Malvern quilting and sewing show

 "I didn't read that properly did I?  No quilts on display - that must be the autumn one only".  Well, apparently the quilts were on display but in a marquee . . . Signage can't have been that good as they've had some out in a marquee before and I have NEVER noticed any signs or a marquee!!  I will next time. Anyway, I started the day well by dropping off the gigantic William Morris curtains, (Chrysanthemum pattern) that Tam had been given but which were too huge for her house, and a pair of well-used WM Golden Lily ones at a friend of Tam's near Hay.  She is absolutely delighted (and I have room to put bedding away again as it's freed an entire coffer up!  Then as she is at Clifford, I paid a pound and went across the Toll bridge at Whitney, which cut off a chunk of the A438.

Oh my goodness - temptation!! especially now I have a grand-daughter to sew for.  I did buy the pattern for the cat at the back, just to the right of the brawny rabbit.

I also bought - though you can't see it clearly - the alphabet sampler in the middle back.  It comes as a pre-printed fabric, with instructions.  I think I have more than enough embroidery floss to make it a dozen times!

Lots of lovely things to sew.

Same stall - the close up shows better detail but my phone camera is not the best.  It was busy so not really a chance to stand back with my little camera, which gets the colour so much better.

I'd have liked another Kim Diehl book, but couldn't remember which ones I had.  Picked up one - similar - book - and it was pennies away from £40 so that got swiftly returned!

Lots of hard work always goes into the displays.  The pinwheel with cats is lovely.

Loved the whimsical toadstool too.

Again, a stall with so much hard work put into the kits and patterns they were selling.  Think this may be the one I got the cat pattern from, and a robin pattern I'm giving to a friend.

This one's for Sharon - about the only American prints and colourways stand here  displaying the colours you favour - the rest were all much brighter.  So my dear, I saw this and thought of you.

The Kantha jackets stand was there which we had seen at Wonderwool.

Plus Kantha throws.

Oh those bunnies!!  I might be able to draw templates for that myself . . .

The Luna Lapin stall (as at Wonderwool).  I can't bring myself to pay mega-bucks for the kits though.

Meeces!

Some stands had packs of multiples of fat 1/4s but prices seemed a bit challenging for the average shopper, at £50 plus.  I guess if you are planning a quilt and want complimentary fabrics, then this would work.

I bought a kit here.  Will show what I bought later.

Ah, I see it - cottage on a cliff - 2nd from end, top right.

Right, off to water round at Ed's now.  Cloudy out, and a cooler day. so may get away with watering round well this morning and not have to do it at teatime too.

I was baby-sitting Rosie yesterday, and poor little mite had a temperature.  In between sleeps, and Calpol, she wanted to be outside in the sunshine and kept getting me her jacket and sun hat.  Towards the time of Tam coming home, every time she heard a car, she went to the door and cried "mum-mum".  We had lots of cuddles, and I will be next down with the cold as she was trying to force-feed me bits of soggy biscuit!! Tam and Rosie probably coming over to stay the night, as Jon is away at a music festival, but I said if Rosie is poorly, to stay put.

I've got a new hat!!

Anyway, have a lovely weekend all.  Thinking of my dear friend Pam who is having a very invasive surgery today.

Oh, and I will share a bit of the somewhat challenging route home yesterday.  It's one Tam uses regularly, but I was SO slow along it it makes more sense to come the less scenic route.  I just wish I had been able to stop and take photos at the absolutely WOW bits - especially where the Elan Valley gap joins this valley.  Truly mindblowing.  Please DO visit this Youtube video as it shows the route from the Elan Valley to Cwmystwyth.  From 30 minutes in, is the stretch where it links to the Cwmystwyth road.  You will see my route yesterday (only in reverse).  

Single track road for quite a bit.

Definitely the wild and woolley route - Tam uses it a lot - but I shall worry now as there is one stretch with a sheer drop and NO barrier, not even an old sagging fence . . .  It comes out at Devil's Bridge.

