Easter — Frond & Feather

Seeing as it’s the Easter holidays, I’ve been out and about taking lots of pictures.

My online course has been pretty much set aside for now because looking after Joe means I don’t really get much time for anything else (although I have been sketching a bit). I think that because of lockdowns and house moves and Christmas, he’s only been in school for three and a half weeks out of the past four months. It isn’t easy.

Also, Calderdale schools finished later for the holidays than those over in Lancashire. So my nieces and my friends’ children are back in school tomorrow while we’ve still got a week to go.

But we saw one set of grandparents last weekend and another this weekend, for lunch in the garden and walks in Heptonstall and Midgley respectively. And I met up with friends for a picnic so we and the kids could reunite after a long time apart. It snowed, of course. We huddled in the bandstand at Whitaker Park with our packed lunches then bought hot chocolate and coffees up at the ski slope before admitting defeat and promising to get together again soon.

The weather has been more changeable even than Skye: hot and sunny, hail showers, snowfall. Yesterday was bright and breezy then we woke this morning to another blanket of snow. It melted gradually in the sun but it’s coming down again now. It’s a day for soup making and taking afternoon baths, reading the weekend papers and watching films from underneath a blanket.

Speaking of TV, I just finished binge watching Love Life with Anna Kendrick. I really enjoyed it, and tried to eke it out but couldn’t. So now I’m in the viewing wilderness again, casting about for something good to get into.

Easter has been an enjoyable one. Joe still staunchly believes in both Father Christmas and the Easter Bunny, so Jay distracted him with a Lego session while I went and hid chocolate eggs (and chicks, and rabbits) around the garden.

He loved it. And has no idea it was me who put them all there.

So we’re still exploring our new locality. And there’s much to explore. We went up to Colden Clough woods a week or so ago, and on Friday I took Joe up to Midgley. It’s just behind where we live so not far away at all. There were lots of Easter displays in windows and gardens, and the usual spring delights: lambs gambolling, birds singing, cockerels crowing.

We walked through the fields and round to Luddenden, the next village along.

If you like houses and architecture, it’s a wonderful part of the world. There’s so much heritage here from Yorkshire’s industrial heyday as well as more rural loveliness. The two sit side by side in the forms of mills, chimneys, grand old houses complete with gatehouses, coach houses and elaborate stable blocks. There are solid little cottages and imposing farmhouses, dilapidated stone barns and skeletal ruins with more than a hint of the Bronte about them, their huge fireplaces and mullioned windows still intact but with the roofs and doorways open to the elements.

A good number of the mills and complexes have been rescued and tastefully renovated into apartments. It’s easy to gaze at them and picture yourself living in one, with a sleek kitchen, exposed brick walls and balcony looking out across the valley. Like an advert for coffee or something.

But we need more than just a balcony. So I don’t think we’ll be viewing any apartments.

And that’s the sound of a bubble bursting right there.

I do like that these incredible buildings are being rescued and preserved, though. So many are left to fall into disrepair before being bulldozed. A lot of them end up being burned down, too.

Joe wants to write another blog post for his ‘Nature Notes’ series. I promised we’d do that next week - we already have some pictures ready. But tomorrow I want to head back home to Rossendale and Ramsbottom for a few things, seeing as non essential shops are reopening. I need art supplies and some of that oilcloth fabric so we can sit at the newly-sanded dining table and draw and paint.

We have lots of nettle tops in the fridge (picked on Friday) and we’re going to collect wild garlic too. I know where there are swathes of it growing each year, so tomorrow we’ll be taking gloves and a basket and going for a wander through the woods by the river Irwell.

Joe can add that to his blog post.

He got upset this morning at the snow, because he thought it would kill all the flowers and we wouldn’t get any more this year. I explained it doesn’t work like that. Although all the magnolias in the neighbourhood seem to have been affected by the weather; the flowers have all shrivelled and turned brown.

I do like magnolias, but I like wildflowers more. So I was excited to spot my first bluebell of the year at the weekend.

I’m not generally a fan of yellow flowers but I make an exception for cowslips. And primroses. And sunflowers later in the year.

Hebden Bridge has been pretty busy since we got here a few months ago. But once all those lovely shops open their doors again I think it’s going to be manic. I’ll probably let things calm down for a bit before heading out on any shopping expeditions, or at least I’ll avoid it at weekends and at lunchtimes.

I can’t wait to go and look around in Spirals and Jules Pottery, The Willow Garden and Heart Gallery, to name just a few.

And Joe is in desperate need of a haircut. I’ve tried doing it myself but it ends up looking horrific.

We’ve got plenty to do this coming week. Even though I have to shelve ‘my’ things during the holidays, it’s nice to escape the morning routine and have a bit of spontaneity. We can think of things to do and just do them.

It’s usually a case of us going out for a bit, then making things or reading together. We might watch part of a film every day (last week it was Stardust, which Joe loved) then spend a bit of time apart (him on the laptop or playing with Lego in his room, me catching up on stuff in the office or reading - just getting a break) before reconvening for more drawing/outside time/whatever.

Then Jay gets home and I can breathe a huge sigh of relief.

How my mum managed as a lone parent for all those years is beyond me. I have nothing but respect for people who do it.