Tag: vintage textiles

Some very different kinds of ironwork

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One of the reasons that I love living in Spain,  and visiting Spanish cities, is all the amazing ironwork on the balconies. All of our houses have some kind of protective grilles on the windows, and these and the gates are often quite ornate.

This is often a feature of the country houses I visit as well, with grand staircases and balconies, and I love all of the amazing artistry that can be created out of metal.  Having seen blacksmiths at many medieval events I am always in awe of their work.

One of my days on the way to Scotland, via  a visit to a friend in Wales, involved driving through Shropshire,  a county I need to spend more time in as it is so beautiful.  I drove from Ellen’s across to Attingham Park firstly, another Trust house that has been on my wishlist for a long time.

It is no coincidence that this area is famous for its metalwork, with the heritage centred around Ironbridge and its famous crossing by Thomas Telford, such a wealth of industrial heritage.

The owners of Attingham must have been well aware of the developments in industry only a few miles away. Though their house reflects the arts more than industry, the house, built in 1785, epitomises the era so well.

Thomas Telford, a Scot born in 1757, would have been at the peak of his career as an engineer.  It was in Shropshire that he made his name as an engineer, working on canals there.

It was a beautiful day for a visit, I was very lucky to have a sunny February day, and all the snowdrops were in bloom.

The interior of the house was beautiful,  with some stunning decoration. This blue and gold room was one of my favourites.

I loved the art gallery space though, built for entertaining with an impressive ironwork staircase to the upper floor, showcasing a wonderful window.

The servants’ quarters were also interesting, I really liked the interpretation via the dining table, showing wages and duties.

They also had the very best organisation of the linen cupboard. Look at these beautiful pieces all carefully folded, with ribboned lavender. 

I loved the recreations of the ornate desserts as well. The house had a dedicated chef just to make these.

My second stop was somewhere that I have had pinned on my map for a while. It is an open air gallery, based at the British Ironwork Centre, near Oswestry. 

They have the most incredible pieces, mostly made from recycled materials, showcasing ironwork as you have never seen it before.

The scale of some of the pieces is incredible, and the work that goes into them just amazing.  This gorilla is made from teaspoons.

I had seen the Knife Angel some years ago, when it was on display in Worcester.  Made from knives donated during a weapons amnesty, it has been toured to raise awareness of knife crime in the UK.

Most of the pieces have a message, there is a strong theme of environmental responsibility throughout the artworks, which makes it a fantastic place to visit.

Life here on the campsite continues to be very busy, we have been full for weeks, although it has been a little quieter this week. I have also had two visitors, so feeling very blessed that people will come all this way to see me, and the wonders of Scotland of course!

The weather has been very variable, from 24 degrees for my first visitor,  to 12 and raining for my second. We have still been out enjoying ourselves though, just needed our big coats!

I am also meeting some other friends this afternoon who are in the area, then will be making the most of the rest of my day off doing some weeding in my garden, if the rain holds off!

Hope you are having fun whatever you are doing, take care and

London life

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I am taking advantage of the fact that we actually have four bars of signal today to bring you an update on my trip to London with my lovely daughter, Ellen, at the end of February. 

Things seem to be improving on the connectivity front, it is one of the few disadvantages of living here that 21st century conveniences can’t be taken for granted.

Ellen and I planned our trip last year as we saw that there were two historic fashion exhibitions on at the same time. We had a wonderful weekend enjoying city life, with a hotel in the beautiful Bayswater Road area, delicious meals out, and lots of wonderful clothes. 

On Friday we had chance to do a quick visit to the wonderful British Library before going to our hotel. It is such a beautiful building, and as we both love books so much, a really inspiring place.

We had a visit to the Treasures Collection, full.of significant texts, from annotated writings to illustrated religious texts.

So many gorgeous things in the bookshop. I really want these map books, when I have space on my bookshelves.

Saturday morning was a quick trip to Borough Market, where we bought gluten free treats, and I stocked up on spices for the caravan from this amazing stall.

