Social crafting & a little summer

Posted on July 26, 2024 by The Little Room of Rachell

There’s nothing quite like social crafting. You sit yourself down in a new group, get your craft kit out and instantly you’re asked what you’re making, is there a pattern, or is it your own, oh and what’s the yarn? Then allsorts of topics just flow, you join in as little, or as much as you want and before you know it you’ve drunk your coffee, crocheted a small pile of circles and two hours have vanished!

This week I’ve gone to two crafty meet ups, one leading to the other, and topics have ranged from Jeremy Clarkson‘s new pub, his finding of knickers on the site, dogging (!) Rashes under boobs, muslin cloth, block deodorants, traffic issues, local festivals, roadworks, politics, ID, living in Yorkshire, the north and south of England a personal comparison, air fryers, gin, husbands reluctantly making their own lunch: “But what will I have?!” (mentioned by the older women, the younger were slightly agog. How about: “Anything you fancy making darling?”) and much, much more. Craft is probably about 3% of the range of topics covered. There is always much laughter.

When I first started visiting yarn groups, maybe 12 years ago, crocheters were in the minority. There might be me and perhaps one other, unless I felt I needed to bow to the general trend and took knitting. The morning after an evening spent in a pub or cafe I would realise my knitting was always a complete mess, because I couldn’t concentrate on any kind of pattern, chat and sip coffee or alcohol at the same time. Naïvely I once took some lace knitting to a meet up in Oxford. Never again! I find crochet much more free flowing.

At the first craft group I went to this week seven were crocheting, three knitting and one was sewing up some knitting. At the second I would say it was about the same; more were crocheting than knitting of the fifteen. Unfortunately the one who was sewing up on Tuesday came to the other group as well and was re-sewing because she had made a mistake. But it looked like a gorgeous little jumper in variegated shades of green. It will be perfect when it’s finally done.

You see we’ve had a bit more summer this week. I snapped these photos on a 3 mile loop of field paths one evening.

As we were halfway through the walk chatting away I suddenly realised there was quite a loud noise in the field behind. Peeping through a gap in the hedge I saw a combine harvester was cutting the meadow grasses to make hay. It’s been much better, drier weather lately. At last!

It’s the first time I’ve grown mangetout and I can’t believe how many I’m picking every day. I hate to say it, it sounds a little miserable, but I’m getting a bit fed up of eating them now! I didn’t realise they would produce so many. Our lovely neighbour watered our garden when we were on holiday and so I took her some. It’s time to pass them around I think!

The peas are ready and absolutely delicious. We had roast chicken and lots of summer veg on Sunday, the peas were sweet and beautiful. They only took one minute to steam, along with homegrown cavolo nero and mange-tout.

The beetroot are nearly ready to pick as well.

As for book talk this week I’m still listening to Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, it’s making me laugh out loud now. I’m also listening to

Threads of Life: A History of the World Through the Eye of a Needle by Clare Hunter. This was mentioned on another blog recently and I thought I’d give the audiobook a try. It’s on Spotify premium. It’s really interesting so far and I like the Scottish narrator a lot. I recognise Siobhan Redmond’s voice from a medical drama I used to watch on TV.

I’m reading an advance copy of Jenny Colgan’s new book Close Knit, which has knitting and quite a funny knitting circle (more social crafting!) up in the highlands of Scotland. It’s out here very soon.

~~~

What have you been up to in the last week? Making? Reading? Growing anything? Any good recommendations for TV? Tell me a few things please!

Come for a springtime walk

Posted on March 25, 2024 by The Little Room of Rachell

Turning around to show from where we’ve come

A batch of photos too nice not to share, I decided!

7 miles of walking yesterday, oohing and ahhing at the first new wildflowers; bluebells, cowslips and periwinkles…

This was a route we walked at the beginning of Lockdown, and occasionally throughout that strange period. We kept remembering how we would get the sanitiser out of the backpack for the other who would open the iron clasp on gates, or pull jacket cuffs over hands, or in colder weather even pull on a glove. It’s not that we don’t carry sanitiser anymore, but the nervousness and general jumpiness as has now long passed.

Back via the local shop, dry roasted peanuts as a post-walk treat for Someone. I didn’t fancy any snacks, or felt that I needed them. Of course when we got back it was a different matter and I ended up eating half the packet of nuts! He tried hard not to sigh too loudly, but I think I heard a little one.

Later Nigella’s Chicken & Pea traybake from At my Table for dinner with steamed baby potatoes and spinach. I adapted the recipe into two separate elements, with the vegetables covered until the last five minutes to keep in the moisture, while the chicken roasted at the top of the oven. The recipe timings didn’t seem work at all. I’ve googled and found I was not the only one with dried up, nearly burnt vegetables and chicken which could have been more golden and crispy. The second time of making was much more of a success. Fresh dill, garlic and a drop of spirit is tasty with leek and peas. It would be a great side dish to bung into the oven with plain roasted chicken or whatever you fancy. I’ve made the carrot and ginger cake for Mothering Sunday. It’s one I’ve made before, I can’t recommend it enough. Delicious! A few more recipes to make and then a new book pick soon.

Has spring sprung in your area? Any new recipes being made?

5 things on a Friday

Posted on January 12, 2024 by The Little Room of Rachell

1. Crocheting!

Here’s the somewhat eccentric thing I was crocheting at the end of last year. It felt slightly weird to be crocheting a cover for a cafetiere to sprout mung beans, but when I started to blog people were all over crocheting covers for wooden coathangers. So perhaps it’s not that strange! (Eccentric crochet first mentioned here.)

I wanted to try sprouting mung beans in a cafetiere, as I’ve seen it can result in really plumptious beansprouts. (Apple really doesn’t like that word. It’s very red and wiggly underneath. Well Apple, Google says it’s real and has a pronounciation guide, it’s not a Rachel Special.) I started them on Monday and so far I can’t see that they’re looking any more impressive than they did when I sprouted them in a soup mug, covered with a piece of muslin and secured with an elastic band… We will see…

I’ve also been doing some proper crochet. I’ve dug out my Ana Lucia shawl, found some notes on the pattern and realise to my shock that they were written in October 2019. This IS going to be FINISHED this year.

It’s further on now, with some very nice charcoal stripes, but I’ll wait for a brighter day to take some updated photos. It’s grey, grey, grey.

2. Baking

Think I’ve invented pizza topped sourdough focaccia!

Sun dried tomatoes, green olives, a thin spread of red pepper pesto and a sprinkle of mozzarella. The SD proved overnight in a bowl in the fridge waiting to become something last Sunday. A piece was so tasty eaten with a fruity crunchy red cabbage slaw, with the last of my Christmas dressing (dijon, honey and clementine, instead of lemon juice) dressing and topped with omega seed mix.

Lucky dip cookies from a Good Housekeeping magazine in March 2017. Recipe can be seen here.

I’ve just used up the rest of the cracking nuts and chocolate chips from Christmas, with some desiccated coconut, raisins and a few more of those mixed seeds. They haven’t been tested yet. Soon!

3. Sprouting

A spicy mix of red cabbage, broccoli and radish volcano, my first sprouts of the new year.

Butternut squash, sweet potato and chickpea curry, with roasted cherry tomatoes and a handful of sprouts on top. Warming winter meal.

4. Walking

It’s always an effort to walk when it’s cold and grey, but look what a lovely day it was when I took these photos last week. You’ve got to get out there whatever the weather, but particularly when it’s this blue. The snowdrops are already up and in bud, I should go back soon because they’ll be open now. Beauties.

5. Reading

Travels with my Aunt by Graham Greene. Very much of its time, partly making me cringe, partly making me smile. I thought I should read one of his novels.

I’ve been listening to Someone Else’s Shoes by Jojo Moyes but I’ve run out of hours on Spotify, so I am waiting for my new allowance. I could get the library book, in fact I was next in the queue on Libby, but I sent it back. I’m really enjoying the narration.

I’ve been approved to read a proof copy of the forthcoming accompanying book to the BBC series The Repair Shop. It looks interesting. As new converts to the show (after it’s been on for about a hundred years) I spend evenings wiping my face with mascara coated tissues. Every time one of them wells up, I do too. Then when the big reveal happens and they start boo-hooing I have tears rolling down my face. It is the devil‘s work! Can’t someone bring something in which THEY once bought and is now damaged? Do we really have to have every item loaded with some sentimental family significance? It won’t stop me watching, but I’m definitely going to go through a lot of tissues this year.

~~~~~

What are you up to? How about sharing a few things?

Lastly, HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Yesterday

Posted on October 28, 2023 by The Little Room of Rachell

Feeling very average yesterday morning I knew I really needed to get out to walk; to clear my head and get the blood pumping. I hadn’t had a proper walk since Monday and sometimes the need is real. We went off to walk a familiar loop around the field paths, it is just over 3 miles.

The weather was really warm and pleasant, although doesn’t the sky look ominous in this photo? It had rained overnight so the lane was pretty squelchy and the field paths too, in places. My walking trainers got pretty muddy, but it doesn’t matter. It’s only when I feel the heel of one of my shoes slipping and I go sliding backwards, nearly landing on my bottom that I worry! (This happens more often than you would imagine. I must lean slightly backwards, or something when I walk, or can I blame my footwear…)

This is Fiddleneck and has many other names including purple tansy or blue tansy. According to the Picture This app (so useful, I highly recommend the free version)

Fiddleneck flowers open in a sequence that allows for a long flowering time, which is why it attracts bumblebees, honeybees, and other pollinators. It is typically grown in vineyards and along agricultural fields. This plant is native to the southwestern United States and is grown as a cover crop, green manure, and decorative plant.

It’s so unusual to see oilseed rape planted and flowering so late in England. This field had barley and was edged in beautiful poppies during the summer. Actually I think you’ll find a photo, or maybe two, if you look back a few posts ago.

I’ve just messaged a family member who farms in Wiltshire. I’ll report the answer if I get it before I press publish on this post.

At the top of the lane we just walked up. The horse chestnut tree is half green and half orange, it really attracted our attention. It’s almost two seasons in one tree.

Spider webs in the long grasses all along one field. Zoom in to see the dew drops on this web

Autumn colour, the two in the distance in the middle of the photo, at the end of the field, are field maples

As we walked along this field path a jay was hopping along the field, we disturbed it and so it took off in a blaze of colour. We don’t see jays very often, so this was a special sighting

Then three quarters of the way around there was a longish sit in the sunshine, coats off, basking in the warmth of the sun on our arms and faces (I always think ‘Oh good, vitamin D!’) occasionally sipping water while staring at the stunning view.

Spotted these blackberries on the way back home, a very watery flavour, but what they lacked for in taste, they make up for in colour

I would say I left home feeling a three or four and came back feeling a seven or eight on my personal wellbeing scale. Good stuff!

~~~

My question about the crop has been answered:

Hi Rachel
Good to hear from you. I hope you are all well. My guess is it’s a cover crop of mixed flowering crops. The yellow is probably mustard and purple phacelia.
It’s done to reduce soil erosion and nutrient leaching. The crop will get destroyed in the spring for a crop of barley or wheat.
M❤️

So my use of the app was spot-on for the tansy, because that’s another name for purple phacelia, but my assumption that we were looking at oilseed rape was completely incorrect. Sometimes what you don’t know you don’t know becomes really apparent!

I’ll keep an eye on this field and see if I can catch what happens in the spring and what crop replaces it in the summer.

~~~

If you’re not feeling great this weekend, and you’re able to, I suggest that you go for a walk. It doesn’t need to be a field or footpath, of course it can be urban; in the centre of the town or city. Maybe along a canal, or riverside, through a wood, or even a residential area.

Have a think about how you feel on your own personal scale of well-being, where’s your head at, how does your body feel, what is your general mood like? And then reflect how you’re feeling when you’ve walked a little way, and again at the end of your walk. I would guarantee that it will be a higher number and you’ll feel better. It’s SO good to get out and move.

I’ll be back soon with a books post.

Autumn begins

Posted on September 1, 2023 by The Little Room of Rachell

It’s technically the first day of autumn in metrological terms (which I think is really all about neatness of calendar dates and forecasting the seasons.) Autumn in England lasts for September, October and November, then deep in the winter on the 21st of December we are suddenly at the shortest day of the year with fewer hours daylight but the days then start to lengthen again by two minutes per day. We all start looking forward to spring. I’m not wishing my life away, but it is nice to think about spring and which seeds to buy. The garden centre already has a full array of spring bulbs on display which you’re meant to plant any time from August onwards, for flowering in April or May. I’ve just come across this autumn list from our Met Office. I was surprised by number eight.

Did get some blackberries! But not enough for BB gin jam making, they’re now frozen waiting to be paired with bramley apples.

For Christmas last year I was given a box of 50 Tea pigs Darjeeling Earl Grey teabags. They got somehow pushed to the back of the top shelf of the cupboard, which I can’t reach and can’t see into. Recently re-discovered, I’m drinking a cup now, only my second. I can’t recommend them enough! The smell alone is enough…

White sourdough and cheddar & sun dried tomato. The cheesy one was buttered and eaten in the garden with my cousin in exchange for a favour on bank holiday Monday.

I think this weekend is due to be sunny and warm again. Hurray! There’s a chilli festival tomorrow and a family bbq on Sunday, wearing sandals again will be perfect. Yesterday I met a friend for tea and cake and a wander. I discovered all sorts that he’d gleaned from a recent local tour, but it was in misty rain and we both got quite wet. I saw a woman wearing tights and boots, there were lots of umbrellas up and an array of raincoats. I’m NOT READY! We’ve had such a patchy summer. I’m hoping that once the schools go back the sun will start shining, it often does that. (Mainly to torment the poor staff.)

Tonight’s dinner will be a sedate meal of salmon, spicy bean salad and homegrown pea shoots. We mutually agreed first thing this morning that tonight needed to be Thursdayish as we’d already had Friday, with new to us gin (Whitley Neill Distillers Cut Dry, good with a squeeze of fresh lime juice and wedges with plenty of ice) then Rioja with a curry. It was a combination of tiredness from a late late night before and the rainy weather. As usual the other portion of aubergine curry, with leftover pieces of chicken from a dansak has made a fabulous cold brunch.

The gin was only £5; as a thank you my mother in law bought me a scratchcard and also one for herself. Neither of us have a clue about them and the rules seemed really complicated. It wasn’t until I checked out a YouTuber, who basically just scratches off the silver on £20 worth of cards and calls it entertainment (!), that we checked hers again properly and found that she’d won two lines of £5. She shared half with me so: £5 scratch-card winnings, £5 of Nectar points and it was on special offer for £15 for Nectar card holders! Good timing, as there was NO GIN in the house. Not even a miniature. This is an unusual state of affairs.

No crochet has happened yet, my hands are too sore still, but I’ve got some good books. I’ve just been approved for the advanced copy of Nina Stibbe’s new book, so what I was reading has been abandoned. I’m not meant to talk much about it yet, but it’s her diary and is putting me off doing other things. I always have this issue with entertaining diaries, because you can’t do the “when I reach the end of the chapter I will get up / head out / do my physio exercises / wash the dog / pick the beans etc because there aren’t any breaks. I keep on reading and reading. Before I know it May has turned into June, and then I realise I’m totally engrossed in August.

Harvest time

Apart from pea shoots I’ve also been trying sprouting seeds in some purpose made jars I was given. They have blackout covers, but this was the last day when I wanted them to green up a little. The seeds are from a mixed selection of varieties from Verdant Republic. They were tasty eaten with a salad and are apparently full of really healthy micronutrients.

