A Year Without Archie

I can't believe that it's now a year since Archie died. Even after all this time, we're still getting used to life without him.

Anyone who has ever loved a pet will know the heartbreak that comes with losing them, and though it's such an awful thing to live with, it's worth it for all you gained through loving them.

I still look for him as we unlock the door after a trip out, think I can hear him mooching about the house sniffing for food, imagine I glance him out the corner of my eye as I pass an open door, and turn my head to look at the back seat of the car on days out.

Archie was only a little dog but he left a huge hole in our lives and he'll be missed forever. My best boy.

Jigsaws

It's many years since I last had a go at a jigsaw, in fact I can't even remember when that was. I see many people who write blogs, and on Instagram, showing the puzzles they've completed and I always think that I must have a go at one myself but it's one of those things that I just never get round to.

Until, that is, my lovely friend Lisa bought me a jigsaw as one of my Twelve Days of Christmas 2025 gifts. It was only a small puzzle, 100 pieces, but I think this was just what I needed to get me going. We had a rainy afternoon one Sunday in January and with nothing much else to do, I unboxed it and completed it in an hour or two. I loved the process and was hooked. Isn't it a pretty design, I just love all those flowers.

It wasn't long until I started on a jigsaw which Mick bought for me for Christmas 2024. This one is a Charles Dickens design with the added fun of having seventy Dickens characters to find. It's only these past few years that I've started reading Dickens' novels, I've read five of his books so I don't know all of the characters but there was an information sheet included which told you a little about each character and showed a picture of them. It was a good addition, a bit of extra fun after the last piece was fitted. This jigsaw was quite a jump from the last one as it has 1000 pieces. I was rather addicted to it actually, I couldn't wait to sit down with it each day, so it didn't take me as long to finish it as I thought it would.

Then I started on a Wasgij, this was another Christmas gift from Mick which he gave me many Christmases ago, it was definitely time to have a go at it. A Wasgij is a different type of jigsaw in that you don't assemble the picture on the box, that's just there as a clue. The scene is usually something that the characters are looking at, so as it's a bit back to front, the word jigsaw has also been turned around, hence the name Wasgij. As there's no picture to go by, it's rather challenging. Before I got to the main puzzle though, there was a free 1000 piece puzzle included in the box, this time it did resemble the shown picture so it wasn't as difficult as a normal Wasgij but it was still a bit challenging for me.

And then came the actual Wasgij which I've just finished. Again, it's a 1000 piece puzzle and this time there was no picture to go by, just a hint, 'What the vicar can see!'. This one was the most difficult of all but I enjoyed the challenge.

I think I've discovered a new hobby, in fact I'm obsessed, I could sit all day if time allowed. I've decided that I'm not going to do any more jigsaws though over the summer months, keeping this as a winter hobby, it'll give me something to look forward to when the darker evenings roll round once again.

Mick's 60th - February

It's Mick's 60th birthday in August so we're having a year-long celebration, doing some fun things throughout the year, hopefully something each month. I'm arranging everything myself, Mick has no idea what's in store.

I'd been waiting for a fine day throughout February, it's just been so rainy, so it wasn't until yesterday, almost the end of the month, that we finally got a reasonable day which coincided with a day we were free.

As you will know by now if you've been reading my blog for any length of time, our favourite place is the Yorkshire Dales, we just love it there and take many trips every year, but there's still plenty of places we've yet to discover. We couldn't have a year-long celebration of Mick's birthday without including something from the Dales, but I didn't want it to be anything we usually do when we visit, so I put my thinking cap on and this is what I came up with.

We set off early yesterday morning and arrived in Settle at about 9.45am.  We headed straight to the train station and parked up the car, we were going to ride on the Settle-Carlisle Railway. We weren't going all the way to Carlisle, just a couple of stops along the route so that we could cross the Ribblehead Viaduct, something we've never done before. We often park up to watch the trains crossing the viaduct when we're passing, you can see the viaduct in my post about Malham which I wrote a few years ago.

There were some beautiful views along the way before we reached the viaduct.

They say that the Settle to Carlisle railway is one of the worlds greatest rail journeys owing to views of the landscape of the Yorkshire Dales before the train heads into Cumbria's Eden Valley which then gives way to views of the Pennines and Lakeland Fells.

We passed through Horton-in-Ribblesdale and Ribblehead stations before we reached the Ribblehead Viaduct which carries the railway across Batty Moss in the Ribble Valley, it's Grade II listed and is the longest structure on the Settle-Carlisle line. This is the view as we crossed it.

About ten minutes later we alighted the train in Dent, you may remember my post about The Terrible Knitters Of Dent which I wrote a couple of years ago. Dent Station is the highest main line station in England.

We were the only passengers to leave the train at Dent and as we left the station we could see why. Rookie mistake, I should have checked that Dent Station is actually in Dent. No, it isn't, Dent Station is actually in the middle of nowhere, over four miles from the village of Dent.

