Attic24

November Weekending

I found out a few days ago that this endlessly grey weather has an official weathery name - welcome to the "Anticyclonic Gloom". Apparently it's been widespread throughout the country for most of November, and so far this month we've received less than one tenth of the sunshine we would normally get at this time of year. Huh, it's no wonder we've all been feeling the dampening effects of these low light days.

We walked in the woods at the weekend, and as you can see....

....so many of the leaves are now now off the trees and down on the ground. I tell you what though, even though everything looked and felt very dull, there was a lovely smell of damp, leafy earthiness which felt perfectly Novemberish. I expect that during this next week we'll be seeing mostly bare trees - it always seems to be that the leaves tumble down all at once and suddenly bare twigs everywhere. I try to be prepared, but every year it catches me by surprise.

With this week of high pressure and low cloud, everything has also been very dry and still, no rain, no wind. Massive advantage for me, the Eternal Reflection Lover, and I've really enjoyed walking along the canal and viewing the world upsidedown in  the water. Grey and dull, yes, but also weirdly calming and tranquil.

This weekend when I was out and about, I made a conscious effort to seek out the bright spots of colour. They are certainly there if you look, and I've been delighted by the sight of the reds, pinks and greens keeping the grey at bay.

Red Virginia Creeper....

...dusky pink hydrangea flowers....

...and yellowy-green ivy flowers.

Beautiful nature never fails to lift my spirits and keep me endlessly inspired.

Home life in November is one great big cosy affair and I'm doing my best to enjoy it and embrace the indoorsiness. I made soup on Saturday, a flung-together recipe which involved leeks, some wild garlic leaves from the freezer, a random tin of butter beans and some frozen edamame beans. It wasn't fantastically tasty if I'm honest, very mild mannered and in need of a little pizazz I thought. So I stirred in some fresh green pesto and drizzled extra on the top and oh my, that really did make it something special. So leek, bean and pesto soup, yes I'd make it again.

November weekending most definitely involves plenty of Hearth Worship, and as always I was right there soaking in the light and warmth and love love loving it. I'm really enjoying my new socks by the way, the colours are soooo pretty and please me greatly, plus they are really warm and cosy. Sock perfection. 

I spotted (and purchased) the first little crate of leafy clementines from the supermarket this weekend, oh, happy days! They taste so good, the perfect balance of citrussy tartness and juicy sweetness. I should also tell you that now the leafy clems are in, I am keeping daily watch for the pots of hyacinths because it's almost time for my annual Hyacinth Appreciation ritual.

In fact, the more I think about it, the more I realise that November does bring a lot of seasonal joy into my life.

After a ridiculous amount of dithering and indecision, my fresh flowers this week are orange roses. Now, supermarket roses are usually one of my last-resort choices (along with carnations and alstroemeria), but there was something charming about this orange bunch which drew me in. I decided to cut them short so they would fit in this lovely pale yellow handmade jug, and I added in a few rogue stems of Alchemilla which I found still flowering in the front garden.

I remembered that the colour of roses has all sorts of symbolism attached, so I looked up the meaning of giving/receiving orange roses - apparently they symbolise "fascination, enthusiasm, desire, and energy". Well, that sounds like a bit of alright and I'm very happy I gifted all those positive emotions to myself.

Talking of orange energy and enthusiasm, my latest blanket is officially off the starting blocks and the very first stripe is orange. This is the Canalboat blanket which I'm making for my new year Crochet-Along, and sadly my yarn packs have been delayed somewhere between Turkey and the UK. Isn't it funny to think of the yarn out there somewhere, making its journey to Yorkshire, maybe floating on the sea right now.....ahhh, I hope it makes it safely to our shores. I think it's going to be early December before the yarn kits will be in my shop at Wool Warehouse which isn't ideal, but I'm beyond happy to be on this new blanket journey and I think I'm going to share more if it with you during this next week.

This morning, Monday, we finally saw an end to the anticyclonic gloomdom and wow, wow, wow, what a fiery show it was too. The sky.......oh, just LOOK!!!! Seven twenty this morning and everything was glowing like it was on fire.

The day continued to brighten and we ended up with the brightest of blue skies full of sunshine, such a welcome feeling and something of a relief too. Finally, the sun is back, and what a joy it was. J and I drove across the hills to visit the gardens at Harlow Carr and it was stunning with so much colour still. I took a raft of colour-drenched photos, and I'm looking forward to sharing those with you.

I hope your weekending was good and filled with cosy little rituals and joyful moments. I hope there was colour and warmth and things you felt grateful for. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

 

Summer Snaps :: early August 2022

♥ Enjoying my walks in the woodland with J, we walk most mornings at 7am and it's such a beautiful way to start the day. The smell of the summer woodland during a light rain shower is one of the freshest scents I know. It's the very definition of the word "lush".

♥ During the extremely warm weather of the last few weeks, I've really appreciated the dappled shade under the trees. Not just the cooling feel of all that greenery,  but the dancing light and shadows has felt soothing somehow.

♥ Woodland walking and a morning coffee - enjoying my daily rituals no matter what the weather. Yes, I do still love a hot milky brew even on the hottest summer days! Mostly I prefer to take time to go out and sit in a café (especially if they have outside tables) but when J is very busy and tied to his desk I fetch us a takeout. I'm still pretty obsessed with these pastel de nata and absolutely love that my local coffee shop sells them and will wrap one up in tin foil for me to bring home with my coffee.