This week a long-term blog reader told me that my blog posts are long. Too long. I feel it’s all a matter of personal preference. Too long? Read in a few goes, or not at all. I’ve been catching up with some of my favourites and realise they’re partly my favourites because I do gravitate to long meaty blog posts, with lots of photos, that I can linger over and enjoy. (Lately: Ginny’s Small Things, Alicia’s Posy and Lucy’s Attic 24.) A mere paragraph or two can be frustrating and if it’s interesting, I find I want more. If someone habitually writes short posts I will save them up and read half a dozen at a time in a batch. Like a diary. Far more satisfying.

Kate of Fox’s Lane blog has just published a brand new longish post, after a hiatus. As usual her photos are sublime and capture some of her life on a smallholding in Victoria, (the link keeps disappearing, I’ve added it at least a dozen times.) I now really want to try heating water for tea in a pretty kettle on the log burner this winter. Her post inspired me and is why I found myself launching straight into writing about it being our first day of autumn. She’s so right – I too don’t want to be ‘told’. I just want to read about ordinary things. What someone’s making, cooking, watching, or reading, how the garden is looking or where they visited at the weekend. I used to love the Nothing is Ordinary hashtag in the early days of Instagram. Blogging for me is reading about the small things, but that’s what life is about, isn’t it?

How are things with you?

Sunday

Posted on July 13, 2023 by The Little Room of Rachell

After a rainy day and not moving far on Saturday, it was perfect weather to go for a longer walk. After work on weekdays in the early evening, there’s a great loop around the field paths, it’s about 2 1/2 miles. Then there’s a longer regular circular walk we do which is six, or eight miles. It depends if we go past a farm and what was once a rather stately home. It’s now a remote rural conference centre. It was around eleven thirty when we set off in really warm sunshine.

Not long along the road the stunning pink tree mallow stopped me in my tracks and I was already reaching for my phone to take a picture (or four!) I usually get a bit further along before I stop. Isn’t it beautiful? So worth the pause. Like the glorious roses that are thriving everywhere this summer, tree mallows seem to have been very happy with the combination of a very dry, cool spring, then some hot spells in the early summer and now rainy, cloudy days…

We walked down to the green lane which I’m sure was once a busy thoroughfare, in the olden days between settlements.

“Green lanes are historic tracks and routes used by walkers, cyclists, horse riders and motor vehicles. They are an important part of access – a story of people and industry, wildlife and habitats, links to communities, beautiful views, tranquility and inspiration for the benefit of all.”

A good general definition of green lanes from the Peak District government website.

You definitely couldn’t get a vehicle down this one, it’s very narrow in places. Quite overgrown. You occasionally come across horse riders and mountain bikers, dog walkers and runners. Amblers like us too.

I absolutely love this green lane because you can almost see the ghosts of ancient traders, a man and horse plodding along with a laden cart of goods to sell at the market. A family going to church. A pair of sweethearts walking out together. Children making dens and climbing trees.

Many fields around us are golden now, with poppies along the edges of the fields of golden barley and still green wheat. There’s something so arresting about the golden crops with the flash of red. I tried to limit how many photos I take as it’s a walk and I don’t want to keep stopping too often. Although I do make sure that I pause and look around every now and then, peering through the hedgerow and in between the trees to take in the hills, the spread of the countryside and the far reaching views. It’s really easy to trudge looking down to check that you’re not going to be tripped up by fiendish tree roots or stumble over stones. I have to remind myself to look up.

We always take water bottles, but have never been good at being organised, or thinking to take a snack. So, when we get to the 5 mile point and sit I’m always starting to feel hungry, energy levels dipping and stomach rumbling! The problem is that if there’s an appealing snack in the house it’s sometimes already been eaten before the walk, usually on a Friday night with a glass of something celebratory. Nuts and raisins are the worst for this, because they’re so appealing when we’ve got the nibbles. We don’t buy biscuits, crisps or anything particularly snacky, so mid-walk snacks are never much more exciting than an apple. Not that they’re very practical with the water bottles in the rucksack bumping them all the way along. What do you take when you’re going on a walk? Almonds with their skins on have been most successful in the past, because they’re really not that appealing with a gin and tonic. I once read somewhere that 3 to 5 almonds is a good snack when you need a quick boost. This ‘fact’ always makes Someone teases as it’s so specific. It did work for awhile, but we challenged the rule and used to have 7. What rebels. Lately I’ve got out of the habit of buying them.

As we sat by cow parsley and blackberry brambles I noticed bindweed winding its way (anticlockwise) along long strands of grass. I recently heard a gardener say that runner beans always wrap themselves anticlockwise around bean canes. Since then I’ve noticed this is common with lots of plants. Are they tracking the direction of the sun, perhaps? I couldn’t photograph the bindweed, it just didn’t work, but there was something really amazing about the neatness of the strand of bind weed climbing nearly to the top of the grass’s seed head. It’s parasitic. As I sat and idly watched I realised there were many insects all around. Particularly teeny little beetle types, with an orange and brown body, crawling all over the heads of the cow parsley flowers. Bees, probably honey bees from the nearby farmhouse, buzzing onto the blackberry flowers and many butterflies and moths. Incidentally we saw there was an honestly box and honey for sale during the week, but didn’t have any cash. So we walked back again past the old farmhouse prepared with cash on Sunday, and the honey wasn’t out! We never ever time it right, have been planning to buy their honey for several years!

As we walked along one section of the field path I was suddenly and briefly surrounded by a cloud of white butterflies. I felt like I was in the middle of a Disney film, like Snow White. I’m wondering if there’s a free app you can get for insect ID? I’ve got one for plants which is amazing. Someone has one for the night sky, that you aim at constellations. Have you found a good one for insects?

It was all going beautifully until the last mile, when we were both looking forward to getting home for something to eat and a rest. The heavens opened and rain poured down. In no time at all I was so wet that my feet were squelching in my walking trainers and my clothes were sopping. Why I wore mascara for a six mile country walk I’m not sure; by home my face was a picture of streaks and black smudges! As soon as we reached home and had stripped off in the kitchen to put all the muddy wet things straight into the wash, the sun came out. Bright blue skies and fluffy clouds. Typically it was then beautiful all afternoon!

December

Posted on December 29, 2022 by The Little Room of Rachell

Visiting: Blenheim Palace to see the rooms decorated, the theme was the story of the Snow Queen this year, magical and so Christmassy on 23rd December. Perfect

Making: Mulled Cider, again

Making: Rainbow salad sprinkled with mixed seeds, a lot of crunch drizzled with a lemony, sesame dressing

Staring: at the beautiful sunsets

Cooking: Spicy rice with mixed peppers, mushrooms and tender-stem broccoli later. I need another meatless meal, it’s come to that point in the week. I found a Facebook memory which said similar on this day a year or two ago. Though I opted for fish pie back then

Visiting: Waddesdon Manor Christmas on 18th. The Manor was decorated nicely, but the weather for the outdoor market and illuminations eeek! It was only 3 degrees with pelting rain for the whole time. I became cold to the bone, brrrr!

Reading: a very promising advance reader copy of a novel to be published next summer. It’s about a heist planned by an all women team, in London in 1905. As I read I keep seeing it as a film, the writing is very cinematic. If the other half is as good I’ll tell you more about it near the publication date. I really hope it continues to be this good, I’m enjoying it so much

Wondering: about joining a book club but unsure I want to read others’ choices, especially as the first of next month is by Matt Haig. I’m not a fan, so far

Looking: at the sparkles on the Christmas tree

Listening: to music

Wishing: for a happy and healthy New Year for me and mine, you and yours too

Enjoying: crocheting by the Christmas tree, my bobble cowl is really growing. I can do around 40 minutes at a sitting, a couple of times a week. It’s slow crochet, but better than no crochet

Appreciating: the texture of this ball of Hayfield Spirit yarn, it’s got a crunchy crispy texture and great stitch definition

Sipping: Twinnings Spicy ginger tea. Tasty and warming while I am

Eating: Artisan du Chocolat salted maple caramels, bliss!

Liking: Crimbo Limbo very much; this chilled out time which is like no other during the rest of the year between Christmas and New Year

Loving: Carols From Kings College Cambridge, such a Christmas Eve tradition, did you watch it too? I know it’s broadcast around the world. Did you join in with Hark the Herald and realise it was pitched too high, for the choir boys? Tee hee

Buying: tea bags, peppers, red and yellow tomatoes, hovering over reduced parcel toppers and eco friendly twine for next Christmas and thinking “Nah! I can’t face it buying it all again.”

Feeling: reflective

Managing: a verbal Gold Star from my excellent physio therapist yesterday, for my “self-mobilisation”. December has been a challenge; full of exercises, walks, hot water bottles, massage, stretches, Sarah Keys Back Block stretches before bed. If you know, you know…

Watching: Ghostbusters, Knives Out, Ghosts Christmas special (made tears roll down my face at the end remembering those who have gone), Mortimer and Whitehouse Gone Fishing Christmas Special, The Snowman, The Snowman and the Snowdog (Someone is always so sad when the dog dies) Mrs Brown’s Boys (terrible, but traditional) The King’s Speech on Christmas Day (not the film, the actual King.) Tonight it might be Detectorists Christmas special or the second Knives Out film or…

Noticing: it’s lighter later, or is that wishful thinking? It’s lighter 2 minutes earlier every day from 21st after all

Hoping: those who have been unwell over Christmas will be much better soon

Wearing: relaxed house clothes, leaning against a hot water bottle. Prob unsafe, but far more comfy than a lumpy wheat bag

Following: our own agenda this week, while calling in to see older relatives regularly, we know we’re lucky to have them

Sorting: out how to use my new Contigo mug

Getting: lots of lovely things to use, drink and cook

Coveting: another year of Spotify Premium, mine ends on Sunday. I’ll miss it

Hearing: Holding onto You by Olivia Broadfield, one of the tracks on my ‘Soothing’ Spotify playlist, but it’s Goal of the Century which still makes my heart lift everytime it begins to play. I’ve been gradually adding to the playlist for years, it’s gorgeous. Perfect for Crimbo Limbo week

~~++~~++~~++~~++~~++~~++~~++~~

How are you? Have you celebrated Christmas, had time to chill, or is it work as usual? Either way I hope you’re healthy and have escaped the lurgy. I’ve know so many have been affected this week, I’ve sent much love and healing vibes to them.

It’s my blogging birthday on New Year’s Eve on Saturday, eleven years! 11. WOW.

Baby it’s cold outside!

Posted on December 16, 2022 by The Little Room of Rachell

After marvelling about the geraniums still blooming with more buds to open and roses on bushes during November and into the beginning of December, and lots of mutterings about climate change, the weather decided to move into a proper old-fashioned winter. The type we used to have. It started with a heavy frost last Saturday and then snowed on Sunday morning. It’s been very cold all week.

The grocery delivery was delayed on Tuesday morning because the driver said she helped tow someone out of a ditch, as their car had slipped off the road. What a heroine.

It’s really cold out today, it was -6 at 7 o’clock this morning, it’s now noon and is 0°. The snow still hasn’t melted in places, but it looks absolutely beautiful, it’s a winter wonderland!

I’ve loved wrapping up warmly and going for walks. As long as you keep moving briskly, it’s fine. And however cool the house is when you return it feels absolutely roasting in contrast.

I made mulled cider with a measure of Angostura rum on Sunday, which was definitely warming. It practically put me to sleep by 8 o’clock.

I’ve cooked a spicy lentil parsnip and apple soup this week, you can find the recipe here on BBC Good Food site. When I first made it last year I found it a little sweet, so I cut down the amount of apple down to half, but it’s obviously all down to personal taste. It’s worth looking out for Justine Pattison’s recipes, I think she’s really good.

When I’ve been for an icy blast of a walk, soup is what I crave to warm me up and fill the gap at lunchtime.

I’ve made a double batch of mincemeat this week. Ooh the smells in the kitchen were amazing. It’s made with dried cranberries, a mixture of raisins, sultanas, citrus peels, fresh orange zest and juice, Bramley apples, mixed spice and a quadruple of something very alcoholic! It’s a make and use now, or store in a cool place for six months recipe. But it’s so good, there’s no way there’s going to be any left in a month’s time.

I’m making my own pastry for the first time in absolutely years next week and taking mince pies to share with two special people. Wish me luck with the pastry!

I’ve been waiting for publishing day to tell you about The Secrets of Rochester Place by Iris Costello. It’s a goodie.

There are multiple characters and timelines from 1937, leading to the beginning of the Second World War and the current day.

The Secrets of Rochester Place begins with a ship of Basque children being evacuated to England, following the bombing of Guernica in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War. There is also detail about the Irish famine and the fight for independence from The United Kingdom, when Mary is introduced into the story, plus there is quite a bit about Grace O’Malley, the 16th century Irish pirate Queen. In short there is a lot of history, which roots the story and characters into their times and helps to illustrate their motivations.

The story moves on to the beginning of the Second World War and the Blitz. There is a lot going on! (Lots of further reading too, with a helpful bibliography at the end of the novel, for those who are interested in learning more.)
There are a few mysteries at the heart of this book; what has happened to Theresa the young child who has been brought to England as a place of safety, who is Mary Davidson the woman who fosters Theresa and where is Theresa’s sister? And many more missing people, but I will not reveal any more for fear of plot spoilers.

I was gripped. I really liked the quality of the writing, the pace of the book, the jumping back and forth in time and the (mostly) London setting. Overall this is a really absorbing read. Let me know if you try it?

As for crafting I’m still hooked on bobbles. I’m crocheting a Christmas tree! Of course I am, aren’t we all at this time of year?! Free pattern on See Love Share blog here.

❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️

What are you doing, cooking, reading and crafting?

I hope you’re managing to stay warm and cosy, or cool and comfortable if you’re not waking up to -6° temps.

* I am editing this while balancing on my wooden 66 Fit rocker board for 5 minutes. Google if you don’t know what it is. I think you might be impressed! I’m multitasking; blogging while doing some of my physio.

January

Posted on February 1, 2022 by The Little Room of Rachell

Making: my cosy chunky star blanket larger, still. Really it’s the perfect project on a chilly day.

Slipping: on icy roads, they have been like driving on an ice rink quite often this January. I hope for milder weather now.

Reading: another book set in London, this time during the Victorian era. It’s a proof copy. If I think it’s worth recommending I will write a bit more about the story when it nears its publication date in the spring.

Eating: Brunch! Non-stop chat with a friend a couple of weeks ago, cups of tea, full English breakfast with locally sourced everything, then creamy cappuccinos to finish. As you see it was an absolutely HUGE plateful (so glad I went without eating anything since dinner the night before…) I was in a food coma for the rest of the day! I didn’t eat until the evening, and then it was a light meal, but it was so amazing. The best EB I’ve ever had. My friend enjoyed her Egg Florentine, but I think might be going for the full English next time. She looked really envious.

Disliking: Mud! As some fields are beginning to be ploughed and planted there’s such a lot of mud on the road from the tractors. Car wash? Oh yes please. Love them. But…it was rainy the following day and my car is back to grey. Oh it’s not the only thing either; my handbag is splodged with it as I brushed past too closely.

Reading: the latest issue of Inside Crochet and trying to catch up with my Good Housekeeping mags. I’ve now got a pile of January, February and March GH to read. I got a year’s subscription from Nectar points (I think) as I always really like their recipes. But I’m finding it hard to keep up.

