A weekend trip

On the weekend of 24 to 26 October John and I had a weekend away in Swanage. We were lucky with the weather which was warm and dry and we had a fun time. We had decided that we would stop at the tank museum on the way. The museum houses over 300 tanks from 28 nations. The world's first tank, Little Willie, is on display and the exhibition goes through to the current main battle tank of the British Army Challenger 2. There are 8 exhibitions to visit at the museum, we only visited the first one, the tank story 1915 to present day. There was so much to see! I had been asked by younger daughter and a couple of colleagues from work to take loads of photos which I did. I'm not going to show you all of them but I thought you may be interested to see a few. If not you can always scroll quickly down to our visit to Arne nature reserve.

Little Willie was the prototype of the first tank and it never saw service but the mark 1 did. Below is the Mark 2 tank. The side is cut away to show the limited space for the crew inside

This one is the Lanchester mark 2 armoured car

The early tanks were slow with many covering only 5 miles in an hour. This next one is the German Panzer 2. This was so small against the modern tanks. I got a little fascinated with the tracks as these had presented problems for the designers. The tracks help to spread the weight of the tank stopping it sinking into soft or wet earth as it would if it had ordinary wheels.

The German Tiger tank

and the Panther. Hitler ordered that the Russian T34 tank be copied and manufactured and so the Panther came into being. It was better made than the Russian tank but production was very slow and so there was never enough of them to make a difference to the fighting in the Soviet Union, Italy or North West Europe.

The Sherman Firefly was a British tank based on the American Sherman tank. It was fitted with a more powerful British 17 pounder gun.

and this photo is of the American Patten tank. This tank made me feel quite small. This became the main battle tank of America and it was used in Vietnam. One of the male visitors was American and he was excited to get his wife to take a photo of him by the tank

The final photo is of a UN armoured car. It really looked minute among all the large tanks.

I found the tanks fascinating and horrifying by turns. Fascinating because of their design and the fact that the crew fit into limited space sharing it with the ammunition. Horrifying due to the amount of damage and destruction they can cause.

When we got to our hotel in Swanage we took a walk to the town square along the sea front. It was windy but warm. After dinner we chatted and read in our room enjoying some delicious red wine before we settled to sleep. It had been a good day.

After breakfast on Saturday we headed out to the nature reserve at Arne. We had visited once before and this time we wanted follow a different trail. The leaves on the trees were changing to yellow and orange and there was still some heather in bloom.

The first part of the trail took us up hill and gave us a good view across country.

We then followed the path down towards the shore. Along the way we spent time watching various birds, little egrets, curlew, whimbrel and cormorants.  Once at the beach we followed the shoreline round to Poole harbour. The tide was on its way out.

I loved the play of the light on the water and so I took some photos.

This one looks like I took the photo at night.

The sea was so clear.

As we walked further along the shore we saw these little red flowers.

The cliff along here was liable to fall so we kept away. This site was good for seeing sand lizards but on this occasion we didn't see any.

Over the day we saw over 30 species of bird. A good day bird watching. In the evening we had fish and chips and sat on the beach to enjoy them, 

After breakfast on Sunday we took a walk to the town and enjoyed our walk back to the car. Several people were enjoying a swim in the sea. I haven't swam in the sea for several years. We travelled back home enjoying the country that we passed. 

We enjoyed our weekend away. Our next trip is in December.

Take care

Lyndsey

November already!

 I wish the year would slow down! October seems to have rushed by and now it's November. I realised I needed to start thinking about Christmas. There's a Christmas cake to make and presents to think about. When I opened my work emails this morning I had a flurry of invitations to Christmas events. No I'm not rushing my life away worrying about Christmas. I have a weekend away this month with my younger daughter Lucy and that will be fun. I'm hoping to do some walks with John and of course there are always the various projects I'm working on. So I'm changing down a gear and slowing the pace of my life down this month so I can enjoy my free time with my family and try to get everyone fit to enjoy the festive season. All family members seemed to have been unwell during October.

