Attic24

November Rituals

After a very murky, foggy start to the day and a bit of a bleugh morning in general, things were looking very much brighter by lunch time. I'd been waiting patiently for J to finish up on his work call so that we could get out of the house and enjoy what looked to be an unexpectedly lovely November afternoon.

Every day when we visit the woods I wonder just how many leaves will be left. I know pretty soon there will come a day/night when we have strong winds and the whole lot will literally come tumbling down in one swoop, it always does seem to happen very quickly at the end. Right now there are still leaves to be seen, and they are looking glorious. I am constantly reminded of my Woodland Blanket at this time of year as I find these bright sunny autumn days very inspirational. The colours in nature lift my mood and never fail to bring on the happy vibes even when life feels like a bit of a slog.

During November I notice the sun stays pretty low in the sky even at midday, creating long shadows and a gentle slanting glow across the woodland paths. This low sunlight even manages to make the mud look good, and that's pretty amazing in my book.

Despite me feeling very wobbly today, there have been some happy moments. The October Cotton & Twine subscription box arrived in the post and I couldn't be more excited to stitch this beautiful seasonal design. I made a start and managed a few snowflakes but today was one of those days where the hours felt like minutes and the whole day seemed to slip away very quickly.

Ahhh, but here comes the weekend and I'm hoping for some little pockets of quiet stitching time, fingers crossed. I love love love the way that cross stitching slows my mind right down, and the repetitive, slow, rhythmic nature of it is very soothing. It's an extremely therapeutic craft I think, I can highly recommend it.

In other happy November news, I have hyacinths in the Attic!!!!!! YIPPEEEE!!!!!!!!!! This is one of my most favourite rituals of the season and I've been buying these pots of bulbs from the supermarket ever since I came to live here thirteen years ago. The tin pots change every year (you can see last years design in this post - you'll need to scroll down, it was a rambling one!) and I love this years offering. I don't usually go for gold, but I do rather like the shine of it on my mantel. Judging by the colour of the actual bulbs, I think these will be white flowers but there was no label on to tell me so they may well be bright pink. It'll be a festive surprise, and I am probably way more excited for it than I should be. I honestly can't wait, I bloomin' love hyacinths.

We had the most stunning cloud display this afternoon as we walked to school, I was absolutely transfixed by them. It's quite hard work walking down a steep hill whilst also trying to photograph the sky (we were running late so J wouldn't stop to wait for me), but I managed just about.....

....look at this one! This was me pointing my camera directly upwards where the telephone wires spread out to all the houses in my street. It kind of makes me feel dizzy just looking at it!

We were walking at a fair old pace down the hill....

....but I managed to stop and snap a quick photo of the canal as I crossed over the bridge. It was looking extremely atmospheric I thought, and very Novemberish. 

I lit the fire as soon as we came home from school as the house felt chilly and also I felt in need of some comfort and cheer as well as some warmth. We opened our mini bottle of prosecco (this seems to have become a Friday evening ritual) and everything suddenly seemed to settle for a while. I've felt out of sorts today, and despite managing to find so many things to be happy about, I've still had this underlying feeling of melancholy. I guess it's all part of lockdown life, emotions ebb and flow and I try to allow my feelings to surface without attempting to analyse them too much.

I did still get that wonderful Friday Feeling though, especially once Little Lady came home from school and all my brood were safe at home again. There is something so fundamentally settling about having all the family together under one roof, especially at meal times.

J always cooks a simple dinner on a Friday which I really appreciate, it's a treat for me to sit by the fire and have him in the kitchen for a change. Tonight he cooked up some meaty butchers sausages and served them hotdog style in bread rolls with fried onions and skinny French fries, and the Little People were allowed to eat in front of the TV. It's a Friday ritual which goes nicely with the prosecco I find. 

Oh, and I'm still madly in love with my mulled wine candle. It's just so perfectly Novemberish. The house smells delicious.

Before I go, there is something I just want to tell you about, something that always makes November a very exciting happy month for me.......

..........uh-huh, it's almost time for me to tell you about my next blanket adventure!!!! I've been getting lots of enquiries about the next Attic24 CAL on my social media so I thought I would give you the dates now so that you know what's coming.

I've been working on a new blanket design called "Meadow" which is inspired by the place that I walked almost every day during our months of lockdown (March-June) when I really needed to feel calm and grounded. The little wild flower meadow at the bottom of the park became my sanctuary and the colours of the flowers, grasses and distant summery hill views inspired a truly beautiful colour palette. 

I'll be able to show you a little more of what I've been working on in the next few weeks - yarn packs will be going on sale in my shop at Wool Warehouse on Tuesday 24th November (just under three weeks from now), and as in previous years I'll be sharing the blanket pattern as a Crochet-A-Long project at the very start of 2021. I can't wait to show you more.

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Sunny Side Up

We had a cold start to the day yesterday, not quite a frost yet but pretty close I'd say. I am very aware of the shrinking hours of daylight with each passing day, it's most noticeable in the evenings as it seems to get dark quite early now, but it also feels as if the darkness still lingers in the mornings when we walk to school. 