♥ Crocheting outside in the yarden, enjoying the way the sunshine makes the colours of this yarn glow. Gosh I do really adore this blanket.

♥ An evening walk with Little Lady which involved a slight detour afterwards for some refreshments. We went to a bar in town with a gorgeous outdoor terrace and indulged in a pair of very good mojitos. It was lovely.

♥ A visit to the beautiful RHS Harlow Carr gardens, my goodness it was utterly gorgeous there in early August. The giant herbaceous borders are spectacular and I found all the colours really inspirational. It was the three of us (me and J, with Little B), we took a picnic and had a really enjoyable day. I took loads of photos (of course I did) and will pop them into their own blog post I think.

♥ A family walk out into the Yorkshire Dales, well it was more of a hike really as it was nine miles and a pretty tough climb up to the top of Simon's Seat. Walking over open moorland we found enough ripe bilberries to pick and bring home, and J made two delicious jars of jam with them.

♥ This was a challenging but brilliant walk (the four of us on this day) and again, I took lots of photographs because it was exceptionally scenic. Can you see in the above photo, the shadows of clouds moving across the hillside? I absolutely love-love-love when you get to see that happen, I love it almost as much as still reflections in water. I'll try and find time to show you more of this walk very soon.

♥ A sunny pub beer garden in the late afternoon, in the picturesque Dales village of Appletreewick. It was at the end of our long hike and my goodness, it felt so good to sit down and rest our weary feet! From the pub garden we could see the very top of the high craggy rocks where we had eaten our picnic lunch earlier in the day.

♥ The sky in my wine :) tasted soooooo good after such a long walk!

♥ Visiting the market every Saturday morning with J, it's something we both really enjoy and always a lovely start to our weekend. Right now the summer fruits are abundant and we are eating our way through enormous amounts of strawberries, peaches and plums. Our favourite fruit and veg stall has changed positions on the market and is now right next to a homemade brownie stall.....oh.......it's dangerous stuff.

♥ I couldn't resist bringing some home for the Little People and they were suitably grateful for the Saturday treat. They are too sweet for me (just as well to be honest), but I have it on good authority that they are extremely good.

♥ August so far has delivered us the very best kind of summer weather with endless days of hot sunshine and clear blue skies. To say I've loved it is a humungous understatement, I've been ridiculously overjoyed about the weather and just full of summer happiness. We had a stunning heatwave here last week with temperatures reaching into the 30's which is pretty unusual for us up in the North of England. Oh my, I loooooooooved it!! 

♥ Spending so much time outside has been a huge source of pleasure for me this month, from my early morning woodland walks right through to evening strolls as the sun goes down. 

♥ It's 8am in the above photo, and I'm walking into town to run a few errands before it gets too hot. 

♥ On my way home now, just after 9am and the streets are still beautifully quiet. The town seems to be extremely busy this summer with lots of visitors flocking in on market days. I get a bit of a quiet thrill walking around and playing tourist in my own town, pretending I'm on holiday when I'm actually just popping out to get groceries.

♥ Summer lunch in a bowl, full of fresh flavours. I adore this kind of meal and eat it regularly. Raw courgette noodles (this simple gadget is still one of my faves and I use it loads), with lightly blanched yellow beans (a homegrown gift from my friends allotment) and the sweetest cherry tomatoes. Toss the veggies in a little olive oil and lemon juice, then add some protein (cooked chicken and mozzarella this time) then season and add some fresh basil to finish. Yummmmmm.

♥ Finding a shady spot underneath the tangle of honeysuckle and clematis in the back yard on an incredibly hot afternoon. Can you imagine how happy I am with all this blue sky and bright sunshine to hang about it?!

♥ Coming to the end of my crochet blanket and picking up an old cross stitch project. This is a Cotton & Twine design from two years ago and I only had twelve little buzzy bees left to stitch, so I got busy and completed it.

♥ Ta-dah! I now have all four seasons complete and really love displaying them on my (dusty) mantel. One thing I haven't done much of this summer is housework!

♥ A gentle evening stroll up on the moors to take in the beauty of the heather while at its peak. Oh, it's ridiculously stunning up on those hilltops at this time of year, just breath taking scenery in every direction. It was around 8pm in the above photo and the sun was almost ready to sink below the horizon - yes, yes, I took dozens of photos and will show you some more very soon. 

♥ This last photo was taken yesterday morning as I was nervously pacing the floors, straightening out the blankets and tidying up random objects to keep myself busy. I was waiting for Little Lady to return from school with her A level results and I was suddenly anxious in a way that took me completely by surprise. My goodness, it was an emotional ol' parenting business yesterday! Thankfully I'm pleased to tell you that she did extremely well, and I burst into tears. She got the grades she needed to secure her first choice university place which is a major achievement......but she has made the hard decision not to take it for now. Knowing her as well as I do, I think she is absolutely making the right choice for herself and I'm so incredibly proud of her. Teenage life is such an adventure, it's a thrill ride for sure.

I hope you've enjoyed these snippets, I'm having the best summer this year, such a lovely balance of all good things. I wish I could find more time to share here, I've literally got hundreds of photos that I'd like to show you - we had an amazing holiday week by the sea at the end of July, and then some beautiful staycation days out (Harlow Carr and our Dales hike which I've touched upon in this post). I'll try hard to make the time to upload some more summer blogs. I hope this season is treating you well, grasp every bit of goodness in each day, there is so much to enjoy.

