York - Day 4

Today was fairly laid back.​

We went to the National Birds of Prey Centre at Hemsley.​

They have 3 falconry sessions a day showing all sorts of eagles, falcons, buzzards & owls. It was fantastic.

The birds that are part of the falconry sessions are tethered like the one above.

They can fly around 8 months of the year. The ones in the aviaries are either moulting or breeding.

The whole thing opened nn 2013.

Here are some more photos.

This little bird is a Burrowing Owl. We found out they live in communities like Meercats. There was a demo of how they use the ground.  

I reckon I would love this job.​

Cleaning out the aviaries of course is a different story. ​

This guy started the centre. He is so enthusiastic about conservation & the beauty of these birds.​

A great day out if you are in the area.​

We went back to York.​

I went & did a bit of shopping & NCH did a bit of walking the walls of York.​

Here are some of his photos.​

Where the moat around the city would have been. 

York Minster. 

Off to Oxford next. 

York - Day 3

Today we headed out of York.

Had breakfast, then hit the road for Whitby. 

We confused the sat Nav when we made the decision to call in at Castle Howard. 

The house was used for both the productions of 'Brideshead Revisited'. 

It is the main seat of the Carlisle family. The present Earl & his family only live in the East Wing of the house. 

it was completely gutted in 1940. So they had to rebuild a huge amount. 

It was the first private home to have a dome.  When the fire occurred the dome fell in. You can still see some of the fire damage.

There is a lot of work happening still to restore the house.

My favourite room.​

The North Gallery - has bookcases all the way down - three rooms all joined together. 

The picture below is part of the ceiling in the chapel. It is decorated by the Arts & Crafts Movement group of PreRaphelites. William Morris & Edward Burne Jones. 

Last night they had a Proms concert in the grounds - opera singers, fireworks & a fly over.  

It was really busy in the car park by the time we left. Here are some pictures of the gardens. The house on on approx 1000 acres of land. 

This is the produce garden. 

Not many roses out yet. The walled rose garden is huge.

after leaving Castle Howard we headed for Whitby. 

We drove through the North Yorkshire Moors. Just beautiful with the heather glowing purple.  I noticed lots of bee hives out in the Heath.

We we're hoping to have a quiet walk on the waterfront but heard in the radio about a Regatta that was happening. We couldn't get close.

We visited the Whitby Abbey ruins instead.  They were the inspiration for Bram Stokers 'Dracula'.

A bit sad really that it inspired such horror for him - it is such a beautiful place. 

I felt more stirred & inspired by the site.

Here are some pictures.​

The acoustics were amazing. I can imagine what it sounded like when the whole community were singing. 

When it was first founded it was a double monastery - men & women working together to serve God. It was founded under St Hild. 

So there was about 1000 years of history on the site.

There is also a small but excellent museum housing remains from the site. Here are a couple. 

This is a strap end of a belt - carved silver. Anglo Saxon period. 

After all of this excitement we drove home through regatta & music festival traffic, ate dinner then crashed in our room.

Jet lag is the pits. 

Blobbing around tomorrow I think. 

York - Day 2

We started the day at the Jorvik Viking Centre. It is built on the archeological remains of Viking Age York. I booked when we were in Australia. Just as welll. The queue was huge by the time it opened. Here are some pictures from inside. 

A Viking woman - when I walked past her yesterday she was nalbinding (Viking knitting a sock). 

A Viking warrior  

There is a cableway inside the museum that takes you through the reconstruction of the town. I am really glad there wasn't 'smell around' ! The stench would have been dreadful. 

There were lots of 'Vikings' walking around & they all knew their history. this woman was demonstrating 'nalbinding' a sock. This method makes a really thick fabric that wears well - good considering their shoes were so thin. 

There was a single sock on display there that the archeologists were excited about because it was extremely rare. A stitch unique to York - not found anywhere else in the Viking period. ​

Intersting that Vikings also lost just one sock.​

This guys outfit was all hand stitched, shoes hand stitched etc. 

After the cable car is a small museum where these guys were. 