Over the last weekend of October, John and I had a weekend away in Dorset and we visited the  tank museum and also spent a lovely day walking at Arne nature reserve. I tell you about our weekend in my next post. I would do it now but I haven't downloaded the photos from my camera. Instead I'll tell you about this last weekend.

On Saturday we spent the day with older daughter and our grandson. We had a great time. When we arrived he was doing some painting so we both joined in. I managed to avoid getting paint all over my clothes. We then moved on to making pizza dough in preparation for lunch and then the fun of deciding what topping we wanted. In between grandson and I played hide and seek. After lunch John took over and played board games and memory games with him. and we ended the afternoon with stories. As we drove home I was very tired. Three year olds have endless energy and he kept going all day. 

Over last week I didn't get much time for any sewing or knitting. Yesterday I was determined to get the quilting on the happy quilt finished. That got done first. I'd kept the quilting simple with diagonals across the quilt in both directions. I like how it looks.

Next I went hunting for some fabric for the binding. I finally found a piece that  was big enough and looked good with the quilt.

Once the binding had been stitched on it was time to move on to the Christmas quilt. The binding will now be stitched down to the back over several evenings. I could have a finish by the end of the week. 

The first of the borders on the Christmas quilt had already been added but this meant the stars on the border were incomplete.

I added the second white borders so that the stars were complete and then added a slightly wider red border. I  had washed the red fabric a few days earlier as I was worried the colour would run the first time it was washed. I already knew that all the other fabrics in the quilt were colour fast.

The quilt top is now ready to be sandwiched and quilted. So far I have no idea how I'm going to quilt it. I have a little time to get this quilt finished but I want to gift it at the beginning of December. Now I need to check that I've got enough wadding and if I have any fabric suitable for the backing.

It's a good job these two quilts are almost finished. John has asked me to make a lap quilt for a lady that he organises walks for, in the local area. She is disabled and uses an electric wheel chair. I have fabric that I can use but I'm not sure I can make the quilt in time for Christmas. I've also promised my brother a new quilt.

Having finished knitting my grandson a scarf I am part way though making him a beanie hat which will have a large pompom. It should be finished this week. Older daughter has also asked me to knit a baby blanket for their second baby who is due in January.  I had started another cardigan for me when she asked me if I would knit the scarf. I'm not sure when the cardigan will get finished.

This week is much calmer so tomorrow I'll share the photos from our trip to Dorset.

Take care

Lyndsey

Out of the Dark.

 

I'm enjoying the Out of the dark blog hop and the creations have been fabulous. Thanks to Joan from MooseStash Quilting for organising the event. For this event I wanted to try something different. I opened my computer and logged in to google AI. My plan was to give the information about what I wanted to create and get AI to draw it for me. It took a little while and I needed to tweek some of my instructions but finally the printer churned out my completed picture. It wasn't what I had asked AI for but it was fairly close!

I had decided that I wanted to do this by hand so that I could do the stitching in my lunch hour. October is a very busy period at work with all our new students, getting them fully enrolled and fire fighting all the problems that arise. I knew I would end up working late and by hand stitching I could work on it in my breaks and in online meetings. I spent some time choosing my fabrics and I used the shapes from the generated design to cut the patterns. All was going well until last weekend when my son became ill, one of the ladies I trained with back in the 1970's died and I felt very unwell after my flu jab. The end result is that my piece is incomplete.

My poor old witch is missing her legs, arms and eyes. I now have tomorrow to complete her as I promised my grandson that she would be ready for Halloween. To be honest I could finish her tonight as my post doesn't have to go live just yet but I am tired. I also tend to make mistakes when I start rushing things. I will post a picture at the weekend of her once completed.

I have enjoyed adding some stuffing to areas of her face and the pumpkin also has stuffing in it. I decided to use purple wool for her hair. I really like the cat fabric that I found for her dress.

Tomorrow I need to get organised and add some decorations to the house and buy some treats as I know we will have some small visitors coming trick or treating.

Here is the list of people on today's hop. Do pop over and visit them.

Just Let Me Quilt

Sew Many Yarns

Kathleen McMusing

BeaQuilter

The Quilted Snail

Wishing you all a spooky and fun Halloween.

