Winchester and Cornwall

I know I have been very slack lately blogging, but since my DH retired life has been very busy. 

I don't have any stitching to show as I haven't done much more on Eleanor Parr since my last post.  I have been working on a project that I have always wanted to try and do.  That is to try and chart for myself the first sampler that I fell in love with a very long time ago.  It's in the V&A and I'm working from a few photos of it that I have.  It's my interpretation of this particular sampler.

Anyway, I thought that you might like to see some more photos of our trip to England earlier in the year.

One of the places we went to was Winchester Abbey as I wanted to visit Jane Austen's grave again.  Think this is my 3rd visit to visit Jane.

I live visiting Churches and Cathedrals.  You see the most interesting things there and Cathedrals have the most beautiful stained glass windows.

One of my favourite places in England is Cornwall.  I think it comes from reading and loving all of Daphne du Mauriers books and also Winston Graham's Poldark.  We just finished watching the new series of it here in Australia.  It was truly wonderful.  I remember watching the older series in the 1970's.  I love how the original Ross Poldark makes a few appearances in the new series.  If you haven't seen it yet, he plays the Reverend who is also the Magistrate.

These are a couple of the ruins of tin mines that you see around Cornwall.

One of my favourite places off the coast of  Cornwall is St Michels Mount.  It was lively to also see Mont St Michel in France. 

One of the places that we had to visit is Padstow.  I have a Cornish Ancestor who came from Padstow.  Have always wondered why she came to Australia.  She wasn't a convict and came on her own I think.

Love Cornwalls narrow streets, although my husband will tell another story lol.  It gets a bit hairy when you have to pass another vehicle.

This is the most amazing place.  It's called Minack Theatre.  It was built by a lady and her gardener.  It took them a long time to build.  

 

Beautiful Cornish sunset.

Mullion 

The helicopter is a Naval one that was flying around on some mission.  The sailors on board waved to us while we were at The Minack Theatre.

 

The Poldark Mine.

Lands End.  The end of England.

Sorry I seem to have pasted this twice and can't figure out how to delete it without starting again.

Had to throw in another Church with a grave yard 😄

I had to add this little fellow.  I love Robins and this one was very friendly.  We have Robins that come into our Garden sometimes.  I love standing at the kitchen window washing up when they and the Finches  and Wrens get into a big bush rose that I have.  I think that they might be an introduced spiecies to Australia.  I know that the Colonists brought a lot of animals here to remind them of home.  These are one of their good introductions.

Eleanor Parr and more photos from England

My goodness time flies since my last post.  I gave been working on my Eleanor Parr.  Eleanor is a very big girl even on 40ct.  I'm working her with DMC as charted.  Eleanor is a sampler that isn't a quick stitch.  She's very time consuming as there are a lot of colour changes especially where the birds are. 

Thought that you might to see a few more photos from our trip to England.  After we came back from France we hired a car for 3 weeks and had a wonderful time.  These are a few of them the photos that are on my iPad.  Will have to transfer more over to it.  It was wonderful to be back in a England.  The last time I was here was 30 years ago and it was if I had only been there the previous year.  My DH had never been before.

One of the places I always wanted to go to was Herstmonceux as that's where Hestera Harmer came from.  Also my GGG Grandfather.   I love taking photos of Churches. 

I have a thing for grave stones in a Church yard.  Sadly the best ones that we saw were in spots where we couldn't stop.  My DH started complaining about the ABC's ....... Another bloody church 😄

I have always liked going to Brighton and have been there a few times.  You can't go to Brighton without going to the pier.

Have always loved English beaches that are all stones.  So different from the beautiful sandy beaches from Australia.  I have a stone from here.  I seem to collect stones from beaches.  I gave one that I picked up from my very first trip to England a long time ago.  It was from Merlins Cave in Cornwall.  Even on a cold December day there were people sitting on the beach catching a few Rays.

The Brighton Pavillion.  Such a fascinating place.

Arundel Castle where the Dukes of Norfolk live.  Couldn't get close to it as there was a Christmas Fair around the Castle. 

Stonehenge.  So different from previous visits.  You used to be able to walk amongst them and park across the road. 

The Roman Baths in Bath.

One of my favourite places in Cornwall is St Ives.  Have always loved Cornwall.  I think it's a combination of reading and falling in love with all of Daphne du Maurier's books and Winston Graham's Poldark.  Have just throughly enjoyed watching the new series of Poldark.  Cornwall is at her best in this one. 

We stayed in some amazing places on our trip away and in St Ives we stayed in a wonderful spot.  It was right on the water.  This  was our view from our balcony.  The sound of the sea lapping on the rocks was very relaxing.  Lots of the towns in Cornwall have very narrow streets and St Ives is one of them.  Gets very hairy when another car is coming.

Jane and Hestera are Framed and the Bayeux Tapestry

I thought that you might like to see Jane, now that she is finished and hanging in my hall way.  I was going to hang her next to Rebecca, but the Men in the house thought that she would look better hanging in the hallway.  Jane is a lot bigger than Rebecca.  Rebecca hangs on a wall with The Tablet Sampler and Harriet Burry which are of a similar size.  Anything for a quiet life lol.

I have also framed Hestera Harmer.  I was very lucky with the frame.  My Sister and Dad downsized and she gave me some prints that she didn't want that were in beautiful walnut burled frames.  Hestera looks wonderful in it.

Now that I have finished Jane, I now working on the beautiful Eleanor Parr by Scarlet Letter.  I fell in love with this sampler when Nicola showed me.  I love the bird border and the two girls remind me of Jane Austen for some reason.  Are they Jane and Cassandra, or Eleanor and  Marianne or even Lizzy and Jane.  Sisters.  I'm working my Eleanor on my favourite 40ct Antique White linen and the DMC threads as charted.  She really looks beautiful in this version.  I can see where Marsha was coming from.  The sampler was charted from the reverse side of the antique sampler.

While we were in France my husband and I spent an amazing Sunday afternoon in Bayeux.  I have never been there before and had always wanted to see the Bayeux Tapestry.  What an amazing thing it is.  So so beautiful and for its age it is totally amazing.  It was made to go in Bayeux Cathedral which is pictured for Bishop Odo who was William The Conquerers half brother.  The other photos are also in Bayeux.  What a pretty town.  I loved the water wheel.  There are also a lot of graves and memorials there.  These are from WWII.  I think that it's very important for us to remember these amazing young men and women who have laid down their lives for us in all theatres of war.  What a horrible word it is.

Thank you for stopping by.  2 posts in 2 days.  Amazing.