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.

Stepping back in time

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One of the things that I spend a lot of time doing when visiting historic houses is to imagine how it must have actually been to live there, without the National Trust interpretation, the carefully staged rooms, and the guided routes around the house. Occasionally there are glimpses of the reality of living in a house that is too big, and too costly to heat properly, or be comfortable, as there was at Chastleton, where I visited in May.

It is more difficult to envisage how ordinary people lived though. The social history museums, such as those that I visited in the Cairngorms this summer, and in Norwich last year. Books help as well, and I love reading biography, and social history research. However these sources only give a selection of what has been kept or remembered.

One of the reasons that I wanted to go back to Northumberland on my trip this summer was to do some more research for my novel. I am so enjoying the process of writing this, along with bits of the others, and I love being able to research things. It is nice to know that those eight years of work on the doctorate have not gone to waste! I am writing my historical character’s timeline now, and am trying to spend a lot of time thinking about how her life would have been, and how she would feel.

Even though I have been to Alnwick before, it was a few years ago, and was more of a tourist trip, so this time I went as a researcher. I went first to the local library, and although they have no archives, they were able to give me access to the British Newspaper Archives, a source I have used briefly before. It was a really productive hour there, and I have managed to get a lot of factual detail that I needed. Later in the summer I also had another brilliant research trip, but that is for another post!

A wander round the town was also useful, thinking about how Dora, my character would have experienced the town in 1947. Would the horse trough and water fountain still be in use? Would there be the same traffic signs outside the town gate? What would she have thought of the street names, Bondgate Within, and Bondgate Without? I know I don’t have to go into too much detail in the book, however the amateur historian and ex-academic in me wants to get all of the details right. Also I am very much enjoying the process.

I stayed at Dunstan Hill campsite, only a short walk from the coastal path, and was lucky enough to have amazing weather. This is such a beautiful part of the country, with so many castles and remnants of early history, such as the development of Christianity, and the invasion of the Vikings. It is definitely an area I want to spend more time in.

On the way back down south I stopped in at Wallington, which has a gorgeous rural setting.

The interior decoration was very impressive as well. This is the unfinished painted central hall, with panels that tell the story of the local area, from the early kings of Northumbria to the industrial boom. The paintings were truly stunning in their detail.

There was also one of the largest pieces of personal needlework that I have ever come across. This panel is embroidery, not woven, and was done over 23 years by Mary Trevelyan, for her husband. It is an amazing piece of work, and I would love to know more about it. 23 years is such a long time to stitch a piece, and I wonder if she worked on it every day, or set it aside at times?

Life here in Spain continues to be very busy and fun. I have been doing a lot of planning for next year, and hope that everything that I want to do comes to fruition. I only have a month left here before my return to the UK, and am frantically trying to get all my sewing projects completed!

I am still very much enjoying making couture for my Barbies, but have other practical things that need to be made for next year’s camping season as well. I hope that you are all busy and happy, and looking forward to the festive season if you celebrate. I have two more stitched ornaments to go, and then on to the ones for 2025!

I missed my blogaversary again this year, but it has been 17 years, (and one week!) of writing here at Stitches of Time. This is my 996th post, so I will have to do something special for the 1000th, which should happen in the new year. I currently have 449 subscribers, and about 200 people visit every week. So huge thanks to all of you for following along, however long you have been here. Whatever you are doing have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.

A self-taught seamstress

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Like many women my age, I did actually have needlework lessons at school. Good old-fashioned needlework, not textiles or design but reading a pattern, doing it all properly with tailors tacks and matching notches. I actually hated it, and after the compulsory two years was very thankful to give it up, one completed apron for cookery, and an unfinished corduroy skirt, (this was the 1970s after all!), later. I did do cookery, at both O and A level, which I loved, and never regretted not doing more needlework, thinking when would I ever need it?

Of course fast forward 35 years, making costumes for medieval re-enactment, and then Steampunk, and I’m really wishing I knew more. All that stuff about adjusting patterns, FBAs, understitching, how do make a successful toile, all of that has been learnt the hard way over the years. I have had some great mentors, in the women from my medieval group, and I loved the dress making days that we used to have, but for the rest, thank goodness for the internet!

I would love to do an in person dressmaking course someday, however my itinerant lifestyle means that is difficult, but there are so many good resources out there now. Sometimes nothing beats human interaction through, especially when you are trying to do fittings on yourself 😉

I am also developing my skills at Barbie couture, a whole different set is needed to work at such a small scale, and have learnt so much in the past few years, and even more in the past couple of weeks. I have been very inspired by all of the wonderful creators that I follow on Instagram. Some of them post process videos as well, which is really useful, as I can follow what they are doing.

