Attic24

Easter 2024

HeLLOoOoOooooo to you all out there in the world!!! I thought I would pop in for a quick catch up in amongst me being a mad busy thing as I prepare for my first retreat of the year this weekend. We're fully back to work and school this week after the Easter holidays - schools here in North Yorkshire had the Easter weekend in the middle of the two week break and it's honestly been the loveliest time for my little family. We've had the usual mixed bag of weather which included some glorious spring days and some hideously wild, wet and stormy ones too, so we've been out and about whenever we could but also enjoyed our quiet stay-home days too.

As I'm short on time today, I'll try and keep my word count to a reasonable digit, but I do hope you enjoy the visuals. I absolutely LOVE taking photos of everyday life, it's my most favourite type of blog content to create and also to enjoy on other peoples blogs (although there are so few active bloggers left these days).

Eastertide twenty-twenty-four....here are twenty snaps to tell the tale......

1. Laaaaaaambs!!! I'm sure there've been lambs around for a while already, but these were the first ones we saw in the fields close to home. Cute, playful little things they were too.

2. Sunday stroll. This is a walk we do when the fields and footpaths are still too muddy and wet, it's a 4.5 mile circular route which passes through a couple of small villages, then all the way back to town along the canal tow path.

3. Canal boats. Quite a number of people have suggested to me that I should design a blanket inspired by my daily walks along the canal. Of course this creative seed has now been sown and you may or may not be interested to know that it is taking root and sprouting leaves. I've spent the past four months building up a photo gallery of the boats I've walked past and the colours and decorative details are really making me feel the joy. It's not a done deal yet, but I'm beginning to form an idea of how this blanket might look and it's a distinct possibility for the 2025 CAL. Do let me know what you think of this idea by the way, I'm always open to hearing your thoughts. You can look ((here)) if you want to see a little of what's inside my Creative Mind!)

4. The Blobby Tree (!).....well, that's what I call this tree, I've no idea exactly what these blobs are but it tickles me every winter when we walk this way. They are tangled, dense balls of twiggy stems which I think are a parasitic growth (like Mistletoe, but these aren't mistletoe I don't think)

5. Naughty Pancakes. Not mine I might add, no, I've been on a health kick aside from a small daily ration of mini eggs and some Easter biscuit therapy. This plate was in front of Little B, and was an Easter Holiday breakfast treat at the pancake café in town. Triple chocolate American Pancakes, down the hatch in record time and one very happy Little B.

6. Bees and Blossom. My neighbours cherry tree was spectacular this year and I enjoyed it very much in the few weeks while it bloomed. On sunny days it was a buzz with bees which is such a happy sound, easy to miss if you are rushing past but lovely when you happen to slow down and catch it.

7. My hill view. Always a daily delight,  I love the way it connects me to the landscape and the seasons (and the weather).

8. My yarn tribe. We had a lovely get together at Coopers on Good Friday - coffee, crochet and some upbeat chatter, you just can't beat it. I finally finished my Blooming Sungold cushion cover, but it needs some gentle blocking and then the two sides joining together, so it's currently still in the WiP pile until after my retreat.

9. Easter celebrations......one of my favourites of the whole year. I'm not religious, but I do enjoy celebrating the return of the light and the start of spring. This sweet little lamb was a Craftpod project some years ago and I adore it.

10. The Mantel Twigs....how many years old now? I've no idea, but well over a decade (they were in situ in 2011, most likely earlier than that). They have seen many years of Easter and Christmas decorating and even though they are nothing fancy I just love them.

11. Chocolate eggs. I bought the Little People one medium sized boxed egg each this year, and then decided to pretend that I'm still the Mother of Little-Little People and bought a whole load of these egg hunt foil wrapped eggs. No actual egg hunt for us now of course, but it was lovely to have a little stash of egglets to offer as an after dinner treat. The giant Little People approved.

12. Seasonal Colour Inspiration. I pulled together this basket of yarn as I was contemplating colours for a future project, and then realised that I was being heavily influenced by the Eggs. The colour palette wasn't quite right in the end and has been shelved, but it's undeniably pretty.

13. Double daffs. These were on my table over Easter and I really enjoyed watching them slowly open and unfold. Gorgeous things.

