Catching Up

Hello there! It's been a very chilly week or two here with some clear, star-studded skies at night and some very sparkly frosts in the mornings. We haven't had much rain and the sun has shone almost every day. On bright days it's noticeable that the days are lengthening just a little bit, and that really does make a difference to the end of the day when I walk home in wonderful sunshine. It lifts my spirits and gives me a bit of a spring in my step, making me want to go outside and be active instead of closing the curtains and battening down the hatches. The mornings have been beautiful too, with some fabulous frosty sunrises. The last two mornings in particular have arrived in a burst of cold wintry colour. Just beautiful.

The little plumes of smoke rising from homes with real fires and stoves look cosy in the morning, and I find it pleasant to think that people around me in the little terraced stone houses that characterise this area are also getting ready for work and school, making breakfast and putting on coats, hats, gloves and scarves ready to go out. In the pastel skies birds rise in the morning air, already about their business of keeping warm and fed. I must admit I would very much have liked to go out with my camera yesterday morning to take frosty photos. 

Thank you all for your lovely comments on my last post. As I'm a bit of a sporadic blogger these days I'm always thrilled that you take the time and trouble to read and comment on my posts. I've been plodding on with my scarf. As you know, I'm not the world's fastest knitter, but I do plan to finish it this month. I'm getting better at finding small moments in the day when I can knit two rows here or three there. It's not quite long enough at the moment, but I am getting to the stage where I'm beginning to wonder how long it will end up. I guess I'll probably measure it against one I already own. I'm even starting to think I could use the leftover yarn to make a matching hat, albeit a simple one, as it is so soft and squishy. Hmmm, one project at a time, methinks. 

At the weekend we popped over to Frome, one of my favourite places. We were there late in the afternoon and the light was fading. As we parked the car I looked at the tree above me and thought at first that it was hung with Christmas baubles. On closer inspection I realised that it was a plane tree and the 'baubles' were its fluffy seeds. Against the sky, they made fascinating silhouettes.

Frome is such a creative and inspiring place, and St Catherine's Hill is full of the prettiest craft and vintage shops. I've mentioned it before in my posts here.

I do like the higgledy-piggledy houses and rooftops against the darkening sky.

The wintry window display of this fabulous natural toiletries shop caught my eye - isn't it gorgeous?

The herby, flowery smells which waft out of this shop are amazing, and it's all so very twinkly too.

Another old street, Cheap Street, is full of unusual gift shops, tearooms and cafes, and has a water channel running down the centre of it. There's a lovely cafe at the top where we sat and watched the world go by for a short while whilst enjoying a coffee.

It was B's birthday last weekend, and we celebrated with lunch at a lovely Italian restaurant in Bristol and finished the day with a chocolate cake. I made a chocolate sponge and filled and iced it with chocolate buttercream, covering it in chocolate and caramel buttons, raspberry dark chocolate, mini chocolate mint sticks and mini gold buttons. Quite a combination, but it did work. 

Back home I lit one of the teacup candles which I made at Christmas, and admired B's birthday roses. 

She had a lovely day, and I can't believe that we're already almost at another weekend. Time does fly, doesn't it? I'm planning on spending some time blog-hopping this weekend - fingers crossed!

See you soon x

Frome

Last weekend it was Father's Day and P decided that he'd like us to go for a stroll and a cup of tea in Frome, a town not too far away which is one of our favourite places to shop and pootle around in. We haven't been for a while and the afternoon was warm and sunny, so it was perfect for a bit of leisurely wandering.

Frome (pronounced froom) is a pretty Somerset town on the river Frome founded by the Romans, then the Saxons and mentioned in the Domesday Book. It has a rich history and has a high concentration of listed buildings, originally based around the wool and cloth industry. Most of its terraced cottages are weavers' cottages and are three stories high with the top floor originally a work space housing the weavers' looms. After falling a little into decline in recent years it has been rejuvenated and is now a thriving centre for arts and culture with a distinctly bohemian flavour, with an annual festival as well as regular artisan markets and vintage fairs. 

We headed to St Catherine's Hill, a cobbled, steeply winding street which runs up and out of the centre and is the artisan quarter of Frome.

It's full of little independent shops of the vintage, craft, recycled and antiques variety, and is a fascinating place to while away an hour or so. Most of these shops are only open from Wednesday to Saturday, so as we were there on a Sunday they were closed, which is probably a good thing from my purse's point of view. As we wandered down I took photos of the shop fronts which we passed. There are reflections on some of them as it was such a sunny day it was hard to find angles to take my photos from. 

Are you ready for a wander? Right, off we go ...

Here's my favourite yarn shop. The owners are very imaginative with their window displays and are always friendly and helpful.

Their window displays are usually seasonally-themed and I love to look at the crocheted blankets and knitted bunting and tea cosies.

This is a pretty shop full of lovely homewares and woolly sheep.

Next is my favourite bead shop.

I loved these colourful baskets in the window of another shop.

There are some gorgeous vintage clothes shops too.

As we walked down the hill, views of winding alleys and high pavements appeared around corners.

Here's a gorgeous sewing shop which sells the most wonderfully colourful collection of fabrics and pretty trimmings.

And now a shop selling soaps and toiletries made with herbs and natural ingredients. When it's open the scent wafting down the hill is very fragrant.

It was quite quiet on the hill with not many people around, which made photography much easier.

Some of the shops are quite quirky with some interesting objects like this old sign.

The vintage clothes shops are very appealing with pretty floral dresses in the windows.

Another quirky and creative little shop.

And this one which is an artists' collective - the felt masks were amazing.

Finally a lovely homewares shop which I've bought presents from many times, as well as things for our home.

After our stroll up and down the hill it was time for a coffee and a cake here, at one of our favourite cafes. There is a little courtyard garden at the back which was full on this sunny day, so we headed for the new 'next door' section where we all enjoyed a cake and hot drink.

It's a delicious-smelling vegetarian cafe which is also a wholefood shop. We have always enjoyed a snack here, and definitely approved of the new extension to the cafe. One day I'll show you the garden with its herbs, pots, water feature and quince tree. Here's the cosy interior.

Back at the bottom of the hill, it was time to head for home. I hope you enjoyed our little wander around this very old and pretty little town. Next time we visit I'll show you around a bit more x