Category: embroidery

The work of so many hands

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The lasting impression from Morocco is a culture with just so much rich adornment. So many beautiful wood carvings on doors and ceilings, incredible plasterwork, endless mosaics, decorated shoes, beautiful clothes, an absolute riot of colour and pattern that is breath taking and bedazzling. Now back in England it all seems a bit plain in comparison, and although it is lovely to be here, I am missing the tiles and the gorgeousness of it all.

Marrakesh was a great way to end the tour. I did originally wonder if I should have done it the other way round, and ended up at the peaceful seaside resorts of Essouria and Agadir, but on reflection am happy with the way it turned out. Morocco is a place of so much colour, and noise and vibrancy, (and traffic!), that it was probably better to ease into it.

Most days in Marrakesh I visited the Jemaa el – Fnaa Square in the centre of the city. I have been before and knew that it is the lively heart of the medina, with so many stalls, and restaurants, and entertainers of all sorts. It is noisy and chaotic and wonderful!

As well as all the daytime offerings, such as the horse carriages and the many cafes and juice bars, every evening from around 4pm a whole extra set of temporary food stalls get built, such a lot of work each day. I sat one of the days with another cup of delicious tea just watching all of the frantic activity.

I love the contrast in the last photo above of the traditional water sellers, who pose for pictures, and the silver ‘statue’ performer.

This trip I also went to the museum at one side of the square, which is housed in the old Moroccan National Bank building, constructed in 1927.

I didn’t realise that the square has been in existence since the 1600s, and has always been used as as place for musicians, storytellers and entertainers of all types. It was a lovely museum, mostly using old photos and film to document the life of the square, and really interesting.

This water seller was photographed in 1966. I also saw these little roundabout seats in the woodwork museum in Fes, but am not sure when they date from.

Near the square is the Koutoubia Mosque, thankfully it only sustained minor damage in the 2023 earthquake, and is being restored. It has parks and fountains all around it, so I usually had my lunch there.

The other museum I visited linked in really well to the Jemma El-Fnaa one, the Mouassine Music Museum is in another beautifully restored mansion, which dates from the 16th century.

If I thought the lower floors were impressive, that was nothing compared to the guest apartment on the upper floor. They hold music sessions here every Monday evening.

The building has been extensively restored and there were some really good videos showing the work. Apologies for the slightly grainy pictures, but this is when they were scraping off all of the plaster that had been put over the wall frieze, and cleaning the paintwork.

It is so brilliant to see so many skilled people being able to restore the buildings as well, there must be so much to do here, with so many wonderful places that need TLC.

There were excellent displays of instruments, but more importantly for me, lots of videos and photos of people playing them, and dancing and a great focus on the dress of the performers.

These facial tattoos, in the second photo, are fascinating. These are from some of the women in the Atlas hill tribes.

Although there was not much in the way of textiles in either museum, I did find a little bit. This gorgeous shawl had very delicate whitework embroidery. The main history museum is closed at the moment, so I expect there would have been more there.

I did see quite a few shops selling traditional embroidery and textile goods as I wandered through the medina, as well as more modern kaftan shops. I was also very excited to see a little zellige workshop in the medina near my riad. I stood and watched the artisan chipping the tiles for a little while.

In the same way that the Hassan 2nd mosque in Casablanca is supporting training of current artisans, there is an artisan’s centre in Marrakesh, just outside the medina. It is an amazing building and contains workshops as well as places to buy the wonderful creations.

Of course I must finish my Moroccan series of blogs posts with revealing the taxi colour for Marrakesh ! It is a creamy yellow.

I think in this city there must be one taxi for every three people, I have never seen so many in my life. That does make it really easy to get around, though most of the time I enjoyed walking. You can’t stop and take door photos as easily from a taxi can you 😉

I shall finish this post with some of the wonderful doors from my last few days of wandering in the medina.

I was really thrilled to find this lovely old door open, and was able to peek inside at an amazing riad. I think it was still being restored, but what a palace!

It has been such a privilege to be able to visit this country, to see where all the inspiration for the places that I love in Spain come from, and to find out more about its history. I have really enjoyed the visit and would love to go back, albeit next time with a bigger suitcase and a lottery win to spend on lamps 😉

I have had a lovely couple of days with Ellen. She came back from her month in Europe the day I left for Morocco. She visited Spain, Switzerland, France, Belgium and The Netherlands in her time away, everything from mountain cable cars, medieval Alsace towns, and chocolate museums, as well as a quick trip to Disneyland Paris where she met up with her friends. She loved everything and is now planning another month in Asia for later in the year. I am so proud of her for being a confident solo traveller and having such amazing adventures.

I am off again tomorrow, to Scotland, to spend a few days with my friend Sue, can’t wait as I am so looking forward to seeing her, and the beauty of Scotland again. I will be back next weekend, so until then, have fun, take care, stay safe, and thanks for visiting.

Exploring Essouria

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Essouria is a city people visit for lots of reasons, for me it was reading about it as a laid back seaside resort, and I thought it would be lovely to spend some time at a smaller place before going on to the bigger cities.

I will end my time in Morocco in Marrakesh, so am appreciating the calm of this little city. As I mentioned in my last post, it is very quiet compared to Agadir, and very small. I walked from the medina to the other end of the beach, almost at the edge of the city, in about 45 minutes the other day.