Then it was a walk past the Shard to the Fashion and Textile Museum, for an exhibition about the company Cosprop. They have been supplying film and TV productions since the 1970s, using a combination of vintage clothing and reconstructed garments.

It would take too long to list all of the films and TV shows they had costumes for but think Victoria, lots of Jane Austen, and virtually every single other big historical movie filmed in the last 50 years.

So many amazing things, and to see them close up was such a treat. 

It is difficult to say which was my favourite, however I do adore Georgian waistcoats, the embroidery is so stunning. These were such amazingly detailed reproductions, taking inspiration from original panels.

A quick visit to Covent Garden for refreshments, seeing a Bansky and an art installation featuring a jellyfish on the way, and we ended the day at Liberty for cocktails.

They had a new range inspired by Bridgerton, and although I am never going to pay that much for a pillowcase, it was lovely to see the fabrics, and Lady Bridgerton’s mask from the ball.

Fingers crossed the internet will remain good so I can be back soon with part two of London life, the one where we visit the V and A.

I am so happy that I can do all these brilliant trips  and that my life is full of such diverse adventures. 

Hopefully see you soon, take care, have fun and thanks for visiting.

Scottish, and Spanish, sunshine!

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Admittedly not all of my weeks after leaving the campsite were beautifully sunny, but the majority of the time I was still blessed with amazing weather, so I was very lucky. Part of my route planning was trying to visit as many National Trust for Scotland properties as I could. There are so many in the areas around Aberdeen, so I could do the interiors of properties on the less sunny days.

Fyvie Castle visit was on a bit of a grey day, the exterior reflected this, looking very somber. Like many Scottish castles, there are a number of towers that have been added to over the years, which gives them this very distinctive look.

Most of the castles I visited you joined a tour, rather than it being a self guided visit, and while I often prefer to be alone, usually as I need more time to look at the textiles than everyone else 😉 the tour guide was really interesting and knowledgeable, and really made the place come alive.

Even though it looks fairly modern from the outside, and the beautiful plaster ceilings are reproduction, rather than original Jacobean, it has a long history. Charles 1st spent time there as a young boy, and Charles 3rd, our current king, had his 70th birthday party there.

There were some great textile treasures there. I have seen so many different interpretations of this embroidered jacket, there is an original one in the V and A museum in London, known as the Layton Jacket, after its owner. This one belonged to the daughter of James 1st of England, Elizabeth of Bohemia, so dates from the same period.

There was also a gorgeous, and very pristine, whitework bedspread featuring the Scottish thistle, no provenance, but I would imagine a member of the family.

On a more modern note there were a set of co-ordinating needlepoint cushions in one of the lounges which all used the same colourway, and which were so pretty.

There was so much needlepoint on my tours of the castles and houses, and while it is so time consuming, I am really tempted to make a cushion at some point. I gave up needlepoint for cross stitch when my children were small, due to time constraints, but am tempted to try it again!

The following day the sunshine was restored so I went to Pitmedden Garden, not only a very good example of different types of planned gardens, but also home to some very interesting sundials. The gardens date from the late 1600s, when the ‘new’ technology of sundials was very popular, and reflects both the historic layout of the parterre gardens, and more modern interpretations featuring less structured planting.

It was a very beautiful and relaxing place to spend the afternoon. I am now back in Spain, so have been enjoying the autumn sunshine here. It is a very nice 22 degrees today, I have replanted all my pots so that I have some colour on the terrace, and am back to my favourite way of spending the early evenings. The sunsets have been so gorgeous this week, such pink skies, and I have been lighting my candles and enjoying a glass or two of wine and a good book.

I have just updated the reading journal that I started when I retired, and I have read 354 books in the last 4 and a bit years, that equates to 88.5 a year, or 1.7 a week, although I read far faster in Spain than I do anywhere else. I just love it, and have so many happy hours of reading on the terrace planned for the next few months.

