They're On!

Oh I love this night so very much. All the town out to celebrate and count down, then cheer the lights.

 It happened a couple of weeks ago and town has been twinkling ever since.

 We caught up with friends, bought treats and shopped. All at home which is a really special feeling.

Its a night for supporting all the people who keep the place going and pulling together to help those  in need.

 A great start to the season if you ask me. Xxxx

Winter Weekend

Phew,what a week! From Sunday to Friday we had an extra little friend staying with us; Robbie from Poland. As part of the exchange programme B was on last year, we hosted one of the 12 ten year olds from schools across Europe.

It was great to be part of the whole thing and Robbie was a smashing and very brave little chap. The language barrier was pretty vast though - thank goodness for Google translate (even if it wasn't always telling us quite the right things!)

So we waved goodbye on Friday morning and decided after our very busy week (of bleeugh work hassle and annoying stuff too) to take things easy this weekend. Well some of us did - Woody decided to run the annual village 10k run yesterday - the Christmas Pudding race and yes you've guessed what the prize for finishing was....

I don't know how on earth he does it or everyone else, but we do a good line in cheering, even in the pouring raining.

And boy did it rain yesterday, a good solid 15 hours of being lashed by the storm. After a slow start we gathered ourselves up after a cosy lunch of soup and fantastic bread from the London Road bakery and ventured up to the woods to see what the damage was.

Winter has arrived for certain. Hardly a leaf left hanging and everything is so dark and skeletal already. But beautiful in a stark and bare sort of way that I really love.

And there was water absolutely everywhere. Tiny trickles of water that usually we hardly notice seeping through the mossy banks, today were absolute torrents. This waterfall is usually a small dribble but look at this!

Our walk brings us out where the river and the canal run alongside but now they've overun into each other and the weir is a force of nature. The power, the speed and the noise were completely overwhelming; an amazing sight that terrified me quite a bit. We were behind a fence but I couldn't let go of our two precious boys.

When the steam train thundered past we hardly heard it over the surging water.

As much as I love the canalside houses I thought twice today about longing to live here and felt for everyone around the country washed out of their homes tonight.

 

Since April it has hardly stopped. I wonder if this much rain is going to be with us forever and perhaps we should wish for arks for Christmas?...

Autumn Fades...

This was the last time I felt the golden rays of autumn were still touching us.

 

A lovely Sunday afternoon over the hills in Derbyshire at the farm at Chatsworth House.

A golden afternoon admiring fancy hens, counting piglets and climbing all over the fabulous adventure playground.

The boy's love it here and it brought back sweet memories of gentle afternoons we've spent there since they were little.

As the afternoon wore on the sun dropped lower and cast golden shadows all around.

 

We drank delicious hot chocolate as it got chillier and dusk fell.

 

A special, beautiful afternoon. xxx

Whizz, Bang!

I don't know about you but I have absolutely no idea where the year is disappearing too!

It was only 5 minutes ago since we were buying new uniforms and having mild wobbles about middle schools, buses and homework but already now I'm buying Christmas cards and putting in orders.

Must be true, time definitely flies when you're having fun and since we spent that Saturday with the geese and swans there's been such fun at No. 25.

Half term whizzed by and I had a lovely time at home with my manems cutting and sticking, baking and loafing about. Hallowe'en is fairly low key here but we carved a pumkin, the boys dressed up and some kind neighbours dished up sweeties.

Bonfire Night is much more fun though I think. We have a little tradition now of inviting our good friends over for a tea of jacket potatoes, chilli, ginger cake and delicious mulled cider. The menfolk take charge of the fireworks while the ladies do our best to keep three over excited boys in check (not easy!)

We were having such a good time this year we completely missed the start of the village bonfire at the top of the hill, so we watched their amazing display from our back garden while our more modest fireworks went off too.

And then it was my birthday and I've been a very lucky girl. New Fat Face pyjamas, brilliant books, cosy slippers and my favourite toiletries - perfect. Then I headed down to London with my smashing friend for a day at the Country Living Christmas Fair.