One of my favourites is Grace Panisara She makes the most incredible beaded gowns, many replicas of ones worn in real life by pageant participants. The skill of this seamstress is amazing, and I can only hope that someday I can do something half as wonderful as this. This picture below is from her Instagram, just look at this stunning work!

Another favourite is Hoanganhkhoi whose tailored work with reproductions of all of the wonderful Dior creations is beyond belief. I have been struggling with just a few little patterns pieces and some of the jackets have 30 pieces in them! He posts videos of his makes so do go take a look and be amazed.

I have been getting lots of practise though, with the latest fundraiser, and am really pleased with what I have made. There are six outfits in total, a holiday wardrobe to see Barbie through the festive season ahead!

First make was this Christmas Day dress. I knew the fabric wasn’t going to be brilliant to work with, as it was so thick, but really wanted to use it as I had the Poinsettia flower already in my stash and thought it would go really well. Suffice to say the sleeves were a challenge to sew. I ended up hand stitching them, and supporting the while thing with a pen in the armhole while I did that, which worked well.

That material, and the black lace for the evening dress below, had come from a bag given to me by a friend, Vivien, from sewing group here. I really wanted to use the lace, as it feels very Spanish mantilla, so layered it over some dark gold, which may well be something that Kerry gave me, it certainly looks like one of her underdresses from re-enactment.

The blue outfit is another use of scraps, this was left over from when I made my friend Sarah’s wedding dress, they had a Lord of the Rings inspired celebration, and I have posted about making that dress here. This is the first pant suit I have made and it was great, so will do this one again.

It is lovely to be able use up so much that has memories attached to it. This cream fabric is left over from one of the first outfits I made for Ellen for re-enactment, a mere 20 something years ago.

Some of the fabric is stuff I have bought, particularly the lovely silks used in this purple dress, but the organza I have used for the overlay was a gift from someone.

This trouser suit also come from the bag from Vivien, and the silver for the knitted top was given to me by Linda, from the knitting group here.

I have found an amazing source of free Barbie knitting patterns here. Thanks to Lisa for thousands of patterns in multiple languages. This boob tube is an adaptation of pattern no 95, as I didn’t have enough yarn to do a collared version, but I love it.

Initially I was really struggling with zig zagging the pieces after I’d cut them out, to stop fraying, and then just before outfit number 5, I realised that if I traced them with tailors’ chalk, did the zig zagging as a single piece of fabric, then cut them it might be easier… and it was, so much easier. Wish I’d thought of that two weeks ago 😉

I am continuing with making outfits, these will just be for me so I can make them a little more complex and fragile, I try to just use single press studs, hooks or velcro for ones which will go to children, but can bead to my hearts content here and try and do some high fashion stuff. I have been stocking up on a few new things from the local Merca China shops here, they have wonderful selections of beads and bling.

I also realised that these little organza gift bags, which you can buy here in packs of 4 for a euro, will be great for embellishments on gowns. You actually get quite a lot of fabric in each one, so I am experimenting with ruffles for this red gown below.

I mainly use the patterns that I bought a few years ago, from Gail’s doll patterns on Etsy. I bought two 1960s ones, and a 1980s and there are loads of options in each pattern. My favourite patterns are the ones without arms as they are so much easier, but there are some nice coats and jackets with arms and body cut as one piece.

So if you need me in the next few weeks I will be in my atelier, faffing about with tiny bits of fabric and beads! That, my other Christmas crafting, and a new writing course with the WEA, will keep me amused for the next few weeks. Much as I love my travel adventures, I am very much enjoy time in the house with the sewing machine, although the bed still feels very big 😉

Until next time, when I shall return to posting about the summer travels, enjoy whatever you are doing. Have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.

Skill and scale

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The textile treasure that was my last trip out in Scotland was The Great Tapestry of Scotland, now sited in Galashiels, about an hour away from my Dunbar campsite, a beautiful drive through pine forests and small towns. I hadn’t actually heard of the tapestry before, although it was completed in 2013, but found it by accident while looking for something else on Google Maps. Much of my planning is like that, either I just explore an area to visit on Google maps and pin things in advance, or I am inspired by other’s posts on Instagram.

Although the tapestry was completed in 2013, it went on tour, and so was not in its present location, in a purpose built exhibition centre, until 2021. It is also not a tapestry, but in the great tradition of other tapestries, such as the famous Bayeux one, it is referred to as a tapestry, rather than a crewel work embroidery. I like to think that is has all the elements of a tapestry, as it is a textile based weaving in of Scotland’s history, told over 160 stitched panels, all created by over 1,000 volunteer stitchers, whose names are recorded at the entrance to the exhibition.

