Celebrating Our Senses - Walk 2 - Stop

The second in a series of Mindfulness and Wellbeing walks took us to Lyvden New Bield an unfinished Elizabethan summer house in the east of Northamptonshire, England, owned by the National Trust.

Before the walk artist Carole Miles 

designed windsocks printed with 

figures to represent each participant.

In the garden participants drew or stamped

on their windsock to personalise it.

We walked to the ruin built by Sir Thomas Tresham

There was very little wind.

We had to stop, ten move in order to catch the wind,

We walked up the first spiral landmark

Carolyn led a mindfulness meditation- Stop

We closed our eyes and caught our breath.

 

Shared a picnic including jam made from 

the blackberries we foraged during the 

Rushden walk. We made notes 

in our walk notebooks

We walked to the second spiral

Hung up our windsocks

We walked to the orchard, admired 

the apples and damsons.

Shared quiet conversations.

Felt peaceful

You can see the complete photo set here

Walk distance 2 miles.

Many thanks to Sharon Taylor and The National Trust for helping the group to visit and for making our time at the property so special.

Part of a series of Mindfulness and Wellbeing "Celebrating Our Senses" walks made possible with a Grant awarded from Margaret Giffen Community Fund and Northamptonshire Community Foundation and with support from NStep.

Celebrating Our Senses - Walk 1 - Taste

Our walk location was Rushden, our mindfulness meditation focused on Taste and we adapted this One Raisin Meditation  to one Blackberry. For some it was the first time they had tasted a wild Blackberry. We walked into a wooded area, with a bumpy pathway which lead us to a place where we could forage for Blackberries on what may have been an old industrial site but one which has Mirabelle Plums, Damsons and Rosehips as well as Blackberries. Carolyn thought the blackberry bushes might have been part of market garden and is a well know and loved area for local foragers.

 

We had previously contacted Rushden Transport Museum to ask if we could visit with our group and weather permitting, eat our picnic on the platform. We were made so welcome, the weather was perfect and we were able to visit the Museum as well.

 The station platform was a perfect place for our picnic

Tasty croutons, dips, tomatoes

Carolyn's stuffed roasted vegetable loaf 

adapted from a Paul Hollywood recipe

We also sampled some of our foraged blackberries with yoghurt and granola, sat in the sun, got to know each other and made a start on our Walk Journals

After exploring the Museum

and the Station

we walked back to our cars whilst sharing impressions of the day.

You can see the complete photo set here

Walk distance 1 mile.

The was first in a series of Mindfulness and Wellbeing "Celebrating Our Senses" walks made possible with a Grant awarded from Margaret Giffen Community Fund and Northamptonshire Community Foundation and with support from NStep.

Here are some links to tasty recipes you might like to try.

Easy Berry Jam Recipe

Watermelon and Blackberry Salad Recipe

Proscuitto, Blackberry and Basil Pizza Recipe

Blackberry Salad

Mirabelle Plum Gallette Recipe

Mirabelle Plum Jam Recipe

Rosehip and Apple Jelly Recipe

How to Store and Dry Rosehips for Rosehip Tea

The View From Here - Celebrating Our Time Together

Everything changes and life is punctuated by beginnings and endings

We have had a wonderful two years working on the Grange Estate and at The Green Patch

The View From Here was funded by the HealthBelief which is a Community Interest Company committed to raising money to address health inequalities in Leicestershire and Northamptonshire. 

51 Community Interest Companies raising money to address health inequalities across England, Scotland and Wales through The Health Lottery.

Through this funding we have been able to bring high quality arts / crafts workshops to members of the community in a deprived area of Kettering, We have strengthened our links with The Green Patch and have made public artworks that have brought life, colour and joy to this wonderful community growing space. 

Everyone felt proud and happy to see what they had achieved

We had a fantastic celebratory picnic and we know that project participants from the Grange have made a great connection with staff and volunteers at The Green Patch. Rick, Jenny, Michelle, Bekka and all the children will be visiting, volunteering and taking in community events at The Green Patch in the future which feels like a lovely legacy to leave, apart from all the artwork! 

Back To Books would like to thank Sue, Nigel, Kate, Becky, Lucy from the Groundworks team who have made us so welcome at The Green Patch, Rik and Jen who have been our stalwarts at Grange Place, Michelle who has been our Pied Piper bringing our participants from Kettering Buccleuch Academy, but most of all we would like to thank our artists Carole Miles and Phiona Richards who have made this project so special.

Although our funding comes to an end in mid 

August the relationships we have forged will continue 

and we will be actively looking for funding 

to continue delivering exciting community based projects. 

If you like our work you can make a donation 

towards future projects via our Local Giving Page

You can revisit all the seasons and activities we have travelled through here  

Spinning New Dreams

Join The Eloquent Fold, artists Carole Miles and Phiona Richards on a walk through woodland in East Carlton Park. 

Find the magic of this place as you weave your way through leaves and branches, touched by the light shining through the leaf canopies as Carole & Phiona draw you to looking at the shapes between and the textures, helping you to collect ideas and find inspiration for the print and thread workshop on the 11th September. 

Please note, participants are encouraged to attend both sessions on Sunday 4 Book Tickets here for the walk and Sunday 11 September Book Tickets here for the creative workshop.

See the complete program of exciting events here

Kettfest at The Green Patch

The Green Patch was resplendent with some of the

many things we have been creating in time for Kettfest.

Our marvellous Mum and right hand woman

Michelle with her fabulous afternoon tea 

inspired crochet creations!

Our mosaics all out catching the light

See how they were created here

Our fruit and flower prints on display

and our fish flags

adding colour and movement

everyone was so pleased, proud and delighted

with all the beauty our project

has created and shared

Sue, Nigel and cake!

Merle and her husband

and the community gathering in the afternoon sun

Carole's temporary installation 

Stone Eggs, Dead Tree

See more of the day here

Fresh Prints, Fabulous Fruit

We have been inspired by summer's

fruits and flowers

and have been printing our responses 

with artist Carole Miles

These prints will also be on display at 

The Green Patch

During Kettfest