Summer Catch Up

What a summer it has been! It has certainly kept me busy and sadly, away from here. But as we approach the end of summer I can feel a shift to the rhythm of our days. But let's have a little catch up and let me tell you what we have been up to.
 

In 2025 we sold our house and moved back to the country. My husband retired from the hotel industry. The plan was to open a coffee shop, a long held dream of my husbands. The hotel industry was slowly killing off the joy of living and we knew that it was time for him to leave. The time seemed right.

After months of searching for the right shop and with a false start on one space which led to finally acquiring the shop we have now, we picked up the keys to the shop in April.

With the help of my husbands industry connections, we set to gutting the shop and refitting it with my husband doing a lot of the internal prep. It has been a labour of love from the start and he spent almost every day working on the shop from the moment we got the keys.

We have named our coffee shop Roots. This name was settled on by the whole family because it reflected how, after years of traveling the world for my husband's work, we finally had put roots down here. It is the first place that felt like home, like we belonged. We are also rooted in supporting food artisans and of course our entire lives, including our business is rooted in Christ Jesus. 

So many reasons why Roots was the right choice.

We have been trading for a little over 6 weeks now and I am so thankful and happy to see my husband love his work again. He hardly needs that morning alarm, he is excited to go to work each day. 

What a blessing it is for him to be working regular hours, something the hotel industry has never really allowed him to do. 

An added blessing is that our daughters are working with us. Our youngest picks up a shift every second weekend as she just loves working in the shop, and our eldest, who has always wanted to work full time with us running the shop, moved home this week as she takes on the management of the shop alongside her dad.

The Summer Garden

Oh this has been a mixed bag this year! We have had a number of heatwaves and just this past week we have had a hosepipe ban put in place for the whole of Wales.

Many of my little seedlings did not make it and those that have seem to have been a bit of a disappointment.

The tomatos and the potatoes are really the only vegetables that have yielded anything remotely useful. The lettuce and rocket bolted in the heat, the courgettes produced an abundance of leaves and flowers which then amounted to absolutely nothing as did the peas and beans. Such a shame!

I'm going to have to do a bit of research over the autumn and winter months and see what changes I can make.

The pond, poppies and roses have all been incredible...

But with the lack of rain and the hosepipe ban, the lawn is looking dreadful...

Thankfully, we have had a bit of rain over he past two days so I am hoping that it will make a difference.

Knitting and Reading

As usual, I have a couple of books on the go but my main go-to this summer is The Old Ways by Robert MacFarlane.

I love travel, nature, history and writing and this book combines the lot! The author walks along the tracks, byways and paths of British landscape, both ancient and modern by comparison. He walks in all types of weather and links the reader to the landscape and to the stories of generations long since past. It is a book of time and place.

The opening chapter sets the scene, the author is sitting at his desk one evening, trying to work but is distracted by the snow falling softly outside his window. He cannot resist the call to get outside and he prepares a flask of something to keep himself warm and ventures out into the moonlight snowy landscape. The houses of his neighbourhood soon thin and are left behind as he ventures over fields and along a path he has walked many a time before, encountering a fox and observing tracks of birds and animals left in the snow.

You are immediately awash with the peace and beauty of nature as you read his poetic words, and so he takes the reader on the journey with him on various other paths, tracks and byways

If you are a nature lover as I am, you will be inspired to get out and explore your own surrounds. It has certainly inspired me to so so.

I am knitting the Truly Tasha's Shawl by Nancy Bush. She was inspired to design this shawl after visiting the illustrator and writer of children's books, Tasha Tudor's home in Vermont.

I've just about finished the body and am about to start the lace edging. What I loved about this pattern is the plain garter body and the size of it. It simple enough to embrace the need I have for more simplicity in my life and big enough to keep my walm in the cooler winter and autumn months around my home.

As you can see, I have made a little note of all this in my project notebook, along with the ball band and sample of the yarn I chose which was Cascade 220 100% Peruvian wool in the colour 'Birch Heather'. The whole project is a tribute to autumn. I can't wait to wrap myself up in it and curl up in the conservatory on a rainy day with a book!

That's about it for this post, I shall see you back here very soon!

Curating a Creative Space

I spent a delightful morning rearranging my office/studio space. I am blessed to have a lovely outside space set away from the house overlooking the pond garden. 

