Sounds, sights and scents of Saturday

The rustle of heavy paws across the duvet accompanying a rapid tractor-strength purr. The quiet background chatter of the radio presenter cheerfully announcing the next generic track by another cloned singer desperate to be heard.

The murmurings of low conversation, an occasional scrape of a wooden chair against the floor, the clink of teaspoons stirring, slurping of hot chocolate followed by sounds of satisfaction. The heady scent of coffee and chocolate filling the air. Then the busy street filled noises of a rural market town as we return to the car.

The splash of a river bound dog hurling herself into the chilly water, the clink of selecting pebbles to skim. The audible gasp of minor triumph as we lark along the edge. The chinkle of pottery, glass and metal in my coat pocket as I walk. Not all worth keeping, litter will be dropped off in a bin.

A piercing whistle as we are observed by a robin - just an arm's reach away. Eldest's cellphone making electronic sounds as he takes the bird's photograph.

A sharp fragrance of fresh air, a tinge of bitter green and leaf mould circulating as we walk along the narrow path between a wild tanglement of hedge and old bulging stone wall.

Flashes of hope for spring with the tiniest leaf buds appearing on the hawthorn.

The crunch-thud of boots alongside the mill pond known as Sagar's Lake, coots craaking, mallards peeping and quacking. 

The sight of the woodburner crackling away warming us after our walk as we nurse mugs of tea and eat shortbread pigs.

The turn of a page of a recently charity shopped book, the distinctive scent of second hand novels. A strange and intriguing little story - odd yet enjoyable.

A whistling snore from an afternoon-nap-taking cat - who on gentle stroking - grunts a dozy meow followed by a brief attempted purr. 

Twitching paws and eyelid movements confirm a dreaming dog as she sleeps in front of the woodburner. Her tongue has escaped and occasionally curls and flaps as it dries to a crisp as she sleeps.

Saturday - you were wonderful xxx

PS and now (Monday)? well the constant metallic pitter of rain on the window, the wittering on the radio in the background, the sigh of a bored dog, the clack of the keys on my laptop and the curl of the fresh scent of tea.

💙🐾☔☕☔🐾💙

Snow work

 'A snow day' was decreed by the boss and after cancelling today's volunteers - I have been working from home today. I am on with a photo-project for an exhibition in the event room at work. Over the course of a year I have taken at least a gazillion photographs and as part of an upcoming event some of the images are to be used as part of the display. 

Have you ever tried to narrow down said gazillion images to a select few? I eventually managed to choose 125 - sectioning them into seasons - then took them into work for a further pruning.  Well, that didn't happen either! 

So this morning I spent a fair bit of time turning all 125 images into montages, hopefully capturing the essence of the garden, the seasons, the weather and the fun (and hard work). I now have 20 montages which is a much more manageable amount to display. 

They will hang alongside empty seed packets, vintage and children's tools as well as sketch plans for a new ornamental flower bed to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee. I think - if I can make it work - I will create a kokedama or two and add a couple of seasonal wreaths (a festive one for the winter section and an 'eastery' one for the spring zone) all of which will hang off branches attached to the walls. Well I can't say I have a boring job now can I!?😁🌱🔨

Right, I'll finish my lunch then get on with some garden designing - will be lovely doing good old fashioned paper and pencil type work! 

Enjoy the rest of your week xxx

Stormy

There seems to be a welcome lull in the weather at the moment, Storm Franklin was rather boisterous overnight and the trees have angrily danced and twisted up until about half an hour ago. It is still very breezy and the sky is a mass of fast moving greys and grim but it is now a bit calmer .... 

Yesterday, as we sat finishing off our breakfast mugs of tea and coffee, the dog and cat both vying for prime position in front of the woodburner, Himself talked through a route we would be taking. I had asked for 'an adventure' and although the weather discounted a decent walk out, we packed a picnic of samosas, sweet potato and onion bhajis with a thick lentil soup. Collected coats, hats and boots, camera and binoculars.

Going out in the van has the glorious luxury of being able to heat food which, when the weather is as dismal and chilly as a rain-filled windy February, is wonderful.

We expected, but were shocked, by the amount of water everywhere. Several roads that we'd planned on using were impassable and had us changing direction, others, although under water, we could drive through (carefully......And yes, that is a road in the picture above - just look at the water shooting through the base of the wall on the left).

Moss usually sleeps at my feet in the cab - there is plenty space but today she seemed to want to watch the world go by, so I shifted over to the middle, put her dog-seatbelt on and she gazed out at the passing drenched scenery.

