Attic24

Making the Seasons :: February

It's the last day of February today and we're slap bang in the midst of a supremely wintry end to the month here in my patch. The freezing snowy weather which blew in from Siberia had been widely forecast and we were expecting it ("The Beast from East is coming!"), but it still felt like a bit of a shocker yesterday. The temperature dropped to -6° and the snow whirled in, bringing enough of the white stuff to lay down a 4 inch carpet, slow the roads to a near standstill and cause the schools to close for two days. Snow days home from school are such an excitable treat for the Little People, honestly, it's like their Birthdays and Christmas all rolled into one!

Here in the Attic, the cold, snowy weather has felt rather perfect for this exact time of year - it's precisely what springs to mind when I conjure up seasonal images of late February. So I am embracing it and delighting in these slow, lazy days when I can get away with existing for a while in my own creative bubble. During these times when the rest of the family is busy doing their own thing (Teenagers positively excel at this, don't they?!), I've either been crocheting or stitching. 

As many of you know, the Woodland Blanket CAL finished on Friday, although I actually finished making my blanket during the week before that. And so, well, you know, I erm.....well I may have started a new blanket in order to cope with my Woodland Bereavement. So far so good, it's working beautifully and I can report that I am coping with the loss of the Woodland Ripple rather well with a new set of stripes flowing off my hook. I'll show you what I'm up to once I've made a bit more progress.

In amongst the obsessive hooking I've been stitching, and I've been really, really enjoying it too. You might remember in my last MakingTheSeasons post I showed you the start of the Winterberry embroidery which came in the Winter Craftpod subscription box? Well I found a small window of time a few weekends ago to pick it up again and create some more berries......

....just look at those cute little blobs of seasonal scarlet! This embroidery was quite finicky to do (very fine and precise) but I found that the more I stitched, the easier it became. There were even a few times when I found myself gently lulling into that state of complete Mindfulness that can sometimes happen with repetitive, rhythmic crafting. I get this a lot when I'm crocheting, but it was a new thing to find it with stitching. It feels like a little bit of magic when it happens, it is such an unbelievably calm feeling where nothing else seems to register except for the gentle pull of the thread through the surface of the fabric. I've never tried meditation, but I guess this is what it must feel like. It's marvelous!

I finished my little embroidery hoop and just love the simplicity of it so much. It is perfect for this time of year. It's sitting sweetly on my mantel along with some other seasonal bits and bobs (which I'll show you more of in a bit) and making me very happy. Do you like the card too? This is actually a Christmas card, but as it seemed like the perfect partner for my Winterberry embroidery I decided to buy it for myself to celebrate February. The artist is called Clover Robin and is a recent discovery via Instagram. Oh, I love her work so much! You can read more about her {here} and find some of her delicious cards and prints in her Etsy shop {here}. Do go see, her work is a visual delight.

I really enjoy the inspirational nature of Instagram I have to say, and there is a heap load of creative talent to be found within those little square photos. I came across a stitchy lady a few weeks ago,  and boy was I in for a deep tumble down that particular rabbit hole.....crikey! I surprised even myself with how obsessive I quickly became when I decided to jump in to the world of Counted Cross Stitch with both feet. Who knew???? Certainly not me!! I've been embroidering and stitching since I was eight years old, yet I've never, ever been drawn to cross stitch. I've never in my life felt inspired by any cross stitch designs enough to commit to all those hundreds and thousands of repetitive little crosses. Far too boring. EH???!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well I'm eating my words now, that's for sure!!! 

So this ↑↑↑↑↑↑↑ is the thing that did it for me - all that C O L O U R!!!!!!! This lady creates her (very un-boring) cross stitch designs using the most glorious, amazing palette of colours, and I  just could. Not. Resist. It took me a nano second to be convinced that this Cross Stitch malarkey would be a Good Thing for me,  and before I knew what was happening I had downloaded the pattern, purchased the required 22 shades of DMC stranded cotton (all those colours, swoon) and tracked down the black fabric with special little cross-stitchy holes. Yes, you read that right - BLACK fabric!!! I know!!! See how powerful that colour must have been to convince me to purchase black fabric???!!!

So I had to learn quickly about all this - the holey fabric especially designed for cross stitch? Well that's 14 count Aida of course! Yup, I'm all in the know about cross stitch now. I am desperate to show you the excellent progress I've made, but I took so many photos that they really do need to be in a post of their own. 

I've found the business of sitting and slowly stitching somebody else's design so enthralling, and it struck me that embroidery is the perfect activity for these stay-home, freezing cold winter days. I can't wait to show you - more about the little crosses very soon.

Back to Winter white - the above photo was taken yesterday at 5.22pm as we walked home through the park after Little B's swimming lesson. After a day of white-out snow blizzards, we were blessed with a truly beautiful early evening. The light was so glorious, and I loved the pinky-golden glow to the whitened landscape. The past few days I've been thinking a lot about seasonal colour palettes - well , I think about this sort of thing pretty much all of the time to be honest, but this week I've been thinking specifically about what would make up a perfect Winter colour palette. You might remember my Winter Wreath from 2 years ago...oh actually, it was three years ago, well I never!! You can read all about it {here}. The colours I chose for my winter wreath are a very pretty representation of Winter I think - soft frosty blues, pale greens, delicate mauves and pinks, with a smattering of pearly grey and a dash of cream. That says Winter to me, probably more than white does.

Inspired by the thoughts of frosty winter colour, I gathered a collection of yarn balls into my yarn bag in order to make a seasonal garland for my fireplace. I've really missed my Autumn garland, and decided I would like to have something for every season to hang along my mantel. I was inspired by Instagram again, this time it was the re-connection with an old friend from my stitchy art student days. I saw a picture of her fireplace with a simple garland made from little crochet balls and loved the look of it - then realised that she had used my Little Balls pattern! Isn't that funny, that we managed to inspire each other without realising it?! So I've spent the past two days feverishly crocheting a stash of Little Balls in soft, wintry colours.

The pattern for these Little Balls is very easy amigurumi style (dc stitches worked in a spiral), first making a little half sphere.....

....then filling with a weeny blob of toy stuffing before decreasing to close the shape into a ball.

They are super quick to make (six little rounds of crochet), and insanely addictive. It's simply not possible to make just a few - you need handfuls! Bowls full! A whole hoard of these darling little things!

I thought you might like to see my colours - these are all scraps of Stylecraft Speical DK left over from past blankets. It's pretty much what I would think of as a Winter colour palette, with a subtle nod to the beautiful colours of Hellebores which flower at this time of year. 

❄ Cream ❄ Parchment ❄ Silver ❄ Grey ❄ Parma Violet ❄ Mushroom ❄ (winter neutrals)

❄ Lavender ❄ Grape ❄ Pale Rose ❄ Vintage Peach ❄ Soft Peach❄ (hellebore flowers)

❄ Sherbet ❄ Duck Egg ❄ Cloud Blue ❄ Storm Blue ❄ Denim ❄ (winter skies)

❄ Sage ❄ Meadow ❄ Lincoln❄ (frosty leaves)

I started out with 24 balls, although quickly realised this wouldn't be enough - I think I ended up with around 40 in the end. I used Storm Blue to crochet a simple chain, picking up a single loop on the side of each ball and working a slip stitch to attach it. I spaced my balls 8 chains apart. And I do find myself smirking as I am talking about my balls!! Tut tut, so childish.

I love what I ended up with - the simplicity and the speed of it made  this garland the perfect project for me this week.

Ohh...........cute!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cutesome little Winter Balls to add a dash of seasonal whimsy to my fireplace......

......look!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What do you think?

My fireplace is very rustic and not very photogenic with its dark carved wood and brick effect surround (my friends fireplace is gorgeous, with a white painted surround and elegant ceramic tiles.) But I try not to be overly bothered by the brown and concentrate on adding prettiness instead. 

I'm so happy with my Winter fireplace, it really makes me feel all sorts of contentedness right down into my soul. When I think about Gillian and I going about our "Making the Seasons" creative things each month, it's not always the actual making that springs to mind. Often it's more along the lines of Creative Faffing that Gillian and I both love to do in response to the seasons. I suppose in posh designer terms you might label this activity as "styling". There is so much of this over on Instagram - styling has become such a trendy thing to do in recent times, creating visual content especially for the purposes of  sharing on social media. Huh. Well for me, it's more a case of gathering together a collection of small things that make me feel happy and in tune with the seasons, never mind how photogenic it all is. If it means something to me, then that's what counts.