I will be going on a few day trips with my Mum, but the next few months are all about relaxing, crafting and writing, as well as some cycling. It is lovely to be back, especially after 6 months away. This is the longest that I have spent away from the house since I bought it 19 years ago, and I really appreciate having this lovely place to live. I am looking forward to next year so much, being back in Lotte the caravan, and Katy, but it is lovely to have my own bathroom, and my sewing machine!

Hope you are all having a lovely life, see you next time, 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.

Time travelling with textiles

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For me, one of the most exciting things about my recent visit to the Highland Life Folk Museum was the way that the textile heritage of the area was represented.

The museum extends for about a mile, and consists of a reconstruction of a 1730s township, and then existing buildings dating from the 1800s to the 1940s that have been moved and rebuilt.

This means that unlike a standard museum, or a Trust property, the houses and contents are a snapshot of one particular period, rather than an accumulation of artifacts over the family’s ownership of the house.

I’m not sure if all of the textiles in each house originally belonged to it  but each gives a unique insight into the life, and textiles of the era.

I have talked before about the importance of textiles in portraying aspects of daily life, and it is really obvious here. The 1730s houses are about survival, keeping the people, and animals who shared them, safe and warm, especially in the winter days.

Textiles here are functional, spinning and weaving them yourself the only way to get them, and a continual set of tasks within the community. 

One of the displays showed the multifunctionality of the original tartan cloth, garment, cloak and blanket, all in one handy length.

As life starts to get less pressured, and as job roles diversify, you have the separate businesses devoted to clothing.These buildings originally stood in the nearby town of Newtonmore.

The tailors and dressmakers, aided by the invention of the sewing machine. The idea of having lots of clothes for different purposes,  the ability to own more than one of things, and the luxury of not having to make it yourself.

Clothing as status, the well tailored tweed suit, the modern kilt in clan tartans, all things uniquely associated with Scotland, and exported all over the world.

In the later period houses, those of the leisure classes, with time to spend on the ‘decorative arts’, textiles to show your skill, to make your home look nice.

An endless succession of tablecloths, tray covers, anti maccassars, fire screens and cushions. All created in the home with materials bought from specialist suppliers. A way to pass time with friends, or while listening to the radio.

It was marvellous place to visit, and one of my very favourite ways to spend the day. I was also exceptionally lucky that the weather was gorgeous, and the scenery stunning. Loved the three varieties of Highland Cow, just enjoying the sun and their grass.

I ended the day at a new aire, in Aberfeldy, just sitting watching the clouds as usual, and listening to the birds flying over the fields.

I have a few more posts to share with you about Scotland, it seems such a long time ago that I left, although it’s only a week. Hopefully,  good WiFi allowing, I can share more next week, as I am making my way to the final few campsites of this trip.

In the meantime, have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.

I do love a good social history museum!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Unexpected textiles treasures in Upton

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I have just come back from my second music festival of the summer. I went to the Upton Blues Festival last weekend. I then had a couple of nights at a campsite near Malvern before joining my sister, and some other friends from one of my Facebook campervan groups, at App Fest near Tewkesbury.

The Upton Festival is a free one which takes place all around the town, similar to the Jazz Festival in Marsden. You just pay for camping and the field accommodates 7,000 campers. Katy is in there somewhere!

Both festivals were really good and there was much dancing. We were also pretty lucky with the weather as the summer has been very mixed here. I have also made new friends and seen lots more lovely vans.

Upton on Severn is a beautiful little town on the river. I visited Stourport on Severn in March and this is not far away.

There are the lovely black and white timbered buildings that this area is famous for and lots of Georgian splendour as well. The area developed through river trade and was an important trade centre in those days.There are still barges on the river today.

As it was a bit damp on Saturday I went and visited the small Tudor House Museum and I am so glad I did. This is a treasure trove of a museum, run by volunteers and has a very mixed collection, all donated by local people. It thus reflects the history of the town, but also their particular interests.

The most fascinating for me was a large lace collection, donated by a local collector. Nothing is know of its provenance but there was a wealth of machine made Stefi lace. This is made by machining on a background fabric, which is then chemically dissolved, as you would with some types of embroidery.

