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Colour, Texture & Places.
Since I have back from our UK jaunt, I have been busy spinning & dyeing.
Here are some pictures.
This fleece was dyed using food colouring - what is used to colour icing.
I have used it to dye silk as well.
It works a treat!
What I have all ready to go, some ‘singles’ (unplyed) & some plyed (two strands together).
Next post, I will show you how to do it.
Busy, busy, busy.
As I write this I am struggling through the jet lag left from arriving home on Saturday night.
I have just finished my entry for the exhibition 'treasure' .
Here it is.
I have placed a range of my 'treasures' in these bottles.
The covers are all hand stitched using a range of fabrics, threads & methods.
I think it is judged this week - I have to submit the pieces tomorrow.
I'm hoping that the exhibition runs for longer than this weekend as I am away this weekend. Rats!
The exhibition is being put on by the Embroiderers Guild of NSW at their new headquarters at Concord.
Really close to the train station at Concord West.
My favourite piece is this one.....
The octopus turned out just as I wanted.
I will post more info about the exhibition as I get it.
😊
So, since there is Hurricane Irma running wild & an Earthquake in Mexico the airport is crazy.
We got up at 4:45am for a 9am flight.
Just as well - the queues were huge & security was nuts.
I was sad to leave Jan & Lancashire - but not sad to leave the 'slurry' that is being sprayed on the fields at the moment.
Slurry is cow poo that is sourced from the dairies, liquified & sprayed on the fields.
IT STINKS!!!!!!
We went to a small Roman museum in Ribchester. I got out of the car & couldn't stop gagging. Once I was inside it was OK.
So I have left this view......
For this one ........
Sigh!
This is my last morning in Lancashire.
I have to drive the hire car back to Manchester & meet up with NCH at the hotel.
Our flight is at 9am - so I am glad I booked a hotel close to the airport.
Then we start the long journey home.
I am already missing this view & my friend Jan.
We had such a good time knitting, stitching, chatting drinking tea.
I saw a squirrel runnuning down the street in Clitheroe yesterday - not something you would everyday in Sydney :)
I am now in my hotel having a soy latte.
We start the big trek home tomorrow - 6am we start off to the airport.
Outside my window this morning.
Last night I completed my 10th piece.
It is inspired by this Minoan (Bronze Age Crete) amphora.
Here is my interpretation.
I used some of my hand dyed fabric that I brought with me from Australia & DMC black thread (310).
I still need to tweak these.
I will probably do it while I'm waiting for NCH to arrive in Manchester.
Tonight I go to my first Women's Institute meeting with Jan.
Tomorrow I drive to Manchester & take back the car.
As I type this, I am facing this window.
I will miss Lancashire. 😕
Rainy still.
Sigh!
Just lovely crafting weather.
I saw a huge hare in the field outside my bedroom window yesterday afternoon.
So exciting.
I wasn't fast enough to take a photo.
Here is one from Pinterest.
Much longer legs than a rabbit & about 3 times bigger.
I have almost finished 5 pieces.
Finished this one last night.
My time in the UK is coming to a close.
I feel sad to leave my friend Jan, but I am looking forward to seeing friends at home & finishing things waiting for me at home.
Today, Jan & I visited Clitheroe in search of a embroidery shop.
Nup.
There was a wool shop though.
We had lunch at Calooh! Callay!, an Alice in Wonderland themed cafe.
Here are some other sights in Clitheroe.
Love the coach gate
Above is Clitheroe Castle. It has a spiral pathway to the castle, which Jan tells me makes it extremely defendable.
Then we were off home.
It has been raining ever since.
Finished the body of the glass thermos cosy.
I have been stitching my exhibition pieces.
I have one to go.
So, today was a nice slow stitching day.
Non Crafting Husband left for Germany & his conference.
I am here in Lancashire with my dear friend, Jan.
We lstened to Dorothy Sayers & Jane Austen radio plays whilst crafting.
Lovely.
It was raining outside - lovely crafting weather.
I got a lot of stitching done. Hooray!
Tomorrow I think we are going to Clitheroe for a craft shop crawl. 😁
Looking forward to it.
Today after a great night's sleep NCH went for a walk up the Fell.
Then off to Gawthorpe Hall.
It has the largest private collection of textiles in Britain, bigger than anything outside the keeping of the Victoria & Albert Museum.
The present building was built in the 1600's. There have been Shuttleworths here since the 14th Century.
I love this quote. I feel the same way - this is why I run free women's craft groups.
Rachel Kay-Shuttleworth died in 1967. She collected the textiles over her lifetime & also produced many of them herself. There is a Textile Collection group that is committed to carrying on her legacy.
She was particularly fond of crewel embroidery.
These bed curtains & a matching coverlet were stitched & designed by Rachel Kay-Shuttleworth. It took her 10 years to complete them.
