Welsh wanders and wonders

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I was so lucky with the weather during my time in Wales. Considering it was March, and the reputation the country has for rain, I saw very little of it in the month that I was there. This allowed me to do so much lovely walking, along more of the coastal path, but also exploring other parts of both the Llyn Peninsula, and inland, near the English border.

As I mentioned in my last post, I had two weeks at the Haven site just outside Criccieth, so was able to explore a lot more of that coast. The Lynn Peninsula is very narrow and it was amazing to be able to see both sides of it, while I was doing the circular walk on the cliff top at LLanbedrog.

Part of the walk was closed due to previous storm damage, as many trees had been blown over, which gave me chance to walk around the beach. I was admiring the views of Snowdon, which at that point still had snow on the top, and taking lots of shots of the beach.

I really love how this one came out.

I also visited the beach at Borth Y Gest, which must be one of the most beautiful places that I have ever been. Just such an unspoilt place, with amazing views across to Harlech.

There was also a very warm afternoon at Criccieth, walking along the beach, exploring the town. I had to have an ice cream, it was that hot, 17 degrees that day!

I also got another lovely reflection picture as there was an Airstream caravan, used as a coffee takeaway, next to the beach.

There are lots of National Trust areas in the Llyn Penisula, but only one property. I had a gorgeous day for my visit to Plas yn Rhiw, towards the very end of the land. The property was bought in 1938 by three sisters from Nottingham, Eileen, Lorna and Honora Keating, who restored it to its current state. It was so good to see all of the primroses, daffodils and magnolias, and I had a picnic overlooking the bay. The magnolia tree here was planted by Honora in 1949.

After leaving the Llyn Penisula I spent a brilliant weekend with a friend who I met at Polytechnic, so we have known each other for a mere 42 years! We have met up quite regularly over that time, but not often recently in Wales.

Nia is a Welsh speaker, and passionate and knowledgeable about her country and its heritage. She was very kind and gave me a guided tour of all the canal heritage in her area, including something that has been on my bucket list for a long time, the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, which is a World Heritage site.

We started at the Chirk Aqudeuct and viaduct, which is nearby.

You may remember that I spent a lot of my time in Scotland visiting canals, and there is so much rich heritage in Wales, built to supply the Industrial Revolution with coal, bricks and supplies for cities like Manchester and Liverpool. Nearby Ruabon was the centre of brick making in the area, and this is celebrated in an innovative sculpture at the aqueduct site.

This celebration of the tools and products of the industries is just brilliant, a fantastic way to celebrate these artisans.

The Pontcysyllte Aqueduct is a very unique structure, a real feeling of being up in the air, and such a marvellous piece of forward thinking and engineering, from Thomas Telford and his colleagues. It must have taken such determination to convince people, and especially investors, that they could build this, ‘stream in the sky’.

It can feel a bit scary walking along, as there is only a rail on one side, but I was assured that the water is only 5 feet deep. However you have to be very careful if you are in a boat. There are the holes for railings on the other side, but they were never fitted!

We then went to Llangollen, to do the canal walk down to Horseshoe Falls and the Chain Bridge. You can still experience the horse drawn barges along this part of the canal. This was actually the only real rain I had in the whole of my month in Wales, but that didn’t spoil the day.

There was time for a quick visit to Chirk Castle, another Trust property to cross off my list. Although it was a dull day the gardens were still very impressive, and the parkland is stunning. The castle has a long history, sadly initially of suppressing the Welsh, from the 1300s, but most of the tour was of the Georgian room with their ornate ceilings. One of which has been partly cleaned to show the effects of coal fires on the paint work.

I then continued south, which I will have to tell you about in another post, as I am running out of time and space here. I am now back in Spain, and am off out with my Mum tonight, a belated Mother’s Day meal.

While I have been having gorgeous weather in Wales, they have had four named storms in a month, with another one due this weekend, so they have not been able to enjoy the outdoor life much recently. Hopefully the rest of spring will be better here, and of course summer will be baking!

I will return sooner than a month, lack of Wifi in my last couple of weeks in Wales meant that this post has been much delayed. Thank you as always for visiting, over 1500 of you in March, which is wonderful. Take care of yourselves, enjoy life and I will see you again soon!

A few of the 870 miles!

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I left Antalaya last Monday, and spent two days putting Katy back to being a micro camper, before we set off again on Wednesday. Ellen has been using Katy for the last few months, as she gave up her car just before she went to Japan last Nov. The lease was coming to an end, and it seemed a waste for Katy to just sit idle, so she has been a normal van for a while, working at the food bank in Worksop. Katy I were very excited to be on the road again for her first adventure to Wales!

I love Wales, I was actually born in Cardiff, but moved when I was one, so was never brought up there. Frequent visits to the south to see family over the years, and then later lots of family holidays to the north, plus visits to Snowdonia over the years have given me a deep love of my homeland. In fact at one stage I was going to retire to very near to where I am now, to Porthmadog. My plan was to buy a static caravan, use that as my base, and travel the world. Then my Mum moved to Spain, and plans changed.

I drove from Ellen’s to mid Wales on day one. My first park up was at a farm shop, about 11 miles from Bala Lake. Rhug Farmshop offer free park ups overnight, and welcome you to visit the shop and cafe, where I bought very nice cheeses, and kebabs for tea.

Day two was a bit wetter, but it did start off sunny, so I had a walk around the Conwy Falls, and then headed to Dollgellau for park up number two.

I stayed at a newly opened aire, which I found on Park4Nite. No pictures, as it started raining just after I’d finished setting up, and I forgot in the morning! It was a nice quiet night in what looks to be the car park of an old chapel, just outside the centre of the town. I took the scenic route, via Barmouth, passing Harlech Castle, with views of Snowdonia on my right and the Cambrian Coast on my left.

