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Saturday 8 September 2018

Why I Love Train Journeys

Hours of uninterrupted stitching!  We had two train journeys this week to nearby cities (Norwich and Cambridge) which combined to give me 6 hours of stitching time with. no. interrruptions.  This is the important part.  6 hours of stitching at home is probably about 3 hours if you remove all the requests for snacks and attention.

This is what I stitched:

Is there room on the broom for a cat like me?

The final word

The whole piece so far:

stitched on 32 count Cognac linen

September's goal was to complete the witch with Happy scheduled for October.  But now I think I will be able to get this completed before the end of October.

After that I completed 2 more of the Donna Kooler Tinies:

stitched on 22 count Hardanger

And at coffee morning on Friday I finished a Just Nan small - Happy Bluebird:

stitched on 32 count White evenweave

I just need to decide on a charm for the centre and then I can scrapbook it.

As well as stitching on the train we did some sightseeing and some shopping.  Here's a selection of photos from the two days out.


Norwich has the Hare Trail this year.  In previous years they have had elephants (2008), gorillas (2013),  dragons (2015)  and now hares.


Each one is sponsored by a local business and decorated by a local artist.  There are also smaller hares decorated by local schools.


At the end of the summer they are auctioned off for charity.  You can find more information here:


Cambridge had fudge!  The Fudge Kitchen is a franchise business across the UK who like to give out free samples!


This is a book sculpture in the Cambridge Waterstones.  They also have a Book Igloo which is big enough to get into and hide away with a book.


This is a bizarre and very expensive clock!  Quite a nightmarish cricket-like insect moves the wheel round and the lights tell the time.  It's 5.15 pm here.


In Norfolk we found a Suffolk Rock!


Which we hid in Cambridgeshire:


I wonder where it will go next?  We hid it in a niche in a stone pillar at the top of a church tower reached by climbing 123 narrow spiral stairs.  Wonderful views of Cambridge from the top.  Once you got your breath back!



Finally, don't forget to visit all the Summer Postcard participants and leave a comment on THIS POST if you want to be included in the Five Peaks Blog Hop Challenge this year.





21 comments:

Barb said...

I couldn't say which I liked more, the great pictures of your trip and the hares or the wonderful Halloween stitch! A fun post!

Pamela said...

What a great trip! Wonderful train stitching.

Linda said...

Congrats on the cute finish and awesome progress Jo. Love the pics of your trip.

Linda

beadgirl said...

Looks like a fun trip, and I love train rides, too. The best part of the 8-hour ride to visit my mom is having 8 luxurious hours to read and stitch with no interruptions.

I love the witch and cat on the broom; I'm tempted to just stitch that portion of the design.

gracie said...

Love the pictures..

Brigitte said...

Great pictures from your trips, I'm sure you spent a wonderful time there. And now I'm dreaming of some fudge, lol.
Your uninterrupted stitching time led to some great progress on this Halloween piece. I love the little witch with her cat on the broom. So sweet.

Kay said...

I really like your Halloween sampler, although I never stitch them myself I do like to see them done. We saw the hares in Norwich this summer too, we also saw the elephants many years ago on our first trip there. x

Ariadne said...

I was in Cambridge so many many years ago! I should go back one day!AriadnefromGreece!

Christine said...

You can't turn round here without falling over a fudge shop!
Love those hares

Mary said...

I love train trips!! You certainly made good use of your un-interrupted time. The Halloween stitch is coming along nicely. 123 Spiral steps!!! I bet it's claustrophic too but what a view!!!

FlashinScissors said...

How great ...... six hours of uninterrupted stitching, wonderful! And your stitching grew nicely too!
Nice views ..... love the hares! 123 steps! Oh no, I couldn’t do that! I’m bad enough with heights when there’s a lift! Tee hee, but I did once go up the walkie talkie building in London ...... but it does have lifts! We went to see the “Sky Garden” and I didn’t realise where that would be! 😊
Barbara x

rosey175 said...

Six hours of stitching sounds like a good IHSW setup! Does this mean more train rides those weekends? Those hares are fantastically painted. 123 steps is a nice number, it just rolls right around being perfect on the tongue if not the feet hah.

Sandy said...

You made good use of your time. The pictures on your trip were very interesting. Thanks for sharing.

Katie said...

Wohoo I'm glad you had such wonderful stitching time. Beautiful work! Love the cute witch and her cat friend. Great photos of your travels too. Love the hares.

Tiffstitch said...

Great photos! I love those trails. A local area has ballet slippers and there were cows here at one time.

Julie said...

Loving those hares, being a bunny lover I would wouldn't I?
How nice you were able to have a couple of adventures.

Astrids dragon said...

Being the passenger is always a good thing, good for you.
Your flying witch and cat are adorable, it's coming along beautifully.
Those hares are so cute, very creative designs. The rest of your trip looks fun and I hope you got to try the Unicorn Fudge!

Leonore Winterer said...

Train stitching is great! It can also get you into great conversations with strangers. I once found myself at a table together with three older ladies - I had my knitting, one of them had knitting as well, and the other two held our yarn so it would roll of the skein more easily!

Mary - Lecoeurceltique said...

Your train journeys were profitable - stitching wise. It's ages since I've visited Cambridge and I've only driven by Norfolk.

Bethan said...

Ooo I may have to go and hunt down your rock in Cambridge! Glad you had a very productive train journey x

Susan said...

Thank you for taking us along on your trip. I love the hares. They did dolphins in Virginia Beach a number of years ago - I still haven't found them all. I loved stitching on my commuter train but it got too crowded. My last trip on Amtrak I was able to do quite a bit as they have wonderfully comfy, roomy seats (and most Americans don't have the patience for train travel so they're seldom crowded).