Want to see some more bits of my Winter Mantel Faffery?

Let me show you!

Awwww, lets just take an extra moment to oggle those Little Balls - don't the colours look lovely (please pretend the brown wood is in fact a lovely painted white, just for now)

I mentioned earlier that I'm enjoying having seasonal cards on my mantel which get changed around with the months, well I think I am going to make this is a Thing this year. It's such an easy way to bring a little bit of handmade into the home and there are some fabulous artists out there making beautiful images that look great on cards. I think it's brilliant to support these small businesses even if you can't afford a print or an original, then cards are almost as good. Up above is another Christmas card which was given to me by friends, and I later found out that the artist is Claire Henley. The little snowdrop print is by Clover Robin. I've got a pot of hyacinths looking gorgeous too - the label said they would be white, but they are opening up to be a stunning buttery yellow colour which I've never seen before. The washed pottery and glass was gathered on a recent trip to Silverdale in Lancashire - I took some lovely photos that day, I'll share them here soon.

I've got a few twiggy stems of blossom on my mantel too this week, the buds were tightly shut little green bobbles when I picked them. Slowly they are opening in the warmth of the room to reveal the most delicate little flowers.......

......so, so very pretty.

I've no idea what blossom this is, it's from an overgrown tree on our allotment plot which the neighbouring house is desperate to have cut down as it's growing right into the side of their house more or less. The lady said she thought it was an almond tree, but I'm not sure. I'd love to know if anyone has blossomy knowledge?!

Hyacinths and twiggy blossom stems are all accompanied by twinkly little fairy lights and candles at this time of year. I bought a couple of inexpensive candles in glass jars from the supermarket - they were supposed to be scented but disappointingly they haven't really performed any scenting activity as yet. The glass jars were plain so I decorated them using stickers which came inside the Winter Craftpod.

These stickers are so lovely! They are printed on a transparent background so are perfect for sticking onto glass jars - the illustrations are by Ukranian illustrator Nastias Leptsova, oh you do need to go see her work, it's so unusual and extremely cosy! I've been captivated by her Instagram feed (@nastiasleptsova) which has almost no colour in it whatsoever - a world shown in sepia tones, which I find strangely comforting somehow.

I've spent a lot of time in this room during February, sometimes sat in the light of the bay window stitching (black fabric, oh my word, a true test for the eyes), or sometimes sat on a floor cushion right next to the fireside with my crochet. I've run out of tall candles for my candelabra ( I need a trip to that big blue and yellow shop!) but aside from that, my mantel is making me very happy indeed. Oh Little Balls, I do so like having you dangling there!

Hmmm.....I'd love to know what your Winter colour palette would be, do tell! Would it be chilly whites and blues? Would it have any pink or purple in it? White vs. cream?

I've just peeked out of the window and there is still a proper snowy blizzard blowing around the house, so I'm wondering whether tomorrow will be another no-school day for us, with some vigorous sledging followed by some gentle fireside creativity. Sounds rather good if you ask me.

I hope that you are enjoying the season you're in whatever the weather you've got, and that you might feel inspired to pop a few seasonal cards on a shelf or hook up a simple little garland in seasonal colours. A little seasonal making/faffery is very good for the soul and I can highly recommend it.

✿ All my Making the Seasons posts have their own category so you can find them easily - {Making the Seasons}

✿ I'm really enjoying doing these monthly posts alongside my friend Gillian - you can find her Making the Seasons posts  {here}

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Mandala Therapy

As much as I love and adore crocheting blankets and am passionate about designing and making them,  there are definitely times when a quick, creative fix is needed. Oddly enough, I mostly get hit by the urge to drop everything and make something small when I am part way through making something large - it's as if my Creative Mind craves a little bit of a detour when I'm on a long journey.

Over the past few years, mandalas have become my go-to solution when this kind of creative itch needs to be scratched - circles are quick and easy to make and a lot of fun. Plus, mandalas deliver plenty of opportunity for colour play which I find therapeutic, joyful and completely irresistible. 

Around the middle of January, on an ordinary sort of a Wednesday afternoon, I suddenly felt compelled to make a fresh mandala for my dining table. At the start of the year I began buying small bunches of daffodils and narcissus from the supermarket, and I fancied that my jugs of bright blooms needed something super-pretty and a little bit Spring-like to perch upon. I dived into to my bag of Stylecraft Classique Cotton and pulled out the following six colours ::

✤ Sunflower ✤ Shrimp ✤ Shell Pink ✤ Wisteria ✤ Sky Blue ✤ Soft Lime ✤

Ooooooo...........so pretty!

As I was doing this on a complete whim and I needed my fix to be instant, I didn't waste time searching for a pattern. All I had to do was go to my own list of tutorials and find the pattern I wrote back in 2014 and get hooking. Instant gratification!

I designed the Attic24 Mandala Wheel  to be a quick and simple make, something decorative that could be pinned to the wall or laid on the table to bring a flash of colour to the room. There are 12 rounds in total, so there are twelve colour decisions that need to be made when making this mandala. You could plan it all out in advance, or you could make each choice as you go along (which is what I do) - either way, the colour play is an important part of mandala making and I absolutely love it for that.

Mandalas can look quite complicated as they often use a whole combination of different stitches to create the rings of pattern. But I promise you that it's possible to take a very simple pattern (which mine is) and make something very beautiful and inspiring. Complete satisfaction right there in those stitches!

I have a whole collection of small jugs which I use purely for flowers, collected over many years. The one I'm using here was bought more than twenty five years ago from a craft fair, at a time in my life when I had very little money and £12.50 seemed like a huge amount to spend on a hand made jug.  But I have used it and loved it dearly for over a quarter of a century and it brings me such a lot of pleasure, so I'm very glad I gave into my heart and made this jug mine all those years ago. 

Do you like the idea of having a little bit of crochet on your table, or do you think it's a bit pointless? I'd love to know what you think of mandalas - they are such therapeutic, mindful, satisfying things to create even if you don't necessarily know what to do with them afterwards. 

If you've been following my blog for a while you'll know about my involvement with Yarndale, and you may well know about the large Mandala Hoops I've made which get displayed outside under the trees at the festival. You can read all about the making of these big mandalas (including pattern links) in the following posts :

✤ Starflower Mandalas

✤ Mandala Hoops

✤ More Mandala Hoops

This year I want to make a collection of smaller hoops to join the big ones at Yarndale, and after I  stumbled upon a beautiful pattern a few days ago I just had to give it a go.

I'm using Stylecraft Classique Cotton DK (my go-to yarn for mandalas), in the following colours  (from the outside of the mandala inwards ::

✤ Soft Lime ✤ Peppermint ✤ Sky Blue ✤ Wisteria ✤ Plum ✤Busy Lizzie ✤ Mauve ✤ Shrimp ✤ Fondant ✤

These thin metal rings are perfect for making mandala hoops - you can find them easily on Amazon and they come in all different sizes. The ones I'm using at the moment are 30 cm diameter which is the size of a large dinner plate. 

This pattern is called the "Spirit Mandala" designed by Tatsiana who writes a crochet blog called Lilla Björn Crochet. It was was gorgeous to make and I enjoyed the challenge of working some different stitches (hello popcorns!)

I used Tatiana's video tutorial to learn how she crochets her mandala to the hoop (which is a very neat method I have to say) and I am thrilled with the result.

 

One thing to remember when making mandala hoops - the finished crochet will need to be quite a bit smaller than the hoop you are using as you will need to stretch the mandala to open out the stitches and make it nice and taut. I find that the easiest way to do this is to use locking stitch markers (like these little plastic ones) to attach the mandala to your ring before you try and crochet that final round. 

The end result is so pleasing to look at, I just love the way the stitches open out and breathe once the crochet is stretched out into it's hoop. I can highly recommend a spot of Mandala Therapy, it's a perfect, colourful quick-fix project for a dreary Winter's afternoon. Tempted????? Go on........you know you want to!!