In all these years of visiting Wales, I have never been to the Llyn Peninsula, which is very remiss of me, so that is where I am now. Many people have recommended it to me, and I am so glad I came, as it is stunning. For those of you without a detailed knowledge of Welsh geography, it is the part at the top, that sticks out into the Atlantic, sometimes referred to as ‘Welsh Land’s End’.

It is an area with lots of little seaside towns, inland villages, and amazing coastline. As you know I do love a good coastal path, and Wales has one of the best, a whole 870 miles of it. And in the two weeks I am here, I am attempting to walk a small part of it. I probably won’t do more than 50 out of the total mileage, but it’s a start.

Wales is, as the info tells me, the only country in the world with a continuous waymarked path round its entire coastline. I think this is a pretty cool thing, especially if you love to walk where the mountains meet the sea, which is probably my favourite type of walking.

I am staying on a Haven caravan site. When my children were young we came to lots of these sites, but I hadn’t really considered it for my travels, until a post about touring pitches on one of my van life sites. It was then that I discovered that off season they offer bargain breaks, hence my booking two weeks here now.

I have another week later in the month a bit further down the coast, and in October have also booked some time at two of their Yorkshire sites. They really are fantastic value for money, this one is costing the same as an aire per night, around £15. Much as I love living in Katy, March can be a bit cold, so having this luxurious, for me, option is great.

I have got a cute little first floor apartment, with a fabulous kitchen, so I’ve been cooking lots. I loved being in Turkiye, and ate out almost every night, which was great, but I am really enjoying having such wonderful cooking facilities. I even have a microwave, which I haven’t got in Spain, and have just bought myself a little slow cooker, so there is beef stew on the menu tonight. Mine is the apartment on the bottom left, and is in small complex near one of the main entertainment areas.

The site is lovely, it is very large as you can see from the map below, but beautifully landscaped with lots of trees, lakes, and wildlife areas. It was busy at the weekend but really quiet now all the children are back at school.

There are so many gorgeous caravans here. We went to a site in Somerset every year when I was a child, and seeing them brings back so many memories, and of holidays with my children as well. The caravans here are so luxurious though, compared to what they used to be like when we were young, with gas mantles and no running water.

The best bit is that the site has direct access onto the coastal path, so the first day I walked around to Penychain, about 4 miles there and back. The views over towards Porthmadog and Snowdonia were stunning, and I love the contrast of the gorse against the blue sky.

I have been so lucky with the weather so far, it has been 16 degrees up until today. It is a little colder now, but still so sunny, and I have a view of the hills from my apartment as well. As in Turkiye, I am planning to do some writing while I’m here, so it is nice to have such a lovely place to work.

The following two days I have been to the other side of the peninsula, a mere 20 minutes drive. Firstly to Trefor, where there is a walk along the headland with views of the quarry, and some wonderful sea stacks. There were so many gulls and cormorants on them, which were great to watch. There is a detailed map of the walk here. I love the way the misty mountains just melt into the sea.

The second visit was to another Morfa, Morfa Nefyn , again a National Trust area, where there is a walk along the beach and up the headland, passing the village of Porthdinllean, with its famous pub, and headland golf course. There was no-one on the greens, but I did meet the pub cat!

I still have so many places to visit, I may well have to come back next year. There is so much to do here.

When I’m not walking I have lots planned. As well as my writing, and the cross stitched Christmas ornaments, I have started a crochet blanket. I always promised myself that when I learnt how to do a granny square that I would make one, so bought the wool whilst in Yorkshire. I am going for a moorland colour scheme, a little more muted than my pinks and turquoises in Katy, and have a lovely selection of blues, greens, purple and grey.

As well as the farm business at the Rhug park up, there was a really nice fabric shop, called Amanda’s Fabrics, so I had to have a little visit.

It would have been very rude not to buy anything 😉 so I chose some wool at random, only to find when I unpacked all of my craft stash here that it co-ordinates perfectly with the blanket colours. I am intending to try some squares in the variegated wool, or make a companion cushion cover.

I am so happy here, I love being back in the UK. Much as I love Spain, and my other travels, driving around in Katy is the ultimate joy, even if it involves narrow roads and dodging tractors! My winter exile seems to have gone really quickly this time, it only seems like a few days ago that I was making my way to Jane’s in Yorkshire to house sit for Frankie, and I now have less than a month before I return to Spain.

I shall return again next week, with more lovely Welsh coast for you to admire. Meanwhile, have fun, take care, stay safe, and thanks for visiting.

Minarets and museums

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Antalya Old Town is full of the minarets of mosques, and towers dating from pre 20th century development of the city. This gives it is a beautiful skyline, especially against the blue.

I have peeked into most of the mosques, but they are very much working places of worship, rather than for tourists, and although visitors are welcome, I have not wanted to intrude.

Ramadan starts tomorrow, and in the main city park there are lots of stalls being set up, and a funfair. I am not sure if this is for the celebration at the end of Ramadan, or something that happens for the busy spring and summer period, as it is a popular tourist destination.

At the back of the Old Town is an area with one of the biggest mosques, with a very large fluted minaret, called the Yivlimnare Mosque, which you can see in the bottom left photo above. There is also a very beautifully restored mosque and tomb complex, which is now a museum about Dervish culture.

This area is still being redeveloped and also contains the remains of one of the madrassas, or religious schools. All that is left is this carved gateway.

I have spent most of the last few days here visiting museums. Although small, they have been beautifully set out, and have contained lots of my favourite kinds of displays, textiles. They are housed in original mansions within the Old Town, so have been restored to show some of what family life would have been for people who lived here.

The Ethnography Museum is right next to the port. Housed in two buildings there are really interesting displays of crafts such as weaving and woodcarving.

It reminded me seeing the tablet weaving cards in the top left photo below, that I did try and get to grips with this for medieval re-enactment, but never managed. These are useful for weaving strips which can be used for straps, or sewn together to made bags or saddles.

