To Have And To Hold

It was my niece's wedding on Tuesday. I call her my niece but she isn't really, she's my sister's stepdaughter. My sister died twenty two years ago but we've always kept in touch with her and her brother and it's just the same as her being my proper niece. She was supposed to get married last September but the wedding had to be postponed due to the coronavirus restrictions. It was moved to around Easter time this year but again, had to be postponed, so it was third time lucky.

We had a lovely day, the wedding was held in a converted barn and it was a fabulous venue surrounded by beautiful scenery. The bride and groom didn't want gifts, they said it was enough that we were helping them celebrate their marriage, but we gave them some money and I couldn't resist giving them a little token in the form of this cross stitch.

This is To Have and To Hold from Country Cottage Needleworks stitched on 28 count Brittney Lugana. I really enjoyed stitching it and though I started it at the beginning of 2020, I held off finishing it completely until I was sure the wedding was going ahead as the date had to be added. 

Talking of the date, what a numpty I was. Can you see what I did? The numbers were all charted up for me, I just had to choose the right ones and make sure I centred it in the design, but I couldn't even do that right. I put the year as 01 instead of 21 so I had to unpick it and start again. I added the names to the design so I had to chart some of the letters myself but I think it looks okay.

The bride's hair was supposed to be blonde but my niece has brown hair so I changed that, and the date is actually charted in pink but as I was adding their names I decided to continue in the same colour as the rest of the writing.

I snapped a photo of it in the frame before the glass was added to prevent the glare. I'm pleased with how it turned out. It was a lovely design to stitch.

I think the next wedding on the cards will be Eleanor's, though they still haven't chosen a date, venue or anything else, so I don't think it will be for some time yet. It gives me time to stitch another wedding sampler if I choose to do so.

Mixed Fortunes

I only planted two containers of potatoes up this year, one was in a purpose made potato bag and the other was in a large plastic pot. I've used both very successfully in the past. Unfortunately, potatoes only grew in one container, the potato bag, there wasn't any growth at all in the plastic pot and exactly the same thing happened with Eleanor's potatoes too. I can only assume that the seed potatoes in the plastic pots rotted when we had the bout of very wet weather earlier in the year, but it does go to show that the bags which are made specifically to grow potatoes in have definitely worked better this year.

Having all my eggs in one basket so to speak, or rather all my potatoes in one container, I was hoping for good results. When the bag was tipped out it looked promising.

All told, there were just over eight pounds of potatoes in the one bag. The 50p is on the photo for scale, there were some really quite large spuds harvested. These are Charlotte, a second early potato which Eleanor chose as she fancied the waxy texture that this potato offers. I grew Charlotte last year too, it was the first time I'd grown them in containers and I got quite a poor yield. They can vary considerably from year to year.

I'm more than happy with what I've harvested this year, you can't beat the taste of home grown!

My Own Surprise Book

I've made lots of friends in Blogland. I'm always amazed by the connections people make even when they've never met in real life. One of my best friends is Maggie from BlackCountry Wench blog. I was drawn to her blog when I came across all the fabulous cross stitching she does, and I always enjoy her varied posts. We seemed to hit it off from the start and though we've still never met, she's a very good friend.

Maggie and I share a love of reading, among other things, and in her recent post about Monday's Outing, she mentioned a book she'd picked up in a National Trust shop. It's a wrapped book so she doesn't know what it is, a surprise. It does have a tag on the parcel with a clue about what the book is about, so I'm sure it will be a lot of fun finding out if her guesses are correct. I commented saying how I thought it was a great idea and yesterday my friendly Hermes delivery man brought me an unexpected package. Maggie had sent me my own surprise book.

There was a lovely card with it too. Maggie said that she thought the book would be something I would enjoy and I'm sure it will be, it sounds right up my street:-

TWOPENCE TO CROSS THE MERSEY

When Helen Forester's father went bankrupt in 1930, she and her six siblings were forced from comfortable middle-class life in southern England to utmost poverty in the Depression-ridden North. Twelve-year-old Helen becomes responsible for the running of the household with little food to feed the younger children. Written without self-pity, this account is both heartwarmingly funny and shockingly moving.

LIVERPOOL MISS

The Forrester family are beginning to win their fight for survival and, now fourteen, Helen's personal struggle is in persuading her parents to allow her to earn her own living and lead her own life, after years of putting her family first, forgetting her own need for care and education. Struggling against illness caused by severe malnutrition and dirt, Helen also has to contend with her parents' selfish demands.

Thank you, Maggie. I know this is a book I'm going to really enjoy.

Do pop across to Maggie's blog if you don't know it already, it's a very good read.

All Good Things Must Come To An End

We had a lovely time last week while Daniel and Jasmine were here with us. They stayed from the previous Friday night until Sunday so they were with us for quite a while this time but I'm always sad when their time with us comes to an end.

