Attic24

Last Days of Winter

It's the Spring Equinox this Sunday 20th so we're in the very last week of winter, and what a lovely thought that is. 

I've often remarked how much I enjoy celebrating these quarterly points in the year, they are more meaningful to me in many ways than following the months on a traditional calendar. The older I get, the more I recognise an intuitive need to be in tune with nature and the changing seasons, it grounds me and keeps me focused on the here and now which I seem to need.

It's interesting being on the cusp of a seasonal change, and during the past week or so I've noticed a perfect mix of winter and spring. It's still very wintry cold here in the north of England with early morning temperatures sitting only just above zero degrees. And yet the light.....

.....oh, the light is so very, gloriously spring-like and very, very much appreciated by me I can tell you!

I get to see the sun rising above the hill around 7am at the moment, and often times I stop walking and just stand still to soak in the gentle warmth of it. Sunlight makes me really happy, it's as simple as that.

Yesterday I had to pop to the shops at the top of town and on the way back I took a small detour through the churchyard. I used to come here regularly when Little B was very small because we went to a lovely singing group in the church hall every Monday morning. The garden in front of the church is in an elevated position, so it gives a lovely view right down the main high street of the town. Here, let me zoom in a bit for you.....

....there you go. It's a lovely main street I think, it's wide with cobbled setts in between the pavement and the road which is where the street market takes place three times a week. Yesterday wasn't a market day so there are cars parked on the cobbles but even with the cars I think it's still very picturesque. 

I walked home along this stretch of the canal which you can access from one of the shopping streets at the top of town. The bakery is just over to the right in the above photo, so I often cross the stream via that wooden bridge to get onto the canal tow path. I love being out and about on a bright winter-spring morning, there is nothing nicer than breathing in the cold air and feeling energised by the light.

My daffodils are in full tilt now and I was delighted to find one single pale rogue flower in the bunch. I love it, and wish we could buy bunches of these more delicate varieties. So pretty.

In Winter Garland news, things have not been going to plan. This morning I was all set to start crocheting it together, so thought I'd lay everything out to take a few photographs first. As you can see in the above photo, there are some noticeable gaps - 2 blossom flowers and 3 leaves missing. Eh? I searched high and low and I cannot find them anywhere, so I'll just have to crochet up some replacements. I also realised that although I'd crocheted all the berries, I've still got the faff of stitching them to the fern leaves before I can get busy with crocheting the garland.

So by the time I got my head around the work that still needs to be done, the weather had changed and the good morning light was gone for the day, so I'll try again tomorrow. I can't wait to have it finished - I really, really want to see it hanging on my mantel because I think it's going to look wonderful.

There have been other yarny happenings this week which is very exciting indeed - I have some new yarn to play with, oh, the thrill!!

This is Stylecraft Highland Heathers which is a DK weight acrylic yarn and it really is very lovely. Each shade is created by heavily blending several colours together which gives it a richly tweeded effect - it's hard to capture on camera but trust me it's an absolute delight in real life. This is a relatively new yarn which launched in summer 2020 and this is the first time I've had the chance to try it out.

I've been working on some design ideas for a new blanket and am so excited about it, I always love the thrill of starting out on a new blanket journey. I've got a pretty clear idea of the overall design, but am still in the sampling stage where I'm working out how exactly to bring my idea to life. I enjoy these early stages of blanket making so, so much, it's gives me such a massive creative buzz! 

You can see from the above photo how dreary the weather has been today - mid afternoon and I'm lighting a candle to take the edge off the gloom. There was nothing gloomy about my yarn play though...........

.....EEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeppppp!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Those colours!! When I'm in a mad sampling phase I always like to gather in all the tail ends at the end of each session because seeing them all together like this gives me a really good idea of how the colours are working. If I look at them and feel butterflies in my tummy (and I really do with these) then I know I'm on the right track.

Anyhow, it's very early days but I thought I would try and share some of the design process with you as I go along this time. All being well, there will be a Highland Heathers yarn pack and new blanket pattern coming in September. And I'm very, very, very excited about it. Butterflies are taking flight in swarms for this one!

It's been a funny sort of a day today, the weather has been drizzly and grey and the light has been gloomy, and nothing has gone quite right somehow. I've felt a bit discombobulated, and that hasn't happened to me for quite a while. I'm hoping that tomorrow will be brighter in more ways than one, and that I can finally see my lovely Winter Garland over the finishing line. A Thursday Ta-Dah would be a very good thing so I shall try hard to make it happen.

Incidentally, can you see Tilly in the above photo? She's the dark blob sleeping soundly in a sea of colourful crochet. Lucky kitty.

I'm hoping you've had a good day without even a smidge of discombobulation, and that these last days of winter are treating you well. And if you're on t'other side of the world, then I hope that the coming of Autumn will bring you joy too.

Hopefully I'll see you tomorrow with a ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-dah!

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Visual Pleasures

It's Sunday evening and earlier on this afternoon I was looking through the photos on my camera and thinking to myself how lovely my days look from a purely visual point of view. All the photos in today's post have been taken this weekend, and nothing out of the ordinary has happened at all. Really it's been a very run of the mill sort of slow mid-March weekend spent mostly at home, and yet I look at these images and I confess I'm a little bit in love with the visuals of my life. And how wonderful that simple thought is! Lucky, lucky me. 