The sound of running water and birdsong fill my studio. Birds regularly come for a drink and a bath and I have a regular visiting baby squirrel coming to my door to gather the nuts that I lay out on the deck. it is simply sublime and my little creative, peaceful oasis.

When we first moved into this home, I had set the space up with the shelving running along the wall where the shawls are now hanging. However, this took up a lot of space leaving the space behind my desk redundant. I really wanted to have my sewing machine out permanently because it is much easier to be spontaneously creative and crafty when all your tools are at hand.

The space has a dual purpose. A space for my desk and computer for my writing and running my creative events business, and the need to be a place of creativity and inspiration.

One morning about two weeks ago, I was catching up on some admin when the idea for a new layout suddenly took hold. My husband was about to start cutting the lawn but I needed his help with moving the shelves and bringing in another table for the sewing machine. 

He is used to my 'sudden ideas' so very kindly helped me sort out the studio before cutting the lawn - such a kind and patient husband!

He even took the time to hang up some of my shawls. I want this space to be a place that inspires creativity and nurtures a slow, creative life.

I brought a comfortable chair into the studio. The studio is such a lovely garden room and is insulated and has heating which keeps it warm in the winter. A place to sit and work on my knitting or stitching, perhaps while watching a favourite vlog, is just what is needed.

The little quilt on the back of the chair is waiting to be hung on the wall. I made the embroidered tote bag and cushion when we still lived in South Africa so bringing them out of the linen cupboard  to use and enjoy on a daily basis brought in a little nostalgic memories of when my girls were small.

I cleaned all the cubby shelves and enjoyed sorting out my fabrics ...

and books...

I dug out some of the pretty letter writing supplies that I have and popped them on display. I want to send more snail mail this year.

While sorting through my stash, I found a couple of gorgeous kits I bought a few years ago but which I have not got round to doing. 

I want to work on these projects and have them done before the year is out. I don't want to keep putting my making on the backburner.

So, I have picked out 3 projects and set them up in various places around my home. Having them close by and ready means that I am finally spending time working on each project. 

I have a copy of the "A Needlework Enthusiast's Book of Days" planner by Needlework Press arriving any day now and I plan on using this to plan out and document the projects I want to work through in 2026.

I have to say that I am loving feeling so productive and I find that getting back into my hobbies with purpose has been inspiring my creativity. 

I have been very purposeful in setting aside social media and stepping back in a big way from 'hustle culture'. Instead, I am embracing a more 'analogue' traditional lifestyle which is far more familiar to me. 

I am finding the gentle rhythms of keeping my home, creating and trusting God in each moment, is helping me recover from the burnout that realised I was suffering from after too many years of pursuing something that was not meant for me.

One of my  little projects that I want to do is to take these little jumpers and make them into a garland for my studio. I think that it would look so sweet.

When I was dyeing yarn, I knitted up a whole lot of mini jumpers to showcase my colourways. These were always such a hit on my stand with people wanting to buy them. They are so quick and easy to knit up. 

I think I shall put together a little pattern for any knitters amongst my readers...another project to make a note of in my 'Book of Days' calendar!

My studio is very small. Much smaller than the sewing room I had in our previous house. One day I would love a lovely roomy room where I can have a cutting table and both my sewing machine and overlocker out at any one time, and lots of lovely wood and glass storage cabinets. I would love to be able to host workshops with lovely fellow creatives. 

But for now, I am just really enjoying quietly reconnecting with my creativity in my little studio overlooking the garden.

The Seasonal Weekender - A Sunny Bank Holiday Weekend in the Garden

Hello my lovely friends. Here in the UK we are looking forward to a Bank Holiday weekend and gloriously...apparently we are expecting a heatwave over the next week and clear skies!

I hope that you have all had a lovely week. Mine turned out to be slower than anticipated as I came down with a throat infection but sometimes taking a bit of time to slow down can be a good thing. I pottered about the house and just indulged in some lovely homely things like picking flowers from the garden and opening up an embroidery project that has been sitting on my To-Do list for over two years! I'm looking forward to more of the same all weekend long!

This morning I woke up feeling like I am on the mend thanks to a couple of doses of antibiotics, which is just as well given the anticipated weather this weekend. I don't want to be cooped indoors feeling poorly when the sun is shining!

