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Rescued from the Storm.

Posted on by Jackie B

We had an interesting time on Saturday. Once a year I get glammed up in a long dress and K gets his dinner suit out. It’s a ball: canapés and champagne on arrival, dinner and dancing until the small hours, all held in a marquee in the grounds of a big house.

Now this event had already been postponed when Storm Dennis passed through. Though it wasn’t as severe round here as other places, the marquee hire company vetoed it. As it happened that suited me perfectly – it meant I could attend a leaving do for our friends who are moving away. We breathed a sigh of relief when we saw the marquee going up earlier last week. The forecast did not look good, but we were all excited. Daughter had a new frock and I was recycling one from a few years ago (well, if it’s good enough for the Oscars dress code…..). The taxi arrived and off we went.

The marquee looked wonderful, complete with a dance floor and chandeliers. The table settings were perfect, decorated with arrangements of red roses and heart-shaped helium balloons. The guests arrived and everyone looked wonderful (some gorgeous outfits). I did notice that the marquee lining was rippling, the balloons were bobbing and the chandeliers were swinging to and fro as the wind gusted stronger and stronger.

We chatted with friends, and sampled delicious canapés. There were tiny smoked salmon blinis and hoisin duck wraps, chorizo and prawn skewers, miniature tartlets and all sorts of other delicacies, all accompanied by the bubbly. Two of the guests on our table had very thoughtfully brought hip flasks containing damson and sloe gin, which they generously passed round. It really enhances a glass of fizz!

As we took our seats for dinner it seemed that the wind had abated a little. Joints of roast beef were brought to each table, and one of the guests on our table carved ours…it was perfectly cooked and there were plenty of roast potatoes, vegetables, Yorkshire puddings and gravy to go around. We ended our meal with generous portions of sticky toffee pudding, served with copious amounts of custard. All very tasty.

As I drank my coffee I noticed that the chandeliers were swinging again as the wind came back with a vengeance. Daughter decided she couldn’t wait any longer to hit the dance floor, so off she went, only to return a few minutes later with bad news. The storm was worsening and it had been agreed (after consultation with the marquee company and insurers) that the event had to be abandoned for the safety of all present. We were advised to contact our transport providers and arrange to be picked up as soon as possible. What a shame! There’s so much planning goes into something like this and I really feel for the organisers, especially after it had been rearranged once already, but their decision hadn’t been made lightly and it was the right thing to do. What a disappointment for all of us that had been looking forward to it…some had made rather more effort that me (new dresses, hairdos, professional makeup and spray tan….). We can control a lot of things, but sadly not the weather!

I got on straight on the phone to our lovely taxi driver and he was brilliant. Fortunately, he wasn’t far away and was able to take us home before his next booking. We fought our way through the partygoers who were clustering round the bar waiting for their own transport, having been moved away from the stage and dance floor (I think that was deemed to be the most vulnerable part of the marquee). As soon as we got outside it was easy to see why the event had been abandoned. I found it difficult to walk in the wind: it was so strong, definitely the type of storm that brings trees down. A promised, our driver picked us up promptly and got us safely home.

We’d still had a wonderful evening. I’m so grateful to Alnwick Wizard Taxis for rescuing us from the teeth of the storm.

Have you ever been to an event that’s been stopped because of adverse weather or other unexpected circumstances?

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Scone of the Week #9

Posted on by Jackie B

Yesterday’s jaunt took us to Amble. It was a bright, breezy day and a run down the coast was definitely in order. We ended up for our snack at Radcliffe’s Cafe Bar. Close to the harbour and the new apartment development, this place was inspired by the cafe bars that the owner visited while touring Europe on a motorcycle.

I’ve had lunch at Radcliffe’s several times and the food is great, but I hadn’t realised that they serve scones until I was there last week. The menu includes a variety of open sandwiches, soup and lots lots more. Last time I had a goats cheese, beetroot and caramelised onion chutney open sandwich and it was delicious. The bar stocks a good range of continental beers and craft gins.

