It has been wet, wet, wet today and windy – I felt sorry for the postman – the last two days he has had nothing to deliver here and walked passed but today surprisingly there was a bundle of letters landed on our mat and before lunchtime too.
Firstly, the handwritten one – they are always the most exciting as we hardly receive any mail this way now. I opened it eagerly to find a lovely invitation to granny and granddad for Sweetie’s christening in May at Healey church up in North Yorkshire.   I think granny here might just be making her a Christening dress for the occasion – we usually use our family heirloom made of fine cotton lawn and lace but Sweetie is a little pudding and she will be older than 6 months by May so it is doubtful it is going to fit her then and the fabric is getting very delicate now and we do not want to risk a rip. So granny is on standby to make one.
Next, I opened the envelope from Boots containing some money off and extra point’s vouchers, valid until June – always useful to keep in my purse, although I don’t buy very much from Boots now but when I do I take advantage of their offers and buy 3 at once, if I can claim extra points all the better.
A curious letter with an Argos franked stamp on the envelope but actually from Sainsbury’s with a product recall on the Goose Feather and Duck down pillows I bought in the sale after Christmas – there is a fire safety issue with them and I can return them for a full refund. I found mine a bit too full anyway so I won’t be too upset to give them back – but not sure what mum will sleep on when she comes!
We also had a credit card statement with a zero balance as we have not made any internet purchases during the last period – I was extremely pleased with this – I don’t shop a lot on the internet but it is useful for DH to buy obscure hinges and man stuff when he is doing one of his maintenance projects and mending broken bits and pieces around the house.
So all in all mainly good news and no bills…
…and then there was the usual pile of junk leaflets which I put straight into the recycle bin – I have even got past the point of reading them first before I dispose of them – what a waste of paper and resources.
We spent the rest of the day with little Freddie who is also growing each time we see him and is much more alert now. He tends to sleep well at night but not so much during the mornings – I suppose that is the better way round.
Tomorrow we travel to Leeds – we have decided on park and ride as we are attending three free seminars in the centre of Leeds delivered by Hargreaves and Lansdowne. They are all to do with pensions, planning and advice and we certainly need some. I am hoping we will hear something to our advantage.
In between all this I am continuing to clear clutter and simplify. I have been in the shower room – this is an easy room to do as it is one where I have invested a lot of time previously to reduce the stuff that accumulates in there so it was more of a maintenance activity this time round. The craft room and office that I am clutter clearing at the moment is more difficult to negotiate. I have still got mounds of special craft papers, blank cards and envelopes, embellishments etc but I am loath to get rid of things just in case I find time to make some cards – but I ask myself just how likely is that?
A day of delights and dithering.
Now look behind me – not so quiet and untouched as this is the busy M62 cutting through across the Pennines at its highest point.
Now look again – every verge as far as the eye can see littered with rubbish. 
We drove 250 miles in all, mainly on motorway and a major ‘A’ road, and every verge revealed so much litter – even this lay by near Dumfries in bonnie Scotland! Not so bonnie at the moment.
Dumfries and Galloway Council in their wisdom have removed many of their litter bins from the lay-bys on the A75 down to Stranraer – a decision they may live to regret.
The catkins on the corkscrew Hazel are just coming into flower.
The big surprise was our family Rhododendron growing in the lower wood (named after DH’s grandfather who grew it for the Castle Kennedy estate, he was head gardener). We grew this from a cutting, it is an early flowering variety but even this is quite early and the one at home in our garden is only just in bud.
And some even more unexpected news – coming home late yesterday evening we left the M62 at Milnrow as usual and drove through New Hey, Denshaw and Delph towards Marsden and to our surprise came across about 8 fire engines and a few police cars parked on the verge side with flashing lights. At first we thought there had been a bad collision on the road but as our view opened up we saw the mass of fire on the moorland (this is looking from the other side of the moor you see in the top photo). It was quite bizarre as the fire raged in straight lines across the open moorland – some of the burning lines zig zagged across the moors way into the distance.
We stopped on the side of the road with many other passers-by to take pictures and spoke to some of the fire beaters who were having a break. They told us it may have started in the nearby lay-by and could have been just a cigarette. Although quite spectacular it is sad for all the wildlife that will have been harmed by this.
Firstly welcome to my new followers and apologies for the longer than intended absence – I hadn’t actually intended an absence at all…of any kind, but there you are… it happened…and even though I have tried a few times to sit and write this post I have been unsuccessful each time in finishing it. I seem to have been busy – a kind of business that involves a lot of this and that and not a lot of anything I would call really productive.
There are some delightful projects to make inside – I particularly like the embroidered peg bag.
We had tea with my daughter and then set off for the panto with Libbie (Little L) who if you remember was ‘super’ excited – unfortunately the snow became very bad on the way through Bedale and we didn’t know whether to turn back or press on. In the end we kept going and made it to the village hall to the north of Northallerton just in time for the start.
The next morning we woke to brilliant sunshine and the snow had started to melt. The roads were clear once again and it was hard to believe it was the same place we had struggled to drive through in the early hours. DH and Libbie went out to make snow castles and then we headed home stopping here and there to admire the beautiful views as we drove past the resevoir and back into Masham.
Since then I have been busy helping with little Freddie – his mum, my elder daughter, had to go back again to hospital with her problem but hopefully all will be well now.
We didn’t really celebrate Valentine’s day other than exchange cards. I have had my Valentine card for a while now – I must have bought it a couple of years ago and then forgotten about it. I often make my own but when I found it during a recent clear out I thought it would save me the job of making one and it is quite cute – I love the fact it has a little flask on the end of the bench – very appropriate for us now – I have no doubt this is what DH and I will look like in a few years time!
The meal planning continues and for some reason we have had a few pastry dishes. The Carrot and Leek pasties were a hit and great for picnics – I will make them again – and this week I made a cheese and tomato Quiche.
Tonight it is curry and it would have helped if I had known we didn’t have any curry paste in the cupboards. We had to have a mad dash to the local supermarket but their range is limited so I had to buy a jar. I am wondering if it will freeze – anyone tried this?
 What a surprise when we drove up the road and onto the moor that takes us over the tops of Saddleworth to Greenfield, Mossley, Ashton, Stockport and finally Cheadle Royal our destination – there was a covering of snow. 
On the way home it was thick fog too and a bit hairy coming over the winding moor road but at least it was still open as often when there is any snowfall it is soon closed off and we have been stuck getting home a few times, you really have to watch the weather here if you venture far when it snows.
where the journey takes me 2 