Some R&R

This is where I'm going to be for the next three days, Llandudno in North Wales.

I arrived just after lunch time and the weather is beautiful!  I've had a lovely stroll by the sea and along the pier and a short walk to see what shops there are in the town. 

 In the distance is The Great Orme, I shared photos from the top of The Great Orme when I came on a day trip here in May 2018, you can read about that here.

Looking in the other direction along the front, you can see The Little Orme on the left

I've already added to my 'to read' pile, I couldn't resist buying these three books from The Works.

And for tea, well, you have to have fish and chips when you're by the seaside don't you 😋

I'm looking forward to exploring the town more tomorrow, I have seen a couple of shops on line that I want to go and find.

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Cardigan knitting

 I started the Lady Mademoiselle Dandelion Cardigan by Along Avec Anna towards the end on June last year.  I knitted both sleeves and had also knitted the body almost up to the underarms and then put it away and it didn't see the light of day until a week ago. 

The sleeves are knit first and then the body is knit in one piece bottom up to the underarms and then the sleeves are attached to the body to knit the raglan decreases.  I'd never knitted anything this way before and I think I got a bit scared about attaching the sleeves, so it just sat in a bag for over twelve months.

I don't know what I was scared of, it was quite straightforward once I started.  There are a LOT of stitches on the needles now so the rows take a while to knit but at least I'm making progress and the end is in sight.

The photo below shows the colour better than the one above.

The yarn is Drops Nord, colour 07 - it's a sort of toffee colour.

The pattern, which is only on the front and back. is the Dandelion Flower Stitch, which at first looks and sounds complicated but it's only done over two rows and is really easy to knit and memorise.  I can't wait to get this done now, just hope it fits!

On Thursday I'm going on a little trip for a few days, I'm going alone so will probably write a couple of blog posts while I'm away, I'm planning on lots of stitching and knitting time and just generally having some slow days.

Take care

-X-

The last week of the school holidays - (lots of photos, sorry, not sorry 😃

 Most of the schools around here went back on Monday but last week Oliver stayed over with me for a few nights and we had a couple of days out.

Joanne had last week off work so we took Oliver and Bonnie to Worcester for the day, they have an elephant trail around the town at the moment as part of a public art trail.  There are thirty large elephant and thirty six small elephant sculptures dotted in various places around the town, all individually designed.  They will be there for eight weeks, after that they will be auctioned off and the proceeds will go to St Richards Hospice.

Bonnie had been asking to go for 'afternoon cakes' for a while, so we found a cafe that did us a high tea.

Me and Joanne shared this

And the kids got finger sandwiches, a drink, crisps, a small chocolate and a choice of cake

We also visited the Cathedral.  

My youngest daughter, Stevie-Leigh, went to Worcester University and her graduation was in Worcester Cathedral, but apart from that one time when she graduated we have never been to look around inside.

Worcester Cathedral is also the final resting place of Prince Arthur, eldest brother of Henry VIII

 

And King John, of Magna Carta.

On the day we visited it was also the last day for the The Leaves  of The Trees Memorial.  I'd never heard of this travelling memorial but this is what the information board said about it:

"The Leaves of the Trees" installation will be visiting towns and cities around the country.  It has been designed to honour those who have passed away during the coronavirus pandemic and to allow us all to take a moment out to contemplate what we have been through both collectively and individually.

The installation is made up of , leave with the word HOPE on each, creating a beautiful impression of autumn leaves fallen from the trees and naturally scattered by the wind.

The leaves symbolise not only this period in time but also hope for the future, as the shape of a sycamore maple leaf traditionally symbolises, strength, protection, eternity and clarity.

Steel has been chosen as the material for the leaves to remind us of our resilience and collective strength.

As it moves around the country the steel will age, rust and change colour, just as the leaves of trees do when they fall each year.

It is hoped that the simplicity and beauty of the installation will give people the chance to pause and contemplate their own personal response to the pandemic.

Have you heard about this memorial? or seen it displayed in your town?