Yesterday my new house arrived, another absolutely adorable little bobbin cottage made by Helen of Thimbleville. I am really delighted with these houses, they make me sooooo happy and I have no idea why, so I'm just rolling with the joy they bring me and leaving it at that. They look unbelievably cute sitting on my mantel with a backdrop of old Observer books.

I had to pop into the supermarket on Friday and they were selling pots of hyacinths for £1.50 so of course I popped one in my basket to bring home. Yesterday I spent a little time re-homing the bulbs into an old stripy bowl, adding some homegrown moss and a little toadstool for good measure. What a difference it made, massively increasing the visual pleasure which I'll enjoy for many days to come.

Every time I bring bulbs into the house I get a thrill  of anticipation, and I hope that I never stop finding pleasure in keeping up these small seasonal rituals for myself.

I took some photographs of my lunch yesterday, like you do. I honestly have no idea what compels me to want to capture images like this, but there is something about observing the visual details of everyday life that really appeals to me. In the case of the above bowl of courgetti noodles, it was the beautiful colour of them - so vibrant and fresh looking, and somehow perfectly suited to mid March.

I don't know if you remember, but it was around this time last year when I bought this very clever little spiralizing gadget and got way too obsessed about eating courgette and butternut noodles for lunch. I haven't had them for a while (this kind of lunch is better suited to Spring and Summer I think) but yesterday I had a craving for them.

I added a little drizzle of olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice to the noodles, with a liberal sprinkling of sea salt and a heavy grind of black pepper. I then plonked on my toppings - half an avocado which needed eating up, cucumber and tomatoes, with crumbled feta cheese....

....and ohmygollygosh it was exceptionally good. Such a simple meal that looked as good as it tasted.

After my lunch, I took advantage of the fact that I had the Big Chair to myself and settled down with a blanket, a cup of coffee and the latest issue of Country Living magazine. I drank in the Spring vibes on those pages and enjoyed soaking up all the little floral details and light, airy springtime colours. I adore this kind of seasonal inspiration and always feel uplifted by the stylish photographs and beautifully laid out pages.

Little Lady spent some time with me downstairs yesterday afternoon, and it was lovely to have her company. I noticed that she was carefully watching me as I danced around photographing my lunch and my flowers and my yarny pursuits and I have to say it was a bit odd being observed. I'm used to inhabiting my own world when I'm photographing and talking to myself inside my head, wrapped up in my own colourful bubble. Eventually I think I wore her out with my carryings on because she quietly snuggled herself down on the sofa with the Harbour blanket and had a nap with the kitty. It was as if she was four years old all over again.....ah, happy memories.

This weekend I've been crocheting, of course I have - I've been working on some designs that I'm doing for Stylecraft, a little secret project that I'm really, really enjoying but can't show you just yet. I can show you the yarn I'm using, it's the Organic Cotton which I love, in a pretty palette of sherbet shades. I can't wait to show you what I'm up to.

Part of my dancing around yesterday involved these beeeeeeautiful flowers, oh, they really are so, so lovely. I bought them yesterday,  and although they look rather posh and florist-esque, they were in fact from good ol' Morrisons. Not only that, but they were reduced in price - I found some buckets which had small bunches of single flower varieties which were only £1.25 for five stems, so I bought snap dragons and some very unusual carnations....

...just look at them!!! I've never seen carnations this colour before, kind of a dirty, vintage pink, aren't they stunning? And the tulips are also very beautiful and were only £3 a bunch. I need the flowers for some photographs I want to take for the aforementioned Organic Cotton Secret Squirrel project, so I felt justified in buying them. If you scroll back up, you can see how well they match the colours of the cotton yarn - I'm super pleased with it all, and have thoroughly enjoyed my creative time this weekend. 

I had some of the tulips in a jug in the kitchen and yesterday for a very short while the sun was streaming in through the window and lighting up the petals. Oh, I just swooned my woolly socks off right there by the fruit bowl, the sight of those sunlit flowers honestly took my breath away.

Today was a day with no plans, so I enjoyed a beautifully slow start to my Sunday. I was awake quite early when it was still dark but spent some time sat quietly in bed with a scented candle lit and a mug of milky coffee in hand.

You may think from these photos that all I do is idle around swooning over flowers, crocheting things and eating bowls of pretty food, but the weekends always include a number of chores too. There is the market food shop of course, and the cooking of the family meal each evening, plus laundry, always laundry. I typically do four loads of laundry over the weekend (whites, blacks, bright colours and pale colours) which entails a lot of running up and down stairs (the washing machine is in the cellar), plus sorting, shifting, carrying, folding and piling. I did get a little moment of visual pleasure when I folded up my freshly washed and dried woolly socks though, so there was that.

J and I went out for a walk this morning. The weather was grey and damp, but it's always good to get out into the trees to soak up a bit of nature. Look how green the wild garlic is looking, such a welcome sight.

I noticed that the early blossom is now blooming, and that really did make me happy.

These blossom trees at the edge of the woodland are always stunning, and the view over to the castle makes for a very photogenic Springtime scene.

We walked past the blossom hedge on the way home and my goodness it's looking so, so pretty. You might remember me showing it to you last year, it's just too lovely to walk past without wanting to capture it on camera. 

It made me think of the pile of crochet blossom waiting patiently for me to add it to my Winter-Spring Garland.

