The Weekend

Sunday

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Visit to a Food Fair being held at the National Botanic Gardens of Wales.

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Looks a bit like a loaf, but it was one of the many interesting locally made cheeses shown on the stalls. All the stalls were in the glass house, which was great because although it was a beautiful sunny day it was absolutely freezing!
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Pretty roses made out of white chocolate.

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Pretty vegan beetroot and vegetable balls.

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Lovely locally made wines.

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Some fluffy protea (I think) in the warm, moderate climate of the Glass House.

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Snowdrops. There were loads and loads all over the gardens. No sign of them in our garden at all and we have planted lots - I don't know what happens to them.

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Beautiful coloured wooden stems, shining in the spring sunshine.

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Saturday

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A party with friends. Lots of laughter and some yummy food.

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Don't know what the joke was!

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Home-made and I didn't have seconds!

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Hope you had a great weekend too.

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Ann x

At the Back of the Cupboard!

I found these the other day at the back of a little-used cupboard and after watching a lovely programme about Laura Ashley on Wales TV last night, I decided to do this post.

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Above is the collection of goodies that I found.

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The selection includes some Laura Ashley fabric. Laura Ashley spent a lot of her time in Wales in Carno, Powys and even had a factory here. After her death in 1985 she was buried in Wales and over 2,000 people attended her funeral.
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The two Laura Ashley fabrics - and if my reading of Roman numerals is correct they were both printed in 1977. Laura Ashley prints were used for her country-style wear and to me are her most well known prints.

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This red piece has a width of 46"/117cm and a length of 74"/190cm.

Looks as though there is enough for perhaps a skirt.

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A close-up of the red pattern.

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This is has the same date of 1977 and the measurements are a width of 48"/120cm and length of 42"/107cm. Quite a small piece - maybe for a cushion cover. The colour is not very good as it is actually a fairly bright orange/yellow.

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A closer look at the pattern.

An interesting bit of information given on the programme, by one of the original designers, was that they always put a flaw of some kind into their print - they felt that this gave it more authenticity, rather than being flawless. I can't find it though!

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Another find was this piece of Habitat cloth and presumably 'Catherine Wheel' is the name of the pattern. It has a width of 48"/120cm and length of 38"/97". Again a fairly small piece.

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This is a rather delightful pattern and the colours are pretty true.

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Then there is this piece of quite colourful floral patterned cotton fabric. Although it was with the other fabrics I don't think it is Laura Ashley as it doesn't have the name along the selvedge. If someone knows what it is I would be pleased to know.

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The floral pattern is rather garish. Its width is 34"/86cm and length 96"/240cm.

A fairly large piece.

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The other find was these two Butterick Classic patterns for sizes 12/14/16. They are probably a lot smaller than the same sizes today, but I think they are great. I don't appear to have used either of them and don't know what I had in mind to make. I did do quite a lot of sewing in the 70s - dresses, shirts, (even a jacket with bound buttonholes!) etc, but don't do any now.

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I really don't quite know what to do with this little cache of memorabilia. I don't think I will use the fabric or the patterns, so if there is anyone out there who would like to buy them from me or give me some good ideas for their use I would be very pleased.

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I know there are a lot of lovely crafting bloggers out there who may be interested enough to give me some ideas.

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Ann x

Lydstep Head

Lydstep Head, owned by the National Trust

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View down to Lydstep Haven

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Gosh, we are keeping fit lately. Another wonderful walk in the most beautiful weather. Clear blue skies, warm sun with a cold bite of wind to remind you it was actually still winter!

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Just the vapour trails to break up the blue.

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A stark reminder that winter weather is still around.
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After walking round the headland we looked down to see a beach that is only ever visible at a very, very low tide. As it was obviously extremely low today, we decided to make the effort to get down to the exposed beach. And we were very glad, because it was magnificent.

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But first we had to negotiate some quite steep 'steps' cut out of the cliff side and then negotiate an enormous expanse of rock, boulders and stones! I was very pleased to manage it all without too much trouble, with the help of a walking pole and taking my time. (I am sure all that sponsored swimming helped.)

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It was worth the effort to see all these beautiful exposed caves, and beautifully sea-sculpted rocks, some surrounded by clear, blue pools of water.

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Wonderful shapes made by the waves.

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Winkles, seaweed and sleeping anenomes, waiting for the tide to return.

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Sorry, lost the photo here and couldn't get it back!!

Trying a different layout, but don't seem to have managed very well, so resorted to the usual format above.

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The view is across the exposed beach to Whitesheet Rock. There were only a couple of other people down there - a photographer taking black and white for an exhibition and a lady with her little dog. It was great to see the beach so empty.

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Some more of the wonderful shapes formed by the action of the waves.



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Shapes in the sand .

Then we had to go back up those steps!

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There were 114 of them!

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Ann x

Carew Castle Stroll

Carew Castle, Pembrokeshire

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Yes, I know, it's our favourite walk, but this time it was introduced to a new 'Strollers' Group of walkers as it is an easy, short walk more suitable for a stroll. There were 14 of us plus three dogs - Rupert to the fore as he had done it before! I enjoyed it as I had more photography time as you can see below!
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One of the new strollers - 2 yrs old!
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A heron, waiting for his lunch to arrive.

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The following are aspects of Carew Castle. It is a 'proper looking' castle with lots of lovely turrets and windows. Various tournaments, archery events and special days for children (and adults) are held throughout the year and it is a very popular holiday attraction.

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Overlooking the tidal pool.

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Lots of interesting window shapes and sizes.

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Panoramic views from these magnificent windows.

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CADW has this cross in its care of Welsh Historic Monuments.

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Carew Cross

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Details of Carew Cross (you can enlarge the photo to read more clearly).

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View across the Carew Tidal Pool.

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Another lovely walk, ending this time at the Carew Inn.

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Ann x

Walk in the Sun

The sun was out, it was warm and we had a walk arranged with our walking group.
We started and finished in Tenby. It was glorious, if a bit muddy!

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Rupert didn't care, he went in every muddy puddle and stream that he could find! (And was taken in the sea at the end of the walk to clean himself up!)

~ Welcome to Tenby on a sunny day.

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Off down some very muddy paths, but we didn't care.
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Went past several very interesting and old building remains. This was Scotborough House which had been a prestigious house in the 14th century, owned by the Perrot family.

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We did get a few curious looks as we passed by their field.

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I know there is at least one blogland lady who loves these old tractors left to rust and I thought of her when I took these pictures. It is an International Harvester and has obviously had a very hard working life in the past.

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Couldn't quite read her number plate, but I wonder if it is possible to find out all about her from it, to learn exactly how old she is.

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Things looking very green after all the wet weather recently.

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Underneath the "main" line from Tenby to Swansea. The train went by twice while we were nearby. It had gone to Tenby then turned round and was on its way back the second time!

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I think he loved just standing in the sunshine instead of wallowing in the mud or being indoors.

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Finished up back at Tenby harbour and of course off to a lovely cafe for toasted sandwiches, paninis and bacon rolls - plus lots of tea as well. A glorious walk.

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Hope you had a sunny day today as well.

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Ann x