Life Lately

 

The golden shades of autumn are gently disappearing, and the landscape is being transformed once again. Stark, bare trees and dull grey skies. Dark mornings and even darker evenings. This really isn't my favourite time of year.

I'm feeling weary. I've been kept busy at work all this week and my hours are still uncertain. Days are hurried, once again, and brief moments of calm are few and far between. It sometimes feel like I'm on a treadmill wishing, just occasionally, that I could press the pause button and step off for a while.

Last week I managed to do exactly that, and it was lovely. A much longed for trip over to the North East finally came to fruition. Our visit was originally planned several years ago now, but for one reason or another, it simply never happened. We were only away for two nights, but it felt as though it was much longer, and we enjoyed some beautiful sunny weather while we were there. 

We stayed in Berwick-Upon-Tweed, but managed to visit much of the surrounding area, including Bamburgh, Seahouses and Alnwick. The coastline there is just beautiful, and I hope we might get chance to return and explore some more. I'd especially love to visit The Farne Islands, which you can just about see, if you zoom in on the middle photograph above. Boat trips there can be booked from one of the many tour operators in Seahouses, which looked to be very popular on the day we visited, as there were some rather long queues. Another time, I would also quite like to cross the causeway over to Lindisfarne. During our stay, the tide times would have only allowed for an incredibly short visit, so we decided it wouldn't have been worthwhile.

We enjoyed some lovely walks along the sand. The beaches appeared to go on for miles, and I lost count of the amount of times I warned Lily not to get wet feet. She could have easily taken her boots off, but instead she insisted on chancing her luck with the waves. I shouldn't be surprised, just like me, she feels  happy by the water. The sea air and sunshine felt wonderful and restorative, and for just a short time I could feel at ease. 

All the castles were magnificent. We sat and ate our lunch here, enjoying the view.

We never did make it to the pumpkin patch this year, so back at home, we carved our very own home grown pumpkins ready for Hallowe'en. I love how they all vary in shape and size. Of course, I toasted the seeds for a delicious snack, and the flesh was roasted, along with some leftover squash, and quickly turned into curried pumpkin soup.

This year, as well as the usual cobwebs and spiders, we also had a cauldron of bats in our porch. Thankfully, our spookily dressed trick-or-treaters didn't appear to mind them. 

At the weekend, we wrapped up nice and warm, and met up with some friends at our local bonfire.

To stick with tradition, I also took along some of my home made treacle toffee.

Looking ahead, I feel more optimistic. Plans are being put in place, which should hopefully help to make things a little less stressful for me. I'm continuing to keep my main focus on home and family, and I'm really starting to get excited for Christmas now. Chatting with Lily earlier in the week, we have decided to spend our December weekends much closer to home this year, and I am very much looking forward to it. 

J. X

Boo! 🐈‍⬛

There is no denying that November is my least favourite month of the year. Dark mornings and even darker evenings. Gloomy, wet and windy weather. Bright, blue sky days, where the leaves almost appear to glow in the autumn sunshine have been too few and far between.

Hallowe'en was quiet again this year. We received several callers, slightly older than I had expected, but all of whom were lovely, polite, and had made a lot of effort with their costumes, so they were more than welcome to some treats.

Lately, most of my weekends have been spent close to home. A busy working week means I need to run errands or catch up with housework. Finding that work/life balance has proved difficult since starting back again after the summer. Still, things should hopefully improve as time goes on - she says optimistically :)

Last Saturday, we enjoyed a trip into town. Unusually for us, we travelled by bus, which was surprisingly straightforward, given as for some reason I am absolutely terrible at reading bus time tables. We found some new winter boots for Lily and I managed to pick up a few less exciting bits and pieces for myself, before rewarding our achievements (I don't particularly enjoy shopping) with lunch out. After which I may or may not have also bought some mince pies from a well known high street bakery :) 

During the afternoon I  made bonfire toffee and later that evening we lit our sparklers in the garden. Fireworks were thin on the ground here this year. Not that I am complaining. I do love a proper, organised display, but most back garden fireworks can be a little underwhelming to say the least. Fortunately, neither of the cats appeared bothered by the few that had been set off nearby. 

Yes, that's right. I said CATS. I now have two!!!

Introducing...Boo.

Boo is just under 4 months old, he has the most velvety soft fur, bright green eyes and besides proving to be somewhat of a house plant menace, he has settled in just fine.  

J. X

Haworth

 

At the beginning of the week, just after we had visited the pumpkin farm, we enjoyed a two night stay in Haworth, West Yorkshire. This was really down to the lovely Jo, who had piqued my interest in the area with this post here, 

I had been lucky enough to have booked us into a small cottage in a very convenient location,  just off the historic, cobbled Main Street. We were right across the road from the beautiful Central Park and a short walk up the hill from the railway station. Main Street is lined with the most charming, independent shops, it really feels like you've stepped back in time, and at this time of year most of them were beautifully decorated for Hallowe'en. Our cottage was lovely and cosy, and just perfect for the two nights we stayed there. And after a wander around the village, we spent a quiet first night in front of the TV with a delicious curry.