I did wonder if someone has to pick up all 5,000 leaves and place them all individually back down again 😕

On Wednesday me and Oliver had a trip to The Black Country Living Museum.  This is only a few miles from us and my kids used to love it there when they were little, seeing how things were done in the 'olden days' lol.  I haven't been for a good few years, they had added a few more things since the last time I visited.

This is the main 'street'.  All the building are original, they were taken down from their where they once stood in towns around the Black Country and re-built here.

They have games in the street, who remembers playing in the street when they were little?

We always played in our street, now there are just to many cars and other dangers for children to enjoy this amount of freedom

The low building on the right is the school where you can experience a lesson of the time.

The taller building in the middle is the fish and chip shop, it's always popular.

Inside some of the shops

I remember my granny had a big wireless in the kitchen.

They have added a transport section since the last time I visited, some interesting vehicles on display, including this little car

But I think Oliver liked the tram and the bus best

I used to go to school on a bus just like this, but it was the No. 130 to Halesowen 😀

We took a ride on the bus when we were ready to go home, those seats did make me laugh, funny how you can forget about something then as soon as you see it everything comes back to you!

They are in the process of adding a new era, there will soon be a new hub all about the 50's and 60's in the Black Country, I'll be interested in visiting that when it opens.

And yes, in case you wondered, my blog is called Blackcountry Wench because I'm Black Country born and bred 😄

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In the garden

 I've tried growing tomatoes a few times but never had great success, so this year I decided to try potatoes instead.  Knowing my track record isn't all that good for growing edible things and not wanting to spend any money I used a large planter that had been empty for a while and just bought some seed potatoes.

I say me, but it was in fact Mark who did the planting and I did most of the watering, so I suppose it was a joint effort :-)

These were the ones I got just off the top on Thursday without digging down too far

I had no idea how long you could leave them in the soil before they rotted, so today we emptied the whole pot and this is the rest.

Not bad for very little work, and more successful than tomatoes.  I have no idea if they taste any different to shop bought potatoes, we are going to try them tonight so I'll let you know.

I popped to Home Bargains on Thursday and they had some Viola's and Pansies on offer, £1.49 for a pack of 10 plants.  You have to be quick if you buy plants from Home Bargains because they don't water them, luckily I think they had only come in that day so I bought 20 packs.

I filled the window boxes

I filled my three tier basket

And a hanging basket

And still had a few left over to do around in other containers

I planted these Violas up about three weeks ago, again bargain buys, this time from Aldi.  Hopefully my new ones will do as well as these have.

I'm ready for Autumn now and fingers crossed I will still have some bright spots to look at in the garden for a while to come.

🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂

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Monday's outing

 Monday's outing this week was to somewhere I haven't been before, Charlecote Park near to Wellesbourne and about four miles outside Stratford-upon-Avon.  It was about 45 minutes in the car but pretty straightforward to get to.

Charlecote Park was built in 1558 by Sir Thomas Lucy, the Lucy family had owned the land since 1247 and Queen Elizabeth once stayed in the room which now the drawing room.

Only the lower floors were open to the public and we couldn't spend too much time reading or looking at all the lovely things because we had three children in tow.  So I think a child free trip might be in order so that I can appreciate it and find out more.

The servants quarters were interesting, Arty took a liking to the stove of all things

And they were all fascinated to see how washing used to be done.  What hard work it must have been, I wonder what they would think if they came back now and saw our washing machines and tumble dryers.

The grounds are huge, 185 acres, and there were lots people taking advantage of the good weather that day.  It mentioned on the NT site that deer roam freely around the estate, we found a bunch of them on one side of the estate and a bunch on the other side of the lake.

Jacob sheep have been kept at Charlecote Park for over 200 years.  They were introduced by George Lucy from his travels through Europe back in 1756 and were the first managed Jacob flock to be introduced into England.  Today they have one of the largest flocks in the country

It was a great day out and I can highly recommend a visit, especially if the weather is good because the walks around the estate are so lovely, there are plenty of things to see and lovely big open spaces for the kids to run around.  There was even a bit of den building, Arty's not afraid of getting his hands dirty that's for sure, lol

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