The medina is also a good one for novice explorers to Morocco, as it is small and easy to navigate, being more of a grid layout than others. I remember getting very lost in the one in Marrakesh when I visited 13 years ago, whereas this is easy to find your way around, probably as the medina is right next to the port. You know you can’t go wrong if you follow the seagulls! There are lots of open areas and gardens, showing the French influence on the architecture.

As I mentioned in my last post, the medina is surrounded by high walls, which have been restored, with gates or Babs. Most have their cannons still situated with them, from when Essouria, or Mogador as it was formerly known, had to defend itself.

I went down to the port area one day, the fish market is really fascinating to see, so many varieties caught locally. There is also the fortified tower with Spanish guns, used against the French in the late 1700s, and the wall ramparts which have been used in the Game of Thrones series.

As well as the seagulls hoping for scraps from the fish market, there are lots of cats. I know people often worry about stray animals in Morocco, but the ones that I have seen here in the cities look very well fed and healthy, lots seem to live at shops or in restaurants. This little cat was having a lovely sleep in the sun in the medina yesterday.

There are lots of tourist shops and stalls in the medina, but also just lots of ordinary market areas, particularly at the back where I am staying, which is a less touristy area. There is so much fresh fruit here, and loads of lovely bread and sweet things. I have been very good and resisted the temptation to buy any textiles, although there are some gorgeous bags. There are also beautiful ceramics, and lots of leather items.

I have allowed myself unlimited photos of doors, and windows, though, as they take up no space in the luggage 😉 As in Cyprus last year, blue is the top choice of door colour here.

The area that I am staying in is the textile district, and there are still some traditional weavers here in the street where the dar is. They stretch their threads along the length of the street, which is really interesting to watch.

I was very excited today as, diverting off to take another door photo, I found an embroidery shop! I managed to have a conversation with the owner in French and he explained that these are rayon threads used in machine embroidery. I had to buy three in my favourite colours and have plans for another Moroccan inspired stitchery for Katy. It was hard to chose from all the gorgeousness here.

The part of the medina at the back, nearest the ramparts is undergoing extensive renovation, they are demolishing many of the old buildings so it will be interesting to see what replaces them. I met my host yesterday morning, Paolo, the owner of Dar 91, and we had a really interesting talk about Essouria as a tourist resort.

He told me that government are helping with renovation, hoping to bring more tourists into the town, which links with what I said in the last post. The house next door will be renovated soon, and the local owner has moved out while that is done, but she will move back into her house afterwards.

Fun fact about Morocco, most of the, I assume phone towers, have been decorated to look like palm trees. I noticed this firstly in Agadir, and here are some right outside the medina.

I am spending time every day writing my novel as well, I am determined to finish it this year. It will have taken three years, but I have been really enjoying the research and the writing courses that I have taken in that time as well. I am in no real hurry but I have so many ideas for more books, I need to get this one done before I can move on. I am loving having the intellectual challenge, especially as this half of the book has involved much more research about unknown topics.

I am off to Casablanca tomorrow, which will be very different. Another bus ride ahead, this time for 6 hours, so am really looking forward to that. So I will see you in a few days. Have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.

Repeating myself

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I have found that the last few months of crafting have been very much about making the same sorts of things that I’ve done before, so much so that almost a year to the day that I was putting together some knitted reindeers for a friend, Facebook reminded me that I had made the same things in 2023.

There is a certain comfort in doing the same types of things, and some of it is utility. This year’s Christmas fundraiser was another knitted animal, as I knew that I had some mouse parts in stash that I had knitted a while ago, so thought a knitted ‘Chrismouse’ would be good for the ‘guess the name’ at our craft fair. Turns out that although that I had most of a mouse knitted, there was no head, and I hadn’t got any of the same wool! So all except the ears and tail were knitted again.

She turned out very well though, and with a Christmas dress, and a selection of pretty dresses, spare shoes and a bag, raised 100 euros for our food bank charity in Spain.

She was won by one of our sewing group members who has an eighteen month old grand daughter, so Christina, as I called her, has gone off to live in the USA where she has been made very welcome.

I have also just finished the unicorns, for babies that friends are having, meet Alexander and George.

These are my first unicorns, and they were great to do, the horns were a little tricky as they are a twisted i-cord, and I had to re-do them twice in better yarn, but got them finished over the weekend.

Both of these patterns are by the wonderfully talented Julie of Little Cotton Rabbits. Not only is she a knitting genius but very generous as well. She has just upgraded her removable shoes pattern to include three new styles of boots. That will be brilliant for future knits. The shoes for Christina are the first pairs of removable ones that I have made, even though I bought the pattern some years ago.

I wanted to do some different knitting while here at Ellen’s, so have made myself a hat and wrist warmers. Both are free patterns from Ravelry. The hat yarn is left over from the rabbit I knitted last year for my great niece, Willow, and is from The Range. It is so soft and comfy to wear.

I have really enjoyed this knitting, and they make great travelling and van projects, so have decided to make more for this year’s charity craft fair. Although I have lots of plain toy yarn, I have little of other types, but found a great wool shop in Chesterfield where I bought this beautiful yarn. I love knitting with variegated yarn so am looking forward to casting this on and seeing how it knits up.

