Our Lake District Mini Break :: Part One

Hello Lovelies,

back in January, as the calendar flipped over onto my "big birthday" year, I decided it would be nice to have a little holiday to celebrate.

I poured over images of the lake district and knew it would be just the ticket for a keen walker like me. I showed hubby a nice Bed and Breakfast which I found for the two of us. His reaction..."what about the boys?"

Oh, well...yes. Maybe I was being thoughtless to leave them out. It's nice to have special family times too.

So I changed tack, looked for something affordable for our family of five, and booked in at a Youth Hostel ...ha. I had never been to one before....so the idea of going in my 50th year made me chuckle.

As the time of our trip got closer I began to wonder if it was a good idea. People at work looked at me oddly when I said what I was doing as my birthday treat. But worse were the protestations of youngest ( who is 13 years old). They were relentless. I think you might call him spoilt. Totally my fault I know. 

On the morning we were due to leave I nearly changed my mind....it is a long way, it would cost a lot, the weather forecast was bad. Really I was giving in, I knew that.

I'm only sharing this so you know we are not the perfect family. My boys are normal kids, I'm an average parent. 

Happily Eldest was keen to go, and middle son was happy to go as well, how could I let them down?

So we set off a little later than originally planned. Youngest and I played word games on his tablet....

We went via Yorkshire, because I love the opportunity to say hello to the old places. Hello Harrogate, Hello Skipton, Hello lovely moorland and sheep :0)......

We stopped and I took a deep breath of the fresh moorland air. I began to relax

 By the time we arrived at Ambleside YHA the forecast rain was pouring down. We checked in and I was so happy our room had a lake view. Look at the lovely old bay window.......

and the view of the boats and the hills.........

We had a private 5 bedded room with it's own toilet and shower. There were two bunk beds, I think you can see the double bed with a single bed above in this photo. There was a normal bunk bed on the left.........

It was basic, but clean and you could not fault it's amazing waterfront position, looking out over lake Windermere.

By now it was early evening, so despite the rain, we set out on foot to explore the local area. How lovely the old rowing boats looked, lined up along the shore ...

And the western banks of the lake......

with Wray Castle just visible in the rain.........

We walked through parkland to the head of the lake and gazed at the water, disappearing into the mist.....

Don't you love exploring a strange place and finding things you never knew about. Here were were getting soaked looking at the remains of a Roman fort........

 

 It was so easy to see how it was laid out and the boys loved exploring......

 They were also fascinated by the hills in the clouds....and so was I........

Especially this towering wrinkled one, the same peak we could see from our room.

Ah, white walled houses and Herdwick sheep....so typically Lakeland. This made me smile.....

We walked through the pretty town of Ambleside and came across Bridge House. I have seen this cute and quirky building before, but had totally forgotten about it until we stumbled across it....

 Isn't it adorable.

 We decided to treat ourselves to an Italian meal. The weather did not seem to be improving and a cosy corner in a warm restaurant looked very tempting. Dodd's was lovely. Fresh pizzas and pasta, Washed down with Italian lager ( I'm afraid wine does not agree with me).
 Conscious it was still raining and still early when we came out of the restaurant we decided to visit Ambleside's excellent cinema.  The choice of film was not  my taste...but as the only female I decided it was easiest to go with the majority vote. Hubby and the boys enjoyed it.

It was 10 pm when we came out of the cinema and thankfully the rain had eased. We were all surprised to see little deer grazing happily near a busy road........

I think they maybe Muntjac.........

 Back near the lake the water was wonderfully and calm. I loved the streetlights reflected in the water......

This area of Ambleside is called Waterhead. There's a pier were the ferries stop and lots different boats for hire. It even  has a lovely promenade by the waters edge which gives it a seaside feel.......

It's gorgeous, and so close to the youth hostel which you can just see between the masts of the  sailing boats.........

When we finally settled down for the night I peeped out of the window, thinking to would be totally dark...but no....look at that beautiful light over what I now know is Todd Crag...........

 the time stamp on this image is 11.26pm

 It might have been a damp and rather expensive start to our short break, but I went to sleep feeling so glad we were here. And hoping for a dry day tomorrow :0)

I'll be back with part two soon.
Jacquie x

Crochet in the Garden

Hello Lovelies,

It's been so nice to finally get some warm weather after our cool and cloudy half term. On Saturday there was no sunshine here but the air was still and the warmth tempted me to take my crochet out into the garden.

