Monday 30 December 2013

Our Holiday in England-- Part 1

We tend to put a lot of thought and planning into our holidays, so it was most unusual for us to decide in September, that we were going on an overseas holiday in October.

London was our destination and we stayed in a lovely B+B is East Putney, which was very conveniently located for travel to and from the city.  I just loved the sights of London and here are a few of them.
 
 

Liberty Shop in London
 
Cooking paella at the Chelsea Markets
 
 
Yummy chocolate coated strawberries


Hanging baskets with lovely flowers all over the city
 
Guard outside Buckingham Palace
 
An interesting shopfront
 
China town
 
The fresh flowers at Harrods
 

 We did a daytrip to Hampton Court. I was delighted to find a small patchwork shop at the village of Hampton Court. It was the only patchwork shop I found on the whole trip.
 

 Hampton Court
 
 
We left London by train and went to Yorkshire, where we hired a car. We stayed in a B+B just outside of York.  The village was called Linton on Ouse.
 

The Shambles in York. Loved the narrow cobblestoned passage with interesting shops.
 
Halloween was around the corner
 
Bettys Tearooms in York. I went to the original Betty's Tearooms in Harrogate 30 years ago.
 

 We did day trips into the countryside and we visited one of the national Trust places called Fountains Abbey. It is the ruins of an old abbey-- beautifully kept grounds and very interesting ruins.
Fountains Abbey
 
 
 The first sighting of a pheasant for me-- seen in the grounds of Fountains Abbey
 
 
Green fields and old stone walls
 

We drove over the Yorkshire Dales admiring the lovely scenery (which was impossible to photograph). I admired the craftsmanship involved in building the stonewalls  which still stand today.
 
 
The next destination was The Lakes District. We stayed in the best B+B in a small village called Troutbeck ( near Windermere. Would you believe there is another place also called Troutbeck near Penrith).  I hope to return there one day. There are lots of walks and very interesting places to explore--- we need a lot more time there to do them.
 
 
View from  a walk out of Troutbeck. Lake Windermere is in the distance.
 
The colourful fruit platter at breakfast
 
Birdfeeder outside the breakfast room of our B+B in Troutbeck
 
Old stone bridge
 
We caught a ferry at Bowness and crossed Lake Windermere to Far Sawrey.  I went to Beatrix Potter's House, Hill Top Farm, 30 years ago, and I enjoyed it just as much this time round. The house and gardens and surrounding countryside was delightful.


 

 
Hill Top Farm-- Beatrix Potter's house

Robin in Beatrix Potter's garden
 
A Bunny in Beatrix Potter's garden

We went on a walk and found this waterfall.
Waterfall
 
We went on to Derwent water and did a walk along the lake's foreshore. 

Geese on Derwent water
 
 

Wordsworth's garden in Grasmere-- Dove Cottage
 

National Trust building-- Wray Castle

Wild Forget-me-nots
 
 

Pretty hydrangea
 

View from the B+B in Troutbeck.
 
The views of the countryside in Yorkshire and the Lakes District, with the stone walls and woolly sheep with black faces, reminded me of my "Day in the country" cot quilt. I guess I got the inspiration for my quilt on my trip there 30 years ago. I had wanted to capture that scene all these years-- only took me 28 years to do it! I feel inspired to make another quilt with the country scenery-- hopefully in 2014.
 

A Day in the Country-- Cot Quilt
 
 
Woolly sheep with black faces
 
Country scene wall hanging
 
 
 
I will return in 2014 with the second part of our holiday.
 
Wishing each and everyone  a Very Happy, Healthy and Peaceful New Year. May we all continue to find enjoyment and relaxation in our craft.
 
Yvonne
 





7 comments:

Anonymous said...

wow thankyou for sharing your trip with us Yvonne ,i would be so excited to see Beatrix Potter's home ,gee such awesome pics Yvonne,thankyou and a happy new year to you and your family.xx

Koala said...

What a lovely trip you had, Yvonne!! I loved Beatrix Potter's place, have to see it one day :-) It is really difficult to believe that you only saw one patchwork shop in the whole trip :-)))))

Radka said...

Thank you for sharing your trip with us, Yvonne :-)
I love your quilt, so sweet.
We have lots of quilt shops, you just need to know where to look :-))
My best wishes for 2014, with lots of new interesting projects!
xx

Grethe said...

Such a lovely tour with you here, thank you, I'm a fan of all English scenery and all! Love your quilt, and a Happy New Year to you :))

Queen Of The Armchair aka Dzintra Stitcheries said...

And a Happy and Healthy New Year to you Yvonne! Wow, what a fabulous trip....love the food....the shops....the scenery....all of it!

Tatkis said...

Such a wonderful trip! Thank you so much for all these photos! Lake District looks fantastic :) would love to visit it one day.

Happy New Year Yvonne!

Hugs,
Tatyana

Houseelf said...

So glad you enjoyed your trip. You saw so much which is wonderful. Sorry I couldn't meet you in the Lakes. Your quilts also remind me of the Cotswold where I grew up with the sheep on the hills. Beautiful! Do you sell the patterns?