Something Yarny for Yarndale

Hello Lovelies,

one more sleep till Yarndale...eek. Bright and early in the morning I'll be zipping up the motorway to Yorkshire.

I'm really looking forward to seeing all the wonderful creative stands, not to mention the Yarn walk and the Bunting and the Studio....I'll take lots of pictures...to share with you all,you know me!

Yesterday I was wondering what to wear and I decided I needed a bit of fun, colourful yarn of my own so  I whipped up this Daffodil.........

 and pinned it to my red cardigan.

It may not be very seasonal for Autumn , and it turned out a  a bit big.........

But it's fun and handmade .

So if you any of you lovelies are going to Yarndale tomorrow and you spot me in the crowds , please say hello. It would be lovely to meet you in real life :0)
Jacquie x

Season of Mists and.....Dahlias

Hello Lovelies,

right on cue the weather has changed. It's still very mild here, but we have had a lot of misty days ........

This little  trees branches are weighed down with gorgeous red berries.....

And the old bricks of the barn look redder then ever in the damp air.........

Suddenly , now that  the days are shorter than the nights, the leaves are beginning to change colour.........

And the world seems to have shrunk, as the distant views disappear into the mist.............

There is not a breath of wind, the countryside smells earthy and damp..........

And the silence of this quiet country lane is only broken by birdsong..........

Fields that were blue in the spring are now rusty brown...........

Here's what the Linseed crop looks like up close, so pretty.............

Along the hedgrows autumnal coloured pheasants  dart for cover ..........

The sun may not be shining, and the sky has no colour but there is a quiet, calm beauty in this sort of weather... and a freshly ploughed field , waiting for it's next crop..........

I do love a misty Autumn day and I just adore these pretty flowers which are at their most stunning at the moment............

Their super bright faces really grabbed my attention on this hazy day...........

They belong to a house up the road which always has a beautiful display............

I've shared them here in previous years..........

Aren't they lovely...........

It's hard to choose a favourite, but I think mine has to be this one........WOW.......

I'm feeling happy about the changing seasons now summer is over. It's not that I'm looking forward to the cold weather and dark days, but I'm welcoming all the good things about Autumn. I do appreciate living in a part of the world that has distinct seasons, there is always something different to see and a reassuring rhythm in mother natures cycle .
Jacquie x

Time to Run 2013 :: part 3

Hello lovelies,
After my fab short run on Wednesday I woke up with the start of a cold on Thursday.
It always seems to be the case that I get a cold at this time of year...it's not a problem , unless you are training for a specific goal. Then it's very frustrating and can set you back for a couple of weeks if it turns out to be the sort that goes to your chest .
 Desperate to get in my long run, before it got any worse, I headed out anyway..........

I knew this week my training plan told me that I needed to do a ten mile run, not so much further than my 8.75 mile run last week, but psychologically a big leap into double figures .....and a big distance to keep your legs going . I haven't run this far at all in 2013.

Music is always good to give me a much needed boost on a long run. At home I really don't listen to music much at all these days, preferring the sound of silence when I get the chance. But an upbeat tune can really make a difference when I'm running.I do find the need to ring the changes with my playlist or I simply don't listen to it most of the time.
  I uploaded a few tracks from the boys CD to my old MP3 ( now 85!....I remember the very first one....shhhh don't tell anyone).
This week THIS track grabbed my attention and lifted my spirits when the going was getting tough.Yes I AM loving every second, minute, hour....Really I am :0)

Other songs I have on this tiny machine that I always love hear for various reasons are :-
(There is a sample of the songs you can listen to in these link pages if you like.)
VALERIE....because Amy's voice is just wonderful..... brings a lump to my throat

THE LAZY SONG because it reminds me of my first ever half marathon in 2011.It was a local race that I did with the support of a good friend, giving me lots of advice in training then running beside me and encouraging me all the way. I loved the irony of running 13 miles while listening to a song about doing nothing and when this song came on we were outside the hospital where my boys were born and where my eldest had recovered from a torn spleen a couple of years before .
 I have so much to thank the people who work there for.

DANCE WITH ME TONIGHT because it reminds me of my second half marathon. It was the first time I had run one by myself and this track came on about half way through . It was May last year and  I was running past masses of bluebells. I finally relaxed and started enjoying myself instead of worrying I wasn't going be be able to do this without my friend for support.

