Attic24

Carcassonne Crochet Retreat :: Part 2

A few weeks ago I posted a blog all about my recent crochet retreat in the south of France (the post is ((here)) if you missed it), and I really enjoyed sharing the project that I designed and taught to the guests during our week away. We stayed in a really lovely four star hotel right in the heart of the old walled city of Carcassonne, and the week was a perfect mix of crochet and leisure time, and of time spent indoors and outdoors. Four days of the week we were based in the hotel retreating with our yarn and hooks, and two days were spent out and about on organised excursions.

Carcassonne is a very, very very old medieval town and there is much to learn about the life and history of a place that spans across many centuries. 

The history is more than a little bit mind blowing - in fact, Carcassonne has about 2,500 years of it and has been occupied in different ages by Romans, Visigoths and Crusaders. It's a walled citadel built high up on a hill, and you can see in the above photo that it's constructed with two sets of stone walls. 

The outer walls and towers are incredibly well preserved to say how ancient the town is, and over the years there has been a fair bit of restoration carried out to keep it in such good condition.

The walls are around 3 kilometres in length with 52 huge towers, and this is about the only thing I can remember from the ninety minute guided tour we had of Carcassonne.  We had a wonderful young French lady tell us all about it and she was extremely good at explaining the intricate layers of history that surround a place this ancient. It's just that my memory doesn't really hold onto that depth of information any more, but if you are at all interested, then Wikipedia can fill you in.

I just loved being there to soak in the ambience, and to appreciate how lucky I was to see such a famous and historical town with my own eyes.

There are four entrance gates which allow you to pass through the impressive stone walls and enter the old town inside. On the morning that we arrived, our coach dropped us outside the walls, and we walked through the main gate (pictured above) to reach our hotel - I'll never forget the >>wow<< that I felt seeing the old streets for the first time.

It was almost impossible to photograph our hotel because the streets were all very narrow and the buildings tall, but you can see part of it in the above photo on the right hand side. It was a gift staying in such a central location (I think there are only two hotels inside the walls), and at every opportunity I spent time walking around and soaking in the atmosphere.

The above photo shows the main square which was just a few minutes walk from our hotel, and the place where we went most days to eat lunch (and dinner too). Oh my goodness, it was such a pleasure! I mentioned in my first post that we were exceptionally lucky with the weather and during early October we were treated to temperatures in the high twenties. Imagine that?! For this sun-loving soul living in the cool north of England, this kind of sunny warm weather is the stuff of my dreams.

I can tell you that I really, really enjoyed my food in France. Lunches were a relaxed, leisurely affair and I especially enjoyed eating outside in the sunshine with a cheeky little glass of chilled rosé wine to help things along. A had some amazing salads (hello, warm melty goats cheese) but I think my two favourite and most memorable lunches were the above French onion soup (it tasted absolutely incredible, and I had it twice)....

....and snails! I've eaten snails before, many years ago in Paris when I was on a student art trip, and they are an interesting thing to put in one's mouth. In all honesty, I think perhaps I enjoyed mopping up the melted garlic and herb butter with my crusty bread a little bit more than the actual snails themselves, but it was a wonderful culinary experience for sure.

Carcassonne is an extremely popular tourist destination and I can imagine that in the height of the summer season it would be insanely busy. In fact, that's just reminded me of something else I remember from our guided tour - the numbers. Apparently there are only 47 residents living within the old city walls, but the town receives almost three MiLLioN visitors every year. That's rather a lot, isn't it?!

Luckily for me, October was a perfect month to be there and it was possible to really enjoy the unique atmosphere of the old streets without the crowds.

I absolutely loved walking around the streets - I abandoned my map pretty early on when I realised that I actually couldn't follow it (I kept getting lost no matter how hard I tried). 

I discovered that it was more fun to just meander along random streets, turning corners here and there and allowing myself to relax into the "lost" feeling. Eventually I would end up either back where I started (quite literally walking in circles), or popping out between buildings and suddenly recognising where I was.

On the day of our guided historical tour, we decided to leave the high old walls behind and descend down to the lower and newer part of Carcassonne. It took about half an hour to walk....

....and we discovered that the new town was just as delightful and full of character as the old town.

We arrived just as the morning market was coming to a close which was a bit of a shame as we only caught glimpses of a few stalls....

....but it was as beautiful as you would expect.

The lower part of Carcassonne has a huge town square complete with a fountain and a multitude of places to eat and drink. I find this sunny outdoor lifestyle so appealing and enjoyable, and at times I felt like I was existing inside a film or a travel brochure. It was pleasure overload!

It was a stunning afternoon (around 28 degrees I think) and the walk back was slow and hot. We crossed over the wide river....

....then began the slow climb back up the hill to the old walls. It was lovely though, very scenic and a really nice balance to the rather intense days of indoor crochet concentration.

Our second day of excursions took us by coach to another beautiful medieval town called Mirepoix.

There was no agenda here, just the opportunity to spend some hours pootling and enjoying the place.

I'm not really much of a shopper (although I do quite like browsing), but many of the guests really enjoyed all the little independent boutique shops here in Mirepoix. All along the ground floor underneath the arches there was a mixture of shops and cafés...

....lots of things to see and tempt you to part with your Euros.

I am much more of an outdoor tourist and would rather spend my time looking at trees and buildings and views than the inside of shops.

Mirepoix had some very beautiful and picturesque streets...

....and some delightful refreshment opportunities too.

I enjoyed a morning coffee, and then later on....

...a really incredible hot chocolate. You see that glass full of whipped cream?

Yup, alllllllll that cream went into my hot chocolate and it was possibly one of the richest, sweetest and most indulgent drinks I've ever experienced.

In the afternoon we were taken to another small town to visit a textile museum - this was mostly focussed on natural dyes, spinning and weaving techniques. It was interesting to learn about the importance of textiles in the region and see some of the very early spinning and weaving machines in action. 

There were many times during the week when we really enjoyed the beautiful little walled garden at the hotel. It was such a peaceful oasis and a lovely place to spend time.

Often we would find ourselves drawn there in the lull before heading out for our evening meal, enjoying the last of the sun and the company of lovely crochet friends.

I have to be honest and say that as much as I really loved teaching and being a part of the group, it was quite an intense experience and usually by the time 5 o'clock rolled around I was ready for a recharge. I would often head out by myself at this time to soak up the beauty of Carcassonne...

....and I think these quiet, early evening strolls were some of my favourite times.

It was impossible not to fall in love with Carcassonne, it was just so ridiculously beautiful!

I found that by the end of the week I really, really didn't want to leave. 

I loved being somewhere that was so unique and picturesque and I absolutely LOVED the dry, sunny, golden warmth. I mean, of course I'm sure I would have enjoyed it in dull grey weather too, but the gift of a hot, blue-sky week in October was appreciated so very much. Did I mention that I didn't want to come home?

After seven wonderful days I had no choice but to get on that plane and fly north back to England, and look, we brought the sunshine with us! London looked amazing from the air and although I still had some long hours of travel ahead, I was full of gratitude for the week I'd spent in France.

Well, I really hope you've enjoyed seeing a little more of my French trip - I've tried hard not to waffle too much and believe me when I tell you I'm only showing you a fraction of the photos I took. Haha - you've had a lucky escape!

The retreat was organised by Stitchtopia craft holidays which is part of a much larger travel company, and I can't recommend them highly enough. Everything is very well organised and each group is led by an experienced tour manager so you feel very well looked after. 

Hopefully very soon I'll be able to share news of my 2023 crochet retreat, it's exciting to think that I've got something so lovely and pleasurable to look forward to next year. A week of sunshiny crochet and beautiful views? Yes please!

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x Carcassonne retreat post : part 1 x

 

 

 

Carcassonne Crochet Retreat :: Part 1

Spending a week in the south of France in early October sounds pretty dreamy, don't you think? The sunny warmth, the amazing views and the relaxed atmosphere, it was everything I'd dreamed of and so much more besides.

So would you like to know how I came to be standing and gazing at the above view? Well five years ago, I was asked by a travel company if I would like to be one of the "craft experts" on their popular Stitchtopia craft holidays. As the name suggests, the holidays and retreats are all about textiles, and honestly, the more I learned about the quality of the trips and how well they're organised, the more I knew that I would say YES to pretty much anything. Spend a week in a French Chateau and teach colour and crochet to a group of lovely ladies? Join them on scenic excursions and partake in wine tasting and the such like? Sit and crochet in the sunny garden of a chateau in the French Alpes surrounded by beautiful mountain views? Yes, yes and YES please.

As it happens, when my first retreat launched in the summer of 2018 it sold out within the first 24 hours, and with a growing waiting list I was asked if I would consider doing a second week. So in the Spring of 2019, I went twice to France and did indeed get to stay in a chateau and taste wine and view scenic views and teach crochet - and it was absolutely WOnDErFUL.

The following year, I was due to go and tutor two different groups in Madeira but we all know what happened to travel plans in 2020. The trips were postponed to the following year.....but sadly with the world still in disarray, they too were cancelled. So I still haven't managed to visit Madeira, but in amongst all the chaos of postponed and cancelled holidays, another French retreat was planned for me, which is the one I finally got to take up earlier this month. Hurrah for life finally getting wings again!

The above photo is us - the Stitchtopia Attic24 crochet retreat of 2022. We had just arrived in France after a yawningly early start (Heathrow airport at 4.30am? Yes, it was that kind of early). In the middle of the front row you can see me looking all smiley and blooming ridiculously happy to be feeling waaaaaarm and sunshiney and south-of-Francey. In the back row on the far right is Allison who is the Tour Manager, and she's been with me on all three of my retreats.

Most of the ladies are from the UK, with the exception of one lady all the way from Sydney in Australia and another from the US. Some of them were new to these kinds of retreats, and some had already been on other crafting holidays over the years. It was also a real joy for me because out of the twelve guests, 7 of them had been with me in France in 2019, so I guess my teaching must be OK if they were game enough to come back for more?!

We were spending the week in picturesque Carcassonne, a very ancient medieval walled citadel high up on a hill. We were lucky enough to be staying in one of the handful of hotels right inside the old walls, which meant a short stroll through one of the old stone gates, along the most atmospheric cobbled streets and right into the heart of the old town. I will never forget seeing it for the first time - the above view gives you a flavour of what the main streets of Carcassonne are like, and I could honestly not get over how lucky I was to actually be staying there.

