We went to visit Highcliffe Castle at the weekend. There wasn't a lot to see inside the castle particularly as they were filming "Don't Tell The Bride" there at the time. But it was interesting non the less and so good to get out and about.
You can easily walk down to the beach there and the sea was quite dramatic. Very quickly there were wet feet. Not too long ago that would have been disastrous for everyone and would have signaled the end of the day I'm sure. But now they just get on with it and were still up for going into Bournemouth afterwards for some Ben & Jerry's and a go on the Tuppenny Drops in the Arcade on Bournemouth Pier.
These long winter days still feel as though they are upon us although yes there are signs of Spring all around now it cannot come quickly enough. Today I am full of cold and my wisdom tooth is coming through just to add insult to injury! I feel cold and shivery and wish I was in Barbados. I think a cup of tea and a hot water bottle might have to suffice.
Well I've been quite pleased with myself for making this phone case for my daughter and her continuing love of the Unicorn. This is the first time I have made a lined pouchy thing and I always have a mental breakdown when I have to think about which side you lay the fabric and how it will work when you turn it the right way out. So I held my breath for that bit - not being sure if it would work. I was so pleased when it did.
I did break out in a mild sweat for some of the sections but that is just normal for me and sewing. I still don't find it a thoroughly relaxing activity but I have improved massively over the years as I have built a little tiny bit of skill. It used to be that my ideas far outweighed my abilities but this little pouch has brought me a lot of joy and satisfaction to know that I built it from scratch with no pattern or anything! I have to admit there was a previous version which the phone just did not fit into but it very happily turned out to be useful for holding tissues so you know, every cloud!
Early February - it's the beginning of the end of the winter. Thankfully. But it's always darkest just before the light and I'm feeling that right now. I need to be warm. I need some sun.
We took a very cold Sunday trip to Lacock Abbey, a National Trust property near Chippenham.
There were loads of Snowdrops to please me - real and otherwise. They had a series of outdoor sculptures which was entitled "Frozen World". When I saw the sign for this I imagined they were going to be ice sculptures and as we walked around I kept waiting to see something made of ice - clearly I hadn't read the signs properly.
Lacock Abbey was once the home of William Henry Fox Talbot who contributed significantly to the invention of photography. I did manage to drop my camera when I was there which I sort of knew I was going to do as my hands were freezing and I did think how strange it would be if I broke my camera at the birthplace of photography. Then it just became a self-fulfilling prophecy! Well, except it didn't break thankfully although it did drop onto the hard stone floor.
The Abbey has also been used (like many National Trust properties) as a filming location, most recently for Wolf Hall but also for some of the Harry Potter films. I was pretty sure I was stood in the exact spot where Dobby became a free Elf!
We couldn't stay too long as it was literally freezing but of course there was time for a nice cup of tea and a slab of something amazing in the National Trust tearoom. Ooooh we love a tea room!
I realised I had been stuck inside for days and days and really needed to get out for some fresh air and a bit of meandering to blow away the cobwebs. My son is still poorly with tonsilitis (which is a real grot bag) so he stayed home with his Dad whilst me and my daughter took ourselves on a walk, with the lovely Crumble of course who decided it wasn't too cold for a dip!
Crumble will always take to the water if there is the slightest chance of it. He was taught this when he was a puppy by his Great Aunt Rosie who was an elderly Golden Retriever who also loved the water and would come and stay with us from time to time. He plunged in without even a gasp, the river was quite high and I always worry that he will be washed away and I will have to be one of those dog owners that you read about who gets swept away to their doom because they foolishly went in the water to rescue their dog. But how do you not?
There were real signs of life outside too. Patches of lovely snowdrops just beginning to bloom confirming that it's all ok, it will be warm again soon and spring flowers will be on their way. A return of some colour when everything is so stick brown, although there were some amazing Dogwoods in red and lime green to break up the "stickyness".
I am thinking of New York today and the snowstorm they are having. When we were there in October we had the most amazing weather but I have also been there in February when it was the coldest place I have ever been on this earth! Sadly we are not due to have any snow down in Wiltshire which is a shame for this northern lass. Growing up in Cumbria, snow was an annual event and not at all newsworthy. Now it seems as soon as anywhere has any snow it becomes a news item.
Well January has been a long slow month and I shall be glad to move on from it and pick up a bit of pace with life again. Get out more, do more, see more things. I'm done with the Winter.
This week has been soft and slow as we have succumbed to feeling poorly with days off school. It has enforced its own pace upon us which has been reminiscent of the pre-school days when you could just snuggle up for no reason in the mid afternoon and read books - complete with funny voices. I know when you are in those days they seem endless and sometimes frustrating. But when they are gone they are gone forever and school life takes over in such a powerful way. Everyone's life becomes about school not just those who have to go. Your working day, week and year is dictated by the school routine, the costumes they need, the trips to be paid for, the homework to be completed, the when and where of holidays. Knowing the next time you will get a cheap holiday is when they have left home!
I think we will be seeing the week out at home as little improvement has been made on the health front. There will be more stories, more baking - cheese scones just cannot be beaten! And the newly discovered but non-photogenic butterscotch pudding - who knew, what a texture, it's just so puddingy!
