Flashback to Lavenham, England

We head out of Rome today to Tuscany. Haven't any photos to share for yesterday downloaded so thought I would share these images from a gorgeous little town called Lavenham (Hope I have the name right this time). Penny and John took us there and it was delightful. This was one of the windows in the church.

Check out the delightful houses. I looked high and low for some wooden little houses to bring home for my collection but they didn't have any!

We went inside a wonderful hall that was once used by one of the Guild churches way back in the 1400s or so. Can't remember all the details now. It had a fabulous museum upstairs recording the building's history as well as the area's history too. Please note the jacket...it was chilly and raining.

Inside there was a wonderful collection of objects used in the daily life of the community over the centuries. They did lots of spinning and weaving. Brings back memories of spinning wool in the 70s!

Here is some dyed and spun wool.

This is one of the looms used and some lovely soft fabric.

There was a room for one of the well known families in the area and this little sampler was stitched by a 7 year old! One of the other daughters had written the nursery rhyme "Twinkle Twinkle little star". It was a very special place to visit.

Athens and some stitching

Today we have had a very busy day in Rome. We visited St Peter's Basilica nice and early before the crowds and then went on a tour of the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel. So much to see and so amazing. We then went to the Colosseum and the Roman Forum too. Lots of walking resulting in very tired feet tonight. But the pictures here are Athens. We had a great day visiting the Acropolis and then the new Museum, which was very good. Here are just a couple of Bruce's photos.

As this is a stitching blog, I thought I should show you what I have been stitching. Plane trips are very good for stitching and I stitched a bit in England too. There wasn't much time on the cruise as there were books to read from the library on board. I managed to stitch block 10 of Crazy Christmas and have started block 11 too.

On the plane over, it was about 20 hours, I watched movies and stitched the last 2 stitcheries for the Gardener's Journal BOM. Nice to have those done.

I also stitched this month's block in the My Garden BOM. Haven't added the bird yet or the piecing.

I also stitched this little angel decoration as my sample says 2008!

Ephesus

We have just arrived back in Rome on the train. It is a bit sad to leave the ship and all the food! Still there are lots of lovely things to see in the days ahead. Here is a flashback to Ephesus. It was so wonderful to see these ancient ruins. We had our own guide and he was excellent. There were so many people there and it was hot but well worth the effort.

See all the people!

Some more columns amongst the many tourists.

We were then taken to a rug shop, as expected. It was very interesting as you could see the ladies working on the carpets. They are such a lot of work.

They also make silk ones and here are the silk cocoons ready to spin. The thread created is so fine.

There were some amazing carpets but we didn't end up getting one. 

We are in Turkey!

We are in Kusadasi in Turkey at a Starbucks and have finally had some time to blog. We are having a wonderful time on the cruise but it has been hard to get to blog. Here is a little summary of the last week or so. We had a lovely time at Penny and John's place. While there we visited Ely Cathedral. The cathedral was wonderful.

We then had the longest day. Got up at 4.45 and then to Stanstead and flew to Munster in Germany. We caught the bus into town and had yummy lunch here.

We arrived finally in Rome at 11.30 and found our hotel! Whew! We were very tired. The next morning we raced around Rome and there is something wonderful around every corner! We then caught the train to the port to catch the ship. Another tiring day travelling and pulling suitcases.

We sailed away that evening and enjoyed a restful sea day. The next day we were in Dubrovnik. It was absolutely wonderful. We walked around the wall and enjoyed the lovely old city.

We had a day in Corfu.

And a day in Katakolon.

We then had a wonderful day in Santorini. So many photo opportunities!

So much to share

On our way to Cambridge we stopped at Knole and these little fellows were in the gardens.

On Saturday night, after arriving at Penny and John's place we had a delicious dinner and then they took us to see A Midsummer's Night's Dream in the gardens of Emmanuel College. We weren't allowed to take photos of the action but this was the stage. It was very interestingly done.

On Sunday, we visited Anglesey Abbey. What a wonderful house and garden.

We thought this would be a lovely country estate for Penny and John. Here we are trying to look at home.

There were some amazing examples of stitching in this house. Lots of chairs covered with tapestry.

This was silk embroidery and was part of a huge framed picture.

There was a wonderful library full of books and collections.

This is a beautiful sewing kit.

Ightham Mote and Knole

On Saturday, we left Flint Cottage and headed to Cambridge. We visited Ightham Mote and Knole Castle on the way. We loved Ightham Mote as it had been a normal home (quite a large and wealthy one) rather than a castle from the Middle ages. We went on a tour of the gardens too.

Lovely to see some embroidery.

This was s stitched fire guard. It was fairly dark so the photo doesn't do it justice.

Lovely jars.

We also went through Knole Castle. It was very interesting though quite dark and very rich and imposing. Didin't help that it was raining heavily and dark outside. This is where Vita Sackville, created the Sissinghurst garden, grew up.

Sissinghurst, Kent

On Friday, we headed to Sissinghurst Gardens. I am not much of a gardener but I do enjoy looking at them and embroidering the flowers! I would love a beautiful garden but am not keen on the work involved. This garden and house was lovely. It must be spectacular in spring.

We climbed to the top of the tower for a wonderful view. Please note the beautiful blue skies. We were very lucky. It poured rain as we headed back to the cottage in the afternoon.

Just a few more views of the gardfen.

Rye, Battle and Bodiam

It is now Sunday and we are in Cambridge visiting Penny and John. So lovely to be here. Penny says hi to all the stitching girls in Australia.
I will have to try and catch up on my blogging while I am here. We have seen so many wonderful places and have only been away a week.
Last Thursday we visited a lovely village called Rye. We didn't climb the church tower, Heidi, as there was a service on.

We then headed to Battle. It was fascinating to do the audio tour and hear about the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

We then went to visit Bodiam Castle and climbed up the tower. The legs were sore that day.

Here are some views from the top.