I had every intention of getting that finished this weekend, but then I remembered the Stylecraft project which has an actual deadline looming, so I needed to be sensible and prioritise my crochet time. Soon though - the garland will be coming to fruition in the next few days I hope.

Well that's all my photos from this weekend, I hope you've enjoyed seeing the little snippets that have brought me some very welcome visual pleasure, and that in turn they have delivered you some feel-good too. Ordinary day-to-day life can be really beautiful don't you think?

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Working From Home

I've made some good progress on my Winter Garland today, finishing off the hellebores and finalising the snowdrop design which I have to say I'm s-u-p-e-r happy with. When I'm working on this sort of project with lots of little bits I always work at the dining table, just because it's easier to be able to lay things out and see where I'm at. It's different when I'm crocheting blankets because that usually requires a relaxing sofa/fireside/bed location. There is something very productive and satisfying about sitting at a table to make things, it makes me feel a teeny tiny bit more like I'm "working" somehow, although trust me when I say that this kind of gentle creativity never really feels like work to me. Sometimes when I'm photographing my step-by-step pictures for tutorials or sitting with a word document and hard core pattern writing then it can feel quite workish. But stitching stamens into a crochet hellebore, or crocheting little yarny snowdrops? It's pure pleasure, and my heart has felt full of gratitude today.

As well as sitting at the dining table, I also have a white piece of wood (the top of an old Ikea childs desk) which I balance on the arms of the big chair to take photographs. We get good light here in the mornings at the front of the house where the large bay window is, so that's where I tend to do all my laid-out type of photography, either for flat lays or if I'm making a tutorial.

This morning I photographed a little bit of the making process for my hellebores - I've already got a how-to tutorial ((here)) but when I write up my Ta-dah post for the Winter Garland I want to have a series of photos all with a white background. I took the above photo to share on Instagram but thought you might like to see it here too.

I've got fresh daffodils on my table this week, popped into a bright and cheery rainbow jug which is making me smile every time I clap eyes on it (which is often, because I've been sat right next to them all day). You can see a little bit more of our downstairs living space in the photo too, it's all one room with our sitting area and open fire at the front, and the dining table where I work at the back. The open plan layout is great in many ways, it's a lovely light, bright room with two fireplaces and two windows, but there are times when it can be a bit of a tricky thing. For example, the television. I find that when I'm working it can be very distracting to have to listen to it when I'm sharing this one room with the whole family. J also works in this room in the winter months so I'm often listening in to his conference calls and we have to juggle where we both sit - one room living with a family of five is a challenge at times, especially with two of us working from home.

I've found myself just lately feeling frustrated with the situation, missing my studio space massively and wishing I had a room of my own to retreat to where I can spread out and have breathing space to work and think. It's a bit of a negative spiral that I don't really want to get sucked into, because at this point in time there is nothing I can do about it. I'm here at home, sharing the space with J and the Little People and just have to make the best of it.

So today I gave myself a talking to, and made a concerted effort to practice gratitude for my working situation. I love my home, and it's a happy, relaxed place to spend time, so really there is much to be grateful for. Plus, I get to have the kitty for company too :)

I mean, it's not a bad working environment.....

....and I do get to take breaks whenever I like because the boss is very lenient when it comes to time keeping and scheduling my working hours. I can pop out to the shops in the mornings if I need to, a quick jaunt to get some fresh air....

.....and admire the flowers growing in the front garden while I'm at it.

All in all, I know I can't really complain, in fact I am very, very lucky. I think maybe I just needed to reset my mind and remind myself how bloomin' lovely it is here at number 24.

Right now as I sit and chat to you, I am still sat here at the dining table, tap tap tapping away on my laptop. It's just coming up to 9pm and it suddenly feels like it's been a long day. I finished crocheting at 4.30pm, packing everything away so that the table could be used for dinner time. I usually sit down to start blogging in the evenings after dinner, around 7pm, and it takes roughly two hours to put a blog post like this together. I really love it though, it's such a nice thing to be chatting to you and sharing my thoughts and photos from my ordinary days.

Thank you for visiting with me in the Attic, and an especially big thank you to all of you who take the time to leave a comment. I appreciate it very much, it's a little bit of magic and kindness in this crazy ol' world.

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Friday Five

Five small things that have made me feel happy today....

Number 1 :: Spending the morning with my Yarny Tribe ::

My Friday mornings spent at Coopers café always make me happy - good coffee, crochet time, and a hefty dose of laughter and chatter with great friends. I crocheted 6 fern leaves and 1.5 hellebores, time well spent.

Number 2 :: My new pencils ::

My new pencils arrived and I am obsessed with them, they are perfection and they smell like my childhood. Derwent pencils are such a classic, historic brand and I am delighted to own these beauties. Happy, happy me.

Number 3 :: The scent of these narcissus ::

The whole downstairs of the house is filled with the scent of these flowers and I absolutely love it, although I hear that many people really dislike it? They look so pretty too and I am enjoying them on my table very, very much.

Number 4 :: chasing the sun ::

It's been a very drizzly grey day for most of today, but in the early evening it finally brightened up which sent me running out the door to chase the light. It was glorious - the most stunning reflections and a fiery sun which I just managed to catch before it disappeared behind the rooftops.

