A very woolly day out

 Do you remember the 6 inch rings that we had to create something woolly with for the Guild Exhibition?  Well, yesterday was our trip down to the exhibition at the Weald and Down Museum in Hampshire.  We went by coach shared with a few other guilds from the midlands.  I do apologise in advance for  the onslaught of pictures that follows, it was very difficult to choose which pictures to show, as there was so many wonderful exhibits.  The rings themselves were exhibited on a three sided display.  So many different ones all from the same ring, amazing!  There were a few that really stood out to me.

 I had fun spotting the rings created by friends.  Here's Dawn's (who I happened to bump into at the same spot, lovely to meet you Dawn, hope your voice is on the mend)

 Lucy's from InTheSky.

 and Lucy's mum's that I had seen Lucy blog about.

 And then there was mine.  I was, if I am honest, a bit disappointed with how the 3-D ones were displayed.  They were too high, and even holding my camera above my head, you could not see the robin sat on it's nest. 

 Not only were there the 6 inch rings, but also lots of entrants in the exhibition for various categories.  So many gorgeous things.  I dread to think how many years worth of work was represented in the hall.  This coat was amazing, all handspun, and the pattern created by the person herself.

 Such delicate weaving in this mandarin styled top.  Three layers of weaving in one.

 Sculptural art, inspired by a forest.

 Wall hangings using natural dyes, and appliqued plants of which dye used for each panel.

 A most beautiful cloak

 The texture on this woven wall hanging/floor covering (not sure I'd want to put it on the floor!) was just stunning.





This woven scarf was so fine, and so silky soft.  I loved the zig zag effect woven into the scarf.





 The beautiful exhibits,  were both inspiring, but also a little disheartening, thinking I could never produce such beautiful things and place them under the critical eye of the judges and the public.  But I certainly left in awe of the people who had created such things.

After the exhibit, was the rare breeds show.  There were stunning rams.

The cutest baby alpaca (cria)

 A Leicestershire Longwool.  Oh, how I felt for this sheep.  She had won her class, and was in the final for best in show.  I was admiring her stunning locks, but very relieved that she was going to be shorn the next day, as it was very hot!

 There were some amazing tudor buildings which we just about had time to have a quick look around.

 It was a fantastic day.  My first day out by myself without children or husband for about 8 years (I think), and I missed them all terribly, but I was able to indulge my love for all things woolly!  9 hours sat on a coach meant I was able to tackle some knitting that I would never have been able to do with the constant interruption from children.

 I simply couldn't resist this wonderful blend of merino, silk and black bamboo for £5/100g.  Ethan has already asked me to make him something to cuddle with it as it is so amazingly soft and squishy!

And my bent coat hanger of a niddy noddy is able to retire now, as I have treated myself to a proper wooden one, where I can do proper skeins.

I must admit to being very glad to be home though, as I really missed everyone, and what a surprise I had!  Stuart has been working so hard all day, and tackled many areas of the house that had been neglected.  Now I have to try not to undo all that hard work!!



Everyone's happy!

 A while ago a friend introduced me to Stratford Armoury, mainly for the soft play barn, as we needed somewhere to meet up.  But we had a quick peek at the museum, and I vowed that I would have to come back and show the boys, as I was sure they would like it.  So, this Saturday we paid another visit, and I could not even have imagined what a success it was.  The younger ones enjoyed dressing up.

The older ones were fascinated with the vast array of model armies, and the chap who was running the museum was a great enthusiast too, so email addresses were swapped!

Guns were explained to an attentive audience...



 ...and played with!

 Sophie enjoyed the armoured elephant

 More boys and their "toys".

There was a fantastic World War I and II exhibit, which appealed to Stan, and we finished off the visit with a lovely meal (thank you Stan) and a trip to the play barn for the younger ones.

Everyone got something out of it, a great feeling ticking everyone's boxes!  I can see us frequenting this place again.  It is all a private collection, and it got me thinking, I wonder if there are other little places like this around, private collections that are open to the public.  Not too massive to be exhausting, but full of interesting and quirky things that perhaps you would not find elsewhere.

A splashy, sploshy kind of day

A trip to Slimbridge with friends Rachel, Ian, Jake and Roo. The last time I went there I was probably about Luke's age, and went on a coach trip with my Nan. It made some lovely memories for me, especially the flamingoes and Hawaiian geese. So it was somewhere I had wanted to take the children for quite a while, and luck would have it it was pretty much half way between us and Rachel!