A funny thing happened when I was stood at the side of the canal to take the above photo....I was holding up my phone to compose the image and all of a sudden a whole flock of pigeons took off from the other side of the canal basin and came flying directly towards me - and I mean that they literally swooped over the water and flew right at me!! I squealed in shock and nearly dropped my phone as I thought they were going to land right on top of my head!!!!

We managed to avoid an actual collision and instead I found myself standing amongst a flock of pigeons pecking around my boots and wondering where their breakfast was. Never a dull moment on the school run.

Yesterday there was a strange feeling in the air as it was the last day of "freedom" before our month long Second Lockdown began today (Thursday). I had a few errands to run in the morning whilst the shops were still open but I resisted the urge to try and cram in any Christmas shopping. It did briefly cross my mind, but no. No, that's not for me. I shall try and do things online  I think, supporting small independent businesses as much as possible, and hoping that all being well our local shops can reopen sometime in early December. I did manage to buy chocolate advent calendars for the Little Peeps while they were still available, and I was also able to order some much needed wellies (I went for these ones as sadly the floral ones I loved were completely sold out). After all that, I went and sat peacefully at my regular table in the window of my favourite café and ordered a restorative cappuccino to settle the low grade anxiety I felt creeping in. 

After the chill of the early morning, I noticed a bright warmth shining in through the window and dancing across the top of my coffee cup. I looked out to see the most stunning blue sky had materialised whilst I sat sipping my coffee.......

.....oh happy day!!!! It was like the most welcome gift on a day when we really needed our spirits to be lifted and I couldn't believe my luck.

I walked home with a spring in my step, thinking just how beautiful the trees were looking in the bright morning sun. It was glorious, and truly made me smile all over my face.

My little doorstep cyclamen looked like they were dancing in the sunshine, their petals all perky and upright....

....and this dinky little leaf caught my eye on the step too, it had blown right across the street from my neighbours pretty acer tree.

I came home from the café and settled myself at the dining table to make progress with my granny bag.

Aaaahh Tilly, you are such a little Diva!! She sat and watched me lay out my bag, watched me arrange the flowers just so, and then just as I got ready to start stitching she snook in and installed herself without hesitation. It was as if she'd decided I had prepared a little resting spot especially for her.....I present to you the Granny Josephine Kitty Relaxation Pad.

So I decided to leave her be for a little bit and went to make myself a bowl of fruit laden porridge instead. By the time I came back to the table she'd gone elsewhere - she was only interested in the bag when she knew she would be front and centre of my attention, of course. It's the Tortie way (have you heard of the word "tortitude"? Tilly definitely has it!)

I really couldn't wait to get out for our daily walk yesterday, the weather was absolute autumn perfection.

Ahhh, the colours!! And the light!! I thought it all looked so incredibly beautiful.

Everything delighted me and filled up my seasonal-loving soul to the brim. 

It was delicious in every way out there and I drank it in with eyes wide open. I could have walked and walked and walked, but J had to get back to his computer, and I had a basket of yarn waiting for me......

Don't those colours look luscious nestled all together? So pretty!!

I've had a few people ask about the small rope baskets that I'm using to store my small balls of yarn. I bought them a few months ago and really love them, they're the perfect size for holding small balls of scrap yarn for decorative projects (also wonderful for the small cotton Ricorumi balls that I like, you can see a photo of them here). They come as a pair - you can find them on Amazon ((here))

Yesterday afternoon I finished crocheting the floral embellishments for Granny Josephine (the bag version, not the cat mat).

And......

......I stitched everything in place and attached the handles.

So......

......that means the bag is officially finished. Uh-huh.......no longer a WiP!!!!

Yippeeeeeeee!!!! 

You can be sure of a Ta-dah flourish very soon - I need to find a willing photographic assistant to take some pictures of the bag and me doing our thing together, so that will most likely happen at the weekend. I'm so excited to show you!

Walking down the hill to school yesterday afternoon, I thought how particularly lovely my hill view looked in the afternoon light.

I also thought you might like to see the view at the bottom of the hill too - I walk down this cobbled hill street almost every day but I think this is the first time I've stopped to take a photograph. This cobbled street is actually a road which cars drive down although it doesn't look much like one (the above photo is showing the bottom part of what is a pretty steep hill down from the canal). The tall buildings on either side are part of the old historic cotton mill that dominated this town in the early 1800's. They've now become a mix of apartments and office space - the restoration took many years and these old buildings have been given a whole new lease of life.

I stopped to photograph this yellow leaf just because the glorious colour literally stopped me in my tracks.....

....and the same thing happened again on the way home with this tree laden with tiny yellow crab apples. Don't they look stunning against the blue of the sky?

I was in reflection heaven yesterday walking homewards along the canal.....I just wanted to stand and stare and drink them in. I can't get over how magical water reflections are, they make me feel like I'm dreaming or something, like I'm being offered a glimpse into an alternate world somehow. 

