Castles and Comics

  On our trip last week to Bonnie Scotland we say many derelict castles. We visited Culzean castle, situated on a promontory along the Ayrshire coast. I am sure that the scenic coastline is stunning but we couldn’t see much due to the mist rolling in.

We passed Kennedy castle which is a grand pile of stones. I was particularly interested to visit Culzean castle as it was the stronghold of the Kennedy clan. My maiden name was Kennedy so I spent a long time daydreaming that they would discover that I was the long lost Kennedy relative set to inherit this beautiful castle. Sadly it was not to be! I did have a lovely day though.

I mentioned comics. We also visited Wigtown, awarded “Scotland’s book town” title. I must say that I was disappointed as I expected it to be like Hay on Wye, not nearly so good! However, I did find a pack of six Eagle comics from 1991. My daughter wants to cover a table with decoupage using Super Heroes comic strips. I’m not sure that I bought the right Super Heroes but it was good fun reading the comics. Flash back blues to when my sons were young and into Super Heroes.

Scotland a Land of Mist and Castles

I’m sorry not to have blogged for some time but I have just returned from a trip to Scotland.  A land full of castles frequently shrouded in mist. We had a great time and hope that my internal batteries have re charged!

There was an absence of shopping opportunities but I managed to track down a few charity shops! When my first Grandchild was born nine years ago I realised that she would be a child of the internet. I decide that everywhere I went I would send her a postcard. I love the written word and worry that modern children will use it less and less. Indeed postcards are getting less and less available as I suppose their days are numbered!

I now have three grandchildren so that means three postcards. I send them even when I go on a day out somewhere. I always date them and say something about who I am with or the place that I am staying. I purchased special boxes for each child to store their cards in. I hope that some time in the distant future these cards will provide a social history of myself and I will be remembered through my travels.

Victorian Pier

We spent today walking along the promenade at Colwyn Bay. Benji the dog enjoyed a run along the beach with sand between his paws. We passed the soon to be demolished Victorian Pier. In it’s hey day a tribute to Victorian engineering and a veritable pleasure palace. It was opened in 1900. The pier has been embroiled in a political and legal arguement for the last decade or so. This has resulted in an order to demolish the pier before nature demolishes it for us. It is a great pity that this pier could not be saved but costs seem to far out weigh the benefit. It is goodbye to this once fine example of Victoriana. OK so that’s my “vintage” rant over.

Not much crafting but I will get out my knitting later. As usual I spend much more time thinking what to craft than actually creating.

Today was certainly a walk along the beach sort of a day, sunny, warm, happy.

Completed: The Aiken Sweater

I love this sweater! Wouldn’t mind being that slim either!💃

LLADYBIRD

Yay for finished knitting projects!

This is the Aiken pullover from Andi Satterlund (aka my faaaavorite knit designer, to whom I should probably just establish a direct deposit of a portion of my paychecks, because, YES). Aiken is everything I love in a knit project – seamless, top down construction, knit in the round on worsted weight yarn, with just a little bit of lace to keep things interesting.

I knit the XS (size range goes up to 3X, whoop whoop), using my normal size 6 needles and this delightfully soft and squishy Debbie Bliss Rialto yarn (oh shit, I just realized this is 100% Merino and here I’ve been telling everyone who will listen that it’s Cashmerino… I’m a lying piece of shit, you guys. But really, it is SOFT). By the way, I LOVE these Debbie Bliss yarns. This is the second sweater I’ve knit up with ’em…

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Autumn, a Romantic View.

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness” so aptly describes Autumn here in North Wales. The poem ( or ode) was written by John Keats on the 19th September 1819 as he walked through the fields near Winchester. The poem describes the still warm weather and the hedge rows full of ripe fruit. Around here the mists cling to the fields in a morning before giving way to lush warm afternoons. The squirrels are gathering their hoards and the fields are a wonderful ripe honey colour. Heaven!

As an English woman living in Wales I am proud to live in the United Kingdom. I am delighted that yesterday Scotland voted to keep the kingdom United. By a coincidence I am off to Scotland next week and really looking forward to the Autumnal colours and scenery. I will seek out vintage emporiums, craft venues and gorgeous views, cafés, people and ( hopefully ) weather. I will hopefully report back soon.

Apple Cake

Here in the UK it has been a good year for apples. The very good news is that at this time of the year I get them for free! I LOVE free😃 my friends have apple trees and can only cope with so many so I get the remains. I have baked, stewed,chopped and munched through the last couple of weeks.

Today I have made Apple Cakes. I used a recipe from The Dairy Book of Family Cookery which I purchased from my milkman back in 1983. In those days I had a young family and not much money. Now I have an old family and not much money……..! OK so I’m rich in other ways.

I have altered the recipe a little but here it is.🌞

Apple Cake

225g cooking apples, peeled and chopped.

225g sultanas

150ml milk

175 brown sugar

350 self raising flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 generous tea spoons mixed spice

175g butter, melted

1 egg beaten

Mix apples, sultanas, milk, and sugar

Sieve together flour and spice

Divide between 2 One pound loaf tins which have been lined and greased.

Sprinkle with Demerara sugar

Bake at 160 degrees C in a fan oven for 1 hour or until risen and golden brown.

Serve sliced with afternoon tea.

Craft Show

Yesterday I had a great day out at The Stitching, Sewing and Hobbycrafts show in Manchester. The venue is great for me and my daughter kept me company. We tried Decoupage,watched a fashion show and learned about the art of Zentangle. I enjoyed every stall and could have bought lots of stuff. I did buy one or two ( ok  more!) new projects.

I bought some gorgeous wool fabric to make a Winter skirt (and ordered the pattern on line last night)

I found a lovely stall selling French style Shabby chic textiles. See http://www.naturaleigh.co.uk Here I purchased some fat squares to make a secret Christmas present.

I bought a lucky dip gift bag, which amongst lots of other stuff, contained a HUGE Lindt chocolate treat. Diet? What diet?

One of my favourite stalls was Rachel John-extreme textiles! who created using mega! massive knitting needles and very multiple ply wool.

I also bought buttons, trimmings, craft magazines (note the plural!) rubber stamping stuff and quite a few cups of tea!

We returned home poorer financially but happy and tired.

Was This A Mistake?

In my wisdom I decided to check out how far along I have got with my “Bee Keepers Quilt”. Well! All I can say is not very far! This is going to take me YEARS! I will still be blogging about these darn Hexipuffs in years to come. Rather than try to do a bed quilt I think it will end up as a lap quilt. Small but perfectly formed. The problem is that I am definately a planner and a starter not a complete finisher. But Hey! So what? I’m not going to set the knitting world on fire with my bamboo needles but what fun I will have starting all those projects. You never know, but sometimes I might finish one of my multiple UFOs and how good will I feel then?

so maybe my “quilt” isn’t a mistake I will finish it one day!