The bed cover is not the same, as the one that matches is being preserved.
Here is some more from her collection.
After finishing our visit we were off home for a late lunch. Sitting in the sunshine.
We left Wales a bit drizzly, but really green.
We decided to visit Conwy (pronounced Conway) Castle.
Here are some more pictures.
We didn't have long as the car space was only for 1 hour.
Built by Edward 1st of England, it was part of a shock & awe tactic (it took 3 years to complete).
When originally built it was lime washed so it would stand out as a symbol of English/Norman dominance. It was manned by imported staff & soldiers - no locals.
No wonder the Welsh weren't happy.
After Conwy, we were heading for St Winifred's Well at Holywell.
Here we stopped & had our boiled eggs & cold chicken on our way to Holywell.
This is St Winifred's Chapel. Underneath the chapel is the spring & well.
After this we were off to Lancashire.
We arrived at Jan & Stephen's. Check out the view from our bedroom window.
Gawthorpe Hall tomorrow 😊
This was our last full day in Wales 😕.
Such a beautiful place.
After a late start & trying to find a laundromat, we headed off to Portmeirion.
This is an artificial village built between 1925. & 1975. It was the brain child of Sir Clough Williams-Ellis.
It is based on Italian villages, especially Portofino on the Amalfi Coast. It reminded me a bit of Bellagio on Lake Como, but less real.
It also felt like 'Cockington Green' miniature village in Canberra, but on a human scale.
So, after 'pootling' or 'mooching' around the village & grabbing lunch, we meandered home.
Tomorrow, we drive back into England via Conwy Castle & St Winifred's holy well.
Today we hit the road.
After a slow start to the day, we were off to Anglesey & Holyhead.
This is just down the road from where we are staying.
On our way we found a beach, with sand.
The hilly bit in the distance is where we are staying. The Lleyn peninsula.
Then off towards Caernarfon & Anglesey.
Wales is truly a beautiful place.
This is where we were in 2013 on our way to Ireland. The ferry to Ireland below.
As we were driving around I noticed a whole area of 'allotments'. It is where people who live in apartments or houses with no land can have a small plot to grow veg or flowers etc. They are often passed down through families.
We found a butterfly house. I can't resist something like that - so in we went.
There was also a bug area. I have never seen such big snails. Eww!
Your veg would be at risk.
Driving home. Magnificent hills.
Check out the stone fences on the tops of the hills.
Last full day in Wales tomorrow.
Today was the day I just blobbed about the cabin doing some stitching. And resting my leg.
Not long before we left Australia, I injured myself. It still hasn't fully recovered. ☹️
NCH & I just spent some time reading books.
I did some stitching. I have six pieces to do before we get back to Sydney. I am exhibiting an arrangement of embroidery for a design competition with the NSW Embroiderers Guild.
Since I was very ill a month before we left Australia, I didn't really get a chance to do much.
If I can get one piece done each day before we get back - all should be well.
I started with this today.
Now it looks like this........
It took me most of the day though. In between getting food etc.
NCH went off for a walk.
Here is what he saw. A late Bronze Age hill fort. Here are some photos.
Llithfaen, Tre'r Ceiri, Yr Eifl.
It was occupied right up until the 4th century during the Roman occupation of Wales. At one stage there is thought to have been up to 400 people living up there.
They had to drag an awful lot of stone up those hills.
Archeologists believe the houses were of the round house design. Which means stone bases, wattle & daub walls with thatched roofs. That means all the building material would have come from below. Winter would have been really cold on those bare hills. Snow, wind & icy rain.
Those Welsh were tough.
Tomorrow we will be going to Anglesey.
Today we left lovely Shropshire.
Our aim today was to get to Llanaelhaearn in Northern Wales.
Here are some photos of our travels today.
A photo we took of Powys Castle as we drove past.
Wales is so green. I have heard it rains a lot here. We haven't experienced that yet. It is supposed to rain late tonight.
Below is a photo looking towards Cardigan Bay.
Picturesque. No sand just pebbles.
We eventually arrived at our Airbnb.
It is lovely.
I have finished cooking dinner at the lovely little kitchenette.
Tomorrow, I am planning on having a rest & doing some stitching.
I'll post some more pictures then.
Today we ventured out to Shrewsbury.
We were keen to see some Brother Cadfael sites (from the Ellis Peters books).
Shrewsbury Castle. First built by a fellow invader of William The Conqueror's.
The architecture is a big mix.
Medieval - Modern.
Today is part of the Shrewsbury Folk Festival for the Bank holiday long weekend.
A Morris band from Ironbridge - not far from Shrewsbury. We saw at least 6 varieties of dancers. There was even a group called the 'Blue Boggarts' . If I can I will post a video I took.
We were looking in Shrewsbury for bits described in Ellis Peters books about Brother Cadfael, the medieval sleuth monk.
