Latest bears and a day out .................

I am still battling with the after affects of a miserable dose of 'flu but have managed to complete some orders.   My handful of bears little girls have proved so popular and the latest Annabelle is now journeying to her new home.  These bears have been made from the same fabric and pattern but I have tried to dress each one differently. 

I also found  some vintage rayon in a rather washed out grey/blue colour in my stash.   This fabric was apparently originally used for curtains.   Dyed it turned into a rather mouse brown but it has made a nice little bear.   Her dress is made from a scrap of special vintage lace with tiny forget-me-not embroidery around the neck.   Aimee is now listed on e-bay.

I now have only a small piece of the golden rayon left and was a little peeved to find this type of fabric is now priced at some £85 per metre.   My stash has been around for so long, I am rather out of touch with prices.   Think I will be back to making miniature bears for a while, the on line show is drawing closer and I have lots of work to do.

Last month we managed a long promised day off.   Our first destination was to the town of Baldock in Hertfordshire.  Having read that this town was founded by the Knights Templar in the 1140s I was hoping to find it of interest.   The origin of the name is supposedly a derivation from the old French name for Baghdad (Baldac).   Unfortunately it is a town which seen better days but does have some fascinating old buildings and a 13th century church.   Tesco's supermarket is in a building with the most amazing Art Deco façade

 

 

We did find a rather nice haberdashery shop in one of the side streets.   Sadly, there are not many of these around any more,  the large chains such as Hobby Craft as well as on line shopping, have meant that many of these shops have disappeared.    There were the usual variety of charity shops but little else of much interest.
 
I find the names of villages and towns here in England quite fascinating and on my trips to London I pass a sign for a town called 'Wendy'.   I have not had much success in finding out the origin of this name, which apparently means "river-bend island"?  It is a tiny hamlet with just a handful of houses and a church and was merged with the neighbouring town of Shingay in 1957. I wonder what it would be like to live in a town with my own name?

I did spot the most perfect house .........

A typical English thatched cottage which we passed on our journeying .......

The garden is finally starting to look a little colourful.   The Angelica has grown so large that I have cut it back quite a lot so that the plants growing underneath have a chance to get some light.   Don't think I will be spending time trying to crystallise it this year,  too labour intensive and not something I use a lot of. 

Lots of work to do as I need to get the vegetable garden going.   Winter dragged on for so long this season and I have not really had time to catch up.

A lot of birds are visiting the garden at this time of the year.  We have noticed a definite decline in numbers of some species.   In previous years we were inundated with starlings, this year there have been just a few.

Finally all our kitties (not the best picture) sleeping in front of the window enjoying the warm sunshine. 

I have some new followers, welcome to my ramblings and thank you for your interest.

Until next time .............