Saturday 16 May 2015

Having taught a knitting class on Saturday last weekend (knitting on a train full of cheery football supporters was interesting!), I didn't get back on time to go for a bike ride in the evening, so I got up early on Sunday morning and was out there by 9AM. It was still quite cloudy when I set out but the sun broke through the clouds and it actually got quite warm. I have a merino wool underlayer, but I think that might need to be retired for the summer!

Because the main road where I live is so busy and really not suitable for cyclists, I try and avoid it as much as I can. I cycled a short stretch of it a few weeks ago but when I found motorists here have no regard or respect for cyclists, I decided this road is out of bounds. It does mean I sometimes have to go a long way round to try to get where I want to go. I suppose it improves my fitness and helps build my muscles!

I had recently seen photos of the interior of the church at Hawstead, and it looked spectacular, unlike anything I'd ever seen before. So that was definitely on the route, but as I had several hours, it turned into a much longer route with Hawstead as the last church.

I started off in Stanningfield. Here I managed to put my foot in the deepest puddle ever - so I ended up cycling with one very wet foot... not pleasant!

It was on to Lawshall, where in the church I found a monument to a fellow countryman. I had no idea that the Dutch fought alongside the British in the second world war. So poignant, especially as he was killed so close to the end of the war too (the Dutch still celebrate the end of the war on 5 May, Liberation Day).

It doesn't happen very often but Lawshall church failed to charm me. Most of the time when I step inside or even when I spot a church from a distance, something will make me smile. Not so here. I don't think there was a church guide either. Maybe I need to go back and spend a bit more time there.

The next stop was Brockley. This is an odd village - the church and the manor house are completely separate from the rest of the village, which is further south. It is very peaceful and quiet though.
A service had just finished and they were still clearing up, so I got invited in to have a look around.

The porch and ironwork date back to the 15th century (hope I got that right...), and it might not everybody's taste but I liked the yellow inside.

On my way back to the road I spotted this. I had no idea what it was, it was just lying there by the side of the path, but not hidden at all so almost as if it was left as a photography object! I posted it on a Facebook photography group where I thought someone would know what it is, and it turns out to be a boiler from a steam engine. Mysterious!

Next stop was Rede. It doesn't really show from the photos very well but the church has a very slender tower, very elegant. The coloured houses are right next door to the church - I wondered if they talk to each other every year: what colour are you going for this year?

After something to eat (those Suffolk hills make you hungry) I cycled on to Whepstead.

Unfortunately this one was closed. The photo of the interior was taken looking through a window. The lead glass window above was in the porch.

And the last stop was Hawstead. If I'd visited it at the start of the ride, I wouldn't have done many miles more - there is SO much to see... it is completely bonkers. Wherever you turn there are monuments. It reminded me of a garish circus or fairground.

There are about 40 monuments, each more spectacular and over the top than its neighbour. The poem on the monument in the top photo is most likely by Donne, as he was friends with the father of the (14 year old) girl buried here.

It does make you wonder how this church came to be so over the top. Were they all showing off? Keeping up with each other? Rich benefactors?

I had to get back home as I had something else on later that afternoon, but I'm definitely going back here one day to spend more time looking around and finding out more about its history. The church made me smile the rest of the day though.

And this made me smile too on my way out of the churchyard - someone with a sense of humor? Madly in love?

In the afternoon I helped out at a concert of the Aquarius singers at Ickworth Church. They were fantastic and it was great to see the church full of people. Afterwards there was a glass of white wine and as it was such a nice sunny evening, we all went outside in front of the church. There is another concert in June, but this time by a male choir. Fingers crossed for more sunny weather!

I have been knitting and sewing as much as always, but nothing to show at the moment, as two items were presents not yet received. The other is my fishing gansey blanket that I'm a bit behind on. Now that the presents are out of the way though, I can get on with it again. 14 blocks out of 25 are done, so over halfway now, and still enjoying every single block.
And with GCSE exam season now having started and me being almost as nervous as 16yo, I do need my knitting to keep the nerves at bay...

Tuesday 14 October

O blimey, more than 2 months since my last post!

I keep thinking about giving up the blog. I love Facebook and use it a lot. It feels like a point of contact with the outside world on days when I'm working from home - days which can get very isolated, even if it is handy that you can hang the laundry out and be in for a parcel. I've made friends on Facebook, I like keeping up with friends who have moved abroad, I've found old friends back, I like posting on Facebook. It's like a diary really.

But then I read back through blog entries from the past and this is a diary of sorts as well. I've had it for 7 years now - I don't even need to go back to check because this November it will be 7 years since mum had her operation for pancreatic cancer, and I used the blog a lot in those days to keep people up-to-date with what was happening.
I can see the kids growing up through the blog entries. I can go back and see things I've made. I suppose it just supplements my Facebook entries. (and I'm one of those people who trusts that whatever is put on the internet, will be there forever - I never knowingly put anything out there that will hurt other people or that I'm ashamed of, so I'm happy for it to be out there forever).

So, I think if I gave up on this blog completely, I'd regret it. But not writing very often feels wrong too. I want to write more, but find it hard to find the time. I don't know what the solution is - write shorter blog entries, set a time aside specially for writing? But I do know that I want to keep going.

Anyway! Enough of that rambling. It is October and we're well and truly settled into school routine. 15yo is in her GCSE year and doing well, working hard and regularly coming home with A*s. We're beginning to consider her options for 6th form college and even thinking about universities. She's got her heart set on going to London right now.
12yo is now at the same school which makes school runs much easier (read: non-existent for me!). He settled in well, considering he's gone from a school with 350 pupils to one with 2000 kids. We had a fairly eventful first week with him unexpectedly developing appendicitis and spending two days in hospital. Expecting that we'd be sent home again that evening when we went into A&E, I hadn't brought any clothes with me (I did bring my knitting!), so I spent two days and nights in the same clothes and felt probably as grotty as him when we returned home. He's made a full recovery though and is happily playing squash with J. again and enjoying the longer PE lessons at his new school.

Although I don't sew nearly as much as I'd like (just not enough hours in the day and too many hobbies fighting for attention!) I do now pretty much always have a project on the go. This skirt was a fairly simple one, but I figured the fabric didn't need a complicated pattern. I really like it, it feels very 'me'. Trying to figure out how to wear it now that it's turned colder (and wetter).

This scarf was my second attempt at a Hitchhiker. I'm way behind, everyone else seems to have made one, or two, or even more already. I'd wanted to make one for ages but never got round to it, and when I did I actually found it an extremely boring knit! I used yarn that my mum gave me ages ago, it's sock wool really. I loved the colours, they were really the colours of a wood, lots of greens and browns, but they were very much her colours. So as soon as it was finished, I packed it up and sent it off to Holland where it now has a very happy new home!

I'm still doing regular bike rides and visiting little churches. There is nothing better than getting out there in the fresh air, discovering little country lanes, seeing the seasons change, spotting a bird of prey or an owl or a cat out hunting, riding around a corner and coming upon a small country church. I've lost count of the number of miles I've covered but I get grumpy if I can't get out for a few weekends. I hope to get a blog post up with church photos soon - I did 47 miles last weekend so plenty of photos to share!

And on that note, I've eased myself back into blogging, I hope :-)