We had a good mix of days out and time spent together at home, and they went off and did their own thing for some of the time too. It was a shame that Eleanor and Jacob were working but they came round most evenings and we chatted, played games and enjoyed the time all together.

As Jasmine comes from Colorado, a land locked state in the US, she hasn't had many holidays by the sea so trips to the seaside were requested. We spent a day in Whitby with a detour to Sandsend, and a day in Bridlington. I'm really enjoying my days out at the coast this year, we've been quite a few times now after only a couple of visits last year owing to the coronavirus restrictions.

I think the next time we'll see Daniel and Jasmine will be Christmas, though we've had some good news, they're hoping to move back up north at the beginning of next year so they will be flat hunting when they come next time. They'll take a short-term rental while they look for a house to buy. I will be so pleased to have all my family close by again.

Bookcrossing

When we visited Matlock Bath at the end of June, I popped into a couple of charity shops. In one of them I picked up Ruth Jones', of Gavin and Stacey, debut novel, Never Greener. I paid my pound for it and when I got home I noticed that it had a Bookcrossing sticker on it.

I've heard of Bookcrossing but have never signed up. 

Inside the cover is a label...

"I am not lost!

This book was left here to find a new reader!

Who left the book?

Who will read it after you?

Who liked it and who hated it?

You now have the possibility to find out. This book is registered at BookCrossing.com, a world-wide community of voluntary and non-commercial book sharing, where its previous reader already looks forward to a message about its whereabouts."

I was intrigued so I went onto the Bookcrossing site and entered the ID number written on the label. It turns out that this book was set on its travels just under a year ago and nothing has been registered since. Someone must have picked it up as it was left in a public place eight miles away from the charity shop where I bought it.

You can leave an entry on Bookcrossing to say that you've found a book without having to register but it looks like a good site so I'm going to do so. I might even release some books into the wild and watch to see if anyone records that they find them.

What a fun scheme.

The Light At The End Of The Tunnel

At last, all the family have had their two doses of Covid vaccine. We've been very careful with Jasmine being vulnerable but now we've all had two jabs we feel easier about meeting up again, there's light at the end of the tunnel. It's been hard with Daniel and Jasmine living down in Essex and us up here in Yorkshire, it's not as though we've been able to just pop round and have a chat in the garden as other families have been able to do while there's been restrictions in place but now that everything's opened up again and we've taken precautions, we've decided to have a get together.

Daniel and Jasmine finished work last week and are now on a week's annual leave, so they came up after work on Friday and they're staying until Sunday. It's such a long time since we've seen them and it's especially nice them coming this week as it's Mick's birthday on Saturday so they'll be here to celebrate with us.

We're hoping to have a few trips out but that's dependent on the weather. The storms which have been forecast every day since Thursday haven't materialised but we've had a few showers. We've still managed to get out for some walks but really, just spending time together is what we've all been waiting for. It's wonderful having the family together again, even though it's only for a short time.

Where The Crawdads Sing

I'll be honest, I only picked up a copy of Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens to see what all the hoo-ha was about, I probably wouldn't have reached for it otherwise, but I'm so pleased that I did. This book seems to be on so many people's reading lists, and rightly so.

"For years, rumours of the 'Marsh Girl' have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be loved. When two young men from town become intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new life - until the unthinkable happens."

A story about prejudice, intolerance and acceptance. I thought this book was beautifully written with wonderful descriptions of the marshes and their fauna and flora. Delia Owens' background as a zoologist and nature writer really stands out in her writing which transported me to the North Carolina coast. There are some wonderful characters in the book who seem to jump off the pages and come to life.

Often, I find books can be overhyped, but not in this case. I loved Where The Crawdads Sing and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.

Our John

After my mum died I decided that I'd like to plant a rose in her memory. I looked for one with a meaning and eventually came up with Sheila's Perfume which I thought fitted the bill nicely as my mum was called Sheila. I wanted to do something similar for my dad.

Our John is the perfect rose. A floribunda with masses of vibrant yellow blooms and a delicate fragrance. John was my dad's name and many Northerners, especially in Yorkshire, add Our before a name when speaking to, or about, a family member.

It came planted up in a pot but wasn't very big, I didn't expect to get any flowers this year so it was a nice surprise when I found a bud. I think yellow roses are my favourite of all and this one hasn't disappointed. 

As the flowers fade they take on a much more subdued hue which I love. You really wouldn't think that this is the same flower.

I've left it in the pot it arrived in until it settles but I shall get it a shiny new pot where it will live, and it can stand side by side with Sheila's Perfume in memory of my dad.

Settle Flowerpot Festival

Following on from my last post, while we were in Settle having lunch on our day out, we came across a number of flowerpot characters...

