Eyam

Mick took last week off work but having just had a two week holiday at the beginning of August, we decided we'd spend the week at home and have a few days out. On Wednesday, we decided to venture in to my mum's county of birth, Derbyshire. I remember visiting Eyam, pronounced Eem, when I was at school but Mick had never been before.

At first sight, the village looks quite ordinary, although picturesque.

This weather vane, depicting a rat and positioned atop Eyam Museum, gives a hint at Eyam's past.

Eyam is known for an outbreak of bubonic plague in 1665. It was brought in to the village through a bundle of cloth which had arrived from London and within a week, the disease had claimed its first life. The village decided to quarantine itself to prevent further spread of the disease. Food was brought and left at the parish stones which marked the start of Eyam by people who lived outside the village so that they didn't come in to contact with the villagers. Other measures were taken to try and prevent the spread of disease amongst the villagers themselves. The dead were buried by members of their own family and church services were taken in the natural amphitheatre of Cucklett Delph so that people were able to spread out, so reducing the risk of infection.

Plague Cottage where the first victim, George Viccars, lived.

There's many plaques throughout the village marking the cottages where victims lived.

It's difficult to imagine so many people from one family being wiped out in such a short space of time. Also hard to know how those left behind ever recovered from such a tragedy.

Eyam Church where the Reverend William Mompesson was rector. He was an important clergyman and is believed to have been the driving force behind Eyam's self-imposed quarantine.

On 25th August 1666, Catherine Mompesson, wife of rector William Mompesson, died of the plague. She had sent her two children to stay with relatives in Yorkshire but stayed behind herself to help her husband tend the sick. The tomb is decorated with a rose entwined wreath every year on Plague Sunday (generally the last Sunday in August) as this is the Sunday closest to her death and the outbreak of the plague.

A map of the village.

The stocks which were used until the beginning of the 19th century.

Eyam Hall and Craft Centre.

The hall is run by the National Trust and was built in 1671, six years after the plague hit Eyam. We couldn't venture inside as we had Archie with us but we did have a wander around the the Craft Centre which is built in the Hall's former stable yard. I couldn't resist these cute little cat buttons so they came home with me.

One place we were allowed to take Archie was Eyam Tea Rooms, which was good as it just started spitting with rain as we got there.

The tea room was done up in an Alice in Wonderland theme to coincide with the local well dressing. We had a drink and a snack and was pleased to see that the rain hadn't taken hold so we could continue with the sight seeing.

I've heard so much about well dressing but have never visited at the right time of year before. Well dressing is a custom where wells, springs and other water sources are decorated with designs created from flower petals. This Children's Well Dressing was made by children aged between five and fifteen.

Town End Well Dressing. The petals used to create this design come from hydrangeas.

I can never resist taking photos of sheep, I snapped these on the way back to the car.

I'll tell you where our next port of call was in my next post.

Don't forget, if you haven't already entered my giveaway, you've got until twelve noon on Tuesday the 8th of September 2015 to do so. Just leave a comment on my Fifth Blog Anniversary Giveaway post.

Fifth Blog Anniversary Giveaway

It's five years today since I started this blog. I never thought then that I'd still be blogging about my family and my day to day life after all this time. I've thoroughly enjoyed all the interaction which blogging brings and I've made some lovely friends along the way. Many thanks to everyone who pops by, especially those who leave lovely comments, afterall, that's what blogging is all about, making connections.

As is now customary on my blog anniversaries, I'm having a little giveaway to thank all my readers, old and new. There's a hotchpotch of goodies on offer, just little things that I've picked up when I've seen them as I thought they were cute.

First of all is this buzzy bee.

It's actually a windchime and makes a gentle tinkling sound.

I bought one of these furry giraffe bookmarks for Eleanor as she collects all things giraffe and I bought an extra one to be included with the giveaway. There's a cute little cat notepad but if you're anything like me, I can never find anything to write with when I need to jot something down so there's also a tube of pencils to go with it. I saw these fancy cupcake tissues whilst I was on holiday and thought they were handy to carry around in a handbag.

Last but not least, a bar of my very favourite chocolate, Green & Black's Ginger.

If you want to be in with a chance to win these goodies just leave me a comment on this post by twelve noon on Tuesday the 8th of September 2015. A name will be drawn at random soon after.

Thanks again to everyone who visits. You all make this blogging lark so much fun.

Challenge Update - August 2015

My 2015 challenges are:-

1) Read one book each month.

1a) Read Agatha Christie books in chronological order.

2) Watch films from IMDb's top 100 movies of all time.

3) Support charities.

I was on holiday for part of August, that accounts for the number of books I've managed to get through this month, seven in total counting my Agatha Christie read. I always read plenty whilst I'm away.

A little while ago, I received a parcel through the post, all the way from Australia. It was sent by my good friend, Susan, from Granny Smith's Quilting. The gift was beautifully wrapped in some floral fabric, which I'm sure I'll be able to make very good use of some time in the future.

