Arnside Ramble

Hi friends!  Another week’s galloping by faster than I can believe — how is it Tuesday evening already!?

Though it’s almost a distant memory, we had a friend visiting over the weekend and took advantage of having rented a car to retrieve him from the airport to take another ramble in the area!  There’s so much prettiness to explore here — this weekend was another reminder that, if we do get a car in the not too distant future, it would open up a nice world of weekend adventuring!

We piled into our rental Saturday afternoon and head for Arnside, a small village in Cumbria that sits on the northeastern corner of Morecambe Bay.  After scoffing a delicious pie from a local shop (have I mentioned here how much I love the ready availability of pies here?), we set out on our walk , a relaxed five mile loop that was just our speed — it definitely had some exertion, but nothing too strenuous, and no chance of getting lost with our visitor, as we did a few weeks ago!

It was a beautiful day for a walk — fall is my favorite season, and I was so happy that there were some pretty autumn views to admire (even if the trees are getting a bit sparse):

The walk takes you up Arnside Knott

Where you get some gorgeous views of Morecambe Bay and the Lakeland Fells

There were so many beautiful colors and textures on the walk

 

I was particularly taken with this tree, which fell over at some point in its life, but took no notice and just kept growing:

I could have spent a considerable time examining the gnarled exposed roots:

After Arnside Knott, the walk cut through a farmyard, where a large group, dressed in full country attire (checked wool, flat caps) and accompanied by hunting dogs, was packing up.  The farm itself was gorgeous — horses and ponies were out, kids were running around playing — what a place to grow up! (I didn’t take photos as I didn’t want to intrude on people’s daily lives without asking)

Past the farmyard, there’s Arnside Tower — I still find it a bit funny I live in a place where you can virtually throw a stone and hit some sort of medieval castle!

This portion of the walk was intensely muddy, thanks to the heavy rain of the day before (think mud so deep it almost takes off your boots!) but I didn’t mind (our visitor was less pleased, oops!)  .. it was a glorious late afternoon:

And just when I was beginning to think I wouldn’t get to see a single sheep on the walk, we emerged onto the main road that led back to the train station (and where the car was parked) — which was lined with sheep fields!

These lovelies, the Internet suggests, are Kerry Fell Sheep — their faces are so distinctive and beautiful!

I’m less confident about this, but I’m wondering if this little sheep is  Whitefaced Woodland:

It was lovely to do more exploring of this gorgeous region we’re living in … and I also managed to start a new project, in appropriately local wool!  I impulse cast on the Abisko Socks from Woods, the new publication from Making Stories.  The pattern calls for lovely Tukuwool Fingering, a 100% Finnish wool, woolen spun sock yarn (they also have a version with nylon). I’ve subbed Northern Yarn’s Lonk sock yarn (also woolen spun), which I think is a perfect substitute — local to me, so very much in keeping with Woods‘ focus on small, local producers who — with very known origins (the Lonk sheep are from Brown Barn Farm, which is here in Lancashire).   I sped through the foot and heel turn over the weekend — I’ve found it a completely addictive knit.  Don’t you love that magic feeling when yarn and pattern marry perfectly?

Hope your week is off to a good start, and that you had a lovely weekend! I’d love to hear what you’ve been up to in the comments.

xo K