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Spring Bank Staycation

Before I launch into this next instalment of bloggy chit chat, I wanted to let you know how much I appreciate the time you take to write me comments. I enjoyed reading your words on my last blog post so much, your kindness and empathy really made my heart squeeze, and I am so grateful for you all. Thank you.

The past few weeks we've been back into the swing of our everyday school routine, but the week before that we enjoyed some wonderful holiday time. It already seems like a distant memory despite only being three weeks ago, but I wanted to write about it here on my blog because it was honestly one of the most enjoyable half terms weeks I can remember in a long while. It was the very end of May and into the start of June and after many weeks of unseasonably cold, grey weather, we were gifted with some very welcome warmth and sunshine for the holiday week.

As you can tell from the title of this post and the familiar woodland scenes, we weren't off galivanting anywhere for our holiday week but enjoying something of a homespun staycation* instead. The spring bank week is always a time when I crave an away-from-home holiday, preferably beside the sea if I can make it happen. In years gone by we would take the caravan away during this break, and there is a big part of me that really misses those simple family holidays. Ohhhh, I've just had a little jaunt down Memory Lane to our first Connievan trip at this time of year......awwww, tiny baby toes!! Little B was only 6 months old at the time, the sweetest of memories for sure.

*A staycation is a play on the word "vacation" and means spending time off in or near your own home, rather than traveling to another location.

So yes, as I was saying, in normal non-pandemic times I would do my utmost to plan a trip away for us during this week, but this year we felt that staying home was the best thing to do. And do you know what, it was absolutely brilliant. Having the word "staycation" inside my head meant that I really did approach the whole week in full blown holiday mode. I ditched all my carefully built routines - no alarm, no workouts, no real agenda other than to rest, relax and have fun.

I happen to live in a small town which is used to welcoming holidaymakers all year round, and so it's pretty easy to occasionally pretend that we are part of the holidaymaker crowd. We can stroll along the canal, pootle about the quirky old streets at leisure, pick up ingredients for an impromptu picnic or an evening barbecue, and settle ourselves down in the sunny garden of a little café to drink morning coffee in the sunshine. Relax, sit back and enjoy the moment because we are are on holiday, and doesn't it feel good?!

On the occasion that included the above ridiculously, outrageously good coffee, we were having a little morning refreshment on our way to the market, as is our usual Saturday routine. The weather was warm and sunny and we were able to sit out in the lovely little café garden which greatly assisted with the holiday vibe. Not long after we'd sat down, J took a phone call from Little Lady asking us if we were at the café and if so, could she come and join us? As we live a mere hop and a skip away, within ten minutes we were joined by both Little Lady and Little B, both freshly tumbled out of bed and in need of some refreshment to kick start their day.  Little B was still half asleep (he honestly had his eyes still half closed) but he made short shrift of a berry smoothie and some hot buttered toast and jam which perked him up no end. It was just such a lovely thing, to have their unexpected company on a sunny Saturday morning, and it made me so happy.

The sunny weather and holiday vibe put me in the mood for a holidayish drink, and I got it into my head that I would very much like to sit around in my back yard and sip a cocktail. Once this idea popped into my head I could not dislodge it, so off I went to purchase the ingredients for one of my all time favourite cocktails - a Mojito. Oh. My. Goodness. I can't tell you how much I adore this drink. It takes a fair bit of effort to make it as you need to squeeze a million fresh limes which is surprisingly hard work. I followed an online recipe and made my own sugar syrup (basically equal measures 1:1 of sugar and water, stirred until dissolved). Once the squeeeeeezing and syrup making is done, then creating the mojito is a breeze. Fresh mint leaves in the bottom of the glass, then add in roughly 1:1:2 of sugar syrup : fresh lime juice : white rum. Muddle the mint around with a spoon to release the flavour, then add in lots of crushed ice and a splash of soda water.

Ahhhhh, the smell of this drink is like the best of everything summery, and the taste is just the perfect combo of fresh, sweet and sharp. Love love love it. 

I made virgin mojitos for the Little People, and we thoroughly enjoyed our cocktail hour, sat out in the back yard with a blanket or two to take the evening chill off. We had music playing, and it was just the loveliest end to the day - I'll definitely be adding Make Cocktails to my summer holiday to-do list.

This time of year calls to my light-loving soul and the looooong days feel absolutely magical to me. The fact that it doesn't get dark until after 10pm in June makes me insanely delighted with life, and evening walks become not only possible but a truly wonderful thing indeed.

I took these photos one evening when it was the three of us spending time in the park - myself, Little Lady and Little B. The time stamp is 9:02pm and as you can see it was utterly beautiful out there with the sun just in the process of dropping behind the trees. It was a very spontaneous outing, the Little People came to me and said they wanted to go to the park for a while, so I grabbed my beloved granny stripe blanket and the Little Peeps grabbed a frisbee and off we went right there and then. I think this was one of the nicest things about this particular holiday, that I got to spend some really great time with the Little People...actually, more to the point, the Little People seemed to really want to spend time with their Mum and Dad haha!! At ages 17 and 11, they are becoming increasingly independent in how they choose to spend their time. 

Believe it or not, I actually wrote myself a to-do list for my Staycation week which is very unusual for me. To be fair, it did include things like "go on a picnic" and "mojitos" so it wasn't all that arduous to tick things off. Top of my list was to tidy up the back yard, and this also included a trip to buy flowers and compost, and possibly some new garden furniture. Last year my back yard space remained in a state of hibernation and gentle decay and I think the only thing I planted were a few petunias that a friend gifted to me. So this year I wanted to make more of an effort because even though this outside space of ours is teeny tiny, it's still a place that I enjoy sitting in and it makes me happy when my pots have colourful flowers in them instead of straggly weeds.

I absolutely love the process of choosing and buying a collection of summer annuals to fill my pots with, especially as we always go to the same place each year. You may remember in past years me talking about "the plant man" who had a stall on the market selling pots of growing flowers as well as buckets of cut flowers (dahlias in particular were one of my favourite things to buy from him every week)? Well sadly he no longer brings his cheery flowers to the market but he does run a beautiful little garden nursery with his wife and I love to support this kind of small local business. It's about 8 miles away in nearby town across the border in Lancashire (somehow feels very liberating to Cross The Border these days), so it's necessary to involve J as he's in charge of transport around here. This year we also had the Little People with us, so it was even more fun than usual - I might have mentioned before that Little B absolutely loves flowers and bless him, he was so excited to help me choose. As you can see in the above photo, I went for a hot palette of pinks, purples and reds and stuck to my tried and tested favourites - geraniums, daisies, verbena, little petunia-type trailing flowers, snapdragons and lavender. I also always buy a few trays of trailing lobelia too, as I LOVE the way this looks when it flowers - I chose the deep blue sapphire colour which should look amazing alongside all the hot pinks, reds and purples of the other flowers.

J helped me to give the back yard a good tidy up and a sweep - I decluttered all of my "gardening" paraphernalia and we got rid of a fair bit of accumulated rubbish and broken things. It felt good to have a bit of a clear out and we decided to move the table and chairs into the corner this year to give us a little bit more space for flowers. We really desperately need some new furniture (I've been saying this for years and years) as our chairs are now very unsafe to sit on, but I'm still trying to decide what I want out here. I'm thinking maybe some slightly more substantial chairs which are more loungey, with a low coffee table instead of normal height table? Not sure - garden furniture is so ridiculously expensive isn't it, and as usual I'm in a spin of indecision with it.