So how did this weeks long training run go?
Well fine really. I ran along local streets then around a lake. I loved seeing lots of swallows darting past and swans flying low over the shimmering water. It's a long straight boating lake and the outward side was so easy, then when I started heading back along the opposite bank I realised I had had a a good tail wind....the return journey was much tougher !
 I didn't notice my cold at all and even the heavy rain that began at mile seven didn't bother me too much. It's quite refreshing when you are hot. I had a water bottle with me and my usual wine gums for a bit of energy. I also had an old energy gel  but it tasted funny so I only had a bit , then dropped it in the nearest bin. I must get some new ones as I do think they help on long runs.

This is  a GPS watch.... It's amazing the technology you can wear on your wrist these days.

It's new and I'm quite excited about being able to track my progress in this way.
The top figure is distance....10 miles exactly....whoop :0) it's great to know accurately just how far you went.
The big numbers are time taken.....not really the most important thing to me.
 The bottom figure is pace in minute miles. I don't know why it shows 8.04....I can't run that fast. My  pace for this run was 10.31 ( which means it took me 10 minutes 31 seconds to run a mile on average )
It connects up to your computer and tells you loads more information , like a map of your route and the gradients you ran up and down.
It's a luxury you don't really need but I'm certainly loving mine....it even has pretty leaves and a touch of pink :0)

By Friday my cold had really kicked in , I'm refusing to believe I've made it worse by running in the rain.
My weekend runs will have to be missed but as I've already run 17 and a half miles this week  it's not a disaster. I just hope this flippin cold goes away soon.....it's only 4 short weeks till my next half marathon.

You can read about how I started running three years ago  HERE

I've also added a couple of running blogs I'm enjoying reading at the moment to my blog roll for anyone who is looking for more inspiration. They are Mile Posts and Hungry Runner Girl

Jacquie x

♥ 52 weeks of happy♥ 38/52

Hello Lovelies,

Here are my happy things from a week when a bunch of home grown sunflowers have made me smile everyday. Thank you for all your sweet comments about them.

Here are four more happy things from my week.

1. Running somewhere different. On Wednesday morning I had some errands to do that took me a few miles from home. I went in my running gear in case I found a suitable  route.

This canal side path was delightful ...and flat :0)

It was great to do a short run here and realise my training is beginning to improve my running after just a few short weeks of serious miles.

2. As this wonderful summer begins to fade my thoughts are already turning to next spring. I have Tulip, Alium and Crocus bulbs at the ready ..........

Hopefully this weekend I will able to get out in the garden to plant them.

3. A car car picnic with Mum. These pictures are also from Wednesday. After a short shopping trip we decided to pick up a ready made sandwich and have a simple picnic lunch. We pulled over at the edge of some woodland.........

This Mexican chicken roll tasted sooo good and I was very hungry by this time..........

There was s stiff breeze and it was lovely to enjoy the view from the cosy car.......

I did hop out to capture a clear picture of the lovely late summer landscape and the gorgeous sky that day.......

and while I was out of the car I noticed a path leading into the woodland.........

There is something special about sunlight filtered through a canopy of leaves don't you think.

And the path looked very tempting , another day I will have to go back and explore properly........

4.The early morning sky. This was 7am yesterday. 

It's still light when we get up....... just. I'm not looking forward to getting out of bed in the dark again, but for now it's nice to glimpse that special light at sunrise. The full moon looked beautiful yesterday...........

Hope you all have a great weekend. We are forecast some warm sunshine so I'm going to try and get out and enjoy it as much as possible.
Jacquie x

Indoor Sunshine

Hello Lovelies, 

I just had to share these photos of my sunflowers with you today.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I decided to cut down most of our super tall sunflowers to save them from the high winds we have at the moment.

I was a little sad as I love to see them in the garden.....but WOW ! I love to see them indoors too.

This  huge, floppy bunch is lighting up my sitting room right now, and they really are like a burst of indoor sunshine.............

It's so nice to admire these lovely flowers in close up.........

with their huge brown centres, dotted with tiny yellow "stars"..............

And their petals , such a happy yellow...........

They certainly take my mind off the gloomy weather outside

I hope they have brought a bit of sunshine and a smile your way too.
Jacquie x

♥52 Weeks of Happy♥ 37/52

Hello Lovelies, 

The weather is turning cooler here now and we have quite a bit of rain. There is still a LOT I am thankful for.Big things and little .