Yesterday was such a lovely day, but today, it has felt heavy. I am trying very much to keep an open mind and a happy heart despite the gloom which seeps in around the edges if I stop and think about it too much. I'm hoping to still visit the market on Saturday as I heard that food stalls would be permitted to trade - I hope Mr Cheese and Mr Veggie will be there, I'm keeping fingers crossed. At least our local butcher and baker are remaining open, so I shall continue to try and shop small and local where I am able.

I hope you are all OK, I am sending out a huge virtual hug should you need one. Also, before I toddle off, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the beautiful comments left on my last post - I have read every single one (over a hundred) and it has warmed my heart more than you could ever know. The connectedness is stronger than ever, I feel it, and I am so thankful for it.

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Blogtober 2020 :: Review

During the past few days I've been thinking a lot about Blogtober and how it feels coming out the other side after thirty one days of daily posting. It was a very spontaneous decision  to embark on a month of blogging, and I didn't give it a lot of thought to be honest. I simply decided it would do me some good to show up each day and be present in my own little patch of cyber space. I wanted to renew my commitment to this precious online journal that I've created and the friendships and connections that are made here. It's the connectedness (is that even a word?*) that means so much to me, and the thing that first drew me to start a blog almost thirteen years ago. Blogging allows me to feel that I belong somewhere, a small part of a bigger community of creative people sharing their passions.

*I just had to look up the word 'connectedness' as I wasn't sure if I'd made it up or not....turns out it's a real word, and it sums up being a blogger perfectly : "a feeling of belonging to or having affinity with a particular person or group". YES! Exactly that. When I publish a blog I feel like I belong, and I feel a profound sense of purpose. And when you leave me a comment here, you also belong. That connection, no matter how much it may feel intangible at times is very, very real. We are connected, you and I, and doesn't it feel wonderful?!

So I thought that as this was my first ever attempt at Blogtober, I would perform a little monthly review if you'd like to join me?

Creatively I felt as if I faffed around a lot throughout October. But looking back at photos I see that there was a definite plan in place and as stop-start as it was, I did make progress. I set out to breathe new life into a neglected project, digging out my pile of Summer Garden granny squares in an attempt to turn them into a bag. I had the squares and the handles already made, and I had even purchased the lining fabric. I just needed to pull it all together.

I didn't quite manage to complete the bag by the end of October, but the Ta-dah moment came very close. I am so very nearly there!

The other project I wanted to bring over the finishing line was these socks for J which I cast on in the middle of September.

I finished them on the 27th October, much to J's delight. I really enjoyed knitting them, especially as it had been over a year since I knit a pair of socks. I've got it into my head that I want to learn how to knit colourwork next, you know where you knit two different colours at once and follow a chart? Christine says she'll help me (she has some really lovely simple colourwork socks for me to have a go at) but right now when I'm still in a floofy head phase I don't think it's a good idea. I need to wait for the hormones to settle a bit I think. 

On the home front, October was all about embracing the change in seasons and welcoming in autumn. I faffed my mantel with all my autumn guff, and we lit our first fire of the season.

I celebrated my 52nd birthday with prosecco and cake.....

....we celebrated Little B's fantastic achievement when he successfully passed the 11+ grammar school entrance exam....

....and on the very last day of October we celebrated Halloween. 

Committing to Blogtober meant that I had Attic24 on my mind an awful lot of the time. Every day I would wonder what on earth I might find to blog about - I didn't plan anything in advance, simply allowing the days to naturally unfold and taking photographs whenever I felt inspired. I found that by thinking about my blog as I went about my daily life it really helped me focus on all the many small things that make me happy each day. It also reminded me to actively practice gratitude for these things and not just letting them slip by.

I am a great believer in the power of mindfulness - I don't meditate or practice anything spiritual in my life, but I think simple mindfulness can be a wonderful tool for reducing stress and anxiety and creating a genuine sense of contentment. Mindfulness to me means being fully present in the moment with all of your senses engaged and having a true appreciation for that particular moment in time. I can highly recommend it - there is lots of info online about practicing mindfulness, but in its simplest form it means stopping every once in a while and really taking note of your emotions and your senses. Allow the feelings to surface and flow (even if they aren't the best kind of feelings it's important to give them space) and acknowledge the simple fact that you are alive and that this moment in time is a gift. Happiness can be found in the smallest of details and the simplest of things, we just need to slow ourselves down enough to seek them out and appreciate them. Blogging encourages me to actively do this on a daily basis, although it's something that I've always done, it's just part of who I am I guess.

During October I really enjoyed taking photos that showed something of my ordinary daily life, capturing the local places that I regularly walk and the way my days gently pass by.

I often walked into town to visit the shops and the market....

.....as well as through the park to the farm shop.....

....and many times I stood at the top of this hill after a walk in the woods. 

We didn't venture very far away from home during October, but we did drive out into the Yorkshire countryside to walk.

