STITCHING AND TRAVELS

 This cold weather has been the perfect time to sit and stitch while watching a good movie. My hubby is constantly amazed how I can do these 2 things at the same time. I suppose it is a balance of simply listening to the dialogue and glancing up at the screen as I stitch.  I am still having a bit of trouble stitching these days as my eyes need a check up which is long overdue but, nevertheless, I have persevered determined to finish the 2 BOM blocks.

Recently I was gifted  some flour sack fabric to use for my stitcheries. I usually use hankie linen or light fabrics to trace designs onto so I was thrilled to be able to try this fabric as an alternative.  I decided to trace a few bird designs to stitch on it and I found this fabric easy for tracing and rather nice to stitch . I love this tiny little birdie. And, yes, I chose Jenny's birds to stitch. No surprise there. Hehehe.

 

 

Thus endeth the crafty part of my post. I shall now go back to my travels back in 2015. 

 

On the 18th June 2015 we picked up the hire car in Cardiff and managed to get lost as soon as we drove out of the street. We eventually found our way to the correct motor way headed for Chippenham, Wiltshire which was the birthplace of my grandfather. My great great great grandfather was Mayor of Chippenham for a while.We arrived in Chipp ( as it is called by the locals) but couldn't find the correct street to park at the hotel. The street was blocked off as a mall so after much confusion and many U turns we asked someone for directions and eventually got there. After settling in our hotel room we explored Market St to buy some water and other supplies.

 

 

 

We had arranged to meet my grandfather's best mate's widow, Mary, who my family had been in contact with for decades via hand written letters. No one had ever met her so we were delighted to be able to fulfil this dream. We received a call from Mary arranging to meet us at 6.30pm in the Mall which we did before all getting in our car and driving to her home for a little visit.

 

The next morning we had breakfast , hopped in the car and headed for Salisbury Plains to visit Stonehenge. It was a pleasant drive through beautiful countryside but I had no idea what the speed was and didn't want to get booked. The roadway was narrow and had lots of bends so there was very little chance for anyone to pass me if I was too slow. Yep, I was one of those irritating tourists. At one point I had several cars trailing behind me. We passed through beautiful chocolate box villages  with thatched cottages that had doorsteps almost on the road. We finally reached Stonehenge, parked the car , bought tickets and wandered through the information area before boarding a bus which took us closer to the stones . It was still a fair walk but it was a beautiful warm and sunny day. The stones were roped off but still quite close. The next day or 2 was the weekend of the Summer Solstice there .

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was a display of little cottages that reminded me of Yerts. These were replicas of the homes that people who built and used Stonehenge probably lived in.

 

 

 

 

The next day, 20th June , Mary took us on a personal tour of Chipp. She had located my grandfather's brother's grave at the local cemetery. He was only 41 when he died after a war effort fundraising tug of war. He ruptured something internally and died. So sad, especially as my grandfather never returned to Chipp to see his parents, brother or friends. I like to think that grandad was with me as we walked around his home town. We found the school that my grandfather attended from the age of 3.

 

 

 

We couldn't locate his childhood home but we did find the house that his parents lived in after he came to Australia.

 

 

 

We wandered through beautiful laneways.

 

 

 

 

And alongside a river that I can't remember the name of.

 

 

 

Next time we are off to Penzance, Cornwall. Thankyou for visiting me.

 

Angel Blessings.