Wednesday

There’s been a wild wind whipping around the house for the last two days and it’s not inspired me to want to get out and about much.  Winds like this make the cats go a little crazy and the dog’s ears stand on end when we go out for a walk – he’s not allowed off his lead as the wind affects him in strange ways too, and I’m not inclined to battle against the wind to try to find him when he disappears after smells borne tantalisingly on the gusts that he’s never going to catch.

Everywhere, the leaves are turning shades of autumnal colours; yellow, orange, red, brown, they seem to be brighter this year, perhaps helped by the good weather over the summer – I’m not sure if that really affects autumn colour but the trees are looking very beautiful so I’m not complaining.

In the garden too, autumn has arrived.  Our little Acer japonica started changing colour …

and within the week it looked like this …

Yes, those are nettles that you can see in the foreground – there are probably brambles and some vetch in there was well that shouldn’t be – my garden is not as tidy as it should be so that’s why I’m very glad my camera can focus on the pretty bits! 🙂

And pretty bits there are – a solitary Hydrangea flower …

Calendula which survived the heat of the summer …

Berries in different colours …

Leaves in different colours even on the same plant – this is my Hydrangea quercifolia or oak leaf hydrangea …

And I love the spindly flowers on the Witch hazel (Hamamelis) at this time of year with their pungent scent …

Another solitary flower, this one is the very last rose of the year, I think …

And even my favourite Trachelospermum jasminoides is changing colour this year – it’s in a sheltered spot so often stays green all year around but this year it’s joining in with the autumnal parade.

Gorgeous!  I may not be getting into the garden as much as I should at the moment, but the view from the window is fabulous!

The dog isn’t offering to do any gardening for me at the moment either – instead he’s been soaking up the warmth in front of the Aga which is (touch wood) working very well at the moment after yet another visit by the engineer and also the chimney sweep who did technical things with a camera and some heavy poles to get a blockage out of the flue.  Hooray!

Small daughter is on holiday from school – again! it only seems like five minutes that she went back after the summer! – and we’ve tried to have a mix of resting and braving the wind to get out of the house.  Big daughter, her boyfriend and my husband had the day off on Monday so we went paddle boarding (my husband’s idea, he’s always fancied it) at Manley Mere where a nice man called Jeremy taught us the basics and before long we were propelling ourselves across the lake with varying degrees of success.  It’s a great place to learn as the water is flat and not too deep – it turns out that I’m a natural at it which is very nice to know, although I’m not sure I’d have been quite so good if we’d been out on the ocean.  I also think that doing yoga which helps my balance and having been part of a dragon boat racing crew many years ago will have given me a head start, but it was still very gratifying to know that I could do it and not fall off until small daughter and my husband crashed into me 🙂

Another happy moment this week was this:

This is big daughter casting on for her very first pair of socks.  I think my husband was less delighted to think that there will now be two of us knitting at every opportunity, but I am thrilled as not only is this another step in my mission to take over the world one sock at a time, but I am hoping that this will become a skill in big daughter’s armoury to deal with end of term exam stress.  And keep her feet warm.  The only downside is that she’s already got her eye on my stash.

Finally, a few pictures from a week or so ago when I went to London with Lucy for a couple of days.  It was the British Knitting & Crochet Awards ceremony and Lucy was collecting awards – it’s become a bit of a treat for us to spend these couple of days in London each year after the busy-ness of Yarndale and we are both very grateful that we’ve had the opportunity to do that.  I wasn’t placed in the blogging category this year but that’s fine as it’s still amazing to be nominated and I would like to thank every one of you who chose my name out of the list of options.

We often spend our free time walking rather than visiting museums and this year Lucy had the marvellous idea of going on a river cruise.  It’s quite breathtaking to sail under London Bridge when you’re so used to seeing it from a distance on land, and we thoroughly enjoyed a different view of the sights.

