After the Solstice

It’s the day after the Summer Solstice and the longest day has passed – the shortest day, for those living on the other side of the world – and now the world is turning and in six month’s time, it’ll be our shortest day.  Whatever happens in the world (the UK Prime Minister, Sir Kier Starmer, resigned today and has undoubtedly set in motion some ripples that we will feel the effects of for some time to come), the sun comes up and sets, the world still turns and the seasons move on.  Sometimes it feels as if everything else is just noise and what’s really important is the feeling of the sun on your face, listening to the birds or the purr of a cat, and sitting with loved ones.  If only life required nothing more of us than that!

However, needs must and there is always a list of jobs to be getting on with.

The Dark Side of the Moon socks are finished.  Hooray!  I’m very pleased with them and am thinking of patenting them as new form of cat-hair-collection-vortex (or something like that) as they are still a magnet for every passing cat hair 🙂

They’re a bit longer than they should be as I didn’t count the rounds properly so I ended up blocking them on my long socks blockers.  They were made for me by Vicky of D19EcoFriendlyLife but I don’t think she sells them any more – you can still find the link to her Etsy shop on the blog and I am happy to support her as she lives in Ukraine and they are still very much feeling the ripples of political decisions.

Just as I was finishing them, I got an email from The Royal Mint which produces all the coins of the UK plus currency for over 60 other countries, and also collectible coins of various denominations.  Their latest coin was … The Dark Side of the Moon album cover!  How could I not buy my husband one of those to go with his new socks?  Ker-ching!  The purchase was made and his socks now have a special coin to go with them.  I was very pleased with myself!

My new sock design is coming along nicely.  I’m up to the heel flap and am just taking some time to think about I want it to look, which is why the sock is on a long circular needle rather than my usual short circular.  It’s always much easier to see what you’re doing if you can stretch your stitches out a bit and I think that’s relevant whether you’re on your first sock or you’ve knitted hundreds of socks.  In keeping with the time of the year, we need to let the light in!

I went up to Skipton to see my friend Lucy last week and we walked along the canal and up to Robertshaws farm shop for a late breakfast.  If you read her blog, you’ll know that she’s got a bit of a thing about Choc Affair chocolate and the farm shop is a stockist.  She picked up a bar of her favourite, and I thought I’d try this strawberry and vanilla one.

It’s been a bit hot to eat it over the last couple of days and as you can see, it does look a bit melty!  Apparently, you’re not supposed to keep chocolate in the fridge as it can impair the texture and taste so I’ve just put it away somewhere a bit cooler and when it’s not so warm, I’ll enjoy eating it.

It wasn’t quite so hot when I went up to Skipton – it was warm enough to not need a coat but not so hot that you didn’t feel like doing anything.  We spent our time walking through the woods and by the canal, and catching up with family news and what’s on our needles and hooks.  Familiar, regular conversations … but the best sort in the world!

The days always pass too fast when you’re spending time with friends, don’t they?  It hardly felt any time at all before it was time to get back in the car and head home.  On the way, I stopped at one of the farms out on the moors to buy some eggs.  This place is right out in the middle of nowhere and the eggs are left in an honesty box at the end of a long driveway.  You can’t get closer to supporting a small business than buying produce from the end of the drive!

It was a week to catch up with friends last week as I also saw one of my other yarny friends, Lynne Rowe.  She is such a talented designer and tech editor, and is one of those people who has probably written most of the books that you’ll see on a yarn shop bookshelf – but you may not have heard of her before.  She’s not someone who is always in the limelight although you might have seen her on social media, but she is certainly someone whose work you’ll likely have experienced in one form or another.

She’s just released another new book.  Lynne is an expert in both knitting and crochet – this is the crochet version of 20 Dishcloths to Make (Amazon link) and there’s a knitted dishcloths version (another Amazon link) coming out soon too.  The crochet version is in US terms as crochet dishcloths are very popular in the US – I’d say making your own dishcloths is more popular there than it is here in the UK, but that’s only because I knitted my own dishcloths once and they’d gone a murky shade of grey by then end of the week so I decided it wasn’t worth bothering again 🤣

We also had a lovely time chatting about knitting and patterns and everything else in between.  She’s part of the yarny world just as Lucy is, but we have entirely different conversations and I guess that’s just how it is – we’re friends with people for all kinds of reasons and I very much appreciate the wide range of conversations that I get to have with all my friends, not just the yarny ones!

 

I spent quite a lot of time in the garden this weekend.  The Galium aperine – more commonly known as cleavers, goose grass, sticky blobs amongst others (there are so many names for this plant!) although this weekend it was known as “not more of this *£$^! stuff!” – has gone completely mad and it’s everywhere in the borders.  I pulled loads of it out earlier in the year and even that’s grown back!  I’ve pulled out what I can but I am on a mission to re-design the front garden this year so as long as I can try to keep it under control, I can deal with what’s left as the year goes on – and hopefully won’t be spending all of next year pulling more of the *£$^! stuff out!

I’ve started by cutting back some of the hedging that’s massively overgrown – I couldn’t believe how much light it let in straight away!

I’ve also got to cut down my box plant which has been attacked by caterpillars this year.  I’m really sad, this plant’s been here for the 20-odd years we’ve lived in this house and I planted it as a tiny plant all those years ago.  This year, within the space of a week or so, it’s been completely devastated by box tree caterpillars which arrived in the UK from Asia in 2007, became established in the London area by 2014 and is now affecting the rest of the UK.  Whenever I read facts like this, I always imagine a bus-load of caterpillars with little suitcases turning up at the border, but it’s not funny and this is one of many infestations that have spread from other countries as the climate changes.  So, not wanting to contribute to the problem (although it may be too late for that), the box plant has to go.

If you’re in the UK and you’ve had something similar happen to your box plants, you can read more about it and take part in the RHS survey here: https://www.rhs.org.uk/biodiversity/box-tree-caterpillar

 

There always has to be something lovely to outweigh the bad, though, and I set about looking for it.  Here it is!  I have got one solitary poppy from a packet of seeds that I sowed.  They were old seeds so I’m happy with even one poppy, but it’s not particularly well and it looks like it’s dying along the stem, but it’s produced such a pretty flower.

I’m hoping it can survive long enough to produce some seed, but if not, the variety is Papaver rhoeas “Burgundy Bigalow” and it’s still available so I can always get more seed.  I’m going to have re-vamped borders to fill and I’d love to have these flowers in there!

 

It’s been a bit hot for the dog to be out although we’ve been to his favourite field a few times.  The wheat (for that’s what’s growing in there) is getting taller by the day and he’s now at the point where he has to follow the path that’s closely bordered on both sides by the growing crops.  It certainly makes it easier for me as he doesn’t head off in unknown directions!

In other news, not so small daughter is currently in China on a university cultural exchange.  She arrived on Friday and is back home in two weeks’ time.  We’ve been able to keep in touch over the internet despite the Great Firewall of China (yes, that’s what it’s called! 🙂 ) which has necessitated downloading various apps and e-sims to keep her connected, and she’s having a great time.  There’s absolutely no need for woolly socks there at the moment, although she did pack her Film Reel socks and is under strict instructions not to leave them behind because I’m not knitting them again!

It’s amazing to think that she’s been afforded the opportunity to go through university; the whole experience – university and this trip – has really opened her eyes to a wider world.

 

And now I am back to the mundane on a Monday afternoon and have got to deal with the pile of ironing that I’ve been ignoring all  morning 🙂  Have a lovely day, whatever you’re up to, and if you’re in the UK then stay cool and hydrated this week as the temperature rises! xx