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Stravaiging

Stravaiging graphic

How you live your days...

...is how you live your life.

Mellowing?

I've been musing on my age. Not in a mournful way but choosing to embrace some of the changes the passing years bring.

Tart Retreat in 2024

This post is solely about the retreat I am planning for May next year. It is only open to newsletter subscribers so if you are a blog subscriber only then pop over to the website home page and sign up for newsletters to be eligible.

Blooming?

Summer takes me by surprise. Every day recently I have woken to the suggestion of, or actual, sunshine. It seems such a long time since the northern UK had this long a spell of warm weather. The many light hours are enriching and full of promise with early mornings and late evenings the loveliest.

Back to Lewis

The week before last was spent in the Outer Hebrides. We drove up to Ullapool, building in dog walking stops and a late picnic lunch at the edge of a forest. The crossing takes two and half hours across the stretch of water known as the Minch. It can be challenging around each equinox with high seas running but we travelled in reasonable comfort, thankfully.

Cake is always a good idea

Yesterday I had a wee cooking session and one of the outcomes was Mozart Cake.

Messy, unfocused, curiously stressful.

WARNING - Stream of consciousness ahead.

Two Northumberland Beauties

In October I wrote about being in Yorkshire. In that same North of England trip I also caught up with two rather talented women who run businesses closer to home.

Surfacing

Books. My little world would be much smaller without them and I know I am far from alone in that feeling.

Glimpses of the Past

Last week I had the good fortune to be in Halifax.

Courgette Cake Season

I like cake. Specifically I like interesting cakes/loaves with lots of flavour. (No Victoria sponges here, thank you, and buttercream about once a year)

Blissful Blues

I'm encouraging you to share the calm and beauty of natural indigo today, with a collection ranging from traditional boro to contemporary weave and block print.

Close to home

You may know I have a soft spot for the church on the corner that I pass so frequently when out with Bruce. More specifically a fondness for the churchyard itself.

Exploring Berwick

Ok, I am biased. I don't live far from this most northerly English town (although in another country) and have always had a soft spot for it. As with so many places, its once thriving main street (Marygate) is a sad shadow of its former self but there are many gems to be found.

Time and Tide and Tapestry

In April we travelled to Orkney for a week of wild weather and wide horizons. Catching up with old friends was fun, and for me seeing what I recognised after three decades away was always going to be interesting.

Banana Bread - because it makes the world go round

I have been meaning to post this recipe here for a while as I am often asked about it. While I have only ever baked it with gluten-containing flours, I am sure GF whizzes can use their choice of flours and add more 'milk' and an egg to help bind ingredients. It is such an adaptable recipe that it might be worth an experiment or two.

May Days

I walk through my little village almost daily, generally at the other end of the dog lead from Bruce. We head for quiet lanes and field margins. Our pace is dictated by his mood or mine. Occasionally he will forego smelling every blade of grass and stone wall voluntarily; other times require persuasion by one means or another.

In the Durham Dales

We’ve been on a lovely jaunt - a midway-between-birthdays treat.
New experiences all round. First stop on Saturday morning was to deliver Bruce to kennels. He packed a toy duck and his meals for a two-night stay.

Rooted in the Isles

I spent most of my teenage years and early twenties living on the island of Lewis in the Hebrides. Mum and I made good use of the tweed outlet shop in Stornoway for sturdy yarns to knit with and remnants to make clothes and furnishings from. I remember she sewed me a hacking jacket which I loved, but neither of us were exactly skilled tailors nor of skinny model proportions, and Lewis was quite definitely not a fashion hotspot.

Welcome

In this space I aim to share behind-the-scenes happenings, the hiccups and hurrahs in my creative life, the occasional recipe, musings on the joys of small-scale walking and wandering, an interview or two, and other words as they spring up from my overactive imagination.

bordertart

Finished! - - - 
A quiet day or two of tidying, catching up and stitching. New samples finished and a seed stitch on eco print piece finally done too. It’s been one of my portable projects for a long time - - -
🧶
Couldn’t resist these madder dyed skeins at  @isleofskyenaturaldyeco last week.

The indigo over dyeing has produced such a pleasing slate shade. 
I even know what I am going to knit with them - just not when🤭
Loch Linnhe looking peaceful this morning. We’re heading south now, back to Edinburgh via a last yarn stop…
🌼☕️
Essential staff team-of-two meeting slotted in to this morning’s schedule…
Hiding in plain sight?
Edinburgh Castle from Princes St Gardens on this gentle morning.
Looking forward to a group lunch and presentation by Susan @thejournalofscottishyarns at @24royalterrace
Arrived in Edinburgh. First stop - caffeine. The sweet morsel was on the house, honest! 

Excellent coffee at @hot.toddy.edinburgh
🧳👜👝🎒
Tour prep takes many forms…
I may have to opt for bigger luggage this time 😳

#stillwritinglists
#luggagesquashingtomorrow
#rowantreetravel 
#stitchingonmytravels
Saturday still life with stitches

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