I want to develop my skills at using circular needles as well so have got some new ones, as all my old ones went in the great de stash of 2021!

I have also stitched lots of Christmas ornaments, as in previous years, and again these have all been from JBW designs. There were a total of 10 this year, all from the same JBW design booklet that I mentioned in this post. I made these for friends in Yorkshire. They thankfully arrived in time this year, last year they were affected by postal strikes, so I finished them all by September and left them with Ellen to post.

These were the ones for my aunt and cousins.

This cute little mitten was for my Mum, and I’m planning to do more of these, and some snowflakes for the Yorkshire ones this year. I’ve already stitched two.

We had an embroidery workshop part two at sewing group, where I taught people how to use applique before embroidering. These are all patterns by the very creative Jenny of Elefantz.

I love her work, and need to find more things to do with the finished products, sadly Katy now has all the hanging hoops she has space for!

Gale did a workshop the following week and taught us all macramé. I was very pleased with the two little key rings that I made, and have plans to make a hanging tray for Katy that I saw on someone’s Instagram, when I get back in April.

In terms of quilting I extended one of the log cabin blocks that I made in 2020 to make a new cushion for Katy, which I absolutely love.

The applique cushion that I made last year got a bit damaged, so I’ve repurposed it. It will be a craft storage bag once it’s completed, which I’ll keep in the van.

As well as the new small van I showed you a few posts ago, I also got another storage tin for Katy, this was from Aldi and came with free biscuits so that was a win!

I have wanted to try and improve my crochet skills for a while. I have a great book, 100 Flowers to Knit and Crochet by Lesley Stanfield that I’ve owned for years. I took it away with me this summer in the van, but just spent the time staring miserably at the instructions, and being baffled by the diagrams.

Luckily when Ellen came to stay in Spain we had a masterclass, and I very pleased to be able to to learn to make all these on the left below, as well as a few more of the large lilac design. Ellen made all the ones on the right and now I have enough for some bunting for Katy!

I finally found a frame for the black work I did last year, based on a tile at the Alhambra in Granada. I had been hunting for ages, but needed a 3 inch square one, and remembered I’d given Ellen some from my old stash. She was very kind and gave it back to me, and it is perfect for the design. I think my next design I need to find the frame first!

In terms of other projects for 2024 I will be mainly looking for small portable ones. I am travelling for nearly 8 months this year, so will be away from the sewing machine, and the stash, for most of the time.

I want to do some different things as well, so will be looking for things that extend my skills. It is lovely to stay in your comfort zone, but I am looking forward to more crochet, and possibly some English Paper Piecing. I love that, but haven’t done any for so long, and that is a great small project as well.

I also have some possible cross stitch patterns that I want to do, there are so many cute caravan designs available! This is one of my favourite, by the same designer as the original caravan hoops I did, Flamingo Toes.

If you have any ideas of good small useful things I can crochet, please let me know. I also need somewhere for things to go, so any suggestions of charities that need things please let me know.

I’ll be packing up ready to leave Ellen’s tomorrow, so will see you all again as soon as I can from my next adventure. This trip will definitely be an exercise in self restraint, as I’m going somewhere with amazing textiles. I am planning to take a very small bag with me, to avoid temptation, but will take lots of pictures!

See you all soon. Until then have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.

Beating my personal best

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As you may know I love visiting historic places and on my recent UK trip managed to go to eighteen Trust houses over ten counties of England. In addition I visited six of the Trust’s coastal areas, and six English Heritage properties. There were also seven museums, three cathedrals, two re-enactment events, three festivals, and a re-union, as well as five meet ups with old friends. I think that must count as my busiest time yet.

In one week, coming from Yorkshire after my reunion, via Cambridge to Canterbury, I visited no fewer than five properties in three days, which has to be a record for me. I had planed my route to Cambridge to enable me to see two properties on the way there, two the following day, and then on day three I had an epic drive which also involved the M11, M25, Dartford Crossing and the M2, so was feeling very accomplished by the end of that week. As I mentioned in my last post, there has been some interesting driving this summer, but the M25 and Dartford Crossing were not as scary as I had thought they would be. In fact Katy and I really enjoyed the views from the Dartford Bridge.

The properties really varied, and all had their particular interests for me. The first stop was at Woolsthorpe Manor, the family home of Sir Isaac Newton, and the location of that famous apple tree.

Many years ago I did a course on maths education which included a module on the history of mathematical thought, with a study of Newton’s famous text included in it, so it was very interesting to see one of the earliest editions.

The house was really well interpreted, we had a very knowledgeable volunteer tour guide, and I loved the fact that they had recreated Isaac’s bedroom, putting the drawings on the walls that he did to work out his principles, and recreating his letters and workings out at his desk.

The tour focused a lot on his mother, Hannah, as well, and her life as it was the anniversary of her birth, so that was very interesting, as it was very much about his family life, not just his work. I wonder what she used these beautiful wall cupboards for.

One of the loveliest things there was that the tour started at the tree that inspired his work on gravity, and ended at a sapling that had been grow from a seed taken to space by UK astronaut Tim Peake, neatly linking the story of gravity. The original tree fell after a storm and a new one grew from its trunk.

