A New Winter Hat

This week I've been working on a new Winter hat for Little L. She had asked if I could make her a scarf this year but I wasn't too keen on the idea as I've seen many trailing through slush and dropped on the school path. Also I thought that one less thing to take to school is one less thing for her to lose there. I thought this pattern was a good compromise as she would still get a new hat plus it will keep her neck nice and toasty.

The pattern is from The Velvet Acorn which I purchased from Etsy. It was very easy to follow and knitted up quickly as it used chunky wool. There is also crochet version of the pattern available. The pattern covers sizes from 6/9 months to adult which is handy as my niece wants one of these too. Little L has her eye on the wolf hat pattern now. She really does love hats so sometimes it can be a bit of a mistake to even let her look at a knitting patterns.

Back To The Beach

At the weekend we decided to spend a day at the beach as I don't think we will have many more chances to do this due to the weather changing. It was quite warm and sunny when went. Very windy though but it was a warm wind, not one that chills your bones. The beach we went to this time was Talacre .It was fairly busy and looked like there were a number of people still enjoying their Summer hols on the caravan park which is there.

Talacre is a popular beach due to its lighthouse and as the tide was out we could walk right up to it. Some of the sand dunes and a couple of ponds on the way to the beach were fenced off for conservation. These are both habitats to Sand Lizards and Natterjack Toads which are rare species in the UK.

Little L doing what she does best ... getting dirty and wet.

On the way home we took a quick detour and went to Flint castle. Little L has been asking to go to a real life castle even since she watched Jack The Giant Slayer. I've still to convince that giants never existed even though we have castles dotted about. Unfortunately the gates on the castle were locked when we arrived but we walked all the way around it and Little L thought it was 'cool ' anyway because it was ginormous. 

Baking With Blackberries

This year we've been lucky enough to find some blackberries when we went out looking this week so I had the chance to try out some new recipes.

The first one I tried out were these Blackberry Bars 

and the one I baked today was this Blackberry Cream Cheese Cake. Both were a hit in this house but the cake was the definite winner.

Crafty Catch Up

Over the Summer holidays I managed to fit in some time for crafty stuff though I have only just got around to taking the photos.

The envelope cushion cases were made for Little L's school, 8 of them. Later on in the holidays my neighbour gave me some Spiderman fabric because she knows that Little L is Spiderman mad so I used it to make another cushion for her bed.

These bangles were made using this tutorial. The bangles which I used were so flimsy that I actually snapped one while I was pushing the crocheting around it.

A cardigan for Little L was knitted. The pattern is Sirdar 2291 and also includes a long sleeve version.

A whale was crocheted for a friend's little boy using a free pattern found on Ravelry.

A Few Days Away

Just before the children began their new school year we had the chance to go away for a few days. Little L was very excited as she has never stayed in a caravan before. The caravan site was at Borth in Wales which wouldn't take too long to drive to if we did a straight run there but we stopped twice for toilet breaks and to stretch our legs. The first stop was at Bala then another at a rabbit village which we found on the way.

After settling in we all went down to the beach so that Little L could fly her kite (another first for her). It was extremely windy so the kite didn't last long as it crashed on to some rocks.

We had a bit of palaver trying to get Little L to bed the first night but I think that was only due to being in a strange place and bed. The boys went off to the arcade and soon meet more people of their own age. The site we were at didn't have WiFi which I was happy about really because I could just see my eldest boy staying in his bedroom on Facebook chatting with his friends but instead he actually went out and enjoyed himself. I'm pretty glad the internet wasn't around when I was younger, I would have missed out on a lot.
On our first full day there we drove over to Aberyswyth which was only a 30 minutes away. 

Railway up Constitution Hill

University building on the seafront

This old building caught my eye. I love the window and tiles. 
We had never been there before and would have liked to spent more time exploring.

Our last day was spent on the beach in Borth where everyone besides myself thought it would be a great idea to go for a dip in the sea. They must be barmy because it was freezing. I began the packing that night and this must be the first time that I have never left anything behind. 
One the way home we had two stops again. The first at Barmouth. This was a place the children had never been to before and where Little L saw her first sand dunes ( she has only been on pebbly beaches before ). She loved it, running up and rolling down. We had a hard time trying to get her to leave.
Views of low clouds over mountains taken from the sand dunes in Barmouth.

The last stop was at a cafe on the top of Horseshoe Pass.  Little L had never seen sheep  roaming free and spent all her time trying to stroke one but they weren't that daft and soon got out of her way. We didn't go down the side horseshoe pass was on ( I certainly won't be doing that again in a hurry ). 

It was a holiday of a few firsts for Little L and on the way home she said that she wanted to stay on holiday because you get to do new things and home is always the same. I quite like the idea of being on a permanent holiday but unfortunately someone has to tackle this mountain of washing.

A Wander Around Denbigh

After our visit to the asylum in Denbigh yesterday we went for a wander around the town. Our first stop was Denbigh Castle which is situated high above the town. 

As you can see from some of the photos it was a funny day weather wise. It was a bit on the windy side with us having glorious sunshine one minute and the next it turned extremely dull and overcast.
We then headed into town where Anders became overly excited due to the price of a parking ticket. Paying for parking is always much cheaper in Wales ( it was only £1 for up to 4 hours ) and I would have thought that he would be used to it by now but apparently not. There was plenty of time left on the ticket when it was time for us to leave so he stuck it on the machine for someone else to use.

The first thing I took a photo of was these old petrol pumps. I've not seen any like this for years and I don't think that my boys would even know what they were.
Not many of the shops were open as it was a Sunday which was fine by me as then I can't be tempted to spend money on something that I actually don't need. 

While looking a round, I spied this display in a chemists window.

The pharmacy has occupied the same site since 1811.

Another thing which caught my eye was this which is above a doorway on the town hall. 
Denbigh is a lovely historical town which I enjoyed exploring mainly due to the interesting architecture. Its not a place that my children would find particularly interesting but we think both sets of our parents would enjoy a visit. Though I did warn my mum in law that the pavements can be quite hilly and steep in places so I advised better footwear than flip flops.

A Trip To An Asylum

Yesterday was a rare child free day for myself and Anders. The trip out was to see Denbigh Asylum so I could take photos. He knows that I love old buildings especially old derelict ones. I think they are growing on him as well to be honest.
There are loads of photos of this asylum on the internet with many taken of the interior but after reading about the building, it's clear that these shots weren't taken entirely risk free but involved some dodging of a security man and dog. Now that is a bit too daring for me as I like to take nice leisurely shots plus I can't run so Anders suggested we take a ride there just to see if I could take any photos from the road side.

This one was taken at the main gates.

The building is beautiful. I don't know why but I was expecting it to be more secluded but driving from Denbigh town it can be clearly seen plus I don't think I have ever seen a building so grand. These photos were taken from the road side.

Although the building is in plain view and looks easily accessible, these signs can be seen all the way around the perimeter. 
  

These photos are of what used to be the nurses quarters

and these are of the back of the building.

From what I have read about the place we may not have been too far away from the chapel and morgue which is situated behind the building. There were most probably people inside as it doesn't seem uncommon for groups of people to come across each other in there all with the same purpose of taking photos.

 To me its heartbreaking to watch a beautiful building which has lasted for over a hundred and fifty years simply be left to rot. Hopefully someone will come to it's rescue before it becomes unsalvagable.