We walked around Grimwith reservoir on Day 1

Day 12  was my Birthday and we had a beautiful (if wet) walk at Malham Cove.

Day 19 was a day I felt quite low after a week of not feeling great and having poor sleep. A walk on the wild and windy moors helped to blow away the cobwebs.

We walked along the river at Linton Falls on Day 25 .....

....and walked twice at Bolton Abbey on Day 4 and Day 29.

Most of the time I was sharing photos of my walks in the local woodland which has become part of our daily routine since the pandemic began in March. October saw a real colour change in the woods as it was still pretty green at the start of the month. I shared our woodland walk on 11 different days during Blogtober (it felt like more!), I hope you didn't get fed up of seeing leaves, leaves, trees and more leaves?!

Blogging every day meant that there was bound to be a lot of repetition and I worried about this as I really didn't want to bore you. But you assured me that you didn't mind the sameyness of my daily routines so I continued to take photos of the ordinary bits of my days. I shared 19 cups of coffee with you during the month (which really felt like way more!), haha, I don't know whether this is funny or ridiculous, but there you have it. I love coffee. LOVE it. I absolutely adore the comfort and pleasure of my daily cup, whether it be in a cosy café, a takeout or a home brew.

When I first started blogging back in 2008 I had a very definite routine with it and posted five days a week Monday-Friday. J was out at work all day and the Little People were aged 5 and 3 at the time (Little Man was at school and Little Lady spent 4 hours every morning at nursery). Those weekday mornings were lonely times for me, living in a brand new town with no friends close by, but once I began to fill them with photographs and words, well my life was transformed. I loved it from the offset (you can read my very first blog here - I wrote very short blogs back then!).

I have always enjoyed writing about my days - I wrote diaries as well as a huge volume of letters to a good many distant friends throughout my teens and twenties. I started taking and sharing photographs in the summer of 2007 when I first discovered the Flickr community (in the olden days before smart phones and Instagram existed), and starting my blog gave me a platform to string those photos together with words to create a daily narrative of my life. I loved that blogging provided a creative outlet for me, and that it felt so natural too. I also really enjoyed being a part of the blogging community, and that connectedness that I mentioned earlier was a game changer for me. It made a fundamental difference to my life at a time when I was pretty lonely and feeling very adrift, and I am forever grateful for all that it has given me.

I could talk all day about blogging and what it means to me, but I think I've probably said enough for now. Incidentally, if you ever have any questions you'd like to ask me about blogging, or my creative/design journey, my arts/textiles background, crochet, photography - anything really - do feel free to ask in the comments. I think it would be fun to do a Q&A thingy perhaps? Let me know if that appeals.

In the meantime - back to Blogtober. Have you enjoyed it? I certainly have and it wasn't nearly as difficult as I thought it might be. There were only one or two days where I found it hard to write and that was purely down to being so tired at the end of the day, not through any lack of things to actually say. I am never short of content because I have a solid habit of taking photographs every single day. There are always high points in every day, always things to inspire, bring a smile, make me stop and take note. 

I want to thank you so very much for keeping me company during a month of daily blogging, and an especially warm welcome to those of you who are new here to the Attic. I thought you might enjoy a few October 2020 blog statistics to finish with, just for fun.....

Number of daily blogs completed : 31

Total number of photographs shared : 332

Total number of beautiful comments : 1002, thank you, thank you!

Total number of blog views : 757,617 (!!)

Total number of words written by me : 25,444 (yes, I added them all up. Yes, I am nuts)

Will I do it again next year? : absolutely, #blogtober2021 is on.

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Stormy Monday

We are weathering the storm here (in more ways than one) and it continues to be wet, windy and wild in Atticland. According to the weather man, this is "the remnants of Hurricane Zeta" which I think has blown across from the southern coast of the US.

As nasty as this weather can feel when you are out and about in it, I do think it's pretty spot on for the time of year and I am doing my best to embrace it. November feels like a stormy month, time for the rain to pour and the leaves to come whirling down from the treetops. Stormy days remind us to enjoy the cosy comforts of home, and to be grateful for warmth and shelter. However, if we have even a minute sprinkling of snow this month (and it's actually predicted for this week) then I might be a little bit miffed. Snow is most definitely meant  for winter, and we are not there yet, I'm still getting used to the idea of autumn, thank you very much.

In other non-weather news, I made great progress with Granny Josephine today and I'm so happy! I finished the hand stitching yesterday and I'm amazed at how neat it looks after all the ripping out and repairs that went on.

Thankfully, despite no photos and no notes of any kind, I did actually remember in my head what I had worked out last year for attaching the handles. I was a bit nervous that it was all going to somehow go hideously wrong again, but it went surprisingly well......

.......ooooooo look, we have some handle attachment flaps in place!!! YAY!!! The top one is just folded in place to show you how it will work. I've got some Embellishment Plans to carry out (which may very well be of the floral variety), so I thought it would be easier to embellish the flaps before they get stitched down. It's all coming together beautifully and I couldn't be happier. 