As I was going through the very many photos I took, trying to edit them down for this post, and trying to think of what title I would give it, the words, ‘skill and scale’, came into my mind. The sheer scale of this community stitching project is immense, as those 1,000 stitchers came from all across Scotland, some working in groups, and some alone. Therefore there was a huge logistical task in sending out all the materials for each panel, and in passing the work between stitchers.

Not all of the stitchers were experienced, so many had to learn new skills. Some were very used to other methods of working, such as cross stitch, or silk embroidery, but not to crewel work, done in wool on linen. Although the stitchers were given panels that already had the outline drawings, done by community artist Andrew Crummy, they had to decide how to fill in the blanks and interpret flowers, natural landscapes, fish, horse armour and stone work, as well as a wide variety of textiles.

I love this stitched fish, such amazing detail and colour.

I also got to see my only red squirrels in all seven weeks in Scotland! Despite my best efforts, and many visits to pine forests, they kept eluding me.

I have selected a few panels to share with you, there are so many I just didn’t have space to include, and also I would strongly encourage you to go and see it for yourself, it is amazing. It was lovely for me to see things represented that I already knew about, places that I had visited, such as Rennie Mackintosh’s design work, and John Muir.

I was also amused to see a panel representing the start of the Ordnance Survey mapping, which was inspired by the army’s need to find the fleeing Scots after the Jacobite Rebellion. Some years ago I read, and thoroughly enjoyed, (much to my children’s bewilderment), the story of how the Ordnance Survey map was created, written by Rachel Hewitt.

There was of course a panel on Mary, Queen of Scots, my ever present muse. What I particularly loved about her panel was that she is portrayed with her stitching, and in the borders are many of the pieces she stitched while with Bess of Hardwick.

Some of these are said to have hidden meanings, such as the cat and mouse picture, which is said to portray Elizabeth 1st as a ginger cat, toying with poor Mary mouse while she decides what her fate will be.

There were also representations of other royalty, and I loved the skills of the stitchers at representing them and their clothes with such detail.

There were also some beautiful panels on natural history, and early archaeological finds.

My favourite panels were the ones representing Scotland’s textile heritage, a dazzling array of different embroidery techniques used to portray the weaving, knitting, production of Paisley shawls, and Fair Isle jumpers. The skills of the stitchers in these panels are astounding.

I also loved the different design elements, in representing complex themes, such as Scotland’s involvement in India. This panel is such a beautiful piece of art.

I had visited my friends who moved to near Dundee earlier in the trip, and they told me all about the 3 Js that Dundee is famous for, journalism, jute and jam.

I haven’t done any embroidery for a long time, but this exhibition has definitely inspired me. I bought the book about the making of the panels as well, and loved reading about all the people involved. It just spoke so much to me, and it is brilliant knowing that their names are recorded. Thank you to all involved, it is an amazing piece of textile art.

By coincidence I have just finished reading a book that I have had on my shelf for a long time, by an author who writes so wonderful about historic textiles. This is the fictionalised account of how one of my favourite actual tapestries, The Lady and The Unicorn series, was made, and is an excellent read if you like lots of detail about historical textiles, as you know I do. I have yet to visit the tapestries in real life, however the book brought back lots of memories of my visit to Abusson in France in May, a great centre of tapestry making, and an excellent museum.

Although there has been no embroidery done here, there has been a whole week of intensive work in the atelier, and I am pleased to report that six couture outfits have been made for Barbie. I have so enjoyed this, despite the odd complexity of working at that scale, and have definitely developed my skills this week.

I will post about them next, before I return to telling you about the English part of the summer travels and our recent trips. We have been very fortunate to avoid the worst of the storms and floods, but as you may know, there has been dreadful devastation and loss of life in Spain, so the local communities here have been trying to help out with donations.

I hope that you are all ok wherever you are, and enjoying life. I will be back as soon as possible, in between my hectic creating schedule 😉 Why does Christmas always seem to come a month too soon, even though I start stitching for it in January?

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

Walking by the sea

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Although I have visited Northumberland quite a few times, I had never visited the coast above Berwick, and so was really excited to stay at the Dunbar Caravan and Camping Club site. The location was gorgeous, on the cliff top just outside the town, with amazing views over the Firth of Forth and Bass Rock. These pictures really don’t do it justice, but I had an excellent pitch overlooking the coast.