The next house was very different, the grandeur of Wimpole, and its large estate was a real contrast to the tiny farmhouse.

This mansion was beautifully decorated, looking like it could have been another set for the Bridgerton series, with a stunning library which had very unusual décor, and a chapel with a blue and gold painted ceiling.

I came across a very unusual bed hanging set there. Unlike many of the others it wasn’t beautifully embroidered or made of velvet, it looked far more like it had been draped in fishing nets. I can’t say it was a particularly attractive look, but certainly unusual.

There was also a large bath, installed in the basement, alongside one of the early Victorian showers. I would like to imagine people sitting in here sipping champagne maybe, before changing for dinner.

The next day I went to Ickworth, This has been on my wish list for a very long time for its stunning architecture, It is actually in Suffolk, but was nearer the border with Cambridgeshire, so I had left it for this visit, rather than the previous week.

The house was built to be a showcase for the family’s art collection, and again I had a excellent guided tour. It was really splendid, with some very impressive formal rooms. My favourite area was the central part and the floors under the rotunda, which housed a beautiful library.

I also loved this Italian room, its décor reminded me so much of the palaces we visited in Venice earlier this year.

There was a large collection of silver fish containers, the heads being hinged. I am unsure what they were, perhaps for snuff, but they were gorgeous.

That afternoon I visited Anglesey Abbey, it was a gorgeous sunny autumn day which made the visit wonderful, as it has such lovely grounds. The last owner, Lord Fairhaven, spent a lot of his time developing the gardens. This house hadn’t really been on my wish list, I was just really visiting as I was in the area, but it is definitely one of my all time favourite Trust houses.

It is such a beautiful house architecturally, with its original abbey architecture and Jacobean style ceilings, and the collection within it is stunning.

My favourites were the portraits everywhere of Tudor monarchs, many within the wonderful library.

As well as some beautiful embroidery, including some goldwork from royal standards, there was also a very touching textile treasure.

Lord Fairhaven specified that the house was to be kept as it was, his home, after it was given to the Trust, and his donations included his entire wardrobe. This is such a wonderful glimpse into his life, and really personalised the visit for me. I could imagine him choosing a jacket to go and walk the grounds in, or his valet picking out a pair of shoes for a formal dinner.

There is also a wonderful collection of paintings of Windsor Castle in the house, which form a very interesting record of its development.

The final house in Essex was another that had been on my wish list and it was amazing! You enter Audley End and drive past the house to get to the car park, so you get a real sense of what it must have been like to arrive there as a guest.

The story of the house is fascinating as well, it dates from the 1600s and was originally three times as big. Sadly there are no interior pictures allowed but there were incredible plaster ceilings, this has been a theme of the houses that I have visited this summer, and I do so love them. I think Jacobean architecture is my favourite style, I just love the sheer exuberance of it!

This picture of the saloon is from the EH website, the portraits of past kings were also wonderful, but that ceiling is amazing.

It is again very well interpreted, and the current focus is the family who lived there during the Victorian era.

The five properties were all so different, and really highlight the value of preserving these parts of our history. I think my memberships of the National Trust and English Heritage represent exceptional value for money, and I am very pleased to think that I am helping to keep these houses cared for for future visitors.

My next post will be all about my travels in Kent, my final county in England, where I visited so many lovely heritage properties. Kent was probably my favourite county out of all of the South East, and it is so big I hardly scratched the surface of all the lovely places there.

Until next time, have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.

A tale of two cathedrals

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I visited many wonderful cathedrals on my recent trip, both in the UK and Spain. Two that struck me as very similar, in terms of their history and location were Norwich and Canterbury. Both are particularly famous as religious centres, and both have cathedral schools attached, so during my visit there were lots of children around.

Norwich had the most gorgeous cloisters, I spent so much time wandering round and looking at them from different angles, and the way that they framed the tower. There is something fascinating to me about the combination of stonework, arches and fans, and the light and dark between the cloister walls and the courtyard spaces they enclose.

On one of the pillars was this, I am not sure whether it is a mason’s mark, or just graffiti, but it is a little touch of human involvement in all this splendour. Whoever EA was, I’m sure they were just as amazed by the place in 1630, as we are now, maybe more so given that we are able to build tall and magnificent structures all the time now.

The inside of the cathedral is also wonderful, so many beautiful windows, and the fan vaulting on the ceiling is just stunning.

Two of the windows celebrate one of Norwich’s most famous religious figures, Julian of Norwich. She was a a nun, and anchoress, who lived in seclusion in Norwich in the mid 1300s and is credited with writing the first English language works by a woman, ‘Revelations of Divine Love’, though as we know there may have been other women writing under male names.

I read this many book years ago, as part of my research for my role as a nun within re-enactment, and her most famous saying ‘all shall be well, and all shall be well. and all manner of things shall be well’, is one that has stayed with me since I first read it, and something I have often said to myself when things got stressful. I couldn’t get a good photo of my favourite window, showing her and her cat, so this is via Google.

Canterbury is famous as a site of pilgrimage, and the cathedral precinct is stunning. You enter through this amazing gate.