Finishing: something at the weekend! Ding-ding first thing of the year made. I’ll show you soon.

Snorting: with laughter at Daisy May Cooper’s audio book: Don’t laugh, it will only encourage her

Singing: along to the Richard Ashcroft and Liam Gallagher version of C’mon People (We’re Making it Now.) It’s the perfect pairing you never knew you needed. It makes me grin. Here on Spotify.

Grateful: for a year’s worth of Spotify.

Listening: to Grace Dent’s Comfort Food podcast. I choose the episodes I fancy. There’s so many; it’s the advantage of coming to a podcast later. The Rafe Spall episode is painfully honest. His comfort food though OH MY, it’s roast chicken smothered in butter, with lots of lemon AND they make homemade chips. Mmmm. My current episode is Dave Myers from The Hairy Bikers. I listen to it in chunks. Some of Dave’s was at 0400 this morning. Groan.

Rewatching: Derry Girls as they’ve just announced there’s to be a new series in March. It’s so good, so funny. (Series 1 is on Netflix so you can miss the adverts, 2 is only on All 4 at the mo.)

Missing: Schitt’s Creek. It really has been my tv programme of the Pandemic. Moira never failed to make me laugh, every single episode. If you’ve been under a rock and haven’t watched it yet, it’s on Netflix. Worth getting Netflix for IMHO.

Laughing: the day after the car wash / mud bath, I had my hair done, then walked my 5 mile loop and it started to pour with rain!

Deserving: after the rainy 5 mile walk I had a big slice of cake and a mug of English Breakfast tea. January involved lots of treats. It was the freezing cold weather…

Forgetting: your nearest and dearest reads your blog “You had cake after the walk?!”

Loving: wholegrain mustard with honey. If I could find white mustard seeds I would make some, I’ve got a good looking recipe. I don’t need a kilo thanks Amazon. I’ll try to buy some locally from an Asian shop.

Cooking: crab linguine, lots of curries and dals, poached pears in red wine and apple juice with blackberries (voted absolutely delicious.)

Drinking: a gin cocktail last night. Well ok, two. A free repeat January box was delivered here yesterday. It was an incredibly generous offer for those who decided to order February’s box, instead of skipping it. It was funny timing; I’d changed my mind anyway, decided to order it and then had the the offer email, but I wasn’t too worried. The timing was just a bit off. Then to my surprise I had an email on Friday saying my repeat January box would be with me on Monday! We never usually have a drink on a Monday, but yesterday it had to be done. I really like the Vietnamese gin. It’s floral, perfumed and really different to any I’ve had before.

Tempting: you… here’s my referral code for Craft Gin Club. If you’re in the UK you can order a half price box for £20 (with free delivery.) There’s no obligation to order any other boxes. I’ve shared this a few times and people have used it. I hope you’ve enjoyed your gin, mixers and snacks.

Spotting: the garden waking up and winter flowers appearing. Then on a walk on Saturday, we saw snowdrops in the wild. So lovely, so lovely.

How was your January? Any patterns, good reads, podcasts, tv shows or recipes you want to share?

Lost amour

Posted on November 20, 2021 by The Little Room of Rachell

We went for a walk for a couple of hours this morning. The weather was mild and still, plenty of dog walkers were out and about. Lovely dogs and really friendly owners. Nearly everybody called them back to put on the lead. Very kind and completely unprompted. I’m glad though, because you always wonder how friendly a dog will be, not so much because of fear but because of exuberantly happy helloes and muddy paw-prints all over your clothes. As a cat person that happens to me often. The dog person walking with me will usually be ignored. How do dogs just know?

Can you see the birds? They were feasting on newly turned worms I expect, and pecking holes in potatoes missed by the harvester.

One windy day and this will soon be bare. The weather is so mild and calm at the moment that the autumn colour is lingering. Loving it!

Ivy vines growing up an oak tree, with clematis circling and climbing up them. Quite a dramatic sight which stopped me in my tracks. The tree is covered with glossy ivy leaves too. It’s being taken over.

The walk was carefully timed, so that we were back in plenty of time to go and buy snacks, pour some beer, then watch the rugby. Well, one of us anyway.

I’m upstairs escaping the crunching of pork scratchings and Big Hoops, comments and excited shouts at the TV. I meant to put on Spotify and listen to Tick Tick BOOM! soundtrack, but the P&Q is nice. Have you seen it yet? A brand new Netflix film. The best new musical I’ve seen in ages. Who knew Andrew Garfield could sing and dance? I liked him as Spider-Man, but this takes him into a completely new genre. It’s an impressive change of gear.

What makes a good musical? For me I want to sing along to a song after only a minute or two. Ditto dancing. I go away singing my own made up songs afterwards too. And dance a few steps on my way to bed. Tick tick BOOM!

I’ve been singing Boho Days since last night. Pretty much every hour. I hope you have Netflix and can watch it too!

I had forgotten that I knitted this dish cloth in February/March. I missed posting for a little while, so I’m pretty sure you haven’t seen it?

The Amour pattern is part of a series of a free dishcloth patterns. One a month, throughout this year by Garlene of The Kitchen Sink Shop. I’ve linked to the pattern there, if you fancy having a go at knitting one yourself? I stopped after the first two, because it now takes me so long to knit or crochet anything now with my dodgy hand. Plus I was using Rowan cotton, which frankly seems such a waste to use on a dish cloth. They’re too nice to use, so are still folded up in a little bag. I wonder about making backing for them and turning them into oven mitts. Any other ideas?

Time for a cheeky little Saturday afternoon drink for me too now! A grapefruit margarita is being made for me. I wonder if they won? And I’m going to add another round, or two, to my Coast blanket.

What have you been up to today? How are you feeling about life, the universe and everything?

An autumn walk part 2

Posted on October 10, 2021 by The Little Room of Rachell

A few sips of water, a good look around in all directions. I took a few photos and then we went on for the next part of our walk.

There used to be a couple of fallen tree trunks which were lovely, clean and smooth off to one side of the green crossroads. Lying on the grass. They were removed sometime in the early year. I still miss them. During the first Lockdown last year, when we were only allowed to see people from our households and nobody else, not even social bubbles (the term had yet to be invented, our poor isolated elderly and vulnerable people) we came across a few teenagers there. From their furtive looks at us I guessed they were sneaking out to meet up and socialise, as an illegal part of the allowed daily exercise. I couldn’t really blame them, although it was all such a worrying time and no one really knew what was ahead. Anyway, I miss sitting on those tree trunks. After avoiding the roots, stones and ruts of the lane it was always good to have somewhere to sit and relax for a moment, or five.

Bonus blue skies in October and freshly ploughed fields.

If you go down this way you end up on quite a fast little road, which leads to a picturesque village. You can take another footpath into a meadow, then walk alongside some fast flowing water, go through a few gates, under a railway bridge and ultimately up to a large farm. There’s a public right of way along the road through the middle. There was a bull in a field with cows and calves, which scared the bejesus out of me last spring. You’ve never seen such a flimsy fence and such a mahoosive bull. He kept staring at me!

The corn is as high as an elephant’s eye, I loudly sang as we walked past.

The deer have been munching and trampling the sweetcorn. They’re all around here. We saw hoof prints and ‘other evidence’ of their presence near the maize fields.

At this point my hoodie was firmly off and tied around my waist. Such a lovely warm day.

There was a massive rainstorm in the middle of the night last Saturday.

We saw a red kite with a huge wingspan being chased by two or three crows around that tree. It always amazes me how crows can be so aggressive to such a scary looking bird. Confidence or aggression in numbers? They must be highly territorial when in a flock (a ‘murder of crows’ is the collective name after all!)

I suspected there were tasty, juicy things around this corner of the hedge.

Someone had started to walk on and hadn’t come back around the corner with me. So, I called that he should; because there were very big juicy fruits that I couldn’t reach, which could be all his if he wanted.

He remembered something we had seen back in the summer. But wouldn’t tell me what. It would be a surprise.

Another stretch of footpath which goes along a narrow green lane between field hedgerows. Quite an adventure, this is very narrow. You can easily get caught on brambles and have to avoid nettles and thorns. I usually walk with my elbows and hands up in the air. Quite a sight, especially if I’m also singing.

Other kinds of traffic have recently been along here too.

Ah yes! Fields and fields of the potatoes. I’d forgotten we’d seen these before, when they were small plants. The ridges of rich iron earth that are heaped up around the plants are so neat and pleasing. I missed a photo opportunity.

For some reason when we come out of that narrow overgrown path and walk along this field edge, we always remember the surprise of passing a teen during Lockdown in summer, last year. She was wearing noise cancelling headphones, had a brightly coloured backpack on and was so confidently tramping along. She’s really stuck in our minds and we’re not quite sure why. I think maybe it was because she was so incongruous. It looked like a route she walked regularly, like she was going to visit a friend or something.

I needed to lean against a big five-bar gate to reorientate, before we turned left for the third part of the walk. I heard a sound and turned around to see a man-child throwing a chunky stick into a tree, followed by the sound of things clunking to the ground…

I stuffed these into my conker pocket and on we went.

The next part of the walk went along a hedge to our left, which has occasional trees interspersed among the bushes. The field on our right gently slopes down to a stand of trees. This is where we watched a young muntjac deer wander earlier in the year. This time there was no peaceful little deer wandering, instead we disturbed about a dozen pheasants in the hedgerow. They took off right in front of us, flying and squawking in alarm. They made me jump. I took up in the air, flying and squawking in alarm too! Someone found this all rather funny.

It can’t be too cold at night yet, otherwise the ferns would be brown and dying. It can’t be far off though, the evenings are much chillier.

I had to limit myself to two fern photographs. I really, really like them.

We crossed a road and plunged into the start of another green lane. This is an ancient byway which used to lead commercial travellers from the Midlands to London. We call the start Freezer Corner because unfortunately sometime ago someone dumped the contents of the freezer under the bushes near the road. They must have pulled up their vehicle and just thrown it all out. Some were probably opened by foxes, others were intact. For quite a while we noted the disintegration of the packaging of once frozen lasagna, fishfingers and a carton of ice cream etc etc. Then it was cleared away. A friend asked if we had reported it all. I’m ashamed to say neither of us even thought of it (though someone else obviously had) partly because it was so fascinating watching the food and packaging disintegrate in the wild. But what an awful thing to do, and why? Why not dump it into a bin? Was it an act of revenge? You’ve hurt me, so I’ll empty your freezer? Weird.

A little sit on a rock. A sip of water and onwards again.

I photographed these thistles when they were glorious purple flowers, back in the summer.

Many brambles on both sides of this path, but few blackberries. Perhaps they doesn’t get too much sun.

A little handful of emergency almonds to crunch, hunger was coming on with a vengeance now, it was way past lunchtime. There’s a few miles to go.

We’ve turned left again. We’re heading to very familiar fields with landmarks: the cherry trees, sloe alley, blackberry corner and plum row.

Higher up now than at other points of the walk.

We paused at the top of the field and heard very, very loud unselfconscious singing coming from some distance away in the shady lane. As it’s stubble now we preferred to walk out in the open field, to keep feeling the sun and wind on our faces. The singing was hilarious. She obviously had headphones on and was belting out JoJo’s Leave (Get out). I glimpsed her; a grey haired lady walking a lurcher, definitely getting something out of her system. Good for her!

This one is tiny. Do mice make burrows?!

In the last part of our walk, in a field not far from home we looked for the dead adder that we came across last week. It’s gone. I’ll pop the pic I took into my Taking Stock post at the end of the month, if I remember. That was quite a sight. That and seeing a headless pigeon made for a memorable walk.

Home and a late-late lunch of cheese & biscuits, apple & grapes. What a great walk, so fab to go out-out again.

I hope we can do it again very soon.

An autumn walk

Posted on October 8, 2021 by The Little Room of Rachell

An autumn walk wearing T-shirts! In October! It was really special because Someone was off work mid-week for a few days, and so on Wednesday we grabbed the opportunity to go for a longer walk. It was a beautiful day, about 19° and very quiet. I think we only saw a couple of joggers in the middle and then a couple of dog walkers at the end, it was 3 o’clock by then.

We took our time. I went slowly, took lots of photographs and really looked around. It was the first longer walk, at 6 1/2 miles, that we’ve done since August because I’ve been feeling so unwell. We’ve managed the hour-long loop around the fields near home a few times, but this was a proper jaunt.

To begin with I felt quite unbalanced, especially as the initial part of the walk begins alongside a road. Walking along with cars going past felt quite disorientating. But once we were on our own walking along the footpath and bridleway, everything seemed easier.

The footpath is a mile or mile and a half long and was a green lane enabling farm workers and people wanting to come to the shops to walk between villages and farms.

I wish that I could go back in time, morph into an invisible being, to see the people and listen to what they talked about as they tramped along this lane. I’d like to know what they bought. A length of ribbon to decorate a new bonnet? A packet of sugar, or flour? A long saved for book? A twist of salt? Or did they just go to the pub and then stagger home again. Stumble, trip, stumble, trip!

Sometimes dark and leafy green, other times bright and sundappled. I really love this walk along the lane!

There are crabapples scattered at various points. I wish I felt like making crabapple jelly, or something with them. There are many more still in the trees which could be picked. It feels a waste of free produce, but jelly making is a faff.

Rose-hips and ivy flowers, what a pretty combination.

It’s a well used footpath and bridleway, things can get very turned up and sticky for walkers during the winter. Especially when it’s been rainy and the horses have churned it up.

Just look at that! So beautiful with the sunshine playing in the leaves

Common barberry, the red and green together are stunning, don’t you think?

A mossy log, crunchy leaves and glossy ivy leaves. If you stop and look around, remember to look up and look down there is so much to notice and appreciate.

Last time we paused by these trees there were waving stalks of oats and barley, in the fields alongside the footpath

Reflections in the water gathered in the dip between the conjoined beech trees.

I wouldn’t want to fall into this holly bush, steady as she goes…

High above my head the holly berries are beginning to look good.

We seem to have been walking along this lane for ages, it always takes longer than we expect.