14. Wild garlic. I was all intent on going to forage some from the woodland myself, but my good friend has it growing in her abundant woodsy garden and gifted me a generous bag. The scent....oh, how I wish you could smell it!

15. Wild Garlic soup....yummmmmmmmmmmm!! I made it as you would a basic leek and potato soup, wilting in the wild garlic right at the end to keep the green colour and the fresh flavour. It was wonderful, truly a taste of springtime.

16. Pub life. I'm not a big drinker, but I do enjoy going to our local pubs every so often for a few drinks with J and meeting friends. We have some really lovely local places to drink all within ten minutes walk - in the above photo we are settled into the Narrowboat on Easter Saturday around 5pm, waiting for friends to come and join us. The drink is mine and J's current favourite, it's a Belgian cherry kriek beer served in a lovely half pint glass. Delicious.

17. Easter Sunday walk. We went early to Bolton Abbey to beat the crowds, a gentle stroll up and down the woodland paths, over bridges and along the river bank.

18. Resting.... in the gentle warmth of the sun on this log, wondering as I always do about the quirky history of the money trees at Bolton Abbey. I was waiting for J who'd had to run back to pick up his hat which he left on the bench, what a treat to have hats off and feel warmed by the sun.

19. Slow travel. Oh, how I love love love a bit of slow travel!!! Last week we took a little holiday, travelling from the east coast across the north sea to the continent. We've taken this journey before (I think this was our seventh time) so we knew what to expect, but the excitement of large ship travel and also a night away in a hotel was real.

20. Holiday memories....just the loveliest things to have swimming around in my brain! As you can see, our trip last week was to Amsterdam, and it was fabulous and fun and I hope you're going to be OK about me showing you some visuals next week because I'd really like to share what I saw and how we spent our short time there.

Well, it's been really lovely chatting to you - I hope you all had a great Easter and that April is shaping up to be wonderful wherever you are in the world. Tell me something you're excited for this month, I'd love to know.....

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EDIT >> Thank you so much to Alison for the intel on the blobby tree! Apparently called "Witches Brooms" (which I LOVE), it's a deformity which creates "a dense mass of shoots  growing from a single point, with the resulting structure resembling a broom or birds nest" . So now the blobby tree is renamed the witches tree..

 

 

 

 

And Home Again

Hello, hello! I am home again after my travels down to Dorset and I have to say I had a wonderful time away. It was just the right combination of activity and rest, of socialising and quiet time, and I've come home feeling energised and excited for the month ahead.

My trip back north on Monday was very delayed due to a derailed train (not mine, thankfully), which meant I had some unexpected extra hours in Dorset but also a very late return home. I got into my bed just before midnight and it felt sooooo good after such a long day on the move. I really enjoy going away on short trips and staying in different places but there is still something wonderful about coming home to my own nest. I love my bed to the moon and back.

My house never ever looks tidy or neat, and as a family we live in a permanent state of mild but colourful chaos. It's been very noticeable to me this week after staying in a modern and supremely tidy holiday apartment where everything was colour co-ordinated and minimal. Yesterday morning I sat on my sofa amongst the three crochet cushions and seven crochet blankets and felt kind of relieved to be back to my cosy world of homespun colour. I missed my crochet blankets massively while I was away sitting on a modern  grey sofa with its tasteful, colour-co-ordinated, department store cushions.

The kitty is in a mood and appears to be annoyed with me for leaving her for five whole days. How very dare I go away for days on end! I am finding it strangely funny because she is being so standoffish, and I'm wondering how much longer I'm going to be in the naughty corner.

Yesterday morning I took myself out for coffee, just me and my own solitary company. It was great, truly. Every so often I like to go to a coffee shop where I am anonymous and my choice is usually Caffe Nero. I like that the coffee is strong, and the upstairs room is warm and usually pretty empty (I had it all to myself yesterday) with gentle classical music playing, and views out of the upstairs windows across the bottom end of the town. It was a chink of time for me to sit and be still with my thoughts after the busy-ness of travelling hundreds of miles the day before.