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Delicious December Days

It's hard to believe that Christmas only happened a little over a week ago as it already seems so far behind us, but I suppose it was last year now wasn't it?! We had a truly lovely Christmas Day with a super early pre-six-o'clock start thanks to Little B who woke up absolutely radiating with excited energy. The early morning unfolded leisurely and with much happiness, gosh it's always such a relief when the present unwrapping has finished up and there is gratitude all round. The Teen and Little Lady had both chosen their (rather grown up) gifts this year but I did still do my best to give them some small surprises as well. I mean, I don't think you can ever be too old to hang a stocking up on the fireplace, can you?

We had some beautiful weather on Christmas morning, so after a late breakfast we decided to head out for a short walk through the woods.

It felt so good to be out breathing in lungfuls of fresh air.....

.....whilst making frequent stops to inhale chocolate. It had to be done - the satsumas just weren't doing it for me this year I'm afraid.

I really love the above photo so much, it's been such a long time since we had the pleasure of The Teen coming with us on a walk. Just lovely it was.

As in previous years it was just the five of us at home for Christmas, so dinner was the usual casual affair. I forgot to buy party poppers and festive napkins, but I did remember the crackers so that's something. It surprised me that The Teen had the most to say about the type of crackers I should buy ("Mum, can we have proper crackers this year with decent stuff inside instead of those stupid wind up toys that you race with?"). So I went for "Childish Traditional" which included classic cracker gifts like a fortune telling fish, a spinning top, a plastic hair comb and a fake mustache. It was all good, traditional nostalgic fun.

In recent years we've settled on the tradition of having a chocolate yule log to follow the overflowing plates of roast dinner on Christmas Day. I'm delighted by this as there is minimal effort required on my part - all I have to do is remember to purchase the aforementioned log, top it with plastic wildlife and a little snowy tree and voila! Thoroughly enjoyed by all.

Little B asked me to show you this photograph as it was his main focus for much of Christmas day. He asks for Lego every year but this is the first "Guardians of the Galaxy" set he's received. Oh my word, I've totally fallen in love with baby Lego Groot, unbelievably cute in every way. Currently he is lost in the Galaxy of the Untidy House, but I'm hopeful he will find his way back to us soon.

We've had  an extensive amount of cosy hours spent at home this holiday, day after day of candlelit idling, and a serious amount of sofa loafing. It's been relaxing, warm, cosy and therapeutic. We've had germs to contend with as all three Little People have been hit with a really horrid cold that is doing the rounds, so it's been a blessing that our holiday has had very little in the way of plans or expectations. They've needed the down time that's for sure. 

The end of December brought us a very mixed bag of weather, and although we've been content to stay indoors for the most part, it's always good to head out and breathe in the cold winter air from time to time.

We went on a short, freezing cold walk at Bolton Abbey one afternoon last week, arriving back at the little cafe rather cold and in need of refreshment. Cappuccinos and hot chocolates all round, with a side of toasted tea cake and all warmth was restored. When we came out of the cafe it was just after 4pm, with the moon already rising above the bare tree tops. It was very atmospheric and utterly wintry I thought. 

During the past few weeks we've enjoyed a lot of fireside relaxation, and I've so appreciated it. Often times we don't really need the physical warmth of an open fire, but the lure of the visual and emotional comfort is hard to resist. My mantle is lit with a mixture of candles and lights, oh I do so love my Christmas light-ups things! I bought these two years ago (bell jar scenes and snowflake arches) and they look so pretty all lit up at night. It's not like me to go with all-white Christmas decorations, but I made an exception for these as they really are lovely.

I think Tilly has had mixed feelings about having the whole family around for days on end. Sometimes she gives off this distinct back-off vibe (see above) which very clearly says "for goodness sake, can't you see I need my space?" And then other times she is near desperate for attention and closeness. But it's always on her terms and we've learnt to read her pretty well in the eighteen months that she's been living with us. She's not an easy kitty to interact with, but we do so love her. 

Friday of last week brought us a snow day, and it was beautiful while it lasted. The flakes fell for half a day, giving us an inch or so of snow on the ground - it wasn't really enough to play in, but the Little People still took to the street and flung themselves around in it, throwing snowballs and larking about with neighbourhood friends.

As it was a Friday morning, I was off to my weekly get together with my yarny friends down at Coopers cafe. I so look forward to this every week and it would take more than a bit of white stuff to keep me away. On my way there, I couldn't resist taking a quick detour up to the top of the park to take in the wintry scene, oh I do love to see a bit of snowy woodland, it's all kind of magical and Narnia-ish don't you think?!

Heading down the hill and into the warmth of the cafe was just the loveliest thing, and spending a few hours hooking and chatting with friends  while the snow continued to fall outside was the absolute definition of cosy. It's almost four years now since the start of my studio adventure at Coopers, and our twice-weekly "Creative Coopers" social groups continue to thrive. It's one of the best things to feel that sense of belonging and friendship that comes when like-minded creative people get together to share and inspire. I value it very, very much and it makes me so happy to have that regular social connection in my life. 

When I arrived at Coopers on Friday, I realised that with all the snowy excitement I'd totally forgotten to bring any crochet with me! No worries there though, as my studio shelves are bulging with yarn and creative possibilities and all I had to do was pick out some colours and get started on something new. For a little while now I've had in my mind to make myself a new Weekend Bag as I've been using my Heatwave Weekend bag constantly for the past year or so and it was starting to look a little worn.

I chose 12 colours of Stylecraft Special chunky and decided to change it up slightly by making one-row stripes instead of the original two-row stripes. It all happened very fast - I think it took me about 3 minutes to choose the colours (I literally just pulled my favourites down off the shelf one by one until the whole lot looked happy together), then found my Weekend Bag pattern on my phone so that I could get started straight away. I have to say it was really great to be able to follow my own tutorial haha!!!

Anyhow, I finished the bag the following day (yes, that fast) and I'll be able to show you next week once I've take some photos.

On a creative roll, I cast on a new pair of socks on New Years Eve and have spent some very enjoyable time during the past few days sat at the table knitting by candlelight. These socks are for Little B who has been pleading for them for many months now. He chose the yarn himself, adamant that he wanted rainbow stripes for his size 1.5 feet, so who am I to argue? This delicious looking sock yarn is West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4 ply, part of their very popular cocktail range. The colourway is called Rum Paradise and is absolutely gorgeous :)

I've put the socks to one side for now though as I immerse myself in all things Woodland. As many of you will know, my Woodland Blanket Crochet-A-Long begins on Friday, so I'm very busy working on the tutorial and getting everything ready for this wonderful journey to begin.........eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek, I'm so excited!!!!!!!

For those of you who might have missed all the Woodland excitement, you can read all about my forthcoming blanket plans in this post. There is still time to gather in your yarn and join me if you wish - Woodland Wandering is sooooo good for the soul at this time of year, these colours really do lift the spirits when all is dreary and grey outside. 

Before I hop off and get back to my pattern writing, I want to wish you all a very Happy New Year! Next week I'll be putting together my "Year End Review" posts to share with you which is something I always look forward to. 

But in the meantime, I'll be back here in the Attic on Friday to give you everything you need to get started with the Woodland Blanket................can't wait!!!!!! 

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Happy Yuletide

I'm so happy I've managed to find time to pop into the Attic for a quick catch up and have a chat before Christmas, I've just not had the time or energy to sit at my desk since I got back from my Dorset trip on Monday. So helllooooooooo to all you lovely people who call in to visit, I do so appreciate you and I hope I tell you often enough what it means to have this window out over the rooftops where I can fling my words and pictures out into the open and hear your collective voices echo back to me. It really does mean the world to me.

My trip to Dorset was good, kind of emotional and at times quite hard going, but nevertheless still good. I am so looking forward to future visits where I hope to be there without all the overwhelming sadness/guilt as it really is the heaviest of lumpy feelings that lodges itself somewhere just underneath my ribs.

Last Sunday I went with my Dad's other half to the Bay and we wandered around the grey and blustery harbour to blow away the cobwebs. It was such a tonic, and I loved the wildness of the weather and the rather startling lack of people (so very different to the summer weekends).