I turned back to take this photo at the end of the lane and then enjoyed being out in the open again. Surrounded by countryside, with long views across newly ploughed fields, a distant village with smoke from a bonfire rising into the sky. At this point you are at a green crossroads and can go one of four ways. We have tried all, but our favourite is the one, which with several more turns takes us in a big 6 1/2 mile loop. It ends with a hill right to our front door. A downward hill, is definitely the best kind at the end of a good walk.

~~~~~

To be continued, part 2 coming soon…

Taking Stock – July

Posted on August 1, 2021 by The Little Room of Rachell

Making: lists for August, mostly walks, visits, trips

Cooking: Jamie Oliver’s Falafel patties I used mixed beans and a can of borlotti, with rose harissa because it’s what I had open in the fridge.

Sipping: Jasmine tea

Reading: I’ve read some v good books lately, including The Beloved Girls by Harriet Evans. I gave 5 stars for slow building tension and menace. A cracking story, it’s due to be published on 19th August

Waiting: for normal life to resume, it’s much better than last July (see post here ) but we are most definitely still in the grip of the pandemic and I’m cautious. The mask, distancing and sanitising is still very much in place and I don’t think I’ve been into a city since last autumn

Looking: up at the tv, it looks like Team GB just won another Olympic gold

Listening: to the rain falling

Wishing: for my library reservation to come quickly. It’s the first printed book I’ve requested since last winter. I’ll show you when it comes…

Barley field, on our circular 7 mile walk yesterday

Enjoying: dipping in and out of Instagram, my enthusiasm for it goes in phases. I’m still loving Alex Hollywood’s account, so many good foody ideas and recipes

Appreciating: all the colours of summer, currently dripping with water but withstanding the onslaught of rain and wind (not sure the local farmers will be feeling the same way. Have you seen Clarkson’s Farm on Prime btw? Recommend)

Eating: lots of salads, fish and I made my first plum crumble last night. I’ve always preferred raw plums, but since we’ve found an excellent source of plums for scrumping I promised Someone a crumble

Liking: Nigel Slater’s crumble mix: 150g plain flour & 80g butter mixed together, then stir in 50g ground almonds, 70g demerara sugar, 75g rolled oats. I sprinkled in a little cinnamon too. Not much, because I’d already sprinkled cinnamon, ground ginger and freshly grated nutmeg into the plums, with a 2-3 tablespoons of sugar and a dash or two of water. 180 fan / 200 c for 30-35mins

Loving: cold plum crumble eaten with extra thick cream

Buying: a new top and trousers from Seasalt. Love Seasalt!

Managing: weeds, sort of. Gardening is like housework, it’s never done

Watching: the phlox begin to flower, there’s a stunning pink one flowering, but now the white are beginning to appear. Next the purple and white one I hope

Hoping: an influx of visitors aren’t going to spell disaster for the area

Wearing: I’m not saying!

Noticing: it’s much, much colder. I’d folded up my Tilted Squares blanket and put it away upstairs, but have found myself snuggling in my Spice of Life blanket in the evening instead (FYI: Black Sheep Wools asked me to take part and publicise the CAL, in return for free yarn back in 2015. I chose my own colour combo.)

Following: which vegetables and fruits are now in season

Sorting: spiders into tissues

Getting: restless

Coveting: a cottage by the sea, where it’s never affected by severe weather

Feeling: impatient to start new crochet makes, if I undo previously started things I can, right?!

Hearing: sighing and breath exhaled – he’s tense watching people either run around, or leap over bars. I did enjoy watching the BMX race on catch-up, that was exhilarating but that’s the extent of my viewing. I hope we continue to do well, but don’t feel any need to watch

~~~~~~~~

What are you: eating, making, watching, reading?

Happy New Year!

Posted on January 2, 2021 by The Little Room of Rachell

A snapshot of some of my last day of 2020 and the first of the New Year yesterday.

Home based and staying local, as it must be right now, it’s been cosy.

Baking: Spice Biscuits – AKA the less snappily named Edible Tree Decorations by Nigella. I’ll be baking these again as they’ve been voted ‘delicious’ by my nearest and dearest. Made for a New Year’s Day afternoon tea, they are perfect with a cup of tea. I made glacé icing and drizzled it with a teaspoon. Next time I’d use Clementine juice with the icing sugar, it would go so well with the spice.

Drinking: Taittinger to see the New Year in, after Zooming with friends in Scotland

Eating: cheese & biscuits

Spotting: gorgeous wreaths, it’s wreath heaven around here. I’ve got photos of 35 different wreaths I snapped on a short walk on Christmas Eve, this is another I spotted on New Year’s Eve

Walking: on New Year’s Eve it was a bright, but freezing afternoon. It has typically been 2° all day all week, sometimes with a scouring wind. As we turned around to walk home fog rolled in across the ridge, turning to look behind us we could barely see the path we’d just walked…

Enjoying: some of the last sourdough loaf of 2020 on New Year’s Day, eaten with smoked salmon, cream cheese, a squeeze of lemon juice and a grind of black pepper

Making: knitting my mustard & grey cowl. I know I can’t wear mustard yellow but I started knitting this anyway and hoped it might magically suit me. I tried it on and as usual looked jaundiced…d’oh! Mustard socks only it is. I offered this cowl to Facebook friends and one of my best possible people jumped at it. So pleased. She has 5 dogs and walks them at dawn, the cowl will help to keep her warm. I’m using Paintbox Simply Chunky yarn.

I’ve sent plenty of knitting and crochet makes to charities, but there’s always something really special about making for friends and family, knowing you’ll be keeping them cosy.

Goal setting: I set a challenge at the beginning of last year to Walk 1,000 miles again. Totting up the final score yesterday I found I had walked 1,056 miles in 2020. So, this year I’m upping my goal to Walk 1,100 miles. The first walk of the New Year was wonderful. Another crispy cold day with lots of icy puddles and glinty foliage as the frost melted, raucous ducks who seemed to be laughing at a filthy joke and a fun chat with a Mum who had roller skates for Christmas and who was practising her skills. Such a refreshing change to see an adult with a new Christmas present. Usually it’s children’s shiny new bicycles, scooters and bells… (and weary Dads carrying them.)

What were your highlights of the last and first days of 2020 and 2021?

Happy New Year to you – let’s hope we can go further afield and meet up with more of our special people this year. Fingers crossed that things change for the better in 2021.

An autumn walk

Posted on November 6, 2020 by The Little Room of Rachell

I thought I must motivate myself to get out of the cosy house and walk today. I decided I’d aim to take three good photos to pop on Facebook. As you can see it was such a lovely afternoon and I took far far more than three (sorry!) and thought I’d turn them into a blog post for you.

It’s nippy today although it’s sunny, so I wore my Edenvale cowl and started off wearing my gloves too. But I soon got a glow on so didn’t need the gloves. The cowl is a really nice size, without being too bulky like lots can be, I’m actually tempted to knit another as I have some Stylecraft Aran. It’s not the quality of the West Yorkshire Spinners ‘The Croft Shetland Tweed’ I used before, but would work ok.

There were quite a few people out and about this afternoon. A couple passed me as I took this photo, she was wearing a very nice knitted hat: “They’re not really posing for you are they?”

I would say it was reluctant at best…

“Beautiful light today isn’t it?”

Perfect for photos.

Passed a lady with a very distinctive stripe in her hair and I said “Fewer photos – more walking!” She grinned at me. People are very chatty and smiley here anyway, but more so when we’re in Lockdown. I noticed this in the spring.

A couple passed, talking about very serious business matters by the sounds of it, I was envious of her tiny jodhpurs, neat riding jacket, boots and shiny dark hair swinging in a ponytail.

I heard an owl hooting in the trees, it was only just around 3:30 pm.

Sheep! Sheeeep!

Can you see – I feel like he was almost smirking at me? I was saying “Come on'” Clicking my tongue and talking to him, but he also refused to pose.

I always pat this tree truck before I turn around to come back again. I usually say something to it as well – but that’s between me and the tree…

The Sun was really getting low now.

Hello again horses! (The other was grazing off to the left.)

I heard another owl loudly hooting in the trees alongside the road. Perhaps he was calling: “Time to go home!”

I listened. I’m Home!

I walked 5 miles, popped some packs of Lego cards, which came with my shopping, in for the little boy next door who only needs a few more cards, and put the oven on to cook a chicken. I’ll roast some Mediterranean veg too and make some fluffy couscous, with the lemony chickeny herby juices it’s going to be a scrummy Friday night dinner. Prosecco first of course!

Have a good weekend all.

A Woodland Walk

Posted on October 28, 2020 by The Little Room of Rachell

Into the woods, around boggy bits, along field edges, slipping up hills and slivering down others in the mud, catching on brambles and holly, walking in pelting rain, climbing over fallen trees and back into the woodland, until I finally implored them

“SLOW DOWN! Aunty Rachel’s legs are a lot shorter than yours!”

I felt like I’d been through commando training!

~~~~~

Chop, chop, chopping for a chicken and pearl barley casserole.

Ohhhh. Not sure about including the sweet potatoes!

Do we want a pink dinner?

~~~~~

I’m now on my second granny square. The decision whether to keep going on and make a huge one-square blanket was made when I laid it on out a table at the weekend. I realised the edges were starting to frill. Rather than fiddle around adding extra chains along the sides I unravelled some rounds until it wasn’t frilling any more, fastened the yarn off and began another square.

Sometimes decisions are made for you and it’s easy!