I sat on the lovely bench eldest made me for Christmas and worked on some granny hexagons that I have been experimenting with.........

I've been feeling inspired by all the green that surrounds us right now. And the flowers that are appearing in my garden

I'm using four lovely shades of green and making this project from very simple hexagon motifs joined as you go...........

There are two shades of green in every hexagon so that will be the predominant colour. The other colours are just any shade of yarn that reminds me of flowers. 

 Maybe Anitrrhinums.........

or Geranium.........

I've always longed for more flowers in my garden, but no matter how many I plant green always dominates. I'm finally realising what joy there is in foliage. All the different leaf shapes and the different shades of green.........

The flowers are little blobs of colour on that tapestry of green..........

That's what I'm hoping to capture in crochet......

 On Sunday I happily sat in the garden, surrounded by all that green, and sewed in the ends on my experimental piece.......



It's such a lovely time of year to be outdoors. My foxgloves are just opening..........

and our newly planted apple tree is doing well...........

The birds in the garden bring me as much joy as the flowers.  I seem to be hearing Goldfinches everywhere at the moment.  One sat on our TV aerial all afternoon and sang it's twittery little tune. So charming.......

Mr blackbird searched the grass for worms..........

and Mr sparrow searched for bugs on my roses.........



and I watched and listened as I sewed......

There we are. That's better, what do you think?

Looking at the colours against the background of our lawn made me wonder if I should add darker greens to the design. But I'm sure in the depths of winter all these fresh greens will conjure up the garden in summer to me.....

 I've made this motif in the same way I make granny squares ( which you can find in my side bar) . the only difference is to make six clusters of U.K. treble ( U.S. double) crochet stitches in the first round and work from there. The motifs are a bit wonky to start with and I wasn't sure they would lie flat when joined, but happily they do seem to.

The yarn is all Stylecraft Special DK and the four shades of green I'm using are Meadow, Pistachio, Cypress and Sage.........

 

When I made THIS blanket I longed for there to be a better selection of greens in the stylecraft range. Now there are. This makes me happy :0)
Jacquie x

The Woods in May

Hello Lovelies,
sorry it's been a while again. If you want to know what I'm up to "day to day" then please click on the instagram button in my side bar, the little blue square below my photo.

The truth is I'm having some issues  with uploading photos to blogger ( all my thumbnails show up as icons not images) and this makes writing a blog post a rather lengthy affair.

Anyway, here are a some photos I've managed to sort :0)

A couple of weeks ago the walking group headed for Charnwood Forest. It's an area with interesting geology and a rocky landscape so different from the usual countryside around here. I've written posts about visits here several times, but I never tire of it.

The bluebells were still flowering as we set off though the sunlit woodland......

and it was not too warm to stride out briskly.....

The fields and trees were a wonderful fresh green. Quiet a surprise as this was exactly one week after our Thorpe walk...and the week, coupled with the more southerly, sheltered situation made a huge difference ........

I lagged behind to snap pictures of pretty streams........

and smiled broadly at buttercup meadows........

We walked through a pretty village with cute cottages........

Where the homes and walls are made of the local volcanic stone.......

Then we climbed a big hill, and could soon see the village bellow us.
All the way up  I chatted with a 75 year old member of the group, who didn't seem to get even slightly breathless with the exertion.

So inspiring ( the view and the fitness :0).........

But it was a the amazingly fresh " newborn" green leaves that really made my heart sing......

By this time it was getting warm and we found a shady spot for lunch.........

Then in the afternoon we were happy to walk through the dappled shade..........

I know this is a rather blurry photo but these are all hurried snaps and I just wanted to share that amazingly bright green of the new Beech leaves.....so special.........

The woodland on a sunny May day...I'm not sure there is anywhere more magical........

There was a pretty stream too. Not quiet the river Dove, but lovely non the less......

I love a sunny view from a shady spot......

soon it was time for another steep climb.......

And a sit down at the top for our afternoon drink with a view........

There are those jagged volcanic rocks again. They give this area a rugged beauty I love.........

The final part of our walk consisted of pretty views.......

more bluebells.......

Drystone  walls.......

More impressive rocky outcrops........

Wild flowers.......

Red Campion

Hawthorn blossom or "May"

and even more simply wonderful green........

This time of year is so special and I felt blessed that we got a sunny day to see it at its best......

Jacquie x