I went food shopping after my coffee so that I can get back to the business of eating well, it's always the way after a holiday I find. I continue to love love love eating meals out of this bowl, I don't know what it is about it but it makes me stupid happy. Maybe it's the generous size of it (it's 22cm wide and shallow), or the joyful flowers, I don't know but it really gives me pleasure.

I made a courgette-noodle salad (this simple gadget is wonderful if you want to noodlify your courgettes) - courgette, edamame beans and tomatoes tossed in a little olive oil with a squeeze of lemon juice, some oven roasted garlicky broccoli and some flaked sweet chilli salmon fillet for healthy protein. 

As well as food I bought fresh flowers which was another thing I missed while staying in the pristine grey-toned holiday apartment. These £1 bunches of daffs are in all the supermarkets at the moment but it's not often you get any kind of variety. I spotted these pale creamy yellow ones yesterday and felt a little thrill of excitement at finding something different to the bright yellow commoners. Seriously, a thrill. I'll try and remember to photograph them again when they've fully opened so you can appreciate them fully.

By the way, I've had a few questions on socials lately about some of the old crochet things that often appear in my photos, so thought I could pop that info here.... the pattern for the cotton mandalas that sit on my table under jugs of flowers is in my sidebar list under A for "Attic24 Mandala Wheel". The colourful stripy jar jacket was made waaaaaaaaay back in 2008 and you can find the instructions in the list under C for "Crochet Jar Jacket". Not a shade of grey in sight.

I unpacked my bag yesterday and for some weird and wonderful reason I took a photograph of my "holiday treats". Little pleasures from time spent relaxing and holidaying in Dorset. 

1. The Simple Things March issue : I took this with me to read and although I didn't manage more than a few pages I can tell you it is a delight. 
2. Shells : a scallop shell, a very beautiful iridescent and pearly piece of shell, and two sea-washed top shells which are also very pearly. Beach treasure.
3. Moores Easter Biscuits : these are like gold dust at this time of year so I was delighted to scoop a packet when I visited Bridport where they are made. Easter just wouldn't feel right without them, and I have a huge nostalgic love of them along with some lovely memories of my Mum.
4. Crochet : as you can see I travelled with my hook and Sungold leftovers and had a lovely time working on a Blooming Flower cushion. 

Dorset was quite simply : w-o-n-d-e-r-f-u-l.

The weather was mostly fantastic with blue skies and sunshine making everything look and feel unbelievably bright and fresh. And of course I was really happy to spend some extended time by the sea - definitely a great decision to stay in a coastal location this trip.

It's been some years since I visited Weymouth - I looked back in my bloggy archives to find the date and it was Easter 2015, so nine years ago. It's a sizeable seaside holiday town about 22 miles further along the coast from where I grew up in Bridport, and in the tourist season it gets incredibly crowded and isn't somewhere I would naturally feel drawn to. Out of season, however, it was a different story. It was quiet and relaxing and for the first time I got to really explore the harbour and coastline as well as the town streets and I really liked what I saw.

This afternoon I tidied my little desk and spent some time sorting out all my photographs....

....one hundred and twenty six images which tell the tale of my short time away by the coast. I'm looking forward to sharing my holiday with you because it was really very picturesque in Weymouth in the sunshine!

For now though, here are a few quick postcards..........

More of Weymouth coming soon..................

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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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Slow November

Brrrrrrr, it's cold here in Atticland right now and dare I say it feels more like winter than autumn. We've had some hard frosts and this morning the first teeeeeny little flakes of snow swirled about in the wind.

It's mostly been wet and grey (of course it has, this seems to be the November default setting), but when the sun has decided to pay us a visit it has been glorious.

We walked through the woods on Saturday morning - 9.30 am in the above photos - and this is a surprise because not one but two teenage offspring were with us. It's rare that they are up and about this early on a weekend morning, and truly a very happy occurrence when they both decided to come out with us with no persuasion needed. Ok, yes there was the promise of breakfast in the café after our walk and Saturday market shop, but I do believe they weren't really bribed on this occasion. Totally of their own accord, I swear. 

The treetops are mostly bare now....

