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?"

Hand quilted using pearl cotton and large stitch,

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 !

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2010-2023

                         February at Stourhead , 

                                Snowdrops time! These little beauties are everywhere right now,

a promise of spring.

And Butterfly's Ball progress:

first of the applique borders finished!

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2010-2023

                                          Stourhead Gardens in March

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2010-2022

colours of Stourhead

It had been a very long time since our last trip Stourhead (NT), in fact nearly a year, it is hard to believe.

All National Trust properties were closed during the lockdown, of course, and they started re-opening slowly at the start of the summer. But nothing is normal - to control the numbers of visitors you need pre-book a timed slot for your visit. Everyone has to keep to a one way system through the grounds.

The timed slots are being released every Friday for the week ahead - so you can imagine the rush on Friday morning, special as it was a school half term coming up. No longer you can simply wait for a nice day and then decide to go, and with the awful weather we have been having, booking is taking a chance.

As it happens we were extremely lucky, the day we booked was the only dry morning this week! Not bright, but dry. My daughter was quick of the mark last Friday and booked for all of us, and it was nice to meet up with her and the grandchildren for a lovely walk.

As I said, it was rather dull, so the pictures are not the usual Stourhead quality, but I hope you can still enjoy some of the autumn colours.

There has been a weather warning for tonight and tomorrow, 

lots of rain and high winds are on the way.

I hope it is better where you are and you can enjoy your weekend!

Keep safe!

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2010-2020