Nearly a Year has gone by......

Hi my lovely people that have still come to visit my page, even though I have been remiss and not been here to say hello for so long..... and to those special people I say thank you.

A lot of time has passed since I last posted on my blog I know, but a lot of things have changed in my life also... I have been through a huge learning curve this year.... Yes even at my time in life, one of which was at now the great age of 60 ( last May) you can still learn things about people places and things.

I am afraid that I haven't done any stitching at all except for starting a new square for my embroidered & stitchery quilt I am hoping one day to finish.

I lost my mojo for stitching this year.......

..... and have been flying about all over the country visiting new places, and meeting new people too. This was prompted by having to visit a councellor, because of the effects that life in general over last years happenings had affected me, which if you knew of me on the stitching sites I used to visit would have known about.

STASH

On one of my visits to the hairdressers in Paignton, I noticed that a shop which had been empty for a while had opened as a bead shop. Ever hopeful for more stash, I went inside as I had a few moments spare. There were some wonderful beads for jewellery making, but as I worked around the shop, as everything was laid out in trays, and you could pick and choose; I found some wonderful charms, which although were supposedly for jewellery making but I thought would be wonderful for adding to stitched work when I got my mojo back.... The pic below is of all the stash that I managed to find that day, and from another days stash hunting.

I did say in my last post that I had met someone special.... well he turned out to be a rotten apple, and so here I am still single..... and quite happy in my own company now, although it does get a bit lonely at times...... but I do have some lovely friends both online, and off.

I am afraid I am unable to make patterns at the moment, nor have been able to for a long while now, as my big old PC decided to go wrong back in the spring, and after losing half of its memory, but working was too slow for me.... and now it has decided to let its graphics card go bang...... so when funds allow I shall try and get it up and running again so that I can design little bits again.

The picture that you see above is of some fishermens cottages which have been renovated, and are in a little nook of a fishing town of Brixham which is quite close to where I live...... when I have friends to visit they are always in awe of visiting this little town, and they do wonderful fish'n' chips there, so sometimes we go and taste the local delicasies.

I didn't know until a couple of weeks ago after watch a TV programme that Fish'n'chips is not a truely British dish, even though many "Chippies" have claimed it as British Food......... in fact by all accounts Fish and Chips was brought to the UK by the Jewish people who emigrated to the UK way back in the 1800's.

In the summer I had a trip to London, I hadn't been there for years, A friend had invited me up there for a weekend, and I mentioned that I would love to go to The Portabello Road, as one of my passions is small antiques, and objects d'art. For many many years the Portabello Rd had been well known for all those sort of wonderful objects from a bygone era...... When I got there there were only a handful of antique type shops left... I was so disappointed.... and now in their place were shops that had been taken over by cheap imports and tat....... yet another sign of the times.....

I have put a pic below of a shop that was at the entrance of the start of Portabello Rd though, as I thought it may be of interest to stitching ladies and men alike. The window of the shop was absolutely filled with antique sewing machines, from every conceivable country that ever made them, and all displayed all along the huge windows of the clothes store that sold gents clothes.

Another interesting item that I found, not in London, but in Manchester when I visited the Industrial Museum up there was the most amazing jacket/cardigan made out of Dandelion Clock Seeds. The museum has such an amazing amount of information and exhibits about Textiles and design of materials, especially as Manchester was one of the main centres back in the 1800's for the textile industry. I took many photos there too many to add here in my blog, but no doubt when I post again, I shall put them on here.
The Pic below is of the Dandelion Seed Jacket... so delicate, and beautiful.... it must have taken many many hours to join all the seeds together.

I have put a close up below ( as close as I could get)

Below are a few of the things , places, and just strange I have taken pics of this year... I hope you enjoy....

Sunset Last Week

Misty morning accross the Tamar Valley

Very High tides at Teignmouth

Mist at noon over Babacoombe Beach

Me at home

Sir Christopher Wrens House

London.

The formal Gardens at Hampton Court

Hampton Court,

where Henry VIII lived in

Tudor Times

The Grand Back entrance of Hampton Court.

A Creek at Bere Ferres S. Devon

Valley near Canonteign Falls Devon

Art Week in Teignmouth

Sir Francis Drake's monument

Plymouth

The Only Blue Post Box I have seen in England

The Bridge at Salford Quays

An interesting Moss in the woods

the rocks at the bottom of Becky falls

My youngest son Stu, doing his amazing

Long Jump at school

A View of the Arboretum and fountain at Hampton Court

I loved the funny shaped Yew trees

Pixies at Becky Falls

A Rummage in the Attic, a Finish, and a Giveaway

Thank you to all the ladies who posted a message to my blog last time. All messages are greatly appreciated. To those of you who just come to have a quick peek, just say Hi, I would love to hear from you.

