April: castles and seaglass

We packed such a lot in to the Easter holidays. It is always my favourite school holiday as the two week break falls at the same time that the garden and outside world are starting to wake up; it's a time for planting and decorating and making plans. We had days out, days at home, days away. I went into school a few times, and spent a lot of time at home getting jobs done, but it was so good.

I bought lots of grasses and replaced all the dead plants in the border under the living room window. A wide, exposed bed, this patch of garden faces south west and bakes in the afternoon sun. I hope these grasses fill the space and enjoy the spot. I planted up all the pots on the door step with primulas and sat on the door step with a cup of tea. 

On a spectacularly sunny day, the four of us went to Arundel Castle.

The grounds and views are stunning, but the interior is also really interesting. 

We had a mooch around Arundel afterwards, enjoyed the sun, bought pasties in a bakery and ate them outside while looking out over the river. Our first meal outdoors of the year. 

The children (children! teenagers!) and I went to Brighton for the day to meet up with my friend Abigail and her girls. 

We ate churros, went to the pier, rode the ghost train and gallopers, had burgers for lunch and had a lot of fun. The sun was warm but when the wind blew on the pier I was very glad I had worn my winter coat. April can still feel like winter. 

John and I celebrated our twentieth wedding anniversary and went out for a curry with the children to mark the occasion. 

With the help of my eternally wonderful parents, we decorated Angus's bedroom. This room was used as Angus's bedroom when we first moved in eight years ago, but a couple of years ago he moved into the small box room next door. But it seemed silly to have a big spare room and tiny bedroom which is used every day, so he moved back in and we have squeezed the sofa bed into the box room. One of the best things about this house has been its versatility as the children have grown and we have moved them and their bedrooms around, while trying to create playrooms, spare rooms or offices with any leftover corners of space. 

Anyway, we gave it all a lick of white paint and freshened the woodwork, bought a new blind, lampshade, chest of drawers, bedside table locker and bedding. It's still very much Angus (still badgers!) but feels like a teenager's room now, with a desk holding a monitor and xbox. 

Easter came and went. I had such big plans for Easter baking over the holidays, but completely failed to cook anything seasonal as I was too busy emptying out cupboards, cleaning out the garage, going to the tip etc. Luckily Bella made some Easter nests. I did get the Easter tree out though, for all of three days. We travelled up to Durham on Easter Sunday. I was disappointed not to be cooking a roast lamb and celebrating with family, but it was a good day to make the long (six hours, without stops) journey as the roads were fairly quiet.

It was our first visit to Durham in a while and we rented a house close to John's parents so that we could see them every day. It worked really well and we have booked to go back there in the summer. 

The weather was really mixed while we were there, with heavy showers and high winds, but we did make it to Seaham beach on one day.

I love Seaham. 

It's quite well known now for its sea glass, apparently due to waste glass being thrown from an old glass-making factory into the sea many years ago. I remember going there with John and the children when they were tiny and the place would be empty, but now it was packed with people scouring the sand and pebbles. Ziggy was completely baffled by all our hunting and kept coming over to see what we were picking up and putting in our pockets.

Of course we did the same, and found a lot between us, which we took home to wash and look at more closely.  I showed the children in my class and they were fascinated, it was really nice. 

We went into Durham, of course. It's such a beautiful city, with its steep, cobbled streets, and the cathedral and castle looking down over the rest of the area, high up on the hill. We had Ziggy with us so John and Bella took him for a walk while Angus and I went inside the cathedral.

 

We have been inside many times before but it never gets old, it's such a spectacular building.

Angus had asked if we could climb the tower, so we bought two tickets, signed the disclaimer (325 steep, spiral stairs) and made our way to the top. 

The views were amazing. It was really windy and you do feel quite exposed as you are walking around on a roof top, but it is worth doing (even if you hate spiral staircases as much as I do.)

We spotted John, Bella and Ziggy at the bottom, waiting for us. 

I made a little headway on my Iceland embroidery (slowest project ever) while we were there and have now finished stitching a knitted jumper

I used chain stitch to try to replicate the texture of an Icelandic hand-knitted jumper and I am pretty pleased with how it turned out.

So a nice two week break, a good mix of family time and resting and getting things done too. But next Easter I want to be more organised and get some baking and cooking done because I do love a seasonal potter in the kitchen. 

Winter-Spring

A couple of months which started with marmalade making and ended with blossom and flowers. We have had all the weather with a lot of wind and rain, and a couple of beautifully sunny days that felt like spring was almost here. No snow, but that didn't stop me wearing my Icelandic hand-knitted jumper, a souvenir from our holiday.

Other items which made their way into our suitcase: this delightful little chap...

...and a lot of chocolate. Liquorice is big in Iceland. Chocolate and liquorice together is a popular and delicious combination.