...but the wind was bringing down the remaining few leaves in a beautiful swirl of golden colour. I managed to catch one before it hit the ground and closed my eyes to make a wish, because that's a rule that can't be broken. Goodness knows what I must have looked like dancing around under the tree trying to catch a falling leaf, but I was so happy when I managed it. It's way harder than you would think. 

Reflections are still very much my thing, I just can't stop loving them. And trees reflected in water, well that's my second favourite type of reflection (clouds always have the number one spot).

An upside to the bareness of the branches in November is the sudden increase in light levels in the woodland. Usually this spot is very shady and so it's rather lovely to see The Huntress doing  a bit of sunbathing.

Saturday morning market shopping was great as always, and my best buy were hands down these kiwi fruits. You maybe can't tell the scale from the photo but they are petite, and my goodness the flavour was huge!!!! It's the first time I've ever tried red kiwis and they tasted of raspberries and kiwi mixed together - so sweet, I was in fruity heaven with these things. I wish I had bought more, and am keeping all fingers crossed for Wednesday because I shall be racing up into town and hoping to find them again.

No new flowers this week because as predicted my chrysanths are still looking amazingly good considering they are now a week old. I did dither around the fresh flowers in the supermarket today because they had parrot tulips in the reduced price bucket that looked amazing, and I was very tempted. In the end I walked away - but the regret is lingering. Parrot tulips (magenta ones), oh they were a bit special. 

I do have a pot of hyacinth bulbs on my mantel which I bought yesterday, and I'm sooooo so so so happy about it. I love having these in the home, and over the years it has become a favourite November ritual of mine. I still so clearly remember buying my first hyacinths for this house, November 2008. Fifteen years ago. 15. Fif-teen. WOW. Sometimes my blogging history blows my mind to pieces. I don't know the colour - pink or blue - so it's a bit like waiting for a Gender Reveal party to happen. I shall keep you posted.

A new cheap and cheerful little candle on my mantel, also a result of the weekend supermarket shop. The scent is Spiced Apple and Berry and it is delightful I have to say.

I also took delivery of some new wax melts from the Botanical Candle Company - I've gone for the scent named "Half Light" which is absolute perfection for this time of year.

The blurb (because I do love a good bit of descriptive blurb)>>

Half Light was made to bring back memories of a childhood spent studding oranges with cloves in the run-up to Christmas. The gentle sweetness of clementine is perfectly balanced by the resinous spice of clove to make a rounded, homely and familiar scent.

As I burn wax melts regularly next to my bed, a while ago I decided to buy some good quality non-toxic tea lights and I can highly recommend them. They are made from rapeseed oil (no paraffin or nasty chemicals) and burn slow and clean, plus they come in clear plastic cups which can be wiped out and popped into the household recycling. They are here on Amazon, if you burn tealights at home and want to switch to a cleaner alternative. And this is the ceramic burner I have, I love it.

I put my Big Blanket on the bed at the weekend too, it was time. Temperatures have been dropping to zero degrees at night, and we are forecast snow showers this week so the weather will remain chilly. This blanket is made from pure wool (it cost an absolute fortune to make), so it has a satisfying weightiness to it which is very comforting when you're pinned underneath it. I've actually slept really well the past few nights so perhaps I just needed to be immobilized a little.

I took this photo of my hill view today as I was walking down the road to the supermarket. I love the hillyness of where I live, it's a constant reminder wherever you are in the town that this is a rural community and the hills are (and always will be) bigger than the buildings.

I was working some more stripes on my Starbright blanket over the weekend, it's the perfect activity when the weather is cold. I really need to get the border pattern together to share, I keep forgetting to do it, especially with all the Sungold activity during this past week. I've been very busy on social media, it takes a lot of my time to keep up with all the platforms (my Facebook page, 3 different Attic24 Facebook groups, plus Instagram) but I do my best not to let it all slip slide. My apologies if you've reached the end of your v's and now want to add the border, I am prioritising that job for this week.

Thank you as always for calling in to read my rambles, I hope you're enjoying these cosy, shortening days as we move towards the Winter Solstice here in the Northern Hemisphere. And if you are upsidedown and heading towards summer, do tell me what you've been up to as your season heats up? In fact, lets have a global seasonal weather report in the comments, I'd love that! From me here in the north of England - mostly very cold and wet, with low digit temperatures and showers forecast for this week. Over to you........