Such beautiful collars here. I had not heard of this type of lace before but it was very popular in the late 1800s.

There was also a recreation of a local tailor’s shop, this was full of the tools of the trade from its heyday. I love to see this type of social history preserved and it is all the more special for being of local origin.

There were some very creative displays of buttons and Haberdashery.

A wonderful museum and well with visiting if you are ever in this area. The volunteers who run it are so lovely as well and there are lots of other shops in Upton worth a visit as well.

I am on the way to the Evesham Re-enactment event, but wanted to come to Hereford to see some more Trust properties and visit more of the cute Tudor villages in the area. The forecast is mixed for the rest of the week so it may be mainly indoor visits, however I am sure I will find some lovely things to show you.

I hope you are not suffering from excessive heat, or too much rain, or any other extreme weather. It has been useful for me to try life on Katy in worse weather, as much of last year was a heat wave or very nice and sunny.

I am pleased to report that things are still working well. I will have been on the road for a month at the weekend. I still love it, on rainy days I just sit under the new lap quilt and read. I seem to have magically acquired a lot of new books, no idea how that happened 😳 🤔

I will return next week as I am cat sitting at Jacky’s. I also need to give Katy a good clean as she has been in a lot of muddy fields and she is going to be in the show field at the next festival in two weeks time.

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

Textile miracles

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I am often witness to some amazing things that I see people making, or have made, in my travels to museums, or in my own groups. It always amazing me how people can turn sticks and wool, or just one little stick with a hook, into the most gorgeous pieces of art.

Lacemaking is, to me, the highest form of these miracles, probably due to its complexity and the sheer amount of labour that goes into each piece. Added to that the fact that I can’t do it and that always makes them seem more complicated!

I had been waiting to post about our recent visit to the Venice Lace Museum, in Burano, until our own brilliant Lace Day, here in Spain was over, so that I could post pictures of both things.

You may remember that I first went to Lace Day last year. Vivienne in our sewing group is an amazing lace maker, and we had a workshop led by her in the group as well in November. It was a brilliant day once again, not only seeing the work of the other groups, but also the beautiful crocheted sunshades everywhere in the park.

It was also wonderful to spend time with my friends from my knitting and sewing groups. I know that I may have said it before, but I am so pleased to have met these wonderful women, who have become very good friends over the last two years. There is just something about people who craft that make them my kind of people 😉

The Lace Museum on the island of Burano was the second lace museum that I have visited, the first being the one at Nottingham Castle. This museum was housed in the school of lace that was opened in 1872, located in an old Palazzo. I particularly like the old sign for the school displayed on the wall here.

It is is very well interpreted museum, with a small display area that changes periodically. It looks not only at the techniques of lace making, but also the social and historical context of lace in fashion.

They also have a brilliant map in the entrance showing different lace from around the world and the coolest lockers of any museum I have visited!

Quite a lot of the interpretation is through video, which was excellent, and this is complemented by the wonderful pieces in the display cases.

As you know I am a little bit obsessed with seeing the wonderful people behind the craft, so it was brilliant to see these local ladies portrayed in the video, and learn about their work with groups of children.

I loved the fact that there were, not only pieces of lace, but some actual garments, such as this dress and wedding dress with veil.

I also loved these little baby bootees!

There were also patterns, dating from different eras, and paintings of people wearing garments with lace.

The earliest samples in the exhibition were from the late 16th century. Not only are they wonderful, but the fact that they have survived so long is amazing.

There were also lots of samples from the 1700 and 1800 hundreds showing different types of lace, such as bobbin lace, and lace stitched on tulle.

The island of Burano is one that is much visited, as it is famous for its beautiful painted houses.

You can also buy lots of small samples of machine made lace on the island, and purchase larger pieces of hand made work.

The Lace Museum was really quiet, so it is sad that more people don’t go as it is a fascinating part of Venice’s history. It is very centrally located in one of the main squares and is very much worth a visit, as is the island itself.

The advice given that I referred to in my last post, about more sustainable tourism in Venice recommends visiting the outer islands and less popular places and we were lucky enough to see lots of those, which I will tell you more about in a future post.