Number 5 :: cosy hand knit socks and the warmth of a fire ::

It's wintry cold here, single digit temperatures, woolly socks required. Lighting the fire in the late afternoon is one of my favourite household jobs and relaxing beside the hearth always makes me happy. 

Coffee, crochet, friendship, coloured pencils, scented flowers, reflections, sunset, cosy fireside, woolly socks. 

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!

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Ps, Number 6 :: my hill view came back - yay!! x

 

 

Goodbye February

February is usually a month that I'm happy to see the back of, skipping into March and leaving all dark and dismal wintry thoughts firmly behind me. This year feels different and I'm not sure how to explain it - very unusually I have really enjoyed February and I'm about as shocked as you would expect! I think a good part of my enjoyment came from my addictive blanket making, I love having my crochet-a-long at this time of year because it helps massively with my overall mood. The colours in the Harbour blanket were so unapologetically bright and cheery that I couldn't help but feel uplifted every time I picked it up. Now that the blankets are finished they're in use every day and continue to make me very happy, you just can't go wrong with the kind of project that keeps on giving. Blanket obsessed, and proud of it.

I'm sure many of you were aware that last Tuesday was a very special day indeed, the 22nd of the 2nd month, 2022. I find this kind of thing impossible to ignore and was convinced that the whole day was full of magic from start to finish. I didn't stop going on about it allllll day which gave the family plenty of eye-rolling moments I'm sure. There was an especially momentous minute at 20:22 in the evening {22:02:[email protected]:22} when I sat and made some wishes for the year ahead, so we'll see in time what comes of it I guess. There was a weeny part of me that hoped I could perhaps see 22:22 on the clock as that would have been an even more magical minute, but it just wasn't happening. I'm far too sleepy in the evenings to schedule anything past 9pm.

Last week it was half term here, a chance for us all to relax a little and take a break from work and school. I find that half term provides a great chance to prioritise rest and recharging and we don't usually make too many plans for these weeks in February, May and October. The weather wasn't especially good (yet another storm which brought lots and lots of rain and local flooding) but we did manage a few short walks here and there.

I noticed in the woods that the very first shoots of wild garlic are beginning to peek up through the soil....

....and despite spending half a day covered in snow, the crocus in my front garden are now blooming and looking fabulous. I needn't have worried so much about their welfare, I'll try and remember that for future.

More cheap and cheerful daffies on the table to round out February and lead us beautifully into March...

....a really lovely mix of bright, cheery yellow and the palest creamy white this week. They are such a pleasure to bring home with my groceries and two bunches for £2 is money well spent. Food for the soul.

Talking of flowers and groceries, Morrisons has some really beautiful plants for sale at the moment - just look at this  Hellebore, isn't it a beauty?? I photographed it as I was passing by on my way to get yoghurt because I'm going to crochet some for my Winter-Spring garland and wanted to take note of the subtle colours. In case you ever have the pressing need to crochet yourself a hellebore, I have a pattern all ready and waiting, which is kind of ridiculous and brilliant at the same time. It's ((here)) if you're curious.

It was J's birthday last week so we are now the same age again until the autumn. He didn't want any fuss or to do anything out of the ordinary, but we did manage to go out for dinner - all FIVE of us. It was quite the occasion, it's literally been years since we all went out for a meal together as the Big Teen currently works most evenings. I took the above photo as we walked our way into town (it was 5.30), so happy to observe that the daylight is now extending into the early evening once again. So hApPy about it!

I fell a little bit in love with that cute little pink-tinged cloud, so sweet and pretty reflected in the canal as we strolled past. The meal we had out was at an Indian restaurant (J's favourite) and was extremely good I have to say. It was a lovely treat for me to sit on my behind with a glass of wine in hand and wait for somebody else to bring dinner to the table. 

On Sunday, we woke up to the promise of sunshine and decided to head out of town to walk at Bolton Abbey. The Little People could not be persuaded (last day of the holidays, they really wanted to stay cosy in pjs and I understood).

We were there as soon as it opened so it was very quiet, just the way I like it. We walked past the money tree, and as always I remembered all the times we've stopped to make wishes with the Little People when they were very much littler. 

I am very happy to report that I managed to persuade the sand-hating Husbundo to come down onto the river beach with me for a little pootle. It was so scenic there at that time, very cold, and I don't know if you can tell from the above photo, but there was frost on the sand which made it sparkle.

The river is unbelievably clear and fresh looking - you can barely see the water in the above photo but I'm stood right next to the gently lapping edge of it.

B-e-a-u-tiful.

It was a super morning, so peaceful and restorative and I'm really glad we got out there to breathe it in.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention one other thing about last week...............

..............the seaside!!!!!!!!! Yup, Saltburn called us yet again, and we jollied over for a very short but sweet little mini break and it was absolutely wonderful. Of course I took far too many photos, way too many to shoehorn into this post, so I'll save those for another time.