I am, in fits and starts, working on an embroidery diary of our week away. It has been hard to fit in around work and life, but I have sewn the flag. Staying with the Icelandic theme, I just finished Names for the Sea by Sarah Moss, a book about the author's year living in Iceland while teaching at the university in Reykjavik. It is very well written, and interesting. 

It takes me so long to sew anything that the fading ink on the embroidery pen has gone by the time I next pick up the sewing, so I sew around the edge now.

One finished puffin. We didn't see any sadly but they are so much a part of Iceland, on sale in every gift shop (along with trolls and vikings) that I had to sew one.

I celebrated my birthday just after we came back from our trip. That certainly sweetened going back to work and getting back into our normal routines.

John gave me this beautiful oil painting which I am in love with.

At the end of February, my friend Abigail and I visited Unravel yarn festival in Farnham. It falls close to our birthdays, and is helpfully situated sort-of half way from both our houses, so it may become a tradition.

As with last year, I was disappointed by how set up it was for knitters and how little there is on offer (patterns, kits, examples of made up clothing) for crocheters. But, I still managed to buy some yarn.

We saw a pheasant in the back garden. Nothing else happened, Ziggy didn't notice it (thank goodness) but we live in quite a built-up area and the sight of this one strutting around did cause me to double take as I looked out of the kitchen window.

March was a bit of a blur as I was quite unwell with a chest infection. Lots of weekend plans were cancelled and a lot of time was spent at home. However, one lovely thing that did happen involved the bookcase situation in our living room. We removed the radiator on that wall and had planned to get a carpenter to build a wall of shelving into the space. However, upon measuring, we discovered that the wall was exactly big enough for four IKEA Billy bookcases with the height extensions on top, so that's what we did. I absolutely love it. It makes me happy every time I look at it.

There was inevitably a spring clean and re-shuffle of furniture, until things find their next home.

We added a strip of LED lights along he top of the bookcases, which looks nice and also gives a bit of extra light if I;m crocheting.

Meanwhile, despite the germs and endless rain, spring was resolutely doing its thing outside. 

We had dog walks around castles when it rained so heavily that we had to shelter in the stone walls. Angus loved it. Ziggy was unimpressed.

I did manage to salvage this selection of tulips, daffodils and narcissi from the garden though, before the wind and rain could do their worst. 

The garden is slowly waking up and showing signs of life, but I have noticed that I have lost quite a few plants over the winter. Two hebes, a wallflower and a bottle brush tree have all died, and my camellia isn't looking too good. I don't know if it was the drought last summer, or the many frosts we had over the winter (or perhaps both) but it has taken its toll. Thankfully this snowmound is looking good. 

Reading continues to make me very happy. So far I have read seven books this year, including Names for the Sea, mentioned above: I read The Man Who Died Twice and The Bullet That Missed, both by Richard Osman. Five stars for both, I love these books, and the representation of older characters in novels. I feel they should be prescribed. The always perk me up. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, a young adult title for book group. Not my usual choice but I quite liked it. Crossroads by Jonanthan Franzen - a weighty tome that wants to be The Great American Novel but is also rather good, a family saga. A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian - my second time of reading this book and I love it, so warm and witty and full of life. The audio version is great as the narrator does the accents so well. I enjoyed Wintering my Katherine May, a thoughtful non-fiction book about how to embrace the things we would do during winter when ours bodies or minds need rest. 

This is the current reading pile. I have almost finished Magic Lessons by Alice Hoffman and am really enjoying it. It is a historical novel set during the late 1600s in Salem and New York during the time of the witch trials, and I am gripped. She plots well. 

As well as reading, illness and bad weather also mean crochet. I have dusted off this Trio Blanket which I started three or four years ago, I'm not sure, and I am really liking it. I am trying to remember why I abandoned it when I did. Working with three big balls of yarn is a pain, certainly, as they are liable to get tangled, but the subtle colour changes without the ends to darn in make it worth it. It will be a small, lightweight throw I think, by the time it is finished. 

And I finally finished this jumper, the Granny Go Round pattern. I made it quite cropped, and changed the cuffs to that the are longer with a puff of crochet granny trebles above. I wear it over an oversized shirt. It is very warm. I can't remember the yarn but know it was some kind of washable wool DK.

It was a nice jumper to make. Once you've done the increases around the shoulders, the rest of it is just rows of trebles. Very soothing, just a lot of ends to darn in. It's a good pattern though, well written and easy to adapt if you didn't order enough yarn, like me.

That takes us up to the end of March. April so far is looking good, with sunny days and the Easter holidays, so I am throwing myself into decorating, gardening and spring cleaning with a bit of seasonal baking too if I have time.