Saturday photos #92

In case any of you wondered, we went to Lundy.  You will notice that a side benefit of this was that there are lighthouses.  The two pictured here are North Light and the Old Light.  There is also South Light, which is pretty much exactly the same as its twin on the northern-most point.

Sea, sky, the granite grey of dry stone walls and a handful of buildings, bracken slowly turning from green to its autumn gold, the yellow of gorse, purple of heather and still some green on the ground. We were a mile and a half out from the tiny village and all other people and that is what we saw from every window, in every direction.  Bliss.

Saturday photos #91

Prompted by my resolution to join in with Wandering Camera, I went into the garden.

Mostly it looks like this

but I managed to find some colour too.

Saturday photos revisited

I used to enjoy making a weekly photo collage, until I suddenly didn't any more.  Soma at Whims and Fancies has just relaunched her monthly photo link up, Wandering Camera, so I thought I'd have a go at joining in - should be able to manage one a month!

Last week I was in a butterfly house, taking lots of photos, trying to catch the split second when the little beggars stop moving.  I didn't do too badly.  When I looked at the pictures afterwards the thing that struck me was how well each butterfly camouflages itself - there were flowers and foliage of all shapes and colours, but look how neatly they have blended in.

Tulips, again

I think this is the third year I have posted tulip photos, and it probably won't be the last. 

I know it's daft, but this makes me so happy I could cry.

Saturday photos #89

Pulling up my quilting socks

It's been a while since I've posted my quilting progress, mostly because there hasn't been much.  Last year I hit a pretty steady pattern, doing about 2 hours of quilting most evenings.  This year I haven't come close.  On one level that's okay; this is meant to be what I do for fun, after all.  On the other hand I do like to finish something once in a while.  So it's time for me to pull up my socks and get this one moving along.  

I may not be doing much actual stitching but I am doing a lot of thinking about quilting.  As part of that I wanted to look at the Welsh and Durham traditions in the UK, and have just acquired this book: 

I bought it to learn about the quilting, but there's so much more in there.  There's history and culture: I have learned that many Welsh quilts were made by professional quilters, some of whom travelled from farm to farm, replenishing the housewife's stock of bedding, using fabrics and wadding she supplied, and then moving on.  The best of them could make two quilts a week!!!

There are also many beautiful examples of piecing to enjoy and lots of inspiration.  So I may be taking time out of my stitching this Sunday to enjoy the pretty pictures and do some more pondering.

Linking up with Kathy for Slow Sunday Stitching.

Saturday photos #88

Saturday photos #87

Bolsover Castle.

Saturday photos #86

All the fun of the fair.

Saturday photos #85

It's been ages since I've done one of these posts but here's a peek at the piece of the French coast we visited this summer.  The little huts are for fishermen  (and you can probably guess how many photos I have of them) - if you look carefully at the top right you can see the net, which is raised and lowered with a crank. 

Easter in my garden

I know I have done collages before with my tulips, but since they are my favourite flower and this is the moment in the year when I love my garden the best I'm showing them again.  I put in new ones every year.  This year the bronze-y orange have come up for the second time, but the deepest reds, the bright orange and the ones with pretty pointy petals are all new.

Saturday photos #84

Looking for little bits of colour amidst the greys and browns.  Red, orange, yellow, pink and blue/green.

Saturday photos #83

Lilies.

Saturday photos #82

Something wintry to end 2016.  Happy New Year, one and all!

Saturday photos #81

I wasn't going to do a photos post this week (yet again) but yesterday found myself sitting in a car wash with my camera on the seat next to me...Well, it kept me entertained for 5 minutes!

Saturday photos #80

It's been a few weeks since I've put up any photos on a Saturday as I'd got to a point where I just wasn't feeling it: no new ideas and not much interesting in repeating myself, to sum it up.  I'm having a (slow) think about whether I want to set myself some new aims and get going again or whether I'll just do a post, like this one, when something has sparked my interest.

I had a day out on Thursday, to Middleport Pottery, home of Burleigh ware. They make pottery there the same way they did in the 1880s (though with modern kilns rather than the bottle kilns they started with), which is to say by hand.  No automated processes, no assembly lines, just a handful of highly skilled workers doing things the way they have always been done.  It was brilliant - £8.50 for the factory tour was a blooming bargain.  I know Stoke-on-Trent would not be high on most people's list of places to visit, but if you are ever in the area, do yourself a favour and take a couple of hours to do this.

I missed it last month but will link up this month with Soma for Wandering Camera

Saturday #80

This is what I could see this morning sitting on the bed in the spare room. 

Saturday photos #79

Last Friday I spent 20 minutes waiting outside a car park in Derby, so thought I'd see what that yielded by way of photos (not for the first time I was thankful that phones now come with cameras built in).

The next day we watched a concert held in the cathedral - the blue/pink is reflecting the performers' lights.  

Linking up with Wandering Camera again - there are always some great things to be seen there.

Saturday photos #78

The seasons have changed. Goodbye summer.

Saturday photos #77

Mostly windows...