This June...

At the end May we were away flying to Chicago from Heathrow just after the Bank holiday, and my plan was to stay off socials pretty much, which with the time difference was a good call. It meant that in the run up to our break I was busy getting ahead of myself and scheduling blog posts for the duration of our trip. Staying off socials meant that I didn’t want to include details of the trip in my May update, but I’m happy to do that now.

USA baby

We flew to Chicago spending four nights there exploring both the city and the nature it offered. My highlights here were the boardwalks by the Lincoln Park Zoo, trying (and being beaten) by a Chicago Deep Dish pizza in the city of its name, and a fabulous birthday meal at Gibson’s Chicago Steakhouse. Next we took an Amtrak train across to Seattle, this epic adventure took 2 days and 2 nights, and while it wasn’t exactly luxury it was a great experience.

We spent four nights in Seattle - my best moment was our visit to the Dale Chihuly exhibition and gardens in the grounds of the Space Needle, truly, truly amazing. I’ve so many more pictures to share from this, and the whole trip, but here’s a teaser:

And Canada too

Then we were back on the Amtrak, this time taking a much shorter journey across the border to Vancouver for another four nights. Here we met up with MOH’s cousin and her family; we haven’t seen them for far too many years and it was great to spend time with them. There was lunch, brunch and another lunch out and a seaplane trip for some, and a good old natter and catch up for others.

We stayed in English Bay, a very chill part of Vancouver which was even busier than usual as a lot of Canadians seemed to be staying home rather than heading over the border this year, and the high unexpected temperatures. Luckily we’d packed for all eventualities, but we were close to running out of our more summery clothes - which is far better than not having the opportunity to wear them at all.

We celebrated our eighteenth wedding anniversary while in Vancouver, and to mark the occasion we hired bikes and did a couple of laps around Stanley Park. A couple of laps was unintentional, but we hadn’t realised that the path was one way, so once we’d found the Totem Poles we decided to just go around again. That worked out well as we realised when we stopped just how warm it was - and don’t worry, I’d hired an e-bike so it really was fine by me.

Actually the e-bike worked out well - picture the Canadian equivalent of a Boris bike and you’re close to the model I had, and even that meant I enjoyed the ride much more than on a manual bike, so it’s something I’m seriously considering now we’re home.

Hot, hot, hot

It seems the unexpected heat came home with us as we walked back into a heatwave when we got off the plane at Heathrow, and there’s been another one this past weekend. It has been very warm, and uncomfortable - but strangely very windy too.

That first weekend we were back we headed off to Gardeners’ World Live in Birmingham (#Ad - I was invited to and provided with a pair of tickets for the show) visiting on the last day of the show for the first time. Given the scarcity of public transport options here on a Sunday morning I drove there in my new car - my first long drive, and that was great as it really gave me the opportunity to get used to it. Which seems a strange thing to say as although it’s the same make and model as my previous car, this one’s a hybrid - and I must say, I’m loving the petrol consumption and efficiency.

Wildly blissful

I’ve also spent the last week on the month at home alone, and it’s been bliss. I’ve had things planned in most days and I’ve kept myself busy, even starting my Essex Linen kisses quilt - more on that tomorrow. MOH has spent the week in Ireland cycling parts of the Wild Atlantic Way with some of his cycling buddies, and while the timing has been a bit of ‘everything all at once’, to be honest I’m surprised they managed to make it happen at all.

The weather there was more in keeping with what you’d imagine from a route with wild in its name, with temperatures a good ten degrees below those here. He told me that everything he took was damp, and needs drying out, so you can imagine how much I was looking forward to that when he got home!

In more mundane news, I’ve got the right sized olive tree for my large pot - but I don’t think I have enough soil to fill the pot, and so far nothing has come of my post in the local Facebook groups, so it’s likely that we’ll be off to the garden centre again soon.

Post-holiday food shopping really is dull, though the offer on a favourite Rose wine sweetened the trip a little. The heat pump was serviced, and a small leak was eliminated. MOH’s been to see a chiropractor, which seems to be doing the trick, I’ve had my annual health check - and passed (I think!), and treated myself to a luxurious 90 minute massage, and I’ve been along to a new-to-me DanceFit class, as sadly while I was away my regular Zumba class ended. I’m very sad about that.

But the best thing about being back?

Finally, a decent cup of tea, how I missed a cuppa while I was away!

If you want to read my previous monthly updates in my ‘This is’ series you’re very welcome.

