Yarn Bombing Sarah Style

I meant to write a post a couple of months ago after walking into town and discovering it had been yarn bombed.

Maybe I DID write a post about it ....

Did I ...??

I can't remember and of course I'm FAR too lazy to check back ...

Anyway, if I did apologies - If I DIDN'T then here are some photos of my town all knitted out (sorry, I know making them xlarge means they spill over the edge of the page - one day I'll work out how to stop that ...):

Doesn't it look amazing?

Most of the yarn bombing was concentrated in Bath Place, an historic street that lies off the high street.

Bath place is quite unique with little independent shops on one side including gift and craft shops, galleries and a book shop as well as the WI Market and a fishmongers and, on the other side, a row of the prettiest houses with small front gardens.

If you ever visit Taunton take a stroll down Bath Place, you won't be disappointed.

The yarn bombers had also been out in force in Goodlands Gardens, a favourite stretch of greenery for me that runs alongside the river in the centre of town and also houses my favourite coffee shop, The Shed (where they give you shot glasses of smarties with your coffee!).

They filled trees, lined railings, covered benches and even bombed a London taxi!:

Several other places were yarn bombed too including the library and a couple of churches.

I liked this one at St James church just up the road from me:

ANYWAY - back to me - isn't it ALWAYS about me ....

I'm no knitter - seriously - I KIND of know how to knit but, as I've said before, I don't do corners and I don't do casting off so if you want a never ending scarf them I'm your girl!

I do do other stuff though (you may say 'she said do do' and chuckle at this point - I did ...).

And I have IDEAS, and I START stuff and often it's either a huge disaster or I just don't finish it but, I am a little crafty in my own way and one thing I do love to do is make something special and homemade for Miss Mac for her Birthdays and Christmas to kind of off set all the stuff that just cost money and to give her something made with love.

Well!!

While we were in Cornwall I obviously trawled the Charity shops.  I had several good finds and one that I was uncertain of.

This:

It's one of those things you stick on the wall and put photos etc in.

Not really my kind of thing but Miss Mac likes hearts and Miss Mac likes photos.  So much so that she is taking photography at A'level and I thought, well, maybe it could be useful  when she's trying to organise groups of photos.  It could give her a different perspective if they are up on the wall rather than grouping them on a table etc.

Anyway, it was only 3 quid so I thought I'd buy it, spray it white or something and see what she thought.

UNTIL!!!

I had one of my ideas didn't I?

Like I said, I don't knit and I don't crotchet but I CAN make friendship bracelets and I do know several different knotting techniques so why not use then to decorate this heart thing??

Why not YARN BOMB IT???

I'll tell you why not!!!

There are 101 of those little loops around the outside - there are 19 hearts and there are god know how many individual pieces of edging to do.

THAT'S WHY NOT!!

Added to which the yarn (I'm using embroidery thread gets caught up in everything and some of the bits are too close together to be able to wrap the tread neatly.

But obviously I'm giving it a go anyway.

Thank god I have until Christmas to finish it, it's taking AGES as it's so fiddly and I can only do it when Miss Mac isn't around.  The rest of the time it's hidden under the sofa (but don't tell her that ok?).

So far I've got this:

It's not perfect and I may well unpick and do some of the bits again once I'm finished (If I can bring myself to).  I've been working on it on and off for about 10 days and I'm learning as I go along which knots work best and look neatest.  Mostly I've decided it should have a rustic, multi coloured look because that seems to be how it's turning out.

Hopefully the finished thing will look bright and cheerful and she will like it.

Budleigh Salterton

Because I haven't had my fill of beaches over the Summer (WHAT???) SD took pity on me a week or so ago and took me out for the day.

There's a largely undiscovered (by the masses), beautiful, unspoiled small town on the East coast of Devon.

Budleigh Salterton lies at the mouth of the river Otter between Sidmouth and Exmouth.

The reason that it's relatively undiscovered is this:

?

Beautiful isn't it?

But, it's a pebble beach ...