The loom is being used for a tufted carpet rather than a woven one, and you can see the individual knots of different colours on the warp.

These socks, which are knitted on five needles look very much like the ones my Norwegian friend in Spain knits, it must be so tricky doing patterns in the round, I can barely manage rib!

One of my favourite displays was this one showing a house bathroom, with the many different sorts of taps used. The household would also use the public hammams, so would take their soap and loofahs in a tin with them. Its little things like this that really bring daily life home to you, that little container and the old soaps, a simple thing but so relevant.

The gardens between the houses had a collection of Ottaman era tombstones. I saw some of the these when I was in Larnaca in Cyprus, at the fort. The men’s ones are those with turbans, and the women’s are decorated with floral shapes. If they died unmarried they were made to look like veils at the top. They are so gorgeously carved with different complex motifs.

The textile display was small but had some goldwork and embroidery displays.

This whitework was really interesting. There appears to be a combination of stitching and pulled work, much like Hardangar, which is very much associated with Northern Europe.

This white and goldwork robe shows so clearly the problems of looking after old textiles.

The museum answered the question of why I’ve not seen much in the way of tilework here. Even in the older restored houses it is absent. As it was so much a feature of decoration in other Islamic countries I have visited, I was surprised not to see more of it. The museum’s ceramics display stated that due to the ceramics experts keeping their methods secret, much of the craft had died out here.

There is certainly a lot of beautiful ceramic ware for sale here, but it is very similar to what we have in Spain, so may be made elsewhere. I am trying to resist the urge to buy more of these bowls, just gorgeous!

The other museum belongs to the University here, again really well restored, and displaying life in the courtyard houses of Anatolia.

I love these paintings of the port, no date but I am assuming late 1800s, before any modern development.

Although I couldn’t get any very clear pictures, there was a display of an embroidery frame with a box of thread next to it.

Much of the embroidery I saw was on very fine materials, often gold and metal work on silks and fine linens, such as veils and gowns, so I assume a lot of it was frame based.

This picture is dated 1931, a woman and her friends. Possibly they are dressed for a wedding as the information was about wedding rituals.

There was also quite a lot of regular count work, that looked very reminiscent of cross stitch, but on evenweave, and some vibrant examples of flowers.

As well as the focused visits much of my time has just been wandering again, noticing little things about the architecture. I have discovered even more lovely windows and doors 😉

There are so many gorgeous little things that people probably don’t even see unless they look up. Like these carved supports for the windows, and the way that the roofs nearly touch in some places. It must make restoration really tricky here. I thought the same in Morocco, everything must have to be done with such care.

I have also had a little wander around the more tourist focused area, up at the top of the Old Town. Antalya is definitely the place to come if you want jewellery, I have never seen so many jewellery shops, and there are also some amazing sweet shops.

With those, and the incredible bakeries and cake shops you could end up eating something different every day for a month. There are so many varieties of sweet stuff here, baklava, rice puddings, meringues, as well as so much Turkish Delight of all shapes and colours.

I stopped one day for a coffee just because I loved the cups it was being served in, so detailed. I’m not a huge coffee fan, and when I do drink it I have it very milky, so the little cubes of Turkish Delight were much appreciated. It was so strong ;-0

The other thing that has amazed me about Antalya is the sheer amount of bridal shops here, selling the most amazing gowns. There is one street near my hotel with about 30 shops. Most are white or cream dresses, but there are some more traditional colours displayed as well. If you are wedding shopping come and do it here, I saw one shop advertising bride AND groom outfits for £500 in total 😉

The detail in the beading is amazing, so you can guess what I’m going to be making next for my Barbies!

I only have two days left here. There is one more museum to see, and I shall have a last wander round the port to look at the mountains. The weather is going to be glorious tomorrow, 20 degrees, so you may well find me with a cold beer in a bar overlooking the harbour. I shall really miss these mountains. Turkiye you have been brilliant, and I am looking forward to more of your joys on future visits.

I do have a few more mountains coming up in the next few months though, and am excited that next week I am reunited with Katy, and we are on the road again. It seems forever since we were adventuring, and we are going somewhere that holds a very special place in my heart. I have been before, but not to some of the area, so am very excited. All will be revealed in a couple of weeks!

Until then, as always, have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visting.

Not all who wander are lost…., well maybe only a little bit!

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The first part of the title of this blog post is a popular van life sticker, I don’t have this one, (yet!), but one of my greatest pleasures of my new life is the time to just wander around, and really absorb what I am seeing.

I did wonder if three weeks in Antalya would be too long, would I find enough to see and do here, but I needn’t have worried. I am going to have a busy summer, and so had decided that rather than see a lot in one month, as I did with Morocco, I will spend more time in each city in Turkey. There is so much loveliness to see here, and the Old Town is absolutely brilliant for wandering, without getting too lost.

Unlike the medinas of Morocco, where getting lost was very easy, the Old Town is open to the sky, which gives more landmarks to go by, particularly the many minarets that are in and around it. Also it is bordered on one side by the port, so if you head there you can easily find your way out.

The port still has most of its original features, including the defensive walls. The city walls were demolished in the 1920s.

Most of the Old Town has been beautifully restored. There are so many houses, small hotels, apartments, bars and restaurants here.

At the other side of the Old Town is Hadrian’s Gate, built to honour the Roman Emperor. It is brilliant that this has survived the expansion of the city. You can see in one of the later pictures how two of the columns have been replaced, and one of the crumbling ones supported.

There are also a few museums, and the university has a gorgeous restored painted building which is an Institute for the Study of Mediterranean Culture.

Some of the streets are quite wide, others are narrow alleyways, and each area has its own character. I love all the pots in the Barbaross area.

And of course there are all the doors, and windows. Just so many beautiful examples of woodwork and ironmongery, a real testament to the artisans here.

I think this one has to be my favourite, so far!

I have also seen a couple of the same motifs that I so loved in Morocco. I still have to design an embroidery based on this motif as it is my favourite design.