Our hotel was ancient (as you would expect from a medieval town), but the internal modernisation was beautifully done. There was so much character - old stone walls, tiled floors, wonky staircases, twisty-turny little corridors - if you want to take a peek, you can look at the hotel website ((here)) to see some photos of it. Walking into my bedroom made me feel like I was walking into a French film - something about the height of the windows and the way they open fully to welcome the outside in....oh, I fell instantly in love with the Frenchness of it all. 

Isn't the view dreamy? I was very lucky to be looking out over the garden from my bedroom and loved the stately lines of tall trees and the bell tower in the distance (with bells that struck on the hour). You can see the low single story building on the right of the photo? Well that was our crochet classroom for the week....

....it had many doors opening directly out to the garden and was the perfect setting. You won't really be able to tell from the above photo, but the week we were there we were blessed with insanely great autumn weather. Loads of sunshine, and beautifully hot days averaging around 25 degrees. When it rained, it came in the night - heavy downpours which made the mornings feel really fresh and clear. It was utter perfection.

We had six full days in France, four of them were filled with crochet and the other two were designated sight seeing days. Breakfast each day was a truly delicious affair - strong café au lait (yaayyy!), and a mouth watering selection of pastries and cake (yes, I discovered that cake for breakfast is a thing in France), rustic breads, continental meats and cheeses, fruit, nuts, yoghurts and granola...oh my goodness. Such a treat, and definitely a great way to start each day.

In the weeks before going to France, I worked on designing a teaching project especially for this retreat - you've probably already seen and read about the Bouquet Cushion (the post is HERE if you missed it). I used the above collection of mini-balls as my starting point and designed a circular cushion....

....and I really love how it turned out. There are twenty four rounds of crochet on each side, and I used the pattern to teach elements of colour design. I have an arts background and in my four years of training (art foundation diploma, followed by a 3 year BA degree in textiles) I learnt a great deal about colour. It's a vast subject with a lot of theory and science behind it, but when I teach I do try and keep it practical and simple and specifically tailored to work with yarn and crochet. We used the colour wheel and learnt about blending and tonal values, and about how to create harmonious colour contrasts and balance. 

On the days that we were in the classroom, we split the day in two. Morning sessions ran from 10 to 12.30, then there was a two hour lunch break (essential in France as lunch is a sociable, leisurely affair). Afternoons ran from 2.30 until 5pm.

I loved teaching my project, and I loved watching it come to life in their hands. The ladies were all good crocheters but were keen to learn some colour confidence from me - I guess choosing colours and learning what works can be challenging and not something that everyone finds easy.

I took the above photos at the beginning of day 2, so this is after the first full day of crochet. You can see the centre of the circles are all about soft colour blending, and then we worked with harmonious contrasts for the outer part. Learning about colours that jump forward and those that recede, those that dominate and those that add a gentle touch.

It was funny because I kept reminding the ladies that this was a retreat as opposed to a classroom, and that they were free to take breaks, use the garden, stretch their legs, drink coffee as often as they wished.....and yet my goodness, they worked HARD! 

Our lunch breaks were well earned I think, and I know I certainly enjoyed this part of the day very much. Although it was October and the holiday season was starting to quieten down, there were still plenty of tourists around and the cafés and restaurants were buzzing with happy folks enjoying their food in the sunshine. Tables and chairs which spill out onto sun-dappled, cobbled squares is an aspect of southern European life which I absolutely adore. Oh, I LOVE eating outside in the sun and it seems so far removed from our cool, damp British lunch time culture which is very much a cosy, indoor affair.

Every day once I'd finished my lunch, I took a little bit of time just to wander around and soak in the atmosphere of old Carcassonne. As I have zero sense of direction and can't read a map to save my life, I inevitably spent most of my time wandering in a semi-lost daze. However, I soon realised that being in a walled citadel had it's advantages because most of the little streets went round in a circle of sorts, so it was fairly easy to eventually find my way back.

Carcassonne is a ridiculously picturesque place and I took a LOT of photos during my lost wanderings, but I'm saving those for another post.

Back to the crochet and we are jaunting through the week now, with glorious circles of colour taking shape everywhere you look.

It  was so inspiring to see how much confidence grew as the days passed....

....and I loved watching the ladies become bolder with their colour choices.

On the last day of the retreat, most ladies had managed to complete both sides of their cushion and started working on their floral decoration. 

I'd created patterns for three different types of flowers, some berries, and two different sizes of leaf, but left the final design and composition of the floral bouquets open to interpretation.

I appreciate that there is maybe a little bit of apprehension held in the notion of becoming the Designer of a project. It's one thing to follow a pattern and maybe choose one or two colours here and there, but getting to be in the drivers seat for all of the colour choices in a project could be a little bit daunting?

The ladies on my retreat exceeded all my expectations, and with my help and guidance throughout the week they produced some really glorious work. I felt so proud of them, especially those who had started the week saying that they couldn't "do" colour and had seemed very unsure about all the decisions I was asking them to make. I can tell you in all honesty that they all did terrifically well....you'll see for yourself in a bit when I show you some of the finished cushions.

Even with the five hours a day we were spending in the classroom, the crochet didn't stop once five o'clock ticked around. One of the joys of being in a warm, Mediterranean climate was the fact that we could sit outside in the early evening and enjoy some golden hooky time. It was absolute bliss! In the above photo, I'm sat in the hotel garden working on my own cushion using leftovers from the Fireside blanket. What you can't see in the above photo, just to the left, is the bottle of sparking wine that had been popped open, and the lovely ladies I was spending time with.....all of it combined to make a wonderfully chatty, laughter-filled happy hour.

Crochet is such a wonderfully portable project, it really is the perfect thing to have in your bag when you are out and about. There is nothing nicer than sitting in a beautiful place and chatting to friends while your hands are quietly creating with yarn. In the above photo we were out on a day trip, spending time in a gorgeous little medieval town (I'll show you more in my next post) and had stopped to have a morning coffee. It was a delight for me to see my cushion design "out in the wild", and to to know that the ladies were enjoying it so much. Well, I really hope they were enjoying it - haha - maybe they just felt like they had to get some more rounds in?!

Throughout the week, I made sure to take time each day to go around the room and share everyone's progress. I think we can learn a huge amount by working alongside others but also learning to view our own work with an objective eye so to speak. However, even though we'd been looking at each others work every day and discussing the progress, it was still a wonderful surprise to see the cushions all together at the end of the week. 

WOW, they looked FanTAStic!!

Here we are on the last day, all happy and hookered out!!

↑↑ This was the first cushion to be crocheted together and declared finished, and it received a well justified round of applause and a beautifully glorious ta-dah moment in the hotel garden. Bravo Donna!!

Since we've come home we've carried on our crochet chatter via WhatsApp and I've really enjoyed celebrating the visual ta-dah's. Don't the finished cushions look amazing? They've turned out even better than I could have imagined, and I think it's so interesting to see how such different cushions came from the same pattern and the exact same collection of yarn. They each have their own personalities and represent a lot of joyful creativity, and I'm so happy that I was a part of the journey.

So - how do you think I enjoyed my week in France?? Do you think it made me happy right down to my toes? If you answered "yEs" then you would be absolutely right - I enjoyed it so so much that I really didn't want to come home! I remembered how much I enjoy teaching, how fulfilling it is to watch one of my own designs come to life before my eyes, and to see how much pleasure and confidence it can give to others. And of course it was pure bliss being transported up through the clouds and deposited somewhere warm and sunny for a while - that sunshine and clear golden light made my heart and soul insanely happy. 

I hope you've enjoyed this little insight into what a Stitchtopia crochet retreat with me looks like, it really was a super experience from start to finish. In my next post I'll take you walking so that you can see more of Carcassonne, it's honestly one of the most picturesque and atmospheric places I've ever been to. 

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ps, I've had lots and lots of requests on my social media for details about future retreats and how to find out about them. I'm going to be doing another one abroad next year and am just waiting for confirmation of the dates and finalising details before it's released on the Arena Travel website. I'll be sure to tell you as soon as it's available for booking, both here on my blog and on my Facebook/Insta pages too. Maybe you might be tempted to come with me for some sunshine hooky next year?! xx

 

 

 

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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Summer 2022 :: Saltburn Solo Trip

If you've been visiting with me for any length of time, you will no doubt be very familiar with my love of the sea and all things coastal. I grew up on the south west coast of Dorset and ever since I left home in my late teenage years and moved to the north of the country, I've really missed being by the sea. I think this feeling has actually intensified as I've gotten older, and at times the call of the coast positively bellows at full volume.

North Yorkshire has some fantastic coastline which I'd say is roughly 90 miles away from where I live, making it just a weeny bit too far for a quick day trip. So of course I frequently attempt to engineer short breaks by the sea whenever I think I can make it work for us as a family - we made it to the coast for the new year, and again in February - and sometimes I'm lucky enough to go away with friends. I also try and visit Dorset to stay with my Dad when I can, but I've never ventured to the coast to holiday completely by myself. That is until last month - oh yes indeedy!! 

I can't tell you how strongly I felt the need to get myself to the sea, it was like the most insane itch that I absolutely had to give a good scratchin'! I think it was fuelled by a strong desire for breathing space, for peace, and for something of a personal reset of sorts, a need to simply spend some long hours quietly by myself with my own thoughts. I had a chat with J about how I was feeling, and he told me to just book something and take myself off for a few days - honestly, you should have seen how fast I acted on that, I had something nailed down and paid for within the hour haha! It was all very spontaneous I guess, I booked it on the Sunday and set off two days later, staying Tuesday to Thursday in early July.

As is usual for me I travelled by train, and it felt really exciting to be setting off  on a little mini solo adventure with just a few things packed into a rucksack.

And this is where I ended up after three hours of gentle jigging along the tracks - one of my all time favourite seaside destinations : Saltburn-by-the-Sea. I wish I'd taken a photo of the little train station in Saltburn to show you, it's ever so cute. There are only two platforms at the end of a short branch line and it's right in the middle of the small town centre. You literally step off the platform, out onto the street and a short walk later you're gazing at a sea view.

↑↑ This was where I called home for two nights, a small but perfectly formed little house that has been very beautifully renovated and decorated. I'll show you a bit more of the house in a while and show you the stunning views, it really is one of the loveliest holiday rentals I've ever stayed in. I found it online at the start of the year and could not get it out of my mind, it was love at first sight.

It was quite the experience arriving all by myself and settling in, and the first thing I did was make a trip to the local supermarket to buy some essential groceries for my short stay. I took a photo of my shopping because I was chatting with J about it at the time, and I thought you might like to see......