Wonderful day

 I had a really LOVELY day out.  Spent too much, but what the hell.  Tewkesbury Abbey amazing.  Such history.  Back with photos on Saturday as babysitting tomorrow.

I couldn't resist buying the pattern for this puss-cat . . .

A day where I got lots done

 I hate things hanging over me.  We are towards the end of doing the probate and needed valuation for four items, which all needed photographs taking.  Then I had to find out the name of the auctioneers in Cardiff - where the two items which were going to be sold would be taken, if estimates hopeful (they should be). One of those items is the German WWII photo album. Yesterday I achieved all that so we will wait back to hear from them now.

I have also (thank Heavens!) found a new home for the gigantic curtains which Pam had given me for Tam's house, but which didn't fit any window - they had gone all the way round a big conservatory type room and each was over 100" wide.  They took up a LOT of space.  Being in William Morris Chrysanthemum fabric, I was pleased they were going to a home that would appreciate them.  Yes, they could have gone to a charity shop, but you cannot often park outside the one I would have wanted to use and they were too heavy and bulky to carry far.  As Pam checks Marketplace I couldn't exactly sell them on there either.  It's Tam's friend near Hay who's having them and she is also having my lately redundant WM Golden Lily curtains.

I spent half an hour in the morning sitting in the sun with some darning mending (an old and very sorry Berlin work bell-pull type of stitching, where the backing fabric is very frail.)  It's probably not financially worth doing but I feel that the original stitcher would value my efforts.

I think this is a female Beautiful Demoiselle.

I had the most lovely walk along the old railway line, and there had been a recent hatching of various Darters, including one with amber wings which I hadn't seen before.  I also noticed that there was another colony of Sand Martins in the bank - this is further up the river from the colony in the Groe area of the Wye.  The first Dog Roses were unfurling, and it was good to be alive.

More gardening and my hips are still aching from the bending double to dig holes in unrelenting soil (baked hard) but all six new plants are now in - I added the new Hollyhocks (two black, one white) to the two pink and one nearly red in the long border.  I planted the little hardy Orkney Pink Geranium in the bottom of the bank, where there is a little rock-edged border.  The Gaura linheimen "Gaudi Rose" (a new one on me) with its red leaves, has gone in the little bed by the tiny bit of lawn by the pond.  Everything watered in, the beans watered and the hose taken to everything in pots.  

This is for Sharon - the first Bramble flower out.  These will produce the large blobby fruits which are watery and tasteless, but early.

My neighbour has gone off to Scotland on holiday and will be away 7 or 8 days.  I am on watering duty at his plot (suitably bribed with Lindor chocs!)  Bad timing, as I am out today, and baby sitting in Aber tomorrow, but no longer Saturday as there is only one thing in the auction I would want to buy . . .  Tomorrow will be tiring as I am out of the house at 7 a.m. and not back for 12 hours.  I think it will be a chippy shop tea.

Guilder Rose.

I did the pattern and cutting out of Luna's T-shirt dress.  Having ordered a toddler pattern this week, to make little dresses for Rosie, I thought this would be good practice!

Then in the evening I couldn't get any channel apart from Youtube to start with, but finally managed to get into the BBC and watched most of a Hinterland episode. I was working on the ugly stitches holding Luna's arms and legs and removing them and replacing with blanket stitch in a sort of puce which exactly matches the colour in her ear and feet fabric.  I've done her head and one leg now.

Right, I need to water at the cottage polytunnel, load up the curtains, do my hair, makeup, get changed and then I'm off to Malvern Quilt festival and then home via nearby Tewkesbury, which I haven't been to for about 50 years!  There is an Abbey there.

Lulu says - you have a Very Dirty Elbow!

 This is part of the wake-up routine.  Alfie miows in my ear or taps me, Pippi pretends she wants a lie-in because I didn't go to bed when she TOLD me (by 10 p.m. she sits on the stairs meowing Time For Bed!!).  Lulu licks my elbow briskly until I get up!

It's Laburnum time.

Well, considering that yesterday was meant to be a resting day, it didn't end up that way and I was busy.  I took out the recycling to the end of the lane, including the wheelie bin.

