A Return and A Fresh Start

Hello again - remember me? I have been an errant blogger haven't I? I can't believe that we're on 1st November already. It's been months since I've posted and in the meantime the summer and a good deal of the autumn have passed by. All is well here at The House with the Blue Door, and I'm pootling along as usual, but I have very much missed blogging, and sharing my thoughts and photos with you - Blogland is such a warm and friendly place. 

I realised though, that working full-time is just not conducive to frequent blogging, not to mention actually finding the time to be creative, make things, stay active and run a home. So I reluctantly stopped for a while and as time passed I got a sort of blogging block. Every time I thought about posting it felt like too much time had gone by. I have now decided that this is nonsense and I need to stop thinking about it and jolly well just get on with it. So here I am.

It has been a full house here with our three young people in residence again. B returned from New Zealand in the spring and is now working, J is back at university and D is in her final year of 6th form. It's been a busy house full of comings, goings, friends and visitors, a pleasant buzz of activity. Now that we are in a house of adults, you'd think that I would have more time to myself, and I suppose I do in many ways. This year, though, many weekends and holidays have gone on DIY and house-related stuff, kind of catching up with ourselves. 

However, some changes have been made in the time I've been away. One is that I've made a change to my fitness routine. I still have weight to shift, and whilst I've been a frequent visitor to the gym, after almost 2 years I was becoming very bored with it. I am quite an outdoor, seasonal sort of person, and need a daily dose of fresh air and to be surrounded by greenery and nature, even if it's just the garden. After a busy day indoors at work, I need to breathe in the outside: touch leaves and flowers; feel the rain, sunshine, or cold air; smell the soil and vegetation; listen to birds. I don't feel right if I don't do this. And I felt stifled at the gym: the same view every time I went; breathing in re-circulated, air-conditioned air; watching the little numbers on a screen ticking away the time as I exercised; my only idea of what the weather was doing was a view through a skylight. The people there were lovely, but I couldn't justify the monthly cost. 

P has been a regular runner for years now, and in the last year or two has taken to running in the countryside around us. He often returned with tale of places 'you'd love', and suggested I run too - remember the poppy field he showed me? Now I haven't run for years (make that decades!) and scoffed at his ideas of me jogging along behind him, gasping for air and red in the face. However, I knew I had to make a change. Then two things happened to make my mind up.

 Firstly I went to cheer P in his most recent half-marathon, and noticed that not everyone taking part was a super-fit, highly-polished, Lycra-clad athlete. Secondly I started to wonder if I could actually run, so a few weeks ago I put on my T-shirt, leggings and trainers and cast aside all feelings of embarrassment and self-doubt. We went to a lovely spot in local countryside and went for a walk/run. I ran when I could, and walked the rest - and surprised myself. It was a warm day and now and again we stopped to admire views and take photos. We went 3 1/2 miles up and down some big hills and even explored a prehistoric long barrow along the way. It was heaven! I was tired when we got back but happy, so happy ♥ and P didn't mind going at my pace because he runs with a running group and on his own. Here are some photos from our first run/walk.

  

  

Since then there have been more walk/runs in other lovely local places, sometimes with my camera and sometimes without, just to see how far I can run without stopping. 

And I have so enjoyed it! It's made exercise into a fun activity that I look forward to, rather than a chore which hangs over me and which I invent reasons to escape. There are at the moment no targets or goals, other than to get out weekly and do a bit more than last time. I get out of breath and hot, and know that it's doing me good, and we get to chat along the way and stop and look at beautiful sights like these orange, gold and green beech leaves.

And this delicate tracery of tiny silver-grey seed heads which made me want to go home, grab my knitting needles and cast on a delicate lacy shawl.

Or make a necklace like this gorgeous garland of bright red bryony berries adorning the hedgerows.

Back at home I've been busy too. There's been a fair bit of crochet going on - lots of little woolly flower brooches for my Etsy shop, as well as sewing and embroidery too. I've had an Etsy shop for years, but have recently spruced it up a bit, given it a new name to match my blog, and generally brought it up-to-date.

There's been knitting too, in the form of a heathery hills wall-hanging.

In the kitchen I've managed to keep up with our modest harvests, producing through the summer rhubarb and vanilla jam, redcurrant jelly, blackcurrant jam and most recently blackberry jam with berries I'd frozen as I picked them. They were all a success, with no runny or over-cooked batches among them. I think I've got the hang of this jam-making lark now.

