Hello February!💚🌱💚🌱💚🌱💚

I've just blown back in from this morning's work - I was buffeted and pushed by a rather cantankerous breeze as it flew around the village. I have another garden to go to this afternoon which is perched on the edge of the moorland on a crest of a hill - I may have to take ropes and an anchor - want to make sure Moss and I are not blown up and away over the hills! 

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I had a bit of an urge to do a look back on January, to remind myself of things to be thankful for. So many folk have said that this January felt that it was at least 667 days long if not more, however, I have to admit that, to me, it limped along like it always does -  a wet rag on a grey day. 

This year I have noticed that the garden at work I am between four and six weeks ahead of last year and with the private gardens I do, I have started three weeks earlier. So may be January has not limped as much as I first thought?

Moving the bee hives at work first thing before the girls wake up and get cross, 

another view of the choppy reservoir thanks to Storm Malik, 

Moss patiently watching me plant rows of tulips in the cutting garden, 

just one of the amazing sunsets we have experienced, a clear and frosty first moon of the year.

January was busy at work -  I don't often talk about it and although I do enjoy it, like all jobs there are days that are amazing and there are days that I do wonder what on earth possessed me to take it on. The vagaries of wind and weather, rain and volunteers, funding or the lack of it all play a part.

We, Himself and I, have managed a fair few local walks with a couple of exceptionally beautiful ones further afield. I am continuing my #walk1000miles for my fourth year running (as is Lovely Lady a fellow blogger and friend) and we keep an eye on each other's mileages. At the moment we are only four miles apart having both reached over 100 miles of walking for January. Hope we can get more miles in as the days lengthen and warm up!

Last weekend I happily handed over the crochet blanket which has kept my crafting side busy for most of this last month and now I am at a bit of a loss what to do. There is a bit of weaving on my loom which needs the ends sewing in but that seems to be taking an age to complete!

A snowy scene from a cold but brilliant walk, a bucketful of worms, 

the crochet blanket, 

seed planning and sewing at work, 

Moss waiting for us to finish our brews and get walking again.

The worms I won (yes, I know - a strange prize) have happily been installed in their worm towers at work and I am super chuffed to say they seem to have settled in well and doing what worms do best!

I chose my word of the year 'Care' to help guide me through 2022 during January and it has certainly stayed close to me, hope it does as the year continues.

Pan - the cat - seems to be making continuing and wonderful progress at 'being nice', it has only taken nine years for her to realise that humans are not that bad and being stroked and tickled is rather good and purring is not that hard to do! Long may this sea change in purrrsonality carry on!😸

January was a fairly steady month, nothing outstanding happened yet so much 'normality' has, walking, working, making, planning, eating and just being. We do what we can in such a topsy turvy and unsettled world and hope that as the year progresses, the seasons turn and the sun returns that life will continue to be kinder and gentler to us all.

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A rather random and meandering post I know - but I hope you too have found that January was not that bad and that February has room to improve!

Take care

The last few years I have chosen a word to guide me, inspire me and remind me through out the year. A gentle nudge towards what I am hoping to reach or attain. Nothing like rocket science, more a gentle loving hug to help me along the way.

In 2019 - I chose walk. And walk I did. Through injury and self doubt, through stress and  unemployment, through rain and snow and wind and sun. I did it, I walked and completed a #walk1000miles challenge and found my head began to clear and I felt better for it.

A couple of years ago I chose journey. I needed something to work towards, I still felt 'lost' and directionless so by gifting myself a word that required some 'movement' meant that I did in fact - have something to achieve. The journey was not so much packing my bags although that would be part of my plan, it was more of a journey towards a better me. It also turned out to be a word that gave me strength to get through 2020 along with the rest of the world - we all had to journey through strange times and we all had to survive as best we could. Travelling through 2020 was a different type of journey I had hoped to navigate but it was one I learnt from and am still learning.

Last year's word was courage and I needed that so so many times through 2021. New job with a lot of new responsibility and so much to learn and to understand and to deal with. Some days I felt pulled thin having to do something that years ago would not have even concerned me. I needed my word and it certainly gave me the courage I needed.

Which leads me to this year's word. I have been waiting for it to fall into place. There have been several gently whirling around my head each one with merit, each one worthy but none felt completely right, until as I was taking a photograph of the sun's late afternoon rays glowing in a heavy cloud that 'my word' whispered to me.

CARE. Self care, care of the environment, care in completing daily tasks, care of those who need an extra moment, for those who need reassuring and that gentle 'care' that does not take much but means so much more. Care for those I love.

I suspect (I know) this one is going to be hard, going to test me as I am impatient, can be short tempered and hot headed (Himself blames my hair colour...!) But I am willing to let my word guide me.

Care. 

My word. 

Care.

And you? Do you have a word that you choose to guide you through the year?