We didn't walk on the beach as the tide was up and I have rather a big hole in the bottom of my right red boot. But we did walk all the way to the end of the promenade with the waves crashing and the salty surf blowing into our faces, and I finally felt at ease for a while.

I was away for four days, but travelling by train is a lengthy process and only really gave me two days to be in Dorset. But it was just enough, as much emotional feely stuff as I could cope with to be honest.

On the way home from Dorset I had a four hour stop over in London. At the time when I booked my train ticket I thought it would be marvelous to have this time in the city for some last minute Christmas shopping, to soak up the festive ambiance and see the lights. But crikey, I just hadn't thought about the reality of being in this particular spot just a week before Christmas, it was such a shock! After the calm, grey near-desertion of the seaside, London city centre was bustling in the extreme. It was exhilarating and overwhelming, shocking in it's over-the-top-ness. I wandered around Regent Street and Carnaby Street, taking it all in and feeling very, very small and provincial. 

I decided I just had to get off the over crowded streets so headed for John Lewis......

.....which was looking gloriously festive and beautifully extravagant. After some aimless wandering around I did manage to brave the Christmas department and purchased a few things for the Little People, but really my heart wasn't quite in it.  

By the time I emerged back out onto the streets it was getting dark on Oxford Street and the lights looked absolutely stunning.

I headed out of the city on the 18.30 train and four hours later I was finally flopped exhausted back in my own bed. Always such a  good feeling to be home again, gosh, I felt the relief right down to the very tips of my toes.

During the days since I came back from Dorset I've been really enjoying the simple things that bring the Yuletide season into our home. In amongst the endless shopping and the hectic school activities, I've tried to find moments in my day where I stop still and appreciate it all.

The scent of these hyacinths is just lovely at this time of year, and I think I might need to revise my idea that these are Autumn blooms. Having them on the Christmas mantel is making me very happy indeed.

On Thursday I flew around town for a few hours trying to finish up the gift buying so that I could mentally just unwind from the chaos of it all. I am never, ever organised enough to buy presents with ample time to spare, but I've learnt to accept that that's the way I am and that despite the inevitable layer of anxiety it always turns out OK. So after the rather manic shopping sesh on Thursday, I settled down to concentrate on celebrating Winter Solstice.

A few weeks ago I bought a cheap wire florists wreath and some inexpensive festive branch things.

My idea was to pull apart the branch things so that I could discard the plastic foliage and make use of the wired berries and cones. Cos this is Winter Solstice and it's all about the real, live, living greenery at this time of year......

.......ta-dah???????? Can I get away with saying that here????!!

Hmmmm....not sure, but this is what I made after playing around for an hour or so.  A rather wonky Solstice wreath using lengths of trailing ivy, bits of holly and some eucalyptus stems, all held together with the sparkly faux berries and wired pine cones.

It's very rustic, that's for sure, but I really enjoyed the scent of the greenery (fresh eucalyptus has the most amazing scent, I can't get enough of it at the moment), and the simplicity of twisting and coaxing those stems into something vaguely wreathlike.

The candle was a last minute purchase (part of my whirlwind local shopping fest) and is one of those ones with three wicks and forty hours burning time. The scent is "Golden Saffron and Cedarwood" and is rather lovely I have to say. Even J approves, and that is saying something. 

To celebrate the passing of the shortest day I also fashioned a Yule Log by wrapping a small log in bendy ivy stems, then tucking in some rosemary, pine and eucalyptus. I love these simple traditions which celebrate our connection to the earth and the seasons and although J looks at me as if I have two heads, I stand my ground and chat to the Little People about it in the hope that they might understand and absorb.  

Honestly, we had a beautiful time of it this year. I lit up our candle, made some mulled wine for J and I and some mugs of hot chocolate for the Little People and we spent a little time sat by the fire thinking about the turning of the year and the lengthening days to come. I for one am so so so glad to have turned the corner on these short dark days.

Our Yule Log went on the fire and we made our wishes, it was simple and sweet. I would so dearly love to know what the Little People wished for, but they wouldn't tell. I even tried bribing them with chocolate but lips remained sealed. 

School just finished up on Friday which was much later than usual, it's been the longest haul of a half term that I can ever remember and we have all been feeling it. Yesterday I finished all my wrapping and food shopping and today has been lazy and blissful. I've treated myself to a new pyjama top which is over sized and made of the softest, fluffiest material imaginable. It's a soft, pale grey and I am totally in love with it - it's taken all my will power not to put it on and wear it all day today cos I'm saving the luxurious cosy newness of it for this evening. I've got some chilled prossecco waiting for me to pop the cork in a short while and we are eating  a picnic-style dinner in front of the fire tonight - cheese, pate, cured meats, seeded crackers, sausage rolls, pork pie, olives, crusty artisan bread.

The Christmas tree is holding it's own against the constant kitty invasion, although she somehow managed to chew some of the light bulbs which put a whole set out of action. Ah well, she's having fun with it all I guess, there are fallen bells everywhere as she likes to bat them off and chase them around the room.  

I hope with all my heart that wherever you are and whoever you're with, that you are full of gladness for the Yuletide season. I wish you Fun and Joy in abundance!

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Autumn Moments {five}

🍁 Loving the low, low sun in the sky as we walk to school in the mornings, the very golden-ness of it is really uplifting. I've found that if I walk sloooowly down the hill instead of racing like a lunatic, I can stand and move my head around until I am gifted with the full force of all those golden sun rays right through the hedge and onto my face. It really is spectacular. And I love that I need to slow right down to a standstill in order to experience it (not easy when we are nearly always late leaving in the mornings). There must be all sorts of mega important analogies contained in that slowing-down realisation......I'll leave that with you!

🍁 The distinct lack of leafage in the treetops means that I am  very much more aware of the birds these days. I walk past hedges that contain huge flocks of chattering sparrows which would normally be hidden from view. I see all the jackdaws and rooks congregating for a morning meeting in some of the larger trees around town, and every so often I spy magpies hanging out right up there in the huge tree which grows at the bottom of my hill. Thank goodness there are often two. I'm not a superstitious person, but that childhood magpie rhyme is always right at the fore when I see these birds and I cannot bare to think that the day might contain a single magpie and a whole load of sorrow. I need joy, every time. Or possibly silver.

🍁 Four pee-em in the afternoon, coming out of the supermarket and I spy the moon already rising over the hill. So very beautiful. I think this was a few days before the Supermoon (which I'm peeved that I missed, as according to my neighbour it was spectacular here). I'm still counting down the days till Winter Solstice (8 more days to go), but truthfully, this Autumn season has been really pretty gorgeous and I'll be sorry to see it end.

🍁 Autumn mist at full tilt. Sometimes at this time of year, the weather is just a grey, damp mess and there is no getting away from it. Time to hunker down and enjoy the comforts of a warm home, with lots of coffee and possibly a bit of good chocolate just to assist with beating off the grey vibe.

 🍁 A stop up on the moor tops after a short walk at Bolton Abbey. It was just J and I (one of our Monday jaunts), we often like to stop up here on our way back home after a walk. We sat and watched the clouds moving across the sky and listened to a grouse calling. There is such tranquility in a beautiful long distance view, I never, ever tire of sitting quietly a-top a hill (or cliff) with a view over a gorgeous landscape (or seascape), it's one of life's true pleasures.

🍁 Alllll the blanket action happening in the Attic at this time of year, as we all make use of my crochet addiction on a daily basis. I cannot imagine a life without crochet blankets in it, they are just the most comforting and heart warming things ever, ever, ever. Mind you, the Teen has put in a request for a "Blanket with Sleeves" for Christmas instead of the usual onesie or pyjamas, and I am kind of aghast at the idea of actually purchasing a blanket. If I had a whole hoard of elves at my disposal I might consider designing a crochet version, but sadly I think the Snug Deluxe Fleece will have to be considered. At least the younger two still adore my crochet blankets, I'm holding that thought.

🍁 The hyacinths are growing oh-so-slowly but I am enjoying the gentle daily progress and very much looking forward to the eventual arrival of the blooms. At this rate, it's likely to be a New Year occurrence, but how lovely will that be?