Anyhow, after two whole days of working out here, I'm really happy with what I've done and how it looks without spending too much money and making use of what I already had. I've taken quite a few photos of my pots and the back yard in general, but I want to share that in a separate post I think. Also....aren't snapdragons just the most enchanting flowers?? I don't think I've ever had them before, but I'm thinking I've been missing out, they are delightful. 

Although our staycation week was mostly spent at home, we did manage to take a day trip (ticking off the "picnic" on my to-do list). Just recently I've been really hankering after a trip to the west coast, to visit Silverdale and Arnside. Sometimes the memories of old, familiar places call to me so strongly that I get a little obsessed about wanting to revisit. We haven't been to this coastline since 2015 which was our last caravan trip (sadly I didn't manage to document that trip on my blog, but I do still have all the photos on my laptop). If you've been visiting with me for a while then you may remember how much we used to love staying at the Youth Hostel in Arnside when the Little People were small (post from waaaaaay back in 2008, and also in 2013). Silverdale is also a really special kind of a place, well the whole area is very unique and so unlike anywhere else I've ever been, kind of sleepy and quaint and old fashioned and completely unspoilt. I absolutely love it there and couldn't wait to be back. 

The day we picked to go, the weather was grey and overcast with the threat of rain hanging in the air, but it turned out to be pretty good weather for walking. We parked the car in Silverdale and set off to walk a 6.5 mile circular route, planning to stop half way round to eat our picnic lunch.

It's a lovely walk and involves quite a bit of steep woodland climbing in the beginning, but after a while you emerge from the trees and can take in the sweeping views of the coastline. 

This is a tidal estuary coastline (the river Kent which runs into the wide expanse of Morecambe Bay) so it's not the sea as such....

...., but there are beaches with vast sandy mudflats and wide open watery views.

It's a curious mixture of beach and riverside, with grass and flowers growing on the huge expanse of sand. It always feels and smells so good here, like damp, salty, earthy, grassy mud? I wonder if you can imagine it?!

We stopped to eat our picnic lunch on a little wooden bench overlooking the water and it was just the nicest thing, I do love picnic lunches very, very much and want to have lots of them as we head into the summer season. I'm putting it firmly on my summer to-do list.

The walk continues to follow the line of the water....

....with the pathway climbing up above the shore onto low cliffs, twisting through ancient looking trees. It's so tranquil somehow, and I love the combination of woodland with coastal views. 

We walked through some beautiful meadows too, and at this time of year the wild flowers are looking so, so pretty.

Almost at the end of our walk and we were all feeling a little weary by this point- 6.5 miles isn't that far really, but with the steep climbing in the beginning I could certainly feel it in my muscles. Only one thing for it - head off in search of refreshment!

We drove the few miles from Silverdale to Arnside and it was exactly as I had remembered it in my mind. It's a very unspoilt little place that doesn't change from year to year, and I love it for that. It's perfectly suited for some very slow-paced pottering which really should include a combination of coffee/cake/ice cream while you breathe in the expansive views.

There's a very small stone jetty with wooden benches which make the perfect refreshment spot. I really enjoyed my coffee (but you knew that already, right?) and it was just a relaxing time to sit and appreciate the moment with J and the Little People. It was late afternoon by this point and the weather had gotten quite cold, so we took a short walk along the shoreline before jumping back in the care and heading homewards. 

It was such a good day out, and I really enjoyed the company of the Little People, who really aren't all that little any more. I especially treasure the time spent with my gorgeous Little Lady, because at age 17 she could quite easily have chosen to stay at home or gone out with friends instead of walking and picnicing with us. I love her company, she is such an easy young person to get along with and I do know I'm very lucky to have such a close friendship with her.

I'm very aware that if you are reading this blog without knowing my back story, you would assume that I only had two children. My eldest will turn 19 at the end of the summer and so technically is no longer a child, which blows my mind on a regular basis. He's still living at home right now but leads a very independent life - he comes and goes as he pleases, goes to work, to the gym, to his driving lessons and out with his mates, and every so often we'll have a passing conversation or two. I'm hoping that soon enough things will fall into place for him and he'll be ready to get going with the next phase of his life. 

Awww, just look at this sweet, sleepy kitty, I do really love having her around and I think she likes having us around too.

Early June turned out to be be so, so beautiful and being outside for a lot of the time felt amazingly good. I'd almost forgotten the joy of outdoor living (May was really a huge disappointment in the weather department) and love love loved every minute of breathing it in.

Well, this has turned out to be a much longer post than I originally anticipated, I hope I haven't bored you. I uploaded the photos about ten days ago and have been writing in stops and starts over the course of the past week or so. I'm keeping fingers crossed that there is at least some sort of story-flow because I'm not editing or going back over anything - what you've just read is the spontaneous blurb that my mind deposited onto the page. I will be back again soon I promise, hopefully with a bit more clarity and togetherness. I would really like to show you more of my back yard (now named the Yarden after I discovered the hashtag on insta) and some of my recent decluttering success moments. You've no idea how proud I am to actually have decluttering moments to talk about...major life win.

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Blogtober 2020 :: Day 4

Yesterday it rained aaaallllllllll day without stopping and so assuming we would most likely have the same kind of stormy wet weather today we made no plans. A Sunday with no plans is actually a rather blissful thing in my opinion - going to sleep on a Saturday night knowing that there will be no beep-beep-beep of the alarm clock and that you are at liberty to sleep as long as your mind and body needs is such an underrated luxury. 

I actually woke up quite early (6am) but as soon as I remembered the no-plan-plan I quickly closed my eyes and allowed myself to drift back into a light sleep, oh....so good! I truly value my ability to do this, I used to think that everyone could take themselves back off to sleep after waking but I know that J absolutely can't. As soon as he wakes he is WIDE awake and usually gets up straight away. Me, I can snooze like a pro.

I eventually got up around 8 am and when I opened the curtains imagine my delight when I spied bright blue skies - yay,  happy, happy me!!! J and I had a quick chat about what to do with this unexpected gift of a fine-weather day and decided it would be lovely to take a walk at Bolton Abbey. So we ran the idea by the Little Peeps, popped some croissants into the oven to warm for breakfast and gently got ourselves ready to head out.

Bolton Abbey now has a ticket booking system in place so that you choose a specific car park and a time slot to arrive as a way to avoid the pathways becoming too congested. There is also a one-way system around the more narrow footpaths which took some getting used to at first (isn't it funny how walking "backwards" along a route that you are so used to feels very strange?!). I'm really grateful that we have such lovely places to walk within a short 20 minute drive, especially when you just want something easy-peasy. Easy paths, minimal mud, and essential refreshment stops to sweeten the whole affair. Count me in!

The river was extremely high and fast flowing after a pretty wet week, and the sound of it rushing over the rocks was surprisingly loud. I love it when it's like this, it feels like there is an almost palpable energy in the air when the river runs at speed. It doesn't quite speak to my soul in the same way that the sea does, but it's not a bad second best.

We had such a beautiful morning walk, the pathways were quiet and the sunshine was warm on my face which made me feel ridiculously happy. 