Hey, do you know what? I might even finish it tomorrow, and now I am so flipping excited I can hardly breathe.

I was forced to take a bag intermission at 2.30 this afternoon because J had spotted a break in the weather and the daily walk was suddenly on. We had Little B with us (teacher training day today, he's back in school tomorrow) as you know how I like to encourage the benefits of fresh air and nature-breathing. It was a bit of a mud fest, and it rained, then stopped, then rained again, then stopped. Oh, and then it really rained.......you get the picture. We got wet, wet, wet.

Due to the insane amount of rain we've had during the past week, the beck was absolutely raging and the waterfalls were all at full tilt. It was exhilarating to see on this small scale, but oh my, I do so feel for those who live close to the rivers as we've got extensive flooding in our region at the moment. 

During the final part of the walk the sun suddenly won out and shone brightly against a backdrop of glowering dark storm clouds. For a very short while it created the most spectacular light....

.....it was golden with a moody edge, if that makes sense.

Other random things of note today :

• Outrageously good coffee was consumed. Of course it was.
• I managed to drag Little B to the barbers for a much needed hair cut, so he's all trim and Lockdown ready.
• I went to the supermarket and remembered to buy oranges (a Big Teen request) but forgot to buy my decaff coffee pods, which was the whole reason for visiting this particular supermarket. Which means I need to go back again tomorrow.
• We had our big online food shop delivered and they'd substituted one of the small 200ml bottles of prosecco with a large bottle. I deliberated on rejecting it for about 3.5 seconds, then thought better of it.
• I can highly recommend a Mulled Wine scented candle to bring a little cheer, it makes the room smell sooooo good.
• I really need some new wellies - on my list for tomorrow. I'm thinking something floral might work with all this rain and mud.

Right my lovelies, my mug of tea has been drunk and as I am sitting at my bedroom desk I've got a clear and direct view of my bed....it's calling my name so I shall love you and leave you for today.

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Sunday Vibes

I had another slow start to the day and have really enjoyed my long morning sleep-in's this weekend. I feel as if I've needed them after a few weeks of poor sleep and it's just wonderful to feel more like my normal self again. Hoorraaaayyy!!! I think it was almost 9am when I finally got myself out of bed, I was awake before then, but sat a while to catch up with all your comments left on my blog yesterday - THaNk YoU!!!!! Thank you so much for all your enthusiasm and positive feedback on my Blogtober endeavour, I truly appreciate it. I'm secretly quite proud of myself for managing a whole thirty one days as it was quite a commitment of time and energy. But here I am on day thirty two of this blogging streak and I don't seem to have run out of things to say.....I mean I've still got coffee cups to show you!

J and I snook off at around 10ish to sit a while at our favourite table next to the window in the café and enjoyed coffee (of the outrageously good variety) and a plate of toast. I am very aware that our café-going days are numbered as from Thursday we go into another whole month of national lockdown. Sigh. I don't yet know whether cafés will be permitted to stay open if they offer a takeaway service, I am keeping all digits crossed.

When we stepped out of the café the weather was unexpectedly lovely, so on the spur of the moment we decided to walk home "the scenic way". This involves following the tow path from the canal basin as it runs under the little hump-backed road bridge....

....and keep walking along the water's edge as we wind our way out of town. I love the above photo, I have a slight obsession with reflections in water and am absolutely mesmerized by them. I could stand and gaze at the water for ages when it is still and clear like this.

This is such a cute little pathway - the canal is on the right and to the left (hidden from view) is the beck. It's lovely to walk with water on both sides, and I enjoy the contrast of the still canal water on one side and the rushing of the beck as it tumbles over rocks in a series of mini waterfalls on the other side.

The sunshine was so welcome, especially as the weather forecast had been full of stormy-laden doom and gloom. I had to keep reminding myself that today is the first day of November as it really didn't feel like it.

Onwards along the raised walkway with the castle standing high above us on the right.

I don't know if you can see the little robin perched on a branch in the above photo? He was sat in the sunshine singing his little heart out, such a sweet sound for a Sunday morning.

We weren't going into the woods today as we didn't have the right footwear on for a muddy walk. Instead we followed the little lane round as it curves away from the woodland towards my "gratitude view" out over the town that I often share with you. I am very drawn to this ramshackle old tin shed - over the years it has blended more and more into it's surroundings as moss and ivy have claimed it. I think it's charming even though it is very dilapidated.

I was admiring my yellow chrysanths earlier, still going strong more than 2 weeks since I bought them (on Day 13 of Blogtober). What amazingly good value they turned out to be, I think they were only £3. They are just beginning to go over now though and the petals are beginning to drop - I think I'll go and see if I can find another bunch this week before we go into lockdown. 

I sat a while and did a little bit of slow hand stitching on my bag lining this afternoon, so that I'm now ready to get going with attaching the handles. This project really, really needs to be finished, it's top of my to-do list for this week. Item number one - Finish The Bag. 