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Spring Joy

After a long winter, the spring season has exploded all of a sudden here in my patch and it really is quite something. Despite the temperatures often remaining very wintry, it's been utterly beautiful and I've been out there drinking it in at every opportunity.

The blossom in the park reached it's peak at the start of May and it was absolutely breath taking this year. During my early morning walks I would stand underneath those floral branches and sigh with pleasure. They filled me with joy every single morning (even in the drizzle).

I went for a little rummage in the antique centre one morning and realised it had been a good few years since I'd last been in. It's a very quirky old place set across three floors, kind of ramshackle and chaotic with an old fashioned, nostalgic atmosphere. It's a wonderful place for a poke about as you never know what you might find - I picked out this teeny old glass bottle for £2 and it was love at first sight. It's perfect to display some miniature spring blooms, and yeah I'm a bit in love with that cute little viola too.

Do you remember me telling you a while back that I've got some new bedding? I've wanted to change my bedding for ages as my bargain £10 supermarket set has faded a lot with constant wash and wear over the years and was looking very tired. As I only ever own one set at a time, it's important to me that I really, really like it because it will be on my bed all the time for many years to come.

I fancied something relaxed that had the look of faded linen and I fell for this Pyjama Stripe design which has exactly the relaxed holiday vibe that I was after. It's not actually linen but is 100% cotton so it feels ever so soft, and I bought some blush pink linen covers for our second set of pillows. It occurred to me when I was plumping my pillows that my Dune blanket would go really well with this new look, adding to the coastal feel. It's inspiring me to think about decorating and refreshing our bedroom, it's about time we gave that room a bit of attention I think.

May weather so far has been very mixed, and in amongst the unseasonal cold we've had a few warm sunny days here and there. You can be sure that I've been out and about making the most of it and we enjoyed our first al fresco morning coffee of the year a few weeks ago. One of our favourite cafés has the cutest little courtyard garden for customers to enjoy, and it felt so good to be sitting outside enjoying the early spring warmth. 

The past couple of Sundays we've taken a local walk along the canal, setting out quite early before the tow path gets busy with cyclists and walkers. We have a good reason to walk this way, and that reason has feathers......

......which belong to this flock of chickens!

They free roam in this large field right next to the canal, and close to the farmhouse there is a wooden stand where you can put money into a little flowery tin and pick up a box of eggs. It's one of the joys of living in a rural area, and being able to see the chickens looking so happy and content going about their clucky business makes the eggs extra special.

The eggs in question are very fresh and are excellent for poaching because the whites hold together in a very satisfying blob (if you've ever made poached eggs using this method, you will know the utter satisfaction of whites that hold tight).

The yolks are super-golden.....

....and make my oat pancakes turn out bright yellow. As a result of our canal side jaunts, my Sunday brunch meals have mostly been of the eggy variety, and have made me very content with weekend life.

I'm getting a lot of joy from food at the moment, there is something deeply satisfying about making a meal for one that sits beautifully in a bowl and looks colourful and nourishing.

This was my lunch on Monday, a roasted sweet potato and chickpea salad with a simple olive oil/lemon juice/maple syrup dressing that really hit the spot. The secret ingredient was little snippets of sundried tomatoes, gosh, the flavours were something else.

J and I are walking every morning still, and have gone back to our woodland route now that mud season is over.

The wild garlic is in full flower and looks unbelievably beautiful at the moment. I think any flowers en masse have a really striking effect and although I get to see this spectacle every single year, I can never quite get over the sheer abundance of it.

The flowers are so, so pretty, and don't get me started on the heady scent in the woodland after a night of rain....I can't find words to do it justice.

On the morning when I was taking the wild garlic photos above, I came across a huuuuuuuge feather just laid in the middle of the pathway waiting for me. It was absolutely pristine and so big, just like you would imagine an old fashioned ink quill pen to look. I can't imagine what bird it would have come from as it's way bigger than any feather you'd expect to find in the woods. Any ideas?

Tilly was beside herself with the Wanties so I've had to hide it from her for now because I just know she would have hunted it down if it joined my feather collection on the mantel. Yes, I have a feather collection - of course I do. In fact, if you cast your eyes downwards and look at the photo below, you'll see it on the left of the mantel next to my Observer books....

.....do you see the feathers? Or were you too mesmerised by my gorgeous tulips!?! It's a good time of year for shop-bought tulips, they are plentiful and affordable and I really love having them on my table.

Talking of tulips, I came across something last month which I've squirrelled away in my brain for next year - a possible visit to an actual tulip field here in England, wouldn't that be something? The field in question is down in Norfolk and opens to the public for a few weeks each year to raise money for charity...oh my heart....I pretty much hyperventilated with excitement when I saw the photos. The open season is ticketed and in high demand I think, so it's a trip that needs careful planning with some good fortune thrown in. 

Ahh, it's been really good to catch up with you here in the Attic, I love sharing snippets of this and that, the little joys that make up my days. The spring season is extremely short here in the north of England because we have such lengthy winters, but in a way it makes them even more special. I hope you're enjoying this season too, and finding lots of little joys in your own days xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

 

 

 

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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Wild Garlic Season

Wild garlic grows in shady damp woodland and I'm lucky that here in my local area it grows in absolute abundance. It's an easy leaf to forage for, partly because it is so distinctive that there is no mistaking what you are getting, but also because you can pick a huge handful from a small area without having any impact on the plants at all. So long as you just pick/snip the leaves without disturbing the bulb in the ground, the plants will continue to grow and spread for years to come.