Take care

Lyndsey

Catch up and an outing.

Over the last week life has been rather up and down. One day life seems smooth sailing and the next there is a hiccup. Smooth sailing predominated but the hiccup has still to be resolved. My son has been experiencing abdominal pain that was getting worse and finally he went to the emergency department. They took bloods, prodded and poked and finally decided on a CT scan to determine the cause. He waited quite some time and finally asked if they had a time it might take place only to find the doctor hadn't yet ordered it. The triage nurse tried to sort it out but the doctor was busy and in the end my son came home. He still has a lot of pain but will see his GP on Monday morning so long as nothing happens before then.

The smooth sailing is being able to make some time each day to work on some of my projects. The main item I've been working on I can't show you until Thursday as it's for the Out of the dark blog hop. It took more thinking through than I would have liked and so I still have a fair amount to do.

Over the week I've made several more flowers for the Grandmother's garden quilt. I've added the orange flowers to two of the six sides so there is still a lot to do. I also worked out how I will be squaring up the quilt in order to be able to finish it. I have set myself the timeframe of finishing this quilt by April next year. 

This morning I finished knitting the scarf for my grandson. I need to sew/weave all the ends in and I have to add the fringe to it. That will be done this evening and I'll be starting on his hat.

At this point we stopped to have dinner and after dinner I just wanted to chill out and chat with family. We had a good evening and made several plans relating to the bathroom renovation we have underway and also discussions for a holiday. I picked up the scarf, sewed in all the ends and added the fringing while chatting. Job done.

Now all I need is my grandson's head size so I can start the hat.

On Saturday John and I went on a bird watching trip to Dungeness.  Dungeness is an odd area, not least because of the environment. It is described as one of most unique habitats in Britain and it is technically classified as a desert due to the huge area of shingle which includes the beach. The area provides a perfect home for many species of wildlife including plants and rare insects. I'm not too keen on the insects but they do interest many birds. Not only is there the huge shingle beach but there are two nuclear power stations which are now decommissioned, and a large nature reserve. This was our destination for the day. 

Looking across to the power stations.

To some extent this gives you an idea of the vastness of the landscape.

Looking out to sea from the beach. I loved the sky in this photo.

Over the day John and I saw 45 different species of birds and we also enjoyed the plant life. The teasles were good. 

The gorse was flowering well  and had a nice coconut smell.

I've no idea what this plant is but it was cute.

In places there was a lot of interesting moss underfoot.

This is greater mullein and when in bloom has a very tall flower spike with yellow flowers

This cute blue/purple flower is viper bugloss

and this little pink flower is common century

There was also quite a lot of evening primrose.

and never underestimate the daisy, they are such a joy to see.

I don't know what this bush is but the berries where a very bright orange.

It was quite windy so the tall grasses were very busy shaking their heads in the breeze.

I would have like to have collected some of the rose hips but I didn't have anything to put them in and we were on a nature reserve so we should leave them for the birds and animals.

Finally there were some interesting fungi, some new, some old. This was my favourite.

The day was interesting and we had a good time watching the birds. Next weekend we are away and I'm hoping to visit a new to me quilt shop.

Take care

Lyndsey

Knit and Stitch show.

Last week I had a few hours here and there for sewing or knitting so I tried to make good use of the time. On Monday I made a start on the quilting of the happy quilt. I marked diagonal lines across the quilt at 3 and a half inches and managed to get them all sewn over the week

I would have like to have marked up the lines for the opposite diagonal but I ran out of time however as the new academic year settles down and the students settle into the course there will be more time. I'm hoping to get the quilting finished this month if possible as I have another quilt I want to start.

In an evening, after dinner I have been alternating between knitting the scarf for my grandson and making hexie flowers and adding them to the Grandmothers garden quilt. My grandson is very excited for his rainbow scarf and I've promised to knit him a hat to go with it. He wanted a large pompom on each end of his scarf but my daughter told him they wouldn't fit well inside his coat so the scarf will be finished with tassels. On his hat he wants the biggest pompom I can make. I don't have a really big pompom maker so I'll have to resort to the good old fashioned method of two pieces of cardboard.