We chatted and laughed our way around the riverside (it's about a 2 hour round route) and even Little B reluctantly admitted that he was enjoying the walk after making a big dramatic song and dance about not wanting to come when we set off. His shoes felt all wrong apparently, which is a pretty big deal when you are ten.

We treated ourselves to drinks from the Strid café when we finished the walk - bottles of cloudy lemonade for the Little Peeps and cappuccinos for J and I. It was warm enough to still be able to sit outside (although a little damp on the nether regions) and I thought to myself as I sat there in the midday sun that early Autumn doesn't feel half bad.

We arrived home around 1 pm and I set about making the dinner as it needed a four hour cook time in the slow cooker. I picked out a favourite chicken recipe from my slow cooker book which is extremely easy to make with very simple ingredients but tastes amazing. The addition of pearl barley into a basic chicken stew is genius, it's such an old fashioned ingredient somehow but adds a delicious texture and really helps to thicken the stew.

Incidentally, I've had this little recipe book for years, it's my go-to for slow cooker recipes and I can highly recommend it. Every recipe I've tried has been amazing - easy ingredients, fantastic flavours and it never fails to give us a great family meal.

It's called "Easy Slow Cooker" by Ryland Peters and Small, you can find it on Amazon ((HERE))

The recipe called for a tablespoon of fresh herbs, so I pootled out into the back yard to pick some rosemary and thyme (rather straggly looking thyme bush pictured above). It's all looking a bit bedraggled out there to be honest, but I did notice (with rather a huge amount of joy) that my miniature Christmas Tree from last year is looking very healthy and quite a lot taller than it was in January, yipppeee!!!! I'll try and remember to photograph it to show you - I ordered it from Bloom&Wild last year,  it was one of those fabulous ones that somehow manages to get packed into a box and posted through the letterbox - yes, really, a real living christmas tree in a box! It came with a pretty pot, miniature decorations and twinkly lights and everything.....hang on, let me see if I can find more details to show you....

.... here you go....click ((HERE)) to see what I mean - I chose the Party Time tree. I'm so excited to bring it indoors again in December :)

Having the Sunday dinner in the slow cooker was really pretty wonderful, the delicious aromas wafted right through the house throughout the afternoon and even Little B came downstairs and said that dinner smelt amazing. It gave me the chance to sit down on the sofa for an hour this afternoon knowing that I only had to make time to cook potatoes and green veggies.

I did a little more sock knitting, I'm working on the heel flaps now which use straight needles, and it'll soon be time for me to perform some knitty magic when I miraculously turn the heels. It never ceases to amaze me, I have absolutely no idea how a heel turn actually works, but the instructions somehow make it happen. Unless you are drinking gin and tonic at the same time, and trust me on this, it's all a bit uncertain then.

I waited until 4pm to light the fire as it wasn't really all that cold this afternoon, but we are in that first-fire-of-the-season giddy phase where having the open fire feels really special after so many months without it. It did feel very cosy sitting with my knitting and feeling the warmth from the fire. It's one of the very best things about Autumn.

Hmmm......it still seems to be Summer on my mantel though, I must make time to faff around up there and make the switcheroo over to Autumn. Time to dig around in the cupboard of doom for the crochet pumpkins and Autumnal guff. 

Well it's 8pm now and I've got a few jobs to do to get ready for tomorrow. Then I think I'm going to tuck up cosy in bed for a while with a cup of tea and a magazine, a gentle end to a lovely slow Sunday.

I hope you've had a fabulous day full of simple pleasures.....see you tomorrow (daily blogging is feeling oh-so-good!)

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Home Safe :: Week Six

Hello my lovelies, thank you as ever for calling to see me, and for so many wonderful chatty comments which I have loved reading on my last post. I'm sorry I'm late in writing up this instalment of my weekly not-muchness, I've been feeling a weeny bit off kilter this week and not really in a chatty mood to be honest. I find that when I feel this way it's best to just stay low and quiet, keeping myself to myself until I feel my bounce return. 

Week six (as far as I can recall) passed by in a slow blur of familiar routines and sameyness. I went just once to visit the cherry trees and saw that they were already on the wane, shedding their delicate petals like snow. I was so glad that I made an almost daily pilgrimage to see them the previous week when they were absolutely at their peek, the floral beauty has been spectacular this year, a real mood lifter for sure.

The start of week six was sunny and lovely and like many of us in the UK who are used to very changeable and inclement weather, I was full of gratitude for the dry, sunshiny days we were gifted throughout April.

On days when J isn't working and we feel in the mood, we can make our daily walks a little longer than our usual woodland strolls. I like the feeling of striding out across open fields, soaking up the warmth of the sun and enjoying the miles pass by under my feet.

We see very few people on this walk and absolutely no traffic along these small lanes at the moment. It gives a  lovely sense of freedom to be able to stroll along in the middle of the road, admiring the views and taking in the details of the season.

I love seeing the bracken ferns gently beginning to unfurl in the hedgerows, another layer of fresh greenery to remind us that Spring is in full swing.

On this day last week we extended our route to make a big circular loop, walking the last two or three miles home along the canal towpath. 

It's been a long while since we walked this far along the canal and I had forgotten how tranquil it is to walk beside such still reflective waters. 

On Wednesday last week the rain finally came, after more than a month of exceptionally dry weather in April. It was really rather lovely to experience it after so long - the sight, sound, smell and feel of it was delightful. It wasn't especially heavy rain, more a series of light showers which continued on and off for a few days.

We still took our daily walk on the wet days and actually we didn't really get too wet walking under the leafy trees.

I absolutely loved being in the rainy woodland that afternoon, the scent of the warm, damp earth mixed with fresh wild garlic was magical. It's just unbelievably beautiful out there at the moment and I can't get enough of the bright light and colour that is flooding our days after what has felt like a long, grey winter. The woodland suddenly seemed to green up last week, with the beech leaves fully open but still soft and droopy and that amazing vibrant bright green.

Talking of greens, we have entered asparagus season and I am so delighted by this simple fact. Fresh, locally grown spears are in the supermarket now and I am eating as much of it as I can. Asparagus x 6 on the shopping list if I could get away with it, although it's still quite expensive as vegetables go. Gosh, I do love it so.

We've been muddling through with Little B and the whole business of home schooling, some days working better than others. Last week was a bit hit and miss to be honest, some days he seemed quite engaged and productive, working away in his bedroom and uploading his work to the online portal so that his teacher can see what he's up to. Other days the procrastination levels were sky high and he did everything possible to avoid sitting and actually doing anything. I had to keep my frustration in check (it's soooooo tiring trying to keep them going with it all), and we pretty much limped through the week.

Probably the most fun thing we did was the stuff about Healthy Eating (I'm sure this is on the curriculum every single year) - I took charge and suggested we could make soup from scratch, encouraging Little B to do most of the work. He did good, and we made a simple tomato and red pepper soup which he ate (at great speed) and then wrote up the recipe to share with his class online. 

When I'm not doing the Mummy/teacher things with the youngest offspring (which seems quite time consuming some days), you can usually find me sitting at the dining table. I'm continuing to put healthy food into my body and feel so good for it. My breakfast is usually oat pancakes, or a bowl of oats/seeds, greek yoghut, grated apple, banana and berries. I really love breakfast, it honestly gives me so much pleasure to make and eat that first meal of the day. 