 I thoroughly recommend this place if you ever get to York. 

It started raining so we strolled into the Shambles & had some tea. 

Lovely little place called the 'Earl Grey Tearoom'. We are trying to drink less coffee, so we are going to a different place every time.

Here are some other shops in the Shambles.

There was a queue out the door & around the corner - all Harry Potter themed. Notice the 'Nimbus 2000' in the window? 

There is a big Viking exhibition at the York Museum so we head there - at the other end of the city.

Lots of walking............

Before we went into the Museum this was outside. 

I got to hold 2 owls for £5. 

Bliss!! 

The little one is a Burrowing Owl from America called 'George' because he looks grumpy. He was gorgeous.

This was 'Sweep' a barn owl. Huge sharp claws. I would not want to be a mouse. 

Apparently the Father of Geology lived in York. The museum has his whole library & geological maps.

Not arranged by subject, but in order of acquisition. 

There was a small prehistory section all from the York area.

Then downstairs to the York Viking exhibition. 

I took too many photos to post here.

The museum is built on the remains of York Abbey. It was destroyed during the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry the Eighth - what a tosser. This is all that is left.​

After this we staggered back to the hotel after grabbing some dinner.

 I found a 'Inspector Montalbano' movie that I hadn't seen before. 

Next instalment - Castle Howard, Yorkshire Moors & Whitby. 

Stay tuned.

Manchester - York Day 1

Well, here we are.​

Driving north to York, via Huddersfield s​o Non Crafting Husband can visit the football Stadium in Huddersfield.

Then on to York.

We stumbled through the Shambles with jet lag.

We had a top up coffee, found a button shop, second hand book shop & had a cup of Yorkshire tea. 

Then we discovered York Minster.  

Magnificent! 

This is Clifford's Tower across the road from our hotel. It used to be part of the old city walls.  Built by William the Conqueror I think.

Having trouble staying awake - 7pm UK time, 4am Sydney time. After a 25 hour journey, I feel like I have been hit by a truck.

We are off to the Viking Centre tomorrow after breakfast. 

Yay! 

Flask cosy Part 2

As yu can see, I have tacked the batting to the felt.

Then using safety pins, I pinned the lining to the batting/felt layer. 

Using over stitch I stitched all the layers together - folding the lining in as I went. 

I stitched the base to the body of the cosy. 

Next step, stitch up the main body.

At the moment the cosy is quite loose. 

This will change as I begin to embroider it. 

It will shrink as I go.  I will need to make sure it is evenly covered so the cosy is not distorted.

 I'm not sure if I can do this on the plane, so it is packed into my luggage. 

 I will post updates. 

A burst of colour

I was looking around my Pintrest account & came across one of my favourite Creatives.

Dale Chihuly.

In the U.S. he is thought of as being a National Treasure.

I thought I would share these images with you.

His work is like a sensory overload of colour & movement.

See what you think.

I LOVE his work.

Dale Chihuly & Chandelier 

Giant poppies

New Project- Flask Cosy Part1

Using some of my hand-dyed 100% merino felt, I am going to make a 'cosy' for my glass tea flask.

it will be wadded using bamboo batting & lined with some of my hand-dyed fabric. 

I will be basting these strips of batting into the felt prior to stitching. 

My thread of choice will be Valdani cottons.

I love these as when stitched, the pearled threads sit flat on the surface. Plus, they are hand-dyed.

Can't wait to start.

Craft On! 

2017 - Never thought I would be here

I was very busy in 2016.

I discovered the art of Free Form Embroidery.

I went to an embroidery workshop early in 2016 & had an epiphany.

I can use everything I know how to do (dyeing, designing, drawing, colours, etc)

 to design Free Form Embroidery.

This piece became a coffee plunger warmer.

This piece became a coffee plunger warmer.

Oh, the freedom!

I have been designing cross stitch designs for about 7 years. I hate counting.

I am not really a fan of following a pattern.

I far prefer to make things up as I go.

A fragment of an original drawing I did in the early 90's.

It was to illustrate a piece of verse from Patrick White - 'the Song of Amergin'.