I can get rather over excited about these sort of big events and inevitably end up disappointed but it was a total joy to find the Fair even more than I'd hoped it would be; inspiring, atmospheric and full of treasures. There was row upon row of real artisans, craftpeople and artists displaying such beautful wares it made me gasp. And most of it was pretty fairly priced considering the amount of work on display. I absolutely loved it!

P and I made a pact that we wouldn't buy anything that we could pick up at home or in a garden centre/supermarket and to be honest that didn't narrow things down all that much! I came home with a much longed for braided rug, some cermaic, hand painted tree decorations and beautiful candles. Sadly I ran out of funds for the stained glass and knitted paper chains but I might just have a go at making some of those myself.

Even the lunch was amazing; baked salmon, delicious salad and puy lentils with beetroot and for a lower price that I'd expect to pay for any main course in London. So all in all a wonderful day and a smashing few weeks. Can't wait for the next few to come - so much to pack in though!

P.S. Time is ridiculously short and working full time means I don't often get online to catch up with blogging. Thank you so very much for all your lovely comments. I read and treasure them all and I'm really sorry if you've asked me a question and I've not got back to you. Hope you'll forgive me.xxx

Spectacular

There's an autmum spectacle that I've really longed to see for years and yesterday we managed it at long last. 

 

I love wild geese but we only see a few where we live and only the very occassional pink foot or a whooper swan, so yesterday we travelled north to the reserve at Martinmere to see these lovely birds coming home for winter in their thousands.

It was truly brilliant. Just as we arrived an enormous cloud of honking, swirling pink foots circled the mere and came down to feed. Absolutely magical. The noise is tremendous and fills your entire head for ages.

Our boys were really taken by the whole spectacle and there was the bonus of ticking off some real rarities in the I Spy Birds book.

The hides along the lake shore are great, really simple but with stools just the right height, helpful field guides on the walls and some very knowledgeable wardens on hand too. On Friday night as dusk fell, apparently more than 20,000 pink foots had come in to roost! 

This amazing double heights hide looks just like a goose in flight.

As well as the geese there are huge array of all sorts of wildfowl from across the world and otters and beavers too. These serene looking Bewick swans were definitely one of my favourites.

We had a fantastic time walking around the reserve which was really accessible for families and twitchers alike. The whole site is flat and ideal for pushchairs and wheelchairs too and a rather fabulous adventure playground appealed to our boys when the lure of the geese wore off.

Magical. Thank you Martinmere for a very special day.

Walled Wonder

There's a magic about walled gardens I find endlessly fascinating. I imagine the lives of all the gardeners gone before and the house and family they worked hard for through wind and sun, frost and rain.

We spent Sunday inside the warm, red bricked walls of a garden being lovingly brought back to life.

Although this summer had been a trial with many more failures than success they said, one thing was a run away success; a magical, peaceful, reflective atmosphere.

Espaliered apple and cherry trees cloaked the walls and the veg beds were lined with deep herbaceous borders full of flowers for cutting.

Tucked against the south wall next to one of several greenhouses, was a smashing little cafe and seeing your salad picked in front of you makes for a very delicious lunch.

 

We ate squash & chilli soup and paninis on the little terrace and watched the boys enjoy the run of the garden on a crisp autumn afternoon. Pretty perfect I'd say.

A very special place x

An Autumn Blessing

A few weeks ago down in deepest Dorset, my lovely friend Lucy married her chap Nick so today was a chance for all us Peak Districtish types to wish them well. Their village means an awful lot to this smashing pair and this afternoon we all gathered at All Saints to celebrate with them.

The church was full of beautiful asters and after some thoughtful prayers and rousing hymns we ate a village-made wedding cake and drank pink fizz in the aisles.

Outside russet leaves carpeted the churchyard like the most glorious confetti,

despite a little rain.

Lucy has been the president of the village WI for a few years so a guard of honour of ribboned wooden spoons was pretty apt.

By now they should be off on their journey to the land of maple leaves. Thanks for a lovely afternoon, all our love and have fun!