A cold walk and slow stitching

Yesterday we had planned a walk, so after running some vital errands (more dog and cat food and collecting a parcel) John, Scamp and I collected our friend Tony and we drove to The Devil's Punchbowl. The Devil's Punchbowl is a large hollow of dry sandy heath to the west of Hindhead in Surrey, England. The main A3 from London to Portsmouth used to run around the Punchbowl but in 2011 the Hindhead tunnel was opened. We hadn't travel this route since the tunnel opened so we were keen to see how it looked.As I was driving I couldn't take a photo but we were fascinated by the lights as we went through the tunnel, it was very colourful with green arrows and purple lights along the side.

Unfortunately the day wasn't the best for taking photos as at times it was a bit misty. The view across Surrey was good.

Looking down into the punchbowl. There is even more of the hollow out of shot to the left.

The gorse was very pretty.

The area is National Trust property and there was a cafe at the car park so we started our walk with a mug of hot chocolate and when we had finished we enjoyed mushroom soup with homemade bread for lunch. Walking around the top of the punchbowl was very windy and I was grateful when we descended to the bottom. We took the wrong route at the bottom and this made the ascent much steeper than we had planned. The walk wasn't that long as we haven't done any serious walks over the winter. The ascent confirmed that I am not as fit as I was last autumn. 

I underestimated the temperature difference between London and at the top of a hill out in Surrey. I needed to have added another jumper to what I was wearing and as a result I got very chilled. We had the heat on in the car but John, Tony and Scamp were very warm after the walk so I couldn't put it on full which meant when I got home it took a while to warm up and left me feeling slightly unwell. Never mind this morning I'm feeling better and ready to do some sewing later. First I had some laundry to do and the inevitable marking.

So this evening I did a little more work on the millennium sampler. I had hoped to complete the 1066 block but I still have the horseman's feet and spear to do. Hopefully there will be time tomorrow. Here is how it looks. In order to make the chain mail you had to backstitch around every stitch and it took me longer than I'd anticipated.t

I'm creating a shadow as I'm taking the photo but I couldn't find a place to take it that avoided shadows. Never mind I tells you how far I've got.

I'm linking this post with Kathy for Slow Sunday Stitching  I was also working on this embroidery as my Let's book it project run by Sharon. I may switch to a different embroidery for the next month as there are a lot of fractional stitches and it makes my eyes sore after a while. I'll make my mind up in the next day or two. 

I hope you've had a good February and completed some of your goals and projects. I'm hoping for a warmer March.

Lyndsey