On the photo the blue, indigo and violet look very similar but they are quite different when seen in person. I also found this cute dinosaur fabric in orange to use in the hexie quilt. There are so many fun fabrics in the quilt.

On Friday I wasn't working and I had tickets for the Knit and Stitch show at Alexandra Palace or Ally Pally as it is known in London. We travelled by train so no hunting  for a parking place or getting held up in traffic jams. As we walked up the hill from the station I spotted these two trees already for Autumn.

The show is a mixture of stands selling all you could want for your sewing, knitting and other crafting needs and displays of quilts and embroidery, including some graduate shows. I wanted to get some more sashiko threads and some fabric for the border of the Christmas quilt. Obviously I bought more than those items but once home I put everything away and forgot to take a photo. 

I loved this fabric piece by Carmen Mardonez titled Green Mural. It had both me and John thinking of summer meadows with wild flowers scattered throughout.

The next piece is called Thoroughly Odd by Woo Jin Joo 2023. Woo Jin explores imaginary creatures. This piece was made from an old jacket, viscose thread embroidery, wire, rattan and wadding.

Also by Woo Jin this piece is titled 'People Who Deny the Existence of Dragons Are Often Eaten by Dragons. From Within. 2023 Made with an old jacket, viscose embroidery thread, wire, rattan and wadding

This final piece by Woo Jin is titled Dusk Dokkaebi, made in 2022 using a shirt sleeve, viscose thread embroidery and wire.

All of her work was strange but fun. Woo Jin is a Seoul-born mixed-media artist working predominately with textiles and embroidery. Having graduated from the Royal College of Art in 2021 with an MA in Textiles, she has since been exploring the intersection of craft and art in her London studio.

The artist of the next piece is Anne Tuck. The piece was made in 2004 and titled Transition. She was inspired by the movement of grasses in the wind and wanted to capture the transition from blue skies to sunset

This piece is by Pauline Burbridge and titled Honesty Skyline 2015 The quiltscape is inspired by the natural landscape visible from the artists studio in the Scottish borders. It uses circular honesty seed pods and fabric rubbings of red hot poker leaves to create the design.

Shenna Norquay created Twelve Feathers in 2017. She wanted to recreate the stunning amount of colours found in peacock feathers. many different colours of embroidery thread are used together on top of the wooden Indian block printed feather designs.

A close up of some of the feathers

Rowena Reamonn created this piece titled Kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies draw flame... 1998. It is inspired by the colours and themes in Claude Monet's painting of his garden in Giverny.

These three pieces were created for the Embroidery Guild members challenge. Colour Rhythms 2025. Unfortunately the photo telling me who made the pieces didn't come out properly and I can't read the names. If anyone knows who stitched them please let me know and I'll add the information to the post.

The following piece were by Margaret Nicholson 1913 - 2006.  Margaret followed in the footsteps of her grandfather, father and brother by becoming an artist. Her chosen medium was embroidery.

The following sketch and embroidered piece was by Audrey Walker. Audrey Walker was an accomplished textile artist, embroiderer and teacher, who was active from the 1970s in the United Kingdom. She became known for developing an innovative style of embroidery based on fine threads applied by machine and by hand, to create striking figurative wall-hung works of art

First the sketch,

and then the embroidered piece.

I'm not sure who this piece was by 

John and I really enjoyed our visit to the show, including our lunch of fish and chips. On the way home we passed this Virginia creeper that had turned a beautiful shade of red.

and I also received a photo from my brother of his boat. It has been out of the water having the hull repainted and new anodes fitted. This happens every 5 years to keep the hull in good condition. My brother lives on this boat and this major maintenance wont need to be done again until 2030.

Yesterday evening I prepared 4 KG of pickling onions ready to complete the process today.

At this point I still had half left to do. It took me about an hour in total and there were no onion tears, just sore fingers.

Today I'm planning on working on my embroidered table cloth. I still have two full sides to do but I'll be working on this part today.

I'm linking this post with Kathy from Kathy's Quilts for her Slow Sunday Stitching link up. Dp pop over and see what everyone has been working on.

Take care 

Lyndsey