More walks and adventures!

I've lived in Bolton for 31 years and it still amazes me that there are walks and beautiful areas near me that I didn't know about. Every time I drive to my mums I pass a road sign that says 'Smithill's country park' when I was young we went to the restaurant there called Smithill's coaching house, there is also a very old building there called Smithills hall that is meant to be haunted but I didn't remember there being a country park there.
Last Sunday we decided to go and check it out and take max for a walk there.
It was lovely if a little bit muddy, Max loved it chasing sticks and jumping over ditches, unfortunately he fell in one and got very muddy!

This Saturday we took Max on a walk to Moses Gate Country park I have been there many times but mostly just around the lodges, there are loads of geese and swans there, but this time we went on a walk away from the lodges along the river croal and irwell we carried on walking not really knowing we're we were going but letting max lead us he took us up this steep path which levelled off and there was a canal which looked quite old we walked along it for a bit, with the view of old mills in the distance, you could imagine the horses on the paths pulling the boats down the canal in the olden days. When we got home Matthew researched it and apparently it is a section of the old Bolton to Bury canal which was built to link Bury and Bolton to Manchester. Just before we turned on to the canal and just after we turned off it ended, apparently there are conservation groups trying to restore the canal once more.

This weekend, we were going to go away overnight somewhere but instead we decided on going on a day trip, the weather forecast wasn't great but we decided to go anyway.
We chose to go to Ingleton waterfalls after I found out about it from an app I have got called dog friendly Britain it has days out were dogs are welcome as well as other things like dog friendly pubs and hotels.
It is on the edge of the Yorkshire dales about 1hr 30 away from us, we arrived there at 12 and it was £5 each to get in. It is a 4 and a half mile circular walk which takes you past 8 waterfalls, the terrain is very rough at times and there are also lots of steps. The waterfalls are magnificent and the route takes you through glens, valleys and farmland, at the beginning of the route there is a money tree which people have pushed 2 pence pieces in for good luck. The forecast for Ingleton had been dry and starting to snow later in the day, this was completely wrong, it was either light rain or snow for near enough the whole time but it didn't dampen our spirits we even found a sheltered spot beside the stream which had an overhanging tree were we had our picnic whilst it was snowing. It was great.
The trail takes you through the village of Ingleton to which looked pretty and quaint. We will definitely go back sometime soon but we would like it to be sunny next time!

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

It's been snowing this week so what better time to go for long walk up Pendle Hill in the Forest of Bowland, Lancashire.
We found a circular walk starting from the picturesque village of Barley on www.trekkingbritain.com, it is a five mile walk with an ascent of 330 metres.
The weather was light snowfall and there was quite a lot of snow on the paths too so we bought some cheap ice grips that you put over your shoes these helped a little bit but not that much, Matthew lost one of them completely and all the studs off the other one, he also slipped twice. I on the other hand didn't fall but did slip a bit.
We walked firstly along the side of lower and higher Ogden reservoirs then up towards the top of the hill. Then we slowly and gradually climbed the hill to the top. We saw some people who were on there way down who advised us to wrap up because the wind was bitter up there! They weren't wrong we stopped just after to have a quick drink of coffee from the flask and a piece of homemade chocolate brownie it tasted so good. We put or heads down and carried on walking up the hill. We couldn't see the top so we just kept assuming that it was just over the next brow, we felt a bit nervous not really knowing how far we had to go the snow was getting deeper and the wind was stronger. The only thing that was stopping us from turning around and going back was that we could see other people ahead of us.
As we reached the top and we spotted the triangulation point on the summit the wind was knocking me sideways and the right side of my face was numb and the snow was stinging my eyes but we made it! Unfortunately there was not a great view from the top but it was a great sense of achievement.
As we set down the hill along some very steep and slippery steps the wind eased a bit and we could see the view of white fields and the reservoirs we had walked past. It was beautiful. The walk then led us back into the village were we went to the Pendle Inn pub in Barley for our tea. Despite the cold we really enjoyed the walk, we want to go back when we can go actually see where we are going!

Food for free!

In August purchased a collins gem book called 'food for free'  a guide to foraging. I have always liked the idea of foraging for food but worry about poisoning myself I decided to start with something easy like berries, when we were younger I remember going picking winberries (also known as Bilberries ) from around Entwistle reservoir and enjoying it so much, they start to ripen from late July. So when we went for a walk late August we didn't expect to find many and there weren't very many around Entwistle but we managed to pick lots from Rivington pike. All in all we got about 500g and bright purple hands but it was good fun.