I need to decide whether I carry on using this colour combination (it’s Breeze) or buy some more Hayfield Spirit DK in another colour combo. I can’t decide whether I want a purely blue and grey blanket, or one with a more colourful patchwork effect. I’ll have to decide soon because I have only half a ball left…

~~~~~

Tell me a few things?

A walk

Posted on July 25, 2020 by The Little Room of Rachell

As we started off on our walk earlier I was saying how twee I find the ‘Come for a walk?’ kind of blog post. I always find myself involuntarily wincing, but then usually really enjoy the pics; especially when they’re from another county. Yorkshire or Cornwall are definitely in the top five locations.

During the first part of lockdown when we were at home, making essential journeys only and going out to exercise once a day, I started recording highlights of my walks for my friends on Facebook. Apparently that inspired some to do the same. I loved seeing where they’d walked, run or cycled that day. A change of scenery is always welcome.

Here’s this morning’s walk for you, from The Cotswolds.

We’ve walked a mere 10 minutes and found a small plum tree. I picked half a dozen to share. Result! Tasty and sweet. Someone thinks they are mirabelle, do you agree? They’re bigger than damsons, smaller than victorias.

That sky looks ominous, doesn’t it?

Plenty of sloes all the way along the path and fields around. I might have a try at making sloe and blackberry jam or something else new. It used to be a family thing to make sloe gin, but actually none of us really like it anymore. I now think it tastes like cough medicine, too syrupy and far too sweet. The thought of sloe gin has nudged me into remembering there’s a bottle of unopened damson gin given by friends the Christmas before last, somewhere at home and still unopened.

I’d paused again and said I must take a picture of the vine (my brother and I called them Tarzan vines when children.) Are they part of very old ivy plants?

Lesser or common burdock. So pretty.

I’ve been trying to identify this using the Butterfly Conservation site. I wondered if it’s a moth, rather than butterfly, but haven’t come up with anything on that section either. I sent the picture to a friend whose husband is apparently a moth geek, presumably he’s also a butterfly geek.

More future foraging opportunities; a tree laden with crab apples. I bet there’s plenty you can make with these too. Have you ever?

Ahhh fields of barley, it’s the feathery rippling in the breeze that gets me. I also like the log. It looks like it’s been carefully placed there for people to perch on and admire the views.

I’m sure I’ve taken photos here several times before, it’s like looking out of a picture window. It had started to rain, but because we were in a tunnel of trees, with deep hedges either side we could hardly feel it. My jacket was still tied around my waist, as it was rather on the humid side in fact.

Uh-oh here we go! Out from the tunnel of trees appraoching what I always call the Crossroads, where the footpath and bridleway cross, and it was raining on us a little more now.

I had stopped for a drink of water and we put our jackets on, there was no ignoring the rain now, but it was refreshing and I always like the sound as it plops on my raincoat’s hood.

The view was now wheat fields all around. The combines have started harvesting crops around the area this week; so I have to make the most of the golden views while I can.

The rain had become torrential at this point and so we were sheltering under a large oak tree when suddenly I saw something going up and down in the wheat field, about 20 feet away. Another bounce and we realised it was a pair of very straight ears: a hare! When we stopped talking it seemed to stop bouncing. So I sang ‘Oh I do like to be beside the seaside’ (I’m not sure why that song) in a gentle bid to get it moving again. If it was, we could no longer see it.

Thunder had started crashing overhead. It was definitely time to carry on.

Ten minutes later in the torrential rain I took this photo of a beautiful thistle under a tree and we decided the wisest thing would be to turn around and go home; we were soaked through to the skin. I realised my coat must need re-proofing. This is the first time I’ve ever been properly wet during a rainstorm, it’s served me well in the three or so years since I bought it. We squelched along the field edge, kicking up muddy spray.

By the time we got home we’d walked over five miles and were so wet through that we had to peel off our sodden and muddy clothes in the kitchen, to put them straight into the washing machine.

I stood in my underwear eating a few Big Hula Hoops and sipping cold lager out of a can before going up to change. That’s a pretty good ending to a walk!

The antidote

Posted on June 14, 2020 by The Little Room of Rachell

It’s a really long time since I woke up and fancied doing a bit of crochet first thing in the morning. So I got up straight away, before this state of mind disappeared, and along the way quickly mixed some enriched dough to bake soft white sourdough rolls later (This excellent recipe.) Then gathered up my yarn and hook to do a star shaped round back in bed, while I sipped jasmine tea. I also caught up with some of last night’s Liza Tarbuck radio show.

It was a pleasure to wake up feeling so positive and energised after what’s been my worst week of lockdown so far. I asked friends on Thursday if:

“Anyone else feeling *really* fed up with it all this week, like it’s the hardest so far now?

Relentless. Dull. Negativity everywhere. The weather change probably doesn’t help.”

The answers came flooding in and without exception everybody said they felt exactly the same.

Yesterday I found the antidote to feeling really fed up:

~Sunshine and blue skies

~A really good 7.3 mile circular walk

~Walking another – new to us – section of Shakespeare’s Way

~Bumping into a friend in a churchyard

~Going to her garden for tea and chocolate cornflake cakes

~Non-stop chatter and LAUGHTER

~Stroking her sweet cats

~Walking back reflecting on what a cheer-up fest new scenery and seeing a good friend is!

~Well earned G&Ts & Bombay mix

I think all that helped to create the buzz of energy and positivity I’m feeling this morning.

How are you finding life? Hope you’re ok. What’s your antidote?

Lockdown excitement

Posted on May 23, 2020 by The Little Room of Rachell

This afternoon we wandered down to the station and to my excitement a new looking GWR train whooshed into the station, bound for London. So tempted for a split second to jump on, especially when we talked to the ticket collector and she said there were only three passengers on board…I’m really missing London, or going anywhere really. My feet are always itchy.

Then we found a new to us bridleway. I don’t know about you but in a quest to find local walks we have discovered so many bridleways and footpaths. But then we are lucky to be living in a paradise for walkers and cyclists.

It was an exhilarating walk on a very windy day, with absolutely stunning views west and rippling fields of wheat.

Praise be that the toilets were open, or at least the gents (ladies in the locked waiting room) and we could both use it on our return. We both marvelled at how it was the first public toilet we’ve been in for a long time!

Then to the Co-Op for tonic and he found orange sticker sausages for the win.

#LockdownExcitement

Bluebell woodland

Posted on June 2, 2019 by The Little Room of Rachell

A walk on a lovely warm May morning in the bluebell wood.

It is an annual tradition to go whenever the bluebells are flowering, to listen to the swell of birdsong, to notice the leaves on the trees rustling in the breeze, to drink in the haze of colour of the bluebells and to smell their dusky sweet perfume. This only seems to happen if the breeze is blowing in the right direction, or the sun is filtering through the leaves of the trees above to warm the flowers. When I catch the scent it instantly reminds me of other walks in this wood.

When you see the candles on a horse chestnut tree you don’t expect them to be such pretty flowers, do you?

We were the only people in the woods this visit, apart from at the beginning of the walk when a girl came out of one of the paths onto ours, carrying her puppy. She said she was worried because he is very young and gets so excited, he would be jumping up at us. I’m ashamed to admit that this country girl replied: “Oh good because today I put new jeans on and I don’t want muddy paws all over the legs!”

It was a dachshund puppy…I’m blushing as I remember.

Mum and I have looked out for deer since the time we came across a huge pair running in the field at the back of the woods.

I regularly see muntjac deer where I walk at home, but that pair (roe deer I think) near the bluebell woods were enormous. And scary. But exhilarating and wonderful too.

This time we experienced mild disappointment when we left, the wildest animal having been a small over-excited puppy with mucky paws…

Celandine and bluebells look so eye catching together. There are delicate patches of celandine in the woods. So fragile, some are along the very fringes of the paths, that I watch where I place my feet. Aren’t those dark green heart shaped leaves lovely?

Here are links to my previous bluebell posts:

My next post will feature some crochet!

Five things

Posted on April 27, 2019 by The Little Room of Rachell

One: I can’t tell you how good it is to have made something. From beginning to end in about 10 days. Yes!

Less yes, and more noooo was experiencing the sewers equivalent of yarn chicken. I’d asked on Instagram for any suggestions and someone said tie the old and new thread together. That seemed a bit rubbish, so I undid it all and started again with a longer thread and, would you believe, it happened all over again! I Googled thread tying and it is a thing. Sorry to whoever suggested it – I was an unbeliever – but it worked. It was initially a bit tricky trying to get the knot to stay at the back and not pull around, but anchoring it behind a tuck of the gathered material worked perfectly. Looking at the back you wouldn’t know.

Two: As mentioned on my last post Corinne Lapierre sent me a thank you gift, and someone there wrote a really lovely note. It’s so lovely that it’s pinned on my noticeboard in the little room.

Three: Yes your eyes are not deceiving you… I have managed to do some crochet this week. The first picture was taken after my allotted ten minutes. The first time I’ve done any crochet since, I think in about November. I had the yarn and hook poised in my hands ready to go just before I started the ten minute timer. I wanted every second! I felt thoroughly relaxed even having just done a little. Crochet always feels like a tranquilliser!

Ahem… The second picture was a few days later and I completely blame Nikki and her lovely Nan for my going way, way, way past the ten minute timer.

I’ve never got into vlogs. Generally I find them full of umming and ahhing, repetitious and overly long without enough content the fill the time. (Say what you think, why don’t you?!) I think this is probably only the third one I’ve ever watched in full. I’ll definitely watch another. This is the episode.

Four: This fluffy lovely spent ten minutes sitting in one of our two balcony feeders, sun basking and occasionally pecking at the crumbs of mealworm. I was right next to the window chatting to him and he just blinked at me. Looking at the fluffy tummy feathers I would say this is a juvenile.

Five: And it’s bluebell season again, seems to come around fast doesn’t it? This isn’t even my official bluebell visit, but some that are filling my local woods. What a gorgeous sight.

The Woodland Trust has lots of general info about bluebells and a search box to find bluebell hotspots. I enjoyed reading the article about ancient woodlands too.

Here’s a guide to identifying native bluebells.

And if you’re in the UK The National Trust website is always a good place too to search for bluebell woods and walks.

Sewing, seaside & something sweet

Posted on April 12, 2019 by The Little Room of Rachell

I’m really enjoying doing a little bit of sewing every day still. It doesn’t seem to be affecting my hand unless I do too much. I am as happy as a very, very happy thing to be able to be a little bit creative again.

Corinne Lapierre saw my progress posts on Instagram and says she’s had quite a number of clicks from my last post here to her website, including purchases, and has offered to send me something as a thank you! How nice and totally unexpected. Thank you for clicking through to check out her site, if you did. Does this officially make me an influencer I wonder?! What will she send? Exciting.

I understand Corinne does demos on Create and Craft TV on Freeview. Have you seen any?

I saw hand drawn felt tipped numbers in the window of someone’s house the other day. This gave me the idea for a new cross-stitch. I thought I could rest my right hand on top of a hoop to keep it steady on the edge of my desk, while I stitch with my left. This is going really well and doesn’t seem to aggravate matters. The last time I did any cross-stitch was last July in Regents park, London. It feels like aeons ago.

I know the five is a bit dodgy. I drew it freehand after looking at cross-stitch number patterns online. I wasn’t copying a specific design, but went with the flow. Do you think I ought to add a bit more thickness to the bottom? Apparently it looks a bit like a letter S, but with the four next to it should be identifiable.

You can see if you zoom in when I started smoothing out my thread before stitching, and periodically letting the needle dangle from the hoop to untwist the thread. The perfectionist in me is tempted to undo the messy rows but I’m resisting.

I found myself looking at sewing kits and threads in John Lewis and The Range while away in Aberdeen. If you were around The Range and heard a man muttering about “Pikey tat” and a woman shushing him, while looking embarrassed, then that was probably us. He’s not that impressed with spending time in Hobbycraft but The Range always provokes strong emotion for some reason. Idiot.

Look at those rabbits! How can anyone resist a rabbit in a carrot racing car?

I might have spent a few minutes arranging them, but no one seemed to notice or care. The rabbits enjoyed the attention.

Lucky weather on Friday meant it was unseasonably sunny and warm. A bus out of the city to Don Bridge seemed like a good plan. We walked along the esplanade and onto the beach to collect sea glass, then had a couple of scoops of Mackies Scottish ice cream before reaching Footdee, wandering around the harbour and back into the city centre. A good walk by the sea in bright sunshine, is a pretty perfect day for me. Plus it was capped off with a selection of curries at Shri Bheemas with old friends in the evening. That was the best lamb biriyani I’ve ever eaten. The paratha were really good too; lacy and light.

I read on an airport poster that Aberdeen has 15 miles of unbroken beaches. There’s a coastal trail to drive, see here, which would be fun to do sometime.

So far I’m on target with my aim to walk 1000 miles this year. I’ve walked well over 200 miles and this despite my dodgy knee giving me jip. Fingers crossed that I can carry on because it’s a really good way to motivate yourself to walk, even on non fair weather days when the temptation to curl up on the sofa is strong. I guess another way would be to get a dog which needs lots of walking. I’d probably inadvertently get one as lazy as me on rainy days!

Tell me a few things? How are you?

Catching up

Posted on March 2, 2019 by The Little Room of Rachell

You know when someone’s been away from blogging for ages and they say they really don’t know what to write, but then just start and it’s okay in the end? I feel a bit like that today, although it’s only been a few weeks. I’m starting with this opening, random photos and seeing where it goes.

The lack of craft content is a big factor. It’s so frustrating that many times I’ve thought about just putting this on hold, without a big announcement or anything, but then I pop online and read a few of other peoples’ posts and enjoy just catching up with their news. Seeing what’s around in their gardens or neighbourhoods, what the weather’s like, what they’re eating, let alone what they’re making that I don’t really think it matters. It’s just natter without the knit, isn’t it?

The thing is I’m still being contacted by PR people for yarn companies and magazines. This week it was for a prominent High Street magazine who wanted me to do a How to Crochet series of pictures and instructional posts for their website. I love the compliments about my blog and that they really love the content, but it makes me wonder how recently they looked because I don’t think crochet has featured since last year. I shall look forward to seeing which blogger gets the gig!

This morning I’ve also had a dodgy looking email about some blogger awards. If I thought it was kosher I wouldn’t jump on my own chances by writing this here, but you know when the grammar is so odd and the website and email address are iffy looking that you just think ‘Ha ha, probably not?’

Do you know by the way that I always dictate my posts on my iPad now? So if there’s any very strange looking mistakes it’s Apple technology, not Rachel technology! Although I do keep being told off for not proofreading my messages. I sent the most bizarre instructions for baking sourdough this morning which included putting the sprinting on the third gravestone from the top…

I went to see the Hand Therapist last week. I’ve had to do a lot more lifting and carrying recently and it is she said: “A soup of ickyness and not anenomes.” Not quite the way I would’ve put it, although that description did make me laugh, but I get the message. I’ve got to go back to see the Hand and Wrist Consultant. I am resistant to anything invasive, but it does look probable as it’s not improving.

Beautiful Valentines Day flowers. Just gorgeous aren’t they, but unfortunately we kind of missed them, more about that later.

Snowdrops have appeared everywhere. Beautiful, but you do have to lift up the flowers to see how pretty they are on the inside, there are so many varieties, the variations are amazing.

Hyacinths from last year in one of my favourite blue pots. I know that second year bulbs don’t necessarily come back in flower very well, but I took the lazy approach and thought I would suck it and see. Probably not the best expression I use, picked up from an Australian. But I do like it!

Tulips. I have no idea what colour these were last year, maybe purple? Queen of the night variety? I could look in my notebook; but I quite like the idea that I’m going to get a surprise. Fingers crossed. What’s been nibbling them?

I think these are going to be Paperwhite narcissi.

I think I’ll never apologise, content-wise, for my sourdough pictures. If they annoy you then just imagine I’m smirking at you! Having said that I’m not sure I’m going to post anymore for quite a few weeks. Right now they’re flatter looking, because neither of us can lift up the cast-iron pot I bake them in. They tend to flatten out more when tipped out of the Banneton onto a baking sheet. Still taste good, but not so photogenic.

Have you heard that we had the hottest February on record? We had temperatures of 15° – 16°. T-shirt weather. I even saw a few people in shorts and sandals. It has been amazing, though ever so slightly bizarre for this time of year.

The spring flowers are out in force and it’s really lovely spotting croci, snowdrops, daffodils, grape hyacinths, blossom on trees and flowers on heather. I love the close-up I took of Mum’s little pink heather flowers.

And the reason we kind of missed my Valentine’s Day flowers: they drooped and dried out as the underfloor heating was still going on without us breezing in and out of the room or moving them to a cooler spot while we were away…

I’ve always fancied a ride in an ambulance; thought the flashing lights on while speeding past the traffic in a swift ride would be kind of cool. Yes I know, I’m a moron! Don’t think I’d really thought it through properly. Not so fun have to call it for a loved one at 2 AM, who is in pain, with all the worry and scary thoughts alongside that.

There were some funny moments, in retrospect. It is not a comfortable ride; it is noisy, the suspension is awful and both of us said they haven’t *even* put the lights and siren on! No need as at that time on a Monday morning there is nothing to slow down the journey. I find it interesting that having been woken from a deep sleep of only two hours that the things that I grabbed were his two phones, my iphone, my charger, my mascara (!) and I hid the whisky bottle in the cereal cupboard! We’d had a couple of drinks that evening, after a nice Sunday with family. There is no deep-seated problem or associated guilt, but for some reason I popped it behind the pack of Fruit and Fibre.

This was my view for several days and I did the thing of buying some lovely refreshing fruit (grapes are traditional, I went for melon and mango) for any time Someone felt like nibbling something. Of course those times were rare, it was all about lots of liquid morphine, codeine and paracetamol via IV. Incidentally I did ask the nurse if I could have a bit of that, because I had a cracking headache on the Tuesday after being up the previous night and the following day. She laughed and said “Absolutely not, do you realise how expensive it is given this way?!” Apparently it’s incredible, in a matter of minutes it’s taken effect.

I also was rushing about like a headless chicken and hadn’t had breakfast one day so did the classic thing of having to apologise when he did feel hungry for the first time, because I’d eaten all the melon! Oops.

There is a real club that forms when you’re part of a situation in a ward where everybody’s been rushed in without warning and are awaiting diagnosis or emergency operations. The patients are usually too unwell, sleepy and high on painkillers, but the families are really supportive of each other. I ended up chatting and waving to people all along the ward and in the lift, every time I popped out to get something. There is such a camaraderie and fast track relationships, albeit brief, are formed. I still wonder how some of them are and what happened. Maybe we’ll bump into each other in a cafe or shop one day. Fingers crossed all works out for them.

I know this is a horrendous picture of my hand but for me it sums up the black humour you can find in situations. There is a triage part of the ward and so at the end is a waiting room for about 10 people. There are clearly very unwell people waiting to be seen; they all had dark circles around their eyes, faces so pale it looked like stage make-up and nobody ever picked up a magazine. Some were there for hours and hours and I really felt for them. It’s not somewhere people chat. I think they’re just focusing on getting through so they can see a doctor. Then they get antibiotics to take home, or are admitted to the hospital.

Why a picture of a water bottle? This water machine was one of a kind. I kept on going down past the bays of beds to keep my legs moving and to keep myself hydrated. Can you see the tiny trickle going into my bottle? I’m actually sitting down to fill that water bottle. Honestly it took so long (about 10 minutes to fill 500ml) that at one point in a full waiting room I could feel 10 pairs of eyes on me and suppressed mirth. Far too much in pain and poorly to actually laugh out loud, but the atmosphere certainly lifted.

I want to give huge thanks and appreciation to the paramedics who came when I called 999 at 2 AM, the A&E team, ESU ward staff and the surgical team, anaesthetists and all the others who looked after my husband. NHS staff are AMAZING.

Home again now, taking it easy, he is well on the way to recovery.

I loved being outside for a walk again, enjoying the surprise sunshine after the trauma of the last week. I can’t leave without telling you what I’m reading. I’m listening to this audiobook and really enjoying it. Read by Juliet Stevenson it’s such a good story, the only downside is her voice is so soothing I can’t listen to it lying down; because I’m asleep in 10 minutes.

Yesterday I finished two books: The Moon’s a Balloon by David Niven and Tin Man by Sarah Winman. Both very good.

If this is natter, without the knit then this definitely needs your comments! How have your last few weeks been, what have you been doing, has it been sunny where you are and what are you reading?

Serendipity

Posted on January 25, 2019 by The Little Room of Rachell

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step

Lao Tzu

Today I had a rather nice thing happen. While walking at Blenheim, lamenting that my usual six mile loop is still not able to be accessed, I paused to ask a couple who passed through the same gateway if they knew of a circular route in the direction we were headed. It’s always nicer not to retrace your steps. Also familiar with the loop I walk, they were trying another one by using a map app. I ended up joining them, after saying a few times that I was happy to drop back and follow at a distance so I didn’t intrude, but instead she asked me if I bake and had I heard of Bundt cakes? Well, you know me….I LOVE talking about baking, cake recipes and eating cake is one of my favourite pastimes, and so we were off!

While we walked we covered topics like bundt cake recipes (I’ve never actually made or eaten one in England, though I have in Australia and USA as they’re not that common here, but I do fancy a cherry and coconut version I said) walking 1,000 miles in a year, backpacking, living in the countryside, NT membership and much more.

It was a really lovely 5 mile circular walk with good conversation. At the end we swapped numbers saying we could maybe meet up and walk together again, but I knew that even if I never heard from, or saw them again, I’d had a really lovely time.

However by the time I got home I found I had a text from L with a Fitbit map of our route so I could do it again, if I wanted. How thoughtful. I said they’d got me looking up bundt cakes…! They’re based on European cakes, but actually bundt tins were invented in the 1950s by an American guy who’d bought an Aluminum Company in Minnesota to make Scandinavian items. I could tell you more facts, or you can Google them too. I love finding out random information. I know I’ll have forgotten it all in a few weeks time, as my brain is custard, but I like the short-term knowledge!

We exchanged a few cake based messages and I went to the dentists for my annual checkup and came out absolutely starving hungry. I don’t know about you but I don’t eat too near to an appointment. I’d had another message to say R was making a coffee and chocolate fudge cake as he thought that was suitably American. Aww!

I received an email from Ramblers this afternoon about Time to Talk Day. This will be on February 7th and aims to get people together to walk and talk about mental health issues, with an aim to reduce the stigma around talking about it. This seems like a very good thing indeed.

Mental health problems affect one in four of us, yet many people are still afraid to talk about it. Walking is a perfect way to start having a conversation with others and opening up. Being physically active, connecting with nature and other people – the ingredients of a Ramblers group walk – are all things which have been shown to have a positive impact on mental health and wellbeing.

From the Ramblers website

I’m recording my pedometer mileage as usual every week, but this year am totting up the miles to see how close to a thousand I walk during the year. I’m not putting any pressure upon myself, especially as I have a tendency to knee problems. So, if it’s half that amount then so be it, but it’s cool to have a goal to keep in mind. I can then aim to beat this year’s total next year.

How are you doing? (I always, always hear Joey from Friends when I say that! Do you read it in his voice?!)

Taking Stock – October

Posted on October 29, 2018 by The Little Room of Rachell

Making : a hot water bottle cosy. One half done. I started the other yesterday, but you really don’t get very far along in a 10m session, and I’m not up to everyday yet either. Try setting a 10m timer for the fun of it. It goes so fast. Then make yourself stop. It’s really hard!

I did feel like whooping yesterday when I posted this pic on Instagram. It was fab to have something to show and join in with the buzz of all the Autumn making

Cooking : sourdough pizza last night, on a Sunday night. I hadn’t made any since August, it was time

Drinking : peppermint tea, Stoptober still going ahead here

Reading: The Music shop by Rachel Joyce and Never Greener by Ruth Jones, I’ve got a bit caught up in both

Wanting: a positive outcome to my appointment with the Hand and Wrist Consultant and Hand Therapist this week (i.e. no nasty injection or talk of surgery again)

Playing: some of The Music Shop book’s playlist

Deciding: not to try anymore crochet for several days now, as hand is sore

Wishing: for a car to fall in my lap, I can pay but I just want someone else to find, test and choose!

Enjoying: sunny blue skies and crisp weather. Driving to Birmingham, on Saturday morning, I noticed an orange snowflake appear on the dashboard to indicate the outside temperature. It had dropped down to 4°. It’s 7° today, crisp and bright – basically my favourite type of autumn day

It’s Christmas in Selfridges, Birmingham. I know it’s really early but actually I got swept into the joyful atmosphere

Waiting: for a telephone call from a company

Liking: thinking about which soup to make next

Wondering: what to have for dinner

How pretty are these Lola’s cupcakes? (Also in Selfridges, Brum)

Loving: seeing everyone’s colder weather makes on Instagram (I know some of you are in the southern hemisphere and I do like seeing your flowers and garden pictures too!)

Loved having a legitimate colder day to wear my Mock Cable mitts last week. You can knit some too

Pondering: natural ways to keep those limescale and splash marks off the shower doors, without resorting to nasty chemical sprays that you’re not meant to wash off. Any suggestions? I’m thinking of something like you rub on half a lemon and a bit of white vinegar in a half-hearted kind of way. I’m not sure if either would be effective Considering: going for a walk in the sunshine

Buying: frozen butternut squash, it’s a great standby for soup making

How white is this dog? She was eye catchingly pretty. Her owner said she’d just come from the groomers; she’s a perfect ad for their services! I had to ask if I could take her photo for my blog. She’s called Molly and posed like a true professional. My friends know I’m much more of a cat than a dog person, but she’s clearly gorgeous

Watching: I’m still working my way through Stella. I’ve just finished Series 4. So far series 3 has been my absolute favourite; it was so funny. She and ‘Michael Jackson’ were brilliant together.

Hoping: no one tells me what happens at the end of series 6

Marvelling: at the range of items we can borrow from our libraries. I’m working my way through all the library’s Stella DVDs after getting hooked on the first two or three episodes for nothing on Amazon Prime, but then they wanted a lot of money to rent or buy the series. No way! I can reserve a DVD for £1.20 and borrow it for a week for another £1.20, then it’s 30p per every additional day afterwards

Cringing: at how bad you can feel during your period some months. It’s awful and you can’t really explain how fluctuating hormones can make you feel and react so emotionally to what you’d normally shrug off, or suggest discussing sometime over a burger and a milkshake. I think it can sound like an excuse to anyone who doesn’t experience it, but it’s very real. Afterwards you hardly recognise the emotional mess you became for a while

Not your usual charity shop find is it? No, I didn’t buy them!

Needing: to water my plants

Questioning: why the boiler keeps making that odd noise despite a recent service

Smelling: rose perfume oil, mmmmm

Wearing: jeans and a t-shirt with three-quarter length sleeves, it’s warm behind glass in the sun

Crossing the bridge over the lake, looking back towards the obelisk, Blenheim Palace in the autumn sunshine

Following: some incredible new designers that seem to have suddenly snuck up during the time that I haven’t been knitting and crocheting

Knowing: designing is probably never going to be my special talent, but I do love writing

Thinking: about my rumbling tummy, I always seem to be either hungry or thirsty when I write these posts

Admiring: some crochet jumpers and cardies

Nala the cockapoo, one of the salon dogs relaxing on the hair-wash chair. She’s either resting her head on your knee asking for love, or curled up on a chair. It’s clearly a hard life. Cora her Goldendoodle half-sister is often asleep by the front door, waiting for the postman who always brings treats. They are probably part of the reason why I’m so much more comfortable around dogs. I like my hairdressers a lot, so it wasn’t a difficult choice between leaving because of the dogs, or staying and getting used to them. This year I’ve patted them both once. This might not seem impressive, but believe me it is!

Sorting: my shredding and coming across all sorts of funny notes, including one I wrote to Someone who was on a conference call: ‘We have a situation in a k cupboard, I think it’s contained…. but I’ve left the bin outside the front door.’

Getting: a new mini sieve at Birmingham’s Rag Market, to try to make even better poached eggs

Bookmarking: articles about psychology and friendship

Coveting: new clothes

Disliking: shopping for ‘em!

Opening: the veg drawers and finding a half rotten cucumber I’d forgotten about

Giggling: at Celebrity Goggle Box in aid of Stand-up for Cancer on Friday night. Danny Dyer and his daughter were hilarious

Sewing with my Mum. Just like old times: “You don’t need to stand over me, go and find something to do.” At least she didn’t tell me to “Go and have a run around the garden!”

Feeling: relaxed

Snacking: on nothing at the moment

Helping: my friend enjoy her holiday without guilt for having fish and chips etc. Life is too short, have some family fun and healthier eating can wait for a few days

Hearing: bugs ding into the window outside

Mixing: lemon, ginger and honey later for a warming drink

Worrying: about something it seems I can do nothing to resolve. It takes two to tango/ talk

Favourite lunch: toasted crumpets, avocado mashed with a little salt, poached eggs and homegrown cherry tomatoes

Slicing: that rotten cucumber, I’ve salvaged half. Hate throwing food away

Celebrating: autumn

Roses & orchids, amazing. Yes, spoilt

Forgetting: lots! It’s my age dear

Winning: £8:60 on the lottery a few weeks ago

Pretending: I’m a calm, wise and mature woman, not an emotional soggy mess on occasion

Sneaking: M&S Butter Mints from the car

Embracing: my beloved in his new cashmere jumper

