Peace Comes Dropping Slow

 I've never been one to lounge in the sun by a pool, so my holidays are normally spent doing things - visiting castle ruins, or stately homes and their gardens, and although I'm not a long distance hiker I do like a gentle forest trail, or an amble along the coastal path. For a long while though I've been wanting to try a different sort of break, one where I stop rushing around, and just relax.  You would think perhaps that's there plenty of opportunity to sit around doing nothing at home once you're retired, but I find there's always something - laundry, gardening, whatever - that catches my eye and demands to be done. 

With Covid having left me drained and erratically exhausted, the idea of taking a day or two to just relax was especially appealing. When an email about riverside cabins arrived from Canopy and Stars, it seemed fortuitous. I've been ogling their website for years - dreaming of staying in a wooden hut in an orchard, or an isolated stone cottage dwarfed by surrounding mountains - and my youngest daughter had given us an IOU for such a break. This seemed like the moment to follow that dream. 

An important aspect of our choice was to find somewhere not too far away; neither of us felt up to travelling far, and certainly didn't want to spend the majority of time in the car. We picked The Arc, a cabin in the grounds of Island House by the river Nene in Cambridgeshire - a ninety minute drive, far enough to way to feel like a holiday, near enough to take our time on the journey and still arrive mid-afternoon. 

I always feel a little trepidation when arriving at a holiday cottage but I can't imagine a place that would have been more perfect, both inside and out. 

Inside, the Arc is furnished with a mix of industrial chic and faded opulence - metal kitchen worktop and basic taps with a squashy sofa, fabric-covered shutters, a hand-painted bedstead, small vases of flowers, and a cake to welcome us. So quirky and charming.

There were even throws that matched my favourite striped cardigan!

Stepping out onto the verandah though was the moment when the idyllic peace of the place washed over me. By luck as much as judgement, I'd found exactly what I was looking for; somewhere where as on Yeats' Lake Isle of Innisfree, 'peace comes dropping slow'

 So I flopped into one of the comfy chairs (not the hammock;I'd never have got back out), and listened to bees, children playing nearby, and the birds further away. Even the distant drone from the A1 somehow added to the immediate peacefulness. I could happily have sat there till night fell, but decided to tale a very short walk to see the sunset by the river.

The next day started, rather late, with tea out on the verandah, watching butterflies and birds fluttering about, followed by a amble to the sunhouse on a slight rise by the river.

Here, there were books to browse through, and paints, crayons, and sketchpads to encourage artistic expression, so I fetched my own from my bags and tried to capture the atmosphere. I think the stillness required for drawing focuses your attention on the moment, encourages you to just watch the breeze in the trees and the river flowing by, and absorb the peace and quiet.

Late in the afternoon we took a walk by the river to the nearby village of Elton. Though short and pleasant, it still proved to be too much for me, so then it was back to the cabin (just before rain fell) and a game of Scrabble. 

I wondered if, in part, I'd been influenced by the fact that the weather had been wonderful for our stay, but heavy rain fell overnight and the next morning was drizzly. Stepping out onto the verandah, that all-pervading feeling of tranquility was still there. No butterflies or bees, and the birds seemed more subdued, but it did't take away the peacefulness, which with the dampness really did come 'dropping slow'.

I'm so grateful that my daughter encouraged me to take these couple of days. The whole experience was a delight. I came home refreshed and feeling more like 'myself' than I have since having Covid. I'd like to return to The Arc sometime - to relax, and to explore the area a little more - but I'm also eager to try other Canopy and Stars or similar properties to see if they hold the same magic.

More about Canopy and Stars generally  here and The Arc specifically here

Tayvallich

I first holidayed at Tayvallick about 30 years and, although we've visited in the intervening years and stayed at other places in the surrounding area, this is the first time I've been back to spend more than a day in the village.

It lies on one of those long spurs of land separated by fingers of sea that characterise the Knapdale area, facing east towards the shelter of land. We stayed in a flat overlooking  the curve of the bay and passed a couple of lazy mornings walking from one end of the village to the other, and sitting to watch the goings-on. 

For a small place, there's a lot to occupy visitors. There are boats to watch bobbing in the harbour, a passenger ferry to Jura, a cafe with decking overlooking it all (sadly only open for takeaway during our stay due to staff shortages but I've eaten there in the past and it's a lovely spot to spend an hour or so), and at the opposite end of the village a restaurant. There's even a community centre with tennis courts and such that visitors can use, but we didn't.

