Little Moreton Hall

We are away in the Lakes for our annual pilgrimage, a fixed point in our year, as the seasons tip and the nights begin to lengthen; a thing to tuck away in the back of the mind, a quiet treasure that approaches slowly, then suddenly is here.

We break our journey in Buxton, taking a day there to relax and see something interesting. This year it was Little Moreton Hall in Cheshire. What a delight; an off kilter dolls house in black and white, planted in the middle of a field with its own knot garden and moat. 

You cross the moat, and find yourself in a magical courtyard, where the black and white timber framing is enlivened by windows with complex glass that reflects the light, breaking the surface of the buiding up even further, fragmenting the view through.

We took the very well informed guided tour; a particular pleasure was the room with wonderful trompe l'oeil panelling and a headless Susanna and the Elders frieze, nestled at ceiling height, revealed when electricians were working behind the later Georgian panelling.

Then I spent time going round afterwards, being quiet in each room, listening for echoes of past voices, 

looking at light pooling on 500 years of others' passing feet

seeing the lichen of the years mottling the rooftops.

Imagining how others' lives were lived here

At the risk of sounding preachy, we are so lucky in this country to have these treasures from the past, witnesses to the way those before us spent their days, spaces and places that fulfil functions we are familiar with, but in such various ways. They are bits of our shared past that we can connect with, being thankful for their continued survival.

Maroon Breakdown

Which sounds like a band, and has been languishing. I may have found a way to move forward with these bits of cloth printed some considerable time ago now, I need to just get on with it now! I blogged about this here and here and was supposed to have put it all together as a something by now. that was part of this year's plan, but it kept getting put to one side, and then I got very tired and was doing very little for a while.

So? These are both poor pictures, but may at least be a start. Many many different layouts have been tried, this may be a final one, but I'll need to have another look by daylight.

Without a design wall this involves a lot of stooping and bending and moving and folding to get something like an idea. Then there's the straining to get a picture from the right height, on the correct plane, all in focus with the iPad. I suspect the whole process would appear quite ridiculous to an onlooker! Still not sure about it, but I really should get going and do something with it. There are still a few gaps to fill and plans to draw and the colours all look much nicer than this!

In the meantime I've had a lovely and inspiring three days with Committed to Cloth dyeing silk, linen and velvet, of which more later I hope; also a pleasurable visit to Standen, a William Morris'y Arts and Crafts'y house and garden, built by Philip Webb which has a lovely atmosphere of just occupied immanence, if that doesn't sound odd.

 There are, of course, beautiful embroideries in every room

 and the garden was delightful and full of buzzies taking delight in it

Oh, and I'm off to Festival of Quilts in a little while; Christine is an exhibitor.

Gosh, I sound quite busy don't I - did I mention the day job? :-)

Patterns in the landscape

My good man and I have been lucky enough to have two short holidays recently, one to Norfolk, where he was born, and one to the Lake District. We both enjoy walking and visiting gardens and interesting places and I always take my camera. One of the things I am constantly watching is the richness and variety of pattern around us, do we but take the time to look for long enough.

These are just some of the things that drew my eye. Some are from the wonderful garden at East Ruston Old Vicarage, which was an inspiration, others are taken around the Langdale Pikes

Virginia creeper, texture on texture

in the sunken garden at East Ruston

Shingles and sky

The beauty of old brickwork

Lightfall in Bury Cathedral

Stone and Iron

rhythm and light

Such soft curves