Not to worry, I thought, there was a bus stop right outside the station, but oh dear, on checking the timetable there's just two buses per week, both on a Saturday. So as I'd got other things planned throughout the day, we decided to cut our losses and return on the next train which was an hour and twenty four minutes later, which I'd planned to do anyway, and in the meantime we took a walk along the road outside the station. In all that time only three cars passed us.

Another photo crossing the viaduct on our way back, this time in the opposite direction. You can see cars lined up along the road where people park to either watch trains cross the viaduct or to take a walk underneath the arches.

We arrived back in Settle early afternoon and had a short walk around the small market town, grabbing something light to eat before leaving Ribblesdale behind. The Yorkshire Dales has the longest cave system in the country and we've often passed Stump Cross Caverns on our trips between Grassington and Pateley Bridge but we've never visited so I thought it was about time we did. I knew it would be something that would interest Mick and I wasn't wrong.

I went caving, or potholing, in the Yorkshire Dales on an outdoor pursuits course with work when I was in my teens, I can't say it was my favourite part of the weekend so thankfully, our trip to Stump Cross Caverns was nothing like that. Discovered by lead miners in 1860, the formation of Stump Cross Caverns began millions of years ago and so offer a glimpse into prehistoric life. There's an extensive network of underground passages and cave systems between Wharfdale and Nidderdale, featuring amazing stalactites and stalagmites and there's now a scenic walking route throughout.

I wanted to go later in the day as at 3pm the main lights are turned out for the ultraviolet experience. As well as being given a normal torch to light your way, you're given UV torches to shine on the calcite rock formations which then glow.

Here's a stalagmite under normal light.

Here's the same stalagmite under UV light.

It was an amazing experience, you just never know what's underneath the ground you're walking on. The number of times we've passed this attraction and yet we've never been before, both Daniel and Eleanor would have loved this when they were young, it's an attraction suitable for all ages, though you do need to be quite fit as there are a lot of steps to get down into the caves and there are some rather low ceilings, hard hats are provided, and needed!

Our last port of call was less than ten minutes away in Appletreewick. The Craven Arms is a 16th century pub restaurant which we've been visiting for as long as I can remember. Serving traditional food, you're always sure of a good meal, and that's exactly what we got. A lovely way to end a lovely day.

It's such a welcoming pub with roaring fires when it's cold and cosy corners. It's been used as a filming location for many programmes, most notably the interior scenes of The Drovers Arms in All Creatures Great and Small.

And what have we here next to the beer barrel. Why, it's a little mouse door, a pint of milk waiting on the doorstep.

What a lovely day doing new things, we both really enjoyed it, despite the little hiccup with Dent!

In Search Of Snowdrops

We've been promising ourselves a trip to Dunham Massey, a National Trust property in Altrincham, to see their wonderful display of snowdrops but there just hadn't been a let up in the rain until last Saturday when we woke to blue skies and sunshine.

We seized our chance and made the journey over the snowy Pennines. As you enter the gardens the heady scent of daphne greets you. A wonderful shrub to grow for winter and spring perfume, I'm looking for more winter interest in my own garden so a daphne has been added to the list.

We've had so much rain just lately that many of the flowers are quite mud-splattered but that didn't spoil our enjoyment of them.

I think the best way to see snowdrops is en masse, a beautiful carpet of white, so as much as I can appreciate the beauty of a single flower it just doesn't take my breath away in quite the same fashion as a whole swathe growing together.

As well as mud, the plants are having to contend with lots of leaves which have been blowing around too. I think they're in just about every one of my photos.

Dunham Massey isn't only about snowdrops though, there's over 200,000 bulbs in the gardens as well as other plants and shrubs so there's plenty to see the whole year round, though it's got one of the largest winter gardens in the UK so it's a great place to visit at this time of year.

Primroses are one of my favourite spring flowers, I just love their delicate, pale yellow colour.

I found irises very short lived when I grew them in my last garden, none ever flowered again for a second year. Perhaps they didn't like the conditions there and I should try them in my new garden.

This one is iris George.

I love witch hazel with their spidery blooms. They're always fun to photograph in the sunshine as the light passes over them.

You couldn't have a winter garden without hellebores, though I always think it's such a shame that their heads bow downwards, they're such pretty flowers.

A beautiful camellia, such a pretty colour.

I was rather taken with this salix Mount Aso, I've never seen pink catkins before. Many people were stopping to admire them.

You don't really get the effect of the snowdrops growing underneath the Himalayan birch trees from a photo, nor do you see quite how white the trunks are, but this area of the garden is stunning.

I have insect houses in my own garden but I love this idea of building a wigwam with cut back material for bugs to overwinter in. It will rot down and can then be raked into the soil and used as compost. It gives a bit of interest to the winter garden too.

