Photos from the last week

 Cathedral of St Omer

 View out of the window from a restaurant in St Valery




View across the Somme where the sheep graze freely and produce superb meat.

 St Valery.William the conqueror sailed from here.











My iPad has frozen .Hopefully to follow is a photo of our son's new house and our Cambridge grandchildren and some old French houses.

We are back from a trip to France.

Well,it was a quick visit.Spent Saturday in Cambridge with the family and then off to France.Three nights in Abbeville visiting Bay de Somme.Then two nights in St Omer.Lots of wine buying and we ate some amazing food.
Back onEurotunnel this morning BUT then it is a six and a half hour drive home,round London on the M25,then round Birmingham on the M6.Traffic,traffic and more traffic.Ididn't do any driving ,not on motorways.C seems remarkably lively but I am sure will be nodding off watching TV tonight!!!!
Photos tomorrow when I have had a good sleep.

Does anyone know what plant this is?

The shrub is about one metere tall and wide with lots of these tiny yellow flowers.I can't find it in any of my books.I live in North Wales .uk.
Any suggestions ?

We have been to Northumberland.

 We stayed in a Studio flat attached to a pub in Boulmer,Northumberland.It is east of Alnwick on the coast.These are fishermen's cottages by the inn.

 This is the view from our window.

 It is a wild and rugged coast and very beautiful.We were there for three nights but packed a lot in.Below is Bamburgh CastleWe went round this at the end of the day and it was hard work,steep and lots of stairs and slopes.Next was Lindisfarne Castle on Holy Island.

Blogger will not let me scroll down so Here is where else we went
Cragside(NT)This was the first house in the world to be lit by hydroelectricity.Wow.It was a pretty impressive.It was also an Arts and Crafts masterpiece with stained glass by Rosetti and tiles etc by William Morris.
We also visited Wallington(NT),again very impressive.
C wanted to visit Hadrian's Wall which we did on the way stopping at Housesteads Roman fort.
While we were in Alnwick we visited Barters Books ,a second hand book store with

A funny old week.

One of our close friends was taken into hospital following a stroke.He had already shown signs of dementia and this won't have helped.This friend has had such an interesting life,RAF,worked in Paris for five years,back to the UK and then to Basel for two years etc.It is so sad to see him declining.He is now home and we shall visit tomorrow.
On Friday we went to a funeral,a woodland burial.Kate had only been ill for three weeks but was diagnosed with an acute form of leukaemia and she went down hill rapidly.She was only 73.The woodland burial was quite strange.Obviously in a wood but nowhere to sit and no shelter.Thank goodness the rain held off.Also at the funeral was a friend whose wife has got severe dementia at the age of seventy.Which is the worse situation?Brian whose wife has died or Arthur whose wife has dementia.What do you think?

Now onto brighter topics.On Thursday we went to Manchester to meet our granddaughter Ella who is just about to finish her first year at Uni.She wanted to show us the Northern Quarter full of little shops,bars,coffee shops and vintage clothing which she is into.We had a leisurely coffee,had a wander and then a lovely lunch.We are loving having her less than an hour away.
In my OH's family there was always the joke that he had Italian ancestors but no one ever believed him.On Friday I decided to subscribe to Ancestry.co.uk and dig deeper into my family history.Yesterday we started looking into his and blow me,he is right.We traced his family tree back to the mid 1800s and there is the Italian He came from Lucca in Tuscany and was a modeller in clay.We have also found some mention of him in industrial journals.He would make ornamental things to go in or on buildings.C was over the moon to prove he is part(a small part) Italian but who would want to leave Tuscany and come to Manchester?
A final note ,my S in law who is very security minded and computer savvy had a call from"BT" who managed to get enough details to take £15,000 out of his business account.Fortunately the bank didn't pay as it was the weekend .Beware!!!!

My finished cross stitch.

This is my latest cross stitch.I hadn't done any cross stitch for quite a long time so when I discovered this,half done,I decided to give it a go.I am thrilled I can still see to do it.Threading the needle is a tad trickier but I have now got some needle threaders so that should help.Now I just need a frame.I really enjoyed doing it.
My next project is a Blackwork sunflower.It is much bigger than I thought.(I am not very good with centimetres.Oops.) and it does look quite complicated but I enjoy a challenge.I am also knitting a top down jumper and I am so bored with it.Row after row,round after round,but it is good for doing watching TV.
I have just planted 50 freesia bulbs that came free with an order.I did it half heartedly because they felt a bit soft and also how long will it take the squirrels to find them.Watch this space.
OH is at band practice with his ukulele.We shall stay off the roads this Bank Holiday weekend as everyone will be rushing to the coast or the mountains.Plenty of time for crafting.Have a good one.Barbara

We went to Bodnant Gardens today.National Trust.

 At this time of the year it is azalea and rhododendron time but there are other lovely plants.Look at these gorgeous irises.
Below is a willow sculpture of Emily Pankhurst to celebrate the Suffragette Movement.

 More irises.I always associate irises with France and especially Monet' s garden.

 Blocks of azaleas.Gorgeous colours.
Finally a photo of me in front of an enormous rhododendron.
We then went to the West Shore at Llandudno for some lunch and sea air.All in all a very pleasant trip and only 50 minutes from home.
We were on Anglesey on Thursday but I never took any photos.