Counting My Sheep. . .

We spent a rainy weekend in the Lake District completing one long recce for an upcoming walk that the Liverpudlian is leading at the end of the month (I was following, trying to make notes in the rain), and enjoying a couple of nice meals and a lovely B & B.  But by Sunday we'd only just dried out our boots and gear and it was just too wet to contemplate another walk.  We read the paper in a cafe and did a little local shopping in Ambleside.  At Fred Holdsworth's Bookshop I couldn't resist buying Counting Sheep: A Celebration of the Pastoral Heritage of Britain by Philip Walling.  It's the perfect bedside book don't you think?  And I loved that the bookseller was knitting a gorgeous purple cabled sock behind the counter.  We had a chat about how Ambleside really needed a good yarn shop.



I counted dozens of pink sheep near Hartsop on our walk  - a whole flock of them dotting the hillsides.  I don't know if their markings had run or if they were dyed for a special purpose but they were certainly a sight to see. 

And they probably unconsciously led to my other lovely purchase - this pink and gray wool felt bag from Urban Country.  I bought it in a new shop called GEAR in Ambleside. Despite its name, it does not sell walking paraphernalia, but is a gift shop full of lovely things. These bags were in their front window and I just couldn't resist.  And it's definitely big enough for all my daily bits and bobs, my lunch, a book and a large knitting project.