Tamara Way - Kelly to Lifton

Our final part of this stage, and this time I had my son, daughter and dog for company. My husband tells me that each section we walk less distance, but I say we are trying to maximise the enjoyment. He is right though, and I think it is partly because we are getting very close to where we live. At the start where we had quite a long journey to the walk, it felt like we should do the maximum amount of walking we could. After this section we are north of our home, and hopefully we will start to have that mind set again.

Setting off from Kelly we passed through fields of sheep. When we got near the woodland, which was very beautiful, but the path was extremely muddy.

More fields and sheep, and we found the snack hut at Turchington, which was very welcome. From here we could look across the valley, and although we couldn't see our house which is in trees, we could spot all the fields around it.

 

The walk down hill to the River Lyd was very welcome. Here is a view as we crossed Lifton Bridge, and another of St. Mary's Church.

My husband was waiting for us at the car park of the Arundell Arms. I had the idea that we could stop there for coffee, but we were in quite a muddy state, so we headed home.

Mosaic Hot Water Bottle Cover and Cat Model

Another bit of getting my family to model. This time it was my elderly cat. As you can probably tell she was not delighted. That is definitely the look of a cat saying "why on earth have you put me here?". I forgive her though, as she is an old lady of 18. Eventually though with another strategically placed hot water bottle under her basket she settled down for a bit more of the photo I was aiming for.

Looking at other photos on Ravelry of hot water bottle covers, I decided my favourites were of people heading of to bed, so I also feature myself in the one below.

This crochet pattern was designed by Rebecca Anaspure, and is available as a project kit on Blacker Yarns website - Mosaic Crochet Hot Water Bottle Cover. It is a really clever design, with a handy split at the back to insert the hot water bottle through.  Made from Samite silk-blend in DK, it is not only really soft and snuggly, it will keep your bottle’s warmth until you are fast asleep.

Now can I work out a way to get my dog into a photograph for Blacker Yarns.

Ridgeway Gansey Cardigan and Hoveton Sweater

 

Last time my daughter was home I managed to persuade her to do some modelling for two new patterns and project kits, which are now available from my work at Blacker Yarns. She really liked both garments, and I had to explain to her that they had to go back to work. Both are designed by Rita Taylor, and you can find other designs by her on Ravelry and Lovecrafts. You can follow links to The Ridgeway Gansey Cardigan, and the Hoveton Sweater to find the project kits at Blacker Yarns. What I think appeals about both patterns is that there is some fancy work, but also a bit of straight stocking stitch. Best of both worlds!

 

Tamara Way - Horsebridge to Kelly

 

A nice day, so we decided to do the next section of the Tamara Way walk. We seem to be walking shorter distances, but feel by doing it in short sections we are maximising the enjoyment. Setting off from Horsebridge, we were mostly on country lanes, and heading away from the River Tamar. There was a lovely view back across the valley towards Kit Hill.

 

We passed the entrance to the Endsleigh House Hotel, and also to the Endsleigh Garden Centre, which has closed recently. It was a lovely place to poke around for plants, so we are sad it has gone.

 

I am slightly obsessed with lambs, and also with the idea of photographing one mid-leap. We passed through a field of very friendly sheep and lambs, but I still did not manage to get the photo I want.

 

We then got to Milton Abbot, which we frequently drive through, but have never approached from this angle. It is a really interesting village, with much of it designed by the architect Sir Edwin Lutyens in the arts and crafts style. (He also built much of New Delhi, The Cenotaph, Castle Drogo and Lindisfarne Castle.) We sat and ate our picnic lunch in a playground next to the church, and then on our way.

House designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens

Continuing up the hill we passed through a field with some cows. I am a little nervous of cows, just because of their size, and these ones seemed very interested in us. So some speedy walking across the field, but another lovely view of Kit Hill looking back.

 

Not much further on, and just one more field of cows passed through, and we arrived at Kelly. I think I would describe Kelly as a hidden gem. We visited the weekend before, as I wanted to have a look around the Poison in the Garden. I may have a dark sense of humour, but found the labels on the plants so funny. A few plants would cause skin irritation, but so many ending up with coma or death. Of course there are the obvious plants, like yew, laburnum and lords and ladies, that most people know as poisonous, but who knew that so many other plants could cause you harm. So however peckish you are, just don't be tempted by the daffodils or bluebells. Last weekend we finished our visit with a lovely cup of tea with cake in the garden, and it really felt like Spring had come.

Seedpod Cowl

I have been knitting the second part of the BFF Cowl. What you are meant to do is link your two cowls, a bit like a friendship bracelet. But I have decided to keep mine separate, so you can see the beautiful stitches.

I love this one - The Seedpod Cowl - designed by Ysolda Teague. I just love this stitch, it is fairly simple after the first few pods, but I think is so beautiful. I knitted the cowl twice the width in the pattern for extra cosiness.

Once again I have used some Ewe-nique Merino DK from Blacker Yarns, and these projescts were to illustrate how lovely this yarn knits up. Still a bit left on the cone, and I have an idea for one more project. But I have been a bit distracted by a jumper for my husband, so this one may have to wait a while.

Garden Update April

 

Decided to start my garden diary early this year. As you can see the vegetable garden is not looking too bad. Although you can't really tell from this photo we have planted two sorts of potatoes, and some onion sets, and carrot, parsnip and beetroot seeds. Our black plastic covers have worked a treat, and I think it may be worth getting a few more next winter. I have high hopes for this year, because of the extra fertilisation from the chicken poops. 

We lost one chicken over the winter, in a rather mysterious way. We heard a kerfuffle in the afternoon, and the chickens had jumped the garden fence, and although right very to the house Nugget was gone. Babs had jumped up on the fence and was making the noise. No sign of even a feather, but we suspect either a fox or maybe a stoat. So the chickens are leading a slightly more confined life in a bigger run, with only supervised outings in the garden.

The strawberry bed had almost disappeared in weeds, but a bit of work and they have reemerged. I was really pleased to have got a lot of new strawberry plants from runners, which are planted in a trough in the polytunnel. High hopes for these, but maybe won't get much fruit until next year.

We have quite a lot of seedlings on the way in the polytunnel. Peas, broad beans, and a lot of things like squash, courgettes etc. The village plant exchange has already begun, and I am excited to see what my round climbing courgette plant becomes.

We have planted out the runnerbeans a few days ago. I am a little worried out this, because of our experience a few years ago, when there was a late May frost and we lost all our beans. So checking the weather forecast and keeping everything crossed.

Tamara Way Stage 4 Part 1 - Gunnislake to Horsebridge

As we set off on the next stage of our walk, I was very much hoping for bluebells. I know they are around, but we didn't see many. Lots of lovely smelling wild garlic, as well as other wild flowers along the way.

Our route this time was quite often not alongside the river, but we caught glimpses. There was lots of lovely woodland, evidence of historic mining, as well as some interesting villages that we had not been to before.  

We enjoyed passing through Chilsworthy, Latchley and Luckett. Given my interest in knitting we were admiring this lovely decorated phonebox in Latchley, when a nice lady arrived to update the decorations, and told us they were having a party next week to officially open the defibrillator it now holds.

We enjoyed seeing lambs again, and rescued this black beetle from the road.

Luckett Village was also very pretty

We finally arrived at Horsebridge, and this was the view from the bridge, which we crossed back into Devon. We then had a bit of miscommunication with my husband, who we were hoping would be there to pick us up. Very hard to get phone coverage, but there was a handy phonebox (blast from the past) and lemonade from the Royal Inn, which got us through the long wait.

We didn't manage a whole stage again, but are planning to walk more frequently now the weather is improving.