Bits and Bobs

Bits and bobs is a term used for a bit of this and a bit of that. These few pictures are just left over bits taken over a week's time. Above is the 'Smart' car. We see quite a few of these and they are just so cute, great for scootin' around town getting two sacks of groceries.



This scene was taken in a nearby village. Note the vehicles parked in the roadway. This is the norm throughout all the villages. One can park right in the road so when a vehicle approaches, you must just stop until they pass. What a great idea! It really slows traffic down. Can you imagine Tina parking in front of her house in Barnesville?!!



While out biking I saw this darling little girl on her bike. We had a chat about the benefits of riding, we compared bikes (mine metal, hers wood) then we were off to our own neighborhoods, saving gas as we went.



Saw these Easter colored wellies in a shop window. The little sign refers to a massive 'Woodstock-esque' concert that took place last weekend, Glastonbury Festival. I've been following the hubbub of this amazing artsy green festival featuring contemporary music, dance, comedy, theatre, circus and caberat. There were over 700 acts playing on 80 stages this year. It takes place about 3 hours from London on a field over 900 acres. It usually rains buckets and this year was no exception. I had an inkling to go but with over 180,000 wet, cold, noisy, drunk, wasted, people there already, I opted to stay in my dry home and watch it on the 'telly'.

London Calling

One evening last week, Houston and I took the train to London so Houston could run in a relay race with some friends. Good fun and Houston did fine. I brought my knitting and sat on a ledge across from the Parliament and Big Ben and watched the runners.







It was just past 8:00 p.m. when the runners finished so we took off to see some sights. We passed the front of the Parliament building on our way to find some yummy ethnic food.



But first stopped in here for a beer and a glass of wine.


Dali's sculptures along the South Bank in London.






The London Eye is an observation wheel, a slow moving wheel that allows visitors to walk into a capsule, and see the sights of the city from 445 feet. 3.5 million people rode the Eye last year.



I think it resembles a very large bicycle wheel.











Not sure if these are old bridge pillars or new ones, but we liked the sculpture look of them, almost like a Cristo exhibit.






Stopped by the Tate Modern 15 minutes before closing time so had to really scurry through. Whipped through the shop and bought a rainbow colored bracelet because I hardly have any jewelry.



This encampment was across from the Parliament. The 'Face of the Enemy' looked like 'Mr. Bill' from SNL decades ago.



We were looking for Thai food, but after passing a dozen Indian places, we finally ended up at a Moroccan restaurant. With the melodic music drawing us in, we were led down some candle lit steps, into a low lit series of small rooms, with hookahs on tables and sweet scented smoke filling the air. The tables were low, as were the chairs. Poor Houston, hurting from the run, folded himself into a tiny space, grimacing as his legs had to bend in ways they didn't want to. I just sat there, being hypnotized by the music, drumming on the table to the beat. As we were about to order, the music went up many decibels and we just pointed to what we wanted. (good thing because we couldn't pronounce the dishes anyway)
The music was extremely loud so as to announce the belly dancer. Houston's attitude improved dramatically!

Broad Way

Saturday Houston and I hopped on the train with our bikes and traveled to Wroxham in Norfolk, 1 1/2 hours away. We biked around the 'Broads', a series of rivers and shallow lakes, all connected so one can rent a boat and travel for days, not having to portage or go through canal locks.

History: "By the 12th century, much of east Norfolk had been cleared of its woodland for fuel and building materials. Between the 12th and 14th centuries peat digging (or turf cutting) was a major industry. Peat was (and still is on a smaller scale) for heating one's home. Historical records show that the pits gradually began to fill with water, making the turves of peat more difficult to extract. Peat diggings were abandoned by the 14th century. They flooded, and this partly man-made landscape became a wetland, rich in wildlife.

Marshmen living in the wetter lowland river valleys of the Broads developed a way of life which exploited the natural riches of the landscape. They tended cattle on the marshes, cut reed, sedge, marsh hay and litter, maintained dykes and drainage mills, and reaped a healthy harvest of fish and wildfowl to sell at local markets, as well as supplying their own needs.

The waterways were essential for communications and commerce. In the 16th century Norwich was the second largest city in England after London, its wealth founded on wool, weaving, fisheries, agriculture and general trade."

We stopped for a pub lunch right on the river and lazily sat watching the boats float by. One young man, riding on the top of his boat as it drifted by the pub, with his four buddies below, politely said to the driver, "Bill, I'd like to bring it to your attention, that you just passed a pub!"


I would love to live in a thatched cottage but I think they're probably dark and have low ceilings. This is a new build though and probably has larger rooms and more light. It's made with cement blocks then skimmed with plaster. The roof is reed, thatched and oh so nice. With proper English gardens and shrubberies, I'm sure this will be the perfect blend of old charm and modern construction.