🍁 Planning and list writing has featured heavily in my daily routine these past few weeks as I attempt to keep myself grounded and panic free. I've not been sleeping at all well so have felt tired and foggy recently, and the simple act of writing short to-do lists and making notes about the many things that are swirling in and out of my Creative Mind helps enormously. I tend to use my planner in two different ways - mostly it's all about the day-to-day practicalities, but I am also trying to get into the habit of more long-term planning. Thinking about the year ahead isn't easy for someone like me who much prefers to exist in the present moment, but I find more and more that having a slightly longer perspective on life is very useful. It's like zooming out into a landscape view instead of always looking at the blades of grass in macro mode. I'm excited for 2018, I've got some delicious and exciting plans for the next twelve months. Which reminds me, I must go and collect my new 2018 Life Planner which is currently waiting for me at the post office - can't wait to show you my new cover!

🍁 Oh, how I adore my precious studio space, most especially at this time of year when the temperatures drop and all is warm, colourful and cosy inside these four walls. There is a small, low radiator on one wall of my studio that packs out a surprising amount of heat and I find I work much better when my extremities are warm. I've been allowing myself the luxury of a "design day" each week where I grant myself time to play and experiment with new yarns, new colours and new pattern ideas.  Autumn seems to spark a flurry of new ideas, I think in part because my summer is always so darn busy and consumed by Yarndale that a good many things get shoved onto the back burner during the summer. 

🍁 Autumn has been wonderful at our weekly get-togethers at Coopers Cafe (where I have my studio), and I appreciate spending time with creative friends very much. I took this photo on Friday morning as I sat sipping my first latte of the day and waiting for the room to fill up with chatter and yarny folk. Our "Creative Coopers" sessions are popular all year round but in the colder months of the year it's especially lovely. There is something so comforting about being cosied up in the warmth of a cafe enjoying a delicious hot drink, a little bit of knit/stitch/crochet and a lot of chat and laughter. If you ever find yourself in my patch, consider yourself cordially invited to join us - we meet on Tuesday afternoons (1 - 3) and Friday mornings 9-11.30). During the school holidays we meet Friday mornings only, so during the Christmas hols we'll be meeting Friday 29th Dec and Friday 5th Jan (which is the first day of the Woodland CAL, yipppeeee!!!!). 

 🍁 Ahhh........my beloved view, such a gorgeous way to observe the seasons passing and changing each and every day. I prefer to celebrate our seasons by referring to the equinox and solstice days (that's the astronmical way rather than the meteorological way - more info here), so that means that technically we are still in Autumn until the Winter Solstice next week. However, this week has been so very wintry with snow and ice and sub zero temperatures that I've been forced into Winter thinking a bit early. I'm OK with that though - I've got candles and fairy lights and can light the fire (guilt free) in the middle of the afternoon. And I have crochet blankets and hand knit socks, early bedtimes with my hot water bottle and a good book, and slow, pyjama clad weekends which seem to last for ages. Yes, I'm OK with going into Winter, bring on all the cosy. 

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Previous Autumn Moments ::

❦ {one} ❦ {two} ❦ {three} ❦ {four} ❦

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Autumn Moments {four}

🍁 Up until this week, November has been a beauty. My hillside view has a faded, slumbering autumnal look about it which I find very peaceful when the sky is blue. But when all is wet and grey like it has been this week, it looks very gloomy indeed. I am trying not to moan about the wet and the grey of this week, because I know we've had it very good up until now. 

🍁 There is very little of any note happening in the back yard pots right now, but I do so appreciate the few pots of hardy herbs that keep on giving. I popped out there with my snippy snippers the other day when the recipe called for a handful of mixed fresh herbs, and procured parsley, rosemary and thyme which fit the bill nicely.  The recipe was a delicious chicken and barley slow cooker casserole, eaten out of shallow bowls with fresh crusty bread. I do love a casserole which comes out slightly sloppy and soup-ish, eaten with a spoon. And bread.

🍁 The first pot of hyacinths arrived in the Attic this week, I've been optimistically looking out for them in the supermarket since the start of the month. They came planted in this little white metal bucket so I decided to leave them in there - the pot was labelled as a "Festive Bulb Pot" which made me cringe a little as they are autumn flowers and not festive ones in my mind. Still, whatever the label, I am so so so looking forward to my annual Hyacinth Appreciation Ritual, or HAR for short. Bring on the rapid leaf growth and smelly flowers! HAR!!

🍁 We've had a couple of cold, frosty starts to our days this month, oh I really do love a good frosty morning start. It makes our walk along the canal a brisk and energised affair as we hurry along on our way to school, blowing out plumes of "smoke" as we go. These really are the very best autumn days, when the sky is clear and the sun glows a pale, watery yellow and there is a thin layer of ice over everything. Even the dead brown leaves look rather fetching when they are laced with frost.

🍁 Toasted crumpets are a daily occurrence here at this time of year because we have a routine of enjoying them as an after school snack. They are so utterly comforting, and I love the whole process of toasting them and lathering them up with butter and jam for the Little People to enjoy at ten to four when they tumble in the door. We all sit down for ten minutes to chat about our day, and it's a lovely little window of time for me to have all three of my kiddos together before they disperse to do their own thing. 

🍁 I've recently ditched my nutty museli breakfast in favour of a bowl of hot porridge, which I enjoy very much. I make mine in the microwave with oats, milk and sultanas and finish with sliced banana and a weeny drizzle of golden syrup. Comfort in a bowl, especially on a freezing cold day.

🍁 These Moments of mine are a bit random aren't they, much like my life at the moment :)

Anyhow...this was a riverside walk/picnic that J and I took a few weeks back, on a beautiful clear sunny Monday at the start of November. I can't tell you how much I love that we get to do this sort of thing since J dropped his working hours to three days a week, it honestly has been life changing. Spending time together during the week still feels like the greatest luxury to me, even though we haven't yet been able to shake the feeling that we are bunking off! 

🍁 Another beautiful hillside view - this photo was taken as I returned back home one morning after the school and supermarket run, so around 9.30am. As we are approaching the shortest day (4 weeks until Winter Solstice, yay!), I appreciate these kind of light, sunshiny starts to the day very much. 

🍁 Sunday morning, 9am. I'd already been up for two hours, but on the spur of the moment I decided to make myself a coffee in my lovely new mug and sneak back into bed for a snuggle. Such luxury! Miraculously, my bed still held a slight warmth when I climbed back under my feather duvet, honestly, there is something so naughty and decadent about sneaking back to bed in the morning when the bed is still rumpled and warm. 

🍁 I didn't spend long on my own as Little B is at an age where he still likes to seek me out and be close, but that was lovely too. He sat next to me in bed playing a game while I finished my coffee and browsed through the pages of this beautiful and inspirational book "Making Winter" written by my lovely friend Emma. I'll be writing more about this book when I continue my "Making the Seasons" project next month, it is such a beautiful set of pages to cheer and inspire.

🍁 I've been trying my hardest not to overwhelm you with a gazillion woodland photos of late, you know, being that I am obsessing about woodland stuff and all. I've got so many images on my computer that I could probably fill your screen with them for weeks on end, but I'm holding back - don't want to send you off yawning. The above photo was taken one Sunday morning a few weeks back, a short family jaunt into the woods that sit on the very edge of our little town.

🍁 Here I am, indulging my love of seasonal nature and watery reflections all at once, a double visual whammie. There is something so quietly beautiful about seeing sky and trees reflected in still water and I'm not sure I can add anything else to this particular quiet Autumn Moment. 

🍁 Walking to my local pub to meet with my in-laws on Friday for a spot of lunch in the snug beside the open fire (yes, it's that kind of pub, cosy in the extreme). This little boat sails up and down the canal at regular intervals, carrying passengers on a short pleasure jaunt. It's powered by a very old engine and makes a very distinctive chugging sound as it makes it's way up the Spring Branch towards the castle. The aforementioned pub is just out of sight on the right hand side over looking the water, and is a really lovely place to while away an hour or two. All this jollity on my doorstep, gosh, I do feel very lucky indeed to call this place home. 

