Castles and and FOs

On Sunday I went to Bamburgh and Holy Island with Mike's cousin Micheline, her husband Damien, and her 'Outlaws' - Damien's mom, stepfather, sister, brother-in-law, and their two little boys. We braved the rain, and actually got quite lucky with the weather - during the one very heavy rain shower that hit while we were on Holy Island, we were safely tucked up inside the pub! :)
Here's Bamburgh castle... did you know you can rent 'flats' there? the biggest one has about 8 bedrooms, and goes for £5000 a month - the safety deposit is the first year's rent, entirely payable in advance. Oh, and its haunted. :)

this is the view from the East side of the castle - looking out at the Farne Islands. Can you see the puffins?

After Bamburgh, we moved up the coast to Holy Island...

the castle

the prioryand then we went to the winery and mead store... but just to browse, of course. ;)

Miche and the gang were staying in the Waren Mill caravan park - Janie and Mark and the kids were in their own trailer-able caravan, and the rest of us stayed in the luxury permanent caravans on the other side of the park...

Here's Mark and Damien cooking dinner

and here's the view from the park, over the slightly more permanent trailers... I mean caravans.

And now, that FO I mentioned...

the evil socks are finished! yay! I started these in March, but what with all the time they spent in the naughty corner, it took me till just last night to get them finished... oh, and I did rip out about and inch from the foot of the first sock I knit - Mike's feet can't possibly be that much bigger than mine!
Here's the dull bit:

Pattern: generic sock pattern from the Austermann website, but also available on the Shoeller and Stahl site, though in a less-portable form.
Yarn: Shoeller and Stahl's Fortissma Socka, although I don't remember which particular kind (they have lots)
Notes: These socks were dull, dull, dull, to knit. Next time I make socks, I'm using the most complicated pattern I can find! And I'm making them for someone with very small feet! :)

I've also finished knitting the log-cabin blanket, but you can't see any more photos of that till it gets a fabric backing, and a new little owner... gimme a week or so, and it should be ready.

K, now I'm off to go pack. Lucy is helping me move my stuff to my new flat in Gosforth, although I personally won't be moving in till I come back to Newcastle at the end of August. If I don't post in the next few days, know that I'm safely off to Ottawa on Thursday, and then spending the weekend at the cottage!