Nineteen years ago to day I made the big trek north on the train with two cat baskets and an overnight bag. John was already here. He had come up a while before to find us a rented house and Elizabeth had been here for several weeks as she had started college.

On the whole it was a good move although the employment situation hasn't worked out quite how we would've liked and the city has declined over the years. However it is a good place to live with beautiful countryside just a bus ride away. We still have  reasonably good public transport and can get out and about when we want too.

We spent just  over a year in the rented house and then moved three doors down to our own. It was meant to be temporary until we had proper jobs. We are still here. Elizabeth  moved further north when she went to university and stayed  in the same area and is  now married. We have gained an allotment, many more bears, the cats that came with me are here no longer alive and now take up a space in our little garden. What was once a bare yard is now full of pots full of flowers and bushes and the birds visit. I spent a morning this week chopping down shrubbery  and tidying things up for the winter. 

It's all looking a trifle bare.

We have treated the finches to a rather posh feeder. It is taking them a while to get used to it. One brave chap has tried it out.

These made there way to Scotland during the week to help keep my sister warm for the winter.  I have made so many pairs now I could almost knit them in my sleep.

It's that time of year again and most of what I am making is secret!