Derbyshire in late spring

I'm not sure whether it's actually summer yet - or whether it's still late spring.  The weather has been dreadful again today, and quite haphazard - one minute it's glorious sunshine, and the next, it's bucketing down.

Two weeks ago we met up with 2 friends for a (very) short walk in Derbyshire, at Over Haddon.  It was one of those days when you feel as if you could carry on rambling for much longer, but there was a pub, so we stopped to have a drink.  And then lunch. And then pudding.  By which point we were too full to walk much more without a little break....

View of Lathkill Dale

After the aforesaid repast, we tootled over to Birchover, for another (very) short walk - again, only about 90 minutes.  This time we went up to the Nine Ladies - a Bronze Age stone circle up on the moorland. I'm ashamed to say that it's one of those places that I have read about, and know that I should have gone to many years ago - but isn't it always the way, that the places right on your doorstep are the last that you visit?

First stop was the Cork Stone - so called because (apparently) it looks like a cork.  Not sure myself.

And then on to the Nine Ladies.  Now, at this point, I was very glad that I was in a small group, because, despite all the notices about 'no camping' and 'no fires', there were about 2 dozen or so people with campfires a-blazing, and with tents a-pitched.  They were lying and lolling about in the middle of the stone circle, and it almost felt as though we were the intruders - I felt as though I was trespassing - which is ridiculous, as this is open access ground -but there you are. 

Mr Z&Z told me not to be so silly, as I scuttled through - but I'd prefer to go back another day when I can have time to wander about a bit more and not feel as though I must rush through*.

It's quite unusual for a stone circle in that it's the middle of woodland, and is very quiet and contemplative.

According to legend, the nine ladies were turned to stone as a punishment for dancing on the sabbath, with the King Stone (set a little distance from the circle) being the unlucky fiddler who had been providing the music.

And at the end of the walk (well, not really - just before a slog up hill through woodland), here were these beauties:

Lovely Alpacas.

*After writing this, I googled Nine Ladies to check that I'd got the legend right - and apparently these are eco-protesters, who are campaigning against the expansionof the nearby quarry which would result in the destruction of the the area.

Third Delivery!!

I was away for the weekend, at Mrs F's house in Yorkshire.

We like to pretend that I've gone to visit her - she is my mother, after all.

But really, this is who I like to go and spend time with:




I think we were watching 'Strictly ' at the time, and so he's curled up on the sofa (forbidden!!) but a blind eye has been turned .....

But just before I left, I had a third delivery, aptly, of three packages:

This one, from Shelly:

and I really liked the bag as well:

(Mr Z&Z wanted this....)

This one, from Denise:

and this one, from Carolyn:

who had also include some extra little things, which was really sweet of her!
Last Wednesday we had a 'Well-being Day' (more to follow later), and I was able to get a lot of my red strips sewn together, as well as about 100 of the half square triangles - only another 360 or so to make..... I've decided that I'm going to use the swap fabrics for the main strips and squares, so that I can really appreciate the variety that have arrived.

weekend activities

Spent today at Clumber Park with a friend and her small children - recovering from the workshop I went to yesterday by feeding the ducks in the lake.

The block we made on Saturday was called Spinning star, and involved piecing and then folding back material. I got the block completed, but as I didn't take any wadding, couldn't get the folding started.

These are all the completed blocks from the group:

(Mine is the one on a yellow background, top left).

I had intended to make a throw, but I think that I'll put a border on this one block, layer it up and quilt it - and then pass it on to my mum for mother's day (22nd March!!).

And I also bought a layer cake last week, to make a quilt for another friend. I haven't got very far yet.....

Yes, that's right - it's still wrapped up (sorry Sally!!). I need to speak to her as the pattern I'm using involves some decision making - if I were making this for myself, there'd be no problem, but as it's for someone else, I'm worried about making a design error....

And in addition, I've started a quilt for (yet) another friend, for her 40th. It's not a serious one - I'm using the gymkhana fabric from Makower that came out last year, I think.

We met in our first year at secondary school, when we were 11, and at the time she was pony mad (and quite possibly still is). As soon as I saw this fabric, I thought of her, so I'm making a throw to remind her of all the hours spent readng the Pullein-Thompson novels, and going to see the local ponies....

I'm making 2 different blocks, and it's going together really fast.

I know she'll like it - she'll appreciate the gesture and the thought behind it!!!

Back again...

Hmm.

It was halfterm lastweek - so I should have had plenty of time to get things done.

Including updating my blog.

