Hardwick Hall

Hooray for 2 weeks spent in Yorkshire with the family.  And we were so lucky with the weather.

On one of the days, Mum, Dad and I chose to go somewhere that I've not been for a while, and since I had my National Trust card, I thought it might be nice to go in the house instead of just the gardens for a change.

It seems as though Hardwick Hall grounds have undergone a bit of redevelopment since I was last there.  The cafe has been perked up and serves a delicious range of food - try the Huntsman's Pie if you get chance - delicious!  There is heaps of seating inside and out, so you could also take a picnic if you wished.  Also some really beautiful gardens to walk through and relax in.

Much quieter than the front view of the house...
the side view from the gardens

I was so happily surprised that we decided to go inside the house as well.  From the moment you walk in, there are some incredible pieces of embroidery and tapestry, which I wasn't expecting at all.  Bess of Hardwick must have been one heck of a collector, because it is on almost every wall, and I imagine that was one way to make the stone walls feel a bit more welcoming and homely.  As an added bonus, there was an exhibition on 'Threads of Time' - showcasing 16th century items such as needlework and furniture.

Please find below some photos of some of the things on display - but if you are able to visit in person, I highly recommend doing so - it's wonderful to be able to get up close to such amazing pieces of needlework (and feel completely inadequate with all of my own pieces given the scale of some of theirs!)

Some of the tapestries are also being restored - a hugely costly undertaking but incredible to see the difference and clarity in those which already have been.

Needlework Cushion cover: Silk on fine linen
Centre in tent stitch, border in cross stitch
Embroidered whilst Bess was married to
George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury

The Muniment Room - pretty impressive!!
These contained legal documents showing
who owned which pieces of land.

The Tobit Table Carpet which shows via embroidery
the story of Tobit as told in the Old Testament.
(the bare pieces are either missing
or too fragile for conservation)

Detail in the Tobit Table Carpet

The High Great Chamber where guests
would have been greeted

Gujarati floor cloth, on display only for one week

One of the restored tapestries

At the end, if your mother pushes you into it,
you get to dress up like this.
Stop laughing.

Yesterday

Yesterday was pretty exciting.

Firstly, the decision whether to watch the F1 or the tennis - thankfully, the German Grand Prix was well underway and finished before the end of the first set of tennis.  We did have the tennis on the laptop screen as well so we wouldn't miss any.

But back to the F1.  Poor Mark Webber with his wheel coming off right at the beginning.  I felt so bad for him.  Hubby said he'd have given up at that point, but then I reminded him that it only takes the safety car having to come out for him to catch right back up again and be in with a chance of points.  A good job he didn't give up too, as that's exactly what happened.  I couldn't believe what I was seeing when the burnt out race car of Jules Bianchi started rolling slowly backwards down the track and onto the grass at the other side.  Very lucky there were no race cars flying past at that exact moment.  So a very close fight to the end of the race for the top 10 cars for positions, which made it pretty exciting indeed!

Then the Tennis, and it was so so good.  I found myself shouting at the screen quite a lot which is unusual for me, but so pleased that Andy Murray won.  Each year it seemed like he was getting closer and closer to the title and it was so good to see him finally do it, especially given all the hard work that he has obviously been doing and the maturity he is showing in his games now.  I think everyone here had a good feeling that he was going to win yesterday.

It's been a lot of fun, I could get into watching more sport - it's a shame there are no Olympics to watch this year - I'm quite in the mood for watching a bit of swimming or hockey.

I rounded the day off with a lovely refreshing gin and soda and a nice Bond film and then a sit in the sunshine on the balcony, so it was a pretty wonderful day.

Who else caught some of the sport yesterday?

Happy 4th July!

Just wanted to pop in and wish my US friends a Happy 4th July! I hope that you all have a wonderful day.

TV Shows

Is it just me, or is TV drama getting more gruesome and rude?

I've happily watched series like Bones and NCIS for a few years now.  They mix drama and humour well. Recently though, I've been watching some of the new things that have appeared on Sky.

Da Vinci's Demon's I rather enjoyed.  Man, there was a lot of nudity in it though.  When the episode would start, hubby and I would have a bet as to how many minutes in it would take for someone to get their kit off.  As a drama though, it was pretty enjoyable and the story and setting were really interesting.

But now there are other series like Defiance and Revolution which I just could not get on with at all.  I didn't like any of the characters enough to stick with either series and I just found the stories boring.  I've persevered a bit longer with Hannibal, but I'm struggling with the graphicness of some of it, and Banshee has a big mix of nudity and violence, but has a storyline going on that is keeping me interested for the moment.  The overwhelming feeling I have though is that these series are all hard work to watch.  I need something that's dramatic but a bit lighter - something that I can actually watch when I'm eating my dinner without wanting to barf!