Dunbar is a very nice little town. On one of the days I went for a wander, and in the small town museum, which was previously a tower house and the town jail, found another connection with my muse, Mary Queen of Scots. Dunbar Castle, now sadly in ruins, was where she was taken when she was abducted by the Earl of Bothwell. The harbour and the rocky coast are just gorgeous, and the Battery there has been restored.

The town is also the birthplace of the naturalist John Muir, who moved from there to the USA at the ago of 11. He was instrumental in persuading the American government to dedicate National Parks, such as Yosemite, which he loved, and has been a huge influence over land preservation and protection in Scotland as well.

The museum was such an inspiring place, these quotes from his writing sum up so much of how I feel about my life outdoors. I have been lucky enough to live near beautiful wild parts of England, and now spend so much time exploring all the other amazing places in the UK and beyond. Somehow a beautiful sunrise, or sunset, makes everything wonderful, even if there is bad weather that day, all is forgiven when you see those sights.

On my first day at Dunbar, which was gorgeously warm, I went for a walk along the coast to Whitesands Bay, and the Barr Ness Lighthouse. Not only was the sea so blue, but the rock pools amazingly green, looking like craters on another planet. All this picturesque beauty was perfectly set off by a little white sailboat on the horizon.

One of the things I love about solo travel is the people you meet. I am often asked if I get lonely, but I have so many lovely conversations with people on my travels, I never feel alone. I met a very friendly woman while buying an ice cream at the little café at Whitesands, who was telling me how she had been ill for a number of years, and was just starting to get her fitness back, walking parts of the coast from her home in Edinburgh.

That just fits so well with what John Muir said, and something that I can so relate to. I still marvel at how much better I feel these days, how I can walk for miles, and although I am often aching at the end, it’s the good ache of a challenging walk, rather than the terrible pain I used to be in.

I was also lucky enough to have a fine day to visit St Abbs, although there was a heavy sea mist at the campsite, the Heritage Coastal path was stunning.

Again I met some lovely people, a couple of students from Poland, who asked me to take their picture, and the owner of the Post Office, when I stopped for ice cream, who was telling me about when the filming for the Avengers movie took place. The village was used as the set for New Asgard in Endgame, and still has signs up saying, ‘twinned with New Asgard’.

One of the most touching things was this small sculpture outside the visitor centre, of families looking out to sea for their loved ones, something that must have been a constant worry on this rocky coast.

I was there for 6 days, not really enough time as always, and it is definitely an area I would love to return to, as with all of Scotland. So many beautiful parts of the coast still to see! However I was on a tight timeline that week, as I needed to go south for a very exciting event. I will tell you about that a little later, as my next post will be about a visit to a textile wonder, not that from the Dunbar site, that is so amazing it needs a whole post to tell you about.

I have been back in Spain for 10 days now. I went visiting my brother here last week, and am away next week with Mum, so will still have lots to show you from here, once I finish blogging about all the summer adventures. It is lovely to be back, weirdly I am not sleeping well yet in the comfy double bed, after all my time on the road, but am looking forward to spending lots of time with friends and family here, as well as my sewing machine! I have a Barbie wardrobe to make in the next month for our Christmas Fair fundraiser.

I hope that you have all been having a good few weeks. Have fun, take care, stay safe, thanks for visiting, and see you all again soon.

Mary, and engineering marvels

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As I mentioned in my last post I had two stops before getting to my very exciting park up in Falkirk. Both had connections with Mary, Queen of Scots,which is not unusual given that we are in Scotland, but both were unexpected. 

When we were visiting historic places when the children were young, we often used to joke that she had slept everywhere we went. She did certainly move around a lot, particularly when she was under imprisonment during the last 17 years of her life.

When I was last at my current campsite, two years ago, I went to Buxton for the day and was surprised to find another, ‘Mary slept here’ plaque on one of the town’s historic hotels. Apparently she had complained that imprisonment was making her ill, so she had been taken to Buxton for the spa waters.

The first stop was Falkland Palace, in the beautiful village of Falkland.  It was a very wet day, and there were no interior pictures allowed, but Mary used to visit regularly, and play tennis on the court there that is still in existence. 

I had been going to visit my stops in central Falkirk that afternoon, but torrential rain meant that I diverted to Callendar House, a gorgeous building which is now the local museum. 

Not only was it a stunning building, modified many times from its original tower house, but it was also owned by a family with very strong connections to Mary. When she left for France, as she was engaged to the Dauphin  she took with her four ladies in waiting, all called Mary. One of them was Mary Livingston, daughter of the family.