As you can see from the picture above, I have been buying yet more stash. The pattern that you see I bought online on Saturday from a site that is new to me. The lady who owns it is called Fee, and I think, but wouldn't be sure is a fairly new designer. If you click on her name it will take you to her site. The site is a bit strange in the fact that when you get to the site you need to scroll down to see what you have clicked on, after choosing what you want to look at.

I really fell in love with her little star and thought it quite different to the normal patterns for Christmas.

The Hardanger was a snip on Ebay, and the two reels of heavy Braid are what I found when I visited our local recycling centre. I was amazed that anyone should throw that away. All they charged me was £1 for the two reels.

The Stef Francis thread is gorgeous, and I am going to use it to embellish ornaments at Christmas. If you click on her name that I've highlighted it takes you to her website for the most gorgeous of stitching threads, silks, linen thread, hand dyed threads etc., which you can buy online much more cheaply than through retailers.

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I have been driven mad for a while now wanting to find a Deighton's book of patterns that I had bought back at the beginning of the 90's. After turning out every conceivable drawer and cupboard I tuck things into, and still not being able to find it, I decided that it must still be in a box in the attic which I hadn't sorted out when we moved to this house 7 years ago. Much as I hate heights, I endeavoured to climb the ladder into the attic, I just couldn't believe all the boxes of stuff I had made my poor suffering husband Phil, put up in the attic. I sorted through kids toys ,to wallpaper, to boxes of pottery and porcelain, records, and you name it it was there, but no pattern book. I knew exactly what things it was with too. Eventually after turning much rubbish out I was ready to get out of the attic, and frustratedly said to my husband well I expect it is staring me in the face but I can't find it. I just turned to get on the ladder, and it was there right in front of me. It would have hit me in the face getting in the attic if it could have done. So now I am happy, and can do some Italian Quilting..... I believe some people call it Trapunto.


Another treasure I want to share with you is from my childhood. Whilst in the attic I found a little book that my Granny gave to me, as I was sooo into books, fairies and poetry. Alas, I have found out that the little book would have been worth about £250 today "if", I hadn't have drawn dear little pictures above each poem. The book is a first edition of Rose Fyleman's " The Fairy Green". The little book was printed in 1919. Here is a pic of the book and one of my favourite poems from it. I don't care of the value it would have been. Memories of childhood, and the love of a Granny mean more than money to me.

The Fairy Green

Upon the magic green I stood

within the fairy ring,

Close to the little rustling wood

Where fairies always sing.

~~~

I was a little bit afraid,

I kept my eyes shut tight,

While all around they danced and played-

I felt the shining light.

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Nearer and nearer still they came,

They touched my dress and hair;

They called me softly by my name;

I heard them everywhere.

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I never moved, I never spoke

(oh,but my heart beat fast),

And so the little fairy folk

All went away at last.

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To-morrow I shall go again

And seek the magic place,

I shall not be so foolish then,

I shall not hide my face.

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But I shall stay for hours and hours

Until the daylight ends,

And we shall dance among the flowers

and be the greatest friends.

~~~

And I shall learn their fairy song;

And when I come away,

Shall dream of it the whole night long

And sing it every day.

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Giveaway

Whilst searching I came across a cross stitch pattern that I know I will never stitch, as it was when I used to be interested in all things mystical. So I have decided to do a giveaway. If anyone who would like to have the pattern ,put your email address on a message at the bottom of this posting, and then I will put all the names into a Randomiser so that the giveaway is fair. I will do the drawing of the names on Sunday 13th September, and post out the following day.

This is the pic of the pattern, click pic to enlarge:

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My Latest Finish

Unfortunately I had to take the pic through the glass of the picture frame, so if things look a bit cloudy you will know why.

And this is a little stitchery treasure pod I made whilst watching TV

A Finish,a Find, a Gift of Stash, and Antique Porcelain

After Much umming and ah-ing, and lovely helpful Marl, a stitching friend from one of my groups trying to help me decide what to actually turn my "Lovely You" peacocks into. I have now made a full size cushion.... sorry Marl, but Hubby liked it so much he decided he wanted it, so it wasn't to be a flat fold.