Oh my gosh, do you see that??? That thing of utter beauty right there ↑↑↑ ???  That's my new mug which arrived in the post last week, and is most definitely one of my most favourite mugs ever ever ever. I am a long time huge fan of the ceramicist Ken Eardley and when I saw on Instagram that he had some fresh new mugs for sale, well my heart was invested within a nanosecond. Pink and turquoise is one of my all time favourite colour combinations and this mug honestly couldn't be more perfect for me. That beautifully excessive  handle is everything, and every coffee in this mug is an absolute pleasure. Sigh......so in love with my mug!

So yeah - lots of hours sat at the table, eating, drinking, pondering and hooking. Last week I worked a lot on my new Aria blanket, every day making the most delicious colour decisions, crocheting like the clappers and joining squares to make row upon row. Building a blanket from squares is huge fun, and although it's more stop-starty than working a striped design, I get such a kick from seeing it all come together. After a whole week of solid work I managed to join all one hundred and forty four squares. I am beyond excited by it and very proud of it too as it's been a major testing of my colour-design skills I have to say.

I find it easier to crochet join-as-you-go squares sat at the table, but throughout the making of this blanket I've had to frequently use the floor to make layout and colour decisions. I think it's been interesting for the Little People to see me at work actually, and they've been commenting, encouraging and occasionally making suggestions as I've spent countless hours on my hands and knees trying to work everything out.

I took the above photo a week ago on the same day when we took that drippy wet walk in the woods. The day felt chilly and even though I thought we were finished with the fire for this season, I couldn't resist a few hours of cosy warmth and fireside comfort. I really love having the fire lit, but it IS Spring and I really hope that there won't be another fire in that grate until October. Well possibly September would be acceptable, if it really came to it.

I had a few more bluebells and cow parsley stems on my table last week, very modest pickings from the verges and allotment.

I keep thinking about Bolton Abbey as this is the exact time of year that I so love being there, but I'm trying to be content with what I can find close to home and not dwell too much on what I'm missing. A couple of little bluebell stems in a glass jar on my table has been making me absurdly happy, so there is that. Pleasure in the little things - always.

And even though I'm not able to feast my eyes on the glorious bluebell banks this year, I've certainly been having fun stitching them! Last week I put the final crosses into my Spring sampler from Cotton & Twine and have to say I was a bit sad when it was all over - I've LoVeD stitching this design so much. I need to make time to get it mounted now, the Aria blanket has really had me in it's creative grips this past week and I've not been able to think of anything else. 

Well I hope you're all keeping well and content out there in your own stay-home bubbles, and that life is giving you more ups than downs. Remember to seek out the little things that give you pleasure and I really hope you're having a peaceful, restful week.

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Home Safe :: Week Four

Here I am again, gently navigating the continuing strangeness of our Home Safe days. Last week was week four and the second week of our school holidays, so it felt especially slow and indulgent in many ways. 

The weather has been very dry and very sunny, although my goodness it has been super chilly too with a couple mornings where we woke up to ground frost. But oh, the blue, blue, blue skies have been heavenly, and I am drinking in all this bright light and colour like a parched starved thing!! It's almost too delicious for words, the frothy gorgeousness of Spring in full tilt. The large blossom trees around the neighbourhood are just this week beginning to open their flowers (we are many weeks later up here in north Yorkshire than the southern counties) and it is such a delight.

We continue to walk every day, enjoying the precious chance to escape these four walls and stride out along our local footpaths, tracks and fields. I am so grateful for what we have close by, and although I feel a little envious of those with gardens and greenery right outside their back doors, I do appreciate how lucky I am to have fields, woods, canals and rivers I can easily walk to.

We often rest a while at this curved stone bench to catch a breather, it's such a lovely addition to the woodland (you can read about it here) and offers a beautifully peaceful little stopping point along the walk. There is a woodland poem carved all along the stone seat, next time I'm there I'll make a note of it to share with you.

It amazes me how much change we see in the woods every single day, even if that change basically amounts to the ever expanding shades of green appearing all over. It is just so LUSH. Wild garlic reaching its peak (no flowers yet, but soon...) and many of the trees beginning to unfurl their delicate new leaves. I adore the feeling of Spring rushing towards us, there is such a palpable energy in the woodland air that you can't help but feel uplifted by it.

We walked out across the fields to Tarn House again on Sunday (this has become our weekend walk) and it was nice to be out in the open air for a change. I love woodland walking but sometimes I crave the open countryside and long views out across the surrounding hills. 

I did a couple of evening walks with Little Lady last week which is always a pleasure, she is great company, very chatty and we get along extremely well. Walking in the evenings has a completely different feel to our daytime jaunts, it's more relaxing in many ways with the soft golden light, low, low sun and lengthening shadows. 

Life on the home front has been a slow plod, and there isn't really much to report. I spent an afternoon clearing up the back yard, dismantling my collapsed and dilapidated old plastic tent-greenhouse, shifting around some large fruit trees in pots (inherited gifts from my very good friend who relocated earlier in the year and couldn't take them with her) and generally having a long overdue sweep up and tidy. I cleared my pots and they are now awaiting fresh compost and fresh flowers/plants, although at the moment I really don't quite know where/how I am going to get those from. I've been sitting out in my old camping chair in the afternoons, making the most of the newly cleared sunny sheltered corner (where my greenhouse used to be), sometimes wishing I had a real garden to play in but also quite content with my low-maintenance little yard situation.

I've also LOVED (really, really loved) hanging out my freshly laundered bedding to dry on the line, it's such a simple thing, but the pleasure it delivers at bedtime is massively huge. Sun-dried cotton bedding is just heavenly to sleep in, no two ways around it.

Another week of menu planning, food juggling and cooking, and all is well. I do really enjoy being in my teensy-weensy kitchen rustling up healthy home cooked meals for myself and the family. I need to get a bit better at writing the Monday Morning shopping list though, as I keep managing to miss off vital ingredients. It's no good making a menu plan if you don't actually look at it when making the shopping list. Ah well, we've been managing and our evening meals when we all eat together are real highlights of my days.

I continue to stitch, stitch, stitch my way through these slow home days. I'm so mad at myself as I managed to hurt my hand again last week picking up a very heavy shopping bag (osteoarthritis in my joints) so I am not able to crochet for a little while until that eases up again. I am very, very glad to have my stitching projects waiting in the wings to carry me through the days when my hook isn't an option.

I finished my "Love is All You Need" cross stitch and framed it up last week, so so happy with it! I'll take some photos and share with you later this week. I've now started stitching the April subscription project from Cotton and Twine which I've been very lucky to receive as an early preview. It's an absolute joy to work on and I've been quite obsessive over it.

Mostly I sit at the dining room table working on it in a quiet, solitary frenzy, but a couple afternoons last week I took it outside to stitch in the sunshine. My first ever alfresco stitching, and it was oh so good. I promise to show you more this week. If you want to see what the finished design looks like, click ((here)) for a peek - it's super lovely!

A dinky white fluffy cloud in a blue, blue sky - just a little moment in my day when I looked up over the rooftops and felt elated by the weather and the season. No more winter. No MORE WINTER!!!! Just a bit happy about that state of affairs, might have squealed a little at the joy of it being Finally Spring.

