Sledmere House

A month ago, on the way back from a visit to the Yorkshire coast, we stopped off at a place called Sledmere House.  Since my sister has a dog, we try to look for places that we can stop where the dog can have a nice walk and we can sit down in a cafe.  Sledmere House was a good choice as it was a lovely hot day and we could sit in their terrace cafe.  The food was really delicious and they also had a sweet little shop on site.

Obviously we couldn't go in the stately home with the dog, but we decided that after our lunch, it would be worth paying to go through into the gardens as they seemed quite substantial.  I'm so glad we did, they were absolutely beautiful, well cared for and I though I'd show some of the photos that I took whilst we were there.  Next time I hope to go inside the house, it looks just as wonderful as the outside.  Definitely worth a visit if you are closeby!

It felt a bit like we were going into The Secret Garden

Beautiful things inside

Stunning layouts

so many beautiful roses, the red was so vibrant!

The chapel in the grounds

Beautiful colours in the garden behind the house

Tigger's Log update

Hello everyone...

Hope you are all doing ok... I'm feeling a bit under the weather at the moment so just a short post.

I've been working on Tigger's Log for a while now on and off between other things so I thought it might be time for a progress update.

Tigger's Log
Designer Stitches - D44

I'm not enjoying this one very much as there are absolutely heaps of fractional stitches in it which is driving me a bit crazy but I'm persevering as it's the second time I've started this one... the first must have been more than 10 years ago and it was such a mess when I pulled it out that I did this restart.  Hopefully it'll be over quickly, I'm expecting my Millennium frame to arrive any day now, so I'm looking forward to getting back to my HEAD, Moonlit Waters.

Heartz Completed!

Hello there!

Just a quick post today to show the Heartz designed by Eileen Hoare and stitched in her silk threads.  I've finally completed all of them, only a little bit off the SAL schedule but it's good to have them finished!

Yes, it does need a bit of an iron!

Colours are as follows:

Pansy, Deep Jungle, Antique Gold & Silver, LadyBug
Sea Green, Amazon Parrot, Heather, 'Life, The Universe & Everything'
Galaxy, Ocean, Autumn Equinox, Hazel
Candyfloss, Koi, Robin's Nest, Blackberry

The chart and threads can be found on Eileen's site here:
http://www.threadpickerz.co.uk/

I'm really pleased with the way the designs turned out, and with it being a SAL it has been fun seeing other people stitching the same heart in a different colour.  I can also highly recommend Eileen's silk threads, they have been so lovely to stitch with and the photo really doesn't do the colours justice.  I still have plenty of thread left to play around with too!

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?