A Tranquil Corner

This is a place to sit and relax and let the cares slide slowly from your shoulders

A place away from the stress and pressure

of everyday life......

At least that was what I planned when I started

redisigning the room

after my daughter got married!

I thought that I would like to show you around

the special things that make it special

BUT  first of all

I wonder how many eagle eyes

noticed the rail in the ceiling and wondered.....

what on earth it was for........??!!

The week before my daughter got married

I asked hubby to put up a hook ready for.....

when we collected her wedding dress from Swansea

When we returned

that is what met our eye...

'wonderful is not the word.......!!'

I just put a throw over the chair.

The blue embroidered cushion cover is one that

I bought in Tenerife (Canary Islands)

several years ago...just because.........

The pink owl was made by one of my daughters



As you may have gathered I love blue

I feel it is so relaxing!

 

I added the set of 3 blue jugs that my mother in law left for me

On the other window sill I added some

blue glassware.

The sun shines through this window most of the day and I love the blue shades

that fill the room.

The blue glass vase I bought in a local pub which has lots of these sorts of things

The bottles are from a Welsh company

That makes natural mineral water...aren't they lovely?

The blue dish that I have included is actually for garlic bread and is made by SPODE

The bed does not have a real patchwork bedspread alas!  Perhaps one day........?

I bought the crochet throw and pillow

reduced at a local store when they were on the sale.

They were made by Cath Kidston

The picture on the right is of Dale (a local seaside resort) and painted by a local artist.

The other is a long stitch tapestry that i did several years ago



This picture is painted by an incredibly talented local Japanese artist..Goichi..

It is one of his series of Biblical characters

This one is of Deborah

I feel so fortunate to have 2 of his paintings!

Further round the room we have a blanket chest made by hubby out of wood from one of our trees

I really must get round to sorting out the 'stuff' that I've shoved inside it!!  It's so handy!

The jug has 'Burleigh Ironstone, Staffordshire, England' written under it

I bought it several years ago in a local store.

The table and coaster were, again,

made by hubby

from wood taken from trees on our farm.

My son and his wife brought this lovely bowl

back from Scotland for me

It's Campbeltown Pottery

(Near the Mull of Kintyre)

I hope that you have enjoyed the journey around this room

As you can see.........nearly every item

has a special meaning for me!

I always pray that each person who stays in this room

Finds some measure of...

Tranquility!!



I have linked with





and Beverley's PINK SATURDAY at

http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/

Home Again

 

It's good to be home again!

I sometimes wish that getting here

was as easy as clicking my heels and saying

"There's no place like home"

You can tell who watched the Wizard of Oz too many times...can't you!?!

So.... home to hubby who is so delighted to see me back. 

I don't know where he thought I'd been but it's always good to have a welcome hug!

*******************

I have so many projects I want to start

and places that I have been saying for years that I want to revisit...and I am determined that some of them will be this year.....

I haven't visited the Botanical Garden of Wales,

which is only about 50 miles from here,

since the year 2000!

I also visited the gardens at Aberglasney at about the same time.

They were part of a programme 'The Hidden Gardens of Wales'  I know that they have done so much more work there and really want to go see!

The thing holding me back is my mobility

but this has to be the year!

***************************

While I was away I looked for some material to cover that kitchen chair but really found nothing

Would Ravelry be the place to look?

I've not really done much with Ravelry

so don't know whether it would be what I need!

**************************

My mother gave me a well used little tablecloth that her sister (who died 18 months ago) had embroidered in cross stitch.

I think it's lovely!

She also gave me this stand (that she said she has had for a while and used for standing

a photo on)

While we were away

I was really not tempted to buy anything

....only these little fused glass coasters that I bought at a craft shop near Dartington.

I'm afraid I'm not that good at displaying things to best effect!

That any better??

*************************

By the way, Mum was absolutely delighted with the framed embroidery!

Also, I showed her your comments about her knitting and she wanted to thank you all very much for being so kind!





Last Day in Devon

 

I phoned hubby this morning 

to see if the fort was still standing 

and he commiserated with me about the weather...

he had seen an earlier forecast actually from Torquay.  The forecaster was standing in torrential rain and the sea coming over the wall!!

I blithely told him the sun was shining and we were going out

To which he suspiciously replied,"where are you...you're obviously not in Torquay"

I tried to take a picture of the waves from the distance as we were not allowed along the sea road.

Later we travelled along it. 

There was sand and seaweed everywhere. 

The water had flooded the gardens opposite...to the delight of the seagulls and ducks!

This afternoon, despite the rain, we decided to go to Cockington.  

My sister used to live near 

and we would go whenever I visited.

There were some delightful thatched cottages in the village.

Anyone for tea in the rain?

Table arrangement for those that appreciate prettily arranged tables

The rose garden at Cockington Hall must be beautiful in the Summer

I'd love to visit when they are blooming!

I loved the church through the trees

it's been a good visit even though the weather hasn't always been good.

I do hope that I haven't bored you with too many photos!!

Devon Again

 

This is our second full day here in Devon

We spent most of it 

oooooo-ing

and

ahhhhhhhhhhhhh-ing

as we saw one beautiful view after another!

It was a glorious day which really helped.

Unfortunately there weren't many places to pull in and take photos

so I'll just show a few of the ones that

I was able to take

and hope that you enjoy as much as we did

One place that made us stop 

and be quiet 

was at Torcross

where a Sherman Tank

bears witness to the dreadful loss of life

of USA servicemen at Slapton Sands

in 1944.

749 men died and the tank is one

that was retrieved from the sea

We stood and looked over the sands

and found it hard to try to

imagine what it must have been like!

Seeing the beauty today

through the grief for yesterday

The road with water on either side!

this photo opportunity 

grasped whilst waiting for the traffic lights to change.

What a shame that there are no more places to stop and enjoy the view!

Our day finished with a quick stop in Dartmouth

before heading back to Torquay

Torquay

 

Actually...strictly speaking..we are staying in Torquay but this is Brixham yesterday

it was taken in a small window of opportunity between heavy showers of rain!

I am really pleased because I wasn't sure that I would be able to sort it out to write and download photos on this laptop...so..look out

More photos tonight!!

Just to wet your appetite

this is the view from my bedroom window

this morning!

It's a glorious day so we think we will meander

our way

over to Salcombe!