I was lucky as I was visiting on a beautiful sunny day, so the contrast between the stone and the sky was amazing.

The inside contains some incredibly detailed stonework, the picture below is unlike anything I have even seen, such a wealth beautiful detail in the carvings.

There are also beautiful cloisters, though I think Norwich’s have the edge for sheer scale.

As Canterbury is so famous it has many significant tombs. This one is the tomb of Henry Chichele, archbishop in the early 1400s. The carvings on this tomb are some of the best that I have ever seen.

There were similar carvings around the priest’s lectern as well.

The most famous tomb is that of the Edward, The Black Prince This was of particular interest to me for several reasons. One of which is that Edward’s heraldic coat is in the cathedral, in the lower level, (no pictures allowed), and a reproduction of it hangs over the tomb, along with his helmet.

I remember watching one of the Amber Buchart series, ‘A Stitch in Time’ where she recreates this garment with other fashion historians. One of my re-enactment friends, Richard, portrays the Black Prince, and his very talented partner Kat, who I have mentioned many times before here, has also made the garment. I had a very interesting chat with the volunteer who was near the tomb, and told her about our costume making for re-enactment.

The other thing I loved was another version of the Mothers’ Union banner of the Virgin Mary, this time accompanied by two saints. The stitching on this was exquisite.

If you are a regular reader you will know that I have been fascinated by these, which appear regularly in churches and cathedrals in the UK, often of a similar design. I decided to do some research about them, and while I didn’t find any answers to my questions about whether they promoted as projects nationally, and where the designs came from, I did find an interesting booklet, written by Bob Trubshaw, with a history of the Mothers’ Union. In the booklet Bob asks many of the same questions, and like me, mourns the lack of information about who made all these banners.

The chapterhouse at the cathedral was one of the most stunning, I have ever seen, the ceiling was incredible.

There was also this beautiful window, depicting monarchs and notable religious figures from British history. I loved this representation of Queen Victoria.

Truly stunning places, and an amazing testament to all of the people who worked on them originally, and now care for, and volunteer in them.

I will be back soon with the next post, where I will share with you my trips in Suffolk. I am so glad that I was able to spend so much time exploring these parts of England, it was a brilliant way to spend the summer. I am already starting to plan next summer, which is very exciting. Even though it is great to be in Spain in my little house, I am already looking forward to life back on the road next year.

Meanwhile there is Christmas crafting to be done, those last few ornaments won’t make themselves so I had better get stitching! See you all next time, until then have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.

I do love a good social history museum!

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Although I spend a large amount of my time visiting historic houses, full of very grand furniture and amazing portraiture, I equally love museums that capture ordinary life. I feel that it is a vital part of what museums are there for, not only ordinary life 500 years ago, but also 50 years ago. This vital role means that the visitors can connect with what they say, older people like me recalling childhood experiences, and younger ones appreciating how much life has changed.

I had been really looking forward to visiting Norwich, some years ago I went to a fantastic conference at Leeds University, full of presentations about medieval life, several of which were about places in Norwich. This was in 2019, before the world stopped for so long, and I have been meaning to visit ever since. When I met up with Jules at Sheringham, the van lifer who I first met in the Peak District last year, who has an identical van to mine, she had some great tips for me as well.

The first day I went to the castle museum. Most of this is a traditional museum with lots of glass cases full of stuffed animals, and archaeological finds, although they also had some themed galleries. It was amazing to see the finds from the Snettisham Hoard. To think that they were made about 2000 thousand years ago is incredible, and the craftsmanship is beautiful.

The museum also had some good decorative arts galleries with textile treasures in. I particularly love this Tudor embroidered sleeve.

There were several samplers, and this one was unusual, as it is a darning stitches sampler. Most are representing a variety of stitches but this is the first darning one I have seen.

There were some great needlework tools on display, including this beautiful case with mother of pearl thread winders. I love to think of the owner sitting stitching using this and wonder where the other pieces ended up. The knitting needle holders were also really interesting, they are designed to be attached to a belt.

The second museum was the excellent Museum of Norwich, housed in the centre of the city in the Bridewell, a building which has had many uses including workhouse and prison. What I particularly loved about this museum was the themed rooms and the displays. This one below shows a fabric shop from the late 1700s. The original sample books are in the display room, and outside there is a reproduction one , (last photo), that you can study in depth. Absolutely fascinating for a textile nerd like me!

They also had some dressmakers and haberdashery shops set up. The bottom right picture shows the, ‘change card’, from a local department store, that was given in the form of safety pins, rather than coins. An interesting take on the phrase, ‘pin money’.

The grocery shop was fascinating, not least to see how much, or how little the packaging had changed for things. They also had a display of pre-decimalisation coins, which I remember very well from my childhood. I used to get sixpence a week pocket money, thruppence to spend on sweets and the rest to save for my annual seaside holiday.

They also had a whole pharmacy set up. This collection was made by a practising pharmacist, John Newstead, over a number of years, as he wanted to preserve the wonderful things such as the jars and drawer labels as shops were modernised from the 1960s. It is accompanied by a really interesting video about how pharmacists would make medicine for people pre the NHS. It is interesting to reflect that pharmacies now have a much wider role, more like they did originally, in healthcare, rather than just dispensing medicine.

