July 2024

July has seen some better weather arrive, though the start of the month was still very cold and rainy. We just never know what kind of summer we're going to get here in the UK, definitely mixed this year.

Yellow roses for my sister. It was twenty five years on the 5th of July since my sister died, it still seems like yesterday. She was a huge part of my life and I'll never get over the fact that she's no longer here. Her death cast a cloud over everything that's happened since and though they say that time heals, it really doesn't, you get on with the rest of your life because you have to, you simply miss the person who's gone every single day.

It was our 34th wedding anniversary on the 7th. We never really do much to celebrate so these flowers which Mick bought for me were even more of a surprise. We really pushed the boat out this year as we went out for a nice meal too. 

We've had plenty of days out this month. As you'll have seen from my last post, we had Another Staycation, but apart from what we got up to that week we've also had days out at Clumber Park and Fountains Abbey amongst others, and even an impromptu late afternoon trip to the coast where Archie had a wander on the beach, we ate fish and chips overlooking the sea at Filey and we called in at Bempton Cliffs to see the seabirds with their young.

I've read two books this month.

The Sun Sister by Lucinda Riley.

"To the outside world, Electra D'Aplièse seems to have it all: as one of the world's top models, she is beautiful, rich and famous.

Yet Electra's already tenuous control over her state of mind has been rocked by the death of her father, Pa Salt, the elusive billionaire who adopted his six daughters from across the globe. Struggling to cope, she turns to alcohol and drugs. As those around her fear for her health, Electra receives a letter from a stranger claiming to be her grandmother...

In 1939, Cecily Huntley-Morgan arrives in Kenya from New York to nurse a broken heart. Staying with her godmother, a member of the infamous Happy Valley set, she meets Bill Forsythe, a notorious bachelor and cattle farmer with close connections to the proud Maasai tribe. But after a shocking discovery, and with war looming, Cecily has few options. Moving up into the Wanjohi Valley, she is isolated and alone - until she meets a young woman in the woods and makes her a promise that will change the course of her life for ever.

Sweeping from Manhattan to the magnificent plains of Africa, The Sun Sister is the sixth instalment in Lucinda Riley's multimillion-copy epic series."

I'm sorry to say that I didn't enjoy this book half as much as I've enjoyed the earlier ones in the series. It definitely took me quite some time to get into it and it didn't really get going until I was more than half way through. It didn't help that I found it hard to click with the protagonist and there were some quite unlikeable characters in the story. It always helps when you like the people you're reading about. I preferred the story set back in the 1930s much more than the recent one which was running alongside it. It did pick up in the second half and as it's part of a series, I'm glad I've read it. I'm now looking forward to getting on with the next book and reading about The Missing Sister.

The Kindness Club on Mapleberry Lane by Helen Rolfe.

"The smallest things can make the biggest difference...

Veronica Beecham's cottage is the neatest house on Mapleberry Lane. But within her wisteria-covered walls, Veronica has a secret: she hasn't left her perfect home in years.

Then her granddaughter arrives on the doorstep, and Veronica's orderly life is turned upside down. Audrey is struggling to find her place in the world, but with a little help from the residents of Mapleberry Lane, she forms an idea to help her gran regain her confidence: a kindness club, helping the community one day at a time.

As their small acts of kindness begin to ripple through the village, both Veronica and Audrey find that with each passing day, they feel a little braver. There's just one task left before the end of the year: to make Veronica's own secret wish come true..."

A lovely, uplifting story which was enjoyable to read. Not really a book to get your teeth into but sometimes you just want an easy read which this is. I'd definitely give this author another go.

I wrote a post at the beginning of June about Little Pearls Of Colour, all the odds and ends of leftover hand dyed yarn which weigh 6g or less which I've accumulated. I'm sure that some people would just throw these small lengths of yarn away but I can't bring myself to do that so I was trying to think of a project to use them in. I've finally decided to put them into a Granny Wrap, a crocheted shawl. You can find the free pattern by Annaboo's House on Ravelry. As I'm using such small amounts of yarn I'm having to add in new colours frequently which means there's lots of ends to sew in. I'm trying to keep on top of them as I go. It also means that it's going to be a very colourful shawl when it's finished. I don't do very much crocheting but this will be a nice ongoing project which I reach for as the mood takes me.

You may remember that I cast on Another Scrappy Blanket last year. When I visited Buxton Wool Gathering in May, I picked up a pink and a blue mini skein so that once Eleanor had given birth, I could finish it off by edging it in whichever colour was most appropriate. When Jack was born, I added a blue I-cord border. It's just ten squares by eight, a nice size to use in his pram or car seat.