Right now is a good time to gather wild garlic as the tender young leaves (before the flowers bloom) are full of fresh garlicky flavour. I finally went on a foraging expedition last week and collected some to bring home to eat.

The exciting thing was that I didn't need to go tramping about in the woods with the general public as I had a personal invitation from a good friend to go rootling around in her private shady borders. So I was at my friends a week or so ago, a really great few hours where I was able to sit in a sheltered sunny spot in her garden with my flask of coffee and crochet and catch up with a few of my yarny friends at long last. I was thrilled to be let loose to forage to my hearts content, and oh my goodness, the scent of this stuff is just out of this world. It's the very definition of Spring Green in smell form.

As soon as I got home I whizzed up some fresh wild garlic pesto - I only made a small quantity as it was for my own personal consumption. I looked at a few recipes online and worked out that the ratio of ingredients seemed to be roughly along the lines of 1:1:3. And by that I mean one part parmesan, one part toasted pine nuts and three parts wild garlic.

For my small dollop of pesto (which was about four portions), I used :

20g parmesan

20g toasted pine nuts

60g wild garlic

A generous squeeze of lemon juice

Olive oil - just enough to enable the blitzing to happen without it being too oily.

The whole lot gets whizzed up in a mini food processor to make a wildly green chunky paste which smells intoxicatingly of garlic. 

I tossed a small dollop through a bowl of spaghetti for my lunch, adding in some sun dried tomatoes as well as some fresh baby plum tomatoes. The whole bowl was utter Spring deliciousness. 

This pesto is pretty powerful stuff and a little went a long way so I ended up making a few similar lunches last week, sometimes adding a crumble of feta to the top, or a bit of shredded cooked chicken. It will keep in a jar in the fridge for a couple of weeks, but be warned, this is veeeeeeeeery garlicky!

With the remainder of my foraged bounty I made soup. I concocted the recipe myself, and it was absolutely delicious I have to say.

Here is my recipe, should you wish to try it - you could always substitute spinach if you can't get your hands on wild garlic, adding a crushed garlic clove to the celery and leeks instead.

WILD GARLIC SOUP

2 x celery sticks, finely chopped

2 x medium leeks, finely sliced

a knob of butter and a glug of olive oil

2 x white potatoes, cubed into small pieces

600ml vegetable stock

Large handful of roughly chopped wild garlic leaves, maybe around 100-120g (I didn't weigh what I used, so guessing on the grams)

A splash of milk (again, I didn't measure, but I would guess 2 tablespoons/30ml)

And here is the way to go forth into soupy heaven....

1. Melt the olive oil and butter  in a frying pan and sauté the celery and leeks over a medium heat for around 10 minutes until softened.

2. Add in the potatoes and veggie stock and simmer for 20 minutes or so until the potatoes are soft.

3. Add in the wild garlic leaves and simmer for 2 minutes more until the leaves wilt but stay nice and green.

4. Lastly, add a splash of milk , season well with salt and pepper, then blitz until smooth and creamy. 

Ooooo, I've just found another really yummy looking recipe - white bean and wild garlic hummus which is right up my street. I think my early morning wake-up walk may well involve some wild garlic foraging tomorrow.

xxx

 

 

 

 

 

A Stitchy Saturday

It seems I've entered a spell of early starts to my days as I've been waking up naturally around 5.30. But the good news is that I'm sleeping very well at the moment so despite the early hour I feel well rested and ready to roll. I usually get up and head downstairs, feed the kitty, empty the dishwasher, then make myself a frothy coffee to bring back to bed. I went through a phase of drinking hot water with lemon and ginger first thing in the morning, but in all honesty it didn't really send me twirling into the contentment zone like that first coffee of the day does. 

Once I had my coffee in hand I idled around in bed for almost two hours watching videos about decluttering and minimalism which for some obscure reason I'm fixated with at the moment. To be clear, I definitely don't want to be a minimalist, but I do have a deep need right now for more breathing space and less chaos in my living environment. So yeah, maybe my watching this type of content isn't all that obscure as I can see the reason behind it, and I guess I'm looking to be inspired to start working a bit of zen magic in my home. I'll be sure to let you know if any magic happens.

Saturday again (a week since the first day of Spring) which means a walk into town for J and I to visit the market and a few local food shops. It was bitingly cold this morning so we hurried through town gathering food into our bags, picked up a very good latté each, then straight home before the coffee had time to cool. I'm really, really looking forward to some warmer weather I have to say.

The best buy from the market today was this glorious Romanesco cauliflower for £1.50. Wow, I just couldn't resist it. I'm fairly sure I meant to ask for broccoli, but the sight of all those enchanting lime green florets captivated me completely. The colour in this photo doesn't quite compare to the real thing - this is a majorly bright vegetable! J and I had some with our dinner this evening, I tossed some of the florets in some olive oil, seasoned with salt, pepper and some smoked paprika, then roasted in a hot oven for about 20 mins until the edges went slightly crispy. So, so good, and definitely on my list to buy again when I see it.

Do you remember my to-do list for today (I wrote it out at the end of yesterdays post)? Well, I'm pleased to announce that I achieved one whole thing today, yayyy!!!!!!!!!!! Go me!!!! The fourth item on the list was "stitch a greenfinch" and I've had the most wonderful stitchy time of it today. This little 4 inch hoop project from Craftpod is utter stitching perfection - it's the perfect size, just the right amount of counting and concentration, and so insanely satisfying to start and finish in an afternoon.