 

EDIT >> THANK YOU so much for all the weather and activity reports from all over the world!! It's absolutely wonderful to read about where you all are, thank you!! I've loved the comments on this post so much, and I hope you've enjoyed reading and connecting too xxxx

 

November Days

We went out today, myself, J and Little B, into the grey drizzle of a cold Sunday morning. First stop was coffee in town, a fairly new routine for us on a Sunday and one that I am heavily endorsing. It's just such a pleasure - family time to enjoy a hot frothy drink, and to chat about all sorts of random things. Sometimes I find myself totally surprised by my Little People growing into Big People. They are opinionated and articulate, ready to argue, debate and discuss, and often times I just can't get over the Bigness of their personalities. When exactly did their Littleness disappear?

After coffee we walked along the canal, not just our usual stretch but on beyond the centre of town to the outskirts. We walked for about a mile and a half before stepping off the tow path to go and buy some groceries. We are very lucky in our town to have two main supermarkets very close to the centre so they are very accessible on foot. We also have an Aldi which is further out, and this is where we went to shop today. I only buy certain products in Aldi, so I tend to go around the aisles and cherry-pick the specific things that I know I like and are good value. Extra virgin olive oil is one such product - this has become so, so expensive in the mainstream supermarkets now, so it's worth shopping elsewhere for it. Plus it was good exercise and an easy, un-muddy walk for us to take while the ground remains very, very wet.

On the way home we stopped briefly to watch this lady feeding the pigeons, she was completely surrounded by them and it seemed to me such a lovely scene unfolding in front of me. Often times when I'm out and about I can somehow view my life as though it's not real, like seeing it as a painting or a scene from a film. It's hard to explain the feeling, it's like a sort of visual detachment, and it's really rather beautiful at times. 

Yesterday was also wet and grey and J and I were in town quite early to shop at the market. One of my lovely US blog readers asked me a little while ago if I could show you what the market looks like, so I took a few rainy snaps to give you an idea. It's a street market which means it's linear, with stalls set up on both sides of our very wide main high street.

I found a really cool video on YouTube taken with a drone, showing you the town centre where I live, with the church and castle sitting proudly at the top. You can view the video ((here)), it's only 2 minutes long. You'll be able to see the road, but also notice that as well as the pavements there are wide cobbled "setts" along both sides of the road which are used for car parking and give space for the stalls to set up on market days.

We've stopped to buy free range eggs and locally produced dry cured bacon, and now we've crossed over the road and are on the other side. It's time for our fruit and veg....

....it's always a pleasure to shop in this way, buying from local small businesses and supporting our street market which has been here for hundreds of years.

After our Saturday shop we go for breakfast on our way home, always to the same little café which is strung with fairy lights and plays the sort of music you imagine would be playing in a Parisian café. It's charming and down to earth in here, and the coffee is extremely good.

I always eat a lot of fruit every day and enjoy seeing what's seasonal at the market. At the moment I'm loving these Russet apples, they have a very distinctive sweet flavour which is unlike any other apple. They are quite old fashioned I suppose and you don't generally see them for sale in mainstream supermarkets, so it's lovely to have them while they're in season. They go really well with thin slices of mature cheddar - a regular afternoon snack for me at the moment.

Also in season right now - pomegranates, oh, happy days!!! I AdOrE these exotic fruits and honestly get such a kick out of spending slow, quiet time taking them apart at the kitchen sink and popping out the jewel-like seeds.

Absolutely beautiful, in every way.

I can eat pomegranate seeds by the handful at any time of day, but this week I've really been enjoying them on my breakfast. A generous helping of Greek style yoghurt, drizzled with honey and topped with a little nutty granola, sliced banana, blueberries and pomegranate jewels. Delicious.

J and I continue our morning walk routine and have managed to go every day this past week. Five days out of seven it's been grey, dull and drizzly, but On Friday I was so happy to wake to clear skies - what a welcome change.

The clear skies made a huge difference to the light levels and at 7.15 it was no longer dark. I so wish we had more November days like this instead of the near constant grey wet weather we've been enduring.