With the programme schedules being taken up by so much sport in July, I was looking for something other than football, tennis and the Olympics to watch. I'd happened to turn on the latest series of The Outlaws by chance and thought it looked like something I might enjoy so I went right back to the beginning and watched all three series. If I'd read the plotline I would have definitely scrolled by, but I'm so glad I watched it, it was so entertaining and very funny. A comedy crime drama created by Stephen Merchant and Elgin James, the story is set around seven people from different walks of life who are doing community service after breaking the law, with Jessica Gunning playing the part brilliantly of their supervisor. Each series continues from where the last breaks off so you do really need to start from series one. Has anyone else watched this? I loved it.

We're currently in the middle of a mini heatwave here in the UK, it's nice that summer's finally arrived, I just hope that it hangs around for a little while.

Another Staycation

As much as we used to enjoy our holidays, staycations are best for us at the moment. At fourteen Archie is an old boy. We've never left him in kennels, he's always holidayed with us but we're limited with what we can do with him these days so days out and then home to familiar surroundings works best. We don't feel hard done by, there are some beautiful places to visit which aren't too far away so Archie comes with us and enjoys his days out just as much as we do.

Mick's still taking some of last year's holidays which he carried over so we had another staycation last week. It had been forecast to be good weather but it was showery on the Saturday when Mick and Daniel were supposed to be playing cricket. I wasn't sure the match would go ahead but they did manage to play and win the match. Daniel took three wickets.

It was still very drizzly on the Sunday but we decided to head out anyway. We went to Nunnington Hall, a National Trust property in North Yorkshire. We've never visited before but we'll definitely go back, we were really impressed. There were so many things set up for children's entertainment, it was just a pity that the weather wasn't very good. Mick and I picked up a racket each and had a little game of badminton on the lawn in front of the house. There was also croquet, archery, and fairground games like hoop-la, amongst other things to entertain them. Nunnington is a manor house with an organic garden where peacocks roam at will. Not the largest National Trust property but plenty on offer to while away a couple of hours.

We stayed home on Monday as I had a nurse appointment for my B12 jab slap bang in the middle of the day, how inconvenient, but appointments are hard to come by so I didn't bother trying to change it. We had a walk with Archie at Lotherton beforehand, and the family came round afterwards to spend the evening together as it was Eleanor's birthday.

Rain was forecast for the whole day on Tuesday but it was glorious sunshine when we got out of bed so we decided to head off to Bingley to walk by the canal. I'm just glad that on arrival we waited in the car when we felt a couple of spots of rain as before long, the heavens opened, I'm glad we hadn't got caught in it. There was no chance of it stopping so we drove on a few miles more to a yarn shop I often visit when we have a day trip to Haworth. I didn't come away empty handed. On our drive home, the rain was torrential and water was spurting up from the manhole covers, needless to say, I was glad to get home.

The weather really changed on Wednesday. We've had so many cold days in July, twenty four degrees was a big improvement. We took ourselves off for the day to Belton Estate in Lincolnshire, another National Trust property. Belton House served as Lady Catherine De Bourgh's residence in the 1995 TV adaptation of Pride & Prejudice and it's been used more recently as the main location for King George's residence in Bridgerton, though I don't watch it. Another place we'll visit again, the gardens are stunning and so well kept. We even had a crack at the maze.

As I've said many times before, no staycation would be complete without a trip to the Yorkshire Dales. I'd seen that Settle is currently hosting its flowerpot festival again so that's where we headed. It's so much fun spotting all the different creations, they're all over the town, in gardens, shop windows and doorways. You need to look up too otherwise you may miss some. Here's Mario and Luigi.

Archie was flagging by Friday so we decided to have another day close to home. It definitely made sense as the mercury hit twenty eight degrees, it wasn't just Archie who was feeling the heat. We got a few jobs done at home and then later in the day, when it had cooled down a little, we took Archie for a walk in the woods near where we used to live. This used to be one of Archie's regular walks but it's become very overgrown in the two years since we left. Archie still enjoyed it though, he definitely seemed to recognise where he was.

Saturday was a cricket day again for Mick and Daniel, Unfortunately, Mick was out for a duck, his first one this season. Daniel took another wicket so that's twenty one wickets now in nine games. He's the third best wicket taker in the league up to now. The team won again so that's good. It was the day of the music festival in our small town, starting at midday and ending at 10pm. A line up of tribute acts, everything from Taylor Swift to Coldplay, with a bit of Abba and Pink, among others, in between. All in the name of charity, the money raised goes towards the running cost of the local hospice. We can hear the music from our house and it's rather good so I was happy tuning in to that throughout the day. When Mick got home from cricket we popped round to see Jack, he was one month old on Saturday and has already changed so much. We've seen him every day since he was born, I'm so grateful that we live close enough to be able to just pop in.