And that's February all done and dusted for another year, I wonder what delights March will bring? There is the Spring Equinox on the 20th which is always a highlight of the seasonal calendar for me. And there's also another short jolly to the coast......well the stars aligned and there were a lot of two's in the month so I took a chance and booked it a few weeks ago. Hoping you won't mind that March blogging will have a dash of sea salt sprinkled here and there? I'm really looking forward to it. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

 

 

 

Winter Weekend

I wonder how many times I've talked to you about coffee in my one thousand, five hundred and ninety three blog posts? Rather a lot I think is the answer, especially in recent years since J decided he wanted to enjoy a slice of my enviable "cafe lifestyle" and now actively encourages a good many of our quick jaunts to enjoy a coffee together. The above photo was taken on Saturday morning after we'd finished our market food shop - a chance to sit still for a short while and practice some gratitude before the busy day continued to gallop away. Small, cosy cafés are the perfect place to be on a cold wintry morning, and I thoroughly enjoyed that mighty fine frothy cappuccino. 

Crochet time nearly always features in my weekend, and I'm forever grateful for this soothing creative pastime. Similar to my morning coffee break, I find that sitting down to crochet presents a really great opportunity for some mindful moments. I adore crochet for that - it's such great therapy, and very restorative for the mind and soul. My Harbour Colourwash blanket is now long enough to snuggle under while I'm adding extra ripples and it's ever so toasty under there.

On Sunday I had a deliciously slow start to the day and enjoyed some crochet in bed - oh the cosy factor was sky high! Tilly very rarely comes onto my bed, but I'm pretty sure those yarny stripes lured her in.

We took a short, bracing walk at Bolton Abbey, wrapped up in warm layers as it really was very cold.

I really enjoy coming down to this little river beach, the river is very still here (I find myself wishing for waves, even just teeny ones) but I still find it soothing to crunch along the pebbles and take in the watery reflections.

It felt really good to be out walking, even on a cold, rather bleak day....

....and there was beauty in the quiet stillness of the winter landscape.

The sheep were out and about enjoying themselves at Bolton Abbey too!

Back home, and one of the highlights of my weekend was the arrival of the first daffodils of the year. Yay!! I started this ritual many years ago (before the children were born) and absolutely love to begin the year with these cheery yellow blooms on my table.

I really appreciate that they are so readily available in the supermarkets these days - these bunches cost just 65 pence each so I splashed out and bought two. They bring such a lot of visual pleasure to each day, little rays of sunshine brightening up the room.

I always make time to enjoy a healthy breakfast every day, so there isn't any change at the weekends, but I do enjoy the slower pace of weekend meals in general.

I've got a new breakfast obsession - overnight oats made with coconut yoghurt. This past weekend I tried plain yoghurt with coconut for the first time and oh my word it is SO GOOD!! There is something about the creamy taste of the coconut paired with the slightly sharp flavour of natural yoghurt which makes me squirm with pleasure. This is quite a runny yoghurt so it's perfect for making overnight oats (they're hiding underneath all that fresh fruit in the above photo). I measure out 20g oats and mix with 100ml of yoghurt (it's this Alpro soya one), then leave in the fridge overnight, adding the fruit on top when I'm ready to eat. Yummmmmm.,,,happy me.

Fireside loafing always makes me happy too, and the grey dreary weather we're having right now can be totally ignored when I'm sat beside the hearth. Add in a warm crochet blanket and a mug of frothy coffee, and right there is a truly wonderful winter moment. I hope with all my heart that there will be many, many more happy moments this winter - did you know that there are only eight more winter weekends before the Spring Equinox? Holding that thought.

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♥ Three Things ♥

♥ Three things that have made me feel heart-skippy happy today...♥

♥ Thing # 1 :: on my table ♥

♥ A little glass bottle of raindrippy geraniums rescued from their very soggy back yard pots.

I popped out in the drizzle this morning to put some recycling into the bin and was so happy to see my geraniums still bravely flowering despite the wet and wild weather we've had this past week. I decided to snip a few stems to bring indoors as I'm not really getting to appreciate them very much outside. Oh, they are such a delight! Like a breathe of summer air, they are cheering up my table and my heart.

♥ Thing # 2 :: on the sofa ♥

♥ A contented sleepy kitty, enjoying the warmth rising from the radiator that's on the wall behind the back of the sofa.

She's been happy today because I felt so cold this afternoon that I switched the heating on and I lit the fire too. Such indulgence, but I hate it when my bones feel chilled. I'm sure she was silently thanking me with her eyes closed, sweet thing that she is.

♥ Thing # 3 :: on my needles ♥

♥ Gloriously happy stripes turning slowly but surely into wonderfully cosy socks.

I'm really, really enjoying this Kaffe Fassett sock yarn, the colours and the changing stripes are just lovely. I was sat in my favourite place right next to the hearth earlier and my hands had reached that perfect temperature where the stitches seem to fly. I love it when that happens and the stripes almost seem to make themselves. J made me a cup of tea and I felt like the luckiest person being able to spend a wet Monday afternoon doing just as I pleased.

I hope you've had a great day, and that you've had some moments that have made your heart skip a beat.

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ps : I created this "3Things" category for my blog many years ago but it's not often that I remember to create this kind of simple gratitude post. You can find all of my past 3-things posts by clicking on the category tag in my left hand side bar, it does make for an uplifting bit of browsing if you need to fill a little time x

 

 

 

Last Days of Summer

Well there's no getting away from it now, the Autumn Equinox passed by on Wednesday and I've had to face up to the fact that summer is over for another year. Luckily, September has been a real treat in terms of the weather and I have been out and about drinking up every last drop of the season. The Little People returned to school and I'm now in a period of major adjustment as I try to get used to my new normal. I do miss the morning school run which was a pleasurable walk alongside the canal and a lovely way to start my day. However, I realised quite early on that of course I can still walk this route in the mornings if I want to as there is nothing to stop me, so quite often I do just that.  