Susan thought I might enjoy reading Footsteps in an Empty Room by Lilly Sommers, and she wasn't wrong. This was the first of this month's reads and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The story starts with bumps in the night and goes on to tell the tale of two different time periods which interweave. I've lent the book to my mum and she's coming to the end of it now, having enjoyed it too. I was lucky enough to receive the beautiful dolphin bookmark in the parcel too. Thank you so much, Susan, it was so kind of you to think of me.

What Have I Done is the second book in the No Greater Love series by Amanda Prowse, I read it on my Kindle. Domestic abuse is the subject of this book and it could be quite hard to read at times, especially knowing that this isn't a far fetched story, many women, and men, go through this in reality. It's very well written and kept me turning the pages to find out what happens.

After reading The Fault in our Stars a couple of years ago, Eleanor wanted to read something along the same lines so I bought her Now is Good by Jenny Downham. She's never read it so I decided that I would. Published previously under the title Before I Die, it's a story narrated by Tessa who's sixteen and is terminally ill. She's been given just a few months to live and so she creates a list of things she wants to do before she dies. This book falls in the Young Adult Fiction genre, however, having a daughter roughly the same age as Tessa, it was hard not to look at Tessa's story from a parent's perspective. It's a moving story and one I'd recommend to any age.

The third book in Amanda Prowse's No Greater Love series is Clover's Child and is my favourite book by this author so far. Set in the East End, the story covers what it was like to fall in love with, and get pregnant by, a West Indian boy in the sixties. The book tells of the attitudes and prejudices of people during that time and highlights how things have changed since. A real page turner.

I wasn't sure that I'd enjoy A Little Love, Amanda Prowse's fourth book in the No Greater Love series, but I did. Pru Plum turned sixty six last year but has never found love, mainly because she hides a secret from her past. I did guess Pru's secret quite early on but it didn't spoil it for me. I wouldn't say this is a fast paced, gripping novel but I enjoyed reading about a more mature lady falling in love for a change as most romance stories are centred around twenty somethings.

The Lie of You by Jane Lythell was a free book on my Kindle. This is a thriller about one woman stalking another. I like how the book is written, one chapter from Heja's viewpoint and the next from Kathy's. This is one book where I didn't expect the ending.

My Agatha Christie read for August was The Mystery of the Blue Train. This is another Poirot book and it kept me guessing right till the end. A real page turner and one of my favourites so far.


I've only managed two films again this month.

The Departed is a crime thriller from Martin Scorsese starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon and Jack Nicholson. An undercover cop is attempting to infiltrate a gang in Boston but there's a mole in the state police. All I can say about this film is Wow! The ending! I never saw that coming. A decent film but one I wouldn't have chosen to watch if I wasn't doing this challenge.

Sci-Fi is not a genre for me at all but I decided that I'd give The Matrix a go. It actually has quite a good storyline which put me in mind of a Doctor Who episode, New Earth, with the Sisters of Plenitude. I'm afraid The Matrix started to lose me half way through and then again near the end with prolonged fight scenes. Not really my thing.

I've done a bit of charity shop shopping this month. First of all, this Typhoo Tea tray caught my eye in the Age UK shop and then I came across a book in The Salvation Army shop which I'll be reading a little later on in my Agatha Christie challenge. These were both found in Pickering whilst we were on holiday.

I picked up another couple of books nearer to home, one from the PDSA Shop and one from the St Gemma's Hospice shop. I enjoyed watching Poldark earlier on in the year so when I saw the book, I thought I'd have a read. I picked up the Liane Moriarty book because I read one of her books earlier this year and really enjoyed it, I hope this one's as good.

I've recently bought some new towels as my old ones had seen better days, I've had some of them since before we were married and as you know, we celebrated our Silver Wedding anniversary last month. Although the old towels were past their best, I knew that the Dogs Trust would be able to get some use out of them so we bagged them up and took them to our local centre last week. There were bath towels and some beach towels amongst them. Whilst we were there, we visited the dogs which are waiting to be rehomed at the moment. It's heart wrenching seeing all those abandoned dogs waiting for a new home, but the Dogs Trust do all they can to help them so they're a very deserving charity to help.

As I mentioned in my Yarndale Sock Line post, I'm sending a pair of hand knitted socks off to help someone in need. In fact, the socks have been posted today so that they'll be there in plenty of time. Eleanor made me a little label to attach to the socks so that I could write the particulars on the reverse.


It's a bank holiday weekend here in the UK (except Scotland I believe), and Mick's taken the rest of next week off work too so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we get some fine weather so that we can have a few days out. I hope you all have a good weekend, whatever you're up to.

Photo Medley - August

Another month's coming to a close so it's time again for a round up of the photos which haven't yet made it on to the blog. Lots more to share from our recent holiday.

This is the view we had as we were driving across the North Yorks Moors, the sky was threatening, we did have some rain when we arrived in Whitby.

The sheep looked at us as we passed. We had to be very careful as many were right by the side of the road.

Lobster Pots. Whitby is a bustling fishing port.

The ideal place to go when you're having a disagreement.

Archie enjoying Dalby Forest. He really loved it here, he could come off his lead and be free.