What are you guys all watching at the moment?

Heartz 1-6

Progressing pretty nicely on Eileen's Heartz... Here are 1-6, stitched in:
Pansy, Deep Jungle, Antique Gold & Silver, Ladybug
Sea Green, Amazon Parrot

Having a blast stitching them (although I did make a bit of a mess of the Amazon Parrot one but think I've managed to sort it).

Heartz 1 & 2

I've been working on the Heartz stitch-a-long parts 1 and 2 during last week with the silk threads I ordered from Eileen.  I'm enjoying watching everyone's progress especially since people have chosen different colours.  And I'm very much enjoying working with the silk - it feels so nice and luxurious and it doesn't knot anywhere near as badly.

Here are my heartz from the first week - stitched in Pansy and Deep Jungle - the colours are much more vibrant in real life.  I'm looking forward to starting on 3 and 4 today.

stitched in 2 strands on 14 count white aida

If you want to see/buy the silk threads or look at the other stitched up hearts, the facebook group is here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/474758369243881/

The Big Reunion Live Tour @Sheffield Motorpoint Arena

I'd booked the tickets a couple of months ago when The Big Reunion was showing on TV and then put it to the back of my mind, but on 3rd May, my sister and I set off all excited to see 5ive, B*witched, Liberty X, Atomic Kitten, 911 and Honeyz.

And what a show it was.

One of the things I love about the Sheffield crowd is that although it is not the biggest of arenas, it always gives the warmest welcome.  People always arrive early, they are in their seats early because they don't want to miss a second and as soon as the house lights went down, the whole place was on their feet with the excitement and anticipation.

After some of the promo materials and clips from the show on the big screens, 5ive started everything off with their energetic routines and although there was no Jay, we didn't really miss him (except for maybe a little bit during Keep on Movin' later on), and the foursome absolutely smashed it.  Following them, B*Witched, 911, Honeyz, Atomic Kitten and Liberty X all took to the stage with 2-3 songs each.  

One of the things I felt was that although the routines were probably more of a struggle since everyone is older now, they pulled them off like they were still 20, it was pretty amazing to watch.  Everyone sang live and it sounded fantastic, but I didn't really feel as though I was re-living my youth so much - it felt like the songs had just been released right now and it was the first time - actually, I think the only one of these bands I'd ever seen live as a teenager was Atomic Kitten and honestly, they were 100 times better now than the experience I'd had of them back then.  

After a short break, the bands all came back out one at a time for 3 more songs each, probably some of the better known songs this time around, and the audience were all warmed up too and singing along.  One of the highlights for me was 911's Bodyshaking (although after watching the clips from Big Reunion everytime I see Spike doing the dance, all I can think of is a rabid little monkey... thanks 5ive for that image).  But I do love the song, it was so good to hear that intro and see it all come to life again.

I don't think I'd ever been into B*Witched or Honeyz particularly, although my sister was, but the beauty of having 6 acts in the show was that although I wouldn't have chosen to go and see just them, I saw that B*witched were a ton of fun and they actually looked like they were having a blast and that the Honeyz had wonderful voices and worked really well as this particular lineup.  Whilst my sister wasn't really a fan of Liberty X, I really enjoyed their set, and I was in awe at how hot they all looked in their skimpy little leotards and the rubber catsuits... meow!

Finishing off the show was of course the Kittens with 'Whole Again' - throughout the night, the loudest cheers had been whenever Kerry Katona sang, it's so good to see someone who has been through such a lot come out the other side and almost back to where she started and you could see the tears in her eyes as though she was finding it hard to believe and wonderful all at once.  It was nice that the whole audience sang the chorus back to the Kittens and at the end as all the bands came back on stage together, the noise and screaming was so loud that it was a pleasure just to watch everyone soaking it all up as this is what they had all been working so hard for for the last few months.

Overall, such a cracking show, 6 bands with 5-6 songs each worked really well. A little more maturity and support from the other bands has done wonders and hopefully they have learnt from their problems the first time around!  The production aspects with all the clips from the show was also really great on the big screens and it has been a stonkingly well made, well produced program from start to finish.  I hope that the bands pick back up and make new music, I know that some of them are already making songs/albums/booking tours and that makes me pretty happy because listening to the charts today, I'd very much like if some of the fun of the 90s came back.

If you haven't bought a ticket yet, and you have enjoyed the program - the tour is still on now, and there are some extra shows in December...get on it!

Now then... please Big Reunion, can we have a series 2?