As most buildings are restored there are few older pieces, but I did find this beautiful carved window cover.

I have been really good and resisted all the many retail opportunities there are here. Turkey is famous for its carpets, but there are also some beautiful textiles and ceramics. However, I only have a very small bag back for the plane to Spain, and Katy is full!

Although most properties have been restored there is still some work to be done. Hopefully there is some additional funding to help businesses do that, as it must cost so much to bring these places back to life.

These were two buildings opposite each other, one has been restored and is now a hotel, and the other is still falling apart. You can just see the sheer amount of work it would take to fix it.

I sill haven’t fully finished exploring the area, I have only visited two out of the four museums, and have yet to go into any of the mosques, so that is on the itinerary for next week.

I did have a boat trip this week as well. It was a glorious day, and we went an hour down the coat to see the Duden Waterfalls, where we were rewarded by a rainbow in the spray as well. A magical trip that I will remember forever.

I also have to give a mention to the many, many cute cats of Antalya. All throughout the Old Town, and the rest of the city, and all of the parks, there are so many cats here. Some lives in the houses and restaurants where people feed them, and there are some little cat hotels in some of the parks, and at the port, where they can also get food and shelter.

I only have six days of exploring left, so will be spending most of my time doing indoor things now, I had wanted to take advantage of the good weather for wandering this week, just in case it rained again. It is due to be fine most of the week, so I am very much looking forward to soaking up as much sun and blue sky as I can before my return to the UK. March’s travels are to a place know more for its wet weather than anything else!

I shall return next week to share the last of my Anatolian adventures with you. Until then, have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.

New mountains and a new language!

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Welcome to my first post from Turkiye! I actually left England last week for my first visit to this beautiful country. I scheduled my last post for a couple of days ago, as I wasn’t certain how much I would be able to post from here. Thankfully I have excellent wifi so all is good.

I have wanted to visit for so many years, especially after watching Chris and Marianne from Tread the Globe, who were here far longer than they intended after Covid found them stuck in a car park in Istanbul for 93 days. They later spent a year touring here, and gave me so many ideas for places that I wanted to see.

I had a really hard time deciding where to come to, there are so many beautiful places, and it is such a big country. Thankfully there looks to be no sign of them joining the EU just yet, so I am allowed to come here for my winter exiles on and off for the next few years I hope. Therefore I decided to just pick one location for this year, and to explore it thoroughly.

I chose to come to Antalya for various practical reasons, such as easy flights from Manchester, but also because of what I had seen of its location. It is such an amazing place, and I can’t stop taking pictures of the mountains that surround the city. It is located on the south coast, and so is on the Mediterranean Sea. Just look at all these gorgeous blues, and the snow capped mountains.

Much of the city is perched on rocky cliffs, so there are only a few beaches, especially the side that I am on. There are lots of little steps down the cliff, and platform bathing areas that I’m sure must be amazing in the summer, the sea is so clear and a wonderful turquoise.

All along the coastline are parks with lots of picnic areas, and nearer the city, restaurants and bars, as well as lots of viewpoints for the mountains. Up until yesterday the weather has been excellent, so I spent most of the first few days just walking along the coast. I have started to explore some of the old town and some museums, which I will post about next time.

I am staying in a really nice hotel, still very much within budget, but very modern and sophisticated compared to some of the accommodation I stayed in last year. I really loved the riads in Morocco, but this is very gorgeous.

It is called Mi Hotel Boutique, and is about 20 minutes walk from the centre of the old town, right next to the coast, and in an area well supplied with supermarkets etc. Since I am here for three weeks I choose somewhere with a kettle and fridge, and a little bit of ‘office space’, as I am doing lots of writing while I’m here.

It is also a great location to see the sunset over the mountains.

The old town here is beautifully restored, but apart from a few buildings, most of Antalaya is very modern, with low rise apartment blocks.

I did wonder why there was nothing much from earlier in the 20th century and after a bit of research found that it is because the city grew from 27,000 people before WW2, to 2 and a half million now, so quickly that it created a housing crisis. Many of these people were migrants, coming here due to the effects of war, and there were at one time lots of shanty towns. These were then replaced by the current housing from the 1970s. As you probably know I find architectural history really interesting, and this explains why everything is so modern here.

Turkish is not really a language that I had looked at before. It is a very interesting situation to be somewhere trying to learn a language that is very unrelated to anything you’ve learnt before. Spanish, French and English share so much in terms of word, and structure, but Turkish is all very new to me.

So far I’m not doing too badly, social signs help a lot as always. You can probably guess what this red road sign says just from its colour and position and lots of words are similar such as ‘taksi’.

Others take some more working out, which is where supermarket shopping comes in handy. It took me a while to work out ,’tea’, after I realised that the ‘c’ is pronounced as ,’ch’, making the word çay sound as ,’chai’, which is very familiar to me from my favourite chai latte drinks. It’s clearly very popular from the size of these bags in the supermarket.

It also helps that restaurants here have lots of pictures of food, so I have learnt ,’peynir’, and ,’tavuk’, which is cheese and chicken, quite easily. I have already had one of the delicious pide, a form of Turkish pizza, with those ingredients.

I was also wondering about why Turkish isn’t written in a different script, but uses the Latin script that most other European languages use. It turns out that this is the result of a deliberate government policy from 1928. This was to modernise the language from the previous Ottoman, which used a combination of Arabic, Turkish and Persian words, and whose alphabet did not reflect some of the sounds needed. Modern Turkish has 29 letters, 8 vowels and 21 consonants. Some of these letters have been modified to better enable the sounds of Turkish to be represented, such as Ç, Ş, Ğ, I, İ, Ö, Ü. This means you have some letters with and without modifications, so you have to look carefully at which form is being used.