....there you go! Halloumi (which I sliced and pan fried), ham, cherry tomatoes and salty snacks for my dinner, with yoghurt, grapes and bananas to snack on. Dark chocolate and slices of cake to take care of any sweet cravings, with coffee and a mini bottle of prosecco to drink.  This kept me going (more or less) for two days, although I did buy a few extra items on my second day. I ate breakfast out at a café on my first morning but other than that I had all my meals at the house, sitting on the little outside terrace at the front with a glorious sea view.

When I arrived in Saltburn it was around 3pm on a bright and breezy afternoon, and once the grocery shopping was taken care of I couldn't wait to get down to the beach.

The house where I stayed had easy access down the cliffs to sea level via various stepped pathways (see here to get an idea). Of course it's easy-peasy going down and you arrive on the sands with a spring in your step....

....and the wide open beach spread out to explore.

The hike back up again isn't quite so springy and leaves your legs feeling a weeny bit on the wobbly side. During the few days when I was staying in Saltburn, the amazing water powered lift wasn't in action but when it's running it provides a really amazing alternative to the hard slog of the steps.

The views from the top promenade are stunning though, and there are loads of benches to gently slump on while you recover your breathing and regain use of your legs.

This elevated promenade is beautifully designed and well kept, and in July the beds were absolutely bursting with flowers. I remember being utterly charmed by this part of the town when we visited for the first time back in 2010. We were staying nearby in our caravan and I really fell in love with Saltburn back then and have been drawn to it ever since.

I mean, any town with giant ammonites set into the pavement is going to get my vote. 

The sea views and fresh air are quite intoxicating (in a good way, a very good way) and I found myself breathing deeply and really taking in the scent of the place. At this time of year it smells of sundried grasses, sweet scented flowers and the salty tang of seaweed and is a little bit heavenly if you ask me.

It's six o'clock now, and I'm back at the house having a bite to eat and a few glasses of chilled fizz. The front garden is decked out with built in seating, providing an amazing place to relax and enjoy a drink with a sea view. Cheers!

It's a bit later now and I've made myself a milky coffee and crossed over the road to sit on the bench there. It's a great spot for people watching and taking in the sun as it descends down towards the horizon. I'm feeling beautifully relaxed and a little weary after the excitements of the day, but I decide that I'll find the energy to walk down to the beach a bit later to watch the sun set....

....I mean, how could I let this ↑↑ slip by?? It's around 9:20pm in the above photo and there are only a few souls on the beach at that time.

Isn't it glorious? I experienced a moment on the beach there of absolute profound gratitude for this life of mine, and for the fact that I was standing there all alone with such an insanely beautiful view to enjoy. How very, very lucky I am.

9.45pm now and the sun has slipped quietly beyond the horizon. Time to face the steps again and climb back up to the house to fall into bed. What a day.

Good morning! I'm sat in bed drinking a hot cup of tea and looking out at the grey of a sky which tells me rain might be on its way. Can you imagine how ridiculously happy I was with this view from my bed in the morning? Isn't it fabulous? Here, let me show you the bed (as it looked when I first arrived), so you can fully appreciate the luxury I was enjoying.....

.....oooooooo, isn't it something?? And to think I had that whoooooole big bed ALL TO MYSELF!!!!! How incredibly indulgent to have all. That. SpAcE.

I took my time getting up and getting ready for the day, because after all there was only me and myself to please. I had no plans at all, preferring to see how I felt from hour to hour and deciding on the spur of the moment how to fill the day. First up, the shoreline was calling, so down to the beach I went.....

....to walk along the sands and breathe in that gorgeous salty morning air. The tide was high at this time of day so I crunched over the pebbles up by the sea wall, admiring the colourful beach huts.

Time to climb back up those steps and go for a wander around the town....

....oh, look!! Just look at those flowers!

This old church was completely surrounded on all sides by the most glorious, exuberant planting of Hollyhocks. So, so pretty!

I later learnt that the church isn't in fact a church any more, but home to a community centre and small theatre. Well whatever goes on within those old brick walls, the flowers really did have the wow factor, they were an absolute delight.

I ended up in a small deli in the town for a late breakfast of buttered toast, bacon and eggs, sat at a little wooden table in the window watching the locals coming and going. It's a unique experience being away from home by yourself, choosing where to go, what to eat, and how long to take over each thing you decide to do. I found my pace was deliciously slow and I really enjoyed just sitting in various places (Saltburn has a great many benches, and I absolutely LoVe a bit of bench sitting), or slowly pottering around observing all the little details of the town.

Saltburn is a great place to take in the wide skies too, and you can really see the weather playing out along the coastline as you walk.

I have to be honest with you and tell you that my breakfast and coffee was only just about OK, and not somewhere I would especially recommend. So once I'd finished up I found my feet taking me back down to the beach where I knew for a fact that good coffee could be found. I walked slowly down through the Valley Gardens (I forgot to take photos, but you can see a bit of what it's like here) - it's an interesting mixture of woodland, formal gardens, riverside, playground and park all leading down to the sea. Camfields is down at the very bottom of the gardens where the river flows out to the sea, and is the place to go for great takeout coffee. I really enjoyed sipping as I strolled along the beach....

...parking my butt down on the pebbles with my back leaning against the sea wall. As you can see, the rain did indeed arrive but it was only a very light summer shower, a few minutes of drip-drops landing and then it was gone as quickly as it came.

Eventually I arrived back at the house and it was just after midday. Hmmm....what do I feel like doing with my afternoon? Yes, of course I had packed my crochet, because in early July I was properly falling madly in love with this blanket after being very unsure of it for a few months.

I took the above photo so you can see a little more of the house - it's small but oh-so-lovely and completely open plan downstairs with a beautiful clear light streaming in. What you can't see is to the right of the picture out of view there are huge bi-fold doors leading onto the front decking, so I could sit and crochet with the doors open and the sea breeze wafting in.

I spent the afternoon listening to music and crocheting - I landed on a Spotify soundtrack called "Easy 70's" or something like that and it was absolutely perfect for the occasion. Kind of mellow and nostalgic and summertime-ish. I did manage to get a lot of crochet completed and only stopped when I realised my hands were feeling a bit stiff and achey. I was stunned to discover it was almost 5 o'clock, my goodness, how speedy the time passes when you are living your best life!

I noticed that as the afternoon had passed the grey skies had given way to blues, so on the spur of the moment I decided to take a quick walk down on the beach, my third visit of the day.

Bloomin' heck, it was sooooooo windy!! The tide was at its lowest point so there was a huge expanse of beach exposed and the wind was whipping it up into a sand storm! It was absolutely mesmerising to watch but not at all pleasant to be in, I felt like any exposed skin was being exfoliated and my trainers were literally filling up with sand as I walked.

So I quite quickly came up off the beach and walked back to the house via a wooded lane where I picked a few wild flowers from the verges.

It's six o'clock now and I'm suddenly very hungry so I made myself a simple meal to enjoy - pan fried halloumi, chorizo slices, tomatoes and grapes, with some smoky paprika crisps and a gorgeous chilled drink of Sauvignon Blanc. I have a soft spot for those dinky little miniature bottles of wine you can buy in the supermarket, they feel like a treat and are just right for enjoying a solo drink with dinner.

Here I am look, back to my hooky as the evening rolls in, loving the hell out of my yarny squares and the sea views right outside the door. Happy, happy me.

It's 8.30pm now, but the sky is too cloudy for a good sunset which is a shame. Shall I go for a walk anyways? Oh, go on then, it would be a shame to be inside when there are such beautiful coastal views to be had.

I decided not to head down to the beach this time, but instead stayed up on the top promenade, strolling and bench sitting, breathing in those glorious sea views. 

I'm tucked up in bed by 9.45 with a mug of tea and a slice of cake (who knew eating cake in bed would feel so naughty, but SO good?!), and look it's still light outside. What a wonderful, wonderful day I've had.

I slept for a solid nine hours that night (I'd actually done a lot of walking during the full day I spent in Saltburn, over 25,000 steps) and woke up feeling happy, refreshed and energised. I decided to get busy packing up my things and tidying up the house so that I could head out for one last walk and a coffee before needing to leave and catch my train home.

One final stroll along the top promenade to drink in those views.

The famous water powered lift was getting ready to open later that morning and I was sorry that I wouldn't be there to take a ride. One last walk down the steps......

.....down to Camfields to get my morning coffee. I can highly recommend the Illy coffee, it really hits the spot first thing in the morning.

With my coffee in hand I took a slow stroll along the whole length of the pier....

....stopping to sit on a bench to drink my coffee and watch the waves roll in under my feet. I'm pretty certain that bench-sitting is now my new best thing, in fact I think I could train to become a professional bencher because I do seem to have a talent for it.

I wonder how many benches there are in Saltburn? Can you see them all on the pier in the above photo? I can tell you there are loooooads of benches in Saltburn, benches with a plethora of differing views and vantage points.

Sigh....how I adore this place. 

I've got a little bit of time before my train leaves so I can stroll on the beach for a while....

....and pop a pebble in my pocket to remind me of a very memorable trip.

It's hard to find the words to describe just how good this trip was for my soul, but hopefully through my photos you can get an impression of it. I think I've mentioned before how important it is for my wellbeing to carve out regular alone time to recalibrate and process my thoughts. Usually I am attempting to do this in small snatches of time during the course of a busy day spent at home with the family - short walks to the meadow, a solo takeout coffee by the canal perhaps. It never occurred to me that I could give myself permission to have an extended break away, and with J's blessing it was absolutely the greatest gift and a real privilege. 

Time, breathing space, quiet, stillness. But also flying sparks of energy, inspiration and creativity, a huge recharge that I didn't know I needed quite so much. This solo trip gave me way more than I could have hoped, and I am so, so grateful for the whole experience.

There's just one niggling little problem now though........when do I get to do it all over again?!

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ps I would love to know in the comments whether you've ever taken a trip away all by yourself somewhere? If not, would you like to? Do tell me your thoughts! x

 

 

 

 

 

Dorset :: Easter 2022

Last month, on the second Friday in April, I took myself off on the train to travel down to Dorset. It's a pretty easy journey really, but it's a long one. The first three hours take me south to London, then there's a trek across the city via the underground, followed by another three hours or so out west to Dorset. Three over ground trains, two underground trains and a car journey, we're talking eight hours from door to door.

