Marbury Park

A Postcard from August 2022

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Hello there! I hope you’re well. It’s the very last day of the school summer holidays for us today… tomorrow Youngest heads off to Secondary school for the first time -eek! Also, since my last postcard post, we have had A-Level results which means that Eldest will soon fly the nest to University… not sure how I feel about that.

In the meantime here’s a little look at what we’ve been up to this last month beginning with something I completely forgot to mention which happened in July … I went to ABBA Voyage!!! How could I possibly forget to mention that?!!

ABBA VOYAGE

ABBA Voyage venue

I know I’m not alone in the fact I grew up with Abba as the soundtrack to my life, so when I saw last year that the new show was coming to London, I applied for tickets. I was hoping to take my parents with me but unfortunately a holiday they were meant to go on in 2020 got rescheduled to the same weekend so I ended up going with a couple of school friends – which was really nice. It was an utterly amazing experience and unexpectedly emotional. I would highly recommend it to anyone who likes ABBA, and thanks to the rescheduled holiday, I’m going back to see it again with my Mum later this year too!

Waiting for the show to start…

Vitamin Tree

It was always a tradition when we lived in Gibraltar, that on our annual summer holiday back to the UK we would take a picnic to Marbury Country Park near Northwich in Cheshire and have a walk, play some football or frisbee and then call in for ice cream at the Great Budworth ice cream farm on the way home – sounds like a perfect summer’s day out don’t you think? Well, this year was no different, although we were down to just 2 Little Postcards as Eldest has had a job this summer and wasn’t able to join us for our outing. It’s such a lovely place – which I treasured for the Vitamin Tree I got when I visited.

Just look at the light.

There’s something about a British summer and the way the world looks here which you don’t get in the Med. I think it’s the way the sun shines through the deciduous leaves maybe. Anyway, it’s not something I really appreciated before we moved to Gibraltar and I wondered whether I would begin to take it for granted again now we are back in the UK full time. I can tell you that I don’t! It’s just gorgeous. I didn’t take any photos of the ice cream farm this time – but I did snap the sunflower maze which had been planted for kids to wander through. Don’t those sunflowers look so bright and jolly?

Exam results day

Exam results day. 30 years ago I came to this very same building to learn my fate and find out my exam results. This year I went along with Eldest. I never could have imagined at the age of 18 that I would be back again one day with one of my children to find out how they had done. I’m relieved to say the exams went well and he’s now preparing to head off to his first choice of university later this month.

PARIS!

I had an amazing long weekend away in Paris with Eldest to celebrate his birthday (belatedly) and his exam success. We went on the Eurostar (which was amazing) and packed such a lot into our few days. There will be a blog post to follow with some of our adventures in, so I won’t tell you all about it now. Suffice to say it was amazing to get away for a few days (as we didn’t have a big family trip away this year) although I was ready for a holiday when I got back after all the walking and fun we packed in!

And so it begins… back to the old routine!

And so it begins…. back at football training again last week and a pre season friendly match at the weekend ready for the new season beginning next week. And just like that we were back to normal.

I began writing this post yesterday, and am finishing it off this morning (Monday morning) after having waved Youngest off on the school bus for the first time to take him to secondary. I have two still at home today, but will have a quiet house again tomorrow. I’m off on a shopping trip now to get things for Uni – wish me luck!

I hope August was kind to you! Thanks for stopping by,

Lindsay x

Summer Craft Challenge 2022 : Week 3

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Hello there, how are we at Saturday already? This was meant to be published last Saturday but there’s something about the school holidays when routine goes out of the window and I completely lose track of what’s going on! I have a feeling I may not be alone in this!

Here’s what I’ve been up to craft-wise lately…

Day 15 : Saturday 6th August 2022

Day 15 of my #summercraftchallenge2022 and thankfully I found some time for crochet at the end of the day! Progress is being made on this lovely #dragonflyrivermal project. I’m loving it! 💙💚🤍

Day 16 : Sunday 7th August 2022

You know when you realise you are only 2 rows off finishing a project but you can’t find the pattern so decide to wing it?! Well about to frog the last 2 rows for the second time… I’m off to look for the pattern! 😂

Day 17 : Monday 8th August 2022

There are days when football training is pretty bleak and miserable, but there are also days when it’s brill. Today was one of those days, sunshine, lovely parents to chat to and a spot of crochet in the evening sunshine ☀️. Making progress on my #dragonflyrivermal – I reckon I’m about a quarter of the way through. Still loving it!