Underneath the Summer Harmony and Tilly cat combo is Little Lady. She spent an extended time on the sofa this afternoon watching children's cartoons on TV - she isn't well right now. No, not the virus, just a bit of a head cold I think as her sinuses are blocked (she does seem to frequently suffer with this kind of thing). I don't like it when one of the Little People are ill, even though the eldest two are no longer children really, I still feel anxious when they aren't well. I made her a mug of warm lemon and honey with a Lemsip powder thrown in to try and help decongest her little blocked up tubes. She was feeling very sorry for herself, poor love.

The weather turned really mean and nasty this afternoon with high winds and heavy rain lashing against the window. I lit the fire and settled down on the floor cushion beside the hearth to soak in some of the warmth and comfort. I finally managed to finish reading October Country Living (I feel like it's taken me all week) - I can now pass it on to my good friend who will devour it cover to cover before taking it to the hospital where she works. I like the idea of actively recycling my feel-good magazines. I love to think of the many patients who will be sitting in the hospital waiting room in the weeks to come, enjoying some colour and uplifting imagery to take their mind off the business of sitting and waiting.

I started putting together a Blogtober round-up post earlier, but realised quite quickly that it was going to take some time to create it and that I wouldn't manage it for today. I'm making some collages of images (I used to do a lot of these at one time) and I want to chat a little bit about how daily blogging has been for me. I think it's important to stop and reflect back at times, to gather in thoughts and feelings and give them fair consideration before moving onto the next idea, the next phase, the next project.

I also just wanted to say - I don't expect that I can manage to be here in the Attic every single day throughout November, but I will try to be here as often as I am able. With Lockdown coming along once again, my life is going to be running in very small, rhythmic circles of sameyness and I am predicting that some days will feel quite tricky. I am really loving being in my little Attic space though, chatting through the window to you all around the world. Aren't we so very lucky to have this connection with one another? Thank you for sticking around - see you soon

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Blogtober 2020 :: Day 31

I woke up with a lovely weekend feeling this morning when I realised it was Saturday, and as there was nothing much that needed my immediate attention I dozed in bed for a while. I always look forward to heading into town with J on a Saturday morning to gather in food supplies, especially as we usually call in at the café for our breakfast on the way home.

It was wild out there this morning! Very, very windy with glowering dark skies promising imminent rain at any moment. When we got into town we realised there was no street market due to the stormy weather forecast, so we made do with what we could get from the shops. Breakfast and some very very most excellent cappuccinos were still on though, and my goodness I did so enjoy my plate of eggs on toast this morning. Perfectly weekendish I'd say.

In the early afternoon we noticed that the weather had brightened a little, so we set out for a walk while the rain held off. I love these little post boxes that are built into old walls, there is something so endearing about them I think. 

We took Little B with us on our walk this afternoon, even though he wasn't too keen. Sometimes you've just got to drag them away from their screens and force-feed them fresh air because it's the right thing to do when you parent a ten year old who thinks he's a teenager. 

I do so love getting out into the fresh air - I expect you've gathered that by now, eh?!

We had wrapped up in raincoats expecting it to be wet, but the strong winds actually blew in some very welcome blue skies for us to enjoy. It was such a treat to look up and suddenly see patches of blue when it had been so dark and grey earlier.

I'm certainly appreciating all the autumn colour at the moment as I know we are on borrowed time as far as the leaves go. Soon enough the branches will be stripped bare and brown will be the prevailing shade. 

I found myself really appreciating the simple beauty of these dead seed heads and I was reminded of the "dead-things wreath" I made some years ago. Haha, I just re-read that post and made myself laugh!

It was blessedly quiet in the woods considering it was the weekend, and we passed just a handful of dog walkers making the most of the unexpectedly dry afternoon. Hello, Stalking Horse, you look so at home right now with the copper beech leaves falling all around you. I love that you are here in our woodland, making me smile each time I walk past.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, what a beautiful sight, would you just look at that glorious SUNSHINE!!! A very brief break in the clouds and the sun suddenly burst through the trees up ahead, it was absolutely magical I tell you.

Amazingly the rain stayed away and we made it home un-wetted. I always love this view of the terraced streets running steeply down and then back up again - these are the hills I was referring to a few days ago when I mentioned that daily exercise has really improved my fitness levels. You do need a reasonable bit of stamina to walk these streets at a brisk pace and there was a (long) time when I struggled, although I hated to admit it. By the way, I will be chatting about my exercise stuff in a separate blog post as so many of you seemed interested in what I'm up to.

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Around 3pm I made a start on the pumpkin carving. My top tools for the job are rubber gloves and a metal ice cream scoop - these are a winning combo and I had the innards scraped out in no time at all. I've saved some of the flesh to make pumpkin soup tomorrow and I'm already looking forward to it. To do the actual carving I just use a small vegetable knife, nothing fancy. I print or draw a design onto paper, place the paper onto the surface of the pumpkin and trace the design with a pencil, making sure to press down hard. This leaves the design lightly scored onto the pumpkin surface, it's just enough so that you can see where to cut.

