To all my followers and occasional visitors -
thank you so much for another year of friendship and wonderful comments.
I wish you all prosperous and healthy and peaceful 2024;
I wish you a good life and lots of crafting!
Saturday, 23 December 2023
Saturday, 9 December 2023
the last finish of the year
My Butterfly's Ball quilt is finished!
I finished it about a month ago (it is probably the largest quilt I have ever made), but the light for taking pictures has been so bad, days have been very wet and grey.
"Such a Ball and such a Feast
No one can forget:
Oh, if both would last, and last,
One more hour, not finish yet!
Some are sleepy, some could madly
Dance away till dawn,
Lovely wings are folding sadly,
One small Ant was seen to yawn.
Now the great big Moon is sinking
And goodbyes are said,
Darkness spreads, and some are thinking,
"Who will light us home to bed?"
my favourite method.
There was quite a long autumn in out part of the world, but in November we were hit by a very cold spell, which thankfully didn't last too long.
The weather is back to being more autumnal, with lots and lots of rain and many local floods.
These are some pictures from our cold walk on Mendip Hills last month.
in the sun
and in the shade
When out and about this week we popped into Stourhead Gardens;
feeling the cold from the lake; sun is rather a rare sight at the moment.
Wrong time of day for Christmas lights unfortunately,
but I do prefer to be warm indoors when it gets dark.
There is always the pub to get warm in !
Thursday, 9 November 2023
colours of autumn
It has been mild, but very wet autumn this year, not enough chance to be outside to enjoy the colours;
the trees are still holding on to their leaves.
Luckily, we have a good view from our kitchen window of the Persian ironwood shrub, growing in the pot just outside.
Never disappoints, these spectacular colours appear every year.
We saw this much larger specimen
of Persian ironwood in Dyffryn Gardens
in Wales last month.
Further down the garden is the yellow of the quince tree, also in the pot,
with reds of the ornamental cherry shrub behind.
This small quince tree has produced some fruit for the second time since we got it;
enough for just four jars of jam,
the last jam of the year.
Flavoured with cinnamon and little rosemary,
it smells and tastes divine.
The crab apple tree is still green, holding on to its fruit; normally blackbirds would have cleared this by now, which means that there is still enough food for them elsewhere.
And just to get that Christmas feeling, I am making another felt piece from the
"12 Days of Christmas" series,
the Swan, to join the French Hen I made a couple of years ago.
Saturday, 28 October 2023
October Break
in South Wales - part 2
There is another place I would like to share with you -
St Fagans National Museum of History
(or Museum of Welsh Life - an open air museum) near Cardiff.
The Museum is in the grounds of St Fagans Castle and gardens, late 16th century manor house, which was donated to the people of Wales by the Earl of Plymouth in 1948.
Here over 50 historical buildings, including a medieval church, shops, farm houses, toll house, hotel among many, from all over Wales, have been re-built, and the project is still not yet finished.
We were lucky that we had a bright and sunny day for our visit;
I leave you to enjoy the walk:
The beautiful modern wool applique wall hangings in Llys Llywelyn -
medieval prince's meeting hall, which depict parts of Welsh history, were apparently designed by local school children.
This is a wonderful place, set in beautiful grounds -
not to be missed if you ever happen to be in the area.
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