 

Moon

Once upon a time, 

in the days when we were allowed to walk a little further than just from home, remember them?🙄

No, I'm not so sure I do either.... any hoo - it was one of those days when Himself, Youngest and Moss took ourselves out on a crisp wintery late afternoon walk along one of our favourite (and least muddy) paths.

It was lovely and dry with the palest of pale blue skies. We walked along the canal towpath admiring the reflections and stillness of the evening air. There were very few folk about, possibly a combination of the lateness of the day and brittle chilly air, we didn't mind - it meant a brisk walk without the usual 'covid-two-step' when meeting someone oncoming along a narrow foot path.

Our walk had us walking away from our starting point towards the setting sun giving us beautiful clear views. Then at the furthest point, the sun now gone and any hint of warmth rapidly vanishing, we turned off the canal path and into the fields to return.

As we crossed the canal bridge, there in the distance far far behind us, was the softest pink moon emerging from the quietly gathering clouds.

We stopped and admired it for the merest of times, our breath hanging around us in wreathes of steam and our faces were feeling pinched with the cold air. We continued our walk, keeping it brisk to keep ourselves warm. Only briefly stopping to take photos.

As we arrived back at the village, the moon had brightened and escaped the cloud cover - we agreed that tonight was going to be a cold and frosty one. We'd had a good 4 mile walk and despite the bracing air, we felt rather euphoric (and ready for a mug of tea!)

Courage and a year in review ❤️

Thank you every one for joining in through out the year and in particular December's photo scavenger hunt - here is to our blogging community - may we share, support and uplift each other through 2021 xxxx

 

January - A new year, a new month and two finished crochet blankets. I choose my word for the year **'Journey'.

February - Damp, cold and slow. Lots of walking and watching the news about a new virus spreading from the east.

March - The world stops. We clap every Thursday for the NHS, we hide, we avoid, we are uncertain and ill at ease.

April - Our personal world reduces to a very tight-knit and protective bubble. A small furry lad brings laughter and a much needed distraction. He, after all our care and love, returned to the trees and grows up to be a rather handsome fellow. I still see him occasionally.

May - Walking and keeping a safe distance, wearing masks, washing hands and using sanitiser, queuing to enter essential shops. Sharing and caring is top of the community wish list. Gardening is a safe way to care for others.

June - The weather is glorious, we walk miles and miles and miles over hills and moors. Restrictions are lifted enough for us to get out in the van - we choose to keep as far away from others.

July - Our lockdown summer is one of rolling sunny weather and walking. We keep our heads down and our boots on. Walking and gardening is pure escapism from the worry and the uncertainty.

August - Walking, hiding, gardening, thinking - retreating inwardly. Reviving lost skills, learning new ones. Creating as a form of escape.

September - Walking still - using the miles to breathe and to think, gardening for myself and for those who can't.

October -  The long lingering summer warmth fades, walking keeps us sane, gardening still keeps me busy.  Numbers are not reducing, death toll increasing and we can feel our world becoming on edge again.

November - Once again we are looking inward. Crafting and in particular sewing becomes another way to escape. The weather is now definitely autumnal and certainly more wet, walking is less pleasure but still a necessity - it keeps my head from imploding. Never have I appreciated home and garden, family and the internet connectivity more.

December - The numbers are rocketing, new variants of the virus are emerging and despite the promised vaccine relief there is no way this will help at the speed that it is required. The NHS is at the point of breaking yet there are still those who do not believe or take care or responsibility or even think. We are placed in tier 4......

**And my word for 2020? Journey?

It was the right one for me - not only in the physical sense of me walking hundreds of miles over the year but I have moved on from 'all that was not right for me' in 2019 and journeyed into myself and back out - and 2020 despite being a 'year of all years' has been part of that journey. I have come out the other side more whole than I have felt for years.

I now need a new word, 

a new guide for the new year and it will be 

'Courage'.

I hope that I have inspired you to choose a word for your new year - it helped me - may it help you too xx

I can only hope and wish and think positively for 2021, she will need all the help she can get.  Stay safe, think positively and be kind, above all be kind xxxxx

Going the distance.....

The evening should have be filled with small witches and Draculas, 

giggling princesses and mini monsters

But 2020 has made some changes and we

have had to change too.

No knocking at the door, no yelling of 'trickle treeeeeeeeeet' but we certainly saw and heard excited little folk as they followed the trail around the village as they 'chased the pumpkins'.

We celebrated our Samhain by escaping the house and walking beneath a turbulent sky 

with a boisterous wind.

Storm Aiden had raged through the night and most of the morning, but after lunch,

the storm began to abate.

We wrapped up well,

took a flask, fruit cake and biscuits and walked up on to the moors.

Despite a sharp and flying fast shower,

it was a good walk,

It was a good time to be outside,

feeling the air,

tasting the tang of autumn,

On our return I reached my 1000th mile - 

I have walked one thousand miles worth of walking since the 1st of January,

two months earlier than I managed last year.

To celebrate we sat in the shelter of a small valley while Moss played in the stream.

We drank tea and nibbled the biscuits and fruit cake.

Happy.

 And the biscuits?

Oak leaf shaped ginger biscuits - fancy the recipe? oh, ok.... give me a mo....

350g/12oz SR flour

10ml/2 level tsp ground ginger

100g/4oz butter

175g/6oz light brown sugar

60ml/4 level tablsp golden syrup

1 egg - beaten

Oven - 190 deg c/375 deg f

Soften the butter (I used the microwave), add the sugar, syrup, ginger and stir well

Add the beaten egg, stir again.

Mix in the flour then knead lightly until well mixed and a lovely pliable dough.

Place in the 'fridge while you wash up

Roll out (dust surface and rolling pin with flour) and cut the biscuits.

Space out well on the tray and bake for 12 - 15 minutes, until golden brown. Cool on a rack before scoffing with a mug of coffee.

nom nom nom

Surrender

We followed the smaller roads, the ones that went over old ridges and through ancient villages. Roads no wider than the van, ones as wild at the surrounding hills. We saw no one. Just sheep, clinging to the hillsides, and farms - stoic stone buildings bent by time and hunkered down out of the prevailing winds.

Our destination - Surrender Bridge, Swaledale. A lonely crossroads with a long history high up on Reeth High Moor. We arrived in the gloom and hurriedly took Moss out for a last evening walk before bed. We could hear the rushing water over the large red and grey boulders and the occasional car heading home from their day.   Lights and heater on in Zeb made a cozy and snug hideaway for the night. After we'd eaten, we curled up under the duvet and read and perused maps planning the next days walking.

Day break was marked by the chucking call of the red grouse as they confirmed their territories all around us. The air was chilly however, clutching mugs of steaming tea and wrapped in the duvet - we watched the birds antics and took in our view.

I walked Moss while Himself made our breakfast, we strode out in the early morning air, crisp and fresh. At the top of the little hill we'd gone, I turned, the sun warming my face. I was itching to walk - so Moss sorted, we strode back down to the van.  Breakfast and Himself were waiting as were my boots and haversack.

Our path took us up above where we'd parked, along an initially boggy and indistinct path which soon settled into a rocky and winding trail that wound its way around incredibly interesting industrial archaeology.

I knelt down and tried to stare down the tunnel - the collapsed roof revealed a beautifully stone lined flue from the smelting mill below. The flue continued up over 400 metres up the hill - built to carry the noxious and toxic fumes away from the once busy mill.

The valley was full of derelict farm buildings, kilns, slag heaps, tunnels and holes. Some farms appeared to have been purchased purely as residential homes and the land seemed abandoned. One or two farms looked to be working however the land itself seemed a hard creature - thin and either marshy or crumbling. Difficult to work - yet there were places of raw beauty and micro worlds of delight.

The narrow track widened and turned into the most shimmery mirror pool reflecting the sky and reeds fringing the edge.

Our route took us off this harsh beautiful space and we dropped down into a kinder valley filled with ancient woodlands with small and secret magic.

The path took on added frisson as it left the safety of the trees and clung to the side of a precipitates edge high above a rough and tumbling river. We loved it. We all did. 

The path finally took us down to the river which Moss took as a sign she was meant to swim in the tea coloured water. We reluctantly continued on and tore ourselves away, Moss even more reluctant that us had to be called several times before she slowly dragged herself out of the water.

The steps from the river back up the valley side were new and extremely steep! Moss took them in her stride, I had to work a little harder to get myself up them.

It seems that the easier path is no longer allowed - a shame, it was kinder on the knee and on the lungs.

Heather - burnt  to create grouse feeding grounds - surrounded the narrow stony trail we now walked on.  Below us was the remains of the Surrender Smelt mill - a name that has many suggestions as to why it is called Surrender - ranging from being the name of the original led mining company, to the 'surrendering' of toil money by the miners as they carried their wares across the bridge, or the name of the wild  Surrender Moss, a place higher up the moors.

With a bit of research I think that the company name is the most reliable as the first reference to 'Surrender' in connection with the area was noted in 1806 when there was a request to 'let the hearths' to the Surrender Company. 

We explored the old smelting mill, quietly wondering at it's history and the people that were involved. I find the views from the empty windows the most evocative. 

Once back at the van, the kettle on, Moss rubbed down and wrapped up - the wind was still cutting, we sat and watched a couple of sheep grazing, listened to the grouse cackling and scrapping over their territories. 

Sipping tea and eating fruit cake after a walk never tasted so good.