family visiting

Down to Devon this weekend to visit my parents. Now both in their eighties they prefer visits of just a couple of hours duration. It is a long way to go for a short time so we made a weekend of it travelling down after work on Friday and staying for two nights in a hotel.

On Saturday morning, after a leisurely breakfast, we walked along the promenade at Exmouth and looked round the town and marina.

 It was a quiet grey day with the sea very calm.

We stopped for coffee at the Waterfront Cafe, a good place to enjoy excellent coffee while gazing at the sea in comfort and warmth.

After a rather chilly picnic we went to see my parents in the afternoon. It was nice to see them and at the moment they are still coping with living independently. We are not sure how long this will be the case though and once again I wish there wasn't so much distance between us. I am not sure we see the true picture when they will only see us for a brief visit and my father certainly looks tired from coping with my mother's short term memory loss. It is very sad as I know it is a situation that will only deteriorate.

I have started reading Sally Magnusson's book, Where Memories Go, it is not an easy book to read and I find I only manage to read a few pages at a time but I think it is a subject we all need to know more about especially as people are living longer and as a consequence more are suffering from cognitive decline.

October

October, bare fields and low slanting sun,

shiny conkers fresh out of their cases,

 and berries in the hedges.

A few years back I shared my method of making rose-hip syrup. It seems to be a good year for hips this year.

Also blackberries,

haws

and a bumper crop of sloes - good for sloe gin.

The ivy flowers buzzing with insects, an important source of nectar at the end of the season,

and here the leaves are starting to turn.

A perfect, quiet October day.

knitting

I haven't posted a knitting post for some time, mainly due to lack of knitting! These past few months have been busy, I have three sets of curtains to make (one done, two to go) and I tend to knit less in the summer anyway.

There have been a couple of finished projects. These socks knitted with Beregere de France Goomy 50. I bought the wool whilst on holiday in Shetland. I often buy a couple of balls of sock wool when on holiday, a souvenir although in this case made in France! I did also buy some Jamieson's wool to make a hat and gloves but those projects are yet to be started.

My current knitting, shown on our patio on a sunny afternoon last weekend is a pair of fingerless mitts. I always have cold hands in winter and find these so useful. I have no pattern I just knit them to fit!

The yarn is another holiday souvenir. I bought this on the last day of our holiday in Norway. We were in a supermarket buying our picnic lunch when I spotted the wool section and this ball just happened to end up in the basket.

Here is a photo of our picnic that day, the wool fits in well I think!

I photographed it on it's home ground amongst the arctic vegetation before it was packed away in the suitcase.

Since it was a souvenir of our holiday, its a good excuse for a few more Norway photographs. This was our lunch stop that day. It was a wonderful place for a picnic, above the arctic circle and with temperatures of over 20ºC.

Absolutely beautiful. I hope I can go back someday but if not I'll have my souvenir mitts!

day trip to Oxford

Eldest son had a few days holiday last week. On one day the two of us spent a few hours in Oxford. We drank coffee, ate our packed lunches by the river, walked, took photographs and visited Modern Art Oxford.

A perfect gentle day. With one son already flown the nest and living hundreds of miles away, I treasure days like these. Time spent wandering, chatting, relaxing and just enjoying his company.

a weekend in Edinburgh

The weekend before last we visited our younger so in Edinburgh. It was officially the last weekend of summer and the weather was still warm and sunny. Saturday was a perfect September day to walk up Arthur's Seat and enjoy the views.

On a clear day, at 250 metres above sea level, the views were spectacular.

It was crowded at the very top but easy to find a quiet sheltered spot for our picnic.

Spectacular views on the way down, the Firth of Forth, Carlton Hill and Holyrood are some of the sights I recognise. This is the fourth time we have visited since our son moved here so I am only just getting my bearings, seeing the city from a high vantage point certainly helps.

On Sunday the weather was less sunny but still fine and dry and we headed off to Cramond on the coast. At low tide Cramond Island can be reached by a causeway, one of 43 islands in the UK that can be reached by foot at low tide.

This is the causeway from the mainland to the island about a mile away.

These concrete structures which line one side of the causeway were put in place during the war to prevent boats and U-boats passing between the south of the island and the mainland at hight tide.

The causeway looking back from the island to the mainland, the row of concrete pillars can be seen along the side of the causeway. There are many military buildings on the island from both World Wars.

Once on the island there are good views of the Forth bridge

and a glimpse of Arthur's Seat through the trees.

Even on this grey day there was plenty of colour, the elderberries looked good

and the rocks near the shore were covered in lichen.

We were a bit cold after sitting eating our picnic but back on the mainland we found a lovely cafe where we could warm up and admire the view. The autumn colours were further forward in Scotland than here - two weeks later we are beginning to catch up.

This corner of a park in Edinburgh showed the beginning of autumn at the very end of summer. A good weekend.