

On a hot sunny day it did indeed look and feel subtropical....

....and there were moments when you could imagine you were far away from England.

We have soooo many layers of memories here, and it was fascinating to observe the Little People reminisce and experience it again now that they are older.

There was lots of "ooooohhhh, I remember this bit" and exclamations of recognition.

Little Lady said it all felt smaller than she remembered, up until we came to the Giant Gunnera.....

....and then she was wowed all over again, just as she always was when she was a small child.

As always, I found myself a little disappointed by the lack of colour as this garden is all about the foliage. The overwhelming shade is green, and although it is very soothing I found myself really wishing there were more flowers.

Every so often I would come across a burst of colour and it was a real delight. I'm easily pleased.

There was huge disappointment around the ponds when we discovered that one was out of action and the other was filled with very small fish and not the magnificent giant Koi Carp that have always been there. We felt a little bit cheated, but we did see a lizard so that almost made up for it.

It was a lovely way to spend the morning, it's always a very restful place to spend time.

Driving back along the coast road offers fantastic views out along the Chesil Beach - you can see the famous shingle bank and fleet lagoon in the above photo. It really is a beautiful stretch of coastline. The above photo reminded me of one of my favourite prints by artist Liz Somerville called "Chapel on the Hill"....

...I adore it, and have the card framed at home.

Our afternoon was spent relaxing at the caravan, then another evening meal here with my Dad and Lady B sat outside in the sunny warmth. All in all, a relaxing day which felt quite nostalgic and made me thankful to still have family here.

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