Monday montage

Hello folks and I hope you are cracking on nicely with this new week!

Here are a few shots from our weekend...

Saturday involved a lazy pub crawl around Grassington with great friends ~

Sunday had us popping back over to Saltaire for a second weekend in a row (Titus dear, we really must stop meeting like this!) for the food festival ~

later I spent the evening sketching, supping from a vintage glass and catching up on TV whilst the mister cooked a slap up (& damned tasty!) dinner ~

What did you get up to over the weekend?

Sarah

x

Clear the cobwebs

Hello! 

So half term hols are over, boyo is back at school, the mister is back to work and I'm back to painting today.  But whilst the paintings dry, I thought I'd show you some photos from our walk with friends last week. We were having one of those "I NEED to get out of the house" moments, so arranged to meet a good friend and her children in Malham (we are very lucky to live on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales) to do a circuit walk...taking in Janet's Foss and Gordale Scar.  Both are very beautiful but in such different ways. It was an overcast day which rapidly turned into a drizzly and very blustery day (I had the most special blow-over hair do [like a comb over only purely down to the wind plastering damp hair against my head] at the end of the walk but we certainly blew away the cobwebs :)

posing in the car park

the view over a drystone wall

the wall

looking skyward

very pretty but it looks seriously chilly in there *brrr*

close of the rock on our way to Janet's Foss...can you see the face in the rock behind?

Georgie takes the middle road & very pleased with himself he is too ;)

nearly there...that waterfall up ahead is Janet's Foss

here it is in all it's glory

Georgie goes in for a closer inspection

peepo!

the intrepid explorers head off to the waterfall at Gordale Scar...you can actually climb it!

in all it's twin waterfall glory...a truly majestic sight

this gorgeous fella was munching his lunch as we passed but he stopped to get a good look at us

x

it's a brand new year

well hello there and how is 2012 treating you thus far?


it's alright isn't it? a bit on the damp side but hey, we'll be glad of it when the sun shines on our green and pleasant land again, no? why, yes we will.


sooo what's been occurring in the Ditsy Bird nest...it's been a busy old Christmas, and one full of ~
family & friends; epic hide n seek fests (ace, just ace!); delicious meals; 3 curries in a week (never again tho); a trip to the iMax; lots of lovely gifts made, given & received; pyjama days; twinkly lights; fun and love. Lots of love.


but now I seem have developed itchy, move-furniture-around-and-rearrange-my-nest fingers! ha
tis ace!


I've nearly finished rearranging my studio/workroom/thespareroom & it now has a work table and a laptop/photographing table. two tables. oh yeah..chickity check me out and my fancy ways ;)
this then lead on to my rearranging the study downstairs prompted by a couple of comments by crimbo visitors, saying that it was Paul's room
so I thought...why not?


it has a bureau avec desktop, a huge bookcase so that's a good start
sadly the g't wonky coat rack will have to go, as will the sweaty pongy shoes (the boys', not mine...I'm a laaaady)


so that has knocked on to my shifting (just now in fact) the bookcase on the bottom stairs, up to the very top landing...in order to make room for some space saving, sort your ruddy coats out (my name is Paul and I am a coat addict - is a there a Coats Anonymous??? hmmm) coat hooks down there - thus ridding the Man's room of outdoor attire
I stole the extra table from the study*, clearing room for a comfy armchair for said Man to sit in and be manly and aloooown and read his book (who am I kidding) iPad


sooooo, all we need now are the afore-mentioned coat hooks and a shoe cupboardy rack thing
oh, and an armchair
but there were whisperings by his pa of their getting shot of their super snug and snazzy chair
hmmm


there's much hmmm-ing afoot tonight


as my lovely friend Karen put it...I think you may have dropped in on one of my meandering thoughts - I like that, it makes me happy to meander some more :) 
x


*this may not go down too well
but...it did have my work laptop & mega screen (which I'm looking at now in my own dandy little room) so that's a good thing that that's gone isn't it?!?! oh yes I think so
hmmm


ooh this post is entirely devoid of pictures...

dada! a little example of handmade tags for pressies

Hebden Bridge - a hidden gem

how picturesque!

[well, hidden to me anyway - down in the valley, tucked away...what a wonderful place]


I had a lovely day out in Hebden Bridge with my equally lovely and smashing friend, Nina, of Little Blue Elephant fame...it was the last Friday before the school holidays kicked in, and the PERFECT way to refresh ourselves before the onslaught of picnics, parks, days out, 'clean your bedroom!' and so on and so forth.


It's also far easier (and quicker) to get to than I've ever realised....we never seem to travel in that direction. Funny that. When I think about it, we always 'head off for the day' on particular roads and in certain directions. Usually towards Clitheroe, Harrogate, Ilkley or up t'Dale. I think there may be lesson here in taking the road less traveled. 


Down we dropped into a beautiful scene of stones houses, shops, cafes with a river running through, and very easy parking. And cheap! 40p an hour! You don't get much for 40p in Skipton these days, not for parking anyway.

knitted cupcake bunting

Then is was simply a matter of where to begin - it all looked so inviting and cheery and, well, welcoming. There's a really artistic vibe about the place what with buskers striking up as we were leaving...it's also fairly bustling but never seemed busy...just lots of people going about their business.


We started a general mooch that last until pick up time, involving shops, a gallery, a spot of lunch and ribbons!!!!

haha!

Honestly I could have spent a whole lot more than I did, but I was being very careful with my pennies. Stepping inside the Heart Gallery was the surest test of my willpower, though...wow! It is truly beautiful. A fabulous space for displaying some of the most wonderful handmade work around at the moment...many names you will have heard of, and many more you will want to know. There is a general sense of ooh & aah about the place, and the credit must lie with Alison the owner...sadly not there on the day we visited but you can tell that Alison loves her place and is passionate about what she does, just by the way everything was presented...and the feeling of calm that falls over you as you walk through the door. I could have spent a good deal longer in there just admiring the workmanship and design of the pieces on display.


I came out with my pennies intact and a firm 'note to self' of... this is where to come for Christmas pressies...for me ;)

cracking window display

Nina and I also stumbled across haberdashery heaven and a brilliantly chatty shop owner at Ribbon Circus...great fun and very knowledgeable to boot! We'd have been hard pressed to have found a cheerier shop keeper that day.


A leisurely lunch, sat outdoors in true cafe culture style, finished everything of perfectly...then we sauntered back to the car, promising ourselves that we'd be back again to do the other half of town another day.


x


please excuse the pics - I forgot my camera so had to make do with my trusting iPhone

♥♥♥Little Blue Elephant Cuteness♥♥♥

•••new in at the Ditsy Bird shop•••