 So it doesn't really attract families.  The pebbles are large enough to be rather difficult and uncomfortable to walk on and with Exmouth and Sidmouth so close by that is where most people choose to take their children.

Budleigh largely remains the stomping (or strolling) ground for the older kind of person.  Often the VERY rich older kind of person.

I love it. 

Budleigh has a timeless appeal, an air of gentility, a place that I wouldn't dream of wearing jeans to.  A place where, on a sunny Sunday afternoon after church, once lunch has been consumed, ladies stroll along the seafront, taking the air.

And resting a while on a bench

 Obviously SD said I shouldn't take a photo of this lady but she was so beautifully dressed and epitomises Budleigh for me.

All along the seafront are groups of pastel coloured beach huts perched like icing covered fondant fancies:

Walking up the hill the view is breath taking with the ocean on one side:

And, on the other:

Stunning houses that I could only dream of ...

There are many boats pulled up on the beach as well as fishermen lining the shore.

And me looking decidedly nautical ;-)

At the far end the promenade takes you up above the beach and, looking down, I saw these:

Sculptures in the pebbles.  They must have taken HOURS and you could only really see them from above they were so big.  There was no indication of who had done them or why.

On the way home we stopped at Exmouth for cheesy chips on the seafront:

This is where I REALLY wished I'd remembered my camera.  The zoom on my phone isn't man enough to pick up the boats very clearly and they looked so beautiful against the blue of the water and the sky.  All except two had white sail, the others were a pale lemon and a faded dusty pink.

Budleigh Salterton really is the place to go if you want the seaside without the hustle and bustle of modern life.  Take a step back in time, take your parasol and picnic rug.  Take me if you like.

I love Budleigh ...

The Fat, Naughty Beetroot Post (for want of a better title ...)

I was complaining to Miss Mac the other day that I thought these tablets I was taking were making me put on weight.

It's a new phenomenon for me given that that I've always struggled with my weight being too low in the past.

Apparently weight gain can be a problem with them although according to the side affects so can weight LOSS.  Equally tiredness can be a side affect as can an inability to sleep along with a long list of other contradictory ailments.

Anyway, I have undoubtedly gained a few pounds, nothing significant but I notice it and I don't particularly like it.

Miss Mac studied me critically for a few moments before delivering this peal of wisdom:

'You aren't fat Mum, you just HAVE fat - think of it like this - you HAVE toenails don't you but that doesn't MAKE you a toenail does it???'

It's SUCH a comfort having a daughter sometimes ...

A couple of weeks ago I was looking through a newspaper supplement.  I'm addicted to reading recipes and was engrossed in one in particular when SD looked over my shoulder.

'Seriously' he said - 'people REALLY have the time to do that shit???'

'Lots of people make their own soup' I told him - 'It's not THAT unusual, I might do it sometime ...  maybe ... if I can be bothered ...  but I probably won't ...'

'I won't make this one anyway as I know you aren't a fan of beetroot'

'There all mad' he said - 'I mean, who the hell has time to polish a beetroot FFS  and why on earth would you want to?  Does it make the soup taste any better???  I DON'T THINK SO!!!'

He was serious!!!

I looked at him ...  I did this weird kind of giggly snorty thing ...

'It's NOT a polished beetroot soup you complete numpty - it's POLISH beetroot soup!!'

SD walked away muttering something about how was HE supposed to know that and it wasn't like it was the strangest thing I might choose to do (and then I promised that I would never speak of it again ...).

Talking of misunderstandings ...

When we were away in Cornwall SD and I went down to take a shower together.

Well, not exactly TOGETHER (and if we had been I wouldn't be telling you about it - it's really NOT that kind of blog ...).

As we went into our respective shower blocks SD shouted over to me, 'I'll meet you after in the naughty room' ...

Hmmm, maybe it IS that kind of blog ...

I certainly hadn't realised it was that kind of campsite!

I was quite excited until I came out and went looking for SD and found him in the LAUNDRY room ...

Penberth and Porth Curnow - A Taste Of Cornwall part 2

How did I spend MY Summer?