Bluebells and Stitchwort, from my walk

I went down to town for bits and bobs and needed more compost.  3 bags were cheaper than two, so had to unload those.  Also unloaded all the planters/pots before I started.  I did some strimming in the bottom end of the orchard (hands went wobbly after 10 mins of that!! so I had to rest and go back to it.) 

I stripped the bed, did two lots of washing and put them out to dry - the sun was very hot - and finally made the bed up late afternoon, with some "help" from Pippi, as ever.  The bedding looked like it had been ironed to start with but by the time Pippi had had her usual fight with the duvet cover (Pippi 1, duvet cover nil), it ended very crumpled. I took the top half of the electric blanket off and washed and dried that too.

Then I sat down in the sunshine with Luna Lapin and did "modifications" - so much awful ugly stitching which I have tried to replace with nearly invisible.  It was hot out there . . .

As you can see - room for improvement!

The sun's glare has taken the colouring out of the pretty pattern.  I will have to take an indoors photo today.  A great improvement though.

I had a walk up to my friend Chris's but didn't enjoy it as too hot and my back was hurting by that time from the lifting. Today's walk is going to be on the flat and as soon as I've finished this. 

I took the last of the photos to send for valuation for probate (found the auction in Cardiff I was looking for and they do free valuations).

I made a lovely chicken and veg risotto for my tea (and tonight too) and the other half of the chicken pieces in the freezer for later.  Then I had a bath and washed my hair.

More Luna Lapin stitching at the end of the day, but I finally found "Astrid", the French tv series about an autistic archivist who becomes a criminologist.  (UK did its own version this year but I wanted to see what inspired it).  Excellent, but all in French with subtitles, so stitching was slow progress.

When grief hits

 I was tidying up in the Utility this morning, hanging up the Army jackets I'd taken to the boot sale yesterday.  I moved one of Keith's army jackets (going nowhere as it has so many memories attached) - it still had the sleeves rolled up as he always wore it, and there were hankies still in the pockets, and something hard - a Sheffield made penknife he had obviously bought at a Fair when we were out in the last year when he was still mobile.  It hit me SO hard - like a wallop with a baseball bat, and the tears overwhelmed me.  I took myself upstairs with Luna Lapin and a stitch ripper, and took the horrid thick material off her ears and found some of the prettiest cotton lawn in a delicate print, to replace it. (Sharon, the fabric used was very thick and had to come off, rather than be sewn over).  I have done both ears, sewn one back on and am going to do the other and the feet this evening.  I had to be distracted or I'd have been crying all day.  (Yes, and I know you will say that I need to).  Anyway, the distraction worked, especially as I will be tidying Luna up for Rosie.  I have found some fabric for her dress now too - plenty of fat quarters in my stash.  Photos to follow.  The big ugly stitching needs unpicking too, and I will replace it with some Feather Stitching I think.

Anyway, I took myself off to auction - SUCH a lovely drive at this time of year and worth going out for that alone.  Plus it is held in one of the wonderful black and white villages of Herefordshire.  I wanted pots/planters and ended up buying 3 5-pot lots, 15 in all, various sizes.  Not my first choice, but those were a) too heavy or b) too expensive - four new ones went for nearly what you would pay at the garden centre!

I also bid on, and won, two wonderful 1930s hand carved Indian marionette elephants.  They are a joy.

Cottage at Llandegley, where I stopped to view the church on the way home (or rather, way from the auction to Llandod for shopping).  

On the way back, I stopped at this lovely old church, so will share it with you later in the week. There was a thunderstorm wherever I was this afternoon - it even followed me home to Builth and chucked it down when I arrived, so I had to wait for it to leave off for a bit before I could unload the shopping.  Clear blue skies now.

I am glad I went out - the Hawthorn is amazing at the moment, and masses of deep pink Red Campion on the verges.  The roads were covered with bits of tree blossom and brown leaf covers, shaken off the trees.  It was raining Hawthorn petals at one point.  Tomorrow, a WALK.  Meanwhile, I am back to Luna Lapin restoration.