I can never resist a photo of a mossy trunk.

Dunham Massey was packed on Saturday, I think everyone was pleased of a break in the weather and decided on a day out. It's such a large property though that there's plenty of space to accommodate everyone. The house is closed at the moment, it reopens again next month.

We had a walk by the pond to see the ducks and swans before taking a walk in the 300 acre deer park. A large herd of fallow deer roam freely and it was lovely to just stand and watch them awhile.

It was a lovely day out, just what I needed after being cooped up indoors because of the rain. I've noticed that the hours of daylight are beginning to lengthen now and the buds are swelling, spring isn't too far away.

Cheery Flowers

I always find that the house looks rather sad and forlorn after the Christmas decorations come down in January. Add the dull dreary days of winter to that and it seems to me that the house needs something to cheer it up, just as I do myself. It's just as well then that the shops begin to fill with colourful blooms, enough to lift my spirits and also to brighten up my home.

The first flowers to fill my jugs and vases in the new year are always daffodils. A bunch can be found for less than a pound in some places, and they're not much more in the most expensive shops. They're worth every penny as they put a smile on my face every time I walk into a room and see them, and they certainly cheer up a dull room with their beautiful, bright blooms.

Hyacinths are a must for me. I think they're a flower you either love or hate, mainly because their scent is so strong. Unfortunately, we have mixed opinions in our house, Mick doesn't like the smell but he has to put up with it because I absolutely love how these flowers fill a room with their perfume. They're such pretty flowers too, available in beautiful pastel colours as well as bright jewel tones. I've already had some gorgeous purple ones this year, these are my second pot.

After enjoying the sunny sight of daffodils for a while, it's time for tulips to take over. What a choice of colour here, everything from the darkest purple, which are actually nearly black, to a stark white, and so many colours of the spectrum in between. There's a colour for everyone, so much choice, the only problem is that I can never choose a favourite so I have to keep buying different ones to help me decide.

Mick usually buys me an amaryllis every Christmas. How I love these huge, exotic looking flowers. They're so much fun to watch, transforming from bulb to a glorious bloom in such a short space of time, and they're so easy to grow too. This one hasn't grown quite as tall as they usually do but it's stopped it toppling over and, as you can see, there's another stem just beginning to grow, two for the price of one. I've had as many as three stems from one bulb in the past. I've tried regrowing the same bulb in subsequent years but have never got one to flower yet so I've given up. They're cheap and cheerful anyway, and it's always nice to have a different colour each year.

Do you have flowers in the house during the winter months? Which are your favourites?

Yarn In And Out

At the beginning of last year I made a decision to track the yarn coming into my house against the yarn I used up. I do have quite a large yarn stash and I was curious to know whether I was using more than I was acquiring. I'm not going to say buying as I also receive yarn as gifts, I've been known to win yarn in giveaways and knitalongs too.

So at the end of the year I added together the amount of yarn which had come into the house and found that totalled 2590 grams. Goodness, I'd have never guessed it would amount to that. When I added up what I'd used it came to 1152 grams. That means there's an extra 1438 grams in the house to begin 2026 than there was when 2025 began. Ooops.

Guess what, I don't care, haha. Collecting yarn is a hobby in itself, all that beautiful hand dyed yarn, though I'm rather partial to commercial yarn too, there's plenty of that in my stash. I wasn't trying to use more than I acquired, I was just interested to see what the result would be. I think I'll do it again and see what the figures are this year.

Works In Progress

I started the year with a few things waiting to be finished off. There are many more projects I really want to start but I'm determined to finish some, if not all, of these before I do.

All the squares for the Natures Walk Blanket by Sandra Paul were finished a long time ago. I've since sewn in all the ends and blocked them, they've been waiting to be joined together and the border added for quite some time. I've loved this blanket since I saw the release of the pattern and I can't wait to have it finished now that I've started crocheting the squares together. Not too far to go on this now.

The Vertices Unite by Stephen West is something else I've loved for the longest time. I started it nearly a year ago but it's been put to one side, mainly because I was knitting things for Jack, but it's been picked back up again now. It's knit in six different sections and I'm now on the fourth of these so I'm over half way. It's something I can work on whilst watching TV as it's nice easy knitting.

I've got so many odds and ends of yarn in my stash, I'm loathe to throw even the smallest scraps away, hand dyed yarn is expensive, but also very pretty, so I decided to crochet all the smallest scraps in my stash into a Granny Wrap, an easy shawl pattern by Annaboo's House. The only problem with using scraps is that you have to change yarn so often and this means that there's so many ends to sew in, it's quite time consuming. I'm getting there though, it's already a decent size but I want to add more to it, I've still got so many scraps of yarn left. It looks so colourful.

So that's it, three projects left to finish but I can see the end in sight for them all. Look out for the finishes.