I saw a post by McGuffy Ann Morris about kittens - who can resist kittens??

And I saw that she had linked it up with Rorybore for coffee chat and the theme was, 'How did you spend your summer?'.

Well, I like to spend as much time as the weather here in the UK will allow at the beach and I have several posts about this summer.  This is one from my holiday in Cornwall, a place that I love and that I'm lucky enough to visit several times a year:


One, or actually TWO of the things I like to do most when I'm in Cornwall is to walk and cycle.

Did I mention how hilly Cornwall is?

Walking and cycling are not for the faint hearted in this part of England but I really would encourage anyone to give it a go.

I'm not fitness freak and I huff an puff up all of those hills and cliff paths but the trick it to give yourself plenty of time, take water and snacks with you and stop often to take a beak and some photos.

We first found Penberth Cove a couple of years ago and it's there that I took what is still one of my very favourite photo of Miss Mac:

We had been walking the cliff path from our campsite to Porth Curnow and stumbled across this stunning place entirely by accident.  It was so lovely that we stayed to have lunch on the rocks and bask in the sun for a while.

This year SD and I planned to try and find the road to Penberth as we cycled to Porth Curnow.  We knew roughly where it would be and sure enough, on the brow of a hill we saw the signpost.

Penbeth has a tiny fishing fleet of only 4 boats.  In the past there may have been up to 15 fishing boats setting out to catch herring, these days it is just the 4 and they mostly fish for mackerel.

It's impossible not to love Penberth and on a sunny day could there be any more perfect place to be?:

Having only ever approached Penberth via the cliff path before I hadn't realised that there was more to the 'villiage' than the few houses perched on the edge of the rocks.

Leading down to the cove are some beautiful houses on one side of the road while on the other there appears to be a huge estate.  I did try to take some photos but trees mostly obscured the view but it was stunning!

We passed the entrance to the estate:

To the left of this arch there is a small lake and a stream that passes underneath and continues down to the cove.  On the right of the arch is a small weir, I couldn't get and decent photos as it was a little dark with all the vegetation.  Over the archway there is a room (or rooms) accessible from a stone stairway on the far side.  There is an open space through the archway which I first thought was a very upmarket car park but it soon became clear that it was the start of the drive up to the estate.

There are loads more photos, there were taken on my phone and I've yet to download the camera one but I will at some point and show you more.

We spent a lovely hour or so at Penberth eating our lunch  before continuing on our way to Porth Curnow.

By the time we got there we were more than ready to sit for a while and have a coffee.

If you visit Porth Curnow do try the museums cafe which you get to by taking the path through their beautifully landscaped garden.  For some reason they have housed the museum archive in a large building right by the car park.  The PERFECT place for a cafe.  The cafe they have put in the large museum building at the top of the hill where you can't really see it but if you do make it up there they serve pretty decent coffee.

On the way back down to the beach there are several small gardens that are part of the museum.  These house various sculptures including THIS one:

This is actually part of a larger sculpture showing something to do with time lapse I think but being the kind of shallow person I am I was more fascinated by the way it distorted my image.

The gardens also house all kind of weird and wonderful plants that I hadn't seen before including this:

It looks like an alien cabbage tree!

And finally we made it to Porth Curnow beach:

And the sun shone, the gulls wheeled high above, the sea was bloody freezing and the sand was warm as I sifted it thorough my fingers ...

If you are interested then here are a couple of other posts from my Summer which combine sun, sea and the ridiculous that seems to follow me around.

Sennen , Budleigh Salterton and  Corfe Castle and Swanage

Sennen - A Taste Of Cornwall Part One

SO, eventually I get around to telling you a little about my holiday in Cornwall.

I'm going to start with Sennen although we didn't go there until half way through our break it was SUCH a magical day.

Sennen is situated just along the coast from Lands End and is the most westerly point in mainland Britain.

SD and I cycled from our campsite near Porth Curnow through the winding lanes with hedgerows filled with plump blackberries warm in the summer sunshine. Last year the fields were full of cabbages and potatoes.  This year corn stood 5ft tall waving in the breeze.

