Wild

We've been away, 

we've breathed sea air, 

climbed coastal cliffs, 

walked woodlands and lanes. 

We've watched the stars, 

dodged the rain 

and felt the magic of a wild holiday.

And there have been wall to wall bluebells - beautiful.

I have plenty of stories and a plethora of photos but they all need a little organising, so, if you'll excuse me, I am off to put the kettle on before I share - mine's a lemon tea fancy joining me?

Sunday walking

Last Sunday, the four of us planned a walk via a (new to us) bakery. 

It has a justly deserved reputation for making

oversized delicacies. 

We treated ourselves to a couple of custard slices 

and some vegetarian curry pasties

This 'little' gem took all four of us to finish it off! 

The second 'dainty' was eaten at the end of the walk. 

By then (several hours and many footsteps later) we were ready for it!

Along the way, Eldest spotted this hare leveret hiding in the undergrowth.

We were captivated. 

There is such wild beauty in the hare.

The walk was a brittle-cold one, 

the wind icy and cutting, 

not conducive to lingering and taking photos.

We finally returned to the car,

with our cheeks red and fingers stiff with cold.

And agreed, 

despite being very tired, 

that it had been a really good walk.

Unexpected

S'funny what you find in a Dales village when you come down off the hills....

Little hearts, fluttering. 

Unexpected strings of hearts

 Around the village

Stuffed, flat knitted, crocheted, sewn. 

 Decorated with bugle beads, ribbon, buttons.

Twinkling, sequinned, felt and felted. 

Made us smile :)

Knitting k.news

A couple of years ago, I knitted what we call the 'Iceland Hat' for Eldest, so called as it was taken on a school trip to Iceland. A soft grey merino knit that has been worn and worn and worn much to my delight.

Youngest, at the time decided that he wanted a rasta style slouchy beanie, 

which I knitted and he wore - may be once or twice...... 

He asked, a bit later, for a knitted scarf, 

which I did for him, in the colours he chose. 

He wore it....once or twice......

 

Now, Youngest has asked for a 'Iceland Hat' of his own.

Hmmm. Does, I ask myself, history repeat itself? 

This time just might be different. 

Why you ask? 

Well, his girlfriend has chosen the colours and pattern.... 

oh well, I'll keep you posted......

This and that and a little of the other.

I know I've been a little quiet on the blogging front - but it is about the only place where my life has been quiet recently.
Work has suddenly blown itself out like a thunderous summer storm and is temporarily sitting quietly waiting for the next front to fly in. We're all at sixes and sevens in an odd mixture of relief at the respite and the urgent need to use this window of calm to catch up with mounds of paperwork whilst squeezing in new projects and ideas.

No wonder when, by the time I get home, I flump on the settee and attempt to knit a row or two, sip lemon tea and fight to keep my eyelids open!

Bring on the weekend I say!

Although  a little cool today, we've had some cracking spring weather and as I sit here wrapped up wondering whether to light the fire, just looking at the pictures reminds me that there has actually been the most delicious spring days filled with sunshine.

One of my lunchtime walks happily provided me with both the above and below photos. 

The ewe and her lambs resting in the shade and a Mistle thrush fledgling pretending not to be real. 

I love it's whispery 'eyebrows' of left over fledgling fluff.

We had a small friend over for a week while his mum and dad were on holiday.

Youngest was besotted and they instantly became best friends.

We soon discovered that he liked to nap on the settee after a walk.....

Himself, completely out of character, 

allowed this small indiscretion 

and went around with a smile on his face every time he looked at the sleeping pup.

When he went back after his week with us - he was sorely missed.

We've done some decent walks recently. 

Almost with obsessive fervour, 

we've headed up onto the hills, 

using the wild air as antidote to normality. 

This discombobulated post has been a bit of an indulgence for me. There are quite a few stories twirling around in my head, I will share, they just need to get themselves sorted :) Speak soon x

Here's to Friday xxxxx

Two Good Reads

Hi there - a quick post to say a delighted

to Cathy from The House with the Blue Door  for nominating me in 'The two Good Reads' tag. Thank you Cathy - there are so many lovely bloggers out there that I feel privileged to have been chosen :) Cathy said she found it difficult to choose and I agree with her, there are so many inspiring and entertaining blogs out there.