We also spent a lot of time looking upwards at the modern buildings – there’s so much to see when you look up rather than down at your feet.  I can’t remember what this building is (edited to add that Lucy has Googled it 🙂 ) but it’s right next to the monument commemorating the Great Fire of London.  The architecture reminds me a little bit of water which is quite apt, really, given where it is.

Finally, what was meant to be an arty shot of the sun on the water, but if you look again, it could be a scene from a UFO disaster movie as the sun turns into a fireball, something is signalling the mother ship with an eerie green light and a missile shoots across the sky …

On that happy note, I’m going to say cheerio until next time … assuming the UFOs don’t land … 🙂

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17 Responses

  1. Helen says:

    It was lovely reading your goings on.

  2. happy hooker says:

    Looks like you had a fun time in London. I love the colours of Autumn, just don't like the days getting shorter and colder! Well done big daughter for getting the knitting bug. I've tried to get my daughter interested, but no success yet!

    • Winwick Mum says:

      I dropped hints for years and taught both my girls how to knit when they were small, but it's only been as she's – interestingly – got more involved in mindfulness and yoga that she's considered knitting might be something that she would be interested in. We'll see how it goes! 🙂 xx

  3. daydream in colour says:

    I have garden envy! It really does look lovely. It also looks like you had a great time in London, even with UFO's about and congratulations to your daughter for her new knitting skills. xx Susan

    • Winwick Mum says:

      We do have a lovely garden and I feel bad that it's so overgrown at the moment so I intend to reclaim it as over the next few months ready for the spring. The ivy has gone mad so it may take some time … 🙂 xx

  4. luluknitts says:

    Your last pic reminded me of War of the Worlds! But on a brighter note, your garden is looking fab (including the nettles/brambles). xxx

    • Winwick Mum says:

      I'm out doing battle with the nettles and brambles at the moment (came in for a quick brew) – it's like War of the Worlds in the borders, never mind in London! 🙂 xx

  5. Val says:

    Love reading your blog. It is cold here today near Ottawa Canada and our leaves have already been blown into another county. My sister wants to take up sock knitting so I will be ordering your books. Is there a chance that I can order signed copies from you? Would be a lovely gift for her for Christmas.

    • Winwick Mum says:

      That will be fabulous, we always need more sock knitters in the world! Yes, you can order signed copies through the blog – if you click "Super Socks books" in the bar at the top of the page or the orange "Winwick Mum Shop" picture to the right then you should find them there. I usually just write a general message in the books but if you want something specific for Christmas then drop me an email and we can sort that out 🙂 xx

  6. jazmin112 says:

    What a pleasure reading about your garden and gardening 🙂 I'm living in Southern Alabama now and have a very pretty garden with a wild effect. I do not like it manicured looking. The birds and butterflies are a joy to watch.
    Originally from Warwickshire it's lovely to see in your photos the plants and flowers that I grew up with.
    Thank you for a lovely story

  7. Julie says:

    Good luck to big daughter in her sock making, knitting is a great asset to have in times of stress.

  8. Lenore says:

    Love the photos of your garden. Hydrangea is one of my favourite flowers. I bought a pr of children knitting needles and small balls of wool home from my trip for my 6yr old granddaughter. We are starting the first knitting lesson this weekend 😁.

  9. Attic24 says:

    The building with the silver twirly bits is called the Monument Building – I did the research………thorough you see…………………….! 😛

  10. J Lucy says:

    I love reading your blog. The UFO disaster film / arty phone is hilarious! Actually, I would probably never have noticed the eerie green light and the missile, but once you mentioned them . . . . 😀

  11. selina says:

    alien photo, lol, think your lens needs cleaning; great photo by the way too!
    ahhh i miss the changing colours of autumn, too hot up here for those types of plants to grow but we have lots of other interesting trees & animals to amuse us.
    congratulations to big daughter on her sock knitting, hope she enjoys it as much as the rest of us have!
    great post
    thanx for sharing

  12. Rachel says:

    Good for you leaving in the nettles, I like that.

    I can well imagine eyeing up your stash! I bet it's delightful; full of woolly treasure!

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