By road were were only 3 or 4 miles from Sennen but wherever you go in Cornwall there are hills - boy, are there HILLS!!!

I'm not endurance cyclist so SD and I walked most of the hills and cycled a little past our turning so we could visit the  First and Last Inn a beautiful 17th century pub so called because it IS the first AND the last pub you come to before falling of the end of England.

After a restorative half of Doombar we headed back down the hill and had our first sighting of Sennen Cove:

SD had obviously shot ahead of me at this point and I found him at the bottom convinced I had fallen off or something (he seems to think that quite often ...).

All the pushing up hill was worth that glorious, wind in your hair, slightly terrifying, breathless sailing at a million miles an hour, eyes streaming blast down that almost vertical hill into Sennen!

The long stretch of white sand faces the Atlantic ocean experiencing the full force of the Atlantic swell making it a popular spot for surfers.

Sheltering under the Pedn-Men-Du headland is a village and small harbour largely untouched by tourism and maintaining it's old fishing village atmosphere.  Fishermen still ply their trade from the harbour and there is a working lifeboat station.

And there is the Roundhouse and Capstan Gallery:

A Grade II listed building it was constructed in 1876 to house the huge man powered capstan wheel which was originally open to the elements on the Sennen harbour beach. Originally part of the winding gear of a local tin mine before the advent of steam, the capstan was used to winch boats up and down the slip. The upper floor was used as a net-loft until it started life as a gallery in 1983. The Capstan Gallery on the lower floor still houses the old wheel which is now covered with glass and used to display artwork.

While (if Facebook is to be believed..) the rest of the country endured a wet and cold day WE basked in summer sunshine  hot enough for me to wander around in just shorts and a bikini top.

I left SD sitting on a bench on the seafront reading his magazine while I went exploring.

I'd really love to show you the photo I took of him now from the other side of the road.  He's sitting lengthwise on the bench with his legs stretched out and all you can see is his naked top half over the top of the bench.  He looks like he's sitting in a bathtub!  But unfortunately he has banned me from posting that pic and, although he doesn't read my blog I guess I should respect his wishes ...

Anyway!  I set off up Pedn-men-du (Black Stone Headland) to the Coastguard lookout at the top.  It's not much of a walk, just ten minutes up a moderately steep hill and well worth the effort!

The headland itself is beautiful and full of colour when it's in flower, a sea of yellow and red buzzing with bees and butterflies all around.

The Coastguard lookout was built in  1891 and renovated 100 years later and has spectacular views:

 I even took the obligatory selfie for you on my way down:

That's me waving at you ...

Although it was a beautiful day the sea was quite rough and the waves were crashing over the  the causeway:

Children were having fun standing in the lee of the causeway waiting for the waves to crash over them and some brave mad people even risked playing chicken with the waves to run the length of it trying to avoid the waves:

Some were not as successful as these and I saw several washed over the edge but they all seemed to be fine.

Together SD and I wandered around the village. There are some beautiful old cottages:

And we ended our day eating fish and chips on the harbour wall before setting off again (this time UP that bloody great hill!) and back to the campsite.

Because it had been such a perfect day we were a little later leaving than planned and the sun was going down.  The evening light was spectacular and I SO wanted to stop (every 5 minutes according to SD) to take photos.

There really is nothing like the light you get in Cornwall, it was almost liquid, it felt like you could touch it with your tongue and it would taste like saffron or you could scoop it up and bottle it in a jar and use it as a nightlight.

Unfortunately SD WOULDN'T let me stop and those moments are gone other than the pictures in my head but next year I wont be denied my photos I promise!

Tomorrow I will tell you more of my Cornwall and our visit to Penberth Cove and Porth Curnow, two more magical places.

My New Neighbours Hate Me ,,,

Well, to be fair, I'm not sure they actually HATE me.  But the daughter MIGHT ...

We live in a Victorian terrace house and unfortunately one of the downsides is that you can't help but hear your neighbours from time to time.

I've heard all sorts over the years as I'm sure the neighbours have from my house but in general we don't really bother each other.