🍁 "Mum!!!! Muuuuuuum!!!! Come quickly!!!!!! You've got to come and see this!!!!" That was Little B yelling at me from his bedroom one morning, his school trousers half way on and half way off and his curtains half way open and half way closed. I of course pelted up the stairs in a panic wondering what an earth the emergency shouting was for, to be greeted by the most incredible sky. It was fast moving and changing by the second so I was lucky to catch it on my camera (after a breathless dash down the stairs and straight back up again, panting). I loved that the Little People were so excited to see me catch the moment in a photo, and that we all stood and watched the shifting clouds and felt uplifted by the sight. Even if it was already twenty past eight and we had to rush like crazy to get out the door ten minutes later. Some things are worth just stopping still for, aren't they?

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Previous Autumn Moments ::

❦ {one} ❦ {two} ❦ {three} ❦ 

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Making the Seasons :: November

I've been so excited to write this blog post and share with you my latest find which came to me (as most great discoveries do) via a round about blog trail I found myself on a few weeks ago. You know how it is - you start investigating a new blog or two, then before you know it you are off on your very own little blog-hop, zipping about following links and making all sorts of wonderful discoveries along the way.

This is how I happened to find out about craftpod {www.craftpod.co.uk}, have you heard of it? For those of you who haven't come across Craftpod, it's a quarterly, creative subscription box inspired by nature and the seasons. The lady behind these crafty boxes is called Jo and as soon as I browsed through the beautiful images of her past boxes I was completely smitten. Being hugely inspired and influenced by nature and the seasons myself, I recognised a kindred spirit in Jo, and I immediately decided to treat myself to her Autumn Box. You know, to further feed my current Autumn Obsession.

Craftpod boxes are such neat little things. As you can see in the above picture, everything is packed into a slimline cardboard box (about half the size of an A4 sheet of paper) designed especially to fit right through your letterbox. 

If you pre-order a box at the very start of the season, the contents will be a surprise. However, as I was quite late to the Craftpod subscription party I came in at the end of the Autumn season when boxes had already started to be delivered. That meant that I was able to see pictures of exactly what would be in my box, and let me tell you I swoooooooned. So much creative Autumnal goodness! Either way, if you have a good look at all the past boxes (Craftpod began in Winter 2015, so there is quite a lot to look at) you will have a good idea of the style and the type of craft involved. There is nearly always something to stitch, but there are other creative projects too - baking or printing for example. Each box contains two projects, along with some extra seasonal goodies.

The quality of everything inside a Craftpod box is top notch, and Jo goes to a lot of trouble to source all the bits and bobs. She uses UK designers and makers where possible (the wooden embroidery hoops are handmade in the UK) and the materials are all natural and eco friendly too (100% pure wool felt and stuffing, 100% cotton threads, printing on recycled paper etc). I was truly delighted by what I found inside my Autumn box and couldn't wait to get started. 

I saved my box for a few days so that I could open it on Saturday morning. I was still wearing my pyjamas, had a steaming mug of fresh coffee to hand and wasted no time getting started on the first stitching project. 

This is a gorgeous printed fabric by Maggie Magoo Designs, oh those toadstools pulled at my heart strings like you wouldn't believe, just the perfect little dash of Autumn colour and whimsy.  

Jo's stitching instructions were brilliant, and the embroidery was kept simple but very effective. 

I was about five stitches into my first toadstool when I was joined in the Big Chair by Little B, also still in his pyjamas. He started dropping subtle little hints at first, indicating that I could perhaps let him have a teensy weensy go with the stitching. This was very quickly chased up by outright begging, so what was I to do? Of course, any Little Person who shows an interest in something creative should be wholeheartedly encouraged, so I gave up my precious hoop and let him stitch it for a bit. He did so well! I was very proud of his precision needle work, and happy that he loved doing it, but at the same time my own fingers were positively itching to take over. I had a major itch to stitch!

Eventually I got my hoop back and I went to town with all those stitches, remembering just how much I love to work with needle and thread. French Knots have to be the most satisfying stitches in the entire universe, I absolutely loved making those red spots. There is something so calming and soothing about the rhythmic nature of stitching, and then there is the sound of it too. You know, that exact moment when the needle kind of pulls through the surface of the taut fabric, making an insanely satisfying little popping sound (like popping bubble wrap, I know you know what I mean?!)

I hadn't meant to stitch so obsessively - I thought this hoop might be something that I picked up and put down a few times during the course of the weekend, but in reality I found it impossible to leave alone. I stitched until it was all finished....and then I felt really sad that it was all over. Boohoo!! I want to hatch more stitchy toadstools!!

But just look at it, isn't it the loveliest thing? 

And the colours are very much in keeping with the general seasonal over-the-top-ness that is happening all over my fireplace right now. I love it. Love love love love love it.

The following day, Sunday, I decided to investigate the second stitchy project which was these adorable little felt owls. As I mentioned before, Jo's felt is 100% pure wool, as is the stuffing which looks and feels beautiful.

The printed instruction sheet was easy to follow, and there were paper pattern pieces which were hand drawn to scale. I found that with very careful placement, I was able to squeeze three little owls out of the felt included in the box, so an extra one to make into a brooch (there is a brooch pin included in the kit).

I didn't find these quite as enjoyable to make as the toadstool hoop - the thread was very very fine and the needle was teeeny-weeny, so I found it a little bit fiddly. But I ate chocolate and drank the very lovely Red Berry and Hibiscus Canton Tea, and kept my mind focused on the finished product.....

....which was worth all those minuscule stitches.

Once I'd finished stitching my owls, I decided that I liked Jo's idea of giving them their own twig to roost on. I had a very clear picture of what I wanted to do, so I trundled over to Amazon and ordered up a few essential crafting supplies. 

Yesterday I took delivery of the following :

A bag of wool felt offcuts

A Mini Hot Melt Glue Gun

Some sharp little scissors as mine all seem to be missing at the moment. 

I had this twig you see, the perfect little perch for my owls. I picked up a few of these twigs on my Riverside Wanderings walk as I thought they were just lovely with their attached cones. 

I had an idea that my fir cone twig might need a few felt leaves, just to add an extra little bit of craftiness....

.....and you know, it was the most fun thing making this happen. Who knew the fun of hot glue? It's so fast! One little blobett of clear hot sticky glue and you can stick anything to anything in an instant! A mini hot glue gun is the most amazing bit of kit and I now want to stick all the things. Allll the things. 

So sweet - I love how this project turned out. It actually came out better than how I saw it in my Creative Mind, which made me bounce up and down with happiness.  I may have freaked out the kitty a little bit, she doesn't cope well with me bouncing. 

I intend to make more of these - the bag of felt offcuts I bought had some lovely colours and many of the pieces will be just big enough to cut out a few owls. I mean, I've got these extra fir cone twigs to use, and yeah, my hot glue gun needs me. I wonder if it would be OK to gift these to friends? Is it acceptable to gift a twig with some stitched felt hot-glued to it?

I perched my owls on my mantel, but truthfully there is an awful lot going on across there now and the poor things looked a bit swamped by the pumpkins and everything else. So I think I'm going to take them down to my studio - I have a hankering to see them perched against my gorgeous blue wall.

Since I discovered Craftpod I've been emailing back and forth with Jo who is based down in Bristol. She is the nicest person (that's a picture of her gorgeous crafting room up above), and her passion for seasonal crafting struck up an idea in my mind. I thought - wouldn't it be marvelous if I could persuade one or two like-minded people to craft along with me, kind of like a virtual Seasonal Craft-A-Long. I immediately thought of my lovely friend Gillian who writes a beautiful blog called Tales from a Happy House.

I know Gillian likes stitching and crafting for the home, and I know she likes celebrating the seasons too. So I had a feeling she would fall in love with the idea of a joint Craft-A-Long, and luckily my feeling was right. She jumped on board with me, full of enthusiasm, and over the weekend it was the most wonderful thing to know that we were both crafting away on identical projects even though we live at opposite ends of the country. I loved the whole shared experience very much. 

So we've hatched a plan, don't you know. You'll notice the title of this post is "Making the Seasons :: November" - Gillian and I have pledged to each work on a small creative project every month, directly inspired by the seasons. Sometimes it'll be a Craftpod thing, sometimes it'll be our own ideas. There are no restrictions on what medium it should be (baking counts!) and I am so so excited by this idea! We even have our own hashtag over on Instagram, it's #makingtheseasons and we would both love it if you'd think about joining in with us. Please do? Share on your blog if you have one, or on Instagram with the #makingtheseasons hashtag so we can build a beautiful gallery of seasonal creativity. Even if you don't do any sharing on social media, I would love it if you'd still join in with us. I think it's a lovely thing to do - it can be as simple as making a few pompoms to hang up at Christmas, or as elaborate as embroidering a picture.