We drove up to a naturally formed lake somewhat unusual in the Yorkshire Dales - Semer Water - where Himself took Moss for a quick dog break. Just as he went down the lane to check if the bridge was open, the weather unleashed a barrage of rain, wind then hail. It must have been one of the shortest dog-piddle-breaks in living history but it was just long enough to see that the bridge disappearing under the rising water. So, no - we could not continue, another division was required.

We turned for home - buffeted by winds and sharp sleet showers as we trundled back down through the Dales. Once back we dashed between the house and the van as we unloaded, Moss suggested rather firmly that she would like her dinner and the cat pointed at the quietly simmering fire with a cross face reminding us that we were the primary fire tenders and we had failed!! (Don't worry the house was lovely and warm, the fire  just was not a huge burning pyre as she would like it to be haha)

And, now as I type this - the lull in the weather has flown away with a gust of wind and the rain has returned .... so I shall do baking, washing and finish off some commissioned garden related work. Stay dry, stay safe and here is to storms passing by x

 

Snow

Thank you for your lovely comments for the sneak preview of the spring inspired arrangement I'd started on Friday morning, a little later the mum of the bride, a new volunteer and I, plus mugs of coffee, sat down with tiny bits of foliage and snowdrops to create the prettiest possible arrangements for each table. 

I showed the ladies how to assemble the mini displays using catkin branch 'nests' I'd made a day or two ago, tucking in ivy fronds, pussy willow and snowdrops then using moss to finish off the look. It was a rather enjoyable couple of hours and it seems that they loved doing it too. I have been promised photos of the event with the arrangements in place.

As the afternoon progressed, the stormy weather turned a little more wild so we decided that it would be better if we left work before it became too difficult to drive on the motorway.  I, along with every other driver on the road, bumped and bounced our way home as the winds gusted across the lanes. Happily I got home safely and curled up with a mug of tea and a dilly dog in front of the fire and listened to the storm railing around the house.

Saturday (today) was strangely calm with clear skies despite dire warnings by the weather forecasters of snow and heavy rain. So, once at work, with one eye on the sky I tackled a few jobs with my young volunteer. (He is always up for an interesting debate or discussion and our conversations can range from politics to ancestry, hair colour to flesh eating bacteria - told you they were varied!!)

Suddenly it darkened and in moments we went from dull winter's colours to completely monochrome as masses of huge sloppy flakes fell. It was very pretty and for quite some time the snow did not stick and none of us at work were concerned. Then we noticed that a substantial layer of snow had gathered and the flakes were now small and hard - the air had chilled and the snow was here to stay. So once again, after making sure all our volunteers and visitors had gone home, we closed early and left. 

This trip was a bit daunting as the motorway was covered in snow and most of the drivers were crawling carefully - except for those who weren't and tore down the other lanes flat out... their choice. But, like yesterday, I got home and now am curled up with a tea (well it's my third seeing you asked...) in front of the fire.

Storm Eunice - although some places in the uk really suffered, here locally we were more 'inconvenienced' than in danger - I do feel for those who unfortunately lost power or had trees fall damaging their property and hope that they are safe and warm.  We have been very lucky.

Moments and snapshots

The radio is on filling the room with sound, while Moss sleeps on the carpet in front of the woodburner. She looks so relaxed and the tip of her tongue is sticking out .... 

The air is gently fragranced by a wonderfully vintage rose scented candle. The flickering light makes the walls appear to waft and shift as they change colour by the glow of the flame. 

Himself's gift of roses and lilies still look beautiful and are a daily reminder how lucky I am.

•,¸,.•´♥`•.,¸,••,¸,.•´♥`•.,¸,••,¸,.•´♥`•.,¸,•

This morning I had the pleasure of creating a large spring inspired floral display for an upcoming private event at work. Although not complete - I will be adding snowdrops and ivy tomorrow - I was quietly pleased how it turned out.

A 'nest' of catkins, damp moss, straw and birch twigs surround the open mouth of the jar and if you stand near and close your eyes you can smell the woodland floor.

Small paper hearts hang from the twigs and tomorrow I will be finishing off the individual table decorations - vintage miss-matched china jugs, cups and sauces will be filled with snowdrops, catkins, rosemary and eucalyptus sprigs, twigs and moss.

They are destined for an afternoon tea hen do - I hope the weather plays nicely..... Storm Eunice you are not invited.

•,¸,.•´♥`•.,¸,••,¸,.•´♥`•.,¸,••,¸,.•´♥`•.,¸,•

 

Rain rain just ****** well go away🙄☔☔

 I've married an old romantic - he never forgets.

♥.•:¨¨:•.♥.•:♥:•.♥.•:¨¨:•.♥

My track record is a little less reliable as I often do forget.....oops. But this year I was a little more organised and presented him with two of his favourites 😊 He was definitely a happy bunny!