I had some natural fibre upholstery material which has a lovely stringy type thread running through it, so I used that to mount the cross stitched piece upon it. I used a red thread to attach it to the cushion cover, and added some 3/4" red buttons which I had in my button stash, to it. I am quite pleased with the overall effect. I was going to sell it, but when DH got home from work he said " I like that, I would like that as my cushion". Trouble is now, I have to make more. I shall use the same materials that I used for this cushion as the colours blend with my lounge walls and sofa, but I will be doing other designs on the centrepiece.
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A FIND..... Cross stitch book....Teddy....Sandwich Plate......Porcelain

At the weekend we decided that we needed to clear out some clutter, so we decided to go to a Boot Sale to actually sell some stuff that we didn't need anymore...... However, I came away with some little gems..... couldn't resist.

Whilst we were at the boot sale someone who decided that they had enough of selling and didn't want to take their wares home was giving away all their things.... totally mad if you ask me in this present financial debacle in the UK.

The guy even gave his wind surfing board away. They must cost pounds.

Of course I couldn't resist, and just had to say yes to the most softest of tiny teddy bears, it was one of those raggedy ones that you see that have their eyes hidden amongst their fur.He seemed brand new!..... I have a habit of rescuing teddies you see. Also they gave me a really nice Majolica sandwich plate which fits nicely in my kitchen.....I collect Majolica too.....

The pic below is of the finds that I had..... a nice cross stitch book " Your Home in Cross Stitch",by Barbara Thompson & Ann Green....publisher David & Charles.There are absolutely loads of different charts in the book depicting all rooms of houses, and their furniture etc. Most are to be stitched separately, but I have had an Idea that I may buy a huge piece of Linen and make like a outline of a dolls house, and fit all the charted rooms into the house, and make it into a huge sampler.

My other find of the most beautiful porcelain Teapot I have shown down further along with some more of my pieces of porcelain that I have collected over the years.

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A Gift of Stash

On Saturday I was browsing what was on Offer on Yahoo Freecycle Group to see what people were offering, and whether anyone wanted anything I could give....... when I came across something for my son. I emailed the lady who didn't live far away, and she said to go and collect this item that evening. When we got there we were having a chat .... as you do, and we got talking about cross stitching. She said that she couldn't be doing with it as it was too complicated, and that she really didn't have time for it with 5 boys in her family. With that she went and got a Beatrix Potter Birth Sampler which she said she had started but given up on...... and didn't want to stitch again. Although I don't need a birth sampler I thought I may just do the different characters as a sampler without the Birth bit in the middle, or perhaps chose an excerpt out of one of the Beatrix Potter books and stitch it in the centre.

So more stash.......

What a lovely lady she was, and if she has time to read blogs......a big thank you again to Shelley!!!!

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We were forecast terrible thunderstorms and hail yesterday, so I went and cut my best roses thinking that they would get spoiled with the hail, and that we might as well enjoy them in our lounge. So here is a pic of my old fashioned cabbage head roses which have started to ramble amongst the other plants against the fence in our back garden.

Below is the Faberge' Imperial Egg Teapot...made by the Franklin Mint, which I could not resist even though it is not an antique, but beautiful just the same.

This is the other find that I had at the weekend.

From top to bottom it stands about 9" tall.

I think that this is the most exquisite teapot I have ever seen, and not a mark, or a crack on it.

This is one of my oldest cup and saucers that I have. I am not really sure as to which manufacturer made this, as the gold back stamp is feint, and blurred, but I believe it to be made by Mintons in the 19th Century, and one of their oldest cups and saucers.

If anyone would know any information to the contrary I would dearly like to know.

This Is my favourite Mug, which was an export piece of Embellished Dresden. It was made as a souvenir mug, back in the 19th Century when the English ladies and gentlemen started to travel for the season, on the continent.

More Stash, Dartmoor & the Sun was Shining......

New addition to my stash..... the haberdashery is laid on about 4mtrs of 32ct pink linen which I was lucky enough to acquire this weekend.

Saturday was a gorgeous sunny day, and the family and I went down to Tavistock which is a small town nestling on the edge of Dartmoor. Although having passed quickly through the town previously, we didn't realise what a beautiful and bustling market town it was. It quite took me back three or four decades to how life used to be, before life had made people not have a lot of time for each other, and the faster way of life had taken over.