Transition and Decay, the colourful interpretation

Back in March in an unassuming building in Nottingham I went along to the East Midlands Contemporary Textiles exhibition titled Transition and Decay. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but the leaflet was handed out at the Newark Quilt Show back in January and as we planned to be in Nottingham that week, then there was no reason not for combining a visit to the exhibition with our errands, and lunch!

And we weren’t disappointed with any of those. We started out at another new-to-us venue, the Nottingham Society of Artists Gallery in a part of the town (city?) centre we’ve not visited much yet, and we were met with a riot of colour. Even MOH was impressed and took some photos.

It’ll be no surprise to you, and it certainly wasn’t to me, that I was instantly attracted to the most colourful exhibits some of which I’m sharing in this post. My favourite item from the exhibition was this ‘Fading Hydrangeas’ as not only can you instantly see the decay, and all the colours of the hydrangeas throughout its lifecycle, but also because of the intricate work and the patience it must have required.

FADING HYDRANGEAS, HELEN JONES

Helen said that she loves colour and has been inspired by the constantly changing hues of the hydrangeas in her garden; from the bright, pure colours right the way through to the delicate petals in winter. Isn’t it gorgeous?

The next one I’m sharing is more literal - ‘Use it or lose it’ - and a type of decay that I’m sure all of us are keen to embrace, but it’s also a timey reminder to actually make that happen isn’t it?

USE IT OR LOSE IT, CATHERINE TYNDALL

VARIOUS SMALL QUILTED SQUARES BY THE EMCT GROUP

There was little information available in the show notes for the items above and below, but I understand they were completed by members of the East Midlands Contemporary Textiles group for their regular meetings, and they felt (and I agree) that they should also be displayed.

RAINBOW COLOURS AND EXQUISITE STITCHING, EMCT GROUP

This piece by Linda Forey started as ‘a possible method of looking at transparency in colours, and became a fun game of adding applique shapes’ - either way the result is stunning and playful - and also a contender for my favourite piece in the exhibition.

PLAYING WITH COLOUR, LINDA FOREY

LONG STRIPS OF INDIVIDUAL SQUARES, EMCT GROUP

I love the colourful strips of individual works pieced together, and wish I could share more about them. It was the fruit on the blue background (on the right above) that caught my eye, and the more I looked the more detail and amount of work I could see.

Truly amazing.

It was a great exhibition, which also had a ‘touching table’ where the artists had made available the pieces they’d created when starting out to create the pieces for the exhibition, that was really interesting but also highlighted that there’s always so much more that goes into creating anything quite this beautiful.

Look out for another post where I’ll share with more items from the exhibition, which look at transition and decay in a completely different way, that’s why I’m sharing it as a separate post - I didn’t want either of the approaches to get lost.

Floral Art at the Devon County Show

In one of the marquees at the Devon County Show we stumbled across the most incredible Floral Art, which reminded me of some of the exhibits I’ve seen at previous RHS Chelsea Shows.

With categories such as Ladies Day, Gold Cup, Out to Pasture, Winning Rosettes, Parade Ring it wasn’t hard to work out there was a horse racing theme! And all the exhibits far surpassed my ‘plonk it in a vase and tweak’ style of arranging flowers, these were as the competition’s name suggests pieces of Floral Art.

I snapped a few pictures of the ones which most appealed to me, and my view may or may not coincide with the more experienced judges, let me know which are your favourites.

LADIES DAY, JEAN ADAMS - SECOND PRIZE

LADIES DAY, HELEN HERRIDGE

LADIES DAY, DIANNE WEST - THIRD PRIZE

Now wouldn’t any of those be fabulous to wear, hay fever aside?

OUT TO PASTURE, ANN TRIGG

OUT TO PASTURE, HANNAH BEST - SECOND PRIZE

OUT TO PASTURE, HELEN HERRIDGE - THIRD PRIZE

WINNING ROSETTES, JEAN ADAMS - FIRST PRIZE

It was around this point that my favourites tended to align more with those of the judges, so I’m taking that to mean that one or both of us have an idea of what we like, and in the case of the judges the criteria for each category!

GOLD CUP, JUDITH WOOLLVEN - FIRST PRIZE

PARADE RING, KATRINA HOLMES - FIRST PRIZE AND BEST IN SHOW

I told you they were all stunning didn’t I? I really enjoyed walking around and admiring the work that had gone into each and every one, but don’t worry, I know where my flower arranging skills are - and they are way, way below this! These ladies, or those entering competitions anywhere in the country, have nothing to fear from me!