We got back on Saturday after a short road trip to Scotland. This was a chance to see how we got on living in the van for more than a weekend as we have a long trip planned later in the year (fingers crossed)
Our first destination was Glencoe where we had booked a pitch with electric for the night. The drive up was stunning, blue skies and sunshine .
Although this looks like a view of the carpark we on actually on one of six motorhome pitches in front of a line of camping huts.
You can see four of the huts in this picture and there is another line of them behind us. Priced at £50 per night and sleeping four people they can be a good alternative to camping on a very wet night for hikers.
We decided to take a weekend away in the van just to check that everything works especially the gas heating , fridge etc ready for our next trip up north.
We spent the weekend on a campsite just outside Castleton in the Peak District. This is an area that we used to visit by motorcycle many ,many years ago and it was nice to explore at a slightly slower pace.
Peverill Castle overlooks the small town, this photo also shows the edge of the original market square.
Narrow alleyways always look intriguing and the charity book store was rather unique :-)
We had a wander round and popped into a pub for a pint then back to the campsite to check all the gizmos were working as they should be.
On the way back I had to recruit some volunteers as this little guy was running away on the wrong side of the fence to his mum :-)
Most importantly, I checked that the space I had earmarked for the spinning wheel was big enough, yep...it fits.
The view from the weekend and the campsite early in the morning , speak soon xx
So, with everything packed away including my spinning wheels I had a rummage in the cupboard and came up with my lace bobbins.
I even found the pins...
and the pillow..
then a letter arrived reminding me to have a check up at the opticians just as I realised that I maybe need stronger glasses for the fine lace that I enjoy making !!
Project now on hold whilst I have a think about things :-)
As you know I have been spinning and knitting for the last 3 months whilst recovering from my injury. Admittedly not all the time but a little each day.
Last week I spun mostly this...
but the biggest change has been in my workroom, the first photo was taken 25.02
spot the bags of fleece !!! at one point I counted 25 but this morning I counted 13 empty bags, ok so they hadn't all been full but they are now definitely empty.
the large plastic containers still have their original content, the smaller ones contain knitting and spun yarn ( more out of site in this pic )
my personal knitting stash lives in here..
The point of this post is that I am taking a short break from spinning, I will probably have something on the needles if we go away at the weekend but I will not be spinning at home. This is just to avoid complete burnout and to get my brain working on something else before I return to work.
It was Easter last weekend, the weather was pretty bad with rain, snow on the Monday and Ian was working Friday and Monday anyway. Really it was just another weekend marked by the fact that we had to renew our membership at Papplewick Pumping Station nearby.
A good excuse to get out of the house and take a few photos in spite of the weather.
We visit two or three times a year, generally for the steampunk and 40's weekends, not bad value at £20.00 joint yearly membership. We are hoping to give back some of our time once we retire.
On the knitting front, I finished the hat and now only have one more that is half finished. The WIP is turning out rather large so I will probably try and shrink it slightly and keep it for myself as I can fit all my hair inside it!.
That's about it for now, I have some more yarn drying, more fleece to spin and more time off work until I've seen the Physio next week.
Hi
Today it's back to a fibre update. I've been sitting on my hands recently to prevent me buying more fleece, I keep telling myself that there will be plenty at the fibre shows later in the year but it's so, so difficult to resist the temptation. My credit card has been in use recently as I seem to be back in a book buying phase, just trying to see what traditions other countries have and some history of knitting etc.
I must admit to having a growing desire to knit Shetland lace or even Orenburg but I can't see me having the patience to spin all the yarn needed.
Anyway, spinning update !! Here we have 2 x Bond (colour should be a little more red) Ryland, Jacob, Ryland/zwarbles.
This gives a better indication of the Bond colour.
I'm currently finishing up the Jacob/texel fleece that I bought last year, just the oddments to sort through and spin up.
I'm mainly trying to reduce the fleece stash by spinning some for use in my hats and some that will be sold. There has been some fleece which will go straight in the stuffing bag and passed on to another crafter.
As you can see, I've got the Sonata out and I've found a way of resting my bad foot across the treadle to it doesn't move but it stops the footman from knocking. So good to get back to a manual wheel after using the e spinner.
I started knitting a headband but its turning into a hat!! nice pattern though :-)
On the weather front, we have once again had snow. I'm beginning to think that the weather is completely bonkers as it went from 11c to two inch of snow in 24 hours.
In other news, I have another return to work day for just after Easter so fingers crossed that all goes well.
We have come to the conclusion that the weather is controlled by our camper van! every time we take it out, it RAINS !!
See what I mean? Friday was a quiet night in, I started some knitting whilst the man himself got the ukulele out for some practise.
We spotted this small table which doubles as a camping stool in our local camp shop ( the top comes off to reveal a seat) packs away neatly into its own bag and takes up far less space than the table that is supplied with the van.
Fortunately the clouds started to clear the next day and we walked round the corner to the Nene Valley Railway and waited for a train to appear. Lovely little station to hang around on.
The plan was to have a ride on the train, explore the other stations and end up in Peterborough for a couple of hours.
More unusual engines awaited us at the next stop including this beauty from Switzerland.
and, of course, Thomas the Tank Engine.
Future projects included the restoration of this building which will require a serious amount of funding.
Peterborough itself really requires more investigation, we didn't get time to see inside the cathedral or find the museum.
We did, however find a couple of interesting buildings, this is the Guildhall dated 1671 with a beautiful clock.
and this one, not so old (1911) although I would swear that old Henry is checking his phone.
I can be a bit of a railway nerd, its how I was brought up. as I hobbled into Peterborough I spotted a rather nice bridge and checked it out on the way back.
One last surprising item was the tracked Hovercraft train, I had never heard of it before but tracked down some footage on you tube. This example is in very poor condition and I suspect will never be restored.
speak soon, next time will be a knitting/spinning update as usual. xx