...we didn't know what they were all about at first but we soon discovered a sign taped to a lamppost. The Settle Flowerpot Festival. If I'd known about this before our trip I'd have devoted more time to it, I do enjoy a trail to follow.

Here are a selection of a few flowerpot characters that I snapped.

Some are better than others.

I've seen scarecrow trails before but never a flowerpot festival.

I think it's brilliant when a community comes together to put on this type of event.

There's some really creative people out there.

They were all over the town.

This one was in the car park and I think it was my favourite from the ones I took photos of.

Settle Flowerpot Festival runs throughout July and August, the last day being Sunday the 5th of September 2021. There are over 150 flowerpot creations on display throughout the town, three different flowerpot trails and a quiz available.

Kettlewell is another Dales village. It usually put on a scarecrow festival in August but it's unfortunately cancelled this year, as it was last year, because of coronavirus. If you'd like to see some scarecrows from years past you can take a look at my Kettlewell Scarecrow Festival and More From Kettlewell posts from back in 2014. We've visited this festival quite a few times.

There's always something new to see or do each time we visit the Yorkshire Dales, no wonder we return again and again.

Malham

The weather was gorgeous last Friday so Mick decided to take a day off work and we headed off into the Yorkshire Dales. We started off in Malham, a small village in the Pennines. Most visitors pass through on their way to Malham Cove, a cliff formation of limestone rock. On the top is a large area of limestone pavement where scenes in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows were filmed. We didn't visit Malham Cove this time, we last visited back in 2012, I didn't realise it had been all that long ago, and you can read about it in my Back To The Dales post.

There isn't much in Malham itself but it's a lovely quaint village to wander round.

At the entrance to the village is a carved limestone boulder with a quote from Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice.

Here you can see the road which leads to Malham Cove. It's about a mile from the village and then there's over four hundred steps to climb. It's a little too much to ask of Archie these days.

The Malham Smithy is the workshop of blacksmith Annabelle Bradley, she's been in residence since 2007. Bill Wild was Blacksmith here from about 1946 until his death in 1985. He bequeathed the Malham Smithy to St Michaels Church and they now lease it out, the rent providing income for the church.

How cute are all these birdboxes hung on the Beck Hall Hotel. I wonder if any of them are occupied.

The Yorkshire Dales are known for their dry stone walls. I love to see them covered in moss like this.

A stream runs through the centre of Malham and there's a woodland walk which runs right by it. It was the perfect place to let Archie off his lead for a breather as the small wood is enclosed by walls and is gated.

It was a hot day and Archie enjoyed being able to cool off in the stream.

These mushrooms were growing on a tree. The photo doesn't show how huge they were.

It was nice to be able to cool off in the shade of the tree canopy. This day out was at the start of the heatwave and it got incredibly hot that day.

After a stroll around the village we decided to drive to Settle, a market town about six and a half miles from Malham. I never tire of seeing all the animals in the fields and by the side of the road. 

It gets a bit much when they block your way though, haha. They don't move out of your way either, we had to manoeuvre our way around these cows but it didn't end there because there was another small herd further along the road. I do love to see animals roaming free though.

Our lunch in Settle consisted of a hot steak and ale pie from Drake & Macefield butchers. If you're ever in the area I can heartily recommend them. It's not the first time we've sampled their wares and it won't be the last. We also purchased some cold pies to bring home with us, they're so good. Afterwards we set off for Hawes, passing the impressive Ribbleshead Viaduct on the way. 

We had a lovely day out and I'm sure it won't be long until we feel the draw of the Dales again.

Book Giveaway Winners

Thank you to everyone who entered my book giveaway.

I have chosen two winners at random. Kay is the winner of Mine by Susi Fox and Flashin Scissors is the winner of Mine by Clare Empson. Can you both please let me know your name and address details so that I can get the books sent out to you. You can find my email address by clicking on my name in the About Me section at the top of the sidebar. 

I hope you both enjoy the books as much as I did.

Puerperium Cardigan

Contrary to what everyone must be thinking by now after I've been knitting a flurry of baby garments just lately, there are no babies on the way in the family, nor do I know of anyone who is expecting, but I see these cute little clothes and can't resist knitting them. Never mind, I'll have plenty of  things ready to give as gifts whenever a baby does arrive.

This latest offering is the Puerperium Cardigan, a simple pattern and an ingenious design. It's a simple style which is designed to be easy for new parents to dress their baby in the puerperium period (6 weeks post birth) as it buttons up the side rather than the front.

I've used Rico Baby Dream DK in the Pastel Confetti colourway and it's so soft, perfect for next to baby's skin. It only took 70g of yarn so with the leftovers I decided to knit a hat to match. I went with the Plain and Striped Newborn Purple Hat by Halifax Charity Knitters, another free pattern on Ravelry and I think it goes perfect with the cardigan.