My first choice is Going Gently - who's daily tirade can have me veering from hysterically laughing until I can barely breathe to quietly feeling saddened by his acutely observed vignettes of life. He is definitely worth a visit make sure you have a large mug of tea/coffee or any tipple of your choice and imbibe yourself in his life - it will be worth it!

My second choice is Sara from Sarajcrafts. Sara and I seemed to click and often email each other. A gentle blog with lovely photos of flowers, gardens and craft, days out and visits. She shares her life with a sports mad teenager and Smudge the cat. 

Thank you again Cathy for nominating me !

**My original first choice had been Threads through My Life - a private blog, so only accessible to a few (and I am one of the lucky ones) however I need her to know what wonderful words and stories she weaves of her daily life. Her photos and her crafting are amazing. She is someone who inspires me in both in the blogisphere as well as in my life - xx

Into the blue

At the end of the summer last year,

after the holidays

I wanted to capture the essence of

those warm sunny days...

I started a coastal coloured crochet cushion,

taking it out on our autumnal walks 

so I could crochet the rows.

For a while, once it was finished,

the cushion sat pride of place on the settee.

 Then,

over the course of the winter months,

when I yearned for brighter skies.

Blue seas.

Warm salty air.

 I started another cushion,

also in shades of blues and sea,

sky and sand.

Then there was another,

all reminding me of summer holidays. 

Suddenly, I had four cushions.

All related, all different,

all falling off the hook

during a driech winter... 

Now that spring has landed,

the sun has finally found it's strength and

begun to warm the air,

reminding me that summer is just around the corner...

Friday morning. 

A good time to take photos.

Great light.

Almost that same clear blue light

that I associate with being on the coast.

Happy?

You bet I am :)

Zoomy zoomy lunch time life through the lens :)

Hi there to Treshnish - my newest follower, you used to follow me when I was 11am - welcome back! I have such a soft spot for Isle of Mull as we celebrated our honeymoon there and spent a few very happy (wet and windy) days there :) Treshnish  takes beautiful seascapes, windswept coastlines and farming photos - please pop over and have a look :)

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I have been asked again about my new lens, so I thought I'd do a post about my new toy :)  As I mentioned before, it is neither super expensive or super fancy, but for me it has been a delight as well as a steep learning curve.

I'd been cogitating over my desire to have something a little more 'zoomy' than my existing lens. When my camera (Sony a230 - no longer being manufactured in this spec) needed a service, I asked the man behind the counter what he recommended at a price I could afford.

He suggested a couple of makes so I did a bit of research on the 'net.  It is a bit of a minefield of information so it did take a bit of searching to find something that fitted my requirements.

Well, today was a bank holiday and I was the only one working :(, so the boys came up for a walk and met me at lunch time - it was glorious sitting in the sunshine listening to the bumblebees working their way through hundreds of thousands of dandelion flowers. It was a perfect day mini micro-adventure.

Of course, I had my camera with me. The above photos is with my original Sony standard lens, the gloriously dandelion filled village green in Langcliffe.

After reading reviews and spec, I eventually plumped for the Tamron AF 70-300mm F/4-5.6 Di LD Mcro 1:2 lens, which is a  happy step up for me, however probably not grown-up or sharp enough for the professional. The difference it has made to my 'macro' and my long distance shots is definitely a huge plus. The dandelions below are the same as above.....only shot through the Tamron...... bit of a difference ?Yeah! 

And I don't mean the close ones, these flowers are in the middle distance of the original view.

Above - the Tamron lens retracted and 

Below - the lens fully extended. 

In the interest of science (well..... more for the fun of it really)  I took two more photos - Langcliffe village church, the first with my Sony camera SAL 1855 18-55mm standard zoom lens. 

 And this one - with my new zoomy lens. Neither lens was super extended - just mid-range focus and click.

On the negative side, the lens, when on AF (autofocus), constantly shifts backwards and forwards while it settles and is quite a greedy battery eater. I have started to use MF (manual focus) which is a bit slow and I certainly need loads and loads of practice. However, it is not impossible for me to take good in-focus photos but I am a lot slower at striking the right balance than the AF can do - but it is all practice.

Gratuitous picture of both lenses just for comparison purposes. The end piece of the new lens (on the right) is a sun-shield - which is great as it means I don't have to hold my hand up in front of my camera to stop unwanted sun-flares (unless I actually want them there :) )

And just to make clear, in no way am I being sponsored or have an affiliation with any of the equipment I am waffling on about.

Now - just a couple more pictures before I completely bore you..... enjoy.

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