But in fact I spent most of the week out and about, catching up with friends and family.

And sewing (a bit...).

First up - a visit to Marsden, near Huddersfield, to catch up with an school friend. Hard to believe that we first met in 1980 - because it actually feels like only a few years ago...




The weather was still bad - walking along the canal was great fun though, and it was VERY tempting to see whether the ice would bear my weight (but I did manage to resist) -

probably because I was hoping to eat this -

a scoop of chocolate ice-cream, a scoop of lemon curd ice-cream - oh yes, and a scoop of 'creme-egg' ice-cream.

Interesting.

That's all I can say about that last one.

And then down to the Cotswolds to to see Grannie - still going strong at 93. She's having a birthday party next month - it used to be one every 5 years or so - but now she feels that she may as well have one every year - and why not??

She's still sewing away, but she says that she doesn't like her work anymore - because her stitches are too big (and believe me, I'd LOVE to be able to sew with such fairy stitches as she still churns out).

She's been cross stitching this winter - mum gave her a pile of kits from her stash, as grannie can't get to the shops easily to buy embroidery supplies to do what she really likes to do - but grannie is steaming ahead, and at this rate mum 's stash will no longer be in existence.

This was something that she managed to get done in a couple of weeks...just in time for the latest great-grandchild.

Then the labradoodles came to call, along with mum:

I'm not too sure what they made of the animals at the local park....

Last of all, I managed to get some sewing in. I signed up for the Thimbleberries BOM, and the first package arrived last week (and the next arrved today - so much for one a month :-) ).

Last year's is still incomplete - but this one looks much more achievable - it's one 12" block and 3 6" blocks each month - so doesn't take too long.

And then it was almost a relief to get back to work on Monday morning .....

Ha Birthda to me!

Hooray - it's my birthday!!

To be honest, the older I get, the more low key these things seems to get - the problem with having a birthday in August is that people are away, so getting together is nearly impossible. Mind you, on the other hand, the celebrations end up going on for several weeks, so it isn't that bad......

My sister and her children came to visit yesterday, and a friend came over with her family as well and we had a barbecue in the garden, expertly cooked by Jim - which is really his way of getting away from socialising with everyone....

Steff brought a cake from the local shop, and had brought some candles- but they had got broken on the journey, hence the rather obscure message of "Ha Birthda".

And what did I get done in quilting terms on Saturday? Not much - I put the borders on my jellyroll quilt, and made about a zillion more nine-patches (I think I may have too many now), and I met up with my friends Jacqui and Carol, who had made a quilt for the owner of the shop to celebrate 20 years of the shop being in business:



I also picked up some fabric for my SBS quilt, which I've started, but I'm not too sure that I have the right combination of colours. They go together, but they don't 'sing' - I think I need to rethink the background colour - I've gone too pale and I think I need a background with some more warmth in it. I'll try to post some pictures tomorrow of what I mean.

Warm at long last!

Yeah!! At last the skies have turned blue and the warm weather has started. Over to Newark at the weekend to see a friend and her family, which is where I spotted the street above. I don't appear to have captured the full effect in my picture - but all the front doors are a different colour, yet it's been very carefully done, with the colour gradually changing, but not jarring.

And here I am, cuddling my friend's gorgeous baby, who's now all of six weeks old.

Jim decided to make the most of the hot weather - working on an essay...

We planted this hebe in March this year, and thought it would take a couple of years or so to get settled and start to grow - but it's already more than doubled in size!

Even though it's summer holiday time, I still went into work for an hour or four - I love the feeing of stillness, and the fact that at long last I can start to tackle the heap of paperwork that's built up over the year. Hopefully by September I'll be able to see a bit more of my desk....

Crich

It looked as though it was going to be a lovely day, and I suppose that it was, in that the rain stayed off, but it just never really got going.

We (Jim - dour Scottish husband) and I met up with friends to ride about on trams all day. I love going to Crich Tramway Museum - it always seems such a cheerful place to be. Okay, so it's not terribly slick or efficient, but you really do get the impression that the staff there enjoy their work (except for the lady in the sweet shop).

It's quite expensive to get in - but then again you can re-use the ticket for 12 months, so at present the master plan is that we meet up there regularly over the next few months, to ensure that we get value for money.

And really, is there anything more relaxing and de-stressing than spending time with friends, just pottering about, without the pressure to be seen doing/wearing/participating in the latest fad? I think not - though I do have to take a lot of abuse for my hobbies - seen as rather antiquated and out dated by most of my acquaintances....