Both patterns were a pleasure to knit and I can see me knitting them both again in the future, perhaps when there's an actual baby to knit for.

Mine Giveaway

My last post was about two books I'd recently read, each with the same title, Mine. One was written by Susi Fox and the other by Clare Empson. I really enjoyed each of these books and thought you might like to read them too.

You can find the blurb for each of the books in my last post. If you think you'd like to read them please leave a comment on this post and if your name is pulled out of the hat, I'll send one of the books to you. Please let me know if you have a preference in your comment otherwise I'll just choose which one to send to you myself. There will be two winners, each one winning one of the books. I'm sorry but this is a UK only giveaway owing to postage, you'd be able to buy the book cheaper than it would cost for me to post it abroad.

I'll leave this giveaway open for a week or so before choosing the two winners at random. 

Good luck.

Mine

A couple of months ago I bought a few books from The Works. Two of the books had the same title, Mine, but were written by different authors. 

"The baby in the cot is not your baby.

You wake up alone after an emergency caesarean, desperate to see your child. But when you are shown the small infant, a terrible thought seizes you: this baby is not mine.

They say you're delusional.

No one believes you. Not the nurses, your father or even your own husband. They say you're confused. Dangerous.

But you're a doctor - you know how easily mistakes can be made. Or even deliberate ones.

Everyone is against you; do you trust your instincts? Or is your traumatic past clouding your judgement? You know only one thing.

You must find your baby."

The first book I read was Mine by Susi Fox. This was one of those books which kept me reading, I just didn't know in which way the story was going, was the new mum suffering from postpartum psychosis, had a mistake been made, or was there something more sinister going on in the hospital? 

This is the author's debut novel and I think she's done a great job with it, I was kept guessing, and changing my thoughts on what the outcome would be, right until the very end. I thought this book was excellent.

"'Who am I?

Why am I here?

Why did my mother give me away?'

Luke has always felt like an outsider. But when he finds his birth mother Alice, he feels an instant connection with her.

So when Luke's wife goes back to work and they need someone to look after their son, Alice seems like the perfect choice.

But Alice is battling with demons of her own - she's still not forgotten the heart-breaking events of 27 years ago that forced her to give up her child.

And she will do anything to stop history repeating itself..."

I found Mine by Clare Empson to be a slow burner at the start but it was setting the scene and once it got going I was hooked. The story is written in the present from Luke's point of view, and recalls Alice's past, with alternating chapters. It's a beautifully written book which deals with all the emotions of love and loss. Billed as a psychological thriller, this book is so much more.

Two books with the same title and I'd recommend both. I enjoyed Mine by Susi Fox so much that I didn't expect to enjoy Mine by Clare Empson as much, but I was wrong. If I were to recommend one above the other it would definitely be Clare Empson's Mine.

Qualified

When Eleanor completed her degree in biomedical science she had the qualification she needed to be a biomedical scientist, however, before she could practise as a biomedical scientist she had to complete an Institute of Biomedical Science Certificate of Competence in order to apply for Health and Care Professions Council registration as a biomedical scientist. In simple terms, her degree is her academic training but she also had to complete a portfolio showing her competence before she could apply for registration.

The portfolio is usually completed whilst working as a trainee, however, trainee jobs have been very thin on the ground in our area. I don't know if this is usually the case or if it's a knock-on effect of the pandemic (so many things are put down to this these days), so Eleanor took a job as a medical laboratory assistant. Whilst she's been there her employers have allowed her to do her additional training and complete her portfolio, which she sent off to be assessed. She also had to do a presentation demonstrating her knowledge. She did this last week and at the end of this, the examiner told her she'd passed. She now has to register with the Health and Care Professions Council and then she's able to practise as a biomedical scientist. She just needs a job now. She's still working as a medical laboratory assistant at the moment but she's hoping that a suitable job will come up at the hospital she's working at already, I don't think she's keen to change hospitals.

One of the things the examiner said to Eleanor was that she was impressed by the breadth of her knowledge and that she was verging on the knowledge a specialist biomedical scientist would have. What a lovely remark, though Eleanor has worked very hard to get where she's at and loves what she's doing so this doesn't surprise me.

Jacob was lucky, he also took a job as a medical laboratory assistant but a trainee biomedical scientist job came up at the hospital he's working at which he applied for and he got the job. He hasn't completed his portfolio yet but he's not far off now, and his employer has allowed him to apply for a biomedical scientist job which has come up at his hospital and he's been successful, so he's got a job waiting for him as soon as he qualifies.

They're both at the beginning of their careers but they're both ambitious and work hard so I can see them going far. We're very proud of them both.