Soft and gentle routines continue here in the Attic, the days punctuated by many trips into the kitchen to prepare and cook food and drink, either for myself, Little B, or the fam at large. I drink coffee throughout the day (all decaff I might add), and really enjoy the familiar ritual of both making it and drinking it. I like to heat up and froth my milk (just by hand using a little whisk, nothing fancy) then stand as close to the coffee machine as I can while it slowly empties into my mug as I absolutely adore the smell of fresh coffee. I really miss my daily cafe visits, as much for the aroma and the familiar, warm comfort as for the milky caffeine drinks. 

Last week I completed five more morning PE workouts, making four whole weeks now. I am so bloomin' surprised by a) how much I enjoy it and b) how much stronger my body feels. Little B still does it with me, but his enthusiasm isn't always A grade. Sometimes he spends half the time rolling about on the floor wrapped in a blanket, sometimes his sole purpose seems to be to put me off balance and make me wobble, but we have fun with it and I'm careful to encourage him without trying to enforce it. 

I did a little bit of internet shopping last week, small treats and indulgences that arrived on my doorstep and made me happy. I bought a new candle tin in one of my fave scents for Spring - Bergamot and Green Tea. I also replaced my run-out posh hand soap (this one) which I love so much, it makes the ordinary  business of hand washing feel like a treat every time.

And there we are, another ordinary, very mundane week in the Attic, staying home and keeping safe and relishing life's little pleasures and small joys. Family time, quiet time, familiar walks and home routines. I'm so happy it's Spring, did I say that already? This week, my plan is to go out every single day to walk underneath the blossom trees, and that's as much planning as I'm prepared to do. 

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Today's Happy Things

♥ The bluest of blue skies today with not a cloud in sight and warm enough to walk without a coat (I still kept my vest on though, shhh, don't tell anyone). Sunny warmth is very high up on my list of happy-inducing things, and I've felt good right down to my bones today.

♥ The grass at the park is spotted with golden celandines which made me smile when we walked across it today.

♥ We took our daily exercise through the park this morning, walking up to the farm shop. We are pretty well stocked up with basic cupboard groceries and meat etc in the freezer, but as a family of five we eat a lot of fresh fruit, salad and veggies each week. I left J and the Little Peeps outside and went into the shop on my own and it took aaaaaaages to queue for the tills (keeping 2 metres distance from everyone). But finally coming out into the sunshine with a bag of fresh produce made it well worth it.

♥ Al Fresco hooky in the afternoon sun, always makes me happy! The sun stays in our back yard until around 3pm at this time of year, and I move my chair into the corner by the back door to catch the very last rays before they disappear behind the rooftops. We really need new outdoor chairs - this is a very old camping chair which is on it's last legs, but once I've draped it with a blanket it makes for a super-cosy movable crochet spot. I love this blanket so much, it's the Granny Patchwork blanket which I made in 2012/13. It's had a huge amount of use over the years, and still looks and feels wonderful. I'm very VERY tempted to make another scrappy patchwork blanket as it's a brilliant project for using up small amounts of stash yarn.

♥ A knock on the front door this afternoon, and a gift from my lovely neighbours from across the street at number 21. Their sweet Little Miss (who is around 4 years old) painted this glorious rainbow for us to stick in our window, I was so delighted! As I've probably mentioned before, our street is extremely friendly and even though we are social distancing, many of us keep our front doors open and spend time in our front gardens in good weather. It's really comforting to still be able to see each other and chat from a safe distance. 

♥ With the most delicious, juicy vine tomatoes from the farm shop, I made a Greek Salad to have with dinner tonight. Crikey, it was insanely good. We had it with small baked potatoes and sweet chilli hot smoked salmon (served cold), it's exactly the type of simple food which gives me all the happy feels. 

♥ Although we've had the most glorious sunny spring days this week, the evenings have felt chilly and I've been lighting the fire after we've eaten to keep the downstairs room warm. But to be honest, I like having the fire going for the cosy factor more than anything, it's just so comforting to  look at and listen to. I realised earlier today that my mantel is still in winter mode, and I am really looking forward to faffing it with Spring things tomorrow. I have plans to make a simple Spring garland - I'm thinking something floral would do nicely.

♥ I hope your days are passing by gently and without drama, and that you are finding joy in life's small pleasures. Sending loads of love and rainbow brightness out to you all, take care xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

 

 

 

Summer Days

We've not had the greatest Summer weather here lately, it's been incredibly wet and cool for June. The upside to all the falling wet stuff is the complete and utter lushness of the countryside, it's just so greeeeeeeen and beautiful everywhere, if a bit on the damp side.

On Monday morning J and I drove up into the Yorkshire Dales to walk around the picturesque village of Malham. This is only a short walk (around 4 miles), heading out of the village across lush green fields and into the small woodland that surround  Janets Foss waterfall. 

From there it's a steep climb up....

....until you eventually reach the top of the magnificent Malham Cove.

This limestone pavement is world famous (I'm saying that, but I'm not sure if that's actually true? It feels like it should be famous though!). Famous or not, it's an amazing geological feature and the subject of many school geography lessons.

It's not especially easy terrain to walk on and the "grykes" (the gaps between the limestone rocks) are pretty deep. But it's fun to hop from rock to rock, making a slow journey from one side to the other.

J really doesn't do well with heights, so I ventured on my own towards the edge of the cove to take in the spectacular view down the valley. It was drizzling with rain at this point so a little murky and grey, but nevertheless still very beautiful.

The descent from the top of the cove is via a very, very long higgledy piggeldy run of stone steps. Malham cove is 260 feet high, so that's a lot of steps....over four hundred of them believe it or not. It makes you very quickly realise you have a whole heap load of muscles in your legs that don't very often get a work out.

I took regular stops on the way down to admire the long distance views and to appreciate the close up details too. There was lots of wild thyme flowering amongst the rocks and the colours seemed even more vibrant that usual in the dull, grey light.

It always amazes me when we reach the bottom and look up to see how very, very high that limestone cliff face is.....and to realise that we were up there ON TOP just a short time ago. Wow....it takes my breath away. Every. Time.

The stroll back to the village is gentle and scenic.....

.....a beautiful meandering path through flowery meadows.....

....then a short jaunt down a quiet country lane.

It was lunch time when we arrived back into the village, so we decided on a welcome sit down in the local pub for a quiet drink and a very tasty light lunch.

It was a lovely day, and for the gazillionth time I said my silent thanks of gratitude for the six child-free hours that J and I get to spend together every Monday. It's such a blessing.

Back on the home front and summer is still blooming....it's Peony Paradise right there on my table this week, and I am so happy about it! One bud is still to open, but the other four stems are putting on a spectacular floral show. I am enjoying these flowers so much and drink in their beauty many, many times during the day.

Yesterday evening I rounded up Little B and asked him if he wanted to come with me on an elderflower gathering expedition. He was overflowing with enthusiasm (sweet boy) and so at 7.30, off we went into the soft early evening to see what we could find.

We have a place that we visit each year to gather elderflowers - even though they are very common hedgerow trees and grow in abundance around our neighbourhood, I prefer to go somewhere quiet and out of the way to snip and gather (rather than the local park where folk can be a bit on the blunt side when they see you snipping at trees, say no more).

The place we go now is a very quiet little lane off the beaten track on the edge of town - we can easily walk there, but it's out of the way and there are about eight trees that are can gather from so that we leave plenty behind for the wildlife. 