The last week of summer time was really beautiful here in my patch with plenty of warmth and sunshine. 

I was even able to spend some time sat out in the overgrown yarden which is quite a sheltered little spot, and as you can see from the above photo it's pretty wild out there at the moment. 

I've had many neighbours stop and tell me how much they've enjoyed my flowering pots this summer, and to ask me what my secret is - the flowers really have been prolific (this post shows what they looked like when I planted them in June). The answer to the overgrowth is regular watering, and a weekly liquid feed. I've been using a Doff feed ((it's this one, although it's generally much cheaper if you can find it in a local shop)) and it makes a tremendous difference to flowering pots and tubs.

I spent a while out there earlier this week deadheading the geraniums and marguerites so that hopefully they will keep on flowering for another month or so. Some years when the weather has been mild, I've still had flowers in early December which sounds crazy, but it has happened.

A few weeks ago, J and I started a new routine together in the mornings - I can't quite remember how it came about but one day we were both up early and decided to take our usual daily walk while the Little People were still asleep instead of waiting until mid morning. Both J and I are "larks" and go to bed pretty early in the evenings (usually by 9.30pm) so we are often awake and up around 5.30 in the mornings. It gives us time to have a coffee and come into the day gently before getting ready to head out around an hour later.

We enjoyed it so much that we started to make it a regular thing, it really is a glorious time of day to be out and about. We tend to reach the top of the hill before the sun rises, but on a couple of mornings we've been slightly later and have had the sun beaming out at us. 

I can't describe how wonderful it is to feel the first rays of the sun warm on your face in the quiet still of a new morning. It's quite magical.

Just on the other side of that white building is the bakery so it's a very convenient kind of early morning walk when a loaf of fresh bread often comes home with us. So far I've managed to resist the baskets of freshly baked croissants and pastries which sit on the counter top, but I think it's only a matter of time before I cave. It's the smell that does it.

At the other end of the day I've been finding myself drawn outdoors as the sun starts to dip low in the sky. It's as if my soul knows that our days are rapidly shortening and I am compelled to make the very most of this late summer sunshine.

I don't go far, a slow meander around the park....

....then back along the canal towards home. It's just enough time for me to breathe deeply and mull over the day, to drink in the golden light and feel at ease.

On Saturday morning when J and I walked to the market, it suddenly felt like Summer had slipped away from us. It was chilly, and already leaves are beginning to fall from some of the trees, a reminder to make the most of every day and to appreciate each season we are in. I've been getting better in recent years with Autumn and don't feel nearly so full of melancholy as I once did, and for that I am thankful.

I've really been enjoying the freedom of my days during the past few weeks, heading out to meet friends for coffee or just walking into town to run errands as and when I've needed to. I really do appreciate that I can choose how to spend my child free hours and never take it for granted. I'm unbelievably thankful for my freedom.

My friend surprised me with this bunch of berries last week, and I absolutely love them.

The colour of the berries is so pretty and it's been a lovely change from having flowers on my table. I've been working a lot at the dining table just recently so it's all been a bit of a mess to be honest. I'm still needing to use the dining room like a studio as I've got nowhere else to go at the moment - it's a bit frustrating but I'm muddling through as best as I can. Yarn everywhere, creative chaos which gets push aside in order to eat family meals each day. Ah well, I am happy at least, yes, happy and free, and I am so thankful for all of it. 

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Early September

Early September is here and as much as I don't want to admit it, I can most definitely feel the slip-slide of summer as it gently  begins to make way for Autumn. This past week we've had the most wonderous warm sunny weather though, a real gift for souls like me who hang onto the summer till the very last moment. I'm still picking sweet peas even though the plants themselves are looking rather dead, I know, how lucky am I? Every time I think it'll be the last bunch, somehow more magically appear and it feels like some sort of summer miracle. The flowers are just so beautifully painterly, like little watercolour studies on each petal. I love them so bloomin' much.

Last weekend when the weather was joyous, we took off across the fields for a walk and made the most of the wide open views. Little B did an awful lot of moaning about the temperature (he's a winter lover and really dislikes any kind of warm weather), but I'm learning how to tune him out when he goes off on an extended negative rant. I loved the sunshine, of course I did, it was hot and wonderful, and the little fluffy clouds and lush green fields made me stupidly happy.

I live for these beautiful sunshiny days in September (well all year round to be honest), and my gratitude was sky high. Leafy tree tops and dappled sunshine - yes please, always and forever.

A few mornings this past week we've started the day under a blanket of grey mist - a little reminder that the seasons will be changing very soon. The above photo was taken just after 9am on Thursday which was the day that Little Lady and Little B were both back in school. I'm still adjusting to this new season of school routines, in particular the fact that I no longer need to leave the house to deliver or collect a child. After 15 years spent walking back and forth with primary school children it still feels very surreal watching Little B set off down the road without me. 

As I'm dressed and ready to start my day when the Little Peeps head out to school, I've found myself also desperately wanting to leave the house at the same time. The routine is so deeply ingrained that it feels wrong not to be out and about by 9am and so I've just allowed myself to do what feels right. Instead of walking to school I walk to the bakery, or to the supermarket, and as soon as I set off I feel my sense of equilibrium settling in place.

