February 2025

I never look forward to February, I always imagine a cold, dreary month, and that's exactly what it was for the most part, though we did get a few warmer days towards the end, and the hours of daylight are now getting noticeably longer.

We saw that Aysgarth Falls was hosting a planet and constellation trail as part of the Yorkshire Dales Dark Skies Festival so we decided to go along and take a look. After a period of very cold and dull weather we were lucky, the sun decided to shine, though the temperature was still very low. Located in Freeholders' Wood, which runs alongside the Falls, it's a self-guided trail where you can learn fun facts about the planets and constellations in our solar system. Archie enjoyed himself having somewhere new to walk and sniff, and he seemed interested in the planets too, haha.

We've had some other lovely days out this month. We visited Knaresborough and saw that an artisan market was being held in the Castle grounds so we had a mooch around that. We also visited Dunham Massey which I wrote about previously, Hebden Bridge, and as the sun was shining last Saturday, we even visited Filey on the Yorkshire coast so that Archie could have a walk on the beach.

I've read three books this month.

Although I've previously read Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë and the two books which Anne Brontë wrote, Jane Eyre is the first novel I've read by Charlotte Brontë. I already knew a vague outline of the story so there was nothing of a surprise for me, other than the fact that I enjoyed it far more than I thought I would. Saying that, I still think The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Charlotte's sister Anne is my favourite of the four Brontë novels I've read so far but I shall definitely read more by Charlotte.

The House at Sea's End is the third book in the Dr Ruth Galloway series by Elly Griffiths. Another great read by this author. Not only are the cases interesting but so are the character's private lives, and gauging how this story ended, things are going to get even more gripping in the next book.

I've never read anything by Libby Page before but I picked up The 24-Hour Cafe in The Works as part of their 3 for £6 deal. It was an interesting concept, the story taking place over twenty four hours in a cafe with characters coming and going, but with flashbacks of the two main characters lives to reveal their backstories. An enjoyable read.

I usually put an amaryllis on my Christmas wish list and Mick usually obliges. Last year I forgot and shock horror, I didn't get one. I ended up buying one myself from a local shop. It had been just starting into growth but it seemed to stop once I brought it home and it certainly didn't get anywhere near flowering. This year I didn't make that same mistake and I found this beauty in my Christmas stocking. It's named Ferrari which is quite apt given its colour.

Although we visit Lotherton, a country house near to where we live, on a regular basis, we rarely venture into Wildlife World, which is on the estate, as we usually have Archie with us. We'd heard last year that they'd added six female wallabies to the collection of animals and birds that they host and we finally made the effort this month to go along and see them. Taking a photo wasn't the easiest, Lotherton have, over recent years, changed the wire fencing surrounding the enclosures, they're now more substantial than they used to be so it's challenging to take photos through the bars. Instead, I held the camera high above the fencing and this is what I got, not the best but it could have been worse.

I wrote about Archie's Passport, a promotion being run by the National Trust, back in October. This month Archie collected his sixth stamp in the passport and received his reward of a packet of treats. Archie's a greedy dog and never turns his nose up at food so I was expecting him to like them more than he did. He started off by spitting them out, but did eat them in the end, more through greed I expect rather than actually relishing them.

I had a big surprise when I watched Ali's latest Little Drops of Wonderful podcast as my name was called out as one of the winners of the Strictly Sockalong. I won this Christmas Stocking Bunting set from Wensleydale Longwool and a lovely project bag. Ali also popped in a You Are A Little Drop Of Wonderful pin and sticker and wrote me a lovely note on one of her postcards. I've enjoyed taking part in the Strictly Sockalong for a number of years now, it's a hugely popular knitalong.

So the month ahead, spring at last. It seemed it would never come! Let's hope the weather obliges and we get some lovely spring sunshine, I'm already enjoying the lighter evenings.

Nella Last

I read Nella Last's War back in 2019 and Nella Last's Peace the following year. I knew that a television film had been made which was based on Nella Last's diaries and I'd intended to watch it but it's only recently that I got round to doing so. Housewife, 49 is written by and stars Victoria Wood, greatly missed since her death in 2016. After finishing the first two books, as well as intending to watch the film, I'd intended to buy the third book in the series but it's only since watching the film that I've done so. I'm really looking forward to reading it.

Nella Last lived in Barrow-in-Furness and wrote diaries for the Mass Observation archive from 1939 till 1966. If you want to know more click on the link at the start of this post.

I can resonate with Nella Last as I've kept diaries my whole life. I don't still have them all but the ones in this box go back to 1994. These are pocket diaries and Filofaxes, I always use a Filofax now. These are diaries where I jot down birthdays, appointments, places I've been etc.

I'm also a journaller. I write about my life, quite insignificant things in most cases, but my journals are interesting to look back on. I suffer from anxiety and I find that writing things down can really help, it puts the jumble of my brain into some kind of order. 

I've used different brands and sizes of books for journalling. I've sometimes decorated pages in different ways but I started the large grey A4 size book you can see here back in 2006 and that seems to be the one I always go back to, no decoration, just straight forward plain writing, it seems to work best for me.

Do you keep a diary? Do you keep a journal? What works best for you?

Dunham Massey

It's been a dull weekend but we didn't let that stop us crossing the Pennines on Saturday to visit Dunham Massey in Greater Manchester. A National Trust property, it hosts one of the largest winter gardens in Britain.

We thought it would be a good time to visit with the snowdrops now putting in an appearance and we weren't wrong. The scent as we approached the garden filled the air, it was amazing.

Snowdrops carpet the ground in many areas of the garden.

More than 200,000 bulbs have been planted so there's plenty to see at this time of year.

Winter Aconites.

Lots of different varieties of irises. These are just a couple of them.

There were a few daffodils blooming here and there but many still in bud. They'll put on quite a show in a few weeks, I'm sure.

Camellias are flowering at the moment. This one is St Ewe. All the plants are very well signed in the garden.

There's a whole patch of hydrangea Annabelle where the flower heads have just been left to fade and they look so pretty.

Witch hazels are striking at this time of year with their ribbon-like flowers.

There's some really interesting trees at Dunham Massey too. These Himalayan Birch trees have a bright white bark which really stops you in your tracks, although they haven't come out as well as I'd have liked in my photos and you don't get quite the same effect.

This gnarly old tree is covered in burrs.

We were serenaded by a robin as we wandered round.

Dunham Massey is set on a 300 acre estate and as well as the formal gardens, there's a historic house and deer park.

We don't get to see as much of a place as we'd like these days as we have Archie with us and being an elderly dog, he can't walk as far as he used to. We always have to be mindful of how much exercise he's had, but it does mean that we can return to the places we've already been and see something new.

We were lucky with the weather for although it was very dull, it stayed fine. It had rained during our journey there and it rained again on our journey home.

Dunham Massey is somewhere we'll definitely go again. The garden has got so much interest just now and I think there will be more to see over the coming weeks. It would be good to see what it's like during the summer months when the spring bulbs have died back. We had a very enjoyable day out.