From the moment I opened the conservatory doors this morning I could feel the warmth - so lovely after a cold spell. I immediately opened all the doors leading into the garden to let in the fresh air.

Of course, I took advantage of today's warm weather and got all the washing done, it is currently drying in the sunshine and warm breeze. I have to say that it is so nice to have the washing drying outside rather than in my kitchen. After a long winter of my kitchen doubling as a laundromat, it is nice to return it to it's summer state!

In Season

May is the month of large swathes of frothy Cow Parsley in bloom. Living in the country we get to enjoy this seasonal treasure every time we go anywhere as the lanes are flanked with billowing clouds of this gorgeous wildflower.

I picked a huge bunch for the house. I have found a way to maximise this delicate flowers longevity once picked. First you punch the stems into boiling water for 30 seconds, then straight into a vase of ice-cold water. The blooms have looked fresh for well over a week. 

Today I noticed the kitchen table littered with tiny white petals. The flowers still look fantastic but it is an indication that they won't last for much longer. We also eat breakfast at this table each morning and I really didn't fancy the idea of the falling petals landing in our food. 

Still wanting to enjoy them for a little while longer, I moved the vase to the outside picnic table where I think they look too beautiful.

In The Garden

I love walking through the garden first thing in the morning. I take my cup of tea and slowly stroll along the path to see what changes there have been from the day before. At this time of the year there is always a lot going on.

The Iris's have been teetering on blooming for days and happily,  the first three blooms chose to greet me on my morning inspection walk.

I planted a couple of Geum's next to them and the contrast is just lovely. Geums are a MUST in my garden, they are prolific bloomers and will flower all summer long. I couldn't resist capturing the early morning light shining through the delicate orange petals this morning!

I headed up to the greenhouse to check on my plants and open the vents and door ahead of the days heat. I was delighted to see that the first few tomatoes are starting to form! This is the first year I am growing tomatoes in a greenhouse so I am expecting a satisfactory harvest this year!

The pond continues to thrive, I spent a good 40 minutes this  morning sitting by the pond and watching the busyness of life lived out beneath the surface and on top.

The Tadpoles get bigger every day and some have already got their little hind legs growing.

The Newts are less bothered about our presence these days and happily bob about the surface of the water snapping up the fish food and soaking up the sun's warmth.

Frog life is still going strong, in fact they have been rather vocal over the last three days. I was able to sneak up on them and see what all the noise was about. They were sitting along the edges having a good sing-a-long although in reality i suspect it was more to do with notifying neighbouring frogs not to encroach into their individual territories. It's a busy pond!

While I was sitting by the pond-side, I noticed a good many damselfly's laying their eggs in the pond moss. 

We should have some damselfly nymphs hatching in about 2-5 weeks. Now, they are hugely predatory and will prey on tadpoles, so I am hoping that by the time it gets to that time, our tadpoles are nearer to frog stage and that a good many will survive. 

Well, I'm of to pick up my needles, I plan to sit outside as long as possible under the shade of the gazebo this afternoon knitting and stitching - perfect convalescing activities - and I hope to feel a bit more 'human' by tomorrow! Whatever you are doing this weekend, I hope that involves a bit of time outdoors and doing something that brings you joy.

Blessings in Christ

Shirley

Seasons of Grace and Learning Episode 2

Hello Lovelies,

We have had a bit of shift-around and I would truly be so grateful for your input.

You may have noticed that for the last few weeks this little corner of the web had been redirected to my Seasons of Grace and Learning blog. I have found that I have had little engagement on there.

Initially I thought that it was down to the fact that I hadn't activated the comments but then once I did that, I was still finding traffic to be low and the only engagement I had was with blinking spammers leaving tiny url links!

A Little Rethink and Reorganising

So I have had a little rethink and a bit of reorganising... here is what I am thinking about:

1. Under An English Sky will continue to be my blogging home. Let's face it, it's been around for a quite a while and while the platform may be basic and rudimentary, it works. 

I was hoping to make it all a bit more professional-looking on Seasons of Grace and Learning but perhaps that is not really what is needed. We just need a space where we can connect. I miss your comments and interacting with you. So I shall continue to use Under An English Sky as my blogging home.