Great to read listen to on audiobook.
Ellis Peters/Edith Pargeter (the author) lived in Shrewsbury all her life.
The Abbey was damaged badly during the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
Here are some photos of the remaining Abbey. They are trying to repair the Abbey at the moment, but as you may imagine, it is an expensive endeavour.
There is no longer a Brother Cadfael herb garden. We spoke to the Vicar & he said the congregation couldn't maintain it anymore & there was already one across the road which was originally Abbey land anyway.
After all the constant walking around we decided to go on a river cruise for 45mins.
After leaving Shrewsbury we decided to go home the long way via Long Wynd. Really scary roads but beautiful.
It was terrifying driving along a single lane next to a cliff & no barriers. Then we had traffic coming from the other direction. Insane.
Lots & lots of heather.
On our way home.
We got home & had a fairly early night. A bit sad to be leaving Shropshire. Hope to be back sometime.
Bye Bye Oxford. It was lovely visiting you.
And we are off to Bishop's Castle in Shropshire.
Those hedges make it a bit tricky to guess where you are.
We passed through some lovely little towns. We were too early for our accommodation so we headed into the town of Bishop's Castle.
What a gem it is. Definitely worth a visit if you can get there.
We had lunch at a quaint little cafe called 'Thyme' (the green building).
They were very accommodating about my food restrictions.
I took these out the upstairs window. We are staying just out of town.
I visited lots of the shops. An antique shop (bought a cup & saucer + a jet brooch), a textile shop where I bought a great top from Thailand & also some Hmong indigo fabric.
A second hand book shop (bought something of course), a lovely deli for some cheese & a butcher for meat for dinner.
Finaly found a craft supply shop. Gorgeous.
Full of all things woolly.
Fleece for spinning, wonderful yarn for knitting & crocheting.
Owner was lovely too.
I am just sorry I didn't have more time to spend there. They even had a chair outside for NCH to sit on while he waited. 😊 He did a Kenken. Here are some more photos of Bishop's Castle
Here I am with my goodies.....
It is such a lovely place.
We contacted our Airbnb hostess Caroline. We drove off to our home for the next two nights.
This is the view from our windows.
Out the kitchen window.
We have it tough huh! 😜
Now I wish we had booked for longer. It is so lovely here. After being in busy York & Oxford - finally being able to hear the birds is truly relaxing.
Shrewsbury and Brother Cadfael tomorrow!
So, today we had another big walking day.
As I type this I am sitting with my tired feet up while the rice for dinner cooks 😊.
10:30 tour at the Bodleian Library, then we were off to the Natural History Museum & the Pitt Rivers Museum.
First the tou......
We visited the Divinity School (the original lecture hall completed in the 1480's).
It was used in the Harry Potter movies in as the Infirmary.
We got in just in time, as from next week they will be filming the new film 'Mary Queen of Scots'.
The Duke Humfrey's library on the floor above was used as the library at Hogwarts. We weren't allowed to take photos in the library. Here are a couple from the library website.
Sir Thomas Bodley retired from working for Queen Elizabeth 1 as an ambassador & decided he wanted to rebuild the library after it had been decimated during the Reformation.
It has since become a storage space for every book that has been published in the U.K. since Bodley made a deal with the Guild of Stationers to supply a free copy of every book published in the UK.
We walked around a bit after the tour, & had a cup of coffee at the Weston library.
Here is NCH standing in front of the 'Bridge of Sighs'.
Very close to the Weston Library is Trinity College. So we popped in there for £2. each. Beautiful grounds & Chapel as you can see here.
Then we were off to the Natural History museum & the Pitt Rivers Museum.
It is VAST!
It was also quite hot because of the glass ceiling. Literally a hot house.
Since it is still school holidays - it was full of 'dino' crazed children.
This is what you see first as you come in the front door.
There is a comprehensive collection of fossils in order of development.
My favourite fossils are this kind - they look as if you could just add water & they would start to move.
I also enjoy looking at insects in all their variations.
After exploring this section we went next door to the Pitt Rivers Museum. This is also a huge collection. A anthropological study of all different cultures & their decorative arts. It seems to be dominated by nations that are in or on the edge of the Pacific Ocean.
Here are some images to whet your appetite.
There are drawers under many of the cabinets that you can pull open & look at the contents.
The arrangement seems to be in order of object rather than age or culture.
For example, these carved spoons are different ages & from different cultures.
I have to admit I hit information overload pretty quickly.
I am very interested in textiles - so I have many pictures that reflect that interest.
We were pretty tired so we left the museum in search of a drink & something to eat.
The 'Eagle & Child' pub was our new destination. This pub is famous for it's patrons.
C.S.Lewis & J.R.R.Tolkien used to go to that pub with the other 'Inklings' & discuss the books they were working on.