I sat myself down at the table at around 1pm and I did not stop stitching until that little greenfinch was sat on his pretty perch of mimosa blossom....

.....awwwwww, just look!!! I adore this little hoop, honestly, I couldn't love it more. I finished it off with a little green ribbon bow, then hung it on my wall straight away......

.....next to my Spring embroidery from three years ago. 

I love having a couple of stitchy hoops hanging on the wall with the rest of my seasonal guff - I have Autumn, Winter and Spring hoops, but I don't think I have anything yet for summer. I'll have to see what Jo has in store for us with the Summer Craftpod in June, or maybe I'll design something myself for summer. Ohhhh...I just remembered I already designed this! Yes, it's all coming back to me now. Well I'll definitely need one or two more hoops to go with the Summer daisy as that one's only tiny. I also need to make a Summer wreath too, that's been on my to-do list for the longest time. So exciting, I love thinking about future makes. 

Being that I got caught up in a stitch fest today, there wasn't any time left for Granny Jo or magazine pages. By 4pm I needed to rest my weary eyes and hands and sit down to enjoy some liquid refreshment. I've had a truly lovely, simple day today, and tomorrow there will hopefully be time to tick a couple more things off my weekend list. The clocks change tonight, jumping forward an hour as we move into British Summer Time....I'm tHrilLeD about this because it'll mean longer evening daylight hours......oh, my happy heart!

Hoping you've enjoyed a lovely day today, tell me what's been floating your boat - will it be as obscure as my green cauliflower and stitchy greenfinch I wonder? Do tell!

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New Year Beginnings

Hello, and a very, very Happy New Year to you! *** Today (Monday) is the last day of our holidays before Little B returns to school in the morning and honestly I'm wishing that the relaxed pace of the holidays could continue for just a little bit longer. I don't feel ready to be dashing out the door at 8.30 in the morning, and yet I know that once I'm actually out there I'll love it, I always do.    *** edit to add :: since writing this earlier today, we have just found out that a full lockdown starts tomorrow, so back to home schooling for us. No dashing out the door for the foreseeable future - I really don't know whether to be glad or sad?! 

I de-Christmased the house on new years eve, it's the earliest I've ever done it but the time felt right. I needed to bring some clear breathing space back into our living room, and as I've still got twinkly lights and candles it doesn't feel too sparse or gloomy. As predicted, my hyacinth bloomed for the turn of the year and it is currently looking so fresh and pretty. I love the simplicity of it so much and it seems I'm craving the pared back look right now as I haven't wanted to faff either of my mantels just yet. Well, I stuck some dried eucalyptus into a bottle, but that doesn't really count as full faffery I don't think.

I've got an organza bag of wintery decorations ready and waiting to come out to play (including my winter balls garland), but I'm not quite ready to go there yet. Soon though.

We don't usually celebrate New Year in any major way, but that doesn't mean to say it isn't a day to be enjoyed to the full. We opened a bottle of champagne in the late afternoon, a very generous Christmas gift from my Big Teen who amazingly is now old enough to purchase (and drink) alcoholic beverages. Woah, that really gave me such a huge surge of Mumsy feels on Christmas morning I can tell you. I totally forget that he is now eighteen. Eighteen........but how?????????!

For the first time in aaaaaages, I decided not to bother getting dressed on New Years Day. It really has been a long while since I enjoyed a full pyjama day and it was all kinds of fabulous. I dug out some super-cosy fleecy pyjamas that are years old, pulled on some woolly socks and felt ridiculously snug and contented all day. I did manage to cook a full roast beef dinner mind you (popped a pinny on top of the pj's and all was good) so it wasn't all idle loafing, but mostly you could find me in various positions very close to the warmth of the fire. It was such a good day.

Over the festive period I enjoyed some really lovely sweet treats (most of my modest gifts were of the edible/drinkable variety this year which I was very, very happy with). Take the above offering - a salted caramel and dark chocolate acorn, wow, these were insanely good I can tell you. Mouthfuls of pure luxury!

All my festive chocolate has been consumed now, and the gold carat gin and sparkly champagne has become just a delicious Christmas memory. I am ready to embrace clean eating again, and to leave the sugar and alcohol behind for a while. It really does feel good I have to say. The past few days I've gone back to making oat pancakes for breakfast (recipe on my blog here) and I have love love loved eating them. So good.

I've ordered a new recipe book which should arrive tomorrow (it's this one) and I'm excited to try out some new family meals. Yesterday I sat down and menu-planned for the week ahead which is something I've slipped out of doing in the past month - January is such a good month for resetting all sorts of little routines and habits don't you think?

We took a walk into town on Saturday morning to get stocked up on fresh fruit and veggies from the market and I am so grateful that we get to do this on a regular basis. There is something really satisfying about returning home with bags full of fresh produce, knowing that we have supported a number of great local businesses (butcher, baker, deli, plus fruit/veg and cheese from the market).  This routine is something we started in the summer when our first lockdown ended and our little shops and market re-opened and I'm happy to say we are still enjoying it.

