If you can't indulge yourself on your birthday when can you ?

This year I decided to start what could become an annual event, visiting one of the islands around the British coast. Anglesey was first on the list partly to satisfy a curiosity to see the old copper mines at Pary's Mountain which I'd learnt about in school geography. And also to take in the coastal scenery of South Stacks and Holyhead Mountain.

When we arrived on the island we made for Newborough Forest, it was raining but we still ventured out to explore this expanse of pine woods alongside the Afon Cefni estuary. By the time we hit the coastline the wind was very strong, it was still raining and our anoraks had failed to keep us dry. All footpaths were well defined so we could make haste back to the car and head for the Prince Llewelyn B & B to check in dripping wet.

The following day was Birthday day and three things were on the agenda ..... to see if we could spot any birds off South Stack Cliffs, explore Pary's Mountain and to take a nice steady relaxed pace !

We were pleased to find that the RSPB had turned an old tower, Ellins Tower into a visitors centre which had telescopes and TV's for watching birds. See RSPB web site for more information

Puffins were the star attraction. Forgoing the ordeal of descending to the Lighthouse we tried Holyhead Mountain but low cloud and fear of heights along the edge path convinced me that I needed a coffee back at the cafe !

A leisurely drive to Amlwch brought us to the Sail Loft Heritage Centre which housed interesting artefacts and told the tale of the port and its connection with the copper mine. Next was the weird landscape of the old copper mines at Pary's Mountain where you can walk around a huge abyss created by opencast mining for the metal. What's more impressive are the colours left behind .. certainly when they fuel Alison's appetite for inspiration.

As you can see from the picture years of industrial workings have left a weird landscape.

On the last day of our visit to Anglesey we enjoyed a delightful stroll to a near deserted beach just along the picturesque estuary from Aberffraw. With a calm sea, warm sunny morning and views of the mainland mountains it was a great way to remember Anglesey.

Read more about Pary's Mountain and Anglesey here Anglesey Today

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The Early Purple Orchids are out.

When walking in Derbyshire in Spring one of the regular questions is whether the Early Purple Orchids have started flowering. Last year we met a couple from London who were making their annual trip to Litton Dale and Cressbrook Dale to see this event in nature's diary.

With a similar curiosity we started our walk at Cressbrook and managed to find the Orchid starting to come out last week.

 

Whilst many wild orchids in Britain are rare the Early Purple is fairly common. There are varieties of it in Bedfordshire that are pale and in Wales there is even an almost-white version.

 

Shakespeare mentioned it in Hamlet when Gertrude referred to it as “long purple” in “Of crow-flowers, nettles,daises and long purples, that liberal shepards give a grosser name”. Any guesses what that “grosser name” was ?

Our walk explored Open access land above Litton Mill which offered some new views of the gorge of the River Wye.

 

A gentle stroll through the picturesque and fun named Water Cum Jolly finished off a pleasing day.

Also heard that other milestone in the nature's calendar, the sound of the cuckoo, on a weekend walk to Willington Nature Reserve.

Are there any events in natures diary that you want to see or hear first hand for yourself ?

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Hearing the good news that the Staffordshire Hoard of Anglo-Saxon treasure had been saved for the nation it got me delving into learning more about it. When I learnt that Terry Herbert, the metal detective who found it, had bought his metal detector at a car boot sale for £2.50 many years ago it started me thinking how other people make a start to their hobby and how many  persevere with it for as long as Mr. Herbert before they get their moment when its all been worthwhile.

I read that Mr Herbert spent over 15 years detecting before his big find so he must have enjoyed  it. Apparently other metal detectives had searched the same farmland but it was Mr Herbert that struck lucky. What kind of moment would it be to realise that you've found something that's pretty special and then to find a few months later its worth approx £3m .

