World Youth Day 2011 - Madrid

We have seen the worst of humanity recently in Britain and Norway.

Now witness the peace and hope in the eyes of these beautiful young people earlier today in Madrid.
(The Mass begins at 27 minutes and the sign of peace at 1 hour 51 minutes).

Festival of Quilts 2011

Yesterday was a glorious late summer day and I was lucky enough to make the final day of the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham. Just one and a half hours drive along the motorway and I was there! I'm not keen on large, crowded spaces and I knew the last day would be relatively quiet. My patience was rewarded and I had plenty of space to enjoy the wonderful quilts. You can click on any of the photos to see the full size image.


Probably one of my favourites was the winner of the traditional quilts, beautifully worked by hand in stunning colours.

and a closer look!

The best in show was a bit angsty for me, but the beauty was again in the detail!



Gillian Cooper's Unsung Muses was quite a moving experience to walk through.

She says, "Flat and empty figures, left with only traces of past human experience, washed out by the waves of time lapping and crashing over them.

People from the past lose definition and personality and merge together. With the world changing so fast it is difficult to understand someone from 50 years ago, let alone 4,000, particularly with the changing role of women. However these people are our past, they are part of us; their lives led the way for us coming into being in our full 21st century understanding."




The Tentmakers of Cairo had a huge display of their amazing applique quilts. This blue and green bird themed quilt was probably my favourite and I would have enjoyed taking it home with me as they were for sale, but the price tag was beyond my reach!


One of the Egyptian craftsmen was working on a cushion cover - the technique he used was totally different to anything I expected. The backing fabric was thick and very loosely woven, the needle was pretty big and the scissors were huge! No thimbles either just the pattern roughly inked onto the fabric and speedily sewn.


A quilt celebrating the work of the Foundling Hospital was something which took my breath away. Using vintage items, and each square representing an abandoned child. The Foundling Museum in London is now on my list of places to visit!