I really enjoy solo train travel though, I love the steady rhythm of being on the tracks, the endless views of the landscape through the window, and the time to sit and think about things. Sometimes I crochet or listen to music, but most often I prefer to just sit quietly and listen to the dialogue running inside my head. It can be very insightful to see where your mind wanders when you're sitting still and tuning in.

Six o'clock in the evening and I've arrived at Lady B's, a bit travel weary but in good spirits. The sun is shining, the bluebells are blooming in her walled garden.....

....and a chilled glass of vino arrives in front of me. Cheers!

The last few trips I've made to Dorset by myself, I've chosen to stay at my Dad's house which is where I lived aged 10-18 as well as being there during the holidays of my four student years. It's a peaceful house situated at the top of a hill with long distance views out across the countryside, and staying there by myself is nothing short of blissful. The solitude and quiet stillness feels like a huge luxury, and I especially enjoy the early mornings when I can sit in my old bedroom with a steaming hot mug of tea and the above familiar view from my childhood.

My first morning in Dorset was warm and sunny, and being a Saturday I was looking forward to having a potter around the market and shops. My Dad's house is a mile out of the town which means an enjoyable twenty minute walk  - these are familiar streets which I must have walked hundreds of times over the years.

Bridport street market is always very busy and well attended on a Saturday and it has a different feel to the market here in Skipton. Many of the stalls are an eclectic mix of vintage furniture, collectibles and crafts so there is always an interesting selection of objects to browse.

I loved seeing this French stall selling colourful "Savon de Marseille" soaps and the most beautiful straw baskets, it reminded me of my trip to Provence all those years ago. It probably won't surprise you to hear that I reeeeeeally wanted to buy myself one of the baskets to bring home, but at the time I couldn't justify the spend, or think of an easy way to carry it home on five trains. Next time I'm there (in July hopefully), I may not be able to resist.

All that browsing and pottering got me thirsty so Lady B and I settled ourselves into a cosy window seat in her favourite local café and ordered up some much needed refreshment. I had a cappuccino (made with very good Italian coffee) and a slice of the most delicious orange and almond cake. Probably a gazillion calories right there on that plate (and subsequently partying inside my tummy) but ooooh, it was so, so good. Excellent cake should always be eaten on holiday in my humble opinion.

I spotted these incredible flowers sitting in a bucket outside the wholefood shop and they literally stopped me in my tracks. Home grown flowers tied with string are impossibly lovely, and at £2 a bunch I scooped them right up and bought them for Lady B.

The rest of the day was spent relaxing in the garden and spending some time with my Dad, which included an afternoon jaunt to the local pub to enjoy a drink sitting in the sunny beer garden. It's not easy to be with my Dad at the moment, and I had to dig deep to find all my patience and stay calm. I love him dearly, but my goodness he is a very difficult human being!

I took the above photo as I was walking home for the night at around 9pm. Gosh the sky was incredibly beautiful with so many stars, I just stood still for a while with my head thrown back getting lost in the endlessness of it all.

Sunday morning and I was awake early enough to see the sun rise over the horizon at around 6:30am. As you can probably tell it was a very chilly start with a hard ground frost, but the clear sky promised a bright sunny day ahead.

I decided on the spur of the moment to claim the morning for myself, and with that came a huge rush of excited energy. Time alone to walk, think and just relax with my own company suddenly seemed like absolute perfection and I couldn't wait to get out and enjoy it. The above photo was taken at 8:10 am and I'm setting out to walk the three miles down to the sea.

Remember that poem I mentioned a while back, just before I set off for Dorset?

"I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide

Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied"

I can't tell you how deeply I feel the pull to be beside the shoreline, and just like in the poem I'm simply not able to resist the clear call. Lets go, it may not be denied!

The walk to the sea is a route that I know extremely well, having walked it so many times since being a child.

It was a sunny Sunday morning and everywhere was still sleepy and quiet as I strolled down familiar roads and pathways...

...stopping to appreciate the flowers...

...and following the river as it meandered through fields.

It struck me that Spring was in full swing in Dorset, a good few weeks ahead of us here in chilly North Yorkshire.

It took me just under an hour to get to the coast and the first glimpse of the harbour made my heart soar. 

I love this little place so, so much!

As always, I took my self right around the harbour and straight down to sit on west beach, to have the pebbles beneath me and feel my soul breathe out. I don't know why, but it always feels important for me to do this, like a small personal ritual of mine. 

Sitting on these pebbles somehow makes me feel at peace, like I've come home again. I sat here for quite a while listening to the rush of the waves breaking onto the shore which is one of my all time favourite things to do. On this early Sunday morning I had the whole beach to myself which felt like quite a treat.

Eventually my tummy began to rumble and I remembered that I hadn't yet had breakfast. Time to get up and go in search of good coffee and a bite to eat.

Back around the harbour I went, all the way round to the beach on the other side....

....where one of my favourite cafés was just getting ready to open.

Ahhhhh, just what I needed! It felt a bit strange to be there on my own at first as I'm usually at this café with J and the Little People, but I soon settled into my own company and didn't feel in the least bit bothered by dining solo. My breakfast was very good, the coffee even more so.

It's often the case that you don't realise quite how much you need solo time until you are actually right in the unexpected middle of it. This was one of those such times, and I felt very grateful for it I can tell you. 

Come on, I feel the need for one more walk along the shoreline.....

....and as the café is literally right on the shingle it's an easy skip and a jump onto the beach. The cliffs were looking as magnificent as ever, but scary too. There have been a number of large rock falls recently (just look at this one from November last year, ohmygosh, it's terrifying really) and so I never, ever walk near the base any more, cos it's just not safe. Nope, no, no....

....I stay as close to the water's edge as I can possibly be, trying not to actually get my feet wet in the process.

It was ever so lovely to be there, quiet with my own thoughts, strolling on the damp sand with the gulls crying and the waves crashing. I was kind of blissed out to be honest.

I sat down for a little rest and remembered I had packed snacks, oh, happy days! I am the Queen of Snacks it has to be said, and it doesn't come much better than a small clutch of mini eggs.

Suddenly it seemed like the right time to wander on back as it takes an hour to cross the fields and follow paths back into the town. Such a fine morning spent coastal pottering, it's one of the things I dream about when I'm living my land-locked Attic life up here in the North.

I thought you might like to see those flowers again, the ones I plucked out of the pavement buckets the day before. In the warmth of the house the tulips began to slowly unfurl and it was such a delight to watch it happen. Aren't they glorious?

Later that evening I took my Dad and Lady B out to dinner at a lovely local restaurant, a treat from me to them, but also a treat from me to me, haha. It was very delicious and I even had a pudding which was very indulgent of me but I was in that kind of a mood at the time. I wanted allllllll the sticky sweet things that aren't remotely healthy, I'm sure you know what I mean. So, so good.

Monday morning and another early wake up for me, but with absolutely zero complaints. Six in the morning is such a beautiful time to be awake in the early Spring, with dramatic skies and the promise of the sun still to come.

What pure joy it is to see the sun rise.

Lady B had asked if I wouldn't mind going back to West Bay for breakfast on the Monday morning, and I was only too happy to oblige. West Bay is definitely not short of places to enjoy a very fine breakfast or brunch experience, and this time we settled on Rise. We've been here quite a few times before when on holiday (it's one of Little Lady's favourite places to go) and I really, really like the laid back atmosphere here.

It's in such a great location, set on a small island at the wide mouth of the river where it begins to flow out into the harbour. Crossing over the wooden bridge makes it feel like an adventure....

....and once inside you feel relaxed and ready for some good coffee and delicious food.

Oh yeah....a great way to start the day without a doubt. It was too chilly to sit outside but I did enjoy the views out across the water very much.

We managed to persuade my Dad to walk out along the pier after our breakfast, even though he wasn't all that keen. It was pretty windy and the sea was quite wild so I'm glad he managed it because I'm sure that breathing fresh sea air into your lungs is good for you.

It was lovely to be in Dorset for a short while but it wasn't without stress. That's my Dad there in the above photo, we were taking a slow "constitutional" walk that he does with Lady B most afternoons. It's a short circular route through ancient woodland close to where Lady B lives, and I'm happy to know that he gets out and about each day because his life is mostly extremely sedentary. It's his birthday this week and he'll be 76, and well, things are tricky right now. During the past year we've noticed a steady decline in his memory and some cognitive impairment too, and I'm pretty sure that some form of dementia is taking hold. The difficulty is that he point blank refuses to discuss it and definitely won't agree to see anyone about it, and most of the time he won't even admit that he is struggling. He just tells us to leave him alone and stop interfering, and that he's happy so that's all that matters. It's so hard to know what to do for the best, and it breaks my heart to know that this is only going to get worse as time passes. Ah well, I do try not to dwell on it too much because there isn't very much to be done right now. I shall just keep making the journey to Dorset as often as I'm able so that I can spend as much time with him as possible. Time spent with parents is precious, isn't it, because those memories are all that we'll have one day.

Anyhow, I really didn't want to end on a gloomy note, but I did want to write about what's been happening during the past year as it has been affecting me quite a bit. I'm not a worrier by nature, I'm very much a take-it-as-it-comes type of person, so I think the best thing I can do is just keep being my usual cheery self and hope that whatever needs to happen will come about at the right time. And well, if the situation pulls me down to Dorset more frequently then I'm absolutely going to embrace it.

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February by the Sea

I've been really looking forward to writing this post and sharing the very short little seaside jolly we took two weeks ago at the start of the February half term break. Blogging my holiday trips (however short they might be) is such a pleasure, it's like I get to relive it all over again so it's a win-win for us all.

After the success of our trip to Saltburn at New Year (which you can read about here) I decided that I would really like to start prioritising short breaks away. After almost two years of restricted living through the pandemic I now want to make good use of our free time, and travelling a little further afield on a regular basis is high on my list of things to do. Over the years we've often taken short breaks away with the Little People and have found that even just a weekend with one night spent away from home is so good for family life. We don't need to go far, and staying fairly local means less time spent in the car and also that J is more likely to agree to it. I've worked out that two hours is a hard limit on his patience when it comes to driving for a short break, so we have a few places we like to visit which take about an hour and a half and I'm more than happy to return to familiar spots if that's what keeps everyone happy.

We were originally booked to have two nights away at the start of half term, staying in the same lovely house in Saltburn which I'd found for our New Year trip. But you will probably remember that we had quite a severe storm pass through the north of England (storm Frankie? Franklin?) and due to local flooding we ended up needing to delay our departure which meant just one night away in the end.