1. As the temperatures drop my crochet blankets come into their own once more. THIS blanket is in daily use for warming up on cool mornings ( I haven't put the heating on yet ) . Squares I started back HERE have gained another round. This blanket was supposed to be a picnic blanket but that didn't happen so now I'm thinking it would make a nice cosy winter blanket. 

I decided to add a calm colour as a border for each square as I worried all the bright colours I had used would be a little too busy.  I pondered for quite a while what colour to use...in the end I chose stylecraft Denim..........

I'll keep you posted on it's progress.

2. Sunflowers. This year they are HUGE. We even measured them the other day...12 feet...they look gorgeous growing up the side of the shed but their height means I can't really pick a few to enjoy in the house as I usually do............

 But with gale force winds forecast for tomorrow I may go and chop a couple down today and display the flowers indoors. I'm not sure they will withstand a storm .

3. Thrifted crockery. I bought  two of the pretty plates with a sweet blossom design ages ago . I loved the creamy yellow , pink and soft green colour combination. This week I found a cute hunny pot and two more plates in similar colours. I'm hoping to gradually make a " spring" collection for my WELSH DRESSER. I love the blue , red and white colour scheme it has got at the moment, but it's always nice to have a change occasionally.........

 And I really enjoy hunting out inexpensive secondhand bits and bobs. I like the way you have to be patient , some weeks there will be nothing, but another week  the charity shop will hold lots of "Treasure" :0)

 4. The late summer landscape. This is a picture taken on my early morning journey to work. I love the golden light and the golden fields of stubble.............

And I LOVE this painting by the mega talented Haidee-Jo. It captures this special time of year perfectly.

Hope your week was a good one.
 Jacquie x

Running update. Things are going well ( touch wood ) with my half marathon training. I've run 19 miles in total this week including a 14k ( 8 and 3/4 mile ) long run............ Yay me :0)

♥ 52 Weeks of Happy♥ 36/52

Hello lovelies,
I do love having to do these happy posts. Mainly because they help you record little moments that are special. But also because they are a great way to share a few images , which otherwise would be difficult to use in a post.
 I do like Heather's "on my camera" posts as they allow a few words about varied subjects too. I might have to "borrow" her idea next year. Sometimes it's hard to come up with an interesting title as well so I like being able to avoid that occasionally :0)

Here are my small joys from the first week in September, such a lovely month. I will always love May the best, but September is kind of special too. I think it's the gorgeous golden light and the mellow heat, the misty mornings and the fruit.

1. Baking with my youngest boy and my lovely niece. They had a great time making these scrummy choc chip cookies after a sunny walk to the shops for the ingredients, It was nice to enjoy their company on a day when the older children were already back at school.............

2. Red tomatoes. It's the first time I've successfully grown tomatoes. There are not that many as I let the plants to get too much foliage, but we are enjoying a few tasty homegrown fruits..........

3. A day out with Mum when all the boys were back at school. It's the first time the two of us have been out together properly since before she was ill.
The weather was so hot on Thursday. We picnicked in the nature reserve it was so peaceful, save for when the working barge chugged by and I love to see them too............

Mum did really well and managed a walk around the visitor centre .........

We also did a little shopping and she treated my to these lovely sandals, a belated birthday gift........

 They are "Clarkes" like my old pair, which I have worn and loved so much for the last 3 years that they are finally falling to bits. Thank you Mum.

From buying sandals to making soup,this post seems to be a bit of an inter-seasonal mash up :0)

4. Spiced Carrot and Lentil soup. I do like making soup and now the weather is a bit cooler I thought I would try a new recipe...........

I put an onion in mine and used 1 tsp of ground cumin as I didn't have cumin seeds....it's was VERY tasty . 

I'll definitely make another batch sometime, maybe with a little less spice.

ohhhh speaking of spice ........THANK YOU for letting me know what my mystery "what not" from last weeks Happy post was :0)

 It's perfect to keep my most used herbs and spices handy.I love it 

Finally........ thank you also for your encouraging comments on my last running post. I know I've said it before , but they really do help . I've run a total of 15 miles so far this week and my long run ( 7 and a 1/2 miles) went well this morning.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend lovelies.

Jacquie x