This modernisation took place swiftly, and the new language and script replaced the old. It must have been a major undertaking, it brings to mind decimalisation in the UK in 1971, which I still remember clearly as a 9 year old. This article, by a Turkish/British journalist, reflecting on the impact of the language change for scholars of pre 1928 texts, is really interesting and really makes you think about the links between language and culture.

And yes, as Antalya is a major tourist resort, a lot of people speak English, but half the fun of travelling for me is trying to explain what I want in the language of the country, and everyone I’ve met has been really kind while I mangle their language! I have learnt the words for various lovely flavours of ice cream as well. This is ,’nar’, or pomegranate and it was delicious.

I have also been getting to grips with a new currency and exchange rate. Having all the lira makes you feel very rich, that ice cream cost 30 lira, which is about 66p, and the notes are very beautifully designed. I have not come across any other coins than the 1 lira, worth about 2p. Thankfully I have a conversion app on my phone which saves me having to do complex maths in the supermarket.

When I was visiting Nepal, many years ago with the Scout project, the currency all contained pictures of different animals, so we would work out the costs of our food by saying things like, ‘three elephants and a tiger’, which helped us remember the denominations.

I have been having a quiet couple of days, as it has been a bit wet, which has allowed me lots of time to write up the research I did for the novel, in Alnwick, and at Chatsworth. Tomorrow will be dry and sunny again, so I will continue exploring the old town, and the coast. I have been saving lots of lovely door photos for you, and there are also some beautiful textiles coming up!

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

Some peaceful time in the sewing space

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After all my summer adventures it was lovely to spend time at home, and in particular to have lots of time in my little sewing space. I have previously blogged about the Barbie clothes for the Christmas fundraiser, and after I had finished those at the end of November I just kept going. I have had a group of Barbies with no outfits on the shelf in my craft space for a couple of years, and had promised them all new outfits before I left again.

I had so much fun doing this, not only do I feel that I have developed my sewing skills, but also I love just sitting with all my fabrics, beads and shiny jewels, and playing with colour combinations. I have re-organised my fabric storage to make it easier to find things and just enjoyed myself spending hours each week creating.

I have been inspired by various things, often it is the fabric or the beads that spark an idea. This first one was experimenting with the organza from the bags I bought. Although they are only small pieces they are perfect for little adornments like these ruffles. The red fabric is a stock of small silk pieces that have been in my stash for at least ten years.

I have been using the same pattern, but adapting it with different fabrics and skirt shapes. This is one of my favourite designs and I love beading the bodices. The bodice fabric on the black and bronze dress comes from the same old silk stash. It is nice to finally be using up things 😉

I did some experimenting with layers of tulle. This is some I bought in New York when Ellen and I went, and I added sewn on beads and stick on daisies.

I love the way that this ribbon from stash goes perfectly with the daisies.

My most complex project was inspired by all the wonderful Instagram cosplay makes from the Wicked movie. I didn’t have enough fabric to make a full Glinda bubble dress, but this is one inspired by it. There was a lot of geometrical pondering to get the skirt petals done. Each petal is a double layered circle of fabric, with another layer of tulle folded over it as well.

I am very pleased with the way the beading worked. I did the bodice and the petals separately as I thought it would be easier to bead the petals while they were flat, and then added beads at the waist to make it look as if they were continuous.

This ensemble was made from some raw silk, I love working with this fabric and was keen to experiment with beading. With hindsight it would have been easier to bead the dress before I made it up, but I like the colour graduations on the beads.

I have been buying a few different doll’s heads, from Aliexpress. This Mulan one inspired me to use a piece of Chinese silk that has been around for about fifteen years.

As well as all the Barbie clothes I did a bit of Christmas knitting and crochet. First was a hat for a children’s gift box for the local orphanage. Then I made some wrist warmers for my aunt, from my favourite Emerald Wristwarmer pattern, free from Ravelry. I love the variegations in this wool.

With my new found crochet skills I made some soft baskets from a skein of variegated macramé thread. These were for my brother and his wife, for their cave house. They were an adaptation of various free patterns from Ravelry.

Then there were the usual cross stitched ornaments. These were the ones for friends, a selection of Quaker snowflakes and JBW designs.

These were the family ones, again from the same mixed sources.

I had a bit of emergency knitting to do in between the cross stitching. You may remember last Christmas the fundraiser was a little knitted mouse. Debbie, from our knitting group won it and gave it to her granddaughter in the USA. Sadly she left it on a plane and was very upset. Luckily I had most of a mouse in bits in my stash, and some spare dresses, so she had a replacement to give her on Christmas Day.

I also got around to tackling the WIP pile. I have a lot of embroideries, mainly of designs from Jenny of Elefantz, that I have been meaning to make up into something. This one got as far as being given one of my favourite Churn Dash block surrounds, but has been languishing in the pile for at least six years.

I am always in need of new project bags for travelling so it didn’t take long to make this one up. I also made up this design for my Mum to keep her embroideries in. I originally intended it to be a Christmas gift for her about five years ago, but better late than never. I loved stitching this one, again another of Jenny’s designs.

I also got some lovely Christmas presents. My Mum wanted to buy me something, rather than just give me money, and in following some of the wonderful Instagram Barbie designers I have found a whole new world of jewellery and crowns. I was lucky enough to get these for Christmas. My Glinda Barbie looks gorgeous in her tiara, and I am planning a very extravagant dress to go with the crown, although that will have to wait until autumn now.

It was a hugely productive three months, I did more in those weeks than I have all year, and am very pleased with the progress on the WIPs pile and in using some of the long buried stash. I have already started on the Christmas cross stitching for 2025, have completed two hats for donations, sent the premature baby hats that I knitted earlier last year off, and started my charity knitting for 2025. As I shall be on the road again for the next two months, and then having a very busy spring and summer, I am choosing small portable projects.

I will return in a couple of weeks, Wifi permitting to update you on what I have been doing. Until then, have fun, take care, stay safe, and thanks for visiting.