A short walk from the main harbour took us over a slight ridge to another bay - Carsaig; a more untamed place with a shingley/seaweedy beach which looks west towards Jura, and has wonderful sunsets, and although there's no cafe there's a cake honesty box. A good place to just sit and watch the water lap at the shore.

And at Kyle Scotnish picnic place just north of the village, we spotted an otter swimming and diving for food. There are beavers in the area, from the Knapdale release scheme, but I think to have spotted one of those would have been too lucky*, and I'm happy to have seen an otter. Slightly further afield there are walks through Knapdale forest (more of that another time) and the Taynish Nature Reserve, more boats to watch along Crinan Canal, and historic monuments to puzzle over at Kilmartin Glen. 

One of the snags about re-visiting somewhere you know well is having to curtail the things you could do if only you had time. I'm already planning a trip back to catch those missed-out things.

* I've since watched the video of a near-to-home release of beavers at Willington in Derbyshire, and I'm still not certain what I saw. It could have been a beaver but an otter seems more likely.

A super-cautious socially distanced holiday

You may have seen from the last half dozen or so posts that I've been away on holiday to the Yorkshire Dales. Actually only for three nights but after more than a year of hiding away from Coronavirus being away from home feels strange and risky - probably more than it really is. Although I've been out walking locally at National Trust properties, and visited my daughters on a few occasions in the past year I haven't been inside a shop or eaten out, and certainly not stayed overnight anywhere, so going somewhere different feels odd.

Last year I missed out on holidays by being too cautious. When lockdown restrictions started to ease, I thought I'd wait, let other people dash away to the seaside or wherever, and go later when the rush had slowed down - unfortunately by that point (late August) there was talk of covid cases rising and before we knew it the autumn lockdown followed.

This year I was determined to not make the same mistake, so once Easter school holidays were over, we headed to the Yorkshire Dales. My husband had had both vaccinations by then, and I'd had my first, but I was still a little (lot) cautious about going on holiday while there's still a pandemic out there, and excitement was definitely mixed with a certain trepidation. 

In an ideal world, I'd have had a self-sufficient campervan and no need to stay under someone else's roof - but buying one for just a few nights away isn't a sensible option. 

At this point in the 'roadmap' self-catering was the only alternative - which was fine by me; after a year or more of social distancing I'd rather have as little contact with the outside world as possible. So we booked a self-contained

farmhouse annex through Air BnB. 

It was entirely separate to the farmhouse, had a fully-equipped kitchen to cook if we wanted (although we hoped to eat out), and a garden to sit in if the outer world seemed too busy. A rigorous clean between lets was promised and it seemed about as safe as it could be. I took towels and teatowels just in case I wasn't happy with those supplied but didn't use them - the cottage's felt thoroughly clean. Also, unusually, I took pillowcases, and we did use these. I figured that although the bedding would obviously have been washed between lets, my nose and mouth would be closest to the pillow, so just as an extra safeguard I thought it worthwhile. Was I being paranoid? Possibly, but these precautions made me feel more comfortable, and armed with my dinky hand sanitizer spray (so tiny it fits in a pocket!) I was ready to have fun.

Once we'd settled in, everything seemed fine - and almost normal. A lot of time on my holidays is spent walking in the countryside; so no need to change my habits there. Going after the school holidays seemed to have worked as most places seemed quite deserted. 

The National Park had handy signs informing the public about social distancing. I didn't see any red squirrels, or even spaniels, to check this out on, but there were plenty of sheep, cows, and landrovers around.

Picnic lunch in the car which was pleasanter than my grimace would have you believe. We'd planned to eat out in the evenings in a pub garden but luckily had taken food 'in case' as this plan fell through due to chilly weather. 

And I even went in a shop! 

All in all it's given me the confidence to get out more - though May's weather hasn't co-operated with that plan. 

 

Looking forward to - holidays

 I've been out and about a lot since restrictions lifted earlier this month, but so far I've only visited my usual close to home favourites  - Kedleston, Calke, Chatsworth and Shipley. 

Now I've taken the plunge and booked a holiday!

I'll only be away for a few nights but staying under a different roof  seems to make time stretch, and a couple of days away feels a lot longer than the same time spent at home. Due to family circumstances I'd been forced into staycationing long before covid was thought of. Last year, I waited too long, thinking July and August weren't good times to go on holiday, and then lockdown returned. This year I'm grabbing the opportunity to get out and see places while it's possible. 