It was quite miraculous really because the weather was pretty dire here when we left (we'd packed all the wet weather gear), but the further east we travelled the brighter it became. Arriving into Whitby to clear blue skies and glorious sunshine was so unexpected, and completely brilliant I have to say. I felt so, so lucky!

Also, can we just take a moment to appreciate how fun it is to park the car in a car park which also has parking spaces for fishing boats? My kind of place.

We know Whitby pretty well as we've been visiting, walking and holidaying here for over two decades, since the days when it was just J and I. It's a popular holiday place, but there is still a thriving fishing industry in Whitby and the busy harbour is always jam packed with boats.

Of course I couldn't help myself thinking of my recent Harbour blanket, and taking in the colours with my crochet head still on - I do think I did a  pretty good job with the colour palette.

We arrived in Whitby ready to walk some miles, so after a short stroll around the harbour we followed a very familiar route  up through the steep streets on the east side of the river. It's a heart-hammering short, sharp climb up at the start, but it feels wonderful once you make it to the top and know that the rest of the walk is going to be on the level.

We walked through fields and along quiet narrow lanes until the path eventually took us to the cliffs.

I adore coastal walking so, so much, it really is my happy place when I'm striding along with a continuous view of the sea. The ever changing light and colours provide such a lot of visual pleasure and I never, ever tire of it.

The walk wasn't all that long (about 5 miles) and before too long we could see the piers and knew that we didn't have much further to go. The footpath takes you past the famous abbey at the top of the cliff, and on to the top of the steep flight of steps that winds back down to sea level.

There are 199 steps in total, and I can tell you from experience that it's very much easier to walk down than up.

It's beautifully picturesque and charming - Whitby is a very old town (the abbey is 700 years old) and you can feel the layers  of history and folklore around every single corner.

It's a really lovely place to have a pootle, and there are plenty of interesting independent shops and small art galleries to draw you in. These days I much prefer to stay outside of the shops and take in the atmosphere of the streets....

...with all their quirky little details to make me stop and smile.

I really love to explore places that have a lot of character, and Whitby has it in spades.

I absolutely fell in love with this galvanised wire sculpture beside the harbour, simply titled "Fishwife". And now that I've spent a weeny bit of time looking up information about her, I've discovered that she is part of a sculpture trail.....awwww, I really, really wish I had known that at the time! Apparently there are eight more sculptures around the town, well, I absolutely need to find each and every one of them next time I'm in Whitby. Remind me, won't you, I especially need to find the Gansey Knitter I think.

After all the fresh sea air, coastal walking and street pootling, it was time to settle in for a little bit of refreshment and take the weight off our feet for a bit. We called into one of our favourite pubs which is conveniently nestled just at the bottom of the 199 steps, and luck was definitely on our side because we managed to find a table right by the window. We enjoyed a bite to eat and I might have had a cheeky little glass of sauv blanc to take the edge off my weariness. I can tell you that I really enjoyed my drink-with-a-sea-view.

The pub we were in is called The Duke of York, just in case you ever find yourself in Whitby in need of a cosy spot to rest a while. It's very atmospheric inside, and like much of Whitby it is steeped in history - a thousand years of it! Imagine that! 

By the time we came out of the pub it was early evening, just before 5pm. We decided to go for one final stroll, along the very picturesque, cobbled Henrietta Street which leads round to the east pier. In normal non-stormy weather you can stroll all the way to the end of the stone piers, but on this extremely windy day it was very wisely closed to the public.

We had such a lovely day in Whitby, so much so that for a little moment I totally forgot that we still had a journey to make to our holiday home in Saltburn! It's about a 20 minute drive up the coast between the two places, so nothing too strenuous, but I was really glad to finally arrive at the house and find it waiting for us all warm and welcoming. We have a history of finding places to stay and returning to them over and over - it's kind of like having a holiday home I guess, but without the hassle of looking after it.

It seemed a shame to only be spending one night in Saltburn, but there wasn't a lot we could have done about the storm. We all collectively decided that we could go to bed early (music to my ears) and get up early the next morning so that we could pack up and head out for a beachy stroll before breakfast. The Little People were on board with the plan, and miraculously we did actually manage it without any real strain at all - 8am and we were all showered, dressed, packed up and ready to head out for some sea air to blow away the cobwebs, oh happy, happy, happy me.

Little Lady and I walked on the beach for a short while....

....chatting and breathing in the fresh, salty sea air. What a way to start the day.

Ahh...............so.....much......breathing.....space.....! Love love love.

We eventually caught up with J and Little B (the beach avoiders) and decided to take a walk out along the pier as we still had half an hour to wait before breakfast.

It was very windy and the sea was pretty wild.....

....huge rolling waves coming in at speed right underneath the boardwalk of the pier, and therefore right underneath our feet. There was so much sea spray being caught up in the wind that it was catching the sun and making mini rainbows - can you see in the above photo? It was magical.

The waves really were astonishing, so powerful and huuuuuuuge. I loved it, it was the best kind of winter sea, really  atmospheric and invigorating to watch. 

It was soon time to stroll back as we'd picked out a café to visit for breakfast and it was due to open at 9am. So back along the pier we went, then up the gazillion steps to the top of the cliff. Collapse on a bench for a spell of recovery, then off to find me a coffeeeeee.

I thought you might like to see a little bit of the grand Victorian architecture that makes Saltburn rather special. Part of this beautiful building was a hotel at one time (it opened in 1867) before eventually being converted into apartments. 

Isn't it fabulous? You can just imagine what the sea views would be like from those upper windows, how dreamy.

Such a short but sweet little holiday this one - we needed to be back home by midday because Little Lady had made plans with friends, so it really was just over 24 hours away from home in the end. It was still wonderful to be away and I can honestly say I enjoyed every single minute of it. 

J did mention that he would like to stay somewhere else for a change next time though, so I've agreed that he can decide where we go. Me, I'm happy to go anywhere for a weekend jolly - I wonder where he'll choose?

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New Year by the Sea

I've been thinking the past few days that it has seemed strange not preparing for a Friday blanket post, like there's been something missing from my week. The past six Fridays have been filled with such a lot of colour and coastal feel-good, and I've really enjoyed creating the weekly CAL instalments for you all. So I figured that if I'm not filling your screens with blankety stripes today, then perhaps you would like some coastal views instead? I've been meaning to share this little jolly with you for ages and now seems like just the right time to do it.  

At the very, very start of January, on the very first day of a brand new year, we left our little town and drove seventy five miles north east to one of my favourite coastal places : Saltburn-by-the-Sea. I'd discussed the idea with the family a few weeks before Christmas and we all agreed that it would be a lovely, gentle way to see in the New Year. I managed to find a very homely terraced house to rent through Airbnb for two nights, and the Big Teen agreed that he would happily stay home and take care of the kitty for us, so we were all set.

We arrived around lunchtime on New Year's day and I have to tell you this quiet little seaside town was absolutely heaving with people. So. Many. People! And dogs, and cars and hustle and bustle everywhere you cast your eyes, I've never seen it so busy, not even in peak summer holiday season. It was a little bit of a shock to be honest, but luckily we had arrived well prepared with a packed lunch in our bags and a familiar walk to do which quickly took us away from the crowds.

We've been visiting Saltburn  since 2010 when Little B was just a weeny baby, and we fell instantly in love with this charming, rather old fashioned seaside town. It's fascinating to read about the history of Saltburn which was established as a holiday resort in Victorian times specifically as a destination for "health, leisure and pleasure". I am totally onboard with the idea of leisure and pleasure seeking, and I think taking in the sea air for health benefits is absolutely spot on.

The walk we set out on was familiar and easy going, a steep climb at the start which took us up onto the clifftops to join the Cleveland Way. I really love the huge iron charm bracelet sculpture which stands about seven foot high on the edge of the cliff overlooking the north sea. There's a bench here which made for a lovely resting point for us to eat our lunch - winter picnics are just brilliant I think, although the Little People probably wouldn't agree with me. It was a bit on the chilly side.

You can see from the above photo how bloomin' glorious the weather was on New Years Day at the coast, we were so, so lucky and it really made me feel like we were beginning a brand new year in the best way possible.

It was around 3.30 in the afternoon when our walk brought us back down from the clifftops to sea level at Saltburn, and at the start of January the light was already beginning to fade.

We walked for a short way along this small stony beach....

...listening to the waves roll in and breathing in all that fresh salty sea air.

The holiday home that we rented was in the heart of Saltburn town, an old Victorian terraced house that's been in the same family for more than half a century. It had masses of character - huge rooms with old wooden floors and lots of vintage furniture.

It also had a huge collection of books and dvd's so there was quite a bit of film watching in the evenings which we enjoyed (although I did fall asleep on the sofa quite a lot). It was cold when we were there in January, but the house had the most fabulous radiators in every room - they were the huge cast iron Victorian style ones and my goodness they were efficient. The house was super-toasty warm and felt ever so homely, it reminded me a bit of the Youth Hostels we used to stay in when the Little People were small. Kind of old fashioned and a bit worn out but charming nevertheless.

The following day we set off on another walk which is a firm favourite of ours, although we realised that it's a walk J and I have done together many, many times over the years but never with the Little People. It's a circular ten mile route which begins and ends in Robin Hoods Bay, and as the weather was once again looking stunning I was really excited for a day of coastal walking.

This is a walk of two halves - the first five miles or so follow an old disused railway (called a cinder track) and it's pretty flat and easy going if a little muddy in places. The beginning part is quite enclosed with tall trees and steep banks on either side.... 

....but after a few miles it opens out and you begin to get tantalising glimpses of the sea.

The long distance coastal views are absolutely spectacular, especially on a gloriously clear-blue-sky day. We ate a picnic lunch with the above view, all four of us sat together on an old bench chatting and munching and viewing the view. It's the kind of thing that makes me so indescribably happy right into the depths of my soul - sunshine, fresh air and sea views, and a simple meal enjoyed with my family.

After our lunch stop, the footpath meandered right down to the cliff edge to join up with the Cleveland Way back to Robin Hoods Bay.

It's quite tough walking with some steep ups and downs in places, and on this day it was also incredibly muddy underfoot. It made the going slow and a bit arduous to be honest, but the constant sea views really did keep me feeling on top of the world.

I think it's safe to say we all felt very weary by the time we arrived back into Robin Hoods Bay. 

