As long standing (and long suffering?) readers of my blog will know, before Long Covid moved in to stay I used to go for a lot of country walks. Now that breathing is something that has to be monitored and handled with care, this is obviously not possible. What I have been doing though is a daily walk, building it up very slowly.
I started in late January by walking round the block, the same route every day - a distance of 0.5 miles. The idea is that doing the same route gives me less decisions to make (decisions make me tired) and also gives me landmarks to measure how I'm doing.
So, many months later, I'm now up to one mile and the walk now extends to take in the park which is nice.
Things I have learnt:
Walk slowly. I'm naturally a bustler but, if I walk too quickly, I run out of breath.
Walking on grass (or in snow) makes it much harder to breathe.
It's easier to walk earlier in the day when I'm not so tired. This only dawned on me last week when I ran out of breath and only just made it home.
When I run out of breath and start to feel dizzy, I need to stop for five minutes ... even if I'm nearly home (see point 3)!
I am now an expert on the local front gardens, who has what plants and which houses have dogs or cats. You can find something interesting on even the shortest walk.
But ... it's not countryside. Nor is this but it's a lot more like it ...
This is the view from the slightly soggy bench where Jack, Rose and I had a picnic last weekend. This is Spiceball Park which is in the middle of Banbury, right next to the canal and it's the furthest I've walked from home. It was so nice to see all that green and the trees (and my flask of tea was good too). After the picnic we had a bit of a walk round by the river and back along the canal path.
By this point, we realised that I'd probably done a bit too much so Rose and I sat on a bench for another rest while Jack found me a conker. The walk home was very slow and I ended up leaning on Rose before we got there. But - I'd walked two and a half miles all together. It's not something I could do regularly but it did me good. I was wondering why my face felt different and I realised it was because I kept smiling.
I don't know if it's got something to do with living on an island (even if it is a big one) but I do feel a strong link to the sea and get fidgety if I haven't seen it for a long time. I suspect I'm not alone in feeling like this; you only have to look at the special place The Shipping Forecast has in our hearts. Viking, North Utsire, South Utsire, Forties, Cromarty, Forth ...' - it sounds like a poem, doesn't it? What with that and 'Sailing By' (which is the music played before the last Shipping Forecast of the day on Radio 4), is it any wonder that, as a nation, we love the sea?
This music takes me back thirty years to the many nights when I listened to it while trying to get my first baby to sleep. You'd think it would have made a good lullaby but it never seemed to work.
Anyway, fast forward a few decades and that baby and I, together with his little sister, have just had a wonderful week's holiday down in Dorset. We used to go there regularly for holidays in autumn half term (when it was cheaper) and decided to go again this year (still in half term as my son is a teacher). I hadn't had a holiday for years so this was very special.
Now the British seaside in the last week of October is never going to be hot ... or dry ... and you can't even count on the cliffs staying where they were last time you looked. Here's the sign that welcomes you to Charmouth beach.
Don't get me wrong, we love Charmouth. The fact that it's rugged and rough appeals to us. You never know what the beach is going to be like from one day to another; it can be sandy, stony or a combination of both, depending on the weather. The walking is great, there are fossils to find and the sea is never boring.
This was the sea on our first night; the waves were crashing a very long way up and, as you can see from the stones, this wasn't even high tide.
This was the view across to Lyme, about half an hour later ...
This sea was as nothing to the one on the day we left, a week later. Gale force winds were blowing throughout the South West and the sea was huge. The beach huts are set back from the sea at Charmouth for obvious reasons and the wind had managed to blow one completely over.
We were lucky in that those two days, at the start and end of our holiday, saw the worst of the weather so we managed to fit in quite a few good walks on the days in between.
You can walk along the beach from Charmouth to Lyme at low tide but, for some reason, we'd never done this before. It's an easy walk and oh, so beautiful.
The beach varied from big stones to pebbles to sand, with lots of rock pools too.
In this part of the world, the stones themselves often hide surprises ...