I carved three pumpkins this year, one large one and two small ones. The Little People watched on with a mixture of fascination and annoyance - they know full well by now that pumpkin carving in this house is strictly a Mummy Activity, and they will not be permitted to "help" in any way, shape or form. I am just a weeny bit mean with it, I am sorry to admit it, but also.......not sorry. Mine, all mine.

In previous years I have purchased additional pumpkins and helped them design and carve their own creations, so I feel I have done my bit. This year nobody was at all bothered when I mentioned pumpkins to them earlier in the week, that is until they saw me at the table this afternoon and then suddenly they wanted in. Ah, shame, but then there's always next year.

As there was no trick or treating this year, we had a beautifully peaceful evening compared to the bobillion rings of the doorbell we usually get on Halloween night. I bought some large foil trays (the sort you buy for roasting a chicken) and spread out a variety of mixed sweetie treats, then left them on the steps for any passing witches or ghouls to help themselves. It seemed like the right thing to do, and I hope that the Littlies liked my pumpkins this year............

...........Ta-dah!! I think they turned out ok.....Happy Halloween🕷🕸🕷🕸🕷!!!

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PS....I know it's the 31st today and Blogtober has now officially finished, but I think I shall continue to be around in the days to come. I have thoroughly enjoyed being present here each day, it's been fun, hasn't it? xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

Blogtober 2020 :: Day 30

♥ Coffee #one, sat impatiently twiddling my toes waiting for J to finish up on a work conference call so that we could open a Very Important Letter. Talk about a loooooooooong twenty minutes, I was absolutely beside myself with the sheer effort of trying to remain still and patient.

♥ Coffee #two, sat in our fave café in recovery after the absolute rollercoaster of the morning. We did eventually get to open the Very Important Letter, and the contents were worth the wait. Little B has gone and passed the entrance exam for the grammar school.......high emotion, much elation, and an all round fantastic proud parent morning. We couldn't be more thrilled. And proud. So proud of him!!

♥ Two coffees down and I was practically sprinting up the street on a caffeine high. It was wet and gloomy, but that didn't matter one bit. 

♥ The market was in full swing, but actually we only needed to visit the butcher and the baker today. On impulse we did also spin into a shop to purchase a seasonal candle - I chose "mulled wine" which smells incredible. I've still got my "late summer" soy wax candle but I'm  keep that for burning in my bedroom in the evenings. Summer in the bedroom (for sweet dreams) and Winter in the living room (for seasonal vibes)....I'm quite Ok with that arrangement.

♥ I brought home a cardboard box from the bakery especially for Little B, and I don't think he could believe that the box was just for him. It contained the biggest fresh cream doughnut you could imagine, and his face was an absolute picture when he opened the lid and saw what was inside. Sweet boy.

♥ I did something out of the ordinary this afternoon and went to the pub - go me! I met with a good friend for a cheeky glass of vino and it felt very indulgent and really rather lovely. 

♥ Walking home from the pub at 4pm and the wet weather finally seemed to have blown over for a while. The sun was already starting to go down and the light was really beautiful. 

It's 5.30 now and already dark outside. The fire is lit and J is cooking dinner so I took the opportunity to pop into the Attic to tell you about my day. I'm afraid there has been no crochet, and no scenic walk so I'm a bit short on photographs for today, but there has been much happiness and quiet celebration in our household. 

I hope your day has unfolded with low drama and some happy highs and lots of little moments to make you smile.

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Blogtober 2020 :: Day 29

Today has been a thoroughly wet affair from start to finish. It was raining when I got up, and as far as I know it's still raining now, although of course it's dark out there beyond the cosiness of home so I don't know for certain. I'm currently sat on the floor in front of the fire with my laptop on the coffee table and my legs stretched out underneath. It's warm and very snug in here as I lit the fire about six hours ago - it really is so lovely having an open fire, I know I keep saying it but it's absolutely one of the highlights of the season for me. J has just made me a cup of tea so I'm all settled in for a chat, although I do need to warn you that I feel pretty tired so I apologise in advance if I begin to drift or ramble.

We went for a jaunt around Bolton Abbey this morning and yes, it was a very drippy wet walk. We started out in a light drizzle and ended up in full on wet rain, but it didn't take away from the pleasure of it. The river was rushing by at a super fast speed, the trees looked amazingly beautiful and despite the crowds we still managed to find a sense of tranquillity in the woodland. Little B was in good spirits and very chatty - I had the pleasure of his company for much of the walk which is a rarity these days. You will be shocked to hear that we didn't stop for coffee (I know!!), we were just too sodden to think about sitting in a café and decided instead to come straight home to change into dry clothes and light the fire.

