Easter travels and an Easter Happy Dance

We had a really lovely Easter weekend. On Friday we headed off to Birmingham to stay with Margaret (Eddy's mum). After a brief stop in Solihull for some necessary clothes shopping (ahem) and a very necessary coffee and cake, we sat around til late setting the world to rights. On Saturday we went to see Bill (Eddy's Grandad, who is 92), so that Bill could give Eddy 'all of Big Grandpa's chisels'. All THREE of them. To say that Margaret and I were crying with laughter would be an understatement! After we left Bill's, we picked up Paul (Eddy's Dad) from his care home (he has dementia), and took him home for lunch. He was delighted to see us all, and was exceptionally lucid, which was lovely. We sat in the sun in the garden, and I finished Harvest Time:


Harvest Time, (c) Blackbird Designs
Stitched on Stitches and Spice Tundra in GAST

On Sunday we went to Wightwick Manor, a National Trust property near Wolverhampton, for the day. It was built in 1887 and decorated in the fashionable style of the time - mostly William Morris, with de Morgan tiles and a really good smattering of Pre-Raphelite art. It was pure bliss!!! I have never seen so many William Morris wallpapers, curtains and upholstered furniture in one place! And the de Morgan tiles were just stunning. As for the drawings and paintings - wow!! This house was just jam packed with artwork and designs by my absolute favourite artists of all time (there must have been at least 10 or 15 Rossetti's dotted around...). I was in heaven. I did tell Eddy that I wanted him to buy the house for me ;)

Sadly, photography wasn't allowed in the house (for good reason, but it means I can't share the interior with you), but I got some shots of the outside and the gardens:





The flowers were lovely. I particularly loved the yellow rambling rose, covered in tiny, delicate flowers called rosa banksiae

and this tree peony:


In the grounds we saw this lovely bug house - or a 'Buckingham Place for insects', as Margaret put it... I feel inspired to try and construct something on a smaller scale in my garden!


That evening we went out for a lovely meal at a nearby pub, and once again sat up late chatting. Margaret helped me try out some lace knitting (and I now vaguely understand charted knitting patterns), and I also made great progress on Fruit Bellpull. But more on that later...

Happy stitching x