I put Little B on snipping duty which he was thrilled about - you can see how big and blowsy those flower heads are....

....we had no problem gathering in the fifty or so heads that we needed for cordial making. In fact, there were so many flowers this year that I'm probably going to head back again at the weekend if it stays dry and gather in enough for a second batch. 

I did two batches last year so that I could stash away some small plastic bottles of cordial in the freezer. It was such a delicious treat to pull them out in winter and have an instant reminder of summertime.

I called into the supermarket after the school run this morning and lugged back the huge two kilo bag of sugar along with the lemons and oranges that go with the flowers to make Elderfower cordial. It's extremely simple to make and the recipe I use is one that I adapted from Sarah Raven (I use less sugar in mine).

There you go ↑↑↑ I made this for me to print and keep, so thought I'd share it with you too.

Citric acid is magic stuff and super-easy to find online....Amazon sell it (of course they do, they pretty much sell anything). Although you usually have to buy it in 500g quantities, it's not too expensive and keeps for years if you seal it up well. Find it on Amazon ((here)).

The scent of this flowery concoction is a bit odd as it's "cooking" and to be honest it doesn't smell especially good. But........oh the resulting syrupy drink is absolutely divine I promise you. It's floral, sweet and citrusy and refreshingly zingy. I love love love it, it's a taste of summer that I never tire of.

You dilute the cordial with water (sparkling water is especially good), or add a splash to a glass of prossecco or gin/tonic for something a little bit more weekendish. Oooo, now I'm really looking forward to my weekend summer tipple....it'll probably be the highlight of my Saturday!

The sun was in and out today, with a surprising fall of light summer rain catching me out on my way home from the shops this morning. The kitty follows the sun around the furniture, usually finding a warm patch of sunlit crochet to curl up on for her extended daytime naps. She isn't really a laid back cat (she is a feisty little diva) but there are occasions when she really does appear to be very mellow indeed.

Over on the sofa this morning I found a monster lurking - like you do. Little B is running on Summer time and is getting up pretty early in the mornings right now. It's not unusual for him to be pottering around at 6am, immersed in his own nine year old world of play. He goes through phases where none of his toys interest him any more and all he wants is screen time (insane cartoons mostly) but at the moment there is a lot of playtime happening and I have to say it delights me no end. Long may it last. We've got four more weeks left of the school year here, then we are into the six week summer break, so I'm hoping the play phase carries on for a good while yet. Please let it (silent plea).

I've not photographed my view for a while, so I took a quick snap today as we walked to the top of the hill on our way home. The light was so clear after the earlier splash of rain, and everything is looking beautifully green and lush. 

Summer time always makes me want to feel lighter, healthier and more energised, so I'm making an effort to curb my sweet tooth and am forcing myself to stay away from the calorie laden pastries and biscuits when I go shopping. Instead I've been buying extra fruit, not just the ordinary every day fruits that we always have in (apples, pears, oranges, bananas), but special fruity things like mango and strawberries and passion fruit. I really love fruit so it's not a hardship to snack on a plate of it, I've just not got to be so lazy about preparing it for myself. 

I am so in love with these long, light days. Even when it's been raining and miserable and I've lit the candles to banish the gloom, I still love that the darkness doesn't creep in until well past ten o'clock at night. It's a magical time of year - Summer Solstice tomorrow and I'm keeping all crossed for a dry evening so that we can head out and celebrate. I'm not sure what we'll do - I kind of hope that there's cake or ice cream involved, and possibly a glass of chilled prossecco, but who knows whether I can motivate the family to head out into the greenery and be mid-summerish with me? I've been remembering this day, gosh, six years ago now, how is this possible? Our family dynamic has changed considerably since then and I am so grateful for my blog and the beautiful window it gives me back into the past. Happy memories indeed.

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A Week of Highs and Lows

Hello, how you doing? How's your week been? I wasn't going to post this weekend as I've had a rather traumatic few days (the lows in the above title) and am feeling rather worn down. But then I remembered how much better I always feel when I make time to sit quietly in the Attic and send my words out into cyber space for you to catch and read, and so here I am. Sitting, thinking, holding on to the memory of the highs in the above title.

At the start of the week J and I took advantage of our non-working Monday arrangement (which has been one of the best things to happen for us in recent times) and set out to walk some miles in the Dales. 

It's a beautiful time of year for walking with perfect temperatures and amazing light, and the freshness of Autumn air is invigorating. It's a lovely time for J and I to chat too, and we end up talking about all sorts of random things as we cover the miles.

Oh, I do love love love walking for pleasure, it makes me so happy to be out there amongst all that natural colour, climbing hills, rambling along quiet country lanes and woodland trails....

....strolling along peaceful riverbanks, climbing over stiles and striding across lush fields. I love it all.

As you can see, it's looking gloriously Autumnal around these parts, and if you could zoom in on the above photo you would notice that the ground is absolutely covered with fallen conkers - loads and loads and loads of them! I have honestly never seen so many in all my life - great big juicy, shiny conkers for days.

Linton Falls was spectacular in it's fullness, both the visuals and the noise levels, gosh this is one noisy bit of river! No matter how many times we visit this spot along the river Wharfe, it never fails to wow me, it's just so BiG and rushing and spectacular. As you well know, my heart is always happiest when it's be the sea shore, but this lovely stretch of river feels like home to me since we've been walking here for over twenty years.

I snapped  a photo of a pair of chattering magpies sat on the house at the top of my street on Tuesday. It's not often we see these birds around here, but I automatically thought - ahhhh, two for joy!! Yay!!!! (If you' don't know this rhyme, you can read about it here). The thought of something joyful happening really put a spring in my step, which is a bit ridiculous really, but some superstitions stick with you from childhood and they are hard to shake. I seriously hate seeing just one lonesome magpie.

I've been finishing up the tutorial for my felted basket this week, taking lots of photographs and measurements before the basket goes on it's thrilling journey into the washing machine. I was meant to do that today, but chickened out haha!! I am both excited and nervous about putting all that work into a load of spinning hot soapy water, but I think tomorrow I should do it, don't you? I really want to show it to you and share the pattern - I've got a pure wool yarn pack all ready to go too, so I really do need to stop being a wuss.

I wanted to share this with you as it's had a big impact on me this week. This is called "Five Ways to Wellbeing" and I came across it as I was researching online with Little B for his homework. I completely love that he's been talking about this in school - we talked a lot about it together too,  about how we can look after our mental wellbeing and he made a fantastic presentation in his homework book all about it. I would consider myself to be very mentally healthy, but it's always good to be reminded not to take it for granted.

The weather this week has been sublime, a beautiful slice of autumnal perfection. 

We've woken to very cold mornings with frost and low lying mist, but accompanied by the most delicious golden sunshine. 

The combination has been atmospheric and breathtaking, especially the way the mist swirls over the surface of the canal as we walk along the tow path to school.

We played Eye Spy on this misty morning, Little B and I, crikey that child is ridiculously good at it. He picked something beginning with the letter T, and all the way to school I was trying so hard to get my brain to figure out what he might be seeing. All. The. Way. To. School. I had to give in when we ran out of walking time, much to his utter delight. Turns out is was T for Tag (as in the name tag on his guitar which I was carrying in my hand the whole way), I wanted to tell him off, but really I need to up my game.