I am making a great effort not to let the weather get me down, and I take myself out of the house by myself to walk every single day, even in the rain. There is always beauty to be found out there, and not a day goes by when I don't feel inspired to stop for a moment and capture something on my camera.

The dull wet weather has made the house feel even more cosy than usual, and the twinkly lights stay on all day long. I can really recommend these warm white lights on delicate copper wire, they take standard AA batteries (we use rechargable ones) and best of all they are on a timer so that they switch off by themselves after eight hours, which is so clever I think. They bring such a comforting twinkle into the house on these dull days and I wouldn't be without them.

Flowers in the house this week are these chrysanths and they are sooooo pretty. So cheap to buy at this time of year (this bunch was £3) and they stay looking great for ages. I think the last bunch I had (the dark pinky-red ones with yellow centres) lasted over two weeks

They bring such a lot of cheer into the room, I really do love having a jug of simple flowers in the house and it's not often my table is without them.

Tilly loves the cosy season when we are snuggled in blankets and she gets to drape herself all over us, she loves our company and honestly I love hers too. The weight and warmth of a soundly sleeping kitty on your legs is just the nicest thing.

Bringing colour into these grey November days is vital to my wellbeing, and my current Sungold yarn palette is doing a fantastic job. On Friday I sat at Coopers café and crocheted some simple flowers, what a joyful few hours that was. They are a bit misshapen and curly looking at the moment but once I've given them a little steam treatment they'll be ready for their photo shoot. I'm going to use them to showcase the full Sungold colour palette on Tuesday - only two more sleeps!!! Eeeeeep, I'm pretty excited to talk to you about this blanket and show you more of my inspiration photos. I hope you're ready for lots and lot of flowers, garden views, flowers and more flowers. Alllllllll the flowers. That'll cheer up an average November Tuesday, I'm really looking forward to it.

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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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Joyful June

We are almost at the end of this early summer month and hand on heart it has been an utter dream. The weather - ohhhh - the WeAtHer!!!! It has been perfectly perfect, really hot and sunny and light and bright. And then after a good few weeks of parched dryness we had some terrific summer storms with giant claps of thunder which shook the whole house, and I mean literally, the house ((shook)). It was quite scary at the time, possibly the loudest thunder I have ever heard in my entire life. We've also had some wild downpours, bringing us the most lush smell of summer rain on dry ground. I've loved it, the heat and the sun and the rain and the smell of it all, it has made me so bloomin' happy.

We've still been trying to get out and walk every morning at 7am, but these past few weeks it's been harder than usual for us to wake up in time. I think it's because J and I both suffer from hayfever and the pollen has been very high in this hot, humid weather. The first weeks of hayfever season do kind of knock the wind from your sails and we've both felt unusually tired even though we've been sleeping very well.

But on the mornings when we are up and out, it is so, so beautiful in the woodland in June, the greenery is in full tilt and the slant of sunshine through the leafy trees makes my heart sing.  

These long, hot golden days have drawn me out in the evenings too, even though honestly I've had so little energy to spare. Little Lady often pulls me from my slump on the sofa and I can't resist when she is so keen to have my company.

I mean, eight o'clock in the evening and it looks like this ↑↑ - I would give anything to experience this in midwinter! So outside I go, making the most of these deliciously long, bright summer evenings.

Summer views out over the town as we stroll home from the woodland, gosh, I do feel so lucky to have all this on my doorstep.

It's almost been too hot to walk through much of June (and by that I mean the sort of walking that eats up the miles), but J and I have done a little bit. Mostly local ambles across the fields and down quiet lanes, time to stretch out our muscles and chatter together about this and that. 

The kitty has been flopped out all over the place, sometimes lolling over the furniture but often times she's taken to hiding away under my bed which I guess must be a cool spot for her. Did I mention it's been hot??? ;)

Our routines continue to flow through these early summer weeks - Saturday morning trips to the market where the fruit and veg is abundantly ripe and lush. I ate a lot of asparagus this month.

The strawberries are especially good at the moment and we are eating our way through punnets and punnets of them each week. I'm not big into ice cream, but last week I had a craving for it and bought a small tub of plain vanilla, mainly to have with strawberries. Oooo, it was stupidly good, I had kind of forgotten the deliciousness of good vanilla ice cream with very ripe strawberries.