The beach at Sandsend. I love how quiet it is here, so different from the busy seaside towns of Scarborough, Bridlington and Whitby.

The tide was bringing in lots of pebbles.

I'm not sure if Archie could taste the salt from the sea or if he was licking sand off his nose.

Looking towards Lindisfarne Castle. There's so many beautiful views on the island.

Archie enjoying Cocklawburn beach. A sunny day for a change.

Just after we arrived home. Everything in the garden had grown so much, including the grass. I'm not sure if Archie was pleased to be back on his own turf or a bit depressed because his holiday had come to a close.

I've still got quite a few things to write about the holiday so they'll be coming up in future posts. I hope you're not fed up of hearing about it yet.

Yarndale Sock Line

Anyone who's a crafter and has a blog can't have failed to have heard about Yarndale, the festival of all things woolly which is held over a two day period in Skipton. This will be the third year it's been running and I was lucky enough to attend last year.

There's usually a project which people can get on board with, the first year it was bunting which was displayed throughout the Auction Mart where the festival is held and last year it was mandalas, they were all put together and they made a fabulous visual display. This year, the public have been asked to help with flowers to create a colourful flower garden and afterwards, the flowers will be made in to brooches, corsages and floral wreaths which will be raffled or sold with all profits going to the Alzheimer's Society. Such a good cause.

I've never taken part in any of the Yarndale projects, but recently, Christine over at Winwick Mum blog came up with the idea of a Yarndale Sock Line. You may remember my post about Christine's Sockalong, it was a huge success and so many more people are now knitting socks because of her fabulous tutorial. It was after the success of the Sockalong that Christine came up with her idea. Christine's asking people to send handmade socks before Yarndale or to bring handmade socks to the festival on the day so that she can make Sock Line bunting. It will be a sight to behold, however, the main aim is to have lots of pairs of socks which can be donated after Yarndale to those in need. Homeless, terminally ill, women's refuge and bereaved are just some of those who might need a beautiful pair of handmade socks.

I think the Yarndale Sock Line is a great idea and I've promised to send a pair of handknitted socks to Christine so that they can be included in this brilliant project. Unfortunately, due to lack of time, other commitments and life getting in the way, I haven't been crafting at all just lately, I haven't even finished the Sockalong socks. What to do. Now if you remember all the way back to 2011, I wrote my Finished At Last post. In that post I showed a pair of socks which I'd just finished. The yarn was very hard to knit with, very splitty, and if truth be told it put me off the socks and I've never worn them, they've just been sitting in my sock drawer for the last four years. I'm sure someone could put these socks to good use.

Eleanor's promised that she'll make a little label for me which can be attached to the socks and then they're good to go. I'm not sure yet if I'll be attending Yarndale this year but if I do, I'll be able to see them pegged to the Yarndale Sock Line and I'll know that afterwards, someone in need will be a little cosier because of them.

This is such a wonderful project, anyone who knits or crochets socks knows how snuggly they feel when their feet are wrapped up in woolly goodness so I hope that lots of people will take part. If you'd like to knit or crochet a pair of socks for the Yarndale Sock Line, you can get all the information you need from Christine's Yarndale Sock Line post. You don't even need to send the socks, you could even donate them to a good cause in your own area and just send a photo. My socks will be on their way to you very soon, Christine.

Holy Island

One place I definitely wanted to visit whilst I was in Northumberland was Lindisfarne, or to give it its full title, The Holy Island of Lindisfarne.

The first thing we had to do was to check the tide times. Lindisfarne is linked to the mainland by a causeway and the road is covered twice each day by the tide.

In 635, an Irish monk, St Aidan, arrived in Lindisfarne and founded a monastic cathedral on the island. He served as its first bishop and travelled throughout the countryside of Northumberland spreading the gospel. He's credited with restoring Christianity to Northumbria. The ruins which can now be seen on the island are from a priory established in the 12th century by monks from Durham, which claimed direct descent from the early monastery.

At the side of the priory is a modern day sculpture of St Aidan.

St Mary's Church is reputed to stand on the site of the original monastery which was founded by St Aidan and parts of its structure date back to the 7th century. I'm always drawn to stained glass windows, there were some beautiful ones here.

Inside the church is this statue made from elmwood, carved principally with a chain-saw. It's known as The Journey and depicts monks of Lindisfarne carrying St Cuthbert's coffin on the first stage of its journey to Durham. St Cuthbert was a monk and bishop associated with the monasteries of Melrose and Lindisfarne. He's regarded as the patron saint of northern England.

Lindisfarne also has a castle, however, as with many National Trust sites, dogs aren't allowed so we admired from afar.

Travelling back to the mainland over the causeway, some water had been left on the road which splashed the car windows as we drove across. We must have been splashing the cars behind us too.

It's amazing to think that this area gets fully covered by the sea. The residents of Lindisfarne must have to plan their journeys to the mainland very carefully otherwise they're at risk of being stranded and having to wait for the tide to go out again.

We had a lovely day and even though the weather wasn't at its best, it kept dry and didn't rain.