I've started eating Brunch on the days that I'm at home, and it suits me very well. I sit down with just a frothy coffee at 8am when the Little People are tucking into their bowls of cereal, then make myself something more substantial around 10.30. My current favourite thing is toasted multi-seeded bread, topped with mashed up avocado, a little olive oil, heavy-handed seasoning, and a poached egg. All those flavours and textures make my toes curl with pleasure. I then eat a light bit of mid afternoon snackage instead of a full blown lunch, and I so look forward to it! Sometimes it might be cheese and crackers with some fruit, or maybe some bread sticks with hummus and salad, or sometimes a toasted crumpet eaten with the Little People when they come home from school. We still all sit down for our main meal at around 5.30 and it's the highlight of my day, truly. I love love love family meals, they are precious times indeed.

The past few days we've had a bit of an Indian Summer and I painted my toenails coral pink to celebrate. I even got to wear my sandals out today which pleased me enormously. As much as I love hand knit socks and colourful boots at the end of my feet in Autumn, nothing beats being able to wiggle your bare toes in the unexpected October sunshine.

I took the above photos on Thursday evening as we walked down through the park on our way to the swimming pool, gosh the sun was something else at that time of day. It was low and golden, slanting through the trees as it made its end of day descent. We were running late so I wasn't able to linger as long as I would have liked - I am such a sun worshiper, I wanted to stand still and drink it in for long, long beautiful golden minutes. But I had to be content with some quick snaps, and then a bit of a run to catch up with J and Little B who refused to wait for me while I faffed.

Little did we know at that time that within an hour, things would take such a dramatic turn. Gosh, life sure does throw a major wobbly sometimes! I won't go into detail, suffice to say that we spent six hours in the hospital that evening with J. He is OK and was able to come home, but it was flippin' scary at the time and we are still somewhat recovering from the trauma of it all. 

Despite very little sleep Thursday night, I felt the pressing need to be out of the house and surrounded by friends on Friday morning, with a much needed dose of caffeine and some gentle yarn therapy. I felt wrung out, but so so glad for the gentle rhythm of my hook and the happy conversations that flowed around me. I never cease to give thanks for the joy that crochet brings to my life, and how it soothes the soul when it is most needed.

Before I go, I want to say a heart felt thank you for all your Birthday wishes on my last post, I'm so grateful for your kindness! I love the friendship that surrounds my little Attic window, thank you so very much for all that you send my way. 

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ps without too much fanfare, could I possibly just show you this exciting news????

 

 

 

Summer Snippets {one}

☀ It's the start of the long six week summer break here, and just as I did last year I thought it'd be nice to share some little snippets of life as we pootle gently through our days. I woke up late this morning completely disorientated, not knowing what day of the week it was or what on earth I was supposed to be doing. It was a blissful feeling when my brain finally woke up and I realised I could take my time and nothing much was needed of me for a while. I adore this feeling so much! It's relief mixed with an overwhelming sense of calm. All is well, it's the summer holidays and we will be operating on a completely different schedule for the foreseeable. Yippeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!

☀ Summer holidays for me generally means a lot of juggling. As with most mums of school age children, I'm used to multi-tasking and mixing my parenting with work commitments, and this summer holds a fair amount of both for me. I'm cracking on with lots of Yarndale stuff, working on the content for the printed brochure as well as the big Creative Community project that I organise each year. I designed and made these little "treasure bowls" last week as a project for the Yarndale brochure - they are made from pure wool which means I can put them into the washing machine and felt them.......so much fun! I'll show you more in a separate post as I've got another felting project on the go right now too. 

☀ Luckily for us our allotment is only a couple of minutes walk from our back door so we are easily able to nip up most days and check on our small but precious crops. These are my minuscule, super-dwarf beans which I am so in love with - they are ever so cute! Despite their diminutive size they are starting to deliver us some delicious beans and I couldn't be happier. it's like having a row of really well behaved little children all performing over and above what is expected of them. Gold star award for the teensy bean plants, top of the class.

☀ The sweet peas aren't producing a whole lot of flowers to be honest, and look a bit on the spindly side. I have a feeling I forgot to pinch out the growing tips at the seedling stage, so the plants never bushed out like I expected them to. Ah well, I'm happy to be picking small posies each week which are scented to perfection, even if there isn't the abundance I was hoping for.

☀ Our small tenty green house is working out really well and keeping our plants nicely protected from the winds that whip across our sloping hillside plot. We've got cucumbers, tomatoes and chilies growing in here and I love seeing how well they are doing.

☀ This was yesterday's harvest, gathered with a great deal of happy enthusiasm by myself and Little B. We had to carry out a fair bit of adventurous hacking to get to the teensy raspberries through the riot of brambles in the overgrown soft fruit bed. It was rather painful and our haul was a little on the small side, but still, the excitement was unrelentingly high. I let Little B eat the raspberries with some greek yoghurt and honey and he said they were super-yummy. And check out my cucumbers, how good do they look?! So proud of my veggie babies.

☀ I'm working on the printed patterns for my new Summer Ripple blankets this week, which is quite hard going. Taking step-by-step photographs as I create the borders and writing up the patterns isn't nearly as enjoyable as the hooky itself which has been hugely pleasurable. But I'm making good progress and hope that everything will be ready to go by the end of this week. Maybe even Thursday.

And in other news, I know I am late to this particular party but I've just discovered frozen smoothie packs at the supermarket. Wow, they are brilliant! They nestle in the freezer between the massive selection of lollies and ice creams and the bags of ice cubes, so you have to kind of know to go and look there for them. There isn't a huge choice in Morrisons, but the above concoction was made from a Red Smoothie pack (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and mango), blended with a dollop of greek yoghurt and some milk. Yum yum yum, sooooooooo good. The Little People are ecstatic that I'm willingly offering to make these for them without thee need for begging or nagging on their part. 

We've had this multi purpose blender for almost a year now (it's a NutriPro 1200) and it's fantastic for general blitzing jobs in the kitchen (making breadcrumbs, chopping nuts, blitzing soup, making curry paste, hummus, dips etc) but I've never been bothered to make smoothies with it. However, it really is the bees knees when it comes to blending chunks of frozen stuff, I've been very impressed. 

☀ The curious mixture above came out of the Green Smoothie pack and consists of frozen kale, banana and mango. And in case you're wondering what that bitty sawdusty stuff is, well, that's lemongrass. Took me a while to actually read the packet and work out why everything was covered in sawdust. I divided the pack up into individual bags so that I can easily make up one smoothie at a time (that isn't all kale and no fruit)  - it gets mixed with apple juice and water to produce this.........

.....mmmmmmmmmm. It looks a bit overly health conscious, but actually tastes delicious. Little B couldn't be persuaded though, he took one slurp and said it made his tummy hurt and could he please stick to the pink one. Guess I'll be the one drinking the kale smoothies then.

☀ A photo of our Big Chair, just because I love it so. It's an oversized chair-and-a-half that we inherited from J's parents who were throwing it out and it fits an adult and willing small child quite nicely for film watching and snuggling. I change the blankets over regularly as they get a lot of wear and tear on this chair, and I'm really enjoying the bright pop of colour that the Sunny Granny Stripe is delivering right now. In case you were wondering about the cushion, that's the Water Lily cushion I made last year using Stylecraft Batik yarn (see here for yarn and pattern details). It's grown on me considerably since I first made it, and I do appreciate the more subtle colouring set against the exuberance of all my blankets.