So what to make with them?? I froze half and made a cake from my hummingbird bakery book, Blueberry and sour cream loaf but substituting wimberries for the blueberries and very nice it was. I still have the other batch of wimberries in my freezer which I think I'll eventually make into a small wimberry pie because my mum is desperate for me to make it because it reminds her of her childhood.

Just after we had got Max obviously we were walking more and I kept seeing more and more blackberries ripening so we took a bag out one weekend when we took Max for a walk at the nearby Longsight park. We managed to pick 800g which I washed in salt water to kill any bugs that may have been in them then rinsed them through and froze them until last week when I was off for half term, I found this recipe on the BBC good food website http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/11750/angelas-flexible-jam-recipe it needed 1kg blackberries for the recipe so I added apples to make it up, this meant I had to cook the fruit for longer but it really does add to the flavour. I had made Jam before but this time I treated myself to a jam thermometer which I then went on to reading wrong and thinking that I had let it boil for too long because it went past 105 but I looked at Fahrenheit instead of Centigrade so I took it off the heat. Luckily it must have been at the correct temperature because it set really well. I called it 'Abigail and Mum's blackberry and apple jam.' because we picked the blackberries together and then we made the jam together too.

I made five jars of it all together and it tastes lovely on toast...

..or in donut muffins...yum!

I think we did well for our first attempts of foraging!

My dog, Max.

This is Max, he is a 7 year old cross breed I think part Jack Russell but not sure with what else and now he's all ours!
 He used to belong to my sister she had him from being a puppy but her circumstances have changed which meant she could no longer keep him and we are more than happy to have him with us. Don't get me wrong he isn't perfect he hates travelling in cars and isn't the most sociable dog but whats good about him far outways the bad. He has a real personality and he's very affectionate, he loves nothing more than a snuggle on the couch with us.
One of the best things about having him is that it makes us get out in the open air (although going out at 7 to take him for a walk doesn't always fill me with joy but at least it wakes me up). We normally take him down to the country park called 'Seven Acres' at the bottom of our road, its wonderful there you can walk along Bradshaw brook or there are a few fields for a big run. Its been really good to watch the seasons changing from Summer to Autumn and see the different wildlife, we regularly see herons there.

In the last month...

What a busy month I have had, I have a new nephew, got my first swimming certificate, I completed my first year working at the school, enjoyed a lovely 2 week holiday in Cornwall, I turned 32 and started my IVF injections.

Firstly my sister had a baby on the 29th June, he is called Edward and is a cutey. I am working on a crocheted blanket for him.

A few months ago I decided to go to swimming lessons to help build up my confidence in deep water I could swim 25 metres but only next to the side of the pool and I was very nervous in deep water, but since doing the lessons my confidence and stamina has come on in leaps and bounds and I did my 800metres and got a badge and certificate! I was so proud of myself even if the certificate is a children's one if someone had told me last year that I could swim 800 metres I would not have believed them.

My achievement

I finished school for summer after completing my first year as a teaching assistant there and I have to say this year has gone so fast and I have enjoyed every minute of work this year. It was sad saying goodbye to the year 2 children, but I look forward to the next lot of children in September.

On the 13th July we went on our holiday to St Ives and despite the weather not being too good recently we didn't have it too bad, we had more sunny days than not. On the first weekend Matthew and I went for a walk 6 miles along the coastal path to Zennor when we set out it was cloudy so I didn't have suncream on by the time we got to Zennor it was glorious sunshine and my face and shoulders were bright red - not a mistake I will make again - it was so painful!

On the coastal path - before the sunburn!

 I also went swimming in the sea with my new confidence of the water and we rented wet suits and body boards on the recommendation of my swimming tutor and I loved it!

On my birthday which was on the middle Sunday of the holiday, we went to Wadebridge and hired bicycles and rode 6 miles to Padstow. We had a lovely day there, a picnic, a paddle, some geocaching and cycled back again, I really enjoyed cycling I felt like I reclaimed part of my youth when I was overtaking Matthew and riding so fast with the wind in my hair!

Padstow on my birthday!

Cycling the camel trail.