We thought the group of people we passed as we reached Lyme were admiring an exciting fossil find but no, it turned out to be an old grenade - apparently they turn up quite regularly
We collected lots of lovely sea glass on this walk, it seemed to be everywhere. We found out later in the week that the sea uncovered an old rubbish dump here a while ago so that would probably explain all the glass.
The Tuesday of our week was my birthday and we'd planned a coast walk for that day. Rain was forecast but we decided to go anyway and just turn back if it got too bad. In the event, although the wind got up and it threatened to rain all day, we only had a few showers and the walk was lovely.
You can't say I dont know how to celebrate my birthday in style.
We started at West Bay and followed the coast path through Eype and Seatown and up Golden Cap. A digression here - have you noticed how all those links take you to pictures of sunny beaches and people in light dresses? Needless to say, they're nothing like that in winter. Mind you, the chips at West Bay harbour are the best I've tasted and the countryside is stunning all year round. See that note on the Golden Cap link about Gabriel's Steps being closed? They were a steep flight of muddy steps up the cliff that was part of one of our favourite walks. The last time we tried to do it they'd collapsed and we had to pick our way over huge boulders at low tide to get round to Seatown.
Anyway, back to our walk. It was steep and muddy and cold but we were sustained by chocolate rations and regular stops. We came across this lovely old stone watering place where we stopped for a breather ...
.. and a surpise birthday cake! I thought my daughter was taking a long time rooting some biscuits out of the rucksack and then she produced this ...
One large piece of Dorset apple cake, complete with candelabra and candles. It was too windy to get the candles to light but I pretended to blow them out anyway.
We've re-named that place 'Birthday Cake Well' now. We do that a lot (yes, we are big Arthur Ransome fans); we also stopped at 'Cow Pat Bench' later on this walk.
By the time we got near the top of Golden Cap, the wind was really picking up. You only have to look at the trees to see how rough it can get here.
Those trees look like they're walking up the cliff, don't they? From the top we came back down to the sea at Seatown for a cold picnic by the sea and then took a different (and very muddy) route back to West Bay. We were walking for about five hours all together and the light was just starting to fade by the end of it but it was a wonderful walk.
There was more mud and rain on the Friday when my son and I did the last walk of the holiday (my daughter had to go back home for work on Thursday). We parked on the cliff above Beer and walked along the coast path to Branscombe and back.
That's the view back to Beer which is a beautiful fishing village; there were great views along the coast all the way. Coming in to Branscombe, we had to go down this flight of very steep, very muddy steps ...
We managed these all right but then, at the bottom of them, was a steep slope of slippery mud. It must have taken us ten minutes to make our way very slowly down that particular stretch of the path. Needless to say, we decided to find a route inland back to Beer which was still muddy and steep but not quite so bad.
Beer is a lovely village, with its sheltered harbour and interesting buildings. This row of houses was on the road back up to the car.
I lived in a brick and flint house as a child so I have a particular fondness for them. Here's our old house (in Longstock in Hampshire).
Are you still with me? This is a long post but I've got a few more things I want to share with you from my holiday.
My birthday, for example. There were other excitements, as well as our walk. We started the day with a picnic breakfast on the beach - Jurassic Foot Bread (a date bread), fig rolls and chocolate - plus a cup of tea for me).
I had my presents in the evening - lots of lovely things but I'll just show you one of the more unusual and exciting ones; it's from my daughter.
It's a cross stitch Advent Calendar! There are 24 numbered envelopes and each one has part of the chart in. I stick the chart over the shape on the plan with the matching number and stitch just that part each day. I have no idea what the finished picture is going to be and, as you can see, it only uses one colour. I can't wait to get started on this. I wonder how long it will take me to guess what its going to be. Please don't tell me if you think you know what it might be as I want to work it out for myself. I'll show you how it's going next month.
We had a birthday curry and the candelabra and candles made another appearance, this time fully lit.
I think I look like my Granny in this picture; my children think I just look very small.