Another one for Mo, our local postmaster back in Barnesville, Maryland. The post offices in these small villages are a blend of groceries, post cards, hardware, ice cream and stamps.



We biked along this small 'single track' trail that went alongside the small Bure Railroad. We noticed that the RR track was very small. When the train came toot tootin' along, we saw why. It is a teeny version of a real train. Way cute. The people were full sized though!

Decorated Arms

The entire time I've been in England, I have not seen one other person knitting in public (KIP). Two Saturdays ago it was KIP too! The Cambridge knitting group had a scheduled day to go to Bury St. Edmond's to knit in the Abbey ruins. I couldn't make it, but thought of them knitting away in the ancient ruins, hopefully impressing passersby enough to stop and watch and hopefully inspire some new knitters. I cannot sit on a train or in a car without knitting something. I knitted these wrist warmers on the train ride to and from Norwich last weekend. I embellished them later at home with my 'Loopy' mohair yarn. I crocheted a picot edge on the upper part and just a single crochet edge on the finger edge and also around the thumb. The pattern is from knitty.com, the voodoo wrist warmers (winter 02). I LOVE these wonderous, wooly, wrist warmers! They really do keep my hands (and wrists) warm. I used my very own hand dyed 'Waltz' yarn, a 50/50 blend of alpaca and wool. It is SO luxurious and soft. The colorway is my new 'Plum Pudding'. This yarn and colorway are not on my website yet. When I get back home, my website is going to have a major makeover, with plenty of updates and additions.



It doesn't look like much of a wrist warmer laid flat.


And, I finished the green bead wire bracelet. I thought I'd try something a bit different, with two 'V' bent wires, coming together in the back. That's the last time I'm trying this! It took forever and by the end I wasn't that entertained. It took a lot of beads too. My husband said it looks like glitzy hardware. I do like it wearing it though. 'More is More Better!'

Botanical Journey

Last week I meandered through the Cambridge University Botanical Gardens. Opened in 1846 it displays over 8,000 plant species. Above is the winter garden, many plants being evergreen or giving color in the winter months. I only wish I would have visited this garden during the snow back in February.


There were many water gardens, with abundant water lilies and grasses.


The gardens were meticulously edged. No mulch is needed as the summers don't get scorching hot.


I was fortunate to come upon this delightful scene of school girls skipping through this grass maze. The giggles and laughter were music to my ears.





This is a bears' breech, acanthus mollis. It grows up to 5' tall.











I haven't seen this type of sage before, Turkish Sage. It's pale yellow color reminds me of an early morning sun. Most yellow flowers are a deep, rich yellow, but this one is very subdued.











This very tall, showy plant is the common hemlock. It grows along all the roadsides and is quite irritating when touched. It's purported to be the poison used in the execution of Socrates.










There was a nice display of the fen plants. "The Fens are a large area near Cambridge that were once a wetlands. In the 18th century farming was limited to the higher areas surrounding the fens. The rest of the Fenland was dedicated to pastoral farming, grazing cattle and sheep. The medieval and early modern Fens stood in contrast to the rest of southern England, which was primarily an arable agricultural region. Today the Fens have been radically transformed and arable farming has almost entirely replaced pastoral, and today the economy of Fens is heavily invested in the production of crops such as grains, veggies, and rapeseed. There are still very wet areas around the Fens where grasses and other marsh type plants grow."



We saw this young Moor hen on the lily pads. Too cute!















I always like to peek behind the scenes.


The greenhouse and cold frames were of course, empty.



This is the resident cat who gets quite a bit of attention from the visitors. One gardener told me she has a bit of a mean streak and has scratched him.



I'm amazed by the grass here. They do have the perfect environment for grass growing. The blades are nearly flat to the ground, no more than 1/8" tall. I saw the mower and it has 2 big rollers in the front that flattens it out as it cuts it. Our poor lawns would scorch and dye in our heat if it was this short. It sure is a pleasure to walk on though, like walking on soft cork.



And then I saw this EVIL plant, stinging nettles. Ick! It was in the wild garden. They are surely taking their chances even growing this plant as it so invasive. I think I would've just put a picture of this plant out.


This wheat exhibit was in the Genetics Garden. It showed how wheat has changed over the century. It started out tall and spindly. Due to hard rains and wind, it fell over a lot. So they developed a shorter, 'stalkier' variety with large seed heads that yielded more grain.

We're Peaking!

Last weekend Houston and I drove 2 hours to the Peak District in Derbyshire. This national park is located between Sheffield and Manchester, 2 of the busiest and most industrial cities in England. This area is the most visited and I can see why. It's not as rugged as the Dales, more subtle and softer, with more trees. There are miles and miles of trails and that's what the people come for. Of course, the villages are winsome and pleasant too.