☀ The Big Chair is where I sit when I can't sleep and come downstairs in the very early hours of the morning. I'm generally a good sound sleeper, but due (I suspect) to my hormones, I'm having some very disrupted nights just lately. I wake at 3am feeling as if someone lit a fire under me, and then find it almost impossible to get back to sleep again. I feel anxious and a little panicky, with a racing heartbeat and a mind that refuses to switch down a gear. I've learnt not to struggle with this any more, and instead of tossing and turning I get up quietly, come downstairs, make a cup of tea, sit quietly with the cat and read or crochet a little until the rest of the household wakes up. I was surprised when I got up yesterday morning to see that it was still dark at 4am. So I switched on my my fairy lights and lit some candles, and waited for the sun to wake up. It was so peaceful as I yawned my way through those darkened early hours of the day.

☀ Little B - so very, very happy to be on his summer break home from school. His happiness radiated out of him today as he loafed about listening to music, playing with his lego and watching insane cartoons on Netflix. He played outside too, kicking a ball around with his friends on the street and riding his bike up and down and up and down. The start of the summer holidays always feels so light and joyful, with endless days stretching ahead to be enjoyed and filled with good things. Oh, I'm hopeful for many Good Things. Always hopeful, that's me.

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Strawberry Love

We are devouring punnet after punnet of British grown strawberries this summer, I just can't seem to get enough of them. Along with nectarines and cherries, they are a true taste of the summer season for me, and as a summer-loving soul I cannot resist their sweet charms. As a family we eat a lot of fruit every day, and it's my go-to solution during the holidays when the Little People seem to be continuously snacking and grazing. 

During this past week I've been working on the big Creative Community project for Yarndale*, and have been searching for pretty little crochet things to add some extra decoration to my makes. Flowers are the obvious choice, and I always love creating a bit of floral embellishment, but I was after something a little different. I looked at crochet butterflies (I've already designed bees and ladybirds) but decided that butterflies were something I'd love to explore in more detail at a later date. So I was thinking of various pretty summer things, and suddenly the idea of strawberries popped into my mind.

There are already plenty of crochet strawberry patterns out there in the world, but I wanted to have a go at creating my own.

I've had a huge amount of fun playing around, and really it would be selfish of me to keep my strawberry-making know-how all to myself don't you think? So I've spent today making, photographing and writing a tutorial, and it is right here all ready and waiting for you in the usual place.

{STRAWBERRY TUTORIAL}

I've named the pattern "Strawberry Appliqué" - appliqué is a very useful term if you are searching for two dimensional crochet patterns as opposed to three dimensional ones. At some point I'd love to make some three dimensional strawberries as I've got a partly made Summer Wreath sitting in my studio and I know it really must contain some summer fruits. But right now, it's all about the flat things......

.....this is a little taster of the "Creative Hearts" project for Yarndale* 2017 which will launch tomorrow. There will be a full tutorial for making the heart decoration shown here, as well as lots more beautiful hearty inspiration and details of how you can join in with the project. I'm excited to show you what I've been working on!

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**Yarndale is a creative yarn festival held in North Yorkshire, UK. It is a for-profit organisation, and I am one of the five organisers. You can find more details on the Yarndale website.

 

Elderflower Cordial Time

Since moving from the outskirts of a city to a rural market town seven years ago, one of the many things I really appreciate is how I feel so much more aware of the seasons. I think there are several reasons for this, the first one being the beautiful view from my Attic window. Every single day I look out across the rooftops to the fields and hills beyond and observe the ever changing colours as the weather and seasons do their thing.

Where I used to live there were no hills. None-what-so-ever. The landscape was as flat as a pancake and as such it was hard impossible to really get a feel for what was going on around you. The compensation for this was Big Skies, but oh I do really love to be surrounded by hills and I don't miss that flattened out landscape one little bit. I also used to go almost everywhere by car when I lived on the outskirts of the city, as everything I needed to get to on a daily basis was so much further away. Living here I walk absolutely everywhere, which means I am very much more aware of the weather conditions/seasons as I am not riding around in a metal box.

Blogging my daily life is also a terrific help in reminding me of my connection to the land and the seasons. My blog gives me a precious little window to gaze through and gain access to my faded memory banks, and I am often surprised and delighted by the rhythmic and repetitive nature of my lifestyle. It tickles me that year after year we do the exact same things on more or less the exact days of each month!

For the past three years, June has been the month of the Elderflowers. There are a lot of trees in my neighbourhood, they sprout like giant overgrown weeds in the most unlikely of places - along roadsides and verges, in hedgerows, along paths and even out of walls. In early June as I go about my business to and fro, I keep an eye on the flowers, waiting patiently for the tight little green bobbles to open up and produce a froth of creamy white, teeny tiny flowers. Last year we made our first pickings right in the middle of the month, with a second batch a week later.

This year, the flowers have been late as we had a very long, cold Spring and Summer has been slow to get going. But during the last week in June I suddenly noticed creamy white flowers everywhere and knew it was finally cordial making time.

I went with the Little People on Monday evening after dinner to gather in the floral booty. It had been a very hot sunny day and the evening remained balmy and completely summery, it was a gorgeous time to be out and about.

This year I found a new place to go not far from home where there was an abundance of trees laden with flowers. So I was able to snip the stems freely, taking only a handful from each place as we strolled along. There was also the bonus of finding a great swathe of ox eye daisies growing wild along the road side, so I thought it would be ok to gather a few. We were walking along a quiet access road along the back of the railway track, not very picturesque but the flower bounty more than made up for the rather industrial feel of the location.

I filled my bag with flower heads, emptying them out onto the back yard table once I was home. I spent a little bit of time freeing up the critters and snipping off as much of the green stems as I could manage, counting the flower heads as I went. This year we had gathered 63 so enough for 2.5 batches of cordial - result!

I have adapted this Sarah Raven recipe, leaving out the limes and reducing the sugar. Elderflower cordial is a cinch to make, this is it in a nutshell....

Put 1.5L boiling water into a large pan on the hob with 1kg of white sugar. Bring to the boil, stirring as the sugar melts.

Add in 25 polleny elderflower heads (stalks removed), stir well and bring back to the boil. Take the pan off the heat.

Add in 30g citric acid (I buy from the local health food shop, but you can find it on Amazon), plus 2 sliced oranges and 2 sliced lemons.

Stir well, cover and leave to cool. I leave mine to infuse for 48 hours, then strain using a jelly bag (this sort of thing), giving the bag a good squeeze to get all the juice from the citrus fruit out. Then bottle the precious liquid and keep it in the fridge ready for when you need to quench your thirst....

....ahhhhhhhhhhhhh, the very taste of Summer in a glass!

Elderflower cordial is diluted with water the same as you would dilute a fruit squash, but I have heard rumour that it is also very good added to a glass of prossecco. I may have to give that a whirl over the weekend (this recipe sounds delicious) as the idea of sitting around in the sunshine sipping a chilled Elderflower Bellini is very, very appealing indeed. Roll on Saturday.........

x

ps elderflower cordial also freezes well, I save up small 250ml water bottles to use for this purpose.