I spent quite a bit of money on my holiday, mostly in secondhand bookshops. We went to two of our favourites: Bridport Old Books and Chapter House Books in Sherborne. Funnily enough, both places also have really good bakeries - Leakers in Bridport and Reeve in Sherborne. That seems to me a perfect combination - good books and lovely bread and cakes.
I'll just show you a couple of my purchases; firstly a nice old knitting book (obviously) ...
This is an Odhams book but in a bigger format than normal (and yes, I think that's interesting). I also got some more Puffin Picture Books to add to my growing collection, and this was one of several new / old music books I found.
In a secondhand bookshop in Honiton - Graham York Rare Books they sell paper ephemera as well as books and I got these lovely old cards.
As you can see, these are children's birthday cards but I got some others too.
I can't decide whether to frame them, scan them to use the images in craft projects or actually use them as cards. I'll probably do a bit of everything.
There was a bit of knitting related shopping too. I got some new yarn ...
... and lots of lovely old knitting patterns.
We visited a small art gallery in Beer (Marine House at Beer) where we discovered the work of a new (to us) artist, Adrian Sykes. I was very taken by his paintings which are full of colour and stories. I bought the catalogue of his 2018 exhibition which has pictures of more than twenty of his works.
You can open it at any page and find a treasure.
This is one of my favourites; it's called 'Where the Mountains meet the Sea' and, if you look closely, you can see that the people are playing violins.
Finally, on our journey home, I got two nice pieces of china, both in Crewkerne. This little fruit bowl was in a charity shop; I love this sort of old-fashioned country cottage pattern.
And then, in an antiques shop, I found this beautiful little trio by Beswick.
Perhaps best known for their china animals and Beatrix Potter figures, this was part of a 1950s tea service called 'Dancing Days'. It is even prettier in real life; The pink is a very delicate shade and the saucer and plate have lovely, wavy edges. I'm using this set a lot at the moment.
Speaking of which, it's time for me to stop talking and go and put the kettle on. I hope you've enjoyed this little diary of my holiday. I'm off again next week, this time to stay with a friend in Cornwall so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for kind weather again.
When I haven't been working hard on this years big series of Christmas patterns (first drafts all done - just letting them sit for the mistakes to rise to the surface), I've been doing lots of sewing. I was inspired by finding this very exciting book ...
... Stitched Sewing Organizers by Annela Hoey Now Annela is a very good designer. Not only are her patterns interesting and clever, they are also very well explained with plenty of detail and helpful diagrams. So far I've made a few of these lovely little pouches.
The bigger one went straight off in the post to my daughter and I forgot to take a photo but here's the little one I kept for myself.
The tools with it are also new purchases. The little measuring gauge is very useful for checking seam allowances and folds when making small projects; I can guess quarter and half inches by eye but not the rest. The white thing is a point-turner-outer (not entirely sure that's it's official name but you know what I mean). After years of using knitting needles and pencils to push the corners out, this little thing has been a revelation. It's so much easier and also less likely to poke through the corners.
I've also been making various sizes of Aneela's fabric boxes; here are a few square ones.
She gives the measurements for two sizes of rectangular boxes in the book but, being me, I had to see if I could make stacking square boxes. Having done that, I think her boxes are actually a more useful size. The secret behind these boxes is the really heavy interfacing that she uses; I've learnt a lot about interfacing from this book and managed to find what I needed at Cotton Patch.
There are lots of wonderful patterns in this book but I was excited to find that there are more to buy from Aneela's blog. There's a pencil case that unzips into a tray - Zip-Up Tray Pouch, a Booklet Pouch and lots more. Her designs are really new and refreshing and I want to make them all! Do go and have a look at what she does. Where you see individual patterns that are in the book, I think you get more sizes by buying them separately.
So, what else have I been sewing? I've been trying my hand at making I Spy Bags. Have you heard of these? They're small fabric bags with a clear plastic window. You fill the bags with plastic pellets and tiny treasures - beads, buttons, whatever you can find. They're a portable, fun toy as children (or me) try to spot all the little things.