Until last night ...

Miss Mac had her first day at college yesterday and it went really well.  She is delighted that she has so many free periods.  Strictly they are study periods and hopefully she will use them wisely but so far all she had done is colour coordinate her timetable to show which friends have corresponding free periods.

Anyway, after a busy day she was understandable tired and took herself off to bed at about 10.15pm.

After about half an hour she called down (obviously using her phone rather than getting out of bed) and asked me to come up to her room.

When I went up I could hear this weird kind of wailing noise coming from next door.

The daughter of our neighbours who is a year older than Miss Mac and according to Miss Mac looks like a super model (not that I've actually SEEN her - at least, I HAVE kind of but that's another story ...) had her music on full volume and was singing along.

It was a weird kind of noise.  Sort of tribal chanting with the odd Oggy Oggy thrown in.

We sat and listened for a little while trying to work out what it was.

Eventually I said, 'Do you want me to ask her to turn it down ....'

'Yes' said Miss Mac.

'Or you could' I ventured seeing as it wasn't actually bothering me and I couldn't hear it from either downstairs OR my bedroom.

'No, you do it' said Miss Mac - I don't want her to hate me.

'You do it' I said, I don't want them to hate me either!

It was like that damned hamster all over again when Miss Mac and I argued about who was going to poke it to see if it was REALLY dead ...

As ever I lost and did the deed and the music was duly turned down a little but I felt really uncomfortable about it.  I don't mind being the clean freak neighbour and anyway, they will find out soon enough that I'm not one I'm sure but I really don't want to be labelled the complaining neighbour!

It also means that I really don't feel like I can tell them about that OTHER thing.  The thing that REALLY bothers me and the thing that Miss Mac, SD and I have ALL been agonising over and trying to get each other to tell them.

Next doors neighbours daughter who looks like a super model has long blond curly hair (her mother who is from Manila tells me it's dyed) and I know this because Miss Mac told me.

BUT!!

I ALSO know this because although I haven't actually seen her, I have SEEN her!

Many years ago Sheila (who owned the house prior to Duncan who filled it with musclebound young men that I barely noticed) extended the passage way upstairs to the front of the house taking part of the front bedroom to create a small washroom at the front of the house (these houses originally had bathrooms downstairs as ours still does or many have converted the third bedroom to a bathroom) thus giving them a toilet on that floor without loosing a bedroom.

Anyway.

The washroom has a sink and a toilet in it and the window overlooks the road at the front.  The window has opaque glass in it to stop anyone seeing in and this works just fine.

EXCEPT AT NIGHT!!!

For some reason they don't seem to have put a blind up at the window and the angle of the light means that at night you can see EVERYTHING!!!

I could tell you the colour of the daughters underwear the other night and, although you cant see defined features you can very clearly see someone when they are sitting on the loo.

I know - I HAVE to tell them and I WILL but I'm already the clean freak complaining neighbour - I really don't want to be the pervy one too.

It was SO much easier being the slightly mad half naked one - I knew where I was then ...

Oh The Irony (from the view point of one who does NOT iron ...)

Ok, so I know I SHOULD really be writing a post about my holiday and I WILL - I promise but I just HAD to tell you this first!!!

My new neighbour - did I tell you I had new neighbours???

I don't think I did ...

Well ... Digressing just a little ...

Duncan, bought the house with his friend Chinny from Sheila about 6 years ago (who had lived there FOREVER) and filled the house with gorgeous musclebound young men (Duncan that is - not Sheila).  NOT that I particularly noticed the gorgeous musclebound young men of course and in fact I hardly saw them at all except when accidentally balancing with one foot on Miss Macs pillow and the other on her dressing table to peer through her bedroom window I barely saw them at all when they sat half naked in the garden sunbathing ...

Anyway!

Then Duncan went on holiday to Mexico and met a lovely girl - bought out Chinny - filled the house with yet MORE gorgeous musclebound young men while living in another house with his lovely girlfriend and then earlier this year decided to sell up and buy a bigger house for his now expanding family.

