A mixed bag!

The days seem to be speeding by at the moment, I cannot believe it is the end of another week and time to join Amy at Love Made My Home for Five On Friday.


I haven't really done anything terribly exciting this week, mainly due to the unpredictable nature of the weather we are experiencing at the moment. Tuesday was a glorious day but guess what - I had to work that day so didn't really get to enjoy it.


We did manage to get out on Saturday and enjoyed a lovely lunch at one of our favourite pubs - The Vine at Hannington and then enjoyed a walk over the delightful village green and out into the downland countryside. It was a real treat to see and hear skylarks, a bird that seems to have declined rapidly in recent years.

As you might remember we had the garden refurbished late last year and finally I had the chance to get to the Garden Centre to begin buying some planting and containers to turn it from a blank canvas into what I hope will be an enjoyable space to sit out and enjoy when the warmer weather comes. It is early days yet and there is still a lot more I want to achieve but at least it is a start - the little collection in the photo below cost me an arm and a leg so cannot buy too much at a time.

I am trying to choose mostly plants that attract bees and butterflies and I was lucky enough to be given the planting container below with butterfly friendly seedlings. I planted it up last weekend and already the growing rate has been amazing. It is indoors on a windowsill at the moment but will go outside to join the other pots when danger of frost has passed. If any of you know any plants that can be container grown that are good for attracting birds, butterflies and bees please let me know, I am very much a novice at this so any tips will be useful.

I have been mainly been entertaining myself by reading and crocheting this week, this is my latest charity blanket underway.

There are a lot of colour changes in this one so it might take me awhile, lots of those dratted ends to sew in!


Well that is my five pics for this week. Please pay a visit to Amy's blog where there are links to lots more Five On Friday posts.

The Year In Books - April

I am once again linking with Laura at Circle of Pine Trees to bring you my April selection. If you love reading and wish to join in please visit http://circleofpinetrees.com/year-books-information/  where you will find all the information you need.

My planned reads for April are:-

The Simon Armitage book has been one I have been wanting to pick up for some time, I have made a start on it and I think I am going to enjoy it. Erica James has long been one of my favourite authors so am looking forward to this one, she weaves such a great story and never disappoints. The JoJo Moyes is a new author to me but the book has been recommended by a friend who says it is really hard to put down and the Jane Struthers is one I downloaded onto my Mum's Kindle and she has said that she thinks I will find it interesting so I think I have some good reads lined up for me this month.


Now for a review of my March reads:


Firstly I finished off one of the books I didn't quite manage to finish in February.

This was an interesting read for me as Highclere Castle (aka Downton Abbey) is somewhere I know well and have lived close to all my life. I have met the current Earl of Carnarvon and also the previous Earl so it was interesting to find out more about the family through the generations. 

I then moved onto a book by Santa Montefiore, I have read several of her novels and she didn't disappoint with this one. This book is set in the wild countryside of West Cork, Ireland in the early part of the 20th century and is an epic tale of three very different women who have one thing in common, a fierce and unwavering longing for Castle Deverill and the memories contained within it. I was pleased to hear that there will be two more books in this series as there were lots of ends left untied. 

My next read was The Sea Change. This was a debut novel for Joanna Rossiter but the synopsis sounded interesting.

Yesterday was Alice's wedding day. She is thousands of miles away from the home she is so desperate to leave, on the southernmost tip of India, when she wakes in the morning to see a wave on the horizon, taller than the height of her guest house on Kanyakumari beach. Her husband is nowhere to be seen.

On the other side of the world, unhappily estranged from her daughter, is Alice's mother, Violet. Forced to leave the idyllic Wiltshire village, Imber, in which she grew up after it was requisitioned by the army during the Second World War, Violet is haunted by the shadow of the man she loved and the wilderness of a home that lies in ruins.

As Alice searches for her husband in the debris of the wave she is forced to face up to some truths about herself she has been hiding from. Meanwhile Violet is compelled to return to Imber to discover just why she abandoned her great love . . .

I have to say that this book took me a long time to get into, I almost abandoned it but I am glad I persevered. It does leap about a lot between the generations with lots of flash backs to previous generations and it was a bit confusing at times but after reading about a third of the book I did get fully engaged with the story and began to be gripped by it. Some unpredictable twists as the book unfolds make it worth sticking with.

My final book in March was The Lake House. I loved this book - an epic piece of storytelling. The main plot line concerns the mystery of baby Theo Edevane who disappears from the family home in Cornwall during a Midsummer party in 1933, a mystery which has never been resolved. The book does jump about a bit between three different time lines but is easy to follow. An intriguing story with an intricate plot with many twists and turns. Several times I thought I had solved the mystery to find my theory was incorrect but in the end the threads weave together in an interesting and satisfying way.

Corfe Castle

It's Friday again which means it is time to join Amy at Love Made My Home with a Five On Friday post. 