Houston on our first hike. On the right notice all the *%&^!<~#* stinging nettles! They are taking over the country! Unfortunately the ruminants don't like them. And they HURT! I'm allergic to them so I'm very careful when passing them. I kinda whine like a girl.
This old castle was built high on the hill above the village of Castleton in 1175 to oversee the King's Royal Forest (most of which is gone now due to sheep grazing).


I awoke early and set off up this trail about 6:30. I found a nice rock outcropping to sit upon and brought out my knitting. Sheep were munching away nearby and these next few photos are of the view I had while knitting my sock. And all this before coffee! Pinch me, this is just too awesome of a place to be knitting!








While on our hike, it was chilly, damp and windy. I didn't have my sarong (damn!) with me and my neck was cold. My hood wouldn't fit tight around my neck and I wished I had a string or section of yarn. Viola! There in the field was a fist full of wool. I started spinning it and made a length of yarn to tie my fleece hood around my neck. Ahhhhh!



We thought that 'Wool and Thistle' would make a good name for a pub. My favorite is 'Brew and Ewe' though.


This is the village of Castleton where we spent the night.



This Celtic cross is from 800!







We visited the village of Bakewell, appropriately named because it is host to the famous 'Bakewell Puddings'. Puddings are a generic term for dessert here in the UK. Bakewell really means 'bath spring' as there are many springs around. But, there is a controversy still going on about these puddings. There are 2 bakeries in town claiming to have the original recipe and they're still bickering about it. Bicker on, but keep baking these delicious puds. The lore goes that back in 1860 an inexperienced baker's helper omitted the egg and sugar for the crust. He spread jam on the crust, then realized his mistake and put the egg and sugar mixture on the top instead. The rest is history. In the summer months over 12,000 of these are sold per week! Of course, we had to buy both of them to judge for ourselves which was better.


This one was prettier but didn't taste very good.


This one was not so pretty but was Crazy Delicious!!!






Picnicers enjoying a meal by the River Rye.





Tin man scarecrow.




Thought this bootscraper near the doorway was ingenious.

A Good Day to Dry!

Since today is the first day of summer and the longest day of the year and my favorite day of the year, I thought I'd send a green message to everyone. I'm a real advocate of hanging out laundry. Unfortunately in the US, it's frowned upon and in 300,000 home owner's associations (60 million people), it's not allowed. We have a perception that the poor hang out their clothes. A great pleasure of mine is to wriggle into bed under freshly sun-dried sheets. That smell! Ahhhh! And what a silly thing to try to duplicate that smell with a dryer sheet.
I have to hand it to these Brits, everyone seems to hang their laundry out, no matter what their economic level. Their colorful apparel and linens go splendidly with their gardens! And more often than not, there is not much room, but hang they do!


This lovely summery photo and the colorful one following it is from a woman who lives in Australia. I've been reading her blog, pea soup and loved these photos. (She gave me persmission to use them, thanks!). She's a fellow knitter, gardener and clothes hanger outer.


Thanks Suse for this bright addition.




Thanks Ann for your lovely photo of your laundry hanging out in California.


These following photos are of wash I've seen drying in the sun (or sometimes getting rinsed in the rain) the past few months.



Here are a couple of websites if you'd like more info on the "Right to Dry".
laundrylist.org or if you'd like to purchase any kind of clothesline under the sun, clotheslineshop.com


"A home looks like a home when there's a clothesline with clothes billowing out back in the breeze."


A clothes dryer is the second biggest electricity using appliance with the fridge being number one.


In 2005 there were 88 million dryers in the US. If all American line-dried for 6 months, it'd save 3.3% of the country's total residential output of carbon dioxide.


A typical family dryer uses 900 KWH of energy a year creating 840 kg of air pollution.

Beading Day

Since I'm sending all my beading supplies back next week with some friends, I'm making bracelets to use up some of the beads. These will be for sale on line and in the shop when I get back.












And here's the start of the next one.

Felting Day

Had a felting day yesterday. Thought I'd best get some work done since I brought all this roving over.



After a weekend in the Dales awhile back, I was inspired to try a landscape.



This is now my knitting bag and I love it cuz it fits my knitting pattern and quite a bit of yarn. I still have to bling it up a bit though.


My plate is full with this season's flowers.


I finished this hat last week, but have to add some beads yet.

Oh So Soft Socks

I'm nearly finished with both socks now. These are out of my new yarn, 'Waltz', a merino yarn that is really soft and a bit stretchy, perfect for socks. The colorway is Carnival. These were knit on a size 2 (gasp!).

Just Stuff

Beth, this is a store for you! I got you a little something from it.



Loved the colors in the little passageway.