It is so fascinating to come across these links, particularly as all of this is part of what I am writing in my novel. In a strange way I feel as if my travels are constantly linking with the book, even if I am not planning it. There was a photo of one of the embroideries I saw last year in Norfolk as part of their interpretation.  I am doing as much writing as I can on the road as well, mainly for the other books, but am determined to finish book one when I get back to Spain.

This is a photo of the whole house in its autumn beauty, from one of the tourist adverts.  There is also a country park surrounding the house, with Roman ruins as well.

I have been reminded a lot of my job while I have been travelling recently, I have driven past lots of places that I visited doing placement visits, and recently we had a reunion, so I was back in Huddersfield again.

The parts of my job that I really enjoyed were the research ones, and writing, even the doctorate…though not the deadlines! It is lovely to be able to use all that now. I was never going to retire and just sit doing nothing, I’m just not that person.

My exciting park up for that night was at the Kelpies! Sadly the interior lights were off for maintenance, so they were only floodlit at night, but they still looked amazing. I visited again first thing in the morning.  This was an excellent park up, it cost £12.50, with 24 hour access to toilets, and a free coffee at the visitor centre, which really made it only £9.50 for the stay.

The first two photos below are of the small scale models that were built before the actual ones.

My favourite photo above, Kelpie and clouds. This is not my photo below, it was at the visitor centre, but isn’t it stunning?

After the Kelpies, the excitement continued with a visit to the Falkirk Wheel! You will know from previous posts that I love canal history and to see this live was incredible. 

The wheel replaced 11 locks, built in the 18th century, which used to take boats a day to go through.  I was thinking about the original engineers and builders of the canal, and how amazed they would be to see this. Photo below from the tourist advert as well.

You can also stay in the Wheel car park overnight, and it gets lit up as well. So many exciting and different places for van life in Scotland. 

I am currently on the last week of my trip, I haven’t had good WiFi or signal for the last few weeks, so I have many more posts to share. From Falkirk I moved on to my last stop in Scotland, the gorgeous Dunbar, which I will tell you all about next time.

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

Butterflies and bees

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One of the stickers on Katy is a quote from one of my favourite poems, I have mentioned it before, but is has the lines, ‘ What is this life, if full of care, we have no time to stand and stare’. It comes from the poem, Leisure’, by a Welsh poet, William Henry Davies, and was published in 1922. A time when leisure was, as I mentioned in my last post, rare for many working people.

One of my greatest joys these days is being able to take time to really notice things, to stop and watch the butterflies and bees, to look closely at rocks on the beach, and just generally to be more aware and mindful about where I am, what I am feeling and seeing.

Much of this comes with having more time, but it is also about spending most of out outside. I have also had chance to read more widely, and some of those books recently have been about bees, or have included information about beekeeping.

Peter May’s, ‘Coffin Road’, set on Harris, and Sue Monk Kidd’s, ‘The Secret Life of Bees’, set in Southern USA, are both really interesting reads that I have picked up at charity shops, or the book exchanges on my campsites. I love getting books from these places, as it really broadens what I read, rather than the Kindle Unlimited suggestions. 

I have always known that there are many different bees  but a recent visit to Branklyn Gardens, a National Trust for Scotland property in Perth, meant I got to see some in action.

The gardens were looking amazing, it was a really hot day, so I had spent the morning just relaxing and reading at the campsite. I would love to revisit in spring, as they have an extensive collection of rhododendrons, one of my favourite plants.

Another of my favourites are hydrangeas, I love the fact that often they look like butterflies landing on flowers, and there were so many different varieties here.

There were also some fabulous berries. I love autumn for all the variety of these you see.

I had a few nights at the Scone Caravan and Camping Club site, as a stopping point to southern Scotland, but also so that I could go and visit some old friends, who left Yorkshire 29 years ago, for just outside Dundee.

It was a lovely catch up, and we had a quick trip to Arbroath for a walk along the cliffs before I headed back to Scone and then further south to Falkirk. 

I specifically wanted to visit two locations in the city, both connected with canal history and had planned to do both in one day.

However the weather was appalling, the worst I have had, with really heavy rain, so much so that driving felt more like water skiing!

A quick change of plans led to two interesting historical locations, connected with Mary Queen of Scots, which I will share next time. As you may remember, my novel mentions some of the needlework she did with Bess of Hardwick, so it is always interesting finding out more about her story.

More on that, and Falkirk next time. As often the way here, all horrible weather had gone by the evening  leaving a beautiful sunset and blue sky next day.

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