Exploring Andalucía

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On my return to Spain in October I had two trips to Andalucía in the first two weeks, firstly to visit my brother Ben, and sister-in-law Amanda, at their cave house in Galera. I have been to visit once before, three years ago when I first retired, but they have done a lot to the house since, literally creating new rooms at the back of the cave. Their dining room is now just about completed, and they have some steps up to the first floor, which is still a work in progress. The first two pictures below show some of the other cave houses in the town.

The town is so beautiful, with its houses snaking up the ravines of the valley. There are so many cave houses here, due to the rock being soft enough to dig into, and so many different varieties of house to admire. This visit the mirador, or look out point, had been completed, so Ben drove us up the winding tracks to the start of the path. Such amazing views, like looking at a living map of the centre of the town, and the stunning mountains and cloud formations all around.

We had a visit to the nearby town of Huescar, for the weekly market. This is still a very traditional area of Spain, although there are quite a lot of people of different nationalities in Galera who have bought cave houses, the surrounding towns are very much rural Spain, with tiny traditional shops, and most of the weekly shopping done at the market. It is a gorgeous place.

There was one area, next to a wool shop that I was very good and didn’t go into 😉 that was decorated, both with a crochet sunshade, and a painted wall, celebrating local women in different occupations.

Lots of lovely food, and one of my brother’s famous bbqs, as well as drinks at the bar and hotel, and we were back to La Marina, four hours on the coach for a week at home before our next trip.

Jerez and Cadiz have been on my wishlist for a long time, to complete my exploration of the southern cities of Spain. This time we went on an organised coach trip, which meant another ten hours there, through the gorgeous Sierra Neveda, to Jerez where we were based for the three nights. The hotel Dona Blanca was beautiful, and situated right in the middle of Jerez.

We spent the first day visiting Jerez on our own, while the rest of the group went to Seville, as we had been there a few years ago. It was quite wet, but luckily we were able to see most of the things that we wanted to see.

It has such grace as a city, very small, but famous for the production of sherry. I loved the old tiled adverts that were still on many of the buildings. We did end our day sipping sherry at that gorgeous bar that you can see in the photos in the middle of the top row above, while people watching in the main square.

I have never seen as many candles surrounding an icon as the one in the cathedral, and there was some exceptional goldwork as well.

Another notable aspect was the number of speciality shops for sweets and biscuits, this one had the best autumn themed display.

The Alcazar, the Moorish fort with added 17th century palace, was beautiful. The original mosque has been restored, and it is a brilliant blend of the different cultures that have lived in the city. There was an olive press there that must have been at least thirty feet long, it was incredible.

One of my favourite things was the display of fiesta posters in the palace, such wonderful examples of the development of graphic design and art.

Sadly the second day, the trip to Cadiz, was very, very wet. We weren’t able to do much sightseeing, as the rain was torrential, but we did see the cathedral, a beautiful chapel, and have a lovely tapas at the market, which has now become a food hall.

We didn’t realise at the time, but this was the edge of the terrible Storm Dana, which killed so many people in our region of Valencia. While we were in Cadiz, the centre of Jerez flooded, and on our return the city centre was closed. We cut the trip short the next day, due to flooding and more storm warnings, and came straight back rather than visit a mountain village as intended. We were very, very lucky as our area avoided severe damage, and were able to help with fundraising efforts through our local charities when we got back.

I would love to return to Cadiz one day. I am already provisionally planning a return to Spain in Katy, and possibly to Portugal as well, inspired by so many You Tube and Instagram accounts that I follow that are there now. I loved the previous trip I did, and have collected so many more pins on my Google map of places to visit. It won’t be this year though but 2026 is looking promising!

For now though I will concentrate on this year’s adventures, but it doesn’t hurt to plan, it is half the fun if not more, and I have spent some of this week doing the final planning for the next two months. Hopefully there will be one more blog post before I can share that, as I need to show you all of the things I spent the rest of my three months in Spain doing. It was a lovely quiet time, and there was actual crafting going on, a miracle!

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

Coming home

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Even though I no longer live in the area, I still consider Yorkshire, and the Peak District home. It is the place that I have spent the most time in, and I just love the countryside. It is also so nice to return to catch up with friends. At the end of the summer I chose to spend my last two weeks camping in the Yorkshire Dales, and the Staffordshire Peak District, between Buxton and Leek.

The first site was a Camping and Caravanning Club certified location, one of the smaller sites, for usually up to 5 vans. They are privately owned, often farm sites and I wanted to try one out. It was a stunning location, in the village of Buckden, not far from Kettlewell, and right in the middle of the Yorkshire Dales National Park. The park celebrated its 70th anniversary in November 2024, and has always been one of my favourite places to camp. When my children were younger we used to come here all the time.

The certified location was on Heber Farm, with some very cute animals and a friendly cat host. As it was very quiet in the out of season October week that I was there I ended up on the farm campsite section, rather than the certified location in another field a few minutes away, so I could be near the facilities. The owners, Gill and Gary, were really welcoming and I loved staying there. Not only was it a fantastic campsite, with a facilities pod, and a few glamping pods as well, it is right on the Dales Way.

As always it was lovely to meet with other campers, a few walkers and mountain bikers were still around, and I met some lovely fellow outdoor enthusiasts. As I mentioned in my last post, I needed a quiet couple of weeks, and as the weather was variable enjoyed lots of time just reading and stitching my final Christmas ornaments, as well as some walks. I love the walk signs along the routes, both old and new.

I did go to Malham Cove on a beautiful sunny day, the drive there was so gorgeous and I am getting much more used to single track roads now! By the time I got there it had got a little duller, but I didn’t mind. I spent far too much time taking photos of the clouds, and just watching the weather change. I love the contrasts within a few minutes when you are walking, sparkling water to thundery skies, just magic!