There were both cheese and fruit scones available (so we chose our favourite cheese ones). Our lovely server offered to warm our scones and they each arrived with a generous pat of butter in a little dish. The butter was hard from the fridge but this soon softened on the warm scones…and what wonderful scones they were: nice and cheesy, light, with just the right amount of crust – probably as good as a cheese scone gets! When I said how much we enjoyed them I was told they were freshly baked on the premises that morning.Our coffees were served with a tiny cookie on the side – a nice finishing touch.

Radcliffe’s is also dog friendly, with water bowl and treats available. Buddy the Labrador always enjoys visiting. There is plenty of seating outside, though that always seems optimistic in February when the cold wind is whistling through the masts and rattling the rigging at the nearby boatyard. I have been in the summer, when the beer garden is buzzing – there’s a great atmosphere inside too.

Definitely worth a visit!

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Knit and Natter Friday: 21 February (Part Two)

Posted on by Jackie B

This afternoon was the weekly meeting of The Knit and Natter Group at Alnwick Medical Group, which is held every Friday from 2.30-4pm in the Lower Building Meeting Room.

This week’s completed charity knits include a hat, and some baby clothes, along with my twiddle mitts. We’ve also been working on some of our own projects, including socks, a baby cardigan for a group member’s first grandchild, due in May. One of the practice staff popped in for some advice on a top-down baby jacket they are about to start, also for an eagerly awaited first grandchild. There’s always some advice available and the little pink and turquoise top in the picture is a top-down construction too, so we had an example to show her!

I’d love to hear about any knit and natter or craft groups you are involved with.

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Knit and Natter Friday: 21 February (Part One)

Posted on by Jackie B

It’s the third Friday of the month and that means I spent this morning at the Amble Pincushion. Recently completed work by group members includes a toy cat, a cobweb scarf and some baby blankets. There’s a lovely sweater on the go too, in pretty heather, pink and cream, being knitted in a lovely light, soft alpaca mix boucle yarn.

We all fell in love with the stripy cat, made with yarn and magazine pattern won in a raffle held at a previous meeting of the group. He’s a cuddly toy, but could have a weight put inside to make him into a doorstop.

There are some great courses coming up at the shop in the next few months: I’ve booked on to the mosaic one. We’ve also arranged a trip to a knitting-themed show at the Alnwick Playhouse next month.

After meeting K for a lovely lunch, I took a leisurely drive to Alnwick, so I could pop to the shops before the second knit and natter group of the day. The wind was really getting up as I was leaving Amble and I pulled in by the river Coquet as there is a great view of Warkworth Castle.

The birds had come quite a long way up the river where it is more sheltered. I watched a couple of cormorants feeding. There were mallards and black headed gulls too. Usually you can see herons on this stretch of the Coquet. Today I could just make out three of them sheltering among the trees on the opposite bank.

Pretty well hidden aren’t they?

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Double Twiddle

Posted on by Jackie B

I made a couple of twiddle mitts this week. It’s been a while since I made any charity knits and the members of my Knit and Natter Group put me to shame with all their lovely work.

Twiddle Mitts are given to Alzheimers patients to distract them from picking at dressings and canulae when in hospital. Also, repeatedly twiddling the buttons and other adornments and stroking the different textures of yarn can have a calming effect. I was inspired to make these when a friend donated a pile of yarn which included some really interesting textures:there were fluffy mohairs, eyelash yarn, metallics, ribbon yarns and all sorts.. They are dead easy to make, so I thought I’d include a bit of a tutorial on here.

Using two strands of double knitting (or the equivalent) and 6.5mm needles, cast on 40 stitches and continue in stocking stitch (it’s easier to sew the embellishments on later if you use straight needles, but you could use circular). Change the yarn every so often to incorporate different textures. You could also vary the stitch to change the texture by using eg moss stitch, blackberry stitch or cable. When the work measures 23 inches, cast off. You end up with a long rectangle like this.

I use the duller colours for the first half which will form the inside of the mitt and save the colourful stuff for the outside.

Next, you add the embellishments…..beads, buttons and so on. I also added some tiny jingle bells and a crocheted flower.