A lovely breeze cooled things down on Sunday so it was nice to get outdoors again. We visited yet another National Trust property, this time Wentworth Castle Gardens in South Yorkshire. I was a little disappointed in this property actually. The house is closed to visitors as it houses Northern college (who work in partnership with Barnsley Council and the National Trust in running the estate) but that doesn't bother us as we never go inside the houses anyway as we always have Archie with us, but I was expecting more from the gardens. To be honest, it all looked a little tired and unloved, it definitely needs some work putting in on it. It made a change to walk somewhere new though and it wouldn't put me off going back, it's a big place so there's plenty more to discover which we didn't get to see on this trip. No sooner had we arrived home than we were out again. Late afternoon we visited a local nature reserve with Eleanor, Jacob and Jack. We had a leisurely stroll around the lake and it was a lovely way to round off our staycation.

It was an enjoyable week and I feel it was a nice balance of days out, time spent at home and seeing the family. Roll on the next staycation! 

Baa-ble Hat

I bought the Baa-ble Hat pattern by Donna Smith a very long time ago, along with the yarn to knit it with. I'm on a bit of a mission to use up odds and ends as well as get on with things which have been waiting for my attention for far too long, so this hat can finally be crossed off the list.

I'm actually glad that I didn't cast on this hat as soon as I bought the pattern as it's been brought to my attention since that the hat knits up on the large side. Susan B Anderson published some modifications and tips on her blog back in 2015 which can be found by Googling, so I followed those instructions. You do still need the pattern, the modifications just run alongside.

It's years since I've done any colourwork, it's really not my thing, but I thought this hat was cute so I was happy to go with it on this occasion. It's an easy pattern and definitely suitable for anyone attempting colourwork for the first time but as I say, it's a long time since I've done any myself so don't look too closely.

I haven't blocked the hat yet, just like lacework opens out when blocked, colourwork really needs blocking to relax the stitches which then helps them to even out. The pattern calls for a pom pom but I'm not sure yet whether I'll add that or not, I've certainly got enough yarn left over if I decide to go ahead.

I used Drops Nepal, an aran weight yarn, which is 65% wool and 35% alpaca. You need four different colours and I find the Drops range very affordable.

Will I knit more colourwork? Not unless I see something else which really catches my eye. Knitting this hat hasn't increased my enjoyment of colourwork at all. I'm definitely a process knitter, I knit because I enjoy knitting rather than knitting because I want the finished product so enjoying what I'm doing is paramount.

Birdwatch

We've lived in our house a little over two years now. When we moved here the only type of bird which regularly visited our garden was the greenfinch. We always used to feed the birds at our old house and we encouraged many different types of birds to pop by. I wanted the same here so we started offering different types of food and it did the trick.

Sparrows are one of the most common birds in the UK though their numbers are declining and it's said they're now a lot rarer than they used to be. You wouldn't know that here though, there's always sparrows to be found in our garden.

We still get plenty of greenfinches. They love the black sunflower seeds.

I think the most common birds to our garden are the great tits, they're always around the feeders but are rather skittish so they're in and out throughout the day, never staying long to seek out the food they're after.

Archie isn't at all happy when there's a pigeon in the garden, they're the only type of bird which he chases. I don't mind them, they hoover up all the bits which the other birds have dropped and clean up after them.

Dunnocks can be easily mistaken for sparrows, in fact they're also known as hedge sparrows. Their beaks are more pointier than the sparrow's thicker beak.

We used to get lots of thrushes in our garden when I was a child but we didn't get them at our old house. They do visit our garden now and they come in large flocks when the berries on the rowan trees are ripe in autumn. We've recently replaced a diseased ornamental cherry tree in our front garden with a yellow berried rowan so I'm hoping to see even more thrushes now.

Blackbirds visit regularly. Again, they're happy to hoover up anything which drops from the feeders but they also hop around the garden looking for worms.

Blue tits are regular visitors to the feeders. I've hung a nesting box this year but they haven't bothered with it. It took quite some time in our old house before we got birds nesting in the box so I'm still hopeful that they'll take up residence in the future.

Large numbers of starlings flock to the feeders when we put suet pellets or a suet block out but we still get odd ones visiting at other times too.

We have a pair of robins which are regular visitors, one much plumper than the other scrawny one. Robins are very territorial so I suspect that they're a pair. They're very friendly and are always waiting by the feeders for a juicy titbit.

It's always lovely to see the fledglings, the adults often bring their babies and we watch whilst they feed them.

It's been nice to watch as each new kind of bird has found the feeders and become established visitors over the last couple of years. The newest ones to arrive have been the long-tailed tits. These birds visit in flocks, there's always more than one at a time. It's been a delight to see them as these are another bird we never saw at our old house.

Collared doves and coal tits also visit on a regular basis and red kites are always flying above, though I haven't actually seen one visit the garden. They're wonderful to watch though. We used to get great spotted woodpeckers visiting but we haven't seen them for a while. Goldfinches used to be the bird we saw most at our old house but we're still trying to encourage them here. We've seen the odd one on the lane so we know they're about, we've put out niger seed in the hope of enticing them here.

Do you enjoy watching the birds in your garden? What do you do to encourage them?

Please excuse the poor quality of the photos, they've all been taken from the house through the window and the window cleaner hasn't been for a while!