I am currently working on finishing up a pair of knitted reindeer for one of my friends at knitting group. Lots of little ends to sew in! I have also just got onto the hand quilting stage of the Liberty lap quilt. My wadding has arrived and I have done some of the basting. I have had fun choosing which colours of perle to use for each square.

I am running a workshop this week at sewing group doing some hand embroidery with perle thread and some of the designs I have collected over the years. I will take some pictures of that and share them at the end of the week. My friend Sarah, from Marsden, gifted me some small hoops a while ago, so everyone will be able to make a little framed picture to hang somewhere.

The weather has thankfully settled here and we are having lovely sunny days so I am going to the pool a lot. I can’t believe that in a few weeks time I will be celebrating 2 years of retirement 🙂 It has flown by and I am loving every minute of it. Who wouldn’t? Time to study, to craft, to write my novel, making new friends, and being pain free enough to enjoy exercise and life generally is so brilliant.

I feel so very blessed and am conscious that there are so many people who never have that opportunity. Like most of us, as we get older there are more friends who die far too young, and I am feeling incredibly grateful that I have had this time, and determined to make every single day count.

I hope that you are too, and that you are all having a happy life. Have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.

A tale of two museums

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I visited both the archaeological and the ethnographic museum in Paphos which were both excellent, but very different.

The archaeological one, like its counterpart in Larnaca, was really well interpreted. The various displays were informative, and there was very clear signage, with illustrations and some great mock ups of things like burial pits and kitchens.

It made the whole of the experience really interesting, something I have not really found with previous Neolithic collections. I loved this display of different sized needles, the smallest was about an inch long.

One of the most interesting, and unique, was this set of terracotta hot water bottles, shaped to fit various parts of the body. They dated from the Roman era and were fascinating. Not so very different from what I do now when I’ve got a bad back!

The timeline display made it easy to follow the development of things like the pottery, and the way that devotional figures were used, and it made it a very interesting experience. You really got a sense of the people who had made these things.

The second museum was the Ethnographic Museum, which is in the centre of the town. It is the collection of one man, George Eliades, who in 1958 opened his home to show off his collection to the public.

It is an amazing place to visit, not only to look around a traditional house, with room underneath to store wagons, and I assume stable horses. There is also space for workshops, one of the rooms was set up as a weaving workshop.

Outside there is a millstone, and a bread oven, water troughs and underground storage.

Three of the upstairs rooms are open, the library, dining room and entrance hall, all crammed with textiles and collections.

It is a beautifully eclectic place, a huge contrast to the carefully displayed and interpreted archaeological museum, but what a fascinating place.

As always my favourite part was the textile collection. There were some gorgeous woven hangings in the upper rooms.

One of the lower ground floor rooms was set out as a bedroom, with hanging garments and some splendid and unusual seat covers made of pointed scraps.

The interpretation was limited to framed information taken from reference books, and some photos like this one of a woman spinning.

However, it was the sheer enthusiasm of the original collector, and his family in keeping his collection, that was the real star of the place. It was an amazing collection and I am so glad that it has been preserved by them.

Both types of museums have a place to play in heritage, they represent very different aspects, and both have their merits and disadvantages. I am so glad that I have the chance to visit all of these wonderful places.

I am now back at Ellen’s for a little while, leaving Katy behind at my sister’s until July. I have been spending a lovely afternoon booking my campsites for the summer, and my channel tunnel crossing 🙂

I am so excited for that, and for all the lovely adventures yet to come. It will be great to get back to Spain, especially as I am going to do lots of research on my trip through France and Spain in October when I return to Spain.

I hope that you all are looking forward to the rest of the year, it really doesn’t seem possible that it is another season here in the UK, time is going so fast. I hope you are enjoying whatever you are doing, and are able to plan nice things for the months ahead. Have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.

Nicosia part 2 – more doors, and more textiles!

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I am definitely loving the Cypriot doors, and balconies. Again most in Nicosia had the dates on, and all seemed to be from around the same era as in Larnaca, which I found very interesting.