Can you see the canal is frozen in the above photo? We've had such cold, cold temperatures here this past week and our boiler is still messing us about so it's been a bit tough on the home front. Some days it has worked fine (oh, deep joy) and other days (like today) we managed a few hours of heat before it packed in. We are still waiting on an engineer, they tell us it'll most likely be into next week before they can come out as they are so busy. All the layers are needed I can tell you. Today I'm wearing a sports bra, a vest, a long sleeve t-shirt, a thick hoodie, an oversized fleecy pyjama top, plus woolly socks and mitts, oh and a scarf too. And I have two crochet blankets wrapped around me and a hot water bottle. At least we are still able to shower (our electric shower is separate to the central heating) and we have our beloved fire so it's not too dire, we are managing OK for the time being.

Just after Christmas, our local area moved into a higher tier of Covid restrictions which meant that cafés and restaurants were forced to close. I am more than happy (delighted in fact) to support my local indie coffee shop which has stayed open to offer takeaways. Hot milky coffee and woolly layers have been making these freezing cold mornings at home feel special, and I am thankful for this luxury.

However, everything is about to change yet again as the whole of the UK moves into another full lockdown as from tomorrow. We will be back to home schooling, only going out for essential food supplies and for exercise. It's such a strange time, and yet oddly I feel comforted by the idea of simply staying at home. Staying home I can do, and I am determined to make the most of the coming days of slow living and simple comforts.

On Saturday soon after we came home from the market, the weather suddenly changed from icy to snowy with absolutely no warning. As far as I know we weren't expecting snow, so it caught us all by surprise. We watched as the flurries grew heavier and heavier and within an hour there were a couple of inches of perfect soft, powdery snow covering everything.

On the spur of the moment we decided to head out and enjoy the wintry whiteness, J and I, plus Little B and Little Lady.

We haven't been able to take this walk across the fields in a long while because the mud has been next level, so it was really enjoyable to be able to stride out across familiar footpaths frozen hard and covered in a layer of snow.

So different from our many summer walks across here!

It was absolutely beautiful....

....everything so still, quiet and tranquil.

This road looked like something out of a fairy tale, the scene looking like it was straight from Narnia. It was magical I thought.

In complete contrast to all the wintry whiteness outside our door right now, I am currently immersed in all things summery and floral. The Meadow Blanket CAL begins on Friday 8th and I am absolutely delighting in the total escapism of it......all the warm, sunny vibes are flowing here! I'm working with J making the stitch charts and printables this week, as well as the very full photo-heavy tutorial which will be released here on Friday. I am SO excited to take off on this journey across the meadow with you, it couldn't be happening at a better time. Slow, rhythmic, colourful hooky stripes are the very best kind of therapy when all is topsy turvy in the world.

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December Begins

It's the first day of December and what a beautiful, cold, crisp bright day we've been treated to here in Atticland. We had our very first frost of the season this morning and breathing in that super-chilled air was so invigorating.

After dropping Little B at school I was meeting my friend for our weekly outdoor coffee/walk this morning. She was running late so I sat on a frosty bench beneath the above yellow-leafed tree to wait. It was a bit cold on the nether regions but I didn't mind too much....

....I had swans, ducks and pigeons for company....

....and the most fabulous feel of the early morning sun shining full force onto my face. I really am a sun worshipper, never more so that in the winter months when those warm golden beams of light feel so precious.

My friend arrived and we set off to walk along the canal to the park, via the coffee shop. Of course we did, coffee is our thing, and although we would much rather spend time in one of our favourite cosy cafés, we have come to appreciate our al fresco socially distanced meet ups this year.

We always sit in the same place at the top of the stone steps....

....with this view out across the park. I felt truly uplifted by the weather today, particularly as yesterday was so awful. 

I had a real major mood slump yesterday, and I felt deeply gloomy all the way from my head to my toes. I just couldn't shake off the melancholy, no matter how hard I tried to dig for gratitude and thankfulness, I just felt plain fed up with pandemic life. The missed opportunities, the imbalance, the lack of social interaction, the mean squeeze of our lives into the tiniest of boring, repetitive circles. I just wanted it all gone. I wanted my old life back.

Today I have thankfully felt brighter, and I know that the sunshine and brightness of the day has helped enormously. 

Blue skies are like medicine for my poor light-deprived soul, I know this for certain. J thinks I'm absolutely "full of unicorn poop" as he said to me today when I tried to explain my feelings to him. Well that's OK, I can live with that, because I have a very strong feeling that unicorn poop might be rainbow coloured. 

I continue to try and nurture myself physically so that I can feel as strong as possible in this season that I struggle with.

Gawd, I LOVE eating breakfast so much! I usually have it mid morning, and honestly it's just so good. I make a small half-serving of milky porridge (20g of oats) and top it with as much fresh fruit as I can get away with. What you can't quite see in the above bowl is the half a sliced banana and the half a grated apple which are mixed in with the cooked oats. The fresh fruit on top is a mixture of whatever we have in the fridge, usually mango, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries. And a sprinkling of seeds for good measure (I use a mix of pumpkin, sunflower, flax and chia).

Sometimes I do change it up and have a cooked breakfast - a slice of gluten free toast with a poached egg, bacon, mushrooms and tomato. I also like my oat pancakes too. I would love to know what you eat for breakfast, do tell?! Do you vary it each day or do you stick with your favourite thing?

We had our usual trip to the market on Saturday and brought home an amazing haul of the most gorgeous fruit and veg. It's pomegranate season which the Little People are very, very happy about as they love this quirky fruit. I have to admit to getting a freaky amount of satisfaction from the slow, laborious job of freeing up the little jewelled seeds for them to eat out of a bowl.

