Pumpkin, Japanese Dragons, Lake 1 of 3
I didn’t border this in the green in the end but went for a dark wood bark effect fabric. Click images to enlarge. The cat and crow fabric is a Moda Marbles cotton. A brilliant range of tonal fabrics.
The back is a fabric sample which was only just long enough so I used the eyelet part of it. I like the way the stripey weave of it is like a pumpkin itself. I am feeling quite proud that I didn’t need to buy anything for it, so I’ll add it to the Summer Stash Challenge pics on Flickr. Check out the beautiful things everyone has been making out of fabric they already had.
Oh lookie what I found in a charity shop. She’s a Serene Geisha lithophane with a lacy collar- sorry not a wonderful pic.
Burnt orange saucer with moriage dragon. Moriage is when they paint in the slip on unfired porcelain and get a raised effect. Some of his scales are gold, and a black bead is in the centre of his blue eyes. His tougue is a mauve colour. I think he looks beautiful swimming through the clouds.
As you can see I loved it then found out about it on the net when I got home. The NS means ‘Nagae sei’ which I think means “Made in Japan“.
He was part of a set of 20 dragons. I am missing one cup like this one, so if you come across one, please let me know. I have the saucer.
Tea pot, jug and sugar bowl and 6 plates.
They were made before 1952 according something else I read, but probably after the 1920s.
Plate. Someone years ago painted these by hand. They were so talented. I looked on ebay and found black and green colourways. Someone in the UK even had 3 pink cups and saucers. Anyone else come across these before? It was fascinating to find out about them.
“Early to bed early to rise makes a man healthy wealthy and wise” C. Robinson 1911
We got up early on Sunday and headed to the Lake District. Here’s the start of the hills. This post will be the Windermere-Grassmere post. Map in the above link.
Victorian Windermere shops. Sorry I was hanging out of the car like a dog for a lot of the pics. LOL
The Lake District walls are very blocky and made from local grey stone.
VR on this post box shows that it was installed in the reign of Queen Victoria which finished in1901.
North end of Lake Windermere.
Hills looking west.
Huge old barn.
Ambleside Church
Main road in Ambleside looking straight into a hill.
Watermill next to Bridge House. My pics didn’t come out well of it- too many people -so follow this link to see it- so quirky.
Rydal Water
Grassmere Lake
Dove Cottage home of the poet William Wordsworth from 1799 who “Wandered lonely as a cloud which floats on high over vales and hills when all at once I saw a crowd a host of golden daffodils” and his much neglected sister Dorothy. I’ve bought a little book called “Housekeeping with Dorothy Wordsworth” which has some traditional recipes as well as biography. Inside the house is as the Wordsworths would have known it with dark wood furniture and big fireplaces. I loved the big flagstone floors- they used rugs to make them warmer. One room without a fireplace was lined in newspapers to make it warmer! Back then they had no water to the house but had to collect it from a stream outside.
House opposite Dove Cottage but this wasn’t there when the Wordsworths lived here.
I loved the little window in the porch.
Next time out of Grassmere and on to Beatrix Potter’s house Hill Top in Near Sawrey.
Update on daughter in NC:
Daughter has tried water skiing on the river in New Bern, got up 1st time and loves it. The result is she now has sunburn. I did pack creams for her so she’ll survive. Yesterday she was in Wilmington and today she is having a tour of Tryon Palace.
I came across this blog which is about a woman trying to have a “no new plastic” month. It looked like such a good idea as well as being challenging.
This news article about parents in the UK not letting their children take risks when playing was worrying. 49% of children not allowed to climb trees! Heck if I wasn’t in a river or up a tree when I was little then it must’ve been raining hard outside. They wonder why children are playing on computers more and gaining weight. Computer games are probably the only place where kids can learn how to take risks and learn those essential life skills. Poor kids!
Ok now a funny– imagine changing the feed on a herd of cows to deliberately increase their methane output to make the energy for a village. I wouldn’t want to live down wind. LOL
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