Most people absorb themselves in a their hobby and when I asked a friend, Chris Jones, why he'd been ice climbing I received some remarkable photographs and an answer that I am sure would be a similar if I'd asked Mr Herbert why he went metal detecting for so long. Well the gist of the answer would be similar if not the detail. Here's how Chris describes his moment on the ice....
"Ice is simply an engineering material to use for progress; if it is good quality then, with the right tools, you can climb most things depending on personal stamina, flexibility and technique. The problem was that the ice was under several inches of snow, which slewed off frequently, but often hid the quality of the ice underneath. If it is very cold, -15 or less, it makes the ice brittle. You have to place the tools well apart so they don't both come off on the same fracture together. That was day one. Because it was early in the season, some ice was still growing, producing beautiful chandeliers, full of air, so very fragile. Stay off this, also don't want to break up potential lines early in the season. Some ice was wet and softer, good for solid placements but harder to extract the pick, energy sapping. Some had water running underneath, you can hear it, don't hit it too hard or it may all cave in. You put in an ice screw and suddenly it meets no resistance, and screws into air beneath the ice - you are on a hollow bit, breath gently. So whereas last time the ice was bare and fully developed, this time we had all stages and it was hidden by a covering so you could not check out the best line beforehand. Very good experience, but more stressful.
We carry ice screws for protection, £55 each, two at the bottom belay, two at the top. We only had 9 between us on the big waterfall day Fabrikkafossen and I wanted to stretch the pitches to the full 50m to save time. So the protection was somewhat spaced. Falling is not really an option on ice, not because of what you might hit, but because of all the very sharp tools attached to you. So if you are not going to fall, protection is just to manage the head game."

The gist being that everybody is in pursuit of their moment.
Me ? ...I'm off to find a peaceful meadow where I can lay out a picnic ..... need a nice sunny day with a gentle cooling breeze and indulge in a Skylark moment... to ponder why the Skylark hovers high in the clear blue sky filling the air with its mesmerising sound. ... Bird watching that's another story.

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Have you ever wondered how wonderful it would be to make your own fabrics, whether for suitings, skirts or for cushions, for example?

Do you think you need a huge loom that would fill your dining room?  Do you think that all you can weave on a simple loom is scarves and table runners?

Well you might be pleasantly surprised!  Most of the introductory courses I teach are on simple and affordable looms that not only allow you to weave scarves, but beautiful fabrics that can be used to make clothes.

If you attended one of the courses I run for Skylark Holiday, for example, such as the Introduction to Weaving course you would:

• Learn to warp a loom.
• Weave a scarf.
• Learn how to plan a warp for fabric for a chosen project.
• Weave a piece of fabric for a cushion cover or small article of your choice.
• Finish your fabric to that it can be cut and sewn.
• Finish the ends of your scarf without knotting.

Hear I am (on the left) wearing a suit made of hand woven fabric.  The swatches for this suit were woven on a simple rigid heddle loom.

Bibi (on the right) is weaving her hand woven scarf.   She designed the fabric herself and it was woven on a rigid heddle loom.  It could be cut and sewn to make a skirt, for example. 

So you see, it's not so difficult!

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I've just got back from the Netherlands where I had been invited to tutor a couple of two day workshops along with a my colleagues, Jane Deane and Amanda Hannaford.

The spinning and dyeing workshops were organised in The Hague by De Spinners and in Zeeland by Textielwerk Wol en Zo.  They were so well received that we've been invited back in 2011 for a series of 3 day workshops at both venues and are being advertised at a Textile Festival.  

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From time to time we will feature “holidays with a difference”. We think they are worth mentioning because they are operated by our friends and not readily available elsewhere. They also have the same great blend of activity and leisure as our own holidays and we're sure that you will enjoy an informative and fun experience. You will need to contact them for more information because Skylark Holidays are not selling them,just merely promoting them.