~~~~

Hope all’s well in your world. What are you up to?

Autumn days

Posted on October 6, 2018 by The Little Room of Rachell

We are having some cracking October weather, as you can see. Lovely sunny days with blue skies and sweet little fluffy clouds. I love it when it’s like this; it feels like it’s a bonus when we get t-shirt days in autumn. I went for a good wander around at Blenheim Palace the other day and it seemed I wasn’t the only one chuffed about the warm temps. I heard lots of tourists say they didn’t expect it to be so warm! They actually said this in tones of awe and wonder. I soon gave up with the idea of wearing my hoodie and tied it round my waist instead.

There’s a major two year lake dredging and Grand Bridge restoration project beginning. More details here. Someone will be interested enough to read all about it. I know it might seem odd to feature the water pipes, but there was something really appealing about the shiny blue paint and newness of the connectors. Do you think that piece of 2 by 4 is vital? I was so tempted to give it a tug and see what happened. Naughty! If I added sound to this photo, you would hear the water rushing through, as the engineers gradually lower the water level. Apparently all the fish are going to be netted and moved from the Queen’s Pool to the Great Lake. I’m not sure what the birds are going to make of it all. There are hundreds (thousands, when its breeding time) of grey lag, canada and snow geese, plus coots, herons, moorhens, swans and ducks. Others that I can’t name too.

I would have loved a ride in the little inflatable boat, but as it was tethered both ends I imagine you need a rowing boat to reach it. The boat house was some way away. And they don’t just let anyone random grab ‘em. Shame isn’t it? I contented myself with taking lots of leaf pictures instead. The autumn colour isn’t just in New Hampshire in the USA, you know!

It’s been so warm that we sat outside in the pub garden the other evening, for a cheeky drink and pre-dinner snack. This is not necessarily something we’re still doing in October. Later in the season they light the fire and it’s a race to get to the nearest tables because it’s so lovely and cosy. When the ‘Beast from the East’ Siberian weather came earlier in the year we sat at the table almost on top of the fire and literally thawed out, as we’d walked in minus temperatures.

It‘s just been Apple Weekend at Waterperry Garden. In the supermarket there are generally half a dozen varieties that you can buy year round including: Pink Lady, Braeburn, Cox, Granny Smiths etc. Then you go to an apple weekend and there are allsorts of local varieties which you’ve never heard of. After tasting everything on offer, we bought bags of Old Fred, Red Pippin and Egremont Russet. Plus a bag of Comice pears. There are Apple days happening all over the country at the moment and it’s such a good idea to go. You can taste apples with such different flavours (apples which taste like pears, anyone?) various textures (very dry and crisp, sweet and juicy or tough skinned varieties; ideal for peeling and crunching with strong Cheddar cheese.) This always makes me realise that supermarket apples are mostly bland and boring, especially when they are all the choice we’re given year round. We have a spare fridge, usually referred to as the wine fridge, the sourdough starters live there too. You get no prizes for guessing what it’s chock full of at the moment…

Another exciting aspect of Apple weekend was finding a new farm shop has opened on part of the grounds. Waterperry Farm Shop is stocked with produce from the nearby farm. It was such a lovely surprise to find freshly baked cakes and savouries, their own meat and products from the local area including cheeses, rapeseed oil and preserves. Even yarn!

We bought 3 red peppers, 2 sausage rolls (gone before we even got into the car for the journey home) and a lardy cake which we popped in and shared with my Mum over cups of tea.

I really love autumn.

In the bluebell woods

Posted on May 9, 2018 by The Little Room of Rachell

A choir of birdsong, a gentle breeze and the rustle of leaves overhead

Ferns gradually unfolding

Celandines

Cowslips with a background of bluebells make such a pretty picture. I always think of Uncle Silas getting merry on his homemade cowslip wine…it might be time to reread that delightful little book.

The only other people Mum and I saw in the distance yesterday were a couple with a greyhound, later there was a ferocious sounding barking match between two dogs somewhere near the boundary of the woods. We never did see the other dog, but came across the couple again. According to the owner the dog had met his brother: “It’s like that in some families, isn’t it?”

A glimpse of a field of rape flowers through the trees.

Last year’s visit, with links to previous posts in the same bluebell woods.

Six things about bluebells you might not know, by the National Trust.

Lambkins!

Posted on March 22, 2018 by The Little Room of Rachell

Another Tuesday walk with my friend B and this time it was at Stowe, a National Trust garden. There’s fascinating history to the house and estate (see here.) During a tour several years ago I heard lots of stories about Queen Victoria. She visited in 1845 when it was owned by the second Duke of Buckingham. She was not impressed with the over-spending and complained a lot about the opulence, he became heavily in debt. The house later became Stowe school in the 1920s, a private boarding school, but as you can see you can walk right in front of it. The school donated the gardens to the NT in 1989. I’m very glad about this, as it’s a superb place to visit.

Daffodils are appearing everywhere now. I love their bright yellow cheery bobbing heads. They seem to be extremely resilient to low temperatures, blasting winds and the snow we have experienced again over the weekend.

Primroses, I also love seeing these little pretties.

OH LAMBKINS! These were a lovely surprise, my first glimpse of lambs this Spring.

There were plenty of dog walkers walking the route. All were on a lead of course, but neither the lambs, nor ewes seemed worried by the dogs going past fairly close on the lane.

You can stay in this Gothic Temple, a folly overlooking the gardens. Someone was I think, as some of the lights are on and there was a car parked at the back. I’d love to have been invited in for a peep…

Imagine how spooky it would get at night, maybe red wine and plenty of it would help. Maybe not.

It’s ok Mum, I’m not coming close. I’ll just use my zoom.

Lambkin on the right is smiling! He looks glad to be alive.Rachel means ewe in Hebrew. There’s a random fact of the day for you.

The beauty of walk in Stowe gardens is that you never know what you will see next. There are sculptures, buildings, bridges, a waterfall, an ice house (I always like seeing an ice house) and much more, plus a grotto that I had not come across before. The best way to show you is on this walking map, it’s a fabulous place to visit.

Who doesn’t love seeing a lamb? Or even a lamb piccy? That’s really why I’ve written this post. Why dress it up other than as a chance to show you some photos; to maybe make you go “Ahhh” and “Oooh!”

All this beauty

Posted on March 13, 2018 by The Little Room of Rachell

“This is proper England” I found myself saying this morning, on another Tuesday morning walk with my friend B. This is a stunning new find for both of us: Evenley Wood Garden. It’s one to return to through the four seasons, to see how it’s changed.

While there we heard a woodpecker, saw various birds and heard their birdsong, caught a group of about five beautiful pheasants picking their way through the undergrowth and came across no other walkers at all, no dogs, no children and no traffic noise. A perfect patch of England, and it was all ours for an hour and a half. I love this tall variety of snowdrops. Look! It’s a carpet of cyclamen.

Hellebores, my Mother’s favourites (along with snowdrops) and there were other colours too. I didn’t photograph any more though, as we are meant to be walking briskly while looking, not just stopping and staring slack jawed.

A stream runs right through the woods. There are various bridges to cross, but I drew the line at one which was little more than a plank. Guess who had walked a mere ten steps at the beginning of the walk, then slid in slow-motion to the left, ending up lying in mud? B helped me up, like the old lady I felt I had become and then cheerfully stated: “It could have been worse; you could have choked on your pear drop!” I was walking and squelching for a while, until the mud and puddle water dried off a bit.

I came home and announced: “I’ve had a fall.”

“Don’t be ridiculous; you’re too young to ‘have a fall’, you’ve just fallen over in a lot of mud. Ha ha.”

“Hurumph!”

More cyclamen, and a close up of some of the patch.

I’m not sure what the yellow flowers are…something in the far reaches of my brain (aka custard) is whispering aconites. Am I right?

It’s Knit Night tonight, I haven’t been for weeks. I think the last, and actually only, time I’ve been this year was back in January. Then the call of the sofa and the recent Siberian weather made me cling to the tv remote and sofa, hard. It’s time to come out of hibernation now.

Is it the sofa for you, or are you heading to the great outdoors to socialise one/some/most evenings at the mo?

Much warmer

Posted on March 6, 2018 by The Little Room of Rachell

Walking with a friend today, it felt almost balmy outside at 8-9 degrees. Lovely! Signs of Spring are back in full force as you’ll see.

There were patches of snow alongside the roadsides, piled up on the verges and the boundaries of fields. There are deep patches despite the heavy rain that fell on Sunday. I had to smile when I parked my car and saw this on the village green:

When walking with my nieces on Sunday we spotted a similar stump in a front garden, but with 2 carrots, 4 buttons and twigs on the ground around it. I wish I’d taken a photo as it was just such a touching scene.