SO ...  FLEAS!!!

Remember I told you that we had a HUGE slight problem with fleas this year that was costing me a fortune in both time and money and I was seriously considering shaving all the animals (and the carpets) in my quest to rid the house of the little fuckers?

Well, so far I have forked out the best part of 100 quid on flea treatment for cats and dogs and chemical warfare for the house.  I have trawled the net for natural killers and doused my house with salt, cider vinegar and chinchilla dust ...

Yes, I DID say chinchilla dust!!

I was assured that this stuff made from ground up dinosaurs bones or something was harmless to pets and humans but was sharp enough to slice the pesky fleas into ribbons while the salt would dehydrate them and they hate the smell and taste of cider vinegar so much that they would be packing their little suitcases and vacating the premises forthwith!

For two weeks before going on holiday (post coming soon!) I skipped through the house broadcasting salt and chinchilla dust at the midnight hour with gay abandon and lovingly rubbed cider vinegar on to chair and table legs and spending HOURS each day trying to vacuum up the resulting mess as I whisked around the house with my faithful Henry in a cloud of dust and salt.

During this time my new neighbours moved in.

Of COURSE I should have been on their doorstep bearing pots of homemade chutney and little packs of sugar stolen from Starbucks but to be honest, I was too damned BUSY to really give them any thought and anyway, my hair was full of salt and chinchilla dust and looked like one of those nylon scrubby things they put in a Body Shop gift set which nobody likes because they take off a layer of skin and personally, I think they just put them in there to take up space and save them giving you something really useful.  And I was spending most of my time dripping with sweat as I heaved furniture around and then there was the constant. mindless scratching even though I didn't get a SINGLE flea bite ...

Anyway, then we packed the animals off to holiday camp, salted and dusted (that is throwing dust around NOT actual dusting ...) sprayed the kitchen floor with vinegar and set off for Cornwall for a week and bloody hell, did I NEED that break!

So, obviously on our return SD walked into the front room and immediately looked like THIS:

Image Credit

As a million half starved fleas launched themselves at him desperate to get at his fresh young(ish) blood.

And so we started again ...

And STILL my neighbours received no chutney*

ANYWAY!!

Back to the point of this post.

Have you ever considered that when someone doesn't actually know you then you can be ANYBODY you like!!!

I KNOW!  I hadn't really given it much thought as far as my neighbours go.

I mean, I've always been the one who wears long tops and calls them dresses.  I've always been the one who accidentally exposes themselves.  I've always been the one who gets caught cleaning snails with a toothbrush and the hosepipe and I've ALWAYS been the one who talks to themself, stands in the rubbish bin holding bags of cat shit, wanders the street carrying a large roll of carpet and tinfoil on New Years Eve.

I've always been THAT person.

BUT NO MORE!!!

My new neighbours think I'm a clean freak!!!

I know - the irony - talking of which, SD actually bought me an ironing board this Summer because mine had mildew ...

I haven't actually USED it yet of course but I WILL (probably) as soon as I find my iron ...

Apparently all they hear from my house is the sound of furniture being moved and the vacuum cleaner.  The see line upon line of washing including rugs and cushion covers blowing in the breeze.  They see me drag out smaller bits of furniture to wash on the decking ...

AND THEY THINK IT'S WHO I AM!!!

I know they think this because I overheard the daughter talking to someone on the phone when I was in the garden and she was in hers not knowing I was there.

I heard her talking about the mad woman  who lives next door (some things remain the same ...) who is constantly cleaning and how her Mum feels a little intimidated because she was hoping there would be someone she could make friends with (they are new to the area) and have coffee and cake and talk about The Real Housewives Of Cheshire with and I wanted to jump over the fence there and then and shout:

THAT'S ME - I AM THAT PERSON - LEAD ME TO THE CAKE!!

But I didn't want to scare her ...

So, for now I'm revelling in briefly being that clean freak person but I think the lure of cake will soon have me revealing my TRUE identity.

I hope she likes the real me ...

*I never have, and probably never will make chutney ...