I am fed up with the weather though. Fortunately I have a bit of design work to do inside - an ornamental bed for the Queen's Jubilee for work, in conjunction with the community and a private commission - wall or fence vs evergreen hedge for a very small garden on a busy road. The owner has her heart set on a hedge, but there are so many problematic issues - her safety for it's upkeep, the amount of space it would need and how long it would take to grow high enough to give her the privacy she wants. 

Ah - just looked outside and the rain has turned to heavy wet and sloppy snow - *yay* 🙄 I know it is only February and I need to deal with winter - just not this relentless grey rubbish stuff that seems to be happening this year. 

Oh well, sunshine will have to come from within😊🌞💗

Have a lovely and Happy Monday!

♥.•:¨¨:•.♥.•:♥:•.♥.•:¨¨:•.♥

Edited to add: the fence won! Woop woop, so now off to price panels and pleached Silver Birch trees - talk about excited!

Thank Full for those small stories

Being thankful for the small stories of my day.

🧡💚🧡💚

The precious moment when the cat decides that she could share a corner of the bed,

then falls asleep so soundly  I can hear her gently snore.😸

Keeping the house warm as the woodburner crackles away using up waste wood from a broken fence.

The scent of a candle as it fills the air with a warm fragrance of cinnamon and ginger.

Having time to play with the loom.

Eating cheese and mushroom toasties.

Arranging a gift of yellow roses into a glass jug.

Baking a marmalade fruit cake and a tray of Silverdale gingerbread brownies for my man.

Thankful for being warm and dry and inside.☔💨

Small stories making up a large part of my day.

🧡💚🧡💚

Thank you to the lovely Vix (from Vintage Vixen) for the link to the photo-collage site xx

The wild winds coldly blow* 💨☔🌧❄

 After what felt like the longest week in the world I finally reached Saturday and dragged myself through it - in the end I had to admit defeat and left work by lunch time. Yea gods I was tired! The rest of the weekend was mostly happening behind my eyelids, finally by Sunday afternoon I felt 'human' enough to be persuaded to go for a walk by Himself and Moss. The weather, to be honest, had been quite cantankerous and alternatively threw down hail or rain, sleet and in some cases snow but by the afternoon there were promising flashes of sky and moments of delicious sunlight.

So we wrapped up well, jumped in the van (I made sure we had tea and milk and a box of shortbread biscuits on the off chance we might need them .... well you never know!) Himself had decided on a short canal based walk in a small town a few miles away however after about ten minutes of driving the weather turned foul again so with hail hammering down on the windscreen and the heating on full, we drove on towards the Dales to places we know are susceptible to flooding to see how they were coping. 

As we crested the hill we could see the flooded wet meadows and to our left more heavy sky seemed to be bowling in rapidly. The wind picked up speed and the van was buffeted about as we dropped down into the valley.

Roads, rivers and fields became one watery entity as the hail hammered down with a loud metallic clatter above our heads.

We have seen it worse and so far it seemed it was just the fields under water, however some houses were close to the lapping flood.

Sheep were happily on higher ground sheltering against stone walls as they stoically chewed the cud. We'd driven this way last weekend and a couple of fields were dotted with ewes and new lambs - today they were all away hidden in warm barns.

Then just as suddenly as the showers appeared, the sky was blue and the sun shone weakly- we were not deceived by this apparent change of heart as we could see the trees still whipping back and forth and the distant clouds racing in.

By the time we'd reached the small village of Linton, we parked near the falls, there finally seemed to be a decent break in the weather so we chanced a short walk. Down to the Linton Falls themselves - which were turbulent and noisy, over the bridge which rumbles somewhat disconcertingly when it is this full!

Along the river going upstream puddle hopping and hoping not to slip on the muddy path.  We soon reached the lower part of Grassington, crossed the bridge and began the return walk on the other side of the river - we could see the next barrage of clouds coming up and we did not want to get caught.

We only just got back to the van in time - as we were stepping out of our boots and waterproofs - the hail began. It howled and lashed it down with about 20 minutes of vile weather. I am so glad we were not caught out in that! Remember that milk, tea and shortbread biscuits I mentioned earlier? Well they made an appearance and they were most welcome!

Despite the unforgiving weather - the frisky fresh air certainly blew away any cobwebs and the short blustery walk was like a boost to the system. However, I was very glad to be safe and warm and hugging a mug of tea back at the van as we watched and listened to the storm around us.

*Spellbound - Emily Brontë

The night is darkening round me,
The wild winds coldly blow;
But a tyrant spell has bound me
And I cannot, cannot go.
The giant trees are bending
Their bare boughs weighed with snow.
And the storm is fast descending,
And yet I cannot go.
Clouds beyond clouds above me,
Wastes beyond wastes below;
But nothing drear can move me;
I will not, cannot go.