I decided on a project for my dusty pink alpaca - a chevron lace scarf. I am finding it slow going and the wool is tricky with the 2.5 mm hook but I am very happy with the look of it and the slow and soft nature of it suits my week entirely.
So, it was my birthday! I had such a lovely day. I wasn't really looking forward to it in the sense that I felt that I had kind of outgrown them. I remember as a child asking my dad what he wanted for his birthday and he said he didn't really mind. I just couldn't understand this! He explained that the older you get the less you are bothered by things like birthdays. I think I might be there.
Having said that I did have a truly lovely day. It began in bed with a hot cross bun and a cup of tea and presents and snuggles. The presents were good, really good but nothing beats a morning snuggle. Nothing.
I got a gorgeous scarf, soft, snuggly and great colours - what more could you ask from a scarf?
This was recently televised on the BBC and I did watch some of the episodes but I am not generally great at keeping up with TV shows! So now I have the book which I am delighted to have. I grew up living near Chester and the Zoo was a regular day out for me. It was also one of the few things you could do for a January birthday as it was open all year round. I remember a monkey throwing some weed out of the moat at me once on my birthday and it stuck on my cardigan!
My friend bought me this - so luxurious! And inside some body lotion and handcream and the most beautiful soap...
Too pretty to use of course!
So, all the fours - forty-four. The year only just begun but already gathering some speed it feels. Where do these days go? I mustn't let them run away with me.
I can at last show pictures of the Unicorn cushions that I made for my daughter's birthday. She turned thirteen at the weekend. I'm trying hard not to think about that fact and that she may only be here with me for another five years. Make the most of it, make the most of it...
Anyway she loves Unicorns - who doesn't? So I set out to make her some cushions for her bed.
I am so pleased with them. It's been a long time since I did any patchwork and I didn't plan it out extensively before I started, I just went for it and it paid off! More importantly she loves them too and thought I had bought them (high praise!)
I have been hearing things about a book called The Life Changing Magic of Tidying by Marie Kondo. I haven't bought it yet but have read about it and watched a women on Youtube trying to implement it.
Marie Kondo is an expert in tidying and helps her clients to declutter their lives by getting them to get rid of anything that does not bring them 'joy'.
I am a hoarder. I am not a terrible hoarder like you see on the TV where the Council have to come round and have a chat whilst standing knee deep in goodness knows what in the hallway. But I have kept things that I don't need. Mainly I have kept things from my childhood. I have moved a lot in my life although this has stopped since having the children. But in every move I have taken with me items that I could do without. Toys and books mainly but also a mouse pincushion!
How have these things survived these moves? When you lose so much stuff along the way how come a pincushion has survived? How come the Mother Goose book (at the top of the page) survived? I don't read it. I didn't even remember I had it until the other day when I decided to implement the Marie Kondo system on my book collection, and there it was. As soon as I saw it I had a reaction. An emotional reaction. I took it down from the shelf and started to look at it. You see it was a personalised book with my name and the names of friends and family and places inserted into the story along the way to make it seem like a book about me. And this was why the book had survived. It was imbued with a strong sense of nostalgia, I felt like I couldn't throw it away because it had been created for me, it was about me.
Except it didn't bring me joy. I realised when I was looking at it that it made me feel sad. I understood what Marie Kondo's book was all about. She says that after implementing her method many of her clients go on to make other great changes in their lives - they start businesses, they divorce their husbands, they make a fresh start. The reason being that they now have the headspace to do these things once all the clutter has gone. Because most of the clutter is emotional baggage just hanging around and you cart it from house to house and wonder why you can't move on.
So the book had to go.
The first three pages were very sad and the tears came.
But then there was relief. And it felt good.
Two large bags of books have now gone to the Charity shop and I know I will never miss them. I just feel lighter and more positive.
Christmas was wonderful. So calm, so relaxed. It was the best one I can ever remember. It was just the four of us for most of it but lovely friends dropped by along the way and shared a meal and a glass of wine.
Christmas Eve is always my favorite and this year we went to the Christingle service at the local Church. We had dropped by in the morning to help make the Christingles - all 120 of them! It was a lovely morning, everyone finding their place in the production line without any amount of organising and the job was done in no time. There was coffee and biscuits and all the left over sweets you could eat.
We returned at 4pm for the service which was very beautiful. All the lights in the Church were turned off as we lit the Christingles and sang Away in a Manger - it always makes me cry. We finished with the very jolly 'We Wish You a Merry Christmas' and we were on our way. It was just getting dark as we left the Church and the streets of our town were all sparkly with Christmas lights.
Christmas morning was joyful and laid back. Presents were opened at leisure with cups of tea and warm pastries. Ron here did not enjoy his Christmas collar and it had to be removed shortly after this was taken!
We eventually ventured out some time after Boxing Day to Stourhead for a bracing walk. It was freezing and a bit wet but we stopped for a warm by the fire and some mulled wine, hot chocolate and a four finger Kit Kat and were soon restored.
There were signs of Snowdrops along the way. The promise of something green and new - an unknown adventure ahead for all of us.
We often don't end the year in the same way that we began and we can never foresee what the year ahead will hold. Each year leaves its mark in some way, sometimes felt deeply, other times barely noticed, but all together they add up to a whole lifetime.
So many hopes and dreams are conjured up for today and tomorrow as we put one year to bed and meet the next with great expectation. I wish you all a Happy New Year.