The following morning, I packed up a lunch and we set off for the station. Haworth Station is part of the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway, a heritage railway line, which runs along the 5 mile track between Keighley and Oxenhope. We travelled the full length of the line on a steam train, stopping to look around both Oxenhope and Oakworth stations. Oakworth is best known for the filming of The Railway Children, although now it is for where I enjoyed eating my picnic lunch on the platform, in the warm autumn sunshine :) 

The station is beautifully preserved, with an old style level crossing, separate waiting rooms for ladies, and it even still benefitted from an open fire in the booking office.

Returning to Haworth, we took a walk around the park, before enjoying another walk up Main Street, this time taking in the Church, The Bronte Parsonage, and The Old School Room. There might even have been a refreshment stop at The Black Bull pub, which Branwell Bronte used to frequent - for the historical interest, of course :) Then it was back to the cottage, once again, as by this time we were tired after our long day.

The next day, in order to enjoy the full Bronte 'experience', we walked out of the valley and on to the moors to view the picturesque Bronte Falls, the Bronte Bridge and Stone Chair. Then we walked further along the path up to Top Withens, the ruined farmhouse thought to be the setting for Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights. It was definitely wuthering that morning, although, thankfully, it wasn't cold.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Haworth and might gladly have stayed there a little longer, if only there hadn't been something even more exciting I needed to do...

J. X

Pumpkins 🎃

 

Earlier this week, we pulled on our wellies and headed off to the farm in search of some Hallowe'en pumpkins. Previously, we have always just bought them from our local farm shop, but this year I thought it would be a special treat to visit an actual pumpkin farm and choose one straight from the field instead. 

I love activities such as this, as they are usually done under the guise of being solely for Lily's benefit, when in fact I get just as much, if not more, enjoyment from them :) 

We were taken by tractor into one of the top fields, where there was row upon row containing different varieties of pumpkins. There were orange ones, white ones, blue ones, yellow ones. They had small ones, tiny ones, regular sized and some huge ones. They even had some warty ones.

We took one of the wheelbarrows provided and went off in search of our 'perfect' pumpkin. We were spoiled for choice. I was almost certain I would choose an orange one this time, but I saw the cutest little yellow pumpkin and instantly knew I just had to take it home with me. 

Then it was back onto the tractor again to visit the stand where we would get our pumpkins sized. Afterwards, we were able to wander around the fields, where there were some great photograph opportunities and some scary scenes to help get us in the Hallowe'en mood.

Now we just need to carve them. 🎃

J. X

Rainy Days and Pumpkins

 

Once again, thank you so very much for all your lovely messages. I cannot begin to express just how much it means to me knowing I am in your thoughts. I will reply to you all very soon, I promise. With each day that passes my heart feels just a little bit lighter. 

So, my time off didn't go quite to plan. For obvious reasons I cancelled our planned trip away. It wouldn't have felt right, and in all honesty I wouldn't have been able to enjoy myself. It was a shame really, as the weather on the east coast looked to have been much brighter than at home. To say it has been a bit wet here would be an understatement, and my heart goes out to those who's homes and businesses have been affected by flooding yet again. Wind and rain lashing against the windows has been the soundtrack to much of the week, standing water covered many of the roads and any unnecessary travel has been avoided.

Because of this I have been mainly hunkered down at home and unusually for me I've hardly ventured out, preferring instead to stay cosy and dry indoors. We did, however, go out just for a short while, so that we could choose our Hallowe'en pumpkins and I spent a very productive afternoon carving them. It never ceases to amaze me how I manage to do this without somehow causing myself serious injury, although I suspect it's very much down to good fortune rather than my knife skills. 

And I didn't let anything go to waste either. The flesh was quickly turned into some delicious spiced pumpkin soup and the seeds were gently tossed in olive oil before roasting them in the oven. They taste so so good, and are very moreish. If you've never tried roasting them before, I can definitely recommend it. Just be careful not to eat them all in one go. 

At the weekend, and during another brief respite from the unrelenting rain, we put on our boots and set out to enjoy just a small part of what autumn has to offer. The leaves are changing rather rapidly now and with the sun making a brief appearance it was wonderful to spend some time amongst the beautiful seasonal colours. I would like to say we enjoyed kicking through the crisp fallen leaves, but disappointingly they were far more soggy than they were crunchy - still pretty though, especially in the bright sunshine.

Last night we welcomed some delightfully scary looking characters at our door for Hallowe'en, and you know it really did feel so good after the quiet of last year. During the evening many chocolates and sweets were given and received. I always end up buying far too many but they never seem to last long in this house. 

I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned this here before, but Hallowe'en is also a special day for another reason. It is the day I officially adopted Mog! It has now been six years since Lily and I drove to the animal shelter and brought her back home to live with us. 

I think she's happy to be here. 

J. X