My last site was one of the first that I ever stayed at in 2022, Leek Caravanning and Camping Club. This has to be one of my favourite sites, situated on one of my favourite roads for driving, the A53, from Buxton to Leek. Just stunning views, particularly the first stretch when you can see across to Chrome and Parkhouse Hills, known as the Dragon’s Back due to their unusual shape.

That week was spent looking at the clouds a lot. I remember that this site had the most beautiful clouds and sunsets last time, and it didn’t disappoint this time.

I was able to visit a few of the places that I have had on my wishlist for a while, such as Ilam and Dovedale. It was the most stunning autumn day, really warm and the walk was just brilliant, one my best days of 2024. I was just so happy to have been spending another summer doing what I love, and still enjoying living out of a Renault Kangoo and travelling. I can’t wait to get back to this life in March.

Ilam Hall is now a Youth Hostel, but the grounds are open and there is an excellent National Trust tea room or two, so I treated myself to a cream tea after the hike over to Dovestones.

The houses in Ilam village are just gorgeous, it was rebuilt as a model village styling itself on a Swiss village.

Another trip was to Rudyard Lake. Rudyard Kipling’s parents met there, and so he was named after the location. The lake is a reservoir built to serve the canals, but has been used for pleasure trips since the Victorian era, and there was some really good interpretation about the history, as well as some very friendly squirrels!

I also had a very exciting research trip to the Chatsworth House archives. I had contacted them earlier in the year to see if I could access some diaries that I know Evelyn, Duchess of Devonshire, the last owner of Hardwick Hall, kept when she was restoring the tapestries. I was told I wasn’t able to access the diaries, due to the 100 year privacy rule, but there was a small notebook they had listed detailing some of her textiles.

When I got there I was told that when they opened the archive box with the notebook in, they found two folders that they hadn’t known about. They were full of Evelyn’s notes about her restoration work at Hardwick, detailing visits from museum conservators, and the compromises that she was having to make trying to care for all the textiles there with little money.

It was absolutely amazing, and the best thing was that it fits perfectly into the timeline I am writing about. It was such a magical moment, and I am so thrilled that I found them. I haven’t done much writing recently but hopefully can catch up over the next couple of months with some writing retreats whilst travelling.

My final trip that week was into the town of Leek, as I had spotted that the local museum had an embroidery exhibition. Although only small, it was a fascinating display. Leek was at one point famous for silk production, like its neighbour Macclesfield. There were many silk mills in the town, and the wife of the owner of one of them, Elizabeth Wardle, as well as being the mother of 14 children, 9 of whom survived infancy, also set up the Leek Embroidery Society.

The organisation produced embroidery for clients, and designed and sold kits. They had some examples of the work, which was stunning, excuse the reflections from the glass cases.

The Leek silk mills specialised in the production of Tusser silk, which is made from the cocoons of the moths, and is a much coarser silk. It was a really fascinating display, and the museum is well a worth a visit, for that and its other textile treasures.

There was also an architectural trail through the town, celebrating the Victorian heritage of buildings such as the Nicholson Institute. This was built to house a library, and training school for textile workers, with friezes above the windows celebrating the various skills. The town has links with William Morris, who worked with many local mill owners. One of the original rows of weavers’ cottages has been turned into a covered arcade with craft shops, cafes and galleries. A really lovely textile filled afternoon.

I will leave you with a quote from one of the displays at Rudyard Lake. One of my favourite poems is by Rudyard Kipling, and it is one which has inspired my love of travel and meeting people from other cultures. It is called, ‘In the Neolithic Age’, and contains the lines, ‘Still the world is wondrous large, seven seas from marge to marge, and it holds a vast of various kinds of man. And the wildest dreams of Kew, are the facts of Kathmandu, and the crimes of Clapham chaste in Martaban.’ I remember having that on my bedroom wall, and vowing that one day I would visit those places. Not got to Martaban, which is in Mayanmar, yet, but maybe someday.

This quote really sums up the way I live my life now. I am so looking forward to more adventures in 2025, the first of which start next week. I am going to visit somewhere that has been on my wish list for a very long time, and am very excited to tell you all about it. There will be mountains, sea, and definitely textiles, which I know doesn’t narrow it down much for me, but all will be revealed in a couple of weeks 😉

Meanwhile I am finishing my second cat sit of the year, poor Dave the cat has been desperate to sit on my lap this afternoon, and keeps giving me upset stares, so will have to go and give him a cuddle now.

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

Rest and relaxation

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It may sound strange to say that I needed a bit of quiet time this summer, but after all of the excitement of Scotland and the van life festival, I really needed a quiet couple of weeks.

For the first week I chose to visit an area that I have driven past many times, on the M1. We would see the signs for, ‘The National Forest’, and be a little confused, as there seemed to be few trees. However staying at the Conkers Caravan and Camping Club site, right next to the visitor centre, gave me a chance to explore the area, and find out more about it.

On the way from Stratford I stopped off at Charlecote Park. I have visited before, however it was a lovely sunny day, so great for a wander in the deer park, and I don’t need any excuse to admire amazing plasterwork ceilings!

As far as textile treasures there were some beautiful needlepoint chairs, six contrasting designs on marquetry wood bases in the library.

The house volunteers, along with local community textile groups, had created a stunning pumpkin display in the kitchen.

The National Forest is actually an environmental charity, working across a 200 square mile area of the Midlands, helping to reclaim industrial land, repair the effects of industrialisation, and develop tourism and sustainable businesses in the area. The area is centred around Burton on Trent, Ashby de la Zouche, and Coalville, all important centres of industrial development in the 18th and 19th centuries. The area has a well developed canal network, and you know how I love canals!

The Conkers site is a small, spacious and quiet one, and after a day of doing the washing, tidying the van and sitting in the sun reading, I went off on walks the following two days.

My first walk took me to some local ponds, a lot of wildlife habitats have been created in between former industrial areas, and these were now part of a fishing complex and a caravan site. Lots of beautiful autumn colours, and some squirrels!

