Crochet night and Kippers

 Last week Ready Steady Knit went out and about. With my loyal band of helpers I packed up a basket of goodies and went to join the ladies of The Hearth Craft group at Horsley for a crochet night. A great night we had too - sharing skills, drinking tea and eating cake.

 But I have been out and about this week too. On a rare day off we went to Howick Hall on the beautiful Northumberland coast for a walk in the gardens.

 With all the wet weather , the bog garden was in full bloom

 But not appreciated by everyone!

 Then we went to the nearby fishing village of Craster which is very picturesque

Where we bought some kippers from the world famous smokery to take home for tea.

Happy Quilting and Happy Hooking too.

Howick Hall Gardens

The weekend started well with sunshine and a quilters lunch at the Herb Patch. Margaret is showing off her latest quilt another sampler quilt. Beautifully quilted as usual. When I go to quilt shows with Margaret she is often in awe of other peoples work asking why should she bother. The hand quilting on this quilt is so beautifully done that's how she has made me feel this time - I couldn't attempt anything like that. The quilt was just waiting for the binding to be finished - I bet its on the bed by now.
Making the most of the weather again on Saturday DH and I visited Howick Hall in North Northumberland. Home to Earl Grey - Prime minister of England in the 19th Century and inventor of Earl Grey Tea.
The gardens are an arboretum with species from all over the world - from our common woodland flowers to ...
more exotic specimens.....
and you can walk through the gardens right down to the sea. I remember swimming in this cove as a child (were summers hotter or the sea warmer then?) We always had egg and tomato seaside sandwiches.
But on Saturday we had scones with homemade rhubarb jam and of course Earl Grey Tea.

Hope you are getting out and about enjoying the spring sunshine too.

Happy Quilting xx