We popped into the pub after our walk and I found out that it was established in 1605. It was a coaching inn where the horses would be rested and fed, the passengers too no doubt. The arch led to the coach yard and stables. It is an age since I’ve been there, it’s nice and cosy inside. Much of this old village is gorgeous with the ironstone dwellings, wrought iron gates and some fantastic walled gardens.

After all that snow and minus temperatures it’s amazing to see the snowdrops again. Aren’t they resilient? I guess the clue is in the name. Can you see the pink and yellow flowers on the right? I think they’re primula.

My friend has heard Johnny Depp has a house here. I wondered if it’s this one? You can buy coach house no. 4 next door if you like?

Frankly I took this is for the Americans! I know thatched cottages are always popular.

B was trying to walk fast, keeping up our brisk pace, get the heart pumping etc and burn some calories (her multiple gins at the weekend were playing on her mind.) Her fitness app voice notifications were kicking in with how many kilometres we had walked, how fast our average pace per km etc but I kept stopping dead to whip out my iPhone. I can’t help it when I see witchy wintery trees with an ancient spire behind. I love the twigs lying on the top of the wall where they’ve fallen off.

As a side note; I’ve just googled ‘how old is ancient?’ It’s far older than this spire, so I’m going to have to repeat myself inanely and say it’s very old. When I say the pub is very old, established in 1605, Someone raises his eyebrows, as his school dates from around 1400. It’s all relative though isn’t it? In Australia I often saw signage about very old houses, only dating from 1970 something!

The pace was slowing again, but I was not guilty. The mud was so thick and squelchy along the footpath we considered turning back, but both quite like circular walks. I had to scrape my walking shoes against a tree trunk, to get the worst of the mud off when we came back into civilisation. They were almost comedy clown sized shoes, encircled with mud.

One final pic for you from today’s walk is something I’m used to seeing around, but maybe you’re not…

It’s a mounting block for horses. Do you see them where you are? Are they as old? (I’m debating retitling this whole post Really Old. It’s been totally over used after all.)

Do you want to see a cutie patooty?

Here is Winnie and her Wave Blanket. Isn’t she beautiful? I love the way she’s got her hand on the top of the milk bottle! She’s five months old now. Her Mum tells me she loves her blanket so much and uses it everyday in her pram, the car and her bouncer chair. Wherever they go people ask where it is from, it’s lovely knitting’ (sigh! / smirk.) It’s attracted a lot of attention.

Springlike temperatures, pretty wild flowers, beautiful old buildings and seeing Winnie using her Wave Blanket, there are some reasons to smile.

What’s making you smile at the mo? If you’re not feeling great, I hope things improve soon. Look after yourself.

Soup & trying to knit weather

Posted on March 2, 2018 by The Little Room of Rachell

Tuesday

At 0800 it’s -3 on the thermometer and doesn’t really change all day, except to get colder. The so-called Beast from the East, a very cold weather system from Siberia, is blasting the UK. We’ve got off lighter than many areas but it’s very cold. There’s no snow until late afternoon, although the village pond is already frozen solid. The canal is going that way too. As I watch the narrow boat go I can hear the ice cracking! In the time it takes me to click the photo my gloveless hand begins to tingle and hurt with the cold.

It seems a very good day to spend one of my Christmas gift vouchers on some warm West Yorkshire Spinners Shetland Tweed. I’d seen a particular cowl in Loop, Islington last year and haven’t got it out of my mind. I buy the pattern when I’m home, but can’t make head nor tail of it. There is no number of cast on stitches to start with, and more confusion besides. Nearly £5 and it’s a pretty awful pattern, touted as suitable for lace knitting beginners but it’s clearly not. I should have have taken more notice of the zero reviews. I check it’s not me, missing something obvious, and ask a very clever test knitter and designer who I turn to for knitting advice occasionally. She says it’s one of the worst patterns she’s ever seen. You just don’t know this until you have the pdf unfortunately. I email the company selling the pattern (it’s also on Ravelry, for even more money) knowing they have a zero refund policy, once you’ve downloaded the pdf. My email contains a list of issues with the pattern, provided by my contact. I have a full refund and apology by 9pm. Drat though! That cowl has been in my thoughts for ages. My star knitty friend then goes above and beyond. My instagram is suddenly beeping like crazy. She sends me links to 13 lace cowl patterns: “Which are on Ravelry and far better written.” I chose Edenvale. It’s going to be a very warm cowl as it’s in aran weight wool, but I’m hoping I don’t find it too scratchy to wear…

I feel chilly and can’t get warm, so I wear my Holey Cowl over the top of my Mira Cowl. I’ve never worn either inside the house before.

I get my nostepinne out to wind a skein and Someone texts me:

“Stick the oven on, I’m just leaving”

“Argh!!! I’ve got a skein of wool wrapped around my knees!”

Wednesday

It’s -5 at 0742 so I’m staying in bed reading for a while, because I can! It’s so cold sticking your arm out of the covers, even with the radiator full on.

I meet up with Mum and we go to the library and pop to the supermarket for her groceries. When we come out the car park is swirling white with a snow blizzard. It’s hard to see where the car is parked! We go to her home for soup and toast. Barty naughtily sits on the worktop, watching the snow fall.

Thursday

The window thermometer tell me it’s -4 and there are gusty winds with light snow at 10:00. I plan to make chicken soup, update my card details on the national Lottery website (ready for that huge jackpot win) and start my cowl. The heating is on full blast, but I’m still cold. I dig out my Poncho and am so pleased as it instantly warms my shoulders.

I relearn how to do a long-tail cast on. If you’re also a leftie watch Bill Souza teach the left handed LTCO, he’s very good.

Next I need to do a tension swatch, but can I do flat knitting for what will be a circular knit? Instagrammers tell me I can, but there’s a special technique to it. Purl Soho have a good guide. I check my swatch after an inch or so, because my Knitting Answer book says I will be able to tell how it’s going by then. They say to measure 4″ and count the number of stitches, it’s easier than my usual method of the other way around. My tension is perfect for the cowl pattern! Wey-hey I don’t think that’s ever happened before.

I need to cast on 120 stitches. My book describes various methods to decide how long to leave your tail. I choose the one where you allow an inch of yarn per stitch. Someone is incredulous and says “But that’s 10 feet of wool!” and indeed he turns out to be right. It seems the easiest method, so I get the big tape measure out of the junk drawer in the kitchen. It is more than enough, really and truly. My little piece of knitting is destined to have a massively long tail. It’s a waste of good Shetland Tweed. Maybe next time I’ll try another method and calculate the tail measurement by multiplying the circumference of the finished item 3 1/2 times. What do you do? Cable cast ons are an absolute breeze in comparison.

At the end of a mere 5 hours I have relearned the cast on, swatched for circular knitting, cast on 120 long tailed stitches, painfully knit the first round (my CO is so tight that the tweed feels like garden twine cutting my poor fingers) and slowly knit 3 rounds.

I think this cowl had better look half ok, because I’m fighting my perfectionist tendencies all the way. I will not allow myself to unravel a single bit. I can’t have spent 5 hours in total today with nothing to show. Sometimes it’s better to actually use new skills and refine them as you go, while accepting the first item will not be the best. I find this hard. My natural tendency with tricky knitting is to undo it again and again. I lose heart. Decide I just can’t do it, it’s rubbish and then I move on to something ~~easier~~ different. Not this time! I want to crack lace knitting. Hard lace knitting, not mere holes in cowls.

Friday (today)

-4 at 0800 and it’s clearly snowed some more overnight. It’s now about 4″ deep. We decide to go out for a walk and so wrap up as warmly as we can. It’s -2 by the time we go, but the BBC weather app tells me with the wind chill factor it feels like -9. Pretty soon my legs and bottom feel numb. Someone smugly tells me he’s toasty, because he’s wearing his fishing thermals. Wah! And I’m wearing jeans, which I know, I know, are the most useless thing in this weather. My legs are red like lobsters when I take down my jeans, back at home. Luckily I have the brilliant idea of leaving a spicy lentil soup to cook in the slow cooker, while we’re out. I delegate the chopping and initial cooking of spices, onion, celery and carrot while I shower. What a brain wave. It is super (souper!) to smell lunch ready and waiting for us when we return.

Not many are out at all, we see a handful of people with sledges but it’s bitterly cold for the dogs and their walkers. With the icy wind cutting across our cheeks and snow beginning to fall, it’s a big relief to be home.

It’s been snowing steadily for over an hour now. I will knit my 4th round soon. Wish me luck!

My cousin has been holed up in a pub in Lincolnshire for 2 nights. It isn’t that far from where she lives, but the roads are impassible so she hasn’t been able to get home. There are definitely worse places to be stranded; if that were me, I would drop my Dry Lent like a shot.

How cold, or warm, is it where you are? Any snow? Let’s share a weather report from around the world.

Taking Stock – February

Posted on February 26, 2018 by The Little Room of Rachell

Making : Slow Cooked Beef Brisket, recipe here except I added lashings of balsamic vinegar too. Cooked for 8 hours on medium, then sliced the beef and gently reheated it in the sauce, in a heavy based pan on the hob, the next day. I think slow cooked food is always better eaten the day after, to meld the flavours. I thickened the sauce with a tbsp of cornflour mixed into a little cold water. Delicious.

Cooking : the above to eat with potatoes, petit pois and kale

Drinking : lots of jasmine tea this morning, 2 x 1 pint mugs

Reading: I’ve just given up on the rather tedious The Old Curiosity Shop by Dickens. To be honest I had a sneaking suspicion I was going to do an Oscar Wilde. He reportedly said: ‘One would have to have a heart of stone to read the death of little Nell without dissolving into tears…of laughter.’

Wanting: to spend my Christmas gift cards, but still haven’t found anything apart from new socks at Fatface. These,these which I’m wearing now and this delicious pair

Looking: at these Dr Who props in the BBC lobby on Saturday. My friend and I walked past and went to peep in the windows. A security guard invited us to come in to look. We watched the last few minutes of the Winter Olympics curling on one of the huge screens. (We lost to Japan.)

Playing: my friend’s Adventure Bus Game on foot, my nifty adaption. You set off walking in a random direction, with no destination in mind and take turns to choose left, right or straight ahead at the next junction. We ended up in the BBC, then Regents Park. After 5 miles we went for a late lunch here.

Deciding: to go to the library for new books soon

Wishing: to meet the UK winner of Friday’s £78 million euro millions win. What did they decide to do first? I had a message when I was walking down Baker Street, London on Saturday morning – “Did you see this news article? (‘Massive Jackpot Split between one UK and one Spanish winner, £78 mil each’) Is it you?! Have you checked?”

Enjoying: lots of winter warmers featuring tasty sauces – lamb hot pot and that beef brisket last weekRegents Park croci

Waiting: for dried mealworms to arrive by post, the Blue Tits can’t get enough of them. The robin doesn’t use the stick on balcony window feeder here, but they do. You look up and see a little blue and yellow thing looking at you!

Liking: the bright blue skies and sunshine, although it’s very very cold. Currently we have wind blowing from Siberia, so on Saturday it was 5 degrees but with the wind chill factor felt like 1. Brrrrr. Also, really liked seeing the first blossom in Regents Park

Wondering: if the media are making a huge unnecessary OTT fuss about the ‘dire weather’ coming this week and next. My friend G just Whatsapped to say the news site is advising people to be home by 6pm tonight in her area. Woah!

Loving: my new slow start yeast, the bread is light and rises like a rocket

Pondering: which colours for the next strip, then realising my tension must have been way tighter so redoing the entire third strip

Considering: whether to sew or crochet the strips together, crochet usually wins hands down

Buying: lamb mince to make koftas

Watching: Grace and Frankie

Marvelling: at the ages of the four main characters, it’s excellent to see seniors leading a successful series

Hoping: I’m still as fit and able at Jane Fonda’s age

Cringing: at my renewed nail biting

Needing: a new book

Questioning: if any of you have read Apple Tree Yard by Louise Doughty? Good? Might have asked this before…

Smelling: Dry Roast Peanuts

Wearing: a head of Crystal Tipps (and Alastair) hair

Following: the dire water situation in Cape Town

Noticing: how dry my skin is in this weather Icicles on the water features at Waterperry Gardens shop

Knowing: there was no way Muller Light yoghurt can replicate raspberry doughnut flavour. Indeed, it’s horrid

Thinking: Ruby Wax’s analogy about thoughts being like leaves swirling past, along a pavement is very apt

Admiring: people’s openness in discussing tricky topics on IG and the respectful, often very supportive comments in reply

A rather deliciously wicked meeting place: Lola’s in Selfridge’s, Oxford Street London

Sorting: out which snowdrop pics to keep, so many taken at Waterperry Gardens yesterday

Getting: down to gently look at the insides of snowdrops. This is something I’ve copied from my Mum, it’s often surprising how much colour is inside these little white flowers

So many varieties: singles, doubles, dwarf, tall, big and plump, fine and delicate. Snowdrops are very special

Bookmarking: new recipes, any meatless recipes you enjoy and can recommend? Variety is good

Coveting: “What am I coveting at the moment?” “Other people’s gin.”

I’m doing Dry Lent once again….

Disliking: The taste of sweeteners

Opening: bird books and many websites, then putting a pic on my Instagram account to ask for help to identify a bird – the consensus was that it’s a female chaffinch

Giggling: at Barty apparently not deserving his new catnip toys. Sunday morning Mum was in her sitting room and noticed a sparrow walking across the carpet in front of the window!

Feeling: thirsty, I always seem to write that when TS

Snacking: on radishes

Helping: motivate a friend, but not taking my own advice

Hearing: an aeroplane

Mixing: tonic water with ice and lime, pretending it’s as good as a G&T

Worrying: well, there’s always something

Slicing: onions for virtually every recipe this time of year

Catkins and beautiful twisty trees at Waterperry Gardens

Celebrating: the busy garden birdlife, since I’ve been typing I’ve seen: a Robin, multiple Blue Tits, a Coal Tit, a couple of Great Tits, a male Blackbird and the female Chaffinch is back

Forgetting: what I need to add to the shopping list

Winning: at life? Urgh, smug expression

Pretending: nothing

Sneaking: extra oddments of nibbed hazelnuts, flaked almonds and walnut pieces into the museli. It’s getting close to being an end of packet dust situation!

Embracing: brighter and longer days, it’s light at 520pm still

For the full list to fill in your own Taking Stock post visit Pip. It’s fun to do.

Knitting. Walking. Looking.

Posted on January 19, 2018 by The Little Room of Rachell

I can bear to show you this Hitchhiker again now. I undid about two thirds of the finished scarf. It was all ready on Christmas Eve to have the ends darned in, wrapped up and given the next day, until I noticed something rather strange. It was not a missed stitch, but a vertical row of 8 or so little stitches like plant shoots reaching up for the light. An alien encounter! I can’t believe I hadn’t spotted that and it was impossible to correct, without leaving a big hole. I must have picked up a stitch where there was none. I felt sick, so it’s been bundled away for weeks until I felt I could redo all that garter stitching. I’ve made good progress adding a little at a time. I took it to Knit group at the pub this week and knitted and knitted until I realised I was holding a mere 3″ of wool. Oops! I have more, so that’s ok. As much as I love this Tosca Light by Lang, it is pretty tricky to undo. It’s fluffy when knitted, so like trying to rip open brand new velcro shoe straps. In the end I got so fed up that I grabbed my scissors several times and ended up with about four balls. I’ll forget about those for now and start a new reserve ball.