We decided to stroll down the steep hill into the heart of the village in search of a café where we could have coffee and cake, and honestly, the very thought of that refreshment kept my feet moving.

Robins Hoods Bay is such a charming little place and I've enjoyed it (and photographed it) on many, many occasions over the years.

The streets are narrow and atmospheric, the cottages leaning into each other as if they are tumbling down the hill towards the sea.

Unfortunately for us, this day was a national bank holiday in the UK and most of the shops and cafés were closed. Deep, deep, sad sigh. I was ridiculously disappointed, especially since we had arrived at the very bottom of the hill with the realisation that we simply had to turn around and walk aaaaaaaaaalllllll the way back up again. Without coffee! Or cake!! And my feet were ten-miles weary and oh, I did feel like having a very small but significant toddler tantrum at this point in time. 

The other three quarters of us were apparently fine about the sitch and it was only me having a melt down. So I pulled myself together and listened to J who was selling me the vision of a steaming hot cup of tea and some toasted crumpets back at our holiday home, with my feet up and a very warm cosy ambience to relax in. Sold, to the lady standing on the edge of reason.

Did I mention how cosy the house was, and how fabulous it felt to be back there after a day of muddy miles? And yes, I did indeed have my Harbour blanket with me, I never go away on holiday without at least one crochet blanket packed.

The next day was our final morning, so we spent some time tidying up and getting our bags all packed away in the car for the 10 o'clock exit deadline. We hadn't planned anything for the morning, thinking we would simply go for a wander and find somewhere to eat breakfast. Saltburn has some lovely woodland nestled along the steep banks of the narrow river valley, and although the paths were very muddy we enjoyed the stroll from the woods, through the valley gardens and down to the sea.

It was such a stunning morning without a single cloud in the sky - it's just after 10am in the above photo and we are on the seafront searching (once again) for coffee and some breakfast. Luckily there is a great little café right down on the front which sells Illy coffee (I am a big fan) and even better, they were doing a roaring trade in bacon and sausage breakfast rolls too. Yippeeee!!

We took our breakfast out onto the pier where we enjoyed a very, very windy time of it, my goodness it was bracing. But the coffee was superb, the expansive beachy views even more so. Happy, happy me.

Fully refuelled and full of energy, I desperately wanted to get down onto the beach and take myself to the water's edge. The tide was out and there was such a lot of breathing space, I couldn't wait to go and inhale it all.

Now here's a funny thing - all the men folk in my family really happen to dislike beaches and only set foot on them if absolutely necessary. My brother and my Dad are really not keen and neither are J or Little B, or my Big Teen Boy. So on this glorious sunny morning when the sea was calling my name, I could not persuade J or Little B to set foot on the sand, they just point blank refused. Luckily, I have Little Lady who is very much like me in so many ways and she was only too happy to be my sandy sidekick. J and Little B strolled slowly along the promenade, while Little Lady and I got swept along the sands by the gusty wild winds.....

....all the way to the waters edge.

It was so so so so beautiful, unbelievably so I think you'll agree. This is winter at it's absolute brilliant best - icy cold and fresh, and gloriously bright. I can't explain how happy I was in this moment, it was just the best feeling to be beside the sea drinking it all in.

Eventually it was time to leave, and after we'd reunited with the two sand-hating promenaders we made the slow, steep climb back up to the cliff top. Saltburn is a place of two halves - the lower half is down at sea level and is known as the old part of the town, and the upper half at the top of the cliff is where the houses, train station and shops are situated. There are various ways to get up and down between the two parts - there are steps (lots of them) as well as slightly easier to handle zig-zag pathways. And then there is the famous water powered cliff lift - sadly closed when we were there, but we have used it in the past. You can watch a little video about it on YouTube ((here)) - it's a very historic and well preserved bit of engineering.

You can probably tell that I have a real soft spot in my heart for Saltburn-by-the-Sea and I love spending time there. Its quirky charms and well preserved Victorian style really appeal to me, not to mention the fact that the waves here are legendary (it's a real surfer's destination these days, because of the aforementioned waves). It's only a small place (around six thousand residents) and has a wonderful down-to-earth feel about it - there is something very relaxing about the pace of life and the simplicity of what's on offer here that I love. Whenever we come to stay I always feel it doing me good, it brings me energy and peace and is a place that supercharges my inner battery.

We were away for exactly 50 hours, and it was everything that I'd hoped for when I booked the trip before Christmas. Time to rest and recharge, a change of scene, fresh air, scenic walking and top notch family time. And such a beautiful way to begin a new year too. 

Tilly missed us of course, and actually I was glad to be home in the end. Fifty hours away was just right.

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Dorset Summer 2021

As many of you may know, Dorset is where I lived and grew up from the age of ten to nineteen. I was born in London but my Mum was Dorset born and so during the first ten years of my life we frequently travelled from the city to the coast to visit her parents/my grandparents during school holidays. I have many good memories of holidaying there as a young child and when the decision was made for us to move there permanently, well, lets just say I thought that my ten year old heart would explode with joy. I had the best kind of childhood living a few miles from the sea, and rural life gave us so much more freedom than we'd had living in a very busy urban environment. Pedalling my old bike down to the beach in the summer holidays is one of my favourite childhood memories - I was telling my own Little People that I really hated wearing anything on my feet when I was younger and often rode my bike (and walked everywhere) with bare feet. I guess it's one of the reasons I love wearing flip flops as an adult, as it's the closest thing to being bare foot in the summer.

I left home when I was 18 after taking my A levels and moved 45 miles along the Dorset coast to Bournemouth to spend a year doing an art foundation course. Living there was even more dreamy as my student accommodation was a mere five minute walk from the beach, oh I loved that year of my life so, so much. After that year I moved north to undertake a three year textile degree at Manchester, and my trips back to Dorset happened three times a year during Christmas, Easter and Summer break. I still loved my summers by the sea - each year of my student life I worked full time at an ice cream shop just a stones throw from the beach at Lyme Regis. Such happy memories for sure. Two years after graduating, I met J - we were both 24 years old and from that point on he always came with me on my trips back to the south coast. The Dorset coast calls to me like no other place on Earth, I always say it's where my soul is at peace and I honestly do experience this as a physical thing. My heart feels it for sure, but I feel like my whole being relaxes with the relief of being back where I belong. It's home.

Sadly, the rest of my family don't have anywhere near the same level of connection as me, and that's OK, I do get that it's a very personal thing. In years past, we would make the 300 mile journey twice a year (Easter and Summer) but in recent years it's become an annual summer jaunt. I try and journey down more often if I can, taking the train and travelling solo. Since my Mum and her partner both died, I feel it's more important than ever to make the most of the time I have left with my Dad. He's 75 and has aged considerably in the past year so I really do want to visit as often as I'm able.

The first morning when we're in Dorset I always experience a huge pull to the sea, specifically the pebble beach and little fishing harbour at West Bay where my childhood memories reside. I love to literally "ground" myself there, sitting directly on the beach to feel it with my whole body. The sound of the waves breaking on a pebble beach is one of my most favourite things to listen to, gosh I could spend hours just sitting, watching the waves and drinking in the coastal sights and sounds. And the smell of it too, the air smells sooooooo good in Dorset, especially in Summer. It's a beautiful mix of salty sea air and sweet meadow grass and I absolutely love love love it.

That first morning we were down at the beach pretty early, I think it was about 8.30 or so. It wasn't planned that way but we all happened to be awake and up early and as Little B declared he was "staaaaaaarving" we decided that a walk on the beach followed by breakfast in a beach café would be just the thing. And it was, it was wonderful! 

The weather wasn't all that great at the start of our holiday, but then we'd been expecting  a mixed bag. Often by the coast there is a persistent "mizzle" (a misty drizzle) - we get it inland here in Yorkshire too, but it's especially common by the sea. It rolls in from the shore and descends on the landscape like a damp grey blanket, obliterating views and generally making the day feel a bit miserable. We did try to make the best of it, wrapping up in waterproof coats and setting out to walk along a pretty deserted Burton beach.

We came across these rock towers which looked amazing on the empty beach....

.....and Little B added a very, very small stone to the highest tower as his contribution. 

One good thing about a mizzly day is that the huge amount of moisture in the air can often settle itself in a surprisingly beautiful way....

....these feathers on the shingle beach literally stopped me in my tracks, they looked like they'd been decorated with sparkling jewels.

Our general plan when we were in Dorset this time was to get out and about in the mornings so that  by mid afternoon we would be free to spend time with my Dad and his partner and enjoy an evening meal with them. Because the weather wasn't really any good for sitting on the beach (or sitting for any length of time outdoors anywhere really), we were a bit stuck for things to do. Little B is at an age where he's pretty hard to please, as nothing seems to be of any interest to his eleven year old brain (with the exception of food). On day two we decided to go for an afternoon walk, following footpaths around Hardy's Monument which are part of the South Dorset Ridegeway. This is high ground with far reaching scenic views....

.....it was just a shame that the views were very wet and non existent. 

Water droplets were plentiful....

....but as much as I loved seeing these jewelled spiders webs, they didn't really make up for the miserableness of the weather. Surprisingly, Little B took it in stride and was in good spirits, he's always been a great walker ever since he was small and toddler sized and that's something I've always been thankful for.

Day three and the weather was dry at last, yippeeeee! It was still very grey and murky, but the damp was gone and so we set out to visit one of our favourite places - Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens. We've been visiting these gardens for many years, ever since the Little people were very small. It was as beautiful as ever, it's such a well maintained garden with truly stunning areas of planting, a great mix of ancient woodland and different garden areas with winding pathways to explore.

I think I must photograph these giant gunnera leaves every single year - they stand at around 6ft tall and this year for the first time Little B was able to reach up and touch them. My, my, that child is growing at such a pace, he's just one inch shorter than me now.

Little B says his favourite part of the gardens are the lily ponds which are home to lots and lots of very large goldfish. There is a little metal dispenser which will turn you out a handful of fish food for 20 pence, and it's one of those family traditions of ours that we just have to do. There was no way we could visit and not feed the fish. They played their part and dutifully came to the surface to snaffle the little pellets, much to Little B's delight. Sometimes, in his unguarded moments I still get a glimpse of the child he used to be, but honestly it's rare these days. I bloomin' love it when it happens though, truly.

We'd taken a picnic lunch with us in the hope that the weather would warm up and allow us to enjoy eating outdoors and I'm happy to report we were not disappointed. We stopped off at our favourite West Bexington beach which was beautifully quiet and peaceful....