The second walk followed the path of the canal, through the Moira Basin, to the Moira Furnace, a lime and coal furnace which is now a museum. I love the way that the heritage has been preserved and the paths have been made accessible, and there were lots of walkers and cyclists around as it was such gorgeous weather. The Moira Furnace complex also has a small craft workshops area and café.

I have become fascinated by seed pods along the canal banks, and have taken so many pictures of them this summer.

This one I intend to print off and frame, I just love the way that the pods are curling in on themselves for autumn.

Then it was off back up north to Huddersfield, for our 42nd year reunion with friends who I was at Polytechnic with. A fantastic time, catching up in the pub on Friday with someone I haven’t seen for about 20 years, and then a bbq and night round the fire with other friends on the Saturday. Such a brilliant two days, and I am so grateful to have good friendships that have lasted this long. We already have this year’s reunion date in the calendar.

I am now back in Marsden, house sitting for one of the furriest cats on the planet, the adorable Frankie, and having my dose of winter. It was a very snowy when I flew back, so we were a little delayed, and the Colne Valley looked very pretty for a few days.

Sadly the snow has gone, and we are back to dull and damp, but I am having such a good time catching up with friends, and booking all of this year’s accommodation and flights, that it hasn’t mattered. I have a lovely warm house to stay in, and very importantly BBC I Player so I have been able to watch all of last year’s Sewing Bee 😉

It is amazing that it is nearly the end of January already, time seems to whizz by. It is lovely to be here in the UK at the moment, but I will be leaving again in a couple of weeks, for more adventures. My aim is get all of the summer/ and autumn blog posts completed before I leave, as I then have seven weeks of travel before my return to Spain in April. I have been very efficient and have sorted everything out until this time next year, because of some great bargains available at the moment, so fingers crossed 2025 will be as wonderful as the last three years, in fact it is set to be even more exciting.

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

All the things that I could have been

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Now I am retired from my 35 years of teaching, I often think back on why I choose that particular career path, and all the other things that I could have done with my life. There have been many moments where I have stopped and thought about other careers, some I have even attempted to pursue.

I remember at one of my first re-enactment events thinking that I should have done more with my love of live music. I did a lot of volunteering when I was a teenager and at college, and loved the thrill of being involved in gigs. I was dancing to the band, an amazing group called Schelmish, from Germany, thinking, ‘I should have got more tattoos, and become a drummer!’.

At one of the last academic conferences I did, where I was presenting a paper based on my doctoral research, I met so many people with fascinating careers as medieval historians, and wondered why I had never followed my love of history at school. I have so enjoyed being an amateur historian as an adult, from involvement in re-enactment to all the textile history that I love.

I have also wondered about becoming a professional textile artist, that was the one that nearly happened, but sadly life got in the way. I was planning to retrain in my mid forties, and set up Stitches of Time as a business, but that wasn’t meant to be.

Being who I am now, a traveller, is definitely the best thing that has ever happened to me, career wise. Not that I make any money at all from it, though I suppose I could try through all the other channels that people use. Ultimately though I just want to enjoy myself, and spend time in the company of like minded people.

The Adventure Overland Show, that I went to in Stratford this September, was amazing for that. I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed the weekend, in the company of people who love doing the same things that I do. OK, I’ve only driven Katy to and from Spain so far, rather than circumnavigated the globe in my Landrover, as some of the others had, but it’s a start 😉

Even just wandering round the camping field was fantastic, so many different types of vehicles, from the cuteness of the vintage VW, to the inventiveness of the R2D2 inspired ventilation hub, with so many varieties of vehicle in between.

The lit up vans were also brilliant, complete with discos.

People were very kind about Katy, I bought her a new flag at the show, as I have been looking for one for a while. She looked splendid with all her crafting on show.

A friend recently shared this photo saying it reminded her of me in Katy, I think it sums it up perfectly!

She was definitely one of the smallest vans there, especially compared to the mega trucks in the Overland field. Look at all these amazing homes on wheels, just right for driving along the Karakoram Highway!

It was also so inspiring to hear all of the talks, one of my favourites was from the three people who converted a school bus, and with some others drove the entire length of the Pan-American Highway. The group called Global Convoy, are documenting their journey here on You Tube, and they also have all their other adventures there as well, so interesting!

I don’t know if I will ever get to do anything like that, but I did get to meet some people in whose footsteps I have been following just a little bit. I first came across Marianne and Chris from Tread the Globe before they went full-time in their van, and attempted to drive around the world at the start of 2020.

Needless to say that was a very interesting journey, including 93 days in a car park in Istanbul, but they made it home this summer, and were at the show. I was so overjoyed to meet them, and their van Trudy, and hear more about their adventures. They are even more lovely in real life, and I still remember them replying to me after I emailed them told them about passing my test and buying Katy, they were so supportive.

It was an amazing weekend, at the end of an amazing summer. I still can’t believe all of the things that I’ve done in 2024, and all of the places that I have been to. It really has been a dream come true. I was trying to pick some of my favourite pictures from this year for Instagram, and it was so hard, everything has been incredible, even the tail end of the hurricane in Skye, when the 40 mph winds rocked the van all day! I have chosen another set for here, as it feels fitting to end the year with a bit of a review.

So on to 2025, which looks set to be my most exciting year yet. Things are still in the planning stages, but there are going to be some big changes ahead, which will hopefully lead to me being able to fulfil a few more long held dreams. I will of course let you know more as things happen, the first step is a few weeks back in the UK from next week, house sitting for some cute cats, and firming up the winter plans.

I hope that you all have a great start to 2025, and enjoy your celebrations of 2024 this evening. I hope that the year has treated you kindly, and that you look forward with joy to the next one. I am so grateful for my continuing health and happiness in my new role as a full-time happy person!

Have fun, take care, stay safe, and thanks for visiting.