A few additional things to tell you about Craftpod - this is not a sponsored post, just to be clear about that. I purchased my box as a normal customer without really knowing anything about this little company or the lovely lady who makes it happen. I don't think Jo really knew what had hit her when I started bombarding her with over excited emails telling her how much she had inspired me.

Craftpod boxes happen four times a year :: September (Autumn), November (Winter), March (Spring) and June (Summer).

The boxes open for pre-orders during the first week of those months, and start to post out at the end of those months.

The Autumn Craftpod which I've shared with you today has now sold out, but the Winter Craftpod is open for pre-orders. 

You won't know what's going to be in your box until Jo has posted out all the pre-orders, so if you want to wait until the following month to see the contents before you decide if it's for you then you can do so.

You can follow Jo over on Instagram { @craftpod_ } where she posts some seriously beautiful and inspirational seasonal stuff. 

And lastly.....please don't feel I am trying to sell these to you! I'd LOVE it if you were to feel inspired to join in with our Making The Seasons craft-along, but it can be any project you like, as small as you like. Just feel free to join in the creative fun. 

You can read Gillian's November Making the Seasons post here - more from us both in December.

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Autumn Moments {two}

🍁 Tis the season for scented candles to come into their own, and I am burning through these little tins of smelly wax like nobody's business. I just love walking into a room and having a hint of something sweet, spicy and fragrant greeting my nose, it's homely and comforting and this particular Cinnamon & Orange fragrance mingles beautifully with the vague scent of wood smoke from the fire. Next on my list to buy and burn is "Christmas Spice", it's a red wax and smells delicious - not especially Christmassy really, but just a lovely warm fragrance for this cold time of year.

🍁 Last week it was half term for us here, and we had such a lovely, slow, restful break from work and shcool. The Little People were a joy to have around and seemed happy with being home. At the start of the holidays we walked through the park to the farm shop - this seems to be our Thing-To-Do-in-the-Holidays and manages to be just the right amount of outdoor activity combined with indoor indulgence. It's a lovely short walk at all times of the year (around a 20 minute stroll each way), with the promise of farm shop goodness at the midway point. We had coffee and cake in the café, purchased some fresh bakery bread, locally grown tenderstem broccoli and a scrumptious chicken, ham and leek pie for our dinner before slowly ambling home again. Next time I'm there I'll try and take some photographs inside the farm shop to show you as I'm sure you'd love it. It's that kind of photogenic place. 

🍁 I am love love loving my hand knit socks on my feet right now, they are just so incredibly comforting to wear. I love the feel of them when my feet are cosied inside my boots (when it's not raining and there is no sogginess) and I love the absolute warmth of them (I wear them with crocs when I'm in the house, even though I'm quite sure I look like a weirdo).. But most of all, I love the look of them. It gives me such a huge amount of pleasure to look down and see these gorgeous colours at the end of my legs and know that I knitted all those teensy stitches myself. And cables too, I am ridiculously proud of my cable socks (cable sock details in this post). 

🍁 I've been admiring the slowly changing colours of this long beech hedge for the past few weeks now, it seems to change a little every time I walk past. Soon it will be entirely made up of coppery brown leaves and the green and gold will be a thing of the past. I love the bright green May version of this hedge the best, but October colours aren't half bad.

🍁 Talking of October colours, this beautiful old brick wall caught my eye a few days ago with it's smattering of vibrant foliage. The wall runs along the back of a small car park behind the local council offices and I guess probably goes unnoticed by the majority of workers who park right next to it. 

🍁 As well as being the season for scented candles, it's also the time when the slow cooker comes out of it's summer slumber. We've had some delicious slow cooker soups just recently, and some fabulously tasty curries too. The above ingredients (chili, ginger, garlic, onion, lime) were the makings of a fresh, zesty "Citrus Prawn Curry" which has become a firm family favourite. 

🍁 I know I've said this may times, but I am so very grateful for the handful of local walks we are able to do right from our door without the need to get in the car. Walking through the park to the farm shop is one, and walking along the side of the canal into the woods is another. We pottered along here one day last week during a brief dry spell amidst many days of intermittent rain and drizzle, and it was so good just to be out of the house and surrounded by leafyness. The Little People have embraced our walking suggestions this holiday with something close to enthusiasm, and every time I have danced a private little jig of happiness inside my head.

🍁 What is this?? Can this possibly be...................b l u e sky?????? Yes indeed!! This was yesterday, a day of Autumn brilliance when the sun shone down and the sky was all kinds of perfect. We took ourselves out into the Yorkshire Dales to amble along the riverside and it was completely glorious. I took a shed load of photographs (the afternoon light and the colours and the overall atmosphere was sublime), way too many to cram in here so I'll show you them in another post entitled "Riverside Wanderings" or some such thing. For now, just know that the blue colour of the sky was lush and very much appreciated by myself. Incidentally, the above chimney is actually on the back of our house - it's not our main chimney but an old disused one that perches on the extended bit of roof above the bathroom. Kind of crazy to know it's up there.

🍁 Little B finished colouring his pumpkin after working on it for five days straight. He was so proud, and quite rightly so - his attention to detail was impressive and I loved hearing him explain to me all the many intricacies of his colour choices. We carefully cut it out and I'm going to ceremoniously laminate it for him so that we can hang it in the window. He's now working on a dragon.

🍁 During the past few weeks, J has taken to regularly going out on an evening walk with the Little People. He has a job which involves concentrated hours sat at a desk doing complex things with computers, so he decided that he would benefit from taking a little more physical exercise. He has an app on his phone which counts his daily steps, with an aim to making it to 8,000 per day for good health (which is around 4 miles). I whole heartedly endorsed this idea as a) I want him to live to a ripe old age with me and b) the Little People came home from these evening walks all rosy cheeked and oh-so-ready to settle down towards bedtime. One evening last week I decided to go with them, even though Little B moaned and said he wanted it to be Just Dad, the little tyke. It was surprisingly lovely to be out walking in the chilly dark, and the church bells were ringing their hearts out as they do every Tuesday evening when it's bell ringing practice (you can see/listen on YouTube if you fancy, it is pretty impressive and we can hear it all the way in the Attic).  

🍁It's been back to school for us today, the return to routine and the start of a long eight-week stint now until we break for the Christmas holidays. Can you believe that in eight weeks it'll be Christmas Day??? That thought has just caused a judder to run all the way down my spine.  

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Autumn Moments {one}

🍁 So far this Autumn the weather has been mild and I've been overjoyed to still feel some last little wisps of Summer lingering. I've been trying to spend as much time outdoors as I can, especially on days when the sun is shining and the sky is that utterly uplifting shade of blue. On mornings when I don't particularly need to be anywhere I've been extending my school run by not going straight home afterwards - so instead of walking up the hill I carry on along the canal, then right along through the park and up to the farm shop on the edge of town. The extra exercise and fresh air has been a real tonic, and I've absolutely LOVED feeling the gentle warmth of the sun of my face.

🍁 Sitting on my favourite bench in the park on my return walk back from the farm shop, taking in the trees, the blue sky and the feel of the sun on my face (did I mention how much I love the feel of that? The sun? On my face? Makes me sooo happy). I don't tend to linger long in the farm shop as it's one of those places where absolutely every single thing is gorgeous/delicious/pretty/desirable/displayed to perfection and one can end up spending a small fortune. So instead of browsing, I head straight to the counter where there is freshly squeezed fruit juice for sale, drink up one of the small samples to see how good it tastes, then ignore the healthy juice and order up a latte instead. My treat is to sit a weeny while on the bench with the above view whilst sipping my coffee, with the sun on my....yeah...you know how I feel about that.

🍁 My hill view is quite brown now that we are into Autumn - a lot of the colouring on the hillside comes from great swathes of bracken and this plant is only green for a few short months of the year, from late May to late August. I still love this view though, no matter how brown it gets, and delight in seeing it waiting for me every morning at the end of my street before I descend down the hill to the canal.