....and spent a few hours enjoying the sound of the waves as we ate. I'd made us chunky ham, cheese and salad sandwiches using a freshly baked French baguette, with crisps, grapes and apples. Oh, and a bit of chocolate to finish off because good chocolate is always needed to round off a picnic in my opinion. Eating outdoors is one of my favourite things to do on holiday and even a humble picnic is elevated to something special when eaten on the beach.

Later that same day we made a last minute decision to eat our evening meal at the beach too - we were on a roll with al fresco eating and it seemed like a good thing to do. 

We stayed local and drove the few miles down to the harbour.....

.....and took our paper wrapped fish and chip dinner down to the beach to eat with a view of the sea.

We even had a couple bottles of cold beer (J and I have started enjoying alcohol free beer, and it tastes really great I have to say). As you can see from the above photo, it was a bit on the chilly side so I ended up underneath my picnic blanket which I can't say I was unhappy about, I do love a bit of crochet blanket comfort!

Once it got too cold to sit still any longer, Little B and I took a brisk walk up to the top of the west cliff to take in the view. It was a lovely way to round off our day spent outdoors - two meals eaten on two different beaches, yup, I was extremely happy with the way the day had panned out. 

Waking up on the next day we were greeted with a glowering sky and light rain which made me sigh long and loud with utter disappointment. It was a Saturday, so after after a bit of a ponder we decided to head into Bridport to be true "holiday makers" and enjoy the hustle and bustle of the street market. Even in the drizzly rain we figured we could make the best of it, find a cosy café and enjoy a morning coffee. By the time we arrived in town the rain had just about stopped and it was great to see the market thriving in spite of the cool unseasonal weather. We chose a very teeny tiny independent café which had tables and chairs on the pavement and enjoyed a really good frothy coffee with a wonderful slab of homemade coffee and walnut cake. My spirits were most definitely lifted and as the weather seemed to be improving minute by minute we made a spontaneous decision to head six miles along the coast to a little seaside place from my childhood.

As you can see from the above photo, the weather really got it's act together by the early afternoon and we arrived at the cute little seaside village of Charmouth under a blue, sunny sky. Yayyyyy, happy, happy, happy me!!!!!!!!

It's been many years since we've been to Charmouth beach, and I'd forgotten just how charming and unspoilt it is. There is very little here - a small café, a tiny shop selling fossils and a heritage coast centre. Oh, and some beach huts too, looking beautiful in their subtle minty shades.

Just like all the other beaches we visit in Dorset, this is part of the famous Jurrasic Coast World Herritage site and is very well known locally as being the place to go for fossils. The sound of many little hammers tapping at rocks is very distinctive and beach combing and treasure hunting is a very popular activity here. When we were visiting, the tide was low and so there was plenty of space on the beach for us to wander along and see what we could find.

I really liked seeing more rock stacks here on the beach - I think they are fabulous and I love that people take the time to create them for others to enjoy.

I just had a bit of a search in the depths of the interweb to try and find some information about rock stacks - I really just wanted to know whether stacking rocks was an actual "thing". It seems as if it is indeed a world wide artistic pastime and I found this link ((here)) which has some fabulous photos. Ahhhhhh, see now I really, really wish that I had tried my hand at creating one myself.....sticking that activity at the very top of my must-do list for my next visit to the coast. 

And while I'm on the subject of stone stacking, if you have three minutes to spare I really think you'd like this video on YouTube of Swedish artist Jonna Jinton working her magic. I discovered Jonna's YouTube channel last year during the height of pandemic lockdown and binge watched every single one of them. The way she tells her story through video and music is absolutely breath taking and very moving, I can highly recommend it.

Back to beach life, and the natural beauty of Charmouth beach had me captivated from the start. I used to come here quite often as a small child because I had a great Uncle and Aunt who lived here, and it's where I first discovered the joy of hunting for sea glass which has been a life long passion of mine.

Naturally, J and the Little People have been influenced by my obsession with beach combing over the years and it's one of those activities that is guaranteed to keep even the youngest engaged for quite a decent amount of time. You can see him in the above photo, intently scanning the shore for sea glass "treasure". Little B has  a highly competitive nature which amuses me no end because I am the absolute opposite - I have a very passive personality and deliberately avoid any kind of competitive activity. 

We had a discussion about what colours of sea glass would be considered rare  - on the south coast, red/orange is the rarest, closely followed by cobalt blue. Well, once the challenge was set there was no stopping that child of mine and the hunt was on. It was a true delight to sit my behind down on the warm pebbled beach and watch him go to work, he was relentless in his search. The joy and pride on his face when he proudly presented me with not one but two pieces of beautiful cobalt blue sea  glass was priceless - awwwww!! My heart felt like it wanted to explode.

We spent a wonderful few hours on the beach that afternoon, content with the simple pleasures of sitting and strolling in the warm sunshine, gathering in our small but precious collection of sea treasure to bring home.

It's early evening now, and we are settled in Lady B's beautiful walled garden to enjoy some light refreshment. We had planned to cook dinner in the garden - fabulous steak burgers from the local butcher which has become pretty well known after appearing on the television (apparently it's Britain's oldest family business, dating back more than 500 years). Unfortunately the fine weather didn't last for us, but J did a brilliant job with the barbecue in the rain.....sigh......such is our fickle  British summer time. I try not to let the poor weather get me down, but sometimes it really does suck.

Our last morning in Dorset looked promising and we were gifted some warm, dry weather to end our holiday, thank goodness for that. My heart was happy, and we set out early to take a last walk by the sea, heading back to West Bay to walk along the clifftops. I've been enjoying this walk for most of my life and have many, many layers of memories here - the feeling of nostalgia is a palpable thing for me any time we make the steep climb up the east cliff with it's sweeping views of familiar coastline.

It's only a few miles to walk, but there are a couple of steep ups and downs as the footpath winds its way over the rugged cliff tops....

,,,,before dropping back down to sea level. The return walk is along the shoreline, and on this morning it was absolutely beautiful. 

It was still quite early (around 9.30 I think) and only a few dog walkers were out and about - I love it when you feel like you have the beach to yourself, which is quite a rarity in August.

These vertical sandy cliffs are pretty impressive and I always love to be at sea level looking upwards, marvelling at the fact that just a short while ago we were actually walking along the very top of them. It blows my mind every single time, without fail.

All the climbing, walking and fresh sea air meant that by the time we trundled back to the harbour we all felt more than a little ravenous. Little B is coming through a pretty major growth spurt right now and as a result is constantly complaining that he is about to perish from starvation.

After three failed attempts trying to find breakfast at our usual haunts (one unexpectedly shut, one fully booked and short staffed and one not opening until lunch time), we ended up at Sladers Yard. I'd been here once before for coffee - it's a very unassuming old place from the outside (a historic rope warehouse) but the building has amazing character. Inside is a mixture of art gallery and café, and outside there is rustic wooden seating in a sheltered gravel garden where you can eat if the weather allows.

As it turned out, the weather chose to behave and it was warm and sheltered in this secluded little spot. We had such a gorgeous breakfast (great coffee too) and I was really glad that our last bit of the holiday felt so joyful. Little B was in raptures over his fluffy, freshly made pancakes (which probably just settled into his feet, his appetite is seriously impressive), and I enjoyed my go-to fave of poached eggs on sourdough toast which was lush. Gosh, all this talk of food is making my hungry!

We drove home later that afternoon after saying our goodbyes to family, and I made a promise to my Dad (and myself) that I would try and return in the Autumn. It was a good holiday all in all, I mean, we had some tense moments and I'm very, very aware that the easy, laid back family holidays we enjoyed when the Little People were young are pretty much a thing of the past now. I can't help but feel a bit sad about it, but at the same time I can see that we are entering a new phase of parenting where J and I will begin to rethink how/where we spend our holidays in future. It's quite an exciting thought actually, so I'm holding onto that and doing my best to embrace the changes. Who knows what next year will bring?

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ps..I've just had a look back in my archives to my first ever post about our Dorset holidays, right at the start of my blog in Spring 2008. The Little people were aged 5 and 4 back then, and Little B was not even a notion......my my, how the years do whizz past xx

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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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Dorset Summer 2019

Helloooooo my lovelies! I'm back in the Attic after a weeny break, I hadn't intended to be gone for so long but I've enjoyed my un-planned time away from my laptop I have to say. It's good to be back though, I've missed my Attic space and I've got quite a bit of catching up to do....lots of miscellaneous chat coming your way in the days to come .... haha .... please don't run away!

During the first week of the holidays at the end of July, we made the three hundred mile journey south for a short holiday in Dorset. It surprised me to realise that it had been two years since our last family trip there in the summer of '17 - I went down twice last year but they were both solo journeys by train.

As you can see, our first day wasn't really the summer heatwave that we had been expecting - the sea mist was thick and persistent, giving a rather eerie feel to the coastline. Looking at the above photo, you wouldn't know that there was a one hundred and forty foot cliff face sat right there would you?

It didn't matter though, because I was back in my Happy Place, and no amount of eerie mist was going to dampen my spirits. It was really special being back with J and the Little Peeps (although we were missing the Big Teen) and our customary first-day stroll around the harbour and out along the pier filled me with sea-breezy joy. I've lived away from Dorset for over thirty years now and although I absolutely LOVE my life here in North Yorkshire, Dorset will always be home for me. Every time I return I feel an overwhelming sense of being back where I belong - it's a good feeling, kind of warm and reassuring somehow.

Our first day pootled along at a deliciously leisurely holiday pace - coffee and brunch by the sea, then a lazy afternoon spent with my Dad and Lady B enjoying her beautiful walled garden. I have to say that an ice cold G&T really does hit the spot rather nicely, especially on a warm, hazy afternoon after a huge dose of sea air. Ahh, slow summer holidays..........talk about laid back relaxation, I was practically horizontal when I got to the bottom of that glass!

Day two, and welcome to the Heat Wave. The people in the know with weather stuff had predicted this heat wave coming and despite the damp murk of the previous day, the hot weather did indeed arrive. I am a sun lover through and through, and waking up in Dorset to a bright blue sky with the sound of seagulls overhead and the promise of blazing sunshine and I was truly happy with my lot. 

When we arrive in Dorset, one of the first things my Dad always asks me is "do you have any plans while you're here?" which makes me laugh - the answer is always a very firm "no!". We aren't a family who plans much, and for me personally I really enjoy  the start of a holiday with the days stretching ahead and nothing decided upon. I love the freedom of being able to choose at whim what to do and where to go according to the current mood, it's a luxury that escapes us when we are caught up in our day to day life juggling work, school, home, jobs, routines.

