Bon Voyage, Sue and Andy

On July 4th, Phill's parents left for their great adventure, a round the world sailing "holiday". This is their retirement and something that has been planned for a long long time. I'm so excited for them that they are living out their dream. Phill wishes he were going to. And he will be joining them for their Atlantic crossing next winter. Both scary and exciting all at once!

There was, of course, a fabulous party to see them off with friends and family coming from all over the country, including friends from Ulverston that were not expected.

Alice cleaning the deck

The boat was dressed with flags (in the right order!) and the food was fabulous and included Nanny Scales' yummy cakes and jam tarts.

Cake made my Phill's Nanny

At around 7, they boarded the boat and sailed off in to the sunset. And we followed them! Phill, his two brother, Liz and the kids and I were very generously offered a ride in a fellow marina resident's cruiser. We went with them through the bridge and waved them off as they anchored up for the evening in Studland Bay (avoiding both seahorses and nudists).

Alice ready for her trip on the boat

Waiting for the bridge to open

Poole coat of arms

Andromeda on the open waves

My Mum and Dad waving us all off

They make Sun Seekers in Poole. This one must be destined for a rapper or drug dealer or something. Nina has 3 floors and those port holes down the black bit are the windows of a BALLROOM!

Beards across the generations

My Holiday...

Summed up in one photo

Grizedale Forest

On the Wednesday, Phill and I went to Grizdale Forest. They have a lot of sculptures in the woods and several trails that take you round the forest to see them. We took the white trail, described as "moderate". It wasn't too bad and was uphill to start with which meant it was downhill at the end. Very important! We barely saw another soul which was fabulous. All we heard was the sound of beards and insects. The sculptures were fab too.



At the top of the walk was a tarn. The water was so still, the reflections were amazing. It was so quiet, I could have stayed there all day but there was cake to eat and sculptures to see.

This is a reflection!!

Happy Campers

Last week, Phill and I took a much needed break from work and dissertations and went up to the Lake District for a few days. We camped on the bank of Lake Windermere, at the northern end near Ambleside. This is the view from our tent.




Phill grew up in Ulverston. We visited on Tuesday, Phill to see how it had changed and me to see this place where the stories come from! One of my plans for the week was to have proper Cumberland sausage and we were recommended a pub in Ulverston. It was delicious! A big sausage ring on a pile of mash with black pudding and a roasted apple. Quite posh and very yummy.


We also went up to a local hill which was covered in sheep and I collected some wool off the ground. I also took a lot of photos of sheep!


On the way back to the tent we stopped off at Stott Park Bobbin Mill and had a tour round. They showed us how all the old machines used to work off the steam engine. I also bought a few tiny bobbins to use for my spindle yarn.



In the evening, we drank nice beer and Phill cooked me dinner!

We love the mooooooooooon

Ages ago, Phill and I went up to Leeds to visit his uni friends Brendan and Abby. While we were there, we had a play with Brendan's fancy telescope. And it is properly fancy! It is automated so you calibrate it to some stars and then after that, just tell it what you want to see.

We saw stars and galaxies and SATURN! I am such a geek but this was amazing. It was very small and basically just a dot with a line across but it was SATURN!

We also took a picture of the moon which was very bright that night. We took a whole bunch of photos through the telescope and Brendan put them all together to produce this amazing image:


(click to see the big version ... it's worth it)

Round The World Hats

Sue and Andy left for their sailing adventure last Saturday. There will be pics from the party soon but first, here are the hats I made them to keep their heads warm on the high seas.

First up is the Chakra Hat by Alysa Joaquin. This one is for Sue as it represents the head chakra. It is knit with Cascade 220 in Dark and Light Purple. This was my first Fair Isle and I love it. I am very pleased with how it came out nice and consistent and the back is almost as pretty as the front.

The second hat was for Andy and is Turn a Square (ravelry link) by Jared Flood. It is also lovely although a little big. This one is also knit with Cascade 220 in Navy Blue and Turquoise.