I bought the materials and instructions to make one of these bags from Tactile Treasures who sell all sorts of exciting bits and bobs to add to your nursery projects - squeakers, teethers, that sort of thing. I opted for a pack without the fabric as I have mountains of that and, very importantly, I bought a small roll of the plastic so that I'd be able to make more bags.
There were 20 little treasures in my pack and, considering I'd picked it at random, they were quite appropriate for me.
There's a cat, music notes and even a little 'F'. Now, I had a couple of problems making my first bag. Firstly, the instructions suggest that the circle is the easiest shape to make your window but I can sew a square much more accurately so, after a wonky attempt at a circle, I made my window square. I also found that, when sewing the plastic to the fabric, you need to have the plastic on top. I tried it underneath to start with and it slid all over the place.
Apart from that, it was an easy make - here's the finished bag.
This would be ideal for a young child but this 58 year old found a bit too easy to see all the treasures so I changed things a bit for the next bag. This time I made the window smaller and added more plastic pellets.
I'm happier with this one and shall definitely be making more of these. It's fun looking out for little things to put in these bags; you could have a theme for your treasures or, for a real challenge, how about using all white treasures so they blend in with the pellets.
I've also done a bit of dressmaking and have plans (and patterns) to do more. I finally got round to making this tunic dress, having bought the pattern and fabric ages ago.
I used a green cord from Royal Fabrics and Haberdashery in Leamington Spa which is a proper, old fashioned shop with lots crammed in to quite a small shop. As well as the fabric, they have yarn, buttons and a huge range of ribbon and braid. The pattern is this one from Grainline Studio; it's called the Willow Tank and Dress.
This was a quick and easy make - no zips, no buttons - and I'm pleased with it. I wear this sort of dress a lot in the winter, with a cotton polo neck underneath and boots. The only thing missing is POCKETS! Don't get me started about the lack of pockets in women's clothes .... To be fair though, I realised after making it that pockets wouldn't have worked on this design. There's a big fold at about hip level which is a nice feature of the dress so patch pockets would have to be below that (and would look odd, I think). The fold also covers the side seam so you can't insert pockets there either.
While I was at the fabric shop, I also bought this lovely fabric to make a skirt.
I'll use it with the stripes running vertically; the plain red is what I' going to use for the inset pockets.
My other completed sewing project is a kit that I've had for years but had felt a bit daunted by. I told myself just to get on with it so I did and, after two long days of sewing, this is the result.
The back is the same as the front so everything has to be done twice over but the finished bag is really quite stunning. I especially like the pieced lining to the strap (simple things) and I can't wait to take it to next year's Festival of Quilts - lots of room for purchases in there. It was a long two days of sewing but I learnt a lot from making this and it's given me the confidence to tackle other complex projects.
Unfortunately, I can't show you the rest of the things I've been sewing as they're all intended for Christmas presents. Yes, that's right, this is the year that everyone will be getting lots of homemade tat / treasures from me. The present drawer is filling up nicely.
We've had a lovely Indian summer here, sadly now replaced by rain but I made the most of it while it lasted and had some lovely walks.
This was Hazelborough Woods looking beautiful in the sunshine and unusually free from mud too. I saw an interesting animal on that walk. I only saw its body and tail as it disappeared off the path ahead of me but it was too orange and fluffy to be a fox. Think Crookshanks, Hermione's cat in the Harry Potter books. Given that these woods are quite a way from the nearest village, it was either a lost domestic cat, a wild cat or some magical creature ...
On a more mundane note, I've also been blackberrying; between us, my son and I managed to pick 9lb on one walk.
Some of his are going to be turned into Blackberry Whisky, mine are now common or garden Blackberry and Apple Jam and Bramble Chutney. While the kitchen floor was still sticky (why does this always happen when making preserves?) and the house smelt of vinegar, I thought I might as well do the rest so I made my normal Christmas Chutney and Pickled Onions. I've been making these two for years and both recipes came from Delia Smith's Christmas book, the original one with the green cover.