On Friday mornings, I like to try and walk to the bakery if I have time before 8am. It's not very far to walk, less then ten minutes each way, and I can walk part of it along the canal. The bakery is just over this wooden bridge and across the road to the right there.

I like to treat the Little People (who are no longer little) on a Friday, because I think to myself that this is the kind of mothering that might stick in their minds when they are grown. When I was growing up, we used to have croissants once a year at Christmas, and if my Mum had gotten up early to go to the bakery to fetch me fresh pastries for breakfast on an average Friday, I would have been absolutely beside myself with the luxury of it. I tell this tale to my Little People of course, and in return I do receive genuine thanks and gratitude which I believe are the foundations for true happiness.

Spending lots of time outside in our modest little yarden, and enjoying the simple pleasure of unpegging and folding warm, fragrant, sun dried laundry. The joy of it never gets old.

We had our town's annual charity Gala, the usual  procession of decorated floats, walking entertainers and marching bands passing the very end of our street as they made their way to the park. It's such an old fashioned tradition and a bit faded nowadays I suppose, but always touches some deep rooted memories I have of experiencing many carnival processions as a child. Here in Atticland, the tradition of a charity Gala is positively ancient, with the very first one being held in 1901. As well as the entertainments, there is always a travelling fairground set up in the park, and at precisely 10pm on Saturday night there is a free firework display. I'm a sucker for fireworks and absolutely love the dramatics of an aerial display, it really was excellent this year.

A few weeks ago my good friend Christine came to visit from Winwick for the day which is always a lovely thing. As the weather was far too warm to be doing yarny things inside a café, we opted for a walk at Bolton Abbey instead.

Eeeep, it was hot! With hindsight it was maybe far too hot for a five mile walk, but as much of it was through shady woodland we thought it would be OK. It was a moderately sweaty affair, and I was really glad when the bridge came into sight and I knew that a a sit down and some much needed refreshment was in my near future.

I opted for old fashioned Victorian lemonade, and at the last minute I decided that I really, absolutely needed to top up my energy levels and picked out a generous slice of Victoria sponge. My very Victorian refreshment combo was exceptionally good I have to say.

Don't worry though, I have still been drinking coffee right through the recent summer heatwave. Spending Friday mornings in the company of good yarny friends continues to be a true highlight of my weeks and I love my "Coopers" times so much. The past few Fridays I've been knitting instead of crocheting because none of my current crochet projects are particularly portable or sociable.

I cast on these "Frost" socks at the beginning of March, so I was keen to get them finished up and off my needles.

I'm happy to report that a) they are indeed finished and off my needles, and b) they fit like a dream and feel amazing on my feet. Obviously June hasn't in any way been sock weather and my toes have been permanently living an airy, sock-free life. But my newly completed socks did get a wash, a blocking session, and then a try-on which is the law when you finish knitting a pair of handmade socks. If anyone is remotely interested, the yarn is an old, hard-to-find Regia yarn, the "frost" colourway designed by Kaffe Fassett. I purchased from a lovely little online company called KnitUK. The sock pattern I always use is the beginner-friendly Basic 4ply Sock by Christine at Winwick Mum.

Hmmm.....what else to tell you about the joys of June? Flowers are featuring in my daily life and I am thrilled by them as always. The climbing rose is blooming in my front garden ....

....and in the yarden the first sweet peas have flowered. I was late planting the plantlets so they are still quite small and straggly, but they are so good at popping out floral abundance even when the plants themselves look less than stellar.

The first flowers had very short stems and in all honesty I felt very guilty snipping them because it seemed a bit cruel to strip the plants. But I know from experience that the more you cut them, the stronger the plants will grow and more flowers will be sure to follow. Plus there is the obvious bonus of this.............

..........the most uplifting, joy-inducing jug of flowers on my table, making me ever so ridiculously happy. Love love love love love times a gazillion. There is nothing nicer than a small homegrown posy in a jug - well maybe a large homegrown posy might be nicer, but I was still delighted with the humble nature of this small arrangement. Absolute Joy in a Jug.