Obviously my little unicorn-poop mind is easily pleased - give me sunshine and fresh fruit, and I am delighted.

Yesterday I spent the afternoon and early evening crocheting up a bowl of animal parts, like you do. I gave in to the sudden urge to make a small festive animal, and despite the huge protest from my arthritic joints I just about managed to complete all the hooking.

I'm now waiting on the correct size beedy eyes to arrive in the post and then I'll be able to stuff, stitch and assemble all the body bits. I'll show you when it's finished.

Also, a lovely lady reminded me on Facebook yesterday that Granny Josephine has not had her moment in the spotlight yet, and to my shame I had to admit that I'd completely forgotten about her. What with all the Meadow excitement and all, and then cross stitch things and little Christmassy creature things, well, poor Granny Jo has once again been put to one side. Shame on me. I shall see to it right away, and hope to have a ta-dah moment to share very soon.

Beady eyes first though.....!

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Blogtober 2020 :: Day 27

I had a lie in this morning and it was absolutely lush, I woke up around 6.30 but immediately gave myself permission to go back to sleep and my second wake up was around 8am I think. Getting a little extra morning shut-eye is one of the very best bits of the school holidays, especially when the weather isn't playing nice and there are no plans to speak of. As is my usual weekday routine I got up and did a workout this morning and actually really enjoyed it - I never thought this would be me as I've always been more of a lazy pyjama person than a lycra fitness person. But life is full of surprises and finding my way into an at-home exercise routine was one of the very best things that happened for me during Lockdown.

Seven months later and I am really feeling the benefits from regular exercising, not necessarily in the way I look (although this is certainly noticeable) but more to do with my energy levels, state of mind and ability to climb hills without feeling like I'm about to pass out. The latter advantage is a real bonus living in a place full of hills. I generally do five days a week (weekends are for slobbery) and only about 30 minutes maximum a day. If anyone is remotely interested I'll happily give you more details of the kind of things I do - it's all free YouTube stuff where you don't need any equipment, just a small amount of floor space, probably a decentish sports bra and the willpower to commit to it when you are only accountable to yourself. I always feel great afterwards, a bit of a red sweaty mess, but those endorphins are really super little things when they go swimming around in your brain. 

As it was raining this morning, I decided to enjoy my morning coffee treat in the comfort of home. It did mean a wet dash to the coffee shop to collect a take-out, but it's a very short dash which I'm very grateful for. When I came home I cosied up in the hydrangea and felt all kinds of happy just being home with J and the Little People and having nowhere I needed to be, and only the basic chores to get done. I changed over my bedding today, sorted out some recycling, cleaned around the bathroom a little and that was about the extent of today's housework.

Breakfast was a bowl of milky porridge topped with fresh fruit and seeds, my current fave. I ate it quite late this morning (10.45) and by then I was really ready for it. I try and practice some sort of mindfulness when I eat my meals so that I can savour the flavours and enjoy the pleasure of freshly prepared food, but I confess that sometimes I do just scoff the lot without a whole lot of mindful activity. I devoured the above bowl in a matter of minutes, but I'm pretty sure it was utterly delicious.

The weather has been wet, wet, wet all day long and as I sit and write this it is still raining. We were expecting it, the weather forecast for the whole of this week is pretty bad. J and I ventured out to the shops for a few groceries that got forgotten when I placed my online supermarket shop at the weekend. It was nice to get out for a bit of a leg stretch and some fresh air, but honestly it was pretty horrible walking with hoods up and heads down against the driving rain.

We walked along the wet canal, and I took the above photo as I was sheltering under one of the bridges. It was so gloomy and dark, even though it was just after midday.

The churchyard stopped me in my tracks though, all that glorious autumn colour looked spectacular in the gloom of the wet, grey afternoon.

When we got back, I set about making some soup for a late lunch, even though I was pretty sure that I would be the only one eating it. This was to be a green concoction made without a recipe but I was hopeful that the giant market celery would make the soup into something special. My green soup contained two leeks, two cloves of garlic, two ginormous celery sticks, a little bit of broccoli and a whole big handful of fresh green celery leaves. Oh, and a potato, and veggie stock.

It turned out green, but not the vibrant green I was expecting - maybe I needed spinach for that kind of colour and I didn't happen to have any. Taste wise it was very good - I think I overdid the celery leaves a bit but it was kind of like a leek and potato soup with a very strong hint of celery. I made rather a big batch of it, so I'm hoping Little Lady might be tempted to join me for a soup lunch tomorrow, otherwise I guess I'll be freezing it to have at a later date. 

The soup gave me an energy boost and afterwards I felt inspired to finish J's socks.

I have the magic kitchener stitch written out on a piece of paper so that I can chant it out loud as I work the needle, it's a bit like casting a magic spell.

I in no way understand how it works, but by meticulously following the chant with extreme concentration I can manage to make it happen. It really does feel like magic and when it's done properly you can't tell that the darned stitches weren't knitted as it makes a seamless graft. Clever eh?

As soon as I'd finished darning in the ends I asked J if he would like to try them on and he honestly couldn't get them on his feet fast enough....

.....Ta-dah!!!!! One pair of Man Socks complete and already in situ on size ten man feet. I asked him to take them off so that I could wash and block them (they always feel so much nicer to wear after they've been washed and blocked) but he point blank refused. I could not persuade him to remove them, so as far as I know they are still on and keeping his extremities cosy and warm.