After this we grabbed some shopping to take with us tomorrow.
Tomorrow morning we are off to Shrewsbury.
😊
Day 7 - we visited a dear friend who lives in Cambridge.
According to the Sat Nav it would take 1 1/2 hours. It really took 2 1/2.
The traffic going the other way didn't move at all.
We found her flat. We worked out we hadn't been to Cambridge for 20 years.
It has changed.
We had a lovely home cooked lunch. Then went into Cambridge to find some books.
Wonderful!
We weren't allowed to take photos inside though. Sorry.
NCH was tempted by a first edition T.S.Eliot.
I was tempted by a first edition 'House at Pooh Corner' £200.
I didn't buy it ☹️
Then back to Karen's for a cup of coffee & more chat.
She brought out her book for us to look at.
Her flat is in a place called Applecourt. I hadn't realised until now that it is full of apple trees. All sorts.
There was a squirrel too. you can just make him out, left hand side of the photo amongst the apple trees.
As an Australian, I get excited when I see a squirrel. NCH reckons I squeal. I don't think I do?
We said our goodbyes - hopefully it won't be another 20 years before we get to Cambridge again.
Bodleian Library tour on day 8 😊
We headed into the centre of Oxford today for a look.
We caught an open top bus. It is definitely the best way to get your bearings in a new place.
Our aim today was to visit the Bodleian, the covered market & hopefully somewhere else.
As we were heading for the library, we could hear bells tinkling - we looked up & there was a Harrier Hawk wearing 'jesses' just like we had seen at the Birds of Prey Centre.
Her handler was there too. Apparently she is encouraged to scare off the pigeons.
I remember visiting a church in Vienna - St Stephens - where they also had resident hawks to keep the pigeons away from the building. It is more effective than poison or other methods apparently.
We got to the Bodleian, but all the tours were booked out. So we have booked our tickets for Friday.
Here are some pictures of the courtyard.
NCH said I should have stood in front of the Logic Dept. Ha Ha!
We meandered through the courtyards to the Weston Library. There was a great exhibition of 'Treasures of the Bodleian'.
Here is the original manuscript of the Messiah
Next door was a fantastic Jane Austen exhibition to celebrate the 200th year of her death.
There were original manuscripts of hers. The first she wrote at the age of 11 until her unfinished novel 'Sanditon'.
Here is a first edition of 'Persuasion' with a 'Navy list' as mentioned in the book when the Musgrove girls are looking for Captain Wentworths first ship.
Jane Austen's writing desk & some manuscript & a letter.
There was also a great video display showing the BBC's productions of Jane Austen novels.
The relationship began with a production of Pride & Prejudice on the radio in 1926.
The first production I remember seeing was one from 1980 - 'Pride & Prejudice'.
I think the only one I have not liked was the production of 'Mansfield Park' from the 1980's. The woman playing 'Fanny' was almost hysterical at times.
The latest productions have been the best I think. 1995 'Pride & Prejudice' was the beginning of the new wave. The acting has become more natural & less stilted.
Then we tramped off to the Ashmolean Museum of Art.
It houses a vast collection of art & historical artefacts from pre-history through all cultures.
I loved it. It has a great collection of fabric & textiles. Coptic Egyptian fabrics & embroidery, Byzantine pieces etc. Fabulous!
Here are some examples.
These were carbon dated between 1100 - 1450 AD. It is amazing that there is still so much colour.
Both of these pieces were carbon dated at 400-600AD.
This is a winged god from Nineveh. This image was an influence on C.S.Lewis' idea of the character 'Tash' in 'The Horse & His Boy' & 'The Last Battle'.
Ancient history is definitely my thing
I was really pleased to see a few pieces I have only ever seen in books. Like this one. A Minoan larnax.
We stayed in the Museum until it closed - did some shopping & then caught the bus home.
Tomorrow we are driving to Cambridge to visit my friend who left Australia to study 29 years ago. She has been here ever since.
Check out the Ashmolean collection online.
We mostly just travelled today.
NCH had some work to do before we left York. So we left later.
Heavy traffic all the way to Oxford. It took about 4 hours to drive. Lots & lots of wind turbines.
The hedges are really high too, so you don't see much of the countryside.
But we finally made it to our lovely Airbnb.
Used the cute little kitchen to make some dinner.
I did use the time in the car, when I wasn't driving..........
Tah Dah!
I am making a möbius using my hand dyed & spun yarn. It is all a single ply, so to knit it I am having to unwind it a bit as I go. It makes the whole process take longer.
I do this so the end result isn't too stiff.
In fact the piece is beautiful & soft. But, it can only be hand washed as it will felt & shrink in the washing machine.
I used food colouring & 19 micron merino to make the yarn.
Here another picture.
I'll post more as I progress.
We are exploring Oxford tomorrow.