And now I must get back to work. I've finally finished my big Granny Square blanket so I should get that written up and published soon. It's the biggest blanket I've ever made I think.
A few weeks ago my son and I had a day out in this wonderful little town.
This is Ironbridge on the banks of the River Severn in Shropshire. It's known as the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution so I was expecting something a little more - well, industrial. Had I visited in the second half of the eighteenth century It would all have looked very different.
'Coalbrrokdale by Night' by Philip de Loutherbourrg (1740 - 1812)
Abraham Darby developed the use of coke, rather than charcoal in the manufacture of cast iron early in the eighteenth century, producing a high quality product at low cost. The original smelting works led to factories producing ceramic tiles and china, all within a few miles of each other in what was then known as Coalbrookdale.
Some fifty years later, Darby's grandson (also called Abraham) decided that a bridge was needed to link the town with the industrial works on the south bank of the river. The result was the first bridge to be built entirely of cast iron anywhere in the world.
'Ironbridge inder Construction' by Elias Martin (1739 - 1818)
During recent conservation work, parts of the original paintwork were exposed and the whole bridge has now been re-painted in this colour.
Doesn't it look magnificent? I love all those repeated lines and patterns. From the start, the bridge was something of a tourist attraction and anyone and everyone had to pay a toll.
As you can see, you even had to pay a halfpenny (pronounced haypenny for my younger readers) to take a lamb across the bridge. There were no exceptions at the other end of the social scale either.
'This bridge being private property, every Officer or Soldier whether on duty or not, is liable to pay toll for passing over, as well as any baggage waggon, Mail-coach or the Royal Family.'
Within the six miles of the Gorge, there are lots of exciting museums to visit. There's one about Coalport China, a tile museum, a clay pipe museum ... you can visit the Darby houses and, as if that wasn't enough, there's a re-creation of a Victorian town at Blists Hill. I do love a good museum so this is very much my sort of place.
By now you've probably guessed that we had been lured to Ironbridge by all this glorious history ... well, if so, you'd be wrong. What we actually drove two and a half hours for - beautiful country all the way - was this ...
Yes, it's a book shop (of course it is). This is not just any old secondhand bookshop though, this is Twice Told Tales which specialises in Penguin and Puffin books. We both collect first editions of the Puffin storybooks, old green Penguin crime books and Picture Puffins.
This is just part of my collection - green penguins at the top and puffins below. The picture books at the end of the middle shelf are my Picture Puffins. These were wonderful books, full of information and with beautiful artwork.
At the bottom right corner is my checklist of Puffin Picture books which I bought from the Penguin Collectors Society and which has helped me list my collection correctly. Both the text and the illustrations often changed between editions (and yes, it does matter).
We spent hours in this little bookshop, sorting through all the treasures and couldn't have been made more welcome. It's a wonderful shop and we'll definitely be going back. Now that we know what a beautiful place Ironbridge is, I think a holiday is called for. I'd love to visit all the museums and it looks a great place for walking too.
Anyway, want to see what I bought? I had to restrain myself as there were so many books I'd never even seen before so I concentrated on the more unusual ones.
These two books are from a short series I'd never heard of before, published in the 1940s and 50s. I do love books on design.
There were some beautiful Penguin books on music; I managed to restrict myself to these two.
There was also a book of madrigals and another one of part songs ... choices, choices. I did get a few Picture Puffins too, including a rare one ('The Story of Louisa').
If you collect Penguin or Puffin books, a visit to Ironbridge is an absolute must.
Downstairs is more 'normal' stock and this looked good too - we definitely need to go back here.
After lunch sitting outside a friendly cafe near the bookshop (Ironbridge seems to be a very friendly place), we had a walk along the river and went to one of the smaller museums. It's such a beautiful place, just look at this wild flower meadow on the banks of the river.
And I really liked the buildings too - isn't that brickwork great?
All in all, Ironbridge was a revelation to us - we'll definitely be going back.