I've had a few people on social media ask about the yarn, and I'm sorry to say that since I bought it I've found out that the range has been discontinued. It may still be possible to find it online if you search for it - it's Opal yarn ::

Opal Fairytale : shade 9797 "Heroic Deed"

So I think tomorrow may well be the day for the Naughty Granny Bag to be given a seeing to, I feel ready to get stuck in again and kick that WiP into shape. Wish me luck, and I'll keep you posted!

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Blogtober 2020 :: Day 22

Well today hasn't quite been the productive go-go-go hive of creative activity that I thought it was going to be, but the slowness has suited me very well to be honest. After the school run I went to have coffee with a friend which was really enjoyable. I appreciate my modest social life very much, and meeting up each week with different friends is just the nicest thing. I missed this part of my life very much during our lockdown months and am making the very most of it right now while it's still possible to go to a café with a few others.

I had a late breakfast when I got back home, then faffed around seeing to the laundry, catching up with emails, and generally just excelling at procrastinating. Even though I am so excited about finishing my bag, I couldn't seem to settle down and get on with it this morning. Oh, I've just remembered that I did go for a woodland walk with J very late on in the morning, but I decided (for once) not to take any photos and just appreciate being in the moment. 

I made carrot and coriander soup for lunch today, and it was absolutely delish. By the way I forgot to thank you for your wonderful soupy suggestions on my Day 10 post - Thank You! I made a little list of the ones you mentioned in the comments and am excited to extend my basic soup repertoire. Here they are, in no particular order.....

Swamp soup - love this! (it's leek, potato and spinach)

Red lentil and bacon

Curried butternut squash

Roasted butternut squash

Chicken leftovers with root veggies and a little milk

Potato and corn chowder

Green soup (watercress, spinach and kale, green pepper, stock and a bit of potato)

Broccoli and stilton

It was especially nice today because Little Lady now comes home from school for lunch and the timing was just right for her to have a hot bowl of fresh soup with some buttered toast. She is more than willing to rustle up her own lunch, but the mother in me still jumps at the chance to provide nourishing food whenever possible. I just can't help myself.

I've got some of the biggest, juiciest oranges in the fruit bowl at the moment, they really are magnificent. The above plate is just half of one (I ate the first half before thinking about taking a photo), and I ate it while browsing through the October issue of Country Homes and Interiors. It's very autumnal and a bit brown inside those pages I can tell you, but dahlias and pumpkins are always good for a hit of seasonal colour.

After lunch I set about catching up with the October #yarnfriendsrock challenge, only a day late. I don't know what it is about Wednesday but I can never seem to hold that day in my head properly. I either think it's Wednesday on a Tuesday or a Thursday! The prompt for this week was " Granny Squares" and although I have lots of archive images involving granny squares I thought it would be fun to take a new photo. I moved furniture, gave the floor a quick whizz over with the vacuum cleaner and set about having a play with my blankets. I do have a good few granny square blankets, shall I list them out for you? Ok, well in the above photo, starting from the back....

1. Patchwork Granny - this was a stash bust project using up lots of odds and ends of yarn.
2. Colourwash Granny - 44 shades arranged in a rainbow-ish wash of colour.
3. Summer Harmony - this uses my Harmony Square pattern worked with my Original 17-colour yarn pack.
4. Aria - my current crush, I love it SO SO MUCH.

And not pictured but still in residence we have....

1. Sweet Flower Granny - a stash bust blanket made for our old carava.n
2. Harmony - a rectangular blanket which uses 14 colours for the squares, all edged in Parma Violet.
3. Baby Granny - cashmerino blanket made when Little B was born.
4. Big Blanket - huge monster double bed blanket.

After all the blanket excitement I did eventually settle down with needle and thread and began making weeny stitches to attach the lining into my granny bag. Very gentle, therapeutic work, slow and steady.

I got about half way round before I felt the need for a refreshment break, then half way through my milky coffee I realised that crikey it's only ten minutes until I need to shoot out for the school run. It's been that kind of day, the hours have wafted by and I feel like I didn't really achieve a huge amount. 

I needed to use up these tomatoes which we bought from the market on Saturday, aren't they strange? The veggie man calls them "Yorkshire Blacks", they are a variety of heirloom tomato which is very juicy and has a great flavour. I'm rather thrilled that my basil plant is not only surviving but thriving on the kitchen windowsill, and I've remembered to water it twice, which is something of a miracle. 

I sliced up the tomatoes, drizzled them with a little olive oil, seasoned them, then ripped up some basil leaves to add that unmistakable summery flavour. They really were delicious. Tonight's meal was a bit thrown together, we had the tomatoes with some other salad things and some falafels (not homemade, but very nice). It wasn't really salad weather to be honest, but I enjoyed all the fresh flavours, plus it was a doddle to pull the meal together - the only thing I actually cooked was some garlic bread which meant I had some time to knit.....

I managed a few rows of my sock in the lull between ripping up the basil and putting the garlic bread into the oven. I pulled the wooden coffee table right up in front of the fire and sat with my feet in the hearth, it was oh so cosy, warm and comforting. My hands have been achey today (cold, wet weather I suspect), did I tell you I've started taking turmeric capsules to see if they help ease the discomfort in my joints? I hope they help, I really do. I've got socks to finish, bag handles to attach and a CAL blanket to work on, I need my hands to be tip top. Fingers crossed.

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