The final section had some great reminders of childhood for me. I used to help my Mum mince meat using a Spong mincer like the one on the right in this first photo, and remember my family allocating money for each aspect of savings, I am not sure we had a tin like this but I’m sure we had something. This must be fascinating for the school children that visit who possibly rarely see cash being used in this way anymore.

There was also a lovely display of sewing related items, I particularly liked the embroidery set in the first case. So many great gifts for future home makers 😉 and a very good summary of what interests were meant to be for girls in the 1950s and 60s.

My third museum was Strangers’ Hall, so named as many refugees lived in the area at one time. This building dates from the 1320s and is now the museum of domestic life. Each of the rooms has a different historical era, and as expected a wealth of wonderful textiles.

The first part of the house is the Great Hall, with some gorgeous costume portraits.

I was particularly impressed with the level of care taken in the interpretation and reproduction of the textile displays, as in this 17th century bedroom, where reproduction bed hangings and a redwork pillowcase complement the historic pieces.

I had a very interesting talk with the head curator at the end of my visit, and she showed me the detailed files of research they have on everything they do. I think what makes this museum so fascinating is that as you move through the different rooms you get a real sense of how people lived in them. The contrast between the dark wood and table carpets of the Jacobean era, and the Georgian decor is really evident.

It reminds me of when IKEA stores first opened in the UK and we were all encouraged to ,’chuck out our chintz’, and go for the very simple clean lines of Scandi style. I did have a house that was almost completely furnished by IKEA at one point, before I went back to my love of colour and lots of different textures.

My favourite room was the Victorian parlour, partly because of the sheer amount of needlepoint in there 🙂 So many wonderful pieces all crammed together. I particularly loved the embroidered book covers. I can just imagine groups of stitchers sitting around a table like this, sharing needlepoint patterns and deciding on their next projects.

I appreciate why some things have to be kept in glass cases, it must be a conservation nightmare to cope with all the dust in these rooms, but it so nice to see things in situ and get a sense of people’s lives with these objects. As proved in my previous post, there is no guarantee that the glass case is going to be safe from things like pesky wasps anyway!

I stayed at the Norwich Caravan and Camping Club site, partly chosen as it was within walking distance of a bus stop into the city. By coincidence, as I drove into the site, I spotted another almost identical van to mine, and the owner Terri, came to say hello the next day and gave me a quick tour of her van. She has a modified boot jump and uses curtains so it was very interesting to see her set up. Her van is on the right below.

I am starting to finalise my plans for next year’s travel. I am leaving Spain in 5 weeks, and am going to be doing a combination of UK visiting friends and family and warmer weather destinations. One of the things that I have just booked though is a ticket for another van life show, next September. I couldn’t make it this year, but am really looking forward to meeting many more micro camper owners and sharing designs and stories. I have had such an amazing year of travel, and meeting lots of different people in all types of vans, tents and caravans. It has been brilliant, everything I dreamed of for my retirement. I am so lucky to be able to have this life.

I have also made a list of all of the blog posts I am going to do about the summer’s adventures and there are another 19 to go. That should take me nicely up to when my adventures start again! Thanks to everyone who follows me, likes, and comments, it is very, very much appreciated.

Although I have missed the date, (again!), I have just had my 16th blogaversay. It is appropriate that my very first post, as to be expected from the 2nd Dec 2007 was about Christmas ornaments, as that is what I am going to be stitching this afternoon, before going on a coach trip to see the Christmas lights in Alicante. I now have around 1700 visitors every month and 437 subscribers! This is my 938th post, so we will have to have a big celebration when I get to 1000 sometime next year.

Meanwhile I hope that you are all well and enjoying life, whatever you are doing have fun, take care, stay safe, and thanks a million for visiting!

More Jacobean splendour, and a crafting update

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There are many houses that I have visited that look very similar to each other. Sometimes, as with Hardwick and Wollaton Hall, as well as Gawthorpe, it is because they were designed by the same architect, Smythson. Others are similar as they were built in a style that was fashionable at the time.

To me, Felbrigg Hall, near Norwich, looks very similar to Hardwick, particularly the top of the original façade.

You may notice, if you are familiar with Latin, that the carving on the top of the hall reads differently to how you might expect it to. We are familiar with, ‘Gloria in Excelsis Deo’, partly from the hymn of that name. The phrase means, ‘Glory to God in the highest’. The carving at the top of the house reads, ‘Gloria Deo in Excelsis’. I am not sure why this is, and neither was the guide. it may be that was a more familiar phrase when the house was built.

The hall was extended, so it has a very different feel at the rear, far more Baroque in style. The original part of the hall was my favourite, partly due to the stunning ceilings again. I am not sure if this one was originally Jacobean, or from the remodel they had later but it it very beautiful.

The hall was full of books, and beautiful works of art, collected by the family on their travels, and they had remodelled rooms to display their collections of stained glass and art, as in this room, specifically decorated to look like an art gallery.

The last squire of Felbrigg, Robert Wyndham Ketton-Cremer was a keen historian, and I thought that one of the loveliest things in the house was his desk.

I particularly love that book with the beautiful cover. I have visited so many fantastic places this summer, but have had to stop myself from buying notebooks at every one, I already have too many unused, but I do love a gorgeous notebook. I can just imaging him sitting in his sunny study writing using that gorgeous inkwell.