The afternoon school run however, oh, I am absolutely thrilled not to be doing that one any more. I am greatly appreciating the luxury of waiting for the offspring to walk in the door by themselves without any physical exertion from me. 

Little B had three whole days of secondary school last week and so far so good. Every day he brought home new exercise books and delivered a verdict on the subjects he'd studied. It's been interesting to hear him chat about his new experiences, and I hope his enthusiasm continues as we trundle through the next six weeks of this half term.

Little Lady is in her final year of school and says she's enjoying being back into a routine and getting organised for what is going to be a busy year of study and decision making. September is always such an important month when you have school age children, it's like breathing out a huge sigh of relief when you didn't even realise you were holding your breath.

Yesterday morning J and I went into town as we usually do every Saturday, to visit the local shops and the street market. During the past year this routine of ours has very firmly set itself in place and I absolutely love it. 

I really enjoy being able to walk into the centre of our little town, taking in the picturesque canal and old buildings and feeling that sense of belonging. Once we've gathered in all the produce and groceries we head to the café to have breakfast, and every week without fail it feels like the biggest treat. I am so grateful for our gentle lifestyle and simple pleasures, for the easy routines that keep us grounded and the happiness that it brings. I consider myself very, very lucky.

Sunday is often a day when we go for a walk if the weather is dry, and this morning I'm delighted to say that we walked as a family of four which hasn't happened in a while. 

We didn't drive far, just a few miles to a neighbouring village to do a circular walk which involved climbing to the top of that craggy hill in the photo above. We do this walk a few times a year and it's not for the faint hearted - the climb is rocky and steep....

....but the view from the top is well worth the physical effort. It feels so good when you reach the top and get to sit down and rest, a mixture of exhilaration and deep relief. We each had flasks with us (hot chocolate for Little B, milky coffee for the rest of us) and some chocolate for revival purposes. Morning coffee with a view, it was mighty fine I have to say.

I've been feeling a bit under the weather this past week, and I admit I found the climb quite challenging as my fitness levels have dropped off over the summer months.

I've made a promise to myself that as from tomorrow (Monday) I'm going to start doing my morning workouts again - they only take 7-10 minutes so really there is absolutely no excuse not to do them. Although it's been pretty nice to skip them over the summer holidays and give my body a rest, I like the way they make me feel and September seems like a grand month to reinstate some healthy routines. It's a reset kind of a month I think.

Tall, tall summer grasses are everywhere in the countryside at this time of year, wafting in the breeze and bringing with them an unmistakable end-of-season vibe. Autumn is around the corner - it's not here yet mind you, so hold onto your pumpkins for a while longer! As you probably know, I like to follow the astronomical seasons which means I celebrate the solstices and equinoxes rather than the first of the month dates set by the weather people. Autumn equinox falls on the 22nd September this year, so still another nine days left to appreciate late summer.

It's been cloudy but mild today and I spent a while sat out in the back yard this afternoon, very aware that my al fresco days are numbered now. The yarden is looking wild and a smidge unkempt I have to say, but I am always so overjoyed to be able to sit surrounded by flowers and greenery that I can easily overlook the straggliness.

I brought in my blankets from outdoor storage today, the ones that have been well used in my back yard and on picnics and outings all summer. They need a wash and a freshen up, so that's on my to-do list this week.

Did I tell you I finished my Yuletide blanket? I think last time I was here chatting I was almost finished but not quite, well, tis done and dusted now and I couldn't be happier. It's such a wonderful blanket, different to anything I've ever made before with it's own unique colour palette and slightly vintage retro feel.

Even thought the blanket is finished, I haven't finished with the colours just yet - I made some little stars to use for photographs....

.....and also the beginnings of a Yuletide Garland for my fireplace. I've wanted to make a winter garland for a while now, and this seemed like a good time to get creative with ideas whilst my head is still so full of these colours. I've been working on some new little designs this weekend - an ivy leaf, orange slices and the beginnings of some eucalyptus leaves (they still need more work). I've LOVED the creativity that has flowed in abundance this past week, I've felt really inspired in lots of different ways.

I've been working on a tutorial for the Yuletide blanket which is my usual full-on photo heavy affair, and I'm confident that I can help newbie crocheters feel like they can tackle this design. I also created an 8 page colour pattern which will be included in the Yuletide yarn pack, so yeah, I've been quietly busy here in the Attic doing my hooky thing.

My friends at Wool Warehouse have also been busy and we are all set for the Yuletide blanket kit to be ready on Tuesday 14th. I'm writing a Ta-dah blog post to share the finished blanket with you, so all links for the pattern and the yarn pack will be included in that post. I think the aim is for everything to be online at 8am on Tuesday - of course I'm ridiculously excited, and nervous and elated and apprehensive, the usual mixed pot of emotions. I really hope you like it as much as I do.

And on that note, I shall bid you farewell, and I'll be back on Tuesday morning with lots of blankety photos to share with you. Thanks as ever for visiting, I appreciate you muchly xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank You, Thank You

Thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your wonderfully supportive and empathetic words in response to my last post. Thank you so, so much for sharing your thoughts and personal experiences, I can't actually put into words what it has meant to hear your collective voices echoing back to me with so much kindness. I wish I could give each and every one of you a jam jar posie of yarden flowers to cheer up your table, but hoping a virtual one will surfice.