Summer Solstice came last week and it was the usual emotional affair for me. I find this particular day in the year so full of feels - gratitude, joy and relief for the abundance of daylight, but also the rather sinking realisation that days will now get shorter. As my darling husband delighted in telling me, and I quote - "It's all down hill from here. Soon be Christmas". Well bloody hell, what can you say to that?!!

Anyhow, I ignored his harsh, winter-loving words and went forth into the evening to marvel at the very lightness and beauty of it, and to drink in the knowledge that at this time of year the sun sets at a quarter to ten in the North of England. Wowsers, it's absolutely lovely out there in June.

I had Little B with me on this Solstice jaunt - 9.42pm in the above photo as we were strolling home from the meadow together. We'd been on a little walk around the fields to see if there were any elderflowers still blooming because it's been a very early, short season for these precious flowers this year and I feared I might have missed them.

I had no need to worry because we found a whole hedgerow of trees still in flower, so we went together the very next day to gather some in.

So pretty! 

We managed to snip enough to make 3 litres of cordial (recipe in this post, scroll down to find), so all was fragrant and floral and zesty in my kitchen for a while last week. We're all really enjoying this delicious summery drink and I have lots of small bottles of it stashed in the freezer.

I'm well aware that I've had very little to share with you on the creative front this year, and I feel weirdly sad about it, like I'm letting you all down a bit. As you know, my annual crochet-along finished at the end of February and ever since then I've been in a real dither with my creative endeavours. 

However - stuff has been happening in the background, in slow, stuttering stops and starts. In April I created a colour palette for a new blanket which is a square design - I think I might have shown you a few little bits of it here and there. It's been a challenge to find the necessary focus and concentration to tackle this blanket, but I have a September deadline and I hope to be able to show you some progress once I've actually done a bit more work on it. Right now it's just messy piles of part-made squares which don't really make much sense!

Overlapping that, I had to then create another colour palette ready for my next annual CAL, as it's necessary for me to work five months in advance when choosing my colours with Stylecraft. So I was working hard on that last week, and I'm happy to say that as I already had the spark of inspiration in my mind, the stitch pattern and colour palette came together like a dream. Following on from the beautifully muted Springfrost colours, this next one is rich and colourful and I am so so excited about what I've chosen. 

And finally, this week has been all about preparing for my upcoming crochet retreat to Madeira (I fly out next Thursday), and yet again I'm so sorry that I can't show you what I've been working on. All this invisible behind-the-scenes stuff is very boring, isn't it?!

Do you like the sky in the above photo? It was a-maz-ing to stand underneath it, I felt a bit like I was going to fall into it, sort of like a reverse kind of vertigo. 

Well.....this has turned into an epic blog post, over two thousand words of ramble about the month of June. I am never short of things to yak on about it seems. I wonder how you've been, and hope that there have been plenty of joyful moments for you during this lovely mid-year month. Drop me a line or two and tell me what's been making you happy of late, I do really enjoy reading all about life at your end.

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Golden Buttercups

I took these photos a few weeks ago, an evening in early June when I felt the meadow call to me. I expect you've heard me talking about The Meadow before - it's a beautiful, natural piece of land about five minutes walk from the Attic, tucked away through a wooden gate at the edge of the local park. I often find myself drawn to it when my mind is overly full or I need to unwind or think about things, sometimes in the still of an early morning, but most often in the golden lull of a summer evening. I absolutely love the tranquillity and peace that I experience when I walk there and it gave me the inspiration for the colours of a blanket a few years ago too.

It's become something of a ritual for me to visit the buttercups - this incredible golden, flower-filled view doesn't last for very, maybe three or four weeks from the end of May until mid June. It is absolutely stunning, especially on a warm June day when the sun is still shining well into the evening, and at 8pm there is this wonderful golden glow over the landscape. I love love love it, almost overwhelmingly so, it makes me feel so many feels - ALL the feels!!! I overflow with them until I feel like I might burst.

On this evening I stopped to pick a few stems - buttercups, clover, cow parsley and a few delicate grasses, and carried them back to pop into a little glass ink bottle. They never last long, but for a few days I get to enjoy a little snippet of the meadow at home.

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