When we arrived at the centre of the town the first thing we saw was what we thought was an outdoor market, only to find later that it was a local art exhibition for all the artists who live in and around the Dartmoor area. Their stalls decked with bright green and white stripes were arranged outside what we later found to be a pannier market, which sold all sorts from speciality foods to small antiques. I was in my heaven, and of course, I just couldn't resist.

When entering the pannier market, I felt like I was transported to a bustling bazaar in some far off Country. All the stall holders were very friendly, and wanted to chat; not like the people in the town where I live. I took a few pictures of some of the stalls to show the amazing things that they were selling. In particular I was amazed at some beautiful quilts which one lady had on sale for such a reasonable price; and which had been hand quilted. Their prices ranged around £65-£70 ($98-$105) for a double quilt.

There was another lovely stall which had hand woven shawls, scarves, and bags.

Of course what I was really looking for was more stash, as I have a scissors case & fob made for an exchange at the moment, and I wanted something suitable for finishing the two items off.

I did find a stall in the market which sold a few items, but not what I really wanted urgently. I bought the pins which are showing in the pic at the beginning of the blog, and also some white cord.

After visiting the market, we wandered along the small streets of Tavistock peering into the small, almost Dickensian type windows to see what treats we could see. All the buildings are built from a dark grey granite, and are all very similar in design above the shops. Many of the buildings, and houses in the town are Georgian. Suddenly we were drawn to a particularly gorgeous shop by the smell of freshly ground coffee. We entered the shop to find it was like a modern version of a Victorian Food Emporium. Even the gentleman behind the counter looked the part. It was a beautiful sight with shelves upon shelves, of Epicurean jars of pickles,chutneys, jams. There was a cheeserie which sold every conceivable cheese you could think of. We of course were drawn to the coffee section, where there were sacks of coffee beans in front of the counter, and Tin upon tin of various blends of coffee, and on the counter was the grinding machine, where you could choose which bean you wanted ground, and have it freshly ground for you. We purchased some wonderfully aromatic Colombian coffee, which I must say was not really much dearer than the supermarket sells in ready packets. Needless to say we sent a coffee aroma all around us when we were walking down the street.

Further on down from the Coffee Emporium we came across a wonderful craft shop which sold mainly stuff for making cards etc, and art products, but they did have a lovely collection of beads,ribbons, and cord....... and dare I say I succumbed again.
In the part of Devon where I live we don't have many Rhododendrons in peoples gardens, but In Tavistock they seem to thrive, and there are many mature Rhododendron plants which have been trained into trees. One of which stands in the grounds of the Church in the town square.

For those of you who follow my blog you will know that I cannot just walk past a bargain piece of antique porcelain or pottery, well yet again I couldn't resist this piece which I have posted a pic of below. I believe that it is Chinese, and quite old, but I haven't yet been able to read the backstamp, as it is a white seal on white. I need to get more advice on it. I think it was a steal at £5 even though some of its enamels have been chipped, but its age and beauty outweighs this I think!

Some Pics of the buildings in Tavistock

We thought that it was strange that a statue of a man be built into a wall of a very ordinary end of terrace cottage. We have yet to find out who he was, and what his claim to fame was. Here is the pic.Here is a pic of the first hospital( Georgian in design) in Tavistock....... now a dentists surgery.

The Trip Home Across DartmoorOn our way back over the moors we delighted in all the beautiful flora that abounded. The bright golden Gorse shone and stood out in great clouds of gold even out on the horizon. With bluebells, primroses,wild orchid, and wild garlic(ramsons)which lined the hedgerows where the terrain wasn't quite so Savannah like. We wended our way through from two bridges, and on to Dartmeet where we stopped for an home made ice cream....made with clotted cream and real strawberries; not good for the waistline but....yummy!

Whilst getting to two bridges, a herd of about 30 wild Dartmoor ponies were stood by the roadside blocking the right hand side of the road. We had to slow down right to a stop... my husband not realising his window was open then had a fully grown pony stick its head in the car, and nuzzle him.With that a funny little mini moke type vehicle came tearing up the hill to where the ponies were, a man jumped out with about three children then herded the ponies all down the hill, and tried to get them to go to his remote farm. Obviously they had escaped from their field and wanted the freedom of the moor. They stampeded down the hill, and right through the car park where we had eventually gone to watch what was going on. Most of them galloped past to where they should go, but three very naughty ones decided they liked the taste of freedom.

This is a pic of the naughty three.