So on this Tuesday when we were gifted blue sky, sunshine and heat, we decided to pack up a simple picnic lunch and head upwards to find far reaching views and a cooling breeze. If you've been following my blog for any length of time, you will have no doubt inhaled countless Dorset posts from me over the years. You may even be familiar with this particular place that calls to us pretty much every time we are on holiday there. I don't know what it is about St Catherine's Chapel that draws us there, but we always enjoy the peacefulness of the location and the views are spectacular.

Thankfully, the Little People have outgrown the shouting and running that used to dominate our time spent here and instead we wander gently in and out of this very special building, taking in the ancientness and admiring the rural views.

Did I already mention how much I love the summertime when the temperatures soar? We hit a beautifully pleasurable 30 degrees with a steady sea breeze to take the edge off and I couldn't have been happier. Our picnic was delicious and simple (salty crackers with Emmental cheese and peppery salami, baby plum tomatoes and mini cucumbers, salt and vinegar crisps, the juiciest ripe cherries and some partially melted chocolate biscuits). We spread our picnic blanket on the grass right up against the old stone walls of the chapel and lazed about in the heat of the early afternoon. 

Eventually it was time to move on.....I was longing to be closer to the sea and the Little People suddenly set up a verbal chant for ice cream, so off we went.......

....down to the sea at Burton Bradstock. You can see the beach in the above photo, packed full of holiday makers enjoying the sunshine. The Hive beach cafe was hugely busy (it was packed out actually) but we manged to find a shady table and enjoyed ice cold drinks and delicious ice creams. I really wanted to go and paddle my feet in the sea but J was having none of it (he doesn't really do hot, crowded beaches, he's a winter soul in contrast to my summer one). So after we'd finished up our refreshments we headed back into town to spend time with family and enjoy a second round of walled garden delights.....

.....oh, so beautiful! The tail end of a long hot day, this was around 7.30pm in that beautiful golden time just before the sun disappeared behind the rooftops.

We had planned to cook our dinner on the beach and had purchased all the gubbins for barbecue burgers and s'mores. But the weather folks predicted thunderstorms and as we could feel the threat of rain in the air we decided to bring the barbecue experience to Lady B's back garden. It was lovely actually - not quite the same as cooking and eating on the beach but the rain (mostly) held off and J did his usual amazing job of cooking the burgers to perfection. The Little Peeps were then let loose with marshmallows on sticks and the disposable barbecue did remarkably well at giving them their s'more fix.

Little B asked if he could borrow my camera and spent ages roaming the garden practicing his macro shooting skillz. I shall spare you the entire photo gallery of thirty three miscellaneous objects in close up detail, but hope you enjoy the lavender. It was fascinating to see what caught his eye, he does seem to have a real genuine love of flowers (hmmm, I wonder where he gets that from?)

Day three, and more lush hot sunny weather to go and play in, oh the joy!! We decided not to travel far on this day, choosing instead to stay at our local patch of coast at West Bay. We were on a brunch mission (I think brunch is my absolute favourite meal of the day at weekends or when I'm on holiday) and wanted to treat my Dad and Lady B to a lovely meal out.

We chose to go to a fairly new place called Rise. The building used to be a rather posh (but slightly faded) seafood restaurant - it's in a brilliant location at the wide mouth of the river just before it enters the harbour. It's a tiny piece of land surrounded by water which is accessed via a little wooden footbridge, so it feels kind of special before you even set foot in the building.

The building has been beautifully renovated inside and has a relaxed beachy vibe. There is an area with comfy looking squishy sofas around a log burning stove which I feel sure I will make a special visit for in the winter, and the dining area is all wood and natural textures, beautiful patterned textiles and loads of plants. I felt so at home there!

But it was the outdoor riverside garden that called to us on this warm sunny morning. It was utter perfection - plenty of space, gorgeous views of the river and harbour and genius glass paneling which kept the breeze at bay. I can honestly say we all really enjoyed that meal, it was everything I'd hoped for and more. The Little People are brilliant eater-outers, they have healthy appetites and pretty mature tastes but best of all they really appreciate it, not just the food itself but the joy of spending time with family and making a simple meal into a memorable social occasion. 

Just behind Rise there is a field next to the river which has always been home to the travelling fairground in summer. I remember it so clearly from when I was a child, and just the sight of it made me feel incredibly nostalgic. It's all a little brash I suppose, but it made me ponder on what a Fairground colour palette might look like?!

Our day continued to unfold at a leisurely pace. It's early afternoon now and we are strolling around the harbour which is looking much more summery than it did on day one of our holiday.

Out along the pier - we are very slowly ambling, kind of like I imagine families would have done in the olden days - good old fashioned promenading, taking in the sea air. My dad is pretty fit and well in general but he has slowed a lot with age and walks veeeeeeeeeeery slowly. I found it interesting in that I generally walk a lot in my day to day life and my natural walking pace is quite fast as I usually have a purpose or a time limit. It's an entirely different experience to walk slowly for pleasure, to really be aware of putting one foot gently in front of the other. I liked it a lot, the mindfulness of walking, experiencing gratitude for something that is so easy to overlook and take for granted.

Ahh, that's better, no more murky mist and the cliffs have returned!

We sat a while at the end of the pier, watching boats sail in and out of the harbour and feeling the sun on our faces. The colours of the sea were mesmerising, such rich, sparkling shades of turquoise, green and blue.

This time I managed to persuade J down onto the beach, much to the joy of the Little People. They didn't have swimming costumes with them, but that didn't stop them enjoying the sea. They rolled up their shorts and went in as deep as their clothes allowed, splashing and playing in the water for ages. It was delightful watching them play together, just as they did when they were much younger.

Eventually we pulled ourselves off the beach, dried off a very sodden Little B as best as we could and made our way to the nearest pub. What better way to round off the afternoon than with an ice cold drink of something yummy?! Seaside beachy pubs are rather lovely I think, especially when you can sit outside and breathe in the salty air while you enjoy some refreshment. 

Later that same day, we decided on the spur of the moment that we needed one last sea fix. It had been a perfect hot summers day and the evening was still beautifully warm and golden, so we drove down to Burton beach to sit a while by the sea.

It was around 9pm and the colours of the sea and sky were magical.

I love having my crochet blankets with me when we're on holiday, it's just the best feeling to see them being used and loved and to have the visual joy of all those colours singing into the outdoors. I made this blanket in the summer of '16 and I absolutely adore it. I also had my Coast Ripple blanket with me (I always bring this to Dorset as it's like bringing it home) - I couldn't photograph it however as Little Lady had rolled herself up in it like an enchilada! She laid herself out on the still warm shingle of the beach, quietly watching the sky change colour as the day came to a gentle end. It was a weeny bit magical being down on the beach until 9.30pm, a time when we are usually thinking about heading to bed when we are at home.

Day four, and another scorcher. We had a slow start to our day, enjoying the opportunity to have a lie in and some slow time lazing around in the garden. After a short family discussion, the general agreement was for beach, sea and food with minimal effort involved, so we packed up another simple picnic lunch and headed to one of our favourite Chesil beach spots at West Bexington. This is a very quiet and unspoilt stretch of coast and I adore the sense of natural tranquility here. 

It was very hot on this day, too hot to really walk very far but I took myself off for a little stroll along the top of the shingle beach. I love seeing flowers growing on the beach, it's always so unexpected somehow.

This is sea kale ↑ which grows in abundance along this stretch of the coast. 

The beach here at West Bex isn't flat, in fact the slope of shingle is constantly shifting and changing throughout the year. Sometimes the ridge is very steep indeed which makes for a fun experience with flip flops, haha! The seagulls made me laugh, they looked as if they were waiting in line for something (maybe waiting for me to trip over my flip-flop feet as I stumbled around in the shingle).....

....and they didn't especially like me taking their photograph either!

In the heat of the midday sun, we were so very, very glad that we remembered to sling our old beach tent into the car before we left home. It gave us some welcome shade as we ate our picnic and made a long, hot beach afternoon feel beautifully relaxed. You can see how quiet this beach is, so different from the more popular stretches of coast further to the west. You can also see the car park to the left of the beach in the above photo, and this is the very thing that makes West Bexington such a great place for a picnic or barbecue as you only have a very short journey to make with alllllll the paraphernalia - winning!

This end of Chesil beach is made up of very small stones, they are smooth and rounded and in the height of summer they are also very hot, which was certainly a challenge for the Little People making their way from crochet blanket to sea....kind of a speedy running hobble! Made me laugh - I've got loads of photos of us all from this day, lounging around, hobbling and paddling. Fun times for sure.

I happen to really, really like shingle beaches because the little stones don't get into every single thing like fine sand does, and I enjoy sifting the weeny smooth pebbles through my fingers too. Oh, and did I mention the sound of the sea? Waves gently breaking and retreating on a shingle beach have a very particular sound, it's one of the most rhythmic and soothing things to listen to (to give you an idea, turn up your sound and take a few minutes to listen to this video).

Ahhh, I just love this beach.....can you tell??!!

Much later that day, after a lovely family meal out at a local pub with my Dad, Lady B and my sister-in-law and nephews who were passing through town, we once again took to the hills. This time we drove up to J's favourite Dorset spot, Eggardon Hill. I've been coming up here since I was a small child and have sooooo many memories of fun family times spent on these high slopes. We arrived just as the sun was dipping over the horizon at 9pm.....

....with just enough light left to take a short stroll.

We had no real reason to come up here, other than we all had the feeling that we weren't quite ready for the day to end. 

We didn't walk far, just across the field and along the main ridge of this ancient hill fort with it's long distance views out towards the coast. We had chocolate and blankets, and all we planned to do was sit a while to breathe it all in.....

......so, so, so good.

I didn't know that J had snapped this photo of us - he sent it to my phone a few days later once we were home in the Attic and I just sighed with the absolute pleasure of the memory. Such sweet family times.

We really enjoyed our time away, it was lovely to disconnect from technology for a while and spend so much time outdoors. And despite a hellish journey back  I came home feeling refreshed and energised and so thankful for the many pleasures of a simple family holiday and all the memories we made. I love my Dorset trips so much and really value the regular re-connection with my childhood place, but honestly it's really nice to be back home again. Home to number twenty four, and all is well....happy me :)

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