Sunday 3 April 2022

Spring is here

Happy April! Can you believe we are a quarter of the way through this year already ??!! We've had a real mixed bag of weather here, but a couple of weeks ago when it as really warm and sunny, I had a lovely walk with Mr EC and the dog, starting in the beautiful village of Waltham St Lawrrence. (Mr EC is pulling a silly face as his friends always say he looks miserable in selfies on a walk with me, so he was detremined to prove them wrong! He doesn't normally grin like a maniac, I promise!)

The sun shone, it was lovely and warm, and there was such a gorgeous blue sky.

It was one of those walks that you wouldn't know was there, unless someone told you - luckily I'd done this walk a few weeks before with a friend who knew of it ... her friend had told her .. and so on ...

Anyway we set off down this random path next to some allotments ....


Which gave out onto large open fields ...

Through gates and over stiles - we had to lift the dog over !

Some wonderful dens had been built in the woods ...

Eventually we came to this little archway ...


... which took us through the grounds of St John's church ...

... and opened out onto the sweeping open fields of the Shottesbrooke Park estate ...


 ... the little lake was shimmering in the sun ...



... we kept going until we came out near White Waltham, with its war memorial ...

We turned left at the monument  and followed the road along, which eventually brought us next to White Waltham airfield. Its a working airfield, and we saw some little planes take off but they were too far away to get any photos. Eventually we turned left again at this little church that had been converted into a house - so cute!


Bravely we ventured through the fields of sheep ...


... we even got quite close ...


... but we left them to graze, as we continued on down tree-lined paths ...


... we also met some horses clip-clopping their way through the fields ...


... the path led us back past the Shottesbrooke Tudor mansion ...


... and eventually we came back to St John's church... 


... and the pathway back to the allotments

It was such a beautiful spring morning, just warm enough to not need a coat or jumper, oh how I love it when the weather starts to get warmer. I'm definitely a spring-summer kind of girl, and much as winter can be pretty and cosy, I much prefer the longer days and warmer temperatures.

Since that walk the weather has been so changeable - on Thursday it tried its very best to snow, with a few big flurries throughout the day. All the better, then, to stay in and crochet!

Or knit! My knitted sock is progressing nicely and does actually resemble a sock now. I'm ridiculously proud of it , but am now faced with the task of doing (turning ?) the heel, so I need to psych myself up for that over the next few days.

Yesterday and today I made some red, white and blue bunting for a secret project! I've used Stylecraft Special DK in Matador, White and Midnight, and I have the remainder of the balls to use up so there is much more bunting to come.


My lace scarf is growing nicely. In the photo it looks like I haven't really done very much, but its worked along the full length for each row - about 5 ft long - so each row takes aaages to do. Not helped by the fact that last night I had to rip back 2 entire rows when i found a mistake aarrrghhhh. 

I'm almost onto the second skein of yarn, so I had to get the swift and wool-winder out again to wind it into a lovely squishy cake.


A couple of weeks ago a friend contacted me to ask if I could mend a blanket that her late Mum had knitted, and which was of enormous sentimental value to her. I was a bit worried that mending it would require serious knitting skills but actually it just needed some squares re-joining together in several places. Here's a before and after of the type of thing I mean:




I know the colours in those photos are different but I promise its the same blanket (and the top photo is the truer colour by the way).

And here's a photo of the blanket in all its glory - isn't it fabulous !


Well that's it from me for this time. I'll have lots of lovely yarny things to share with you next week, so until next time,
Jillxxxx

21 comments:

  1. My, you live in a beautiful part of the world. So many lovely places to meander through. Your friend's blanket is indeed fabulous! Such a gorgeous pattern and the colour so pretty.

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  2. That looks a lovely walk, I haven't been over that way for years. Doesn't that converted house look as if it's surprised to see you! It must have been a right fiddle to unpick that lacy pattern. The blanket looks wonderful, what a treasure it must be. X

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  3. What a lovely walk I love that converted church. I hope you have managed to turn the heel, I always need complete silence and no distractions when I get to that part but it's easy enough. Your bunting is very pretty. I love your wool winder mine is just a plastic one but I love the little cakes it produces. Thank goodness the blanket was easy enough to fix and there were no holes in the actual knitting, you have done a great job it's a lovely blanket. Have a great week. xx

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  4. What a lovely walk with so much interest along the way. Isn't the converted church pretty, imagine living there. Well done on the sock knitting and your mending skills, I'm sure your friend was pleased to have her treasured blanket in perfect condition again.

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  5. What a beautiful place for a walk! I envy you your warm weather. Mother Nature has been very cruel in these parts. Just when everything went in bloom she went all arctic on us.
    That blanket is gorgeous. It was nice of you to fix it.

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  6. Wow, the blanket is just stunning! I love all your knitting and crochet goodies.. and sharing your walk with us is just lovely! Hubby and I are watching Midsomer Murders from the start at the moment (on season 9 I think) and I just love seeing all the old building and churches.. looks just like on your walk! xx

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  7. Such a lovely walk Jill, thank you for sharing your photos. It's lovely to see a photo of you too. You've done a great repair on the blanket, it does indeed look fabulous.

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  8. What a lovely walk you took; such a beautiful landscape and so varied!!
    Your sock cuff is looking great--such a pretty yarn--I love the variegated colorway ones too. Hugs, Julierose

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  9. Thank you for sharing photos of your walk. You live in a beautiful place! The little church house is so charming. The blanket repair looks perfect. Your friend will be so pleased.

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  10. What a totally fabulous walk. I love the churches and am wondering what that huge plant in the allotment garden is. Oh, the sheep. I think I'd love to walk through a field of sheep -- unless, of course, they were killer sheep! Look like you survived. I love the landscape option you have. Those will be great socks.

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  11. Your walk photos are just wonderful Jill. What pretty scenery. I would absolutely love to live in a converted church - its like a dream of mine. Your sock is looking pretty good to me - another dream - to knit socks.😉 Take care Jill - enjoy your week. xx

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  12. Looks like a fabulous walk! Isn't blue sky great? Nice work on the socks.

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  13. Oh my! Thank you for taking us along in this beautiful walk!!!!! I love your part of the world!! Have a cozy evening!

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  14. I love your walk Jill, do share some more of your walks.
    The church house is lovely, I like the color of the door. :-)

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  15. England has some of the best walking paths, always so much natural beauty, character and historical architecture to see along the way. Certainly looks you are up to a lot of crafty goodness. Lovely that you were able to mend your friend's treasured blanket. Thanks for stopping my corner of the world. Take care.

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  16. Oh, my goodness! Thank you for the hike through all of those beautifully historic and unusual for me buildings...and sheep and a stile even! Wow. The crafty projects are prett cool , too!

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  17. That was a lovely walk, thank you.
    You did a wonderful repair job on your friends blanket and I can't wait to see what you are doing with the bunting. I love it.

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  18. That sounds like a lovely walk. Always great to get away from roads and pavements. Well done on the sock knitting. You’ll be fine turning the heel. If you’re using Winwick mums sock pattern her tutorials really help. Good luck. B x

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  19. You took us on a beautiful walk. I hope that blue sky returns very soon. X

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  20. Oh I loved seeing the stile:) Pretty churches too!

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  21. That looks like a wonderful walk! Your sock is coming along - very nice!!

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Thankyou so much for visiting, and for taking the time to leave me a comment :) I really really love getting little messages, I read and value every single one, so thankyou again, and have a great day :)
Jillxxxxx