I spent the early afternoon snuggled under a blanket in the Big Chair with Tilly for company, drinking coffee and catching up with my October issue magazines. I'd only managed a quick browse through before today, but I do like to take the time to read through all the articles and examine the inspirational images in great detail. There was a "seasonal makes and bakes" feature in Country Living which obviously influenced me massively because I began to really crave ginger biscuits. So much so, I could not stop thinking about it so I did the only thing possible in the circumstances and went into the kitchen to bring some gingery goodness into my life. Unfortunately I very quickly discovered we had no ground ginger, so ginger biscuits were a no go. Waaaaahhh!!! I was so disappointed! But I was on a biscuit mission by then so I made an instant decision and knocked up some lemon shortbread biscuits instead. I had fun using some little leaf cutters for seasonal appropriateness, and the biscuits tasted wonderful - buttery and zesty and the perfect afternoon munchy material.

I haven't felt like stitching or hooking today so poor Granny Josephine is still in a state. I shall pick her up tomorrow and forge on with her recovery journey I promise.

Right my lovelies, I really do need to go now as I can feel my brain beginning to perform a bit of a spontaneous shutdown. I hope you've had a great day whatever you've been up to and I shall see you all tomorrow....

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Blogtober 2020 :: Day 28

Today has been a blissfully slow kind of a day, the very best kind of pace for a stay-home holiday week. J and I were both up and about early this morning so we decided to take a walk up to the farm shop around 8.30am. We walked through the park which was very quiet and peaceful and as you can see, it was sunny - yes, actual, real sunny-sunshine, yaayyyy!! It was so so so lovely to feel the sun on my face for a little while, no matter how brief it was.

Many of the trees are looking bare now, although there are some still managing to hold onto their leaves. 

I stopped for a moment to look up through the treetops at the blue sky, loving the brightness of the still early day. My feet were cosy in my hand knit socks and boots, and my hands were cosy in my hand knit mitts. I was wearing a new sweatshirt top which has a hood that kind of sits quite closely around my neck (it's this one) so I was toasty warm, but the chill of the cold wind on my face was really exhilarating. I felt happy and full of morning energy, it was such a great feeling I have to say.

We paused at the top of the hill to take in the view of the hills before jaunting down the steps and following the footpath all the way to the farm shop. Because we were so early it was wonderfully quiet in the shop. This is something I've come to appreciate when we have to wear face coverings as it can feel very claustrophobic very quickly when it's warm and busy. We only really wanted one thing (well two things if you count the coffee) so it was a speedy in and out pop-n-shop, just the way I like it. 

By the time we were walking back through the park the weather had already begun to change and the sun was gone. I appreciated my al fresco on-the-move latté very much, it tasted pretty good with a back drop of Autumnal nature.

The thing we had walked all the way to the farm shop for was meat, specifically lamb. The meat at the farm shop is always great quality and super fresh so I always think it's well worth the walk to get the good stuff. I made another favourite recipe from the slow cook book for tonights dinner - Lamb Rogan Josh. This is a truly excellent curry, one of the best recipes I've ever come across. As well as dried spice and a generous dollop of spice paste from a jar, this recipe uses fresh cinnamon sticks and cardamom pods to add a really rich, aromatic flavour. It's a long, slow cook (up to 8 hours) which makes the lamb melt-in-the-mouth tender....oh it really did not disappoint, it was absolutely delicious. 

With dinner in the slow cooker, the rest of the day was open for me to get busy with my own thing. So after lunch I fetched Granny Josephine from the naughty corner and prepared her for surgery.

It was a tricky procedure, unpicking parts of the lining, then unpicking the carefully darned in ends so I could frog back the joining seams enough to release the top four corner squares. Granny remained calm, and even with a bit of her top missing she still managed to hold it together. 

I am so so glad that somehow in the midst of my foggiest of brain-fog times last year I managed to not only create a half-square from scratch, but also miraculously managed to write up the pattern for it. I am not kidding when I tell you that I really do not remember doing any of it, it's a complete blank (hahaha, I just type "blanket" instead of blank, and had a little chuckle to myself). 

So I had the joy of following my own pattern to create four new half squares......

.....to replace the ones that I extracted from Granny earlier. I used the same colours for some sort of continuity, although I'm well aware that the photo tutorial is going to be a bit of a mess because of having to re-do this bit but not being able to photograph it properly. Ah well, I trust that you won't mind too much and I'll do my best to explain it all as best as I can. 

In the dwindling daylight this afternoon I managed to join the four half squares into Granny's top half, giving her some dainty sloping shoulders. Ideally I would have liked her to have more depth, but in order to make the handles work, this seemed to be the least tricky path to take. 

As I ran out of light and energy in the late part of the afternoon the lining is just pinned in place for now. Tomorrow I hope to really make some good progress and advance to the handle attaching stage. I am determined to drag Granny Josephine into her Ta-dah spotlight, and take her out on the town when she's all embellished and ready to wow her public. I absolutely can't wait.

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Blogtober 2020 :: Day 27

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Opal Fairytale : shade 9797 "Heroic Deed"

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

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