I did find one dated to 1718, and part of the city walls with a gate, but all the others are a very similar style and from the early 1900s.

Being an amateur building historian I can only assume that they was a lot of building in all of Cyprus at this time, and that possibly a lot of older buildings were destroyed to make way for these ones.

Unlike other cities that I have visited there seems to be no specific medieval area, though the Venetian walls do date from the 1570s which is the later medieval period. I did see a medieval hall near the walls as well.

I can only assume that when the British occupied Cyprus from the 1870s there was a lot of building from that point, which may explain the lack of older buildings apart from things such as the forts and castles.

I visited three museums on my second trip. The first was the main Museum of Cyprus ,which had lots of pottery and statues. I am not normally that interested in the different types of ceramics, they just don’t get me as excited as textiles do. However, there was an amazing display that was all found together.

These 2000 figurines were found displayed like this in the sanctuary of Aiya Irini, and date from the 7th and 6th centuries BC. There are mainly soldiers, waggons and horses, and there are only two female figurines.

I love the face on the bigger bull at the front of this picture above, he looks as if he is smiling!

The other really interesting thing was this jewellery display, dating from the Byzantine period of the 6th century. As well as being beautifully detailed it was interesting to see how the designs have not really changed at all, even down to the way we fasten earrings all these centuries later.

My favourites were the winged creatures in the top left picture, they were so detailed at only about one inch tall.

The second place was, The Shacolas Tower , which has a panoramic view over the city and a small exhibition and video about the history of the city. It is well worth a visit as it so interesting to see some of the landmarks from above.

I spotted the church and archbishop’s palace that I had visited in this first photo.

The one below looks towards the occupied part of the city where you can see the towers of the Selimiye Camii mosque that was once a cathedral, at the back right of the photo in front of the mountains. It has been a mosque since the Ottomans came to the city in the late 1500s so is very much part of the very diverse history of this city.

The final museum was the Leventis Museum, which is housed in three restored buildings within the city centre. This was a great museum for giving you a timeline of all of the different cultures that have lived in Cyprus, showcasing Venetian glass, Ottoman jewellery, and having some excellent examples of textiles.

There was a whole display devoted to maps and books written by the many people that had travelled to Cyprus, often on their way to the Middle East. I love old maps and the history that they represent so colourfully.

There was a costume display, and also some excellent examples of Cypriot embroidery and lace.

I think the motifs on this beautiful piece below are pomegranates, which reminds me that I really must get started on my pomegranate goldwork that I have been promising to make for about 20 years!

The lace is described as crochet lace on the label, so I am not sure how some of it was made, although they do show bobbins as well. I think there may be a mix of techniques used.

The embroidery examples were very interesting as well, Cypriot embroidery takes many forms, there is heavy influence from the geometry of cross stitch, but also flower motifs.

This top piece seems to use gold thread as well, as far as I could see through the case.

The final section of the museum looked at the influence of the British occupation from the late 1870s. There were some of the magazines published at the time, and this very interesting book. I would love to have read this to see what the impression was of Cyprus at this time by the British public.

The cross over of fashions was also mentioned, contrasting the traditional dress of the Nicosian people, with that of the Victorians who came to live there.

As with the kimono exhibition we saw recently in New York, it was interesting to see pictures of how the dress became adopted by the Cypriot people. There are few differences between the garments really, in terms of style, but dress was very much linked to social status and religion, so at first there was little mixing of fashions.

I just had time for a short wander before getting the bus back, and found another church, not hard when Nicosia is full of them!

This one was particular interesting for a mosaic of Mary, (I assume), with a distaff spindle in her hand.

Images of Mary spinning are knitting are quite common and I found this interesting blog post with more information and additional pictures.

I will be travelling over the next few days and settling into my next accommodation, so I will return soon with more adventures. I am loving this nomadic lifestyle and really looking forward to the last couple of weeks in Cyprus. I will then be reunited with my beloved Katy Kangoo for further adventures in the UK.

Until I see you next have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.