It’s important to add embellishments to what will be the inside of the mitt too.

The most important thing here is to sew the items on very securely.

When everything is in place, sew the side edges together to form a tube (if you used circular needles you’ll already have one!)

Then, fold half to the inside and sew the cast on and cast off edges together.

I finished off by adding a little crocheted edging.

All done!

How do you use up your oddments of yarn?

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A New Beginning

Posted on by Jackie B

It’s been a strange sort of weekend. We were supposed to be going to a ball on Saturday, but Storm Dennis knocked that on the head. The event was to have been held in a marquee and the weather forecast was dreadful. It was simply not safe to proceed. The ball will now go ahead (fingers crossed) two weeks later the originally planned so I have two more weeks to agonise about what to wear.

They say that every cloud has a silver lining. Not going to the ball, like some sort of reverse Cinderella, meant that we’d be able to go to a leaving party for dear friends who are moving to Australia. This was arranged quite recently and we had our tickets for the other do, but all’s well that ends well.

Our friends, H and D, are moving to Australia this week, to join their two daughters. It’s a huge step. They have sold their home and got rid of all their possessions, staying in temporary accommodation for the last couple of weeks while they close down all their affairs here and say their goodbyes.

I’ve known them since I first moved to Northumberland 17 years ago – they moved here from Tyneside 22 years ago. We were all involved in the local drama group and have remained firm friends ever since. H and I used to have regular Friday evenings together over a bottle of wine, sometimes with our daughters around (mine is the same age as H and D’s younger daughter).

H is very creative and I’ve mentioned on the blog before that she writes, with one book , Secrets and Guardians, already published online and two more in production. I’ve worked closely with her on these on the editing and publishing process. With more work to do on these we”ll still be in regular contact.

The party was lovely and rather emotional, hosted by lovely mutual friends. Everyone brought food so we had a massive feast. There were lots of photographs taken and hugs given.

As most of the Ukeladies (as we call our ukulele group) are also long-standing friends of H and D too we decided to do a short cabaret at the party and picked a small selection of appropriate songs with a leaving/Australian theme. We only decided the set on Thursday night and had little time to practice but we did it.

After our little recital (with much raucous singing) H and D made a lovely speech about how they have loved living in the village, having such good friends and making such great memories, then the party continued into the night.

I’ll miss them very much – D is one of the kindest, funniest men I know and H is one of my dearest friends – I shall miss her vivid imagination, wisdom, and the laughs and hugs we’ve shared. I’m getting quite tearful writing this!

But to be positive! They may be far away, but I will see them again later this year. Their younger daughter gets married in October and my daughter and I are planning to go to the wedding, and take some time afterwards to have a holiday to visit other parts of Australia. It’s quite an adventure to look forward to.

Meanwhile, good luck H and D! We wish you every success and happiness in your new life in Australia.

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Scone of the Week #8

Posted on by Jackie B

Today’s Scone of the Week is from Bari Tea on Narrowgate, Alnwick. Bari (pronounced bar-ee) is a Northumbrian dialect word meaning” lovely” and this is indeed a lovely tea shop. They refer to it as a tea brewery and it really is all about the tea, whether you want to sit and drink it on the premises or buy some to enjoy at home.

Unlike some places, where the tables are crammed in, there is enough room to move around (especially when you rock up on a disability scooter as I did). They serve things like cakes and scones, soup, filter coffee and very nice hot chocolate……and a comprehensive range of teas – the tea menu is quite lengthy.

There are some quirks that make you smile when you visit Bari. The toilet is twinned with one in Kenya(!) and all the staff on duty are named on a blackboard.

It was a quiet weekday lunchtime so only the “Maitre T” and the “Teas Maid” on “Sconage Duty” were named.

Our scones were really good – we got the last cheese and mustard one, which had a lovely flavour and gorgeously crusty top, and a sweet sultana one with just the right amount of fruit. Both were good-sized rustic hunks of scone, soft and crumbly without being dry. They were served with pats of butter on a tiny dish, (no foil wraps to fiddle about with), though it was hard from the fridge and hard to spread. Another little dish held a generous dollop of strawberry jam.

