A trip to Bungay

Yesterday John and I headed out on a short adventure. We had planned to leave home early, well about 9 a.m. When you live in a city you try to avoid travelling during the rush hour unless you're going to work. Not that it would have been that bad as the schools are still on holiday until next week. Anyway for various reasons we didn't leave until later, one being the need to get some more vitamin D tablets. We had tried several pharmacies whilst out on Thursday but they had all sold out . The media has really been pushing the importance of vitamin D this winter and lots of people have started taking them so there is a bit of a shortage, but we were luck and topped up our supply.

As we set off the sun began to shine making it great travelling weather. Over the journey the sun was out most of the time but every so often we had heavy rain and then suddenly it would stop and the sun reappear. The drive was good and we got to Bungay in good time. This is a small market town in Suffolk on the edge of the Broads. The Broads is a network of mostly navigable rivers and lakes in the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. The lakes, known as broads, were formed by the flooding of peat workings. The area is now protected as The Broads National Park.

My main purpose in going to Bungay was to visit a quilt shop, Sew and So but we also found a lovely tea shop that was situated in an old bank. I enjoyed a cream tea, a fruit scone with butter jam and cream whilst John had a savoury scone served with cheese and chutney. My tea came in a very pretty china teapot and the cup and saucer were also bone china. With an embroidered table cloth the table looked very pretty and the food was delicious.

We also walked round the town and found the castle, which is a ruin. This was closed for the winter so we'll have to visit again in the spring. Going back to Bungay is going to be a real hardship with a fabulous quilt shop in the town.

Walking around the town we passed several interesting buildings, many of which had decorative brick or stone work like the front of this church. 

The shop looked small from the outside but once through the door it just opened out as a haven of yummy fabrics. It also sold thread and embroidery floss and some notions. I was having too much fun stroking fabric to notice all the fun things in the shop. The two ladies in the shop were very friendly and willing to offer help and advice or leave you to browse, whichever you preferred. The range of fabrics was beautiful

In the above photo the room through the arch, although one space was separated as if it were two and both sides were stuffed with goodies. There was another room beyond. I got so caught up be the fabric that I forgot to take pictures.

John picked some fabrics for a project I am making on his behalf. I'll be using fabrics from my stash as well.

Whilst we were there a lady, Pauline McGowan came in. She used to live in the area and had bought fabrics there. She came to show the two ladies a quilt she had made for her daughter. The quilt was fabulous and she had incorporated her daughters life into the quilt. This included her love of cats, her love of art, cooking and much more.  She had added in prints onto fabric of photos of her daughter and family members. There were a lot of cats on the quilt both as appliques and in the quilting. It was a real work of art. Unfortunately there was no room to be able to get better pictures. For me the most amazing part was that this was the first quilt Pauline had made. She'd made quilted cushions before but as she said there is only so many cushions that you need and so she decided to make her daughter a quilt for Christmas. She started it in February 2019 and finished it and gifted it at Christmas.

By the time we left Bungay the sun had set completely but earlier I had taken this photo which captured the beginning of the sunset. It is such a shame that the camera doesn't pick up the colours as our eyes see them.

Because we left late we didn't have time for one of the things we wanted to do so we changed the itinerary and moved it to tomorrow. It's such a joy when it's just the two of us and can do just as we please. We enjoyed exploring Bungay and will be going back later this year but as the evening drew on we headed to Norwich and our hotel and dinner.

Lyndsey