Quote of the week was from a member of knit group: “I must come tonight, because I need someone to help me start my Stormtrooper!” It’s from this book. Some of the characters could be anyone, but I liked Leia, Chewy and the Stormtrooper. C3PO looks like a golden jelly baby.

My friend and I walked again this week. Another 6 mile jaunt through the countryside, with a pot of tea each at the end, peppermint for me and regular tea for her. All accompanied with non-stop chat. That’s got to be good additional exercise for the lungs, I’d have thought? We’d had a sprinkle of snow overnight and so the tea was really really needed by the end. BBBrrrrrr!

After the dentist we popped into an antique centre earlier. The above are dough troughs and a dough board. The prices are high but the personal histories and stories these could impart would be worth it for me, if only these items could talk. Did they come from the same old bakery? Was it commercial, or a large private estate where staff made the household’s bread? It’s impossible to know as the place is one of those where various antique sellers rent an area. You rarely see the procurer. If you buy anything their specific seller code is input at the till. I spoke to one guy as he was restocking, he said he goes to huge antique markets up north and buys whatever he thinks will sell. So, I guess it could be that this particular seller picks up various items and these could be random finds. Meanwhile as I wander around the rest I find I’m imagining a country mill, where local flour was ground and daily bread made for the community in the nearby bakery. These troughs and boards have finally been cleared out of storage, after gathering dust for years. The mill and bakery buildings have been purchased for redevelopment. It’s incredibly sad after well over a hundred years of use, but the business had to end. It was unsustainable as the locals were driving further afield for work and called in at Sainsbury’s on their way home for their daily bread. But these items had been used for decades and decades, the dough worked with smiles, tears and angry thumps of frustration on the mornings when the vinegary woman next door had come in to complain that the loaves were smaller the previous day. ~~Henry the miller and Florence his …….~~

We felt the dough troughs could be fun to stand pots of hyacinth and other spring bulbs in, apart from that I’m not sure what you’d do with them! I only bake a couple of 2lb loaves at a time…. Isn’t this well put together? It could be a set for a Country Living type of magazine. I did subscribe to that at one point, but had to stop as I found it made me so envious of all the amazing properties and hugely expensive furniture! When I win my huge lottery jackpot I’ll be subscribing again. Now I look at the photo above I think that I should have sat the teddy up a little; he looks uncomfortable. There was something about this little chest of drawers which drew my eye. It’s funny really; as I think most of us would feel we needed to strip and sand it, had it got into this chipped and peeled state. But here it is and on sale for £65!Such a pretty painted chest of drawers. I am always drawn to pink and flowers. This is probably why I like so much of the Cath Kidson range year-round. I just didn’t realise how pink my yarn choices often are, until I updated my Ravelry projects page and saw it’s the dominant colour. This is despite my favourite colours actually being red and blue. The right sort of red yarn is not easy to find. I’m always looking, but often they’re too orange or verging on pink. When I see it, I’ll know it and make a cowl. They’ll have to wrestle the hook and yarn off me in the yarn shop and grab my credit card….Really? £55 for an acrylic crochet blanket in those garish colours!

What about you? Planning any exciting jaunts at the weekend? I’m off to the Lumiere, London Light festival with a friend tomorrow. First we’re going to the V&A for a new exhibition and naughty dinner will be at a GBK.

Twixmas

Posted on December 30, 2017 by The Little Room of Rachell

I really like the week between Christmas and New Year. If approached properly it has a mixture of planned and unplanned days. You need activity and people, but also days where you can lounge around reading, crafting, eating chocolates and nibbles and catching up on Christmas films and tv. This year we’ve got it just right.

Just before Sewing Club ended for the year another sewer told me she couldn’t see the point of wasting time and energy on making bottle bags; as they wouldn’t be appreciated for the amount of effort that goes into making them. Well, happily I’m glad to report that definitely wasn’t the case. I gave them to members of my family who sew and who totally got the point. They made my (Christmas) day by saying how impressed they were with the quality of the sewing etc etc. Every year we pass around card gift bags and bottle bags, saved from previous Christmases, and last year a few lamented that they had to buy new bags. The horror! I knew that these would be used again and again. It will be quite fun seeing them reappear. Am I revealing my sad nerdiness? Ah well! They’re fully lined with contrast fabric and reversible. Now perhaps I need to make Birthday bottle bags…We all seemed to arrive at Mum’s with presents for Barty the powder puff tail. My cousin and my nieces all did and I took him a set of jingle mice. But this one was the clear winner: my friend and her dog George sent him a crocheted pillow filled with catnip (bought in Asda, it’s fab.) After I took this photo he got a bit manic. It was so funny to see this laid back ‘I can sleep for England’ young cat so excited. The pillow is already all tatty and with ends sticking out! It was so lovely to see this ornament again when we decorated the tree on 23rd. I remembered that one of my nieces bought it for me last year, with her pocket money.My Dry October turned into Dry November and Dry December (bar 3 occasions where I’d finished in November but then decided to carry on.) All I really fancied was a glass of champagne and so on Christmas Eve I had my first drink in weeks. And my second. And on Christmas morning felt so very ropey that in the middle of drying my hair had to turn off the drier, sit on the bed and take deep breaths! Oh this was not the plan! How pathetic. Seeing a line of just-filled glasses on Christmas morning I apologised to my brother and declined one. During the toast I tasted a sip from Someone’s glass, just to try, and decided it was really rather nice, that perhaps that old chestnut, the hair of the dog thing would be worth a try. My brother said it was the fastest turn around he’s ever seen! I stuck to a single glass all day and it did the trick marvellously. I had another glass on Boxing Day evening with family too. There is a champagne diet, apparently good for weight loss (perhaps not for the liver.) Maybe that will be the one for me in January?On Boxing Day morning we were so glad to see a crisp and bright morning. We headed out for some exercise. It was a great walk, albeit 7 1/2 miles, not the planned 5. I think it was a combination of a lot of chatter, passing a big group of walkers at a crucial moment and wishing them a Good Morning that meant we missed the intended turning. We ended up in open countryside surrounded by grazing sheep. I turned to my iPhone for our location and saw on a satellite map that we had walked in the opposite direction and were approaching an unexplored village in the west. Oh well, new public footpaths have been discovered and it was a great yomp. Very good for walking off some of the mince pies and Christmas pudding. We took ourselves off to the sales on Wednesday and popped into a new-to-me coffee shop, where we sat on wooden boxes and spooned our Demerara from a communal jar with a wooden spoon. How very hipster!

I started some new crochet that evening. I’m not totally sure this is going to be continued. But look at the difference going up half a hook size makes. The fabric is now beautifully drapey and soft. Plus it’s far easier to find the 1 chain spaces. I’m going to play around a bit and might undo it, or might carry on. Just don’t ask me about the Hitchhiker, I actually might cry. Disaster struck. And I can’t blame it on Barty either.

On Thursday I met a friend in Hoxton, London at The Geffrye Museum of the Home to catch their Christmas Past exhibition. This features rooms decorated (or not) for Christmas from 1700 to 1990. Did you know that the Puritans banned Christmas for around 15 years? People disobeyed and still brought greenery into the home for decoration.

It’s a good exhibition and interesting overhearing others’ memories of past Christmases when you come to the various twentieth century rooms. My friend and I liked this early 1960s room best. It’s just after the children have opened their presents, when they’ve gone off to open their chocolate selection boxes and spoil their appetites for lunch. Sounds a familiar scenario, doesn’t it?

Why the toothbrush in the cafe, the eagle eyed among you might have spotted? I text her from the train and asked if she had an old one she could bring. I reckon it’s the mark of a good friend (or one who’s used to your ways) who responds with “I’ll see if I can find one” and not a single question about why.

After five miles of walking we went for a very late lunch and obviously chose the low calorie option….

And back to a superb mixture of laziness and activity yesterday; I tried out my new dumbbells that my father in law gave me. It’s become a thing every year; I really like to add practical presents to my wish list, things I need and will use. He laughs, but is usually the one to buy them. Over the years I’ve asked for a car valet, garden shears, secateurs, loaf tins and so on. This year it was dumbbells so I can work my triceps which are a little wobbly after a mere 4 months of a power shower and no hair-washing with a jug over the bath. (I miss my jug. I could also touch my toes and the floor without a problem. Probably that’s a no-go now too.) I started my daily routine yesterday. I will begin challenging people to arm wrestle by February. Actually, I’m having a day off today as I think my left elbow feels a bit sore. Ha! I’ve broken my resolution even before New Year.

How was your Christmas? Did your homemade gifts go down well? What’s the most bizarre present you received? Are you feasting still or dining on water and crackers now?

Beautiful bluebells

Posted on May 7, 2017 by The Little Room of Rachell

Not many words are needed today. I’d run out of superlatives anyway; trying to describe the beauty of this bluebell wood.

This year again we didn’t see any deer, though we did stand still several times when we heard rustling in the undergrowth.

Mum, when I first started blogging, used to say: “You’re taking so many photographs!” Now it’s: “Have a look at your blog later to see when we came here last year.” And: “Take the bluebells in front of that magnificent horse chestnut. There are such pretty celandines here with bluebells behind, the colours look lovely together. Here’s a pretty group of cowslips.” She’s right of course, so I snapped them all for you.
Here are blog posts from previous visits to the same woods, in 2014, 2015 and 2016. I think you might recognise some of the trees and paths.

A crunchy walk

Posted on January 21, 2017 by The Little Room of Rachell

Such a good walk in the woods. We went at midday and the car thermometer was showing it was a mere 1/2 a degree. But by the time we’d walked for an hour and a half it had risen to a heady 3 degrees! The tracks would normally be very muddy, but today they were actually crunchy underneath your boots because they were frozen. I loved it. The best part is finding virgin ice on frozen puddles and stomping on it. There’s that satisfying crunch as the ice shatters. It was silent in the woods, there was no one but us and birds singing in the trees. I swear the same robin flew from branch to branch following us all around.

I really appreciated coming home into a warm house, with the option of Spicy Lentil and Root Vegetable or Carrot, Ginger and Orange soup (see this month’s Red magazine for the carrot soup recipe.) I’ve been making soup every week, often trying some new recipes. I can easily make my own, without a recipe, but like to experiment. The next ones are Parsnip & Apple, Chinese style Chicken & Sweetcorn, Chicken, Rice and Miso and I’ve got a Sweet Potato with something linked in an email too. It’s the best thing to have in the fridge; especially when you’ve stomped around a frozen wood and need an instant winter warmer.

Now the snooker’s on and I’m getting hints about how nice a Nespresso would be…then I’m planning to crochet at least two more rows on the Blackberry Ripple. I don’t mind the background hum of the snooker, but think I’ll plug myself into my new audio book. It’s really good so far.

Spring has sprung

Posted on March 7, 2016 by The Little Room of Rachell

Daffodils, snowdrops, scilas, primroses, catkins, croci, cherry blossom and much more; it’s that lovely time of year again. As we walked yesterday Mum and I had a robin following us from ground to branch, to fallen log to a spindly bush. I wished I had some crumbs in my pocket. The weather is chilly but bright, and perfect for a good brisk walk. And then home to a bowl of homemade soup, a cheese scone and a chocolate topped cappuccino.

I’ve been knitting like fury over the weekend, but I’ve ripped it out twice and turned a circular knitting pattern into a straight piece. I don’t mind sewing or crocheting a seam; but I do mind laddering appearing all around the knit, especially when my Google search states this only typically occurs above the join. It’s ok, it’s grown exponentially as I stayed up far too late to finish A Gathering Storm by Rachel Hore. I couldn’t leave the story where it was, the last hour and a quarter had to be heard. What next?

Perfect

Posted on December 28, 2015 by The Little Room of Rachell

   Today we pulled on some warm clothes and went out for some fresh air, after a few days of socialising, eating and drinking. A swift five mile walk was just the thing. On Boxing Day it’s usually great fun seeing children whizz by on their shiny new bikes and scooters, with everyone nodding and smiling their hellos, but it was a rainy day and so the hibernation continued. I’m so glad we decided to postpone a wander around the shops this morning. Walking alongside peacefully grazing sheep, while admiring the stark beauty of the trees against the rapidly darkening sky felt absolutely perfect.

In the bluebell wood

Posted on May 3, 2015 by The Little Room of Rachell

Once again Mum and I went to the bluebell wood to wander. So many flowers! Bluebells of course, but also cowslips, orchids (pyramid apparently, though she was going to check this when home) crab-apple blossom, cherry blossom and little violets.

No deer thundered towards us, unlike last year although we walked quietly to the same spot in the adjacent field (planted with beans this time.) It is such a peaceful spot, the birds were singing their hearts out and we had the whole woods to ourselves; no dog walkers or snipper snappers like me.

We ate a cosy picnic in the car because the wind was pretty chill outside in the open. I was amused to see a woman with five large dogs: (eek!) a retriever, rottweiler, labrador, an-other and ditto) having to carry the sixth; a naughty greyhound, to her Range Rover because it completely refused to leave!

In & out the dusty bluebells

Posted on April 30, 2014 by The Little Room of Rachell

Visiting a wood which you grew up walking to regularly is wonderful, every step prompts a memory and even the oak trees seem to wave a greeting.

Driving past a farm where a territorial dog was always likely to rush out barking at us all still provokes sweaty hands and a racing heart. Once I suggested ‘Let’s go back another way’ but that brought head shaking and “Come on, he’s only saying ‘Hello, this is my patch.'” I tried just stopping, standing stock still in the middle of the lane, but realised the others were taking no notice and were wandering further away back down the hill.

This visit there was no dog, at least not one silly enough to run out in front of a car. As we stepped out into the dandelion field at the back of the woods Mum and I heard a galloping noise; two very large deer were running straight towards us with a sound like horses pounding along a racecourse. Simultaneously two things happened; Mum whispered ‘Look aren’t they wonderful, stand really still’ and I rushed to stand behind her. One deer changed course immediately, turning in a sharp circle bounding to the other end of the field. The other continued galloping along, it seemed to be charging right for us, hooves pounding in time to my racing heart. It was probably only a few seconds and then he too turned. The pair gracefully jumped through a gap in the trees and into the wood. I remembered I was holding my camera too late. They had gone.

Saturday

Posted on June 15, 2013 by The Little Room of Rachell

A winter walk

Posted on January 20, 2013 by The Little Room of Rachell

After a very big Sunday brunch sandwich we just went for a walk on the meadow, avoiding deep icy patches which are still full of flood water. It’s steadily snowing again today.

It amused me to see so many sledges in use, not only for pulling along children, but shopping too!

There were lots of lovely waggy, springy dogs frolicking in the snow too, including a very funny border collie called Mogsie who ran full tilt up to S then lay down for a tickle. Dogs are so stupid. :-D

If you want to see larger versions of these photos click on one, and you can view them in a larger gallery setting. (I just found this out myself!)

What have you been doing today?

Come for a walk?

Posted on May 24, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

This gallery contains 35 photos.

Blenheim Palace has gorgeous grounds, with a lake to circle, a butterfly house to steam within (nice on a frosty day) and a maze to wander. Thank goodness there’s a viewing platform to climb if you need a bit of … Continue reading →

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“Argh!!! I’ve got a skein of wool wrapped around my knees!”

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