2. Seasons of Grace and Learning is my YouTube Channel. I like the name and it is quite personal to me. You can read why I settled on that name in THIS POST. I have come full circle since our homeschooling journey ended with our youngest graduating in 2019 and I am learning how to give myself grace to embrace each new life season. I suspect that I will release the website blog of this same name - no point writing there. I am aiming to publish every 2 weeks all going well. It will likely take me a bit of time to find my recording rhythm but I am sure that I will get there.

3. Instagram - will remain as @seasonsofgraceandlearning as my heart is to build the community on my YouTube Channel. To be honest, I am moving away from IG. You will have noticed that I am less active there, you see, I'm just not a short-form kind of girl. I like to chat, connect on a deeper level. IG doesn't really do it for me. It's all so brief and hit n' miss I find. 

4. Content - Back to what this blog used to all about - home, family, faith, seasons and creating.

Episode 2 Seasons of Grace and Learning

With that said, I am here to let you know that Episode 2 of my podcast is now live. Please do excuse my croaky voice but I have managed to pick up a cold and it went straight to my throat and ears.

In this episode I share about The Artists Way, a 12-week course that aims to reconnect the reader with the artist within. I have just started this and while there are certain things that I had to ignore, on the whole it is reconnecting me with my creative self which I am loving.

I take you along to the Antiques and Salvage Market that is held once a month in Cheshire. I was on a mission to find some interesting pieces for the coffee shop. I found going on my own a bit daunting at first, but once I started trusting my own purchasing decisions I found that the creative ideas began to flow. As the day went on, I trusted myself more and actually found that it was good overall.

I have also completed a craft project that has been on my To-Do list for nearly a year. I share a bit about that process and how you can make it yourself.

Finally, I share some books that I am reading at the moment and a literary society that I joined. 

Please do pop on over and watch. Perhaps grab a cup of tea or coffee and your knitting or needlework to work on while you watch.

Well lovelies, I hope that you are all having a blessed Sunday. I'm off to grab my own cup of tea and knitting and enjoy watching a cosy afternoon episode of Poirot.

Blessings to you all, I will see you bake here very soon.

The Seasonal Weekender: Lemon-Blueberry Muffin Recipe

 Hello lovelies! I hope that you are all well and enjoying the weekend.

Here in the Welsh hills, it is blustery and rainy with the occasional hail shower. We had wanted to visit Bodant Garden in Conwy today but I think that given the conditions, we may wait to visit in May.

Instead, I have spend the morning baking some lovely Blueberry-Lemon Buttermilk Muffins. The mixture yielded 12 muffins plus enough for a loaf, or you could do 24 muffins.

Make my Blueberry-Lemon Buttermilk Muffins

Here is my recipe if you would like to give them a try - they certainly are delicious!

Prep Time: 10 Minutes

Bake Time: 20-24 Minutes

Makes: 24

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons lemon zest
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 cups fresh blueberries

GLAZE

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest

Steps

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Lightly grease two muffin pans or line with paper baking cups.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, bicarb powder, and salt. Set aside.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, cream the butter and the sugar. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add the lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla and combine until smooth. Beat in the flour mixture and buttermilk, alternating the two, using about one-third of each for each addition. The mixture should be smooth and creamy. Fold in the blueberries, and mix until they are evenly distributed throughout the batter. Pour the batter into the muffin tins, filling each up about half-way.
4. Bake until the muffin tops are golden, 20-25 minutes. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes.

Make the Glaze: Stir the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest until smooth. Brush the glaze over the muffin tops while the muffins are still warm.

Down the Spring Garden Path...

This is our first spring in our new home and it is a joy to watch the garden awakening this spring.

The garden is surrounded by a variety of trees, shrubs and hedges and most of them are in various stages of blossoming. It is so lovely to see colour creeping in to the far reaches of the garden.

While we have had clear blue skies on occasion, April is renowned for its turbulent nature, so to see these pops of colour helps us to remember that better days on most certainly on the way!

In the greenhouse, I have had mixed luck with my seeds. The problem is that I planted a lot of seeds who's sell by date had come and gone. I couldn't bring myself to throw them away, they had to be given the chance.

I have cosmos, lupins, poppies, rudbeckia, sweetpeas and sunflowers coming up. I bought some fresh seeds just this week so I will get those sown this weekend.