I've loved gardening this year, and have moved plants around and introduced some new ones, like hydrangeas and heathers, as well as planting more fruit - blueberries and gooseberries in pots.  The Japanese anenomes have only just finished flowering.

My shed is looking suitably autumnal now, and the evenings are really drawing in.

Reading-wise, I've been enjoying natural history books lately, and have just finished this one which was a brilliant and very seasonal read about apples and orchards. I got it for my birthday a few weeks ago, which was apt because my favourite birthday tea has been in recent years what P has described as a 'large cheeseboard' involving local cheeses, lovely grainy bread, appley chutney, quince jelly, posh crisps, and delicious local apples.

I started the book in the garden and finished it in bed with a dose of flu, followed by a chest infection which I'm still trying to get rid of (ugh, that's the only downside of lovely autumn - the return of the horrid bugs). But that's enough of that.

Thank you if you've taken the time to read to the end. I really do appreciate anyone who reads my blog, and I am so glad that I've posted again. It just feels right and makes me happy, however infrequent it is ♥ ♥ ♥

See you soon x

This week

It's been half term here this week and it's been a busy one. The weather's been grey and drizzly for most of the week so there hasn't been a lot of gardening going on. I have been out to admire the roses and poppies which are blooming at the moment.

Those colours do stand out, even on a dingy day.

 However, there have been times when I've been able to squeeze in a bit of creativity.The blooming of the roses means that it's time for me to make rose petal shortbread, so I went out on a dryish day and collected some scented blooms. The darker colours tend to have a stronger perfume, and therefore taste better when cooked. They do look pretty together.

Once picked, I discarded the damaged petals and checked for any bugs which may be hiding in them. Before cooking you need to take out the bitter 'heel' of the petals. It's the lighter bit where they join the flower base. This bit can be quite time-consuming!

I then chopped them quite finely in a mini-chopper so that they look like this.

After trying several recipes, I always use this one. I add a teaspoon or two of rose water, but it depends on how strong you like the taste to be. You can buy it in most large supermarkets.

I roll the dough out and cut it into flowery shapes.

 Once baked, they don't last long in our house!

I also managed to have a creative afternoon with my friend Jane. We've known each other a long time, as well as working together. Now that our children are growing up, we take it in turns to go to each other's houses in the school holidays to spend an afternoon being creative, chatting and eating coffee and cake. It's very relaxing and we both come away feeling inspired. 

I've started a summery patchwork, and Jane's been making machine embroideries, below. You can see what she makes here and here. 

 It's been good to find moments to be creative and to stop and enjoy the season. Hope you've found time to do the same x

Hello!

I've been enjoying and inspired by some amazing blogs for several years now and harboured a secret yearning to have one of my own. So, spurred on by my lovely family, I have taken the plunge and decided to have a go! I love watching the seasons come and go, being creative, and recording the routines and rhythms of everyday domestic life. Flowers, crochet, knitting, sewing, baking, gardening and beautiful words all feature highly on my list of life's important things, and this is where I shall share them with anyone who'd like to pop in.

The weather has been glorious this Easter, a little chilly but so sunshiney. Cornflower blue skies and little cotton-white clouds have been a daily feature for a fortnight, and they make me feel like Mole in The Wind in the Willows when he exclaims "Hang spring-cleaning!"

Shall we go for a bit of a pootle around the garden to see what's out?

Our cherry tree has been in bloom for a week or so now, and the blossom looks wonderful against the blue sky. I have enjoyed several early morning cups of tea underneath it recently, sitting on the bench with the sun on my face.

I defy anyone not to smile at the sight of these eye-scorchingly yellow daffodils.

I love the flowers of this tiny anenome blanda. They pop up from nowhere with the most heavenly blue flowers, just the colour of our front door.

The hellebores have been fabulous this year too, and are just about over now. I picked some and displayed them in a bowl of water to appreciate their gorgeousness. Such rich colours, and each one different. Just look at those speckles!

I was delighted to find this snake's head fritillary in our front garden this spring. I planted some years ago, and forgot they were there. It certainly does live up to its name.

Thank you for joining me in my garden. I'm looking forward to seeing you again soon x