I love the human touches in these houses. More than the grand paintings, or the splendid architecture, the thought of someone sitting in the rooms, and appreciating them, is wonderful. As Robert had no heirs, and his younger brother died in WW2, he made sure that the house was safe by passing it on to the Trust in 1941. There are also gorgeous gardens, including a very colourful kitchen garden.

As for textile treasures, I think the prize has to go to these two lovely fire screens in one of the library areas, now sadly faded, but what hours of work must have gone into these.

They look like the sort of thing that would have been bought in kit form, possibly late 1800s, but I am guessing as there was no provenance. They have a look of the kind of paintings people saw on their Grand Tours, then replicated for use in their houses.

I had an amazing time in Cordoba last week, so many things to show you, but I must stick with the timeline and finish the UK posts before I even get to the wonders of France and Spain. It is now probably only little day trips in Katy until end of Jan, so I will have plenty of time for updates on a more regular basis. Katy is loving being in the sunshine, and driving around La Marina, and I am loving the freedom to travel to all those places that are too far for my bike.

I have been busy with some finishes. I have finally put together a set of reindeer for a friend who really loved the ones I did for the fundraiser last year. These I have named Rudy and Ruby.

This year’s fundraiser will be a knitted mouse, I have been knitting dresses while I have been away, so just some shoes to finish and the making up to do.

It has been great to be back at my knitting and sewing groups and catching up with everyone, and practising my Spanish again! We have had the first of a few workshops that we are having this ‘term’, a ribbon embroidery one led by Vivien. I didn’t get it finished, but am pleased with what I did.

I am running another embroidery workshop next week, this time with added bits of fabric applique. The lovely thing is that a couple of people who have never embroidered before the last one really enjoyed it, and have been doing lots more over the summer. These are Lynne’s mandala designs which are fantastic, especially as she had never stitched before. She has used children’s colouring books and traced the designs, as they are a great source of inspiration.

It is still sunny and warm here as well, unseasonably so as it has been around 24 degrees this week. Apologies to all my UK friends and family who are freezing, damp and cold!

I had a very nice, and unexpected visitor last week before going to Cordoba, a fellow van owner, and solo traveller, Debbie, who I met in the summer at a festival in Worcester. She was in my area, on her way to Morocco, so she spent a few days parked up at my house, enjoying, and hiding from, the 29 degrees we had that week. It was brilliant to see her, and I am following her adventures now, as she has just arrived in Morocco. That has been one of the very best things about my travels this summer, meeting so many other people who enjoy van life as I do. Being at home is great, but I still have very itchy feet 😉

I need to stay in one place for a while though, if only to have time to plan the next trips! I will be back soon with more of my textile related adventures in Norfolk. Hope you are all having a good time, wherever you are. Have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.

Blickling, a paradise of plasterwork

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I have long wanted to visit Blickling Hall in Norfolk. Ellen visited many years ago, as part of her role at the Trust, a their textile conservation studio is based there. It was a brilliant day out, the drive there was beautiful and the hall looked stunning.

It was built in the early 1600s, and the house that it replaced was believed to be where Anne Bolyen was born. It is the most stunning piece of Jacobean architecture, and the ceilings are amazing. I have rarely seen such ornate ones in any of the Trust houses that I have visited, of particular note were the very large finials on the designs, the ones in the lounge were huge.

The library, in the bottom two photos, was one of the most ornate ceilings that I have ever seen, this was originally the Long Gallery, until the 1740s when it was remodelled.

Because of the royal connection there were some gorgeous portraits, again with such stunning lace details. There were portraits of Henry 8th and Elizabeth 1st, as well as some other Elizabethan nobles.

I was very interested in this one, of Anne of Denmark, many years ago Mum and I visited the castle where she was brought up when we went to Copenhagen. The castle was a very beautiful place but in quite a remote coastal location, and I remember wondering at the time what she felt about her marriage and moving to Scotland and England. She was the wife of King James 1st of England and mother of Charles 1st, and by all accounts led a very tumultuous life.

One of the things that I love about visiting historic places is how it allows me to fill in the gaps in my historical knowledge, and make connections between people and places. Anne appears to have no direct connection to Blickling, but no doubt the portrait was acquired for its own sake, as it is beautiful.

There were some lovely beds on display, this first one dates from the Jacobean period and is in beautiful condition, with the colours on the crewel work so vibrant.

This was a very unusual set of bed hangings, on a bed in the fashionable Chinese bedroom. It has a mixture of heraldry and embroidered flowers, and looks as if it may have been pieced together from separate components.

There was also a very impressive state bed, which has recently been extensively restored. It dates from the late 1700s, and has the heraldries of King George 1st, 2nd and 3rd.

There is no information that I can find about whether any of the kings ever slept in it, but I loved the information about where the component parts came from, taken from this link at The National Trust collections site.