Matthew got me a Kobo e-reader for my birthday with a book that I really wanted to read 'Home to Roost' by Tessa Hainsworth, the 3rd book of a true story about moving to Cornwall. Which I read within a day and Matthew being Matthew and a little bit cheeky also put on '50 shades of grey' a book which I was determined not to read, because of the hype around it. I did and although at first I thought it was a bit annoying I stuck with it and it does draw you in. Its perhaps not the best book I have ever read, but its not the worst and I will get the next two books to find out what happens next.
I love my Kobo though it is so easy to read with it and easy to take it anywhere and obviously it saves you from being embarrassed at reading '50 shades' in public!

And last but not least on the day I went on holiday I started my IVF injections, I had to take an injection at the same time everyday I chose 7pm and if we went out for the day I took it with me. There were sometimes I had to take it discreetly in a car park but apart from that everything has gone smoothly because I was on holiday I wasn't spending all day dreading it and thinking about it.On Monday I went to the hospital to have a scan to check the drugs were working then I had to start on the second lot of injections as well so now its 2 injections a day. I look a bit like a pin cushion and the side effects, like the hot flushes and generally feeling bloated and sick and achy is starting to get me down. But it is a step in the right direction so I have to be positive.

Cool camping!

And when I say cool I mean it in both senses of the word. At May Day bank holiday we went to Anglesey, North Wales, in what was our first camping trip in 2 years. We went to Bagnol caravan park on a recommendation that Matthew had got and it didn't disappoint. We met up with my sister Christiana and her boyfriend Matt there and they stayed in our tent along with their dog Max.

 The campsite was very close by to Trearddur Bay just 5 mins walk, we hadn't been to this part of Anglesey before and it was lovely and peaceful and the campsite itself was really nice.

Bagnol Caravan Park

Trearddur Bay

 Unfortunately the first night temperatures were below freezing so we all ended up sleeping in our clothes and hats. The next day we set out to explore Trearddur Bay in our coats and hats but soon the sun came out and by the end of the day I had a sunburned face. Talk about one extreme to another!

Our view from the tent

This last weekend, 'Jubilee weekend' we went for our second camping adventure of the year this time on our own, we stayed at a campsite called 'Middlewood Farm' which was ideally located for Robin Hoods Bay which I had heard about a lot but never visited before. 

The campsite was good, the only down point was that because we were on a field that they'd opened up for the bank holiday, we were 3 mins walk from the facilities and if you've got a bladder the size of a pea like me this is a difficulty! 

 The campsite was on a real working farm so from the tent we could see horses in one field, cows in another and sheep too. I have also never seen (or heard) so many different types of songbirds! 

The walk to the bay from the campsite was great, first through along a path at the side field of beautiful big eyed cows, then through an enchanted woodland before opening out to a lovely quaint town with cottages huddled together then out to the beach. 

Walk from campsite to Robin Hoods Bay

We had a fantastic weekend even though it was a bit cold at times and cloudy but it was definitely fun filled.We had walks along the beach and rocks. We did some rock balancing sculptures on the beach and when one fell and smashed we discovered some fossils,took pics to go on instagram (abbiefh) we went for a walk and did some geocaching (matt_n_abbie) which lead us to this beautiful little National Trust cove called Boggle Hole, We went to Whitby stood under the whale bone then climbed all the steps up to Whitby Abbey. We ate fish and chips (or Whitby scampi and chips as I had) on the seafront, ate '99' ice creams, had fresh crab sandwiches and barbecue food and had lots to drink. I loved it!

Our last night in Robin Hoods Bay

New name... new start!

After finding great difficulty writing about things that I have made for my 'Abigail makes' blog. I decided I wanted my blog to be less rigid in what I could put on, more like a diary than anything else. So 'What Abigail did' was born...
 In this blog I *hope* to write once a week at least about things that I like from crafting to baking to photography but also about my journey going through IVF for the second time after it failed last year.
 However in no way do I want it to become sad and depressing, more to help me get my head around it. I have started to come to terms with the fact that my life is not turning out the way I'd planned (and for a control freak that was quite hard!) but I am thankful for the things I do have.. a wonderful husband who loves me as much as I love him, a supportive family, good friends and a fantastic job. It has not been easy at times but I am now more determined than ever not to waste anymore of my life (as I have for the last 4 years) and try and make the most of it.