Mum ordered a pot of breakfast tea, with arrived in an earthenware pot with a timer and a receptacle with tongs to remove the tea bag when the allotted brewing time had elapsed.

I am not (and never will be) a tea drinker – I simply don’t like the taste, so I opted for a hot chocolate (they also serve filter coffee). My drink was lovely too – a piece of proper chocolate on a stick (two kinds available), to melt into hot milk, served with grated chocolate on top and mini marshmallows on the saucer: heaven!

The staff were really helpful and friendly too.

Situated in the part of Alnwick that is popular with tourists, sometimes referred to as the Castle Quarter (close to Alnwick Castle and surrounded by other small independent shops), Bari Tea is well worth a visit if you are in town, especially if you like tea.

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A Quick Crochet Headband (and a Covering of Snow)

Posted on by Jackie B

I remembered that I’d promised to make a headband for my hairdresser’s little girl the last time I was getting my hair done. I’m there on Thursday so I thought I’d better do something

Fortunately it didn’t take me very long at all (it was made on quite a chunky 5mm crochet hook). The pattern was a free one on Ravelry – the Turban Knot Headband by Olivia Kent of Hopeful Honey. I used an oddment of bright pink double knitting from my stash. It was delightfully quick and easy to make once I’d established that the pattern uses US terminology. (American double crochet is a UK treble and it follows that a US half double is a UK half treble).

I hope D and her little girl like it – I’ll ask if she’ll take a photo of the headband being modelled to post on here – if she does I’ll update the post.

Here in Northumberland we seem to have escaped the ravages of Storm Ciara. It has been very windy and the sea was raging but we haven’t sustained any damage that I’m aware of. We certainly haven’t had the floods and raging seas experienced elsewhere in Britain. although the sea has been fairly rough. K took these photos on Sunday (he’s a much better photographer than me).

It tried to snow overnight and it hadn’t melted on the hills so this was the view when I set off to go to Newcastle for choir today.

We had snow showers on and off all day and I drove most of the way back in a blizzard, but it cleared before I reached home. I thought it would be interesting to stop and take a photo in the same spot .

I thought the hills would be snowier but apart from the sky looking more interesting, with the late afternoon sun disappearing behind a bank of cloud, there doesn’t look to be much more snow. You can see the slush on the road though, and further up the road you could see where the snow had blown on to the trees – they looked like they had thick white lines painted on them.

Have you had snow this week?

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Knit and Natter Friday 8th Feb

Posted on by Jackie B

Here are some of the beautiful clothes for premature babies that some of our group members have knitted this week.

We have collected quite a haul recently and one of the members has kindly agreed to take them down to the Royal Victoria Infirmary Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in Newcastle. A batch has already been sent to to the Special Baby Care Unit at Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital, Cramlington

The group, which was set up as part of a social prescribing initiative, meets at Alnwick Medical Group Lower Building every Friday afternoon from 2.30-4pm. Tea/coffee and biscuits are provided. Group members work on either charity knits or their own projects. Support and tuition is also available for novice knitters.

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Knit and Natter Friday #10

Posted on by Jackie B

It’s been another productive week for the Knit and Natter Group, who brought along these items for the charities we support. We meet every Friday from 2.30-4pm at Alnwick Medical Group’s Lower Building. Work in progress today included a jumper, a baby cardigan, a colourful bag, socks, and a hat to match the lovely purple and white premature baby coat in the picture.

We were talking about a tv programme that some of us saw the other night (about health). Apparently knitting is good for you! Of course we all knew that. If you learn new skills, then you lay down new neural pathways and that’s really good for your memory. Even experienced knitters are always learning new techniques. Reading patterns is a skill in itself, like learning a new language. Also, that gentle repetitive action of knitting has a calming effect (like doodling, or stroking a pet). Then there’s the social value of communal knitting and nattering and donating knitted items to charity. Basically its all great!

How do think knitting benefits you?