‘The tester and headboard (which bear the Royal Arms as used 1714 – 1800) are said to have been made out of a canopy of state given to John Hobart, 2nd Earl of Buckinghamshire in 1762 on the occasion of his embassy to St. Petersburg whilst serving as envoy to the Russian Court, a post he held between 1762 and 1765. Throughout the eighteenth century, every British ambassador representing the monarch abroad was supplied by the government with a state canopy, a chair of state, a pair of portraits of the king and queen as well as an allowance for ambassadorial silver.‘

I love the idea of this textile travelling to Russia and back again and ending up in Norfolk!

As well as the very impressive beds there were many gorgeous pieces of hand worked textiles, such as this cushion, and the fire screen in the photo below. As always when I see pieces like this I think of the hours of work by someone in the house to make these items.

There was some active conservation work happening at the time with the cushions in the lounge. I do like the way that the Trust are making this work more explicit now, rather than closing houses for deep cleaning. I know it must make it more difficult to do all the necessary work, but I really love to see all this in action.

I have been doing a lot of deep cleaning myself, it’s amazing how dirty the house gets even when I’m not here. The cockroaches are partly to blame for that, did you know that they poo? It’s like little mouse droppings, so I have to have a good clean out of all of the cupboards whenever I return. Luckily I don’t have any precious textiles here that are at risk.

Mum and I have been out, making the most of having Katy here so we went for lunch at the beach, and then an exciting trip to the DIY shop to buy new taps for the bathroom sink 🙂 We are off out again to some of the gorgeous coastline today, then off to Cordoba next week for a little city visit as it is so long since I have been in a historic Spanish city 😉 I will back as soon as I can with more of Norfolk, until then, have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.

Herefordshire heritage

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I had a lovely time a few weeks back when I was staying at the Hereford Caravan and Camping Club site.

There are lots of Trust properties in that area so I was pleased that I managed to visit two as well as Leominster for the embroidery exhibition.

The first of two that I went to in one day was Croft Castle. Like Dunster, in Somerset, this started life as a castle and was then modified into a family home.

The family had close links with the court of Elizabeth 1st, so there were some wonderful portraits in the entrance hall.

One of the exhibits was a, ‘Croft Cloth’, that was made in 2018 to celebrate the centenary of the Representation of the People Act, which gave more people the vote.

The cloth has oak leaves with the names of staff, volunteers and visitors, this being the symbol of the Trust. I love collaborative projects like these, reminiscent of the signature quilts from Victorian era fundraisers.

There was also some interesting embroidery in the form of a collage featuring the castle done in 1960 by Frances Kay.

There were some stunning ceiling and wall decorations that I will add to my possible future designs for needlework, these would look amazing in white work.

The other visit was to Berrington Hall, a Georgian property with a surprise textile treasure.

A dress owned by one of the Georgian occupants of the house, Ann Bangham, was acquired at auction and there is a display of the dress and its construction.

The dress consists of many parts so the textile historians had to reconstruct it. It dates from the late 1700s.

As well as this very good interpretation there is a room devoted to a display by the needlework volunteers who each created their own version of the missing stomacher.

It is brilliant to see so much information about these wonderful people. Often there is no information and little credit given to the volunteers who also produce such high quality garments for visitors to dress in at the house.

The detail on the embroidered jacket here is wonderful, well done to all who contributed to this collection.

I shall be back as soon as I can as I have lots more to share with you. The app for mobile is very slow and as I have only limited WiFi as well posts take a long time to do. Meanwhile I hope that you have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.

Leominster, a history in stitches

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I spent most of last week at a beautiful campsite near Hereford.

I had chosen this site as there were a lot of things that I didn’t get to see last year in this area, and one of those was an embroidered history of the town of Leominster that I had seen mentioned in a tourist brochure last year.

The embroidery is housed in a community centre which in itself is well worth a visit. Grange Court dates from the 1600s and was once located in the centre of the town where it was the market hall.

It was sold in 1855, dismantled and moved to its current site near the Priory. It was a family home and is now used for many different community purposes, including a cafe and wedding venue.

The embroidery panels were done by a local group of stitchers and were made over 4 years by 15 stitchers in time for the Queen’s Jubilee in 2012.

They feature a wide variety of techniques such as crewel work trapunto and applique. Some are themed, such as the history of the Priory, or WW2, others summarise the events of one century.

There was some amazing work in the panels, I think my favourite were the early history ones that featured wool work and applique.

I also loved the trapunto ones, featuring stonework from the Priory and the woodwork details of the market.

A really wonderful labour of love from the embroiderers and a very special way of portraying the local history.

We had a lovely weekend at the Evesham event, it was raining on the Saturday but nice and sunny in Sunday and we had the miracle of a dry pack down.

It was also brilliant to see all of the talented people who make all their own clothes for events. Dave, in the black below, also does leatherwork. You can find him at Buffy Leatherwork on Facebook and Instagram. He had made things for film and TV including the recent movie about Richard 3rd, The Lost King.

These boxes above were made by my other friend, also called Dave. He also made and painted the bed in their tent. They are absolutely stunning, museum quality.

I will leave you with one of my favourite pictures, of me and Kerry in her tent. She is wearing one of her beautiful gowns, which is a wonderful red and gold in real life. I do love the sepia version of the picture though.

I am off to another festival this weekend, where Katy is in the show field, so I am very excited about that. I will then be in Lincolnshire for nearly two weeks so hopefully will have lots of long beach walks and even see some seals.

Until next time have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.