When I started planning this break, I'd expected to head off to one of my regular seaside spots - Pembrokeshire or North Norfolk perhaps - but firstly I wanted to visit my daughter in Manchester on the way home, and then when I started considering Lancashire and Yorkshire I realised there are so many places I haven't been to. 

Although since my early twenties I've only holidayed in Britain (and never called it a staycation), from Devon to Aberdeen, Shropshire to Kent, there are such a lot of places that I've just passed through on the way elsewhere (respectively Cornwall, Sutherland, Wales, and France) only stopping briefly for lunch and a wander round a convenient National Trust property. Now I feel I want to explore all those rushed-past places. East Yorkshire fishing villages, quaint Devonshire thatched cottages, Aberdeenshire's castles, or just quiet country places that barely appear on the map but are filled with flowery lanes and birdsong.

So this time we're going to Malham, in Yorkshire, but I've also started to put together a sort of wish list of places to visit - it's probably far too long to cover in one year, and I do want to revisit my favourite places, but it's the beginning of a plan.

Resolutions so far ... four months in

Usually at strategic points throughout the year I have a look at how my resolutions are going, and either reassess them or give up hope entirely. So, after four months, how are things going?

With corona virus forcing me to stay indoors, I thought this year's resolutions would have been completely written off, but looking at my post from January I see things aren't totally adrift.

Get Outside More - well, I'm definitely doing this. I started with expanding slightly on my normal walking activities, but oddly since lockdown I've spent more time outside than ever. For one thing the weather's been good, in fact glorious for April, and also pottering around, sowing seeds, planting out small plants makes me feel I'm doing something productive, especially if there are really problems with fresh vegetables in a few months time. having veggies to pick from garden and allotment will take away an enormous worry. And when there aren't things that need doing in the
garden, I spend a lot of time sitting and relaxing there.

De-clutter - this is something that appears every year in my resolutions list but this time I'm actually moving on it. Early in the year, I made a start on sorting through the huge pile of photographs accumulated by my parents, removing many from their cardboard mounts which reduced the amount of space they took up. Since lockdown though I seem too busy for this (but, no, I couldn't really say what I've been doing)

Pursuing my intention of getting creative is helping with de-cluttering. Actual 'art' seems to require some mindset that I don't have at the moment but it's possible to be both useful and creative (and clear some of the clutter). I made a cardigan from some wool bought in January '19 (!), and knitted a scarf and hat with some gorgeous yarn given to me by my youngest daughter at Christmas. In the last couple of weeks I've picked up a couple of unfinished sewing projects that have been lying around for a long while. This helps with de-cluttering, my added intention to buy no new clothes, and being creative, so it's a win, win, win situation - and when actually finished I'll have some brighter clothes to wear, which was another intention of mine.


I'm not making a total success of things though ...

I've broken my resolve to buy no new clothes, but I feel a little bit of cheering up is necessary through lockdown, and, importantly, these new trousers fitted my intention to wear brighter clothes instead of old reliable navy and black.

Lose Weight - ha! this is always the difficult resolution, and so far it seems to be going in reverse; lockdown definitely takes away self-control over food.

Taking holidays anywhere is off the timetable at the moment, so I'm glad I went away at the end of February to North Norfolk's coast and ticked 'stay somewhere odd' off the list by spending the weekend in a converted chapel. We'd got tickets for a folk festival in Somerset but that's been postponed till autumn, and I'm not even sure if we'll go then.

Moving house is another 'on hold' project, with no idea when that can even be thought about.

For most of us plans are going to abandoned this year, but I'm hoping I can at least carry on with some of my resolutions. Who knows? Maybe I'll even eventually lose some weight!

Resolutions and plans - 2020

I don't start thinking about New Year's resolutions till Christmas is well and truly packed away, but the tree is now back outside in the garden, the decorations in boxes which have actually been put away, not left sitting around, and it's time to think about the year ahead, and, taking inspiration from my diary, do some planning.


Looking back at old posts about New Year resolutions, I noticed some recurring themes. Every year I seem to start off with good intentions to get fitter, lose weight, de-clutter the house, and do something creative. I think it's fair to assume that none of these went particularly well last year, so I'll start this year's list with them.



Get outside more - fresh air and exercise are good for you, and I really enjoyed November's One Hour Outside challenge, so I intend to get out and about more, and work on upping my average Fitbit count.



Lose weight - it doesn't matter how much or how little but I'd just like to be lighter next Christmas than I am now - hopefully getting outside more will contribute but I'll be aiming to eat more veg and less stodge on a regular basis. Losing weight will also have an added bonus of being able to wear lots of things hiding in my wardrobe, and help with my next resolution.