Houston and I took our bikes on the train to Stamford, about an hour north. We rode from these to about a dozen little villages, stopping for lunch at this wonderful pub in Exton.









Saw this rusty thing. I don't know what it is, but I liked the colors.

Birthday Night

I had a great birthday. Chilled in the flat, knitting, felting, reading in the morning. I went to Houston's talk on Molecular Growth in Flames: towards Bucky Bowls, Bucky Balls and Soot. THAT was interesting!


We rode through this beautiful meadow, to see the evening sky.


Then a bike ride to see the 'bumps' (a form of rowing race in which a number of boats chase each other in single file; each boat attempts to catch or bump the boat in front without being caught by the boat behind. These boats are just rowing to their places, not in competition yet.

Oriental Tenderloin of Grasmere Farm pork and a Burger

Most every Friday and some Tuesdays we have eaten at a formal dinner called High Table. This is taken from above when we gather for cocktails. The students come in and must stand beside their chair until we are guided to our seats, some 15 minutes later.





The food is superb like Thai spiced salmon and lobster galette is citrus breadcrumbs, shaved fennel and quail eggs and the dessert pictured above, Vanilla fromage frais cheesecake with fresh berries.


Then there's the pub dinners. This is one happy guy adoringly looking at his 8 oz. burger, held together with a knife.

Happy Birthday to Me

Received this birthday card from Ann and thought it was appropriate!



Hi to all my girlfriends. Sure do miss you!


So I'll wear pigtails all day!

In the Heart of the Cotswolds

A fellow shepherd and Marylander, Joan, contacted me back in April about going along with her to the Cotswolds. She was here for 2 weeks on a sheep farm tour with sheep breeders from all over the US. I didn't know Joan at all, but what the heck, she raises sheep, she seems nice, she likes white wine, and I do love the Cotswolds! So I arranged to meet her at the car rental place near London. After a quick greeting hug, we got the car, packed in and off we went. Luckily we both wanted to take the back roads, see sheep and cute cottages, avoiding towns larger than 1000. She's a good navigator and we were soon joyriding down one-lane roads, through the tiny honeypot villages of the Cotswolds.










The weaver's cottages at Bibury.



Saw this gypsy wagon in a side yard of a vast estate. It might well be the fanciest chicken coop I've ever seen!







Too many choices!



This was the view from the pub where we ate dinner, drank wine, watched the sunset and stayed after everyone had left and finally realized the owners probably wanted to call it a night. We walked down the hill at 10:30, through the village and to our charming B&B where we crawled under our down duvets because the night was so chilly. It stays light out until around 10:30 or so and it's bright sunshiney at 4:00 in the morning!



Followed this pathway to another artist's studio.



The bridge to Bibury.




The Vine, our B&B for one night in the village of Stanton.



Ablington House, the 17th century B&B for our first night. Our room was up, then down, then up a couple steps, through the dining room, down a short hallway, up a few more steps, down another hallway, down more steps, turn left and we're there!


The grand front entrance to Ablington House.

And the watchdog, Marmalade, at Ablington House.




This delphinium is over 5' tall!









All the veggie gardens we saw were this perfect. The bamboo branches are ready for the climbing beans.

Lavender Fields Forever

Acres and acres and acres of lavender. We were a bit early for the full show, but there was one massive field that was in full purply bloom. Lavender is one of my favorite flowers and has to be my favorite scent, it's so clean and fresh. The flowers yield an abundant nectar, important for the high quality honey that's made from it. It can be eaten, incorporating the leaves into dishes. Tea is also flavored with it. But it's essential oil is used most extensively for balms, salves, soaps and perfumes.



More lavender.



There was one field showing many of the varieties, with subtle differences between the foliage and flowers.

Flowers, a Swan and To-Diet-For Dresses

Joan standing in front of this amazing espaliered rose. This was growing on a barn wall that hardly anyone would see off a back road. Luckily we were on a walk and came upon it. We were constantly amazed at how much time and effort went into projects like this and that someone takes the time to keep this up. And on a barn no less!















This is the most splendid, graceful, 'lulu' dress I've ever seen. It had delicate beading down the front of the top, cascading down to a beaded 'hiplace'. Stunning! I might even be inspired to lose 20 pounds to get into this dress! Click on the dress to oogle it closer.



And another beauty



This one reminded me of a mermaid. A size 0 mermaid!

Studio Tour

This is John and Rosamund, just two of the artists that we got to visit. They have a quirky garden that I just couldn't resist taking many pics of. We stumbled upon this tour by taking little backroads and saw an open sign at an artist's place. This tour was centered around the mid-sized town of Chetlenham and expanded out over about 20 miles. It had over 200 artists participating and 58 stops. Wish we would've had time to visit them all.


















This was the back of one of the studios. This was a beautifully landscaped pond. The studio was in a barn conversion.