I don't have a huge amount to share with you right now, but as I ease myself back into the business of blogging again I thought you might like to see some visuals from my week. Nothing of note really, it's been a week of slow ordinariness here in the Attic with the exception of a broken car, a postponed holiday, and the purchase of a new car which has been quite exhilarating in a rather stressy way. We are a one-car family who tends to own rather inexpensive used vehicles which we run and run and run until they die, so we are used to dealing with car extinction from time to time. Our latest purchase is only five years old which makes it the newest car we've ever bought, ever. Hopefully it means we can be mobile again next week and our trip down to Dorset will actually happen this time, our third attempt this summer. All digits and extremities crossed.

The above photo is in no way car related, just a random picture of my breakfast. I think I uploaded it to  remind me to tell you that I'm still trying my best to eat wholesome and clean, failing quite a bit on the refined sugar front I admit, but hopeful that it was just a passing slump. It's amazing to me how much our dipping hormones can induce a very severe sugar craving which honestly feels like an addiction at times. Last week I ate an unholy amount of chocolate, but this week I've managed to dig deep and show more restraint.

I wanted to briefly say re the menopause and HRT etc etc, that I don't want to keep going on about it, but I think I would like to keep you posted on how I get on in the future, in case it might be helpful for others going through similar? I recently found Dr. Louise Newson's website (the Menopause Doctor) a massive help, and in particular ((this video on YouTube)) which is a fantastic, informative and easy to digest explanation of menopause, hormones and HRT. OK, that's all I want to say for now, but yes I'll let you know when/if Future Me (the joyful, energetic version) finally makes an appearance. Here's hoping.

Walking and spending time amonsgt the greenery continues to help me cope, and I've been enjoying the summer woodland very much. We've had a lot of very heavy rain during the past few weeks, real torrential downpours and thunderstorms as well as days with endless wet wet wet from dawn to dusk. The smell of the damp in the woodland has been incredible, and the usually gentle streams and waterfalls have been raging. The pathway in the above photo we've nicknamed "the cardio steps", it's a pretty steep climb and we always aim to do the whole assent in one go, collapsing on the very well placed wooden bench at the top. I do enjoy a bit of an al fresco workout, it gets the blood pumping and reminds me I'm alive and well.

We've been doing the usual kind of summer holiday things here this week, such as school uniform shopping and café breakfast pancake eating. Little B will start at secondary school in September, so we had to go and purchase the whole kit and caboodle for him. It was super sweet though, because Little Lady is working a summer job in the school uniform shop so I was able to have her run around and fetch me all the things from the very long list of requirements. It was relatively painless, although having said that we've still got the torture of finding school shoes, trainers and rugby boots to fit Little B's incredibly wide feet. Sigh. I might need to bribe him with another pancake stack for that tricky expedition. 

In crochet related news, I have a confession to make. During the past few months when life has been at the rockiest of rock bottoms, I wasn't able to crochet very much, if at all. Weeks went by where I couldn't seem to find the will to pick up my hook, and that's how I knew that I was in trouble. This week has felt a little easier, and I've managed a round or two most days - these rounds are now huuuuuuuuuuuuuge because I am nearing the end and it takes quite a long time to go all the way round now. I'm so happy with this blanket, it's a joy to crochet and the festive spirit which I really wanted to capture with the colours and pattern is just lovely.  I don't have an exact launch date for the Yuletide yarn pack and blanket pattern yet, but it will be early September I hope, all being well.

I crocheted three bees last weekend, as a favour for a friend. She's knitting a cushion for family who have a connection to Manchester, and wanted to include a couple of buzzing bees as they are the emblems for the city. I happened to see a pattern for a wall hanging in Simply Crochet issue 111 and thought the bees would be perfect so I offered to do the hooky for her. They turned out really cute, if a little on the large side. I used Stylecraft Special DK and a 3,5mm hook.

And finally, yesterday I managed to find my creative mojo which has been missing for quite a while, so a huge sigh of relief all round. I set up a makeshift photography desk on my coffee table and settled on the floor to work. It's been quite a long time since I've felt inspired to do anything like this, and do you know, it felt fanTAStIc to be back doing my thing. It wasn't a spontaneous event though, there was a plan and timeline as I've been working on a new granny square design to tie in with Granny Square Day which is this coming Sunday 15th. I was asked to be an official ambassador this year, so I figured it was a good opportunity to come up with something new to share.

I actually designed this square back at the end of June I think, a day when all of a sudden an idea for a flowery square had popped into my mind. I used scraps of Stylecraft Special DK to work out the initial design, but when it came to making up some squares for an actual project, I switched over to cotton. I absolutely love this cotton yarn, it's the new Organic Cotton DK from Stylecraft which is absolutely wonderful to work with, especially for small decorative projects. 

I'm making a full photo tutorial for my new square which I've named the Flora Granny Square, and I'll be publishing  the free pattern here on my blog at 9am on Sunday 15th for Granny Square day. Most of the visual celebrations will be taking place on Instagram, so if you have that fabulous little app on your phone, then do check out the hashtag #grannysquareday2021 on Sunday, it'll be a true feast for the eyes. 

Well, I think that's all for now, I'll be back on Sunday with more granny square photos and the pattern if you fancy a little bit of  flowery, squarified hooky playtime. See you then xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx