Timeless coastline

One day last week, wild and unpredictable February gifted us with a fine day. The wind was sending dark clouds scudding across the sky, but at least the sky was blue. And so we headed for the coast. Not for us golden sands, cafes and souvenir shops but a wild stretch of muddy coastline at the mouth of the estuary.

This is the small village of Bardsea that overlooks the water. I've taken you here before but I thought you'd like to visit again.

At the water's edge, we could see no other sign of human habitation. The distant horizon was masked by mist and it wasn't difficult to imagine a group of ancient settlers trudging across the mud collecting shell fish and edible grasses.

Only the hardiest of plants grow here; the kind that will withstand endless battering from persistent wind and salt spray.

 

 

For those who seek golden sun-kissed sands it must seem a very unimpressive coastline but I never grow tired of its unpretentious beauty.

 

 

 

At this time of year it reminds me of the work done by British artist Angie Lewin. I have her book (below) and it contains numerous pictures of her work.

 

 

 

 

Her inspiration comes from skeletal stems and seedpods that she finds during winter visits to wild windswept places.

 

These plants then become the subjects of her wonderful linocut prints.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love Angie Lewin's work

 

 

 

Lakeland sunshine

Mid August in the English Lake District and this year rain clouds have never been far away. But today we had sunny blue skies which gave us the chance to enjoy the great outdoors.

This is Ullswater, one of our quieter lakes. Birdsong and water lapping against the shingle shoreline were the only sounds I could hear.

Our mountains are clothed in purple heather just now and it clings to every available rock and crevice.

Close to the lake, and nestled below towering mountains, is the Church of St. Patrick in the village of Patterdale.

In summer the grass in the old churchyard becomes a wild flower meadow. 

A perfect illustration of 'God's Acre'.

The church doors are often left open during the day allowing visitors to enter for a few moments of quiet prayer and reflection.

Leaving the sunshine behind I stepped into the porch, turned the heavy iron ring on the old oak door and entered the cool interior.

The sun streamed in through the stained glass windows.

Stories from the Bible illuminated in jewel-coloured glass .

The church houses some lovely tapestries created in the 1930s by artist and craftswoman Ann Macbeth who lived nearby.

Here is her depiction of The Nativity which she set in a Lakeland landscape with familiar wild flowers in the foreground.

Looking at the local cottages I wondered if Ann Macbeth had lived in any of them.

In fact she commissioned a house and studio to be built in the 1930s well away from habitation. Her small white cottage is just visible in the centre of this picture.

She probably felt quite isolated during the winter months when thick snow lay on the ground but on a sunny summer's day like today, what an idyllic place it would have been to live and work.

Bright and beautiful

The storm clouds parted as we drove into the tiny hamlet of Melkinthorpe and happily we were bathed in sunshine for the duration of our stay.

The purpose of our journey was to visit the wonderful 'Larch Cottage Nurseries' which is one of my favourite places hidden deep in the Cumbrian countryside.

In through the old barn door we went and spent a happy hour or so browsing and comparing blooms of every size and hue.

My bright and beautiful selection of August bloomers were unceremoniously loaded into the back of the car and are now awaiting a permanent spot in the garden in which to flourish.

But who could resist cutting just a few for decoration indoors.

If you love gardening and ever find yourself in Cumbria do pop into the magical 'Larch Cottage Nurseries', I can guarantee you won't be disappointed.

Settle to Hawes

It's always nice to get out and about and visit other folk's towns and last Friday hubby and I did just that. A forty mile car journey eastwards took us to the pretty Yorkshire town of Settle.

It's an ancient market town nestling at the foothills of the Pennines.

Settle has a wonderful mix of limestone buildings dating back over many centuries.

The town hall dates from the 19th century

The Folly (large building on the left) was built by a wealthy merchant in 1679. Last time I visited Settle it was a splendid antique shop but is now a museum.

I love all things Georgian and could just imagine myself living in this pretty house that was built over 200 years ago.
Over the years I've made a small collection of Georgian silver. Nothing very fancy or expensive. These teaspoons date from 1740.

The owners of the spoons in Georgian times had their initials engraved on the end of each handle. The letter 'C' represents the surname and the 'R' and 'I' the initials of husband and wife.

We bought the spoons from a wonderful antique shop in Settle with the equally wonderful name of 'Mary Milnthorpe and Daughters'.
I was so thrilled to find such a lovely shop that I even kept the little bag that the spoons were wrapped in. There is a picture of the shop on the front of the bag.

And so hubby and I couldn't wait to call at this little shop again .......and here it is.

But much to our dismay we found the windows that were once so full of sparking silver and gold were now completely empty. Apparently the shop closed last year after being run by the same family for 120 years. I'm sure it will be very sadly missed by all who knew it.

Back in the car we journeyed across the beautiful Yorkshire Dales.

If you are familiar with 'All Creatures Great and Small', the TV programme about the Yorkshire vet James Herriot, then you'll probably be familiar with this lovely Yorkshire landscape.

Sheep graze happily beside the road ignoring passing cars. But when a car stops and someone tries to take a photograph of the woolly beasts they immediately take fright.

We passed the Ribblehead viaduct which was built in the 1890s to carry trains across the valley. Sadly a great many labourers lost their lives during the building of this massive 24 arch structure.

A few miles further on we reached the small market town of Hawes, home of the world famous Wensleydale cheese.

The railway came to Hawes in 1878 but the arrival of the motor car lead to its eventual closure in 1959. An old engine and carriages now forms a permanent exhibit and the station has become a museum and tourist information centre.

This sort of thing appeals to me! Its a life sized shepherd, collie dog and sheep all carved from wood and positioned on a grassy island in the middle of Hawes with traffic rushing by on all sides. What fun!

There are lots of little shops to enjoy in Hawes but when we saw this little fellow in a shop window advertising Yorkshire Tea we decided it was time to head for home. What an appealing picture he makes.
You might be wondering if I bought anything on my travels last Friday. No prizes for guessing correctly.

I found a small wool shop and purchased three balls of yarn in pretty pastel shades and, needles to say, this little knitted character is now taking shape.

Owls, logs and lanterns

Today there's a bitter wind blowing off the nearby mountains and I'm quite surprised the highest peaks haven't got a covering of snow. With such a bracing wind what better way to keep warm than a morning spent cutting logs ready for the winter days ahead. My husband loves his chainsaw and everything to do with cutting wood. I think he might have been a coppicer or charcoal burner had he lived 100 years ago. His enthusiasm and hard work thankfully will provide us with log fires until next spring when the process will begin all over again.

 We are surrounded by woodland so fallen branches are plentiful.

You have to know which wood burns quickly or slowly, gives good heat or doesn't. Its all a mystery to me.

The leaves are only just beginning to change colour but the old crab apple tree outside our back door is always ahead of the game and is now shedding its leaves quite quickly. Festooned with blossom in spring and glowing gold in autumn it gives real value for money. I'm always amazed at how many different shaped leaves it has. The ones in the picture above all come from this tree.

The woods are quieter than they were in spring and summer. The sound of birds foraging in the leaf litter alternates with the delicate tap-tapping of falling acorns as they bounce off branches on their descent to the ground. The occasional hoot of a tawny owl is not uncommon. We see this bird quite often around the garden during the day. This little tawny was photographed on our windowsill at midday.

When I was a child my story books always seemed to feature wise old owls like the one pictured above. It is from one of my first books, 'Baba' by Betty Larom. Owls always wore specs and often carried a book under one wing to reinforce their wisdom.

When she was very small my daughter was given a wonderful book entitled 'Come Follow Me' by Gyo Fujikawa. All about the secret world of elves, fairies, gnomes and trolls, the illustrations are really endearing and not at all frightening for a young child. The picture above is attached to a poem about Halloween in which three little witches dance with a black cat amongst the pumpkins. Two haughty owls watch the dancing and frown. No books and no mention of wisdom!

Ted is ready for Halloween but is looking a bit glum wouldn't you say?  A woolly jumper could be just what he needs. With this in mind I have two patterns for you this week. The first features Jack-o'-Lantern and the second little owls.

 

Repeating every 12 stitches, the lanterns are easy to knit and I rather like the idea of knitting a row of smiling ones with just a single frowning one somewhere in the row.

Using bright yellow for the features adds to the effect and really does make the lantern look as if it has a candle inside. To achieve this effect use yellow yarn for the features when knitting or do as I have done and embroider the yellow on later.

 

  

The owl repeats every 12 stitches

 

Both Jack-o-Lantern and the owl would be great for Halloween themed knitwear. You have just a month to complete a project. Have fun!