Oh to be in England

England is SO English. Yesterday I did the walk near Mum's that goes up a wide pathway between a new woodland development and the scout hut/bowls green/tennis court, thence to the allotments and the parish church. There was a wedding party out front having their pictures taken. The bride wore a restrained wedding dress, stiff satin with heavy embroidery on the front of the skirt and a bolero jacket with a high back neck and cut away front. The wedding guests were mainly hatted, and tastefully dressed.

Today I did parts of the same walk. This time I went through the woodland, which has been in existence about 5 years, I think. A local landowner bought the fields and donated them to the trust, to avoid yet more executive villas. It's become quite a philanthropic venture. Local people donate £200 for a named tree or less for a smaller tree anonymously planted. We have one tree for my Auntie Pat, who died 2 years ago, and one from Mum and me for gratitude for each other. I met a lady out for a walk and got chatting since we were both sans dogs (most people are dog walking). She said she had to get home to listen to the Omnibus Archers! Further on I met a young woman clopping along on a large cob horse, his tail brushed and reaching to his hairy fetlocks.

The green of an English spring is like no other. And the smell of the different weeds and wildflowers is quite particular as well. Nettles, brambles and ground elder, mixed with apple, bluebells and campion.

It does remind me so vividly of my childhood years, and going for local walks with Mum and my brother. Dad never came - too many hobbies in his various sheds!

Out of the closet

Having put my creative projects on a shelf for a time, I got out an old UFO. This had been languishing in the cupboard for at least 6 years. I started it as a BOM in 2001, just before I went to live in Italy. I remember crouching on the floor of my attic apartment, stifling in the summer heat, cutting strips and square and triangles. I think I pieced a lot of them when visiting my parents, where my father was recovering from a car accident where he broke his pelvis.

Anyway, it is 60 by 83 inches, and greens and purples, representing the vineyards in Marlborough. Luckily I still like it.

I started on the quilting last week. I did some meander round the vines, and that looks good. Then I put on the walking foot and have been doing some of the blocks and borders. Because of the size and the weight of the quilt, I am having to do two passes round the blocks, one left and one right, so I don't have to rotate the entire thing. It's a bit like ploughing a paddock or mowing a lawn. The outside passes take a lot longer than the middle ones. I worked out when I was discing or rolling a paddock once, that if you divide the sides of the paddock into 10, then when you have done the 3 outer rows, you have done half the area.

I've experimented with various threads, including metallics, but the subject matter keeps telling me it doesn't want glitz, so half the time I am using standard white economy thread and it looks fine.

I don't think I will finish before I go to the UK on Thursday, but it probably won't need much longer.

It is great to get it out of my UFO box, because it took up heaps of room. It's made with high loft poly batting, so pretty bulky.