A weekend away in Suffolk

On Friday John and I were heading to Suffolk to celebrate the 70th birthday of two friends. The birthday bash was planned from Friday evening until lunch time Sunday and would involve quite a number of people we had never met. The thought of a lot of people I'd never met made me a little anxious as I count on my weekends to power down and enjoy a chillout time with family. However I was determined to enjoy the activities and to meet new people.  The drive through London was slow but the journey wasn't too bad until we got to the M11. From here it was slow traffic all the way. we stopped on the way to fill up with petrol and to buy snacks. Traffic jams always make me peckish so snacks were essential. The party was in Long Melford, a old and very pretty village with a stately home, a distinguished church, lots of pubs and interesting shops. We were staying in one of the many pubs/hotels and our room was very comfortable and spacious. We weren't meeting the rest of the party until seven o clock so we took the chance to rest after the journey. I had taken my embroidery with me so I spent the time stitching.

The evening was a chance to meet people and enjoy prosecco and pizza and a varierty of desserts. We enjoyed the walk and watching the swifts swooping over the sky above us. Walking back was and interesting experience as the street lights were infrequent and we didn't have our phones with us or a torch.Since we both grew up in small villages we should have remembered how dark it is at night in the country.

On Saturday after a delicious breakfast we decided to explore the village. We were meeting up with everyone at 12 noon to visit Melford Hall so we had plenty of time to browse. We enjoyed exploring the shops but I only bought a new book mark for Lucy. As we set out for Melford Hall I grabbed my camera. On the way we got sneak peeks over the wall surrounding the hall.

As we walked we passed the old primary school building, now used as a meeting place.

Before we crossed the road to the hall we investigated this building. Unfortunately there was no information to say what it was but a resident told us it was something to do with the water systems.Whatever it was for it was in a bit of a state.

We crossed the road and entered Melford Hall park by the gateway.

In the grounds there used to be a lot of oak trees. In the 1980's the children of the family had planted acorns which had grown and now form this nice driveway. These oaks are quite large but not yet fully mature.

Before it started getting too warm we all decided to take a walk in the park. we walked up the hill surrounded by sheep, some of them were pregnant and many had young lambs with them. At the top of the hill we were lucky enough to observe the sheperdess help a ewe deliver her lamb. The sheperdess then had to encourage the lamb to suckel.

By this time the sun was overhead and getting hotter so we headed back to the hall and more importantly the cafe as we were getting hungry.

After lunch John and I set off to view the house. I liked the Blue Drawing room. This room felt comfortable and would be a good place to sit and read . The hall still has family living in the south wing and the rest is under the National Trust. The feeling of the place was that of a family home.

As I went round I was interested in the textiles. A small quilt was available in the nursery. I love simple block designs for children, let the fabric do the rest.

In the bedroom there was this pretty handstitched cover on the bed.

and this cute little pillow

This beautiful stitching was on the cover of the cradle.

There was more hand work on display in another bedroom.

At the very end of the corridor there was this treadle singer sewing machine. It was in an alcove area and it would have been a fun sewing area.

Next we wandered around the garden and had a look inside the banqueting house. The term 'banquet' originated in the 15th century from the French word 'banquette' meaning small bench. It describes what we now know as dessert. So a small lodge or building in which you eat and enjoy dessert. Sounds fun to me.

Having visited most areas of the garden we decided to take a quick visit to the church. The church is a large,light and airy space. Unfortunately we came across a young women who was very distressed and it took us quite some time to calm her down. By the time she was more comfortable and ready to leave I wanted to have a lie down. We decided we would come and visit the church another time.

We walked back to our hotel and didn't have a lot of time before we set out to the evening barn dance. The evening was great fun and the food was very tasty. By the end of the evening I was completely worn out with all the activities of the day.

On Sunday we met up with our friend and had some tea and cake before heading off to visit John's brother and his wife. We hadn't seem them for about 10 years and none of us were quite sure why. We had a lovely afternoon with them before we drove back to London. It was nearly 9 p.m. when we got home. It was a fun but very tiring weekend.

Once home from work on Monday I set about sandwiching the frog quilt. I needed to join the backing fabric as I didn't have enough of any of the chosen fabrics. It took longer than I had anticipated and I felt very tired as I finished pinning the quilt. I'm planning on starting the quilting towards the end of the week.

 

Another project almost completed. Does that mean I can start something new?

Take care

Lyndsey