walks, woolliness and equipment overload...

I have made much more effort to go out walking in recent weeks. In part, because it gets me out of the house and also to try to improve my fitness a bit! I don't mind walking alone - sometimes its nice just to go at your own pace and not have anyone mind you stopping for photo opportunities!

I live very near the Norfolk Broads but for some reason, I rarely go across to the heart of the Broads. Somehow because its on your doorstep you don't think to go there in the way that people who holiday here do. I wonder if the same is true for other regions - I can't imagine taking the Welsh or Scottish mountains for granted, or not noticing the mountains and lakes in the Lake District or the hills of the Peak District or the Yorkshire Moors? But maybe its easy to let the beauty of our surroundings just become part of the background to our lives.

Anyway, I am making a conscious effort to appreciate what's around me and the next few photos are the last of my 'catch-up' pics from when I was unable to get onto the net for a while.

Salhouse Broad was always a favourite with my boys when they were small - it has a sloping 'beach' area and space to run around. You reach it via a short walk through woodland, past marsh plants until it opens out into the broad itself. At this time of year there are no boats and very few people (just a few hardy walkers!) and it is very peaceful.

The light was low in the sky and golden on the tree trunks...

From the edge of the broad you can walk up through gorse bushes towards this lovely viewpoint...

...and then you can walk back at a slightly higher level overlooking the broad from a bit of a vantage point...

By the time I was heading back to the car park the sun was dropping fast in the sky...

The nearest broad to me is Whitlingham Broad - on the edge of the city, this has been turned into a leisure facility and is well used by families, walkers, runners and cyclists all year round. Although it doesn't have the peace of the less accessible broads it is a lovely place for a walk and the place I go to if I just want to walk without having to think about routes etc

The sky was deceptively blue on the day I did this walk...

There was no warmth in the air at all and a really strong breeze that made the broad choppy, nearly took me off my feet and by the time I was halfway round, brought dark clouds across the sky...

It was lovely but I was frozen by the time I completed the circuit!!!

There are a couple of city parks that I can walk to from home. One of these, Eaton Park, was the source of a couple of my scavenger hunt photos for January and I am enjoying early walks there at a weekend, with the frost still on the ground plants...

Eaton Park has a rather grand formal layout which I rather like...

On the woolly front...this just fell into my hands today...

When I say 'fell'... it would probably be fairer to say 'required some serious rummaging' in the bargain bin :-) but it is so soft and such a lovely colour, it just had to be done! I managed to find 10 balls at just about half the usual price which felt like a good deal. I just have to decide what to do with it now! I have found a couple of free patterns so am having a play to see which I think will work best. Will let you know!

And finally... I have to admit to having something of a problem in terms of equipment...

Whilst trying to have a bit of a sort out last weekend, I realised that I probably have a bit of an issue with needles! This is most (but not all!!) of the knitting needles I have acquired over the years! It's not entirely my fault; I accept that I have, probably more than once, been known to buy duplicates but the black bag was passed on from my Nannie, the tartan bag contained my Mum's cast offs. The end result being a serious excess of standard, circular and double point needles (both imperial and metric sizes) plus a few other random bits and pieces!

I didn't even know these were in here! The wooden gadget is for cutting even lengths of wool for rug making and the gauge is a handy little device (although the needle sizes are all in 'old money' so to speak).

I think I'm going to sort this lot out and try and rationalise them a bit so that I just have one of each size. Maybe I need to make one of those nice needle rolls I've seen on various blogs? And perhaps offer the extras to anyone who needs them? or charity shop them?

Right, enough waffling on tonight! In the time I've been on here the world has gone white outside! We have a layer of snow on the ground and more promised for overnight so may be going for a snowy walk in the morning!! Til then, going to curl up in bed with a book as its so cold!!!

Sx