The first holiday for 2010 we want to let you know about is Mississippi Madness which is a sightseeing tour with a focus on a canoeing event. It's offered by our friend Andy Tatham who hails from the Midlands, UK and moved to the US 20 years ago so he has the ability to see the travel experience from both the American and British perspective. Andy is the owner of Black Swan Explorations and leads the tours personally. He will be your full time guide and will brings the tours to life with his knowledge of the area.

We'll let Andy do the describing of the holiday .... read more here

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I've never been one for blowing my own trumpet and am usually reluctant to adorn websites with awards and “badges”. However there is one scheme that is an exception to this general rule. Derbyshire County Council's Trusted Trader scheme. It gives me pride that Skylark Holidays has been approved to become a member of the scheme, Its aim is to build confidence in businesses in the county by promoting high standards and excellent customer care. Members have to operate legally and within a Code of Practice in respect of good customer service, customer care and customer complaints.

By becoming a member it helps us to build our credentials and reinforces our philosophy to put the customer at the forefront of everything that we do. As a relatively new company it is a really important thing yet quite difficult, gaining the trust of prospective customers, of visitors to our website and of suppliers. The Trusted Trader scheme will go a long way to helping us develop these new relationships and it also motivates us to pursue other worthwhile accredits.

To the best of my knowledge we are the first Activity Holiday company in Derbyshire to be accepted to the scheme and we will endeavour to encourage other similar operators to follow suit.

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Weekend weather fails to dampen Astronomy weekend or people's enthusiasm.

What a relief that the wild weather at the weekend didn't spoil the launch of a new weekend break to our range. Despite the weather we had a great group of customers learn about Astronomy over a weekend that included a visit to the Derby and District Astronomical Society's local Flamsteed Observatory.

The launch was intended to celebrated the International Year of Astronomy with an “Astronomy for Enthusiastic Beginners” weekend. The event proved such a success with our customers and good experience of working with a local society that we will be running more Astronomy dates and developing additional Astronomy experiences.

We had teamed up with the Society to pilot the weekend course as a way of introducing people to Astronomy, to contribute towards the objectives of the International Year of Astronomy, and to develop our concept of leisurely learning for adults. The course, which was fully booked, was a combination of tuition and practical observation. Expert Mark Whitehouse explained how to find and identify different planets, described which constellations could be seen in the night sky and customers were shown how to use different telescopes.

It was a pleasure working with Derby and District Astronomical Society to visit their Observatory which added that “extra special bit of interest” for our customers. Everybody appreciated the efforts of Society members, Anthony Southwell and Mike Lancaster for turning out in such mucky weather to open up and give a talk about the observatory. Their friendly approach to Astronomy nurtured peoples interest

Observation time was subject to weather conditions but we resorted to a contingency plan of projecting a planetarium on to an indoor wall which entertained customers on Friday evening. The wind and rain made it touch-and-go on Saturday and we were all disappointed that cloud cover prevented seeing anything from the Flamsteed Observatory. However Mark and I were relieved when we got back to our venue at Windlehill Farm to find the skies had cleared enough to get some great views of Jupiter with it moons, numerous constellations including Pegasus and Orion.

We had an encouraging level of interest and understand there are not many courses like this in the UK so we will be adding more to our Programme.

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Last week-end I was asked to tutor a workshop for Kent Guild of Spinners, Dyers and Weavers.  I usually run my workshops from 10am to 4pm, but once a year Kent Guild have a free members workshop which runs from 11.15am to 3.30p, so it was remarkable that such beautiful yarns were produced!

Here are a some images of a few of the yarns that they were inspired to produce:

 

 

 

These lovely yarns were colour blended using the garden pots as inspiration.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This lovely "tuft" and "spiral" yarn was inspired by an image in a gardening magazine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another magazine image that was the inspiration for these blended and "tuft" yarns.

 

 

 

 

 

This lovely yarn was inspired by the picture on a greetings card.

 

 

 

These yarns were produced in less than 3 1/2 hours, just think what could be produced in 2 or 5 days!  Why not take a look at our spinning courses to see what we can offer you!

Alison

 

 

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