My YouTube Channel

I wanted to let you know about the trials and developments with my YouTube channel.

I spent hours and hours recording and editing my launch episode only to find that the program I used draws the various clips from a URL and does not store the content on its platform.

This is completely useless because it means that I need to keep the files on my own hard drive on cloud storage which takes up an immense amount of room. If the URL's are deleted, your uploaded video is destroyed.

So, back to the drawing board. I think I am just going to record again, not worry too much about making it a professionally edited production, and hope that people are happy to connect with me in a simple, unedited manner. Something is better than nothing right?

Midway through the cut - look at the difference!

You will note that I managed to figure out how to get the comments form visible on this new blog home - it's only taken me about 7 months! So if anyone has recommendations on editing software, I would love to hear from you!

Saturday Afternoon Reading

I picked up The Simple Things magazine yesterday so I am enjoying paging through April's copy this rainy afternoon.

I am also enjoying this little spring display that I put together for the coffee table in the conservatory. We got this gorgeous Easter card from a dear friend and I love it so much that I'm going to keep it for future spring displays. The little house was a gift from my daughter's recent visit to Copenhagen and I picked a few of the blooming dandelion flowers from my garden.

I've shared before how my husband can't stand them and how much I love them - they are a hallmark of spring! Fortunately, all the dandelions in our garden appear to be containing themselves to the far reaches of the garden and in the wild boarders, so in my view, they have every right to be there.

Anhyoo lovelies, that's about it from me this weekend. I hope that whatever you are doing you are enjoying a slower pace and will find some time this weekend to nurture your creativity and home.

The Seasonal Weekender: Early May

Hello lovelies!

I hope that you are all enjoying May so far. I am continually and pleasantly overwhelmed by the beauty of this month. Living out in the country I am so much more in tune with the subtle changes in the seasons.

Along the country lanes Cow Parsley towers above carpets of purple bluebells. Horse Chestnut trees are laden with soft creamy/pink candle flowers and the fields are awash with yellow dandelions that slowly give way to waves of white as they turn from flower to dandelion clock seed heads.

My own garden is bringing such delights, the Clematis is romping away, clearly forgetting it's manners as it clambers over its neighbouring plants bringing swathes of delicate pink and yellow where it's dainty feet choose to tread.

The greenhouse has brought me such joy. I love spending time in there planting seeds, potting on seedlings as they grow, dreaming of an abundance of flowers to be enjoyed, picked and displayed over the coming months.

My vegetables are growing beautifully, especially the lettuce. We have already enjoyed quite a few salads in recent weeks. The more we harvest, the more it seems to grow. I love walking up the path with my scissors and a pretty bowl to harvest leaves for a meal.

The Chives and Parsley are thriving at the moment and have been enjoyed in homemade potato salads.

With all this lovely spring weather, we have been spending quite a bit of time outdoors. Lots of gardening of course but a lot of relaxing too. I pulled out some of my favourite books this afternoon and did a bit of reading and journaling.

I will be sharing a bit more about this in my next YouTube video - which was supposed to be out last week but... we have a lot going on at the moment and time seems to run away with me quite frequently. I'll share a bit about that too. Thankfully I have a more relaxed week this week and I am fiercely guarding my time so I plan to record tomorrow.

We had two birthdays in our family in April and gorgeous weather so we took advantage of it and enjoyed a birthday breakfast outside. Lilacs are in bloom and they made a lovely arrangement for the breakfast table.

As you can see, the bunting is up too - it will stay there for the summer coming down only to be washed and then straight back up. There is something so cheery about bunting don't you think?

Finally, who else absolutely loves hanging their washing outdoors to dry? This is one of those very simple, everyday ordinary things that brings a small sense of satisfaction to my homemakers soul.

I am reorganising my studio (post to come) and 

I found this quilt and a few of my favourite embroidered items that I hadn't unpacked since our move last year. I really want to get joy from the items I have crafted and I want them on display in my studio, so I gave them a wash and hung them outside to dry in the spring sunshine. Soon they will be back in the studio to enjoy.

Well my lovely friends, I am off to go and enjoy an episode of Miss Marple - perfect Sunday afternoon viewing! Enjoy what remains of your weekend and I shall see you back here very soon.