First week of the holidays

Well, what did I get up to through the first full week of the Summer holidays. To cut a long story short - crochet and walking!


First let me show you what I have had on my crochet hook this past week. I have so much that I want to create thanks to all the inspirational ideas out there in blogland so I have had three different starts this week:-


First of all this pile of small circles will become my Rose Garden throw, only just started doing the second round on these, believe it or not they will become hexagons eventually but I have put this project on one side for just a little while.

Next I started a shawl, I know the road trip shawl is very popular out there in blogland at the moment, however I decided on a slightly different pattern - this is the start of the Tender Sandstorm shawl by Vicarno.

Finally I have jumped on the corner 2 corner bandwagon and am working on this small blanket - ideal size for a pram blanket, have now got to the boring bit of having to sew in the ends but then can create a lovely edging to finish it off.

I have also finished the lining and handles for my Crafternoon Treats big stash bag, just ideal for me to take to the beach later in the holidays as it holds my coastal blanket, with room for my latest crochet project and the pockets hold my Kindle and my phone. I did make a bit of a mess with lining the handles and had to botch them but I am overall pleased with how this came out as I am not an expert by any means at sewing and was dreading the lining process.

Now onto the walking, three lovely walks achieved over the last week. 


If you are a regular reader of my blog you will know we enjoy walking various bits of the towpath on the Kennet and Avon Canal, this time we walked the stretch from Crofton to Bruce Tunnel (the only tunnel on the K&A). The main reason for going was to see a steam train that was running, however we were just parking the car at Crofton when we heard the steam whistle and saw the smoke as the train was running over half an hour early, oh well at least my DH did get to hear it if not see it properly. It didn't stop us enjoying our walk, this stretch of the towpath is new to us and it was fun to watch some narrow boats negotiate the locks. I am not sure I would like to be on a boat going through Bruce Tunnel though, quite long and dark!

Our next walk took us back to the lovely village of St. Mary Bourne and we decided to walk a different route from our normal routes that we follow. It was good to have a change of scenery and I loved this field of beautiful sunflowers and the stunning wild flower banks.

Our final walk of the week saw us return to Hannington, this time our eldest son accompanied us. We walked the same downland route as the previous week but took a further diversion extending the walk by 3/4 mile which gave us some lovely views looking down over my home village and some very steep inclines and declines which will hopefully have a positive effect when I get on the scales at Slimming World this week. I love walking on the Downs, not just for the superb views and returning to the landscape I know so well but also for the flora and fauna.

This was a field of clover last week (you might remember from my last post) before the sheep moved in!

Looking down on the Kingsclere race horse stables and the village beyond.

And what better thing to do at the end of a lovely walk than enjoy a meal at The Vine at Hannington.

Excuse my red face, I always look like a beetroot at the end of a walk!

Canal Walk

Monday this last week dawned bright so it was time to get those walking boots on again!


I wanted to go to Hungerford to purchase a basket to hold the wool for my crochet projects (see post below) so we decided to walk another part of the Kennet and Avon Canal (fairly level walking is good at the moment as DH's back is still giving him a few problems although it is a lot better than it was) and then motor onto Hungerford and enjoy a picnic lunch beside the canal before visiting the basket shop.


We parked up in the same little car park that we used a few weeks back when we walked the canal up as far as Little Bedwyn. This time we set out to walk in the opposite direction.

Couldn't resist taking a photo of these cute ducklings

I love the reflection of these trees in the water

Crofton Pumping Station

We sat for awhile when we reached the lock opposite Crofton Pumping Station and enjoyed watching the house martins swooping over the canal catching insects, they are such agile flyers and were busy collecting food for their young to take back to their nests which they had built under the eaves of the pumping station.


I love to see the narrow boats on the canal - no two are the same, some very smart and others not so!!! Some are very high tech with solar panels and sky dishes, some have miniature greenhouses on the top, and they all seem to have a wheelbarrow (either on the roof or placed on the towpath beside the boat). I am not quite sure what they use these for but I am sure there is a simple explanation.

We were pretty hungry and thirsty by the time we arrived back at the carpark so we motored on into Hungerford where we enjoyed our picnic lunch whilst watching a couple of the boat people working hard carrying out maintenance on their boats while we sat and relaxed in the sunshine.

After lunch I visited the basket shop to purchase my wool basket (oh my, what a choice - baskets in every shape and size) and this has already been put to good use. 


A very pleasant way to spend a day and I am sure the walk helped with my weight loss this week - an amazing 3 lbs which gave me my Club 10 award (10% of my body weight lost), only 2.5 lbs to go to my 2 stone award now!

A Windmill, a Canal and Bluebell Woods

Today dawned bright and sunny so we decided to drive to Wilton to see the windmill and go for a walk along the Kennet and Avon Canal. However when we arrived the sun had gone in and it was rather grey, not that it stopped us enjoying our day. 


The windmill only opens its doors on Bank Holiday weekends when they put the windmill to work but you are allowed to walk right up to it at other times. I would love to go back again when it is working, it must be quite dramatic to see the sails turn especially if it is as blustery as it was today.

We then drove a short distance to Crofton where we walked on the Kennet and Avon Canal towpath up as far as Little Bedwyn and back again - a distance of almost four miles. I am going for my Silver body magic award at Slimming World this week so it is good for me to rack up the miles.

Our route (from far left to far right on above map)

There were a couple of boats working through the locks on the canal today

How's this for a high-tech boat - solar panels and sky dish!

This boat had just about everything on its roof including the washing line!

This one is a long way from home!

We met a lady walking her dog along the towpath and she told us about a lovely pub in the village of Froxfield so as it was lunchtime by the time we arrived back at the car we decided to go and investigate. We really enjoyed our meals but I am glad I had burnt so many calories on our walk as it was quite difficult choosing something that wasn't full of syns. We took a bit of a round about route to get to Froxfield as we didn't have a map with us but on the way we passed some magnificent bluebell woods so after our meal we decided to drive back the same way and have a walk and take some photographs.  What a magnificent sight, bluebells as far as you could see - what a lovely time of the year this is. The sun had reappeared by this time making it even more special.

Sorry, got a bit carried away with the number of photos again, I find it so difficult to decide which ones to leave out. If you have made it this far thank you so much for visiting my blog, I am so enjoying writing this as a record of my activities since taking semi-retirement.