touching base

Just to let you know that I am still here!

There hasn't been any stitching progress to report; we have been doing some stuff in the house and my work room became a temporary storage space. I am now slowly reclaiming it!

Earlier in October we had a day out, visiting Fyne Court (NT), a rather well hidden nature reserve in Quantock Hills in Somerset. 

As you can see from the welcome board, there used to be a large country house here once, the home of the Crosse family

The house burnt down in 1894; what is left of the buildings in now a tea room, second hand book shop and offices, with a picnic area in the space where the house once stood. 

Autumn came late this year, and although there were any leaves on the ground, this was more due to the very dry weather we had. 

Despite the lack of autumn color we enjoyed our walk through the grounds.

 Tussock moth caterpillar?

Autumn colour did arrive eventually in our garden.

We even harvested 5 (!) quinces

from our young tree growing in the pot. 

This abutilon will probably flower until Christmas.

That's all for now. 

I hope to have some stitching to show you soon!

pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2010-2021

                                     .....................................in the woods.....

I was surprised that there weren't any more signs of autumn, 

we found only one young tree which has changed its frock already

                                                                              and little of this     

                                                                        

   and this,

but the rest of the forest is still very green, 

and now holidays are over, very quiet, we didn't meet another human.

...................designed by nature..................

and by a man

.........................and at home..................

making "summer" jam; I know, little late for "summer", but there are still summer fruits around.

My regular followers know that I like to make small batches of mixed fruit jams, 

depending on what fruit there is around.

Enough to make small amounts of  "summer in the jar".

.....................and at last hand quilting "Surrounded by Flowers"........

I changed the final border from the original design, because I wasn't very keen on it,

and because I like the blue/grey batik so much.

Thank you for visiting, you lovely people, 

and I hope you will have a wonderful week!

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2010-2021

still summer

Actually, we have been having a mini heatwave in my part of the world, which has been so welcome after a very gloomy August,

with warm summer evenings, despite the fact that it is getting dark much earlier.

So we are back outside, having our breakfasts and lunches out there, simply making most of it.  

Also doing some stitching, sitting in the sunshine and working on the final border of Surrounded by Flowers.

With the arrival of lovely warm sunshine, a feeding frenzy is going on in the garden,

Dahlias, the stars of the show right now, are also the most popular dish.

So, yes, autumn is slowly coming, leaves are changing colour, but any delay is a bonus.

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2010-2021

summer - part 2 (and little of Glastonbury)

That's how it feels; after weeks of changeable weather and lots of drizzle, this week we have seen loads of sunshine, and it has been pleasantly warm, perfect "stitching & reading in the garden" weather.

And what is even more exiting that it is set to continue for a while longer - all set for a wonderful weekend (with a holiday Monday here in England). The forecast is telling us that this could continue well into September - could we be in for "Indian Summer"? I hope so, I am not ready for autumn just yet!

So, on that note I have been getting on with "Surrounded by Flowers", sitting in the sunshine.

This quilt has 2 borders, I am now working on the first one,

and its corner blocks with pentagon applique flowers.

Last week we took ourselves off, in the company of our grandchildren, down the road to 

Glastonbury, for some alternative shopping.

Our 16 years old granddaughter, who is "into" crystals right now, was in her element, with several crystal shops in the town.

Also, as from next month she is starting 6th form education, which means that she "ditched" her school uniform, so she was very pleased to find shops with "little" different clothing than usually found on a high street.

For those of you not in "the know", Glastonbury is a town on the edge of Somerset Levels (in the West Country of England)

dominated by the Tor; it has a long history, and Legends you might find interesting.

 

For not only is Glastonbury the cradle of Christianity in England but is also reputed to be the burial place of King Arthur. Glastonbury is thought to have been a site for pre-Christian worship, perhaps because of its location by the Tor, the highest of the hills surrounding Glastonbury and a superb natural viewpoint.

You might find this (click here)  and here -  interesting.

When I came to live in Somerset, I was told by the locals, 

that Glastonbury is where hippies retired to, which also partly explains the Glastonbury Music Festival connection.

We come here now and then, just to window shop, it is so different from most other towns.

We also followed a very small part of Glastonbury Mural Trail , which now has over 50 murals around the town.

My favourite bit of the day - in the book shop window:

If you ever visit this part of the world,

Glastonbury is a must!

FNwF

Another month gone! 

Thank you Cheryll for getting us together again for virtual get together. You can pop over to her blog to find out what the others were up to.

I was playing with the central block of a new applique project (yes, another one!), 

a small quilt

which I found in one of the older issues of Quiltmania magazine. 

It is by Dutch designer Janine Alers and which she called "Surrounded by  Flowers".

The only other bit of sewing earlier during the week were some very small blocks for the Angel quilt.

I seem to be more in a reading mode right now. Our summer has now settled to more what we are used to in England - a mixture of sun and showers, but some completely dry days, when it is lovely to sit outside and sew or read, in pleasant 20C +.

We are re-discovering our small local library (re-opened last month), which was in a serious danger of closing before Covid, 

but which in fact was refurbished and re-stocked during the lockdown, 

with the help of a substantial financial contribution from Michael Eavis (of Worthy Farm = Glastonbury Music Festival).

The garden has slowly recovered after the hot dry spell.

There isn't much else going on, we are still being very careful 

and keeping away from busy places.

 Enjoy your weekend, whatever you are up to!

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2010-2021