De-clutter - the amount of  'stuff' we seem to have around the house grows and grows, especially with having emptied my parents' house and kept so many of their belongings, from china tea-cups to old suitcases. I don't want to throw anything away just to tidy up, but I need to take a long hard look at what I do decide to keep.

Get creative - I need to spend less time on Pinterest looking for inspiration and instead spend an organised amount of time on something arty; maybe an afternoon or two a week, make a mess, make mistakes but make something instead of just planning. This also links to de-cluttering, as I'm guilty of hoarding postcards, tourist leaflets, pretty paper bags etc with the intent of using them in collages; this year I'll put them all to use. I have abandoned sewing projects which I need to finish - again that will help with the de-cluttering. For now, I've picked up some knitting started in autumn with the hope of getting it finished before Spring.

None of this, though, is embarking on anything new, so here are a few things to add.

Change my dressing habits. Looking at a row of t-shirts on the washing line recently I realised my clothes have become dark and dull; greys and blacks and navy, plain or striped. I don't intend to splurge, or buy anything unnecessary (also of course I'm going to lose weight. Ha ha)  but when I do it will be bright and/or patterned.

I'm now back in a position to take holidays, so I should get something organised - a variety of short breaks, and at least a whole week away which I haven't taken in years. I want to back to favourite places, to swim in the sea, walk in forests, climb mountains, see dolphins, red kites, golden eagles. I want to try new experiences - take the tent away for a holiday rather than just a festival, stay somewhere 'weird' - maybe a treehouse, canalboat or yurt - and visit somewhere new. Now is the time to do such things, before I end up too old and infirm.


And there's a huge plan already around as a hypothetical idea - move house. Despite there only being two of us living here now, we feel like we need more space - particularly to have a designated bedroom for our grandson's visits. We've lived in our current house for 35 years, so moving will be a huge upheaval - again though, I think the time to do it is now, while we have the energy to decorate and alter somewhere to suit us.

If I manage to put even some of these plans into action it should be an interesting year. Watch this space!

Loch Fyne and Crinan - part one

After our brief stay in Edinburgh we picked up our youngest daughter from the train and headed west. While so many tourists in Scotland are heading off round the North Coast 500 route, or tracking down Outlander locations, we headed off the beaten track, to Argyll, specifically the narrow strip of land where the Crinan Canal cuts through the Kintyre peninsula to provide an easy passage from Loch Fyne to the open sea of the west coast.

Find the Mull of Kintyre on a map and head north where the land looks ripped to ribbons, with long fingers of sea reaching between - that's where we were.

We stayed in a cottage next to Loch Fyne, waking each morning to views out across the water - sometimes cloudy, sometimes gloriously blue.






The shoreline was pebbly, so I gave up on the idea of paddling there, but on our last evening my daughter persuaded me to swim! After a day of sunshine, the water was lovely and warm, and I realised how much I've missed swimming.










It's a quiet area, with lots to do outside. There are strenuous walks and cycle routes through Knapdale Forest but we settled for short gentle strolls, looking for dragonflies and beavers near Loch Barnluasgan, along the Crinan canal, through the Taynish nature reserve, and (the most strenuous) in Crarae gardens.

I seem to have taken a tremendous amount of photos - as usual - so I think it's best to split this post into two - Loch Barnluasgan and Crinan now, the others to follow.




Loch Barnluasgan - This is a place where the air is so clean lichen grows freely on trees, giving a fairy-tale feel to the woodlands around the loch, and also the site of a beaver re-introduction project.

We didn't spot the beavers, though they have a den not far from the place below, but did see signs of their tree-felling activities. 

There used to be a dragonfly trail here, with boards explaining which types you might see etc.

Although the boards have gone, we still spotted dragonflies in the dappled sunlight under the trees. They just wouldn't stay still long enough for a photograph.

Crinan Canal - I could spend days, maybe even weeks, pottering around Crinan, watching the boats coming through the locks, walking along the canal, gazing out to sea and the islands - oh, yes, and eating at the conveniently situated Coffee Shop with a view of all the comings and goings.

I'm a bit of a lazy walker, so canals always appeal because of their reliable flatness. Crinan is special though as the canal path also affords a view out to sea in one direction, or across the tidal expanse of Loch Crinan in the other.










































One day I might decide to walk the full distance from Ardrishaig on Loch Fyne through to Crinan - or cycle as that would be quicker - but I'd need to be fitter! Time to get started on my exercise plan ready for next summer!!