Yesterday my DH and I enjoyed a brilliant day out on the Isle of Purbeck visiting Swanage and Corfe Castle so today I thought I would show you some images of Corfe Castle. This area is one of our all-time favourite places and we have visited many times over the years but we haven't actually been into the Castle itself for a long time so decided it was time we revisited.

Corfe Castle is a fortification standing above a village with the same name which was built to guard a gap between the Purbeck hills. The first castle buildings were built of wood and it is here in 978 AD that young King Edward was reputedly murdered on the orders of his step-mother so that her son Ethelred the Unready could become King of England. 

In the latter half of the 11th Century the castle was rebuilt in stone by William the Conqueror and it grew in importance in the reign of King John for whom it became a favourite hunting residence. 


























It was besieged by King Stephen in the civil war with the Empress Matilda and later in the Civil War of the 17th century when it was famously held for the Royalists by Lady Bankes, her husband Sir John Bankes had purchased the castle in 1635 but he died in 1644.

Lady Bankes led the defence of the castle for weeks until February 1646 when an act of betrayal let Parliamentarians into the stronghold. After the siege the castle was blown up with gunpowder so that it could never be used as a stronghold again. 

The Bankes family continued to own the Castle until 1982 when it was bequeathed to the National Trust. 

Catching Up!

I am not sure where the time keeps disappearing lately but thought I better have a bit of a catch-up on my blog and also read some of my favourite blogs out there - I do apologise that I have been slow to respond with comments but will try and make amends today in an attempt to get back onto an even keel. 


Well, what have I been up to over the last week or so? Mainly working, walking and crocheting but before I get to that I promised that I would keep you up-to-date on whether I managed to lose that vital 1 lb to get that longed for 4.5 stone award. I am pleased to say that I did reach that goal and received by certificate. Onwards and downwards now to get to 5 stone.

As my regular readers will know I am attempting to crochet several charity blankets this year and last week I completed a special one which I am donating to raise money for Ronald McDonald House in Southampton - a home run completely on charity donations where relatives of seriously ill people can stay to be close to the hospital where their loved ones are receiving treatment. This cause is very dear to an old school friend of mine and she is organising a fund raising event for this very worthwhile cause so I hope this blanket will go a small way towards helping her in her aim. 

I did show you a few photos of thatched cottages on my last Five On Friday post from a walk we recently made around the village of Longparish. However I did take several other photos so thought I would show you some now. The walk was a new one for us called the Forton Loop. We were so lucky that we chose to do this walk on a perfect sunny Spring day which greatly added to the pleasure of walking in such a beautiful location. 

The start of the walk takes you through a lychgate before walking through the Churchyard ...

to the second lychgate which was apparently provided to rest coffins from the hamlet of Forton

before glancing back to the pretty Church.

On through the meadow with views of Middleton House in the distance ...

before reaching the pretty hamlet of Forton with its chocolate box thatched cottages and seeing this delightful horse and cart.

This was our least favourite part of the walk, the footpath takes you straight across the middle of a ploughed field, luckily it had been dry but not something I would like to undertake in wetter conditions.

The footpath then leads up onto a common

and along an area known as Cutty Brow.

Couldn't resist taking a photo of this teasel.

We have almost reached the Middleway where a group of beeches are a stunning sight

Now that is what I call a woodpile ....

Walking through the beech trees

before admiring the far-reaching views from the Middleway.

We then turn off the road again ...

and cross the old Sprat and Winkle railway line (long since gone) ...

and follow the Broadney path back to Longparish.

The birds enjoying the 'pickings' from a newly ploughed field.

Spotting a Comma - our first butterfly of the year!

Good Friday dawned another bright sunny and warm day - time for another walk, our first walk of the year where I didn't need to wear a coat. This time we were accompanied by our eldest son and chose an old favourite - the Riverdance Walk - again around the village of Longparish. I have shown you photos from this walk before but this time I have tried to choose some different views for you.

Pointing the way ...

Daffodils growing by the little stream - love the reflections in the water

A stunning oak tree, it won't be long before it greens up.

Another delightful chocolate box cottage.

Lots of people out walking on such a lovely day.

Celandines - Spring is here!

Don't know if sheep sitting down means the same as when you see cows sitting down but next day the weather was horrendous - how can two days be so different?

Longparish House sat in stunning park land.

On this walk you criss-cross the river many times.

Upper Mill

My son crossing one of the many bridges after walking through the water meadows.

Another view of the River Test.

View from Lower Mill towards the weir

Passing the entrance to the trout farm (on the homeward straight now)!

Looked up and spotted these unusual chimneys.

Our last crossing of the Test - love the sunlight reflecting on the water

We are incredibly lucky to have so many lovely places to walk in our part of the world, I am hoping we can keep fit and active so that we can try out many new walks and enjoy our old favourites for a long time to come.


I will try not to leave it so long before posting again, over Easter we have had torrential rain and heavy winds - not really conducive to getting out and about in the countryside so I have been busy working on another charity blanket which I will show you next time.