So it all started off as you'd expect. Meeting birds...
laughing at the flamingoes (sorry flamingoes, but boys being boys thought that you did sound rather funny!)

Seeing a line of ducks squeaking there way across a lake.

And of course feeding them...

...and asking for more!

But I would say the main chunk of the day was spent splashing and sploshing about in all the puddles.

A bit of tree climbing on the way...

...followed by more sploshing...

...and topped off with more wet play in welly boot land!

The end result was inevitable. Some very wet children! But fortunately Rachel had forewarned us, so there were changes of clothes in the car!

A fantastic day was had by all, and an even quieter night. Sploshing must be "the" way of inducing a peaceful nights sleep!

Homebirds

I commented to Stuart the other day, how we seem to raising a whole troop of homebirds! None of us particularly ever feel the need for going anywhere in particular (except perhaps the allotment for me!). Weekends are very much a time for chilling out, playing, doing our own thing. Not for "doing" jobs etc.

It got me thinking. Is it a bad thing that we have no sense of adventure? Should we be offering the children more opportunities to go out and "do" stuff? Or should we be grateful that they feel that they already have everything they need, right here at home?

I tend to agree with the latter. They spend all week at school, they need as much time as possible to just do whatever they fancy, whether it be playing out, building lego, getting lost in one of their epic imaginary games (a wonder to eavesdrop on), painting WarHammer models, playing music. No wonder we very rarely hear those dreaded word "I'm bored"! I think if we tried to go out too much we would be met with alot of resistance!

But I think we are going to try and get out for a few more walks etc, the woods should be great with all those leaves to kick through! Besides, a bit of exercise and fresh air, is just what we need to try and stave off all those bugs that fly around at this time of year ;)

Catching up again!

I can't even remember how much has happened since my last post! However, I have finished Sophie's dress, and it even fits her! However, I still haven't mastered the camera, I will get there I promise! I have also been busy making a knitting roll for mothers day, a bag and purse for a friends daughter, little knitted chicks and rabbits to put a small egg in for Easter gifts for the boys friends. And each time I make something I think "I should take a photo of that" and then forget about it until it is too late, and it is given away. I do wonder about myself at times, I've never been particularly organised, but lately things really are getting out of hand. I just need more time....

The children have been enjoying the holidays, with playing with friends, and the occasional trip out. We had a lovely day at the allotment last week, and managed to pretty much clear the bottom plot, which included having to dig up about 4 plum saplings, and brambles that were at least two inches thick at the base! So now we have some extra space to plant some more crops. Stuart has an idea for growing some hops, as he fancies beer brewing from scratch. Well even if we don't get as far as the beer brewing, I can imagine a few doorways adorned with dried hops!

We had a trip out to Mary Ardens house and farm near Stratford, which was lovely. Alec had the chance to do some falconry with a common buzzard, and they all had a go at splitting logs, threshing and winnowing, as well as an Easter treasure hunt. Amongst all this was the learning of what life was like for Tudors, and everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves. In May they have a week on sheep, and I'm hoping the chance to do some spinning of wool, we'll have to go back just to see!

Another day out was to the Brecon Beacons. Stuart had been wanting to do some hill walking, so Easter Monday we set out early (for us!) and reached the Brecon Beacons by lunch time. We found a sign post to some waterfalls, and decided to explore. It was fantastic, with so many waterfalls coming down the hill, the boys were in their element, and we even found pools of frogspawn, which Ethan was very enthusiastic about. A picnic by the stream ensued, along with some rather wet feet from stepping on stepping stones, and missing! It would have been perfect if it were not for all the other people who were there too, there was us thinking we were off the beaten track, but not so. Is there anywhere in this country where you can truly get away from it all? We then continued to climb some unknown hill. With Sophie in the back pack it was pretty hard going (she seems so much heavier in that than in the sling!) Luke and I were the only ones to make it to the top of the cwm, after having to scrabble over copper laden rocks to reach the boggy moorland at the top. We returned to the others waiting below with red cheeks after such a climb, but a great sense of achievement. I think we have finally found a family activity that we all get something out of, next step camping!