🍁 Oh, we lit our first fire of the season, something so very Autumnal it makes me fidget with indecision. On one hand, it's one of my most favourite things to look forward to in Autumn, but on the other hand I try and put it off as long as possible, because the Lighting Of The Fire surely means that temperatures are dropping, the days are shortening and the weather is worsening. Bitter sweet, for sure. For the record, our first fire this year was on Monday 9th October which is earlier than usual. I wasn't going to give in (wailing about it being too early) but in the end I completely caved in to J's wishes for it. But since then, it hasn't been cold enough for the fire really, so it's only been lit twice I think. 

🍁 We walk pass this wall on our way to school, and the colour of the leaves just knocks my socks off.  Pretty much every day, Little B picks some of the fallen leaves up from the pavement and presents them to me, knowing I can't resist them. They go into my pocket, then get emptied out onto the dining table at home where they sit and darken and dry to a crisp. 

🍁 I have been using one of my Weekend Bags all year, alternating between the different colourways. The one I'm wearing at the moment is called "Heatwave" and although this is wishful thinking on my part and makes me think wistfully of late summer warmth, the colours are very suitably Autumnal I'd say. I'm still also wearing my beloved Fly London boots, although they desperately need replacing as they leak in water now and make my hand knit socks all soggy. Buy New Boots - it's on my To-Do list.

🍁 So much colourful leafy goodness lying around the place at the moment, so much to catch my eye and stop me in my tracks, which happens many, many times a day. Sometimes I capture an image with my camera, sometimes I stoop and gather into my pocket to bring home, and sometimes I just stand and stare and think how beautiful it all is. Mother Nature, she sure is a clever so-and-so. 

🍁 The above photo was taken at the end of a walk in the woods on Monday, a day when the UK turned a very strange colour indeed. I took lots (and lots and lots) of Autumnal woodland photos which I'm saving to share another day - oh, the leafy colours are spectacular at the moment.

🍁 The storm gusted through here on Monday night and the strong winds blew a whole tree down at the allotment, causing it to crash right across our plot. I reported this disaster to J (I'd popped up to the plot to pick rose hips for my Autumnal mantel display, more on that later) and he and Little B  set out to carry out some emergency tree dismantling work. They came home with rosy red cheeks, cold hands, and a flower pot full of the last of the tomatoes which they rescued from under the fallen tree.  

🍁 I got inspired by the season to treat myself to some new washi tape for my planner pages, I just could not resist. The acorns and the trees called out to me, and they in turn somehow made the owls, umbrellas and the pretty folksy blue tape fall into my virtual online shopping basket. If you feel similarly tempted, do go and visit the lovely Dominika over on Etsy and see what gorgeousness she has in her shop....oh cripes, I've just spotted the mushroom tape.....I must resist the cute mushrooms.....

🍁 I've been catching up with my favourite magazines and loving the utter beauty of the seasonal pages. Everything looks so warm and cosy and homely and snug in Autumnal Magazine Wonderland, it's very inspiring. I'm currently crocheting an Autumn Garland for my fireplace, and changing out the summery look on my mantel to make it more in keeping with Autumn - I've got lots to show you! Hang on, I'll go grab a photo so you can see what I've been up to................

🍁.............there! What do you think? After many frustrating failures, I finally managed to design and make a very satisfactory looking two-colour oak leaf. I'm so so pleased about that, such a happy feeling when I finally nailed that tricky shape. I made acorns too.....I can't wait to show you more next week, I'm making some tutorials for these oaks leaves and acorns as well as a little beech leaf I've been making too. 

🍁 The light this week has been magical, especially in the mornings when we set out to walk to school. Half Past Eight and the sun is only just rising above the hill at this time of year, all misty and golden and just breathtaking. There is much to enjoy about Autumn - it's not my best favourite season, but I warm to it more and more as the years pass.

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I so enjoyed writing my "Summer Moments" posts this year, that I thought I'd like to continue on into Autumn. I hope you enjoy them too, and that you are finding many moments in your own days to make you stop, smile and feel glad. 

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Summer Moments {six}

☀ I'm not sure that I can really get away with describing this photo as a Summer Moment, but I'm going for it anyways. This was a rather wet walk along the canal on our first morning back to school last week. Please don't look at the leaves on that tree, please just don't acknowledge the shades of Autumnal red and gold.

☀ A quiet moment after the aforementioned wet walk to school. I came home completely soaked to the skin, stripped off, put on a fresh set of dry clothes then made myself a coffee. Ahhhhhhhhh.......so good. Note to self - get kitted out with a proper raincoat and some lovely footwear that does not let in water.

☀ 7.30pm, popping out to sling an empty wine bottle into the recycling bin and noticing how drop-dead gorgeous the early evening sky was looking. Dashed in to grab my camera to capture those cutesome little puffs of cloud sailing over head in a hurry. It was windy, the build up to a bit of a storm, and the word "scudding" most definitely applied to those clouds.

☀ A large tray of garlicky, herby, oiled-up veggies waiting to go into the oven to roast. It makes me smile, this tray - it is my marriage right there in vegetable form. Bright summery peppers and courgettes for me, more earthy celery, potato and carrots for him. Broccoli and red onion for us both. It's like Summer meets autumn in that tray. They were delicious by the way.

☀ A Friday afternoon, 2.30pm. We were sat at this wooden table outside the cafe drinking a coffee and sharing a slab of seriously good chocolate brownie. The sun streaked down and warmed my face, briefly reminding me that it still feels like summer. We had been out for a delicious pub lunch with my lovely in-laws, stopping by here on the way home for a little bit of additional post-lunch finishing off. I usually find chocolate brownies a bit much, but every so often that sticky, clarty chololateyness just hits the sweet spot like nothing else.

☀ A jug of summery stocks on my table, lighting up the room with a burst of colour and a waft of distinctive sweet/spicy fragrance. I think it must soon be dahlia time? I don't walk past the market stalls at the top end of town as often as I used to, but I must not be so lazy and go see what the Plant Man has in his pavement buckets this week. I'm sending out positive dahlia vibes!

☀ Ahhh, my beloved blankets, doing a sterling job of looking messy and delicious all at once. How I love them! They are so well used and adored here, especially with how cold the early mornings and evenings feel right now as we haven't yet put our heating on. Just looking at them makes me feel warm and cosy - so much feel-good right there on my sofa.

☀ Another rather un-summery image, but this wet, soggy scene has been mine twice a day this past week as I've walked to school and back in the rain. So much wet has fallen from the sky lately. I'm still wearing flip flops when I can get away with it, but they aren't the easiest thing to walk in when they get wet. The ice cream boat is still opening at weekends throughout September, so we will try and make time to pop down and enjoy one last delicious cone before they close up for the year.

☀ Little B dug out an old colouring book this week, and his enthusiasm and joy prompted me to treat him to some new colouring pens that he could call his very own. Both the book and the pens are superb and I can highly recommend them if you have Little People to treat to such things {this book, and these pens}. 

☀ More stewed fruit was concocted in my kitchen this week, using up a some apples gifted to me by my neighbour and half a bag of fairly ancient frozen Summer Fruits which I dug out of the freezer. Oh the colour of it is quite delicious, so impossibly bright pink. I'm optimistically calling it Summer Fruit Compote and dolloping it into little bowls of creamy Greek Yoghurt to feed to the Little People after dinner. I'm sure they would prefer chocolate, but we are attempting to encourage the return of healthy food habits following a very slack summer of eating a considerable amount of rubbish.

☀ The beautiful view from the end of my street before we descend the steep hill down to the canal side. I never, ever tire of gazing out over the hillside, it pleases me as much now as it did ten years ago when we first decided to buy this house and make this town our home. Ten years. I can hardly believe it.

☀ Just six more days until the Autumn Equinox on the 22nd of September, and I don't think there will be chance for me to squeeze out much more of the Summer now. I've loved putting together these posts - such a sweet record of ordinary family life unfolding during the past couple months. I hope you're enjoying whichever season you are in, whether you are slip sliding into Autumn, or skipping towards Spring. Take note of the small moments, they mean so much.

Here are links to all my 2017 Summer Moments posts....

☀ {one} ☀ {two} ☀ {three} ☀ {four} ☀ {five} ☀