Recent Handmade Purchases: Pants and Earrings

Morning all!

I thought that I would share the latest two purchases of handmade items that I've made.

First are these beautiful millefiori glass star earrings from Lucy at LuniqueUK. This talented designer makes jewellery; night lights using recycled stamps; decoupaged chests of drawers; and cushions.

My second purchase was from Down To Earth Recycling. Elizabeth loves to recycle every scrap that she can lay her hands on and makes everything from quilts to gift baskets, cushions to dolls, knitted items and more. I can't think of a more eco-friendly place to shop. I bought some pants made from recycled t-shirts. It is a lucky dip as to colour and design, which makes it even more exciting to open your parcel. I received a pair of blue ones and a cream pair with a bright trio of parrots on the bottom! The pants are available in a two pair pack at just £2.50. They are available in sizes 8 - 10; 10 - 12; 14 - 16; and 18 - 20.

I always try to shop from independent sellers on sites like Folksy and Etsy. You get an unbelievable choice of items, many unique designs, made with care and attention to detail.

Moffat Well Walk

Rob and I went on a walk from Moffat up into the hills and across to the well, then back down into the town.

A similar walk can be found here. It is about 5.3 Km in distance. The going is uphill in places and sometimes muddy, but not too strenuous.

The well was discovered in 1633 and has a pungent, sulphurous smell. We didn't drink or bathe in it, but people used to; as a cure for various ailments and skin complaints.

On the way back into town, we passed a field of sheep and alpaca, relaxing in the warmth. The black, sleeping alpaca looked especially strange: like a Dr Seuss drawing. Click on the photo collage below to see a larger version. The photos on the left side show the well.

We finished up with lunch in the Ariette Cafe in the centre of town. It is a nice, old fashioned cafe serving great food and drinks. The staff are friendly and efficient. We had baked potatoes and salad, but have previously enjoyed salads, veggie breakfasts and more. The cakes also looked tempting, but we were too full up after our lunch.

Moffat itself is an attractive town with a variety of restaurants, hotels, cafes, a park and river walk, plenty of free parking, garden centre, antique & bric a brac shop, deli, bookshop, toffee shop, charity shops and many others etc  Well worth a visit!

New Abbey Walk, To Waterloo Monument

Rob and I went on a walk starting from New Abbey in Dumfries and Galloway this week. We had an early lunch in the Abbey Cottage. They serve award-winning tea and coffee with freshly-made food, sourced from local suppliers. We ate baked potatoes with salad, Rob had vegetarian haggis and I had cheese and coleslaw. They were perfectly cooked: the fresh salad flavoured with a wholegrain mustard vinaigrette dressing and served with coleslaw. With a pot of tea and an apple juice, the bill came in at under £15. Highly recommended! There is a small craft shop adjoining the tea room, and Sweetheart Abbey to explore, nearby.

 

The walk we did is about 4 miles long and directions for a similar walk can be found here.

We were heading for the Waterloo Monument, which can just be seen at the top of the hill in the photo below.

 

At the start of the walk you get stunning views of Criffel (another walk for another day!).

 

 

It is a steep climb up the hill, with rough, high steps to negotiate. From the top is a charming view over the Nith Estuary and across the Solway to the Lake District. The Waterloo Memorial, built in 1810, commemorates the British, Belgian and Prussian soldiers who, under Wellington and Blucher won the battle of Waterloo.

 

You can climb the tower if you are feeling brave. There is no lighting, but you can scrabble up the spiral stone staircase in the dark and come out at the narrow summit with a very low surrounding wall (knee height!). The view is spectacular with New Abbey and Sweetheart Abbey (below).

 

You can head back down the hillside by the way you came up, but we decided to go through the 'forest', which actually has been cut down now, concealing the original track. We scrambled over extremely rugged terrain, with fallen branches and boggy ground before ending up in some dense woodland at the bottom of the hill.  After half an hour of struggling through the undergrowth and thick, muddy patches, we emerged scratched and dishevelled onto the road which leads back to New Abbey. Quite an adventure, and, as Rob put it, definitely 'the road less travelled'.

Caldbeck, Cumbria

Rob and I had a run out to Caldbeck in Cumbria today, after our friend, Neil, had recommended the Watermill Cafe to us.

It is a very picturesque village, with a variety of small shops, selling all sorts of things, such as crafts, plants, jewellery, woollen items (rugs, jumpers, hats, craft materials), art work, whole foods, etc. There is a church, village pond with loose sheep and lots of ducks, Post Office and lots of nice lanes to wander in, admiring the cottage gardens and small streams. There are a number of longer walks you can do, in the area, but with the threatening clouds, we decided to leave that for another day.

There are several cafes and pubs to choose from. We went to the Watermill Cafe and had morning cappuccinos (large), and Rob had a date slice. (Price around £7.50).

Later we went back for lunch (served from 11.30 am) and I had a jacket potato with cheese and coleslaw, served with a side salad of mixed beans, more coleslaw, lettuce and grated carrot. Rob chose the 'pasty of the day', which was a vegetarian one, also served with side salad. Both meals were very good - homemade salads and a proper oven-baked potato. Rob thought the excellent pasty was probably from the Moody Baker in Alston. With a cold drink each, the bill came to under £18.

Here is a collage of photos we took. Click on the photos for a larger image.

Moniaive and Bardennoch Hill Walk

Rob and I are just back from a beautiful (if rather taxing!) walk.

It is found on P88 of this book:-

The book claims that it is a 7.5km walk, but our sat nav tracker made it over 10km, so be warned that it will take more than the two hours stated.

Here are two photos Rob took, of the old School Master's House in Moniaive and a cockerell and young chick that we saw on our walk.

 

The walk takes you out of the picturesque village of Moniaive, up through woodland and over two hills (Bardennoch), back down, skirting some more forest, through farmland and back to a single track road which leads back to Moniaive. There are several steep slopes to negotiate (going up Bardennoch Hill and again when you reach the single track road), but some beautiful views of green fields, trees, hedgerows, streams and the occasional farm building or folly. (See photo collage below. Click for a larger image.)

 The weather was lovely - lots of sun early on, with some white clouds appearing to give some dappled shade later in the walk.

The Green Tea House was our lunch venue, where we ate:- lentil & tomato soup, followed by mango meringue (me) and goats' cheese quiche, potato wedges & salad, followed by pecan tart (Rob). We both had coffee and a cold drink. The bill came to £24.20. The coffee and other drinks were good; the food was quite nice, and the cafe is certainly more spacious than at its old location, with outdoor seating, too.

Our Neighbour's Beautiful Mercedes SLK

Here is a photo that our friend, Neil, took of his classic car: a Mercedes SLK.

Walk Near Kirtlebridge

Rob and I went on a three mile circular walk from our house, down towards the village of Kirtlebridge, back along the B7076 towards Kirkpatrick Flemming, turning off at the Robgill Bridge turning and back up to our house. The verges were alive with birds, especially young fledgelings, and packed with flowers. We try to allow as many wild flowers as possible to grow in our garden, so it is interesting to see what grows well locally.

Here are some of the plants we saw on our walk (including chive flowers in our garden!). (Click on any of the photos to see a larger version.)

Rob took this photo of the Burnswark Hillfort that we can see from our road. It is a late Iron Age fort, later used by the Romans in the 2nd Century.

This is Robgill Tower: (it's up for sale if you have a spare £2,250,000.00!).

A view of Kirtle Water taken from Robgill Bridge, with Robgill Tower in the background.