It's True!

I do have lots to post about but time has been in short supply recently with so many things on the agenda so just a little 'snippet' to keep in touch.

Yes, it's true I began this embroidery before I was married over 50 years ago and I have not even finished one corner.

It is a beautiful large linen table cloth

bordered with Nottingham lace.

I would like to finish it but do not know if I ever will.

I have given away a number of half finished tapestries and embroidery projects in the past to people who have been keen to finish them but did not want to part with this.

The napkins are bordered in the lace too

Changing the subject!

What happened to plain old fashioned Easter eggs

Do I buy what to me are 'real' Easter eggs

or do I buy what Oliver and Rebekah will love?

Yes, I succumbed as you see

I did not even understand this one but apparently when watching the programme one is not supposed to know who Stig is.

The egg is full of chocolate racing cars and racing cars are Oliver's favourite toy at the moment

The Cotswolds Pt. 12 - Sudeley Castle

Sudeley Castle and grounds are situated one mile south of Winchcombe in the Cotswolds.

It's recent claim to fame is it is the venue where Elizabeth Hurley got married,

the ex-partner of the actor Hugh Grant

Look closer and one will see that it has been the home of Royalty and Aristocrats since

the 10th century when King Ethelred (The Unready) gave the Saxon manor house and estate of Sudeleagh and its surrounding Royal deer park to his daughter, Goda, on her marriage to

Walter de Maunt

Even earlier than this, Old Stone Age Hunters, Roman legions and Saxon tribes had taken it in turns to colonise this unspoint valley where the castle lies in a fold of the Cotswold hills.

When Henry VIII came to the throne in 1509, Sudeley was still Crown property and the King and Anne Boleyn spent a week here in 1535, the last year of their marriage.

There is so much history connected to this home that it takes up a whole book

We were fortunate in that we booked a late tour of the state and private rooms

and we were the only two on this tour so we had plenty of time to browse and ask questions

Obviously the only photos one is allowed to take are outside.

The Castle is currently the home of the Dent-Brocklehurst family

The Castle is part lived in and part ruins

The ruins have been incorporated into the gardens

The gardens incorporate The Wildflower Meadow, The Victorian Vegetable Garden,The Tithe Barn Garden, The Stone Garden, The Mulberry Garden, The Knot Garden, The Ruins Garden, The Queen's Garden, The White Garden and The Secret Garden

Here are just a few of the pictures

First from the Museum

First a life sized Henry VIII

His six wives



Silk Embroidery

More silk embroidery

The Castle church

Lived in part of the Castle

Looking out from the drawing room

Private courtyard

The ruins garden

The young daughter of the family is currently in art college

This is one of her creations

The neon brain is another

Can you spot it

More of the ruin garden

Part of the secret garden