Day 18 : Tuesday 9th August 2022

More alfresco crochet today! Our annual picnic at Marbury Park in Cheshire… I even saw a couple of dragonflies although they were too fast to photograph.

Day 18 of my #summercraftchallenge2022 was very pleasant working on my #dragonflyrivermal from @kcaco.uk & @the_yarnwhisperer in the sunshine & dappled shade of the Northwich Woodland.

Day 19 : Wednesday 10th August 2022

No time for crochet today… it’s be a day filled of utility sewing – name tapes and school trouser hems. I did give the neighbours a treat though as I dragged the ironing board out into the sunshine in the back garden so my long standing WIP and finally finished scarf/shawl could block in the sun! They’re used to watching me pose amigurumi dolls about the place, but they must’ve thought I’d gone properly bonkers to be contemplating ironing in the hot sun ☀️ 😂.

Yarn by @woollywumpkins
Shawl Pattern : Easy One Skein Crochet Shawl by @anniedesigncrochet

Ta-dah!

Day 20 : Thursday 11th August 2022

Nocturnal crochet for me this evening and back to the #dragonflyrivermal – Day 20 of my #summercraftchallenge2022

Day 21 : Friday 12th August 2022

Crochet in the garden this evening whilst admiring my new solar fairy lights… Day 21 of my #summercraftchallenge2022

And that’s last week’s crochet adventures complete! I’m off now to write the latest installment!

See you soon!

Lindsay x

A postcard from Cheshire

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Last Saturday, we made our now traditional annual trip to Marbury Park in Cheshire for a picnic and woodland walk. I’m a huge fan of the Cheshire countryside, having grown up nearby and enjoyed many trips into the lush green countryside as a child.

Now, every summer when I come over to visit my parents, we make the trip to Marbury on a dry and hopefully sunny day for a chance to wander through the woods, look at nature and for the Little Postcards to collect many sticks.

Marbury Park is part of the Northwich Woodlands so there are loads of beautiful trees to enjoy, from baby fruit trees planted near the ranger’s office to mature beech, oak and birches. It really is a fantastic place for a wander and even though we visited on a Saturday it wasn’t too busy.

The park path takes you through the woods to the edge of Budworth Mere, a home for much wildlife.

We stood and watched the ducks and coots paddling about and other birds further out diving down into the water for food.

This swan family with two cygnets were lovely to see.

Budworth Mere looking across to Great Budworth Church
The countryside here is just so different to what we are used to in Gibraltar. It’s so vibrant and green. I love it… 

Another tradition of ours is to try to stick coins into this tree stump on our walk. There have been quite a few Gibraltar coppers sunk into this over the years, yet there never seem to be many there…. 

The woodland walk eventually joins the banks of a canal before opening up into fields and then looping back to the starting point.

This lovely bright butterfly was enjoying the nettles as we past. Despite many warnings, two of the Little Postcards got stung and dock leaves needed to be found to deal with the casualties.


After a picnic lunch in a nice grassy area close to the car park (which we had to ourselves for most of the time) and several games of football, we got back into the car and headed homewards via the picturesque village of Great Budworth, who’s church we saw from afar across the Mere.

You see those stocks in front of the church? Sadly there was only room to put two of the Little Postcards in them and not all three! 😉

Throughout the village was a Scarecrow Trail. We had a go at finding some of them ourselves.

St Mary & All Saints Church, the beneficiary of funds raised by the scarecrow trail

Would you like to see some of the scarecrows? Clearly an awful lot of thought and effort had gone into making them all.

Scarecrow baker with a 90th birthday cake
The theme for many of the scarecrows was the Queen’s 90th birthday celebrations.


Beefy, the beefeater
This scarecrow soldier had had a bit too much to drink!
 
Of course, you can’t have a birthday party without the guest of honour…

‘Lizzie’ with her corgi
Aside from the scarecrows, Great Budworth is a really beautiful place to visit. We have driven through many times on our way to Marbury Park, but this is the first time I have ever stopped to take a closer look.

This building is so lovely, it even has hearts built into the brickwork!


What a great use for a disused phone box: a book crossing point.


After the excitement of the scarecrow trail, it was time to head to our last destination, Great Budworth Ice Cream Farm…

There was such a great choice of flavours, but I had to go for my all time favourite; chocolate. 🙂


It tasted as good as it looks.

And here are the lovely ladies we need to thank for that fantastic ice cream… moo!

If you want to read about our trip to Marbury Park and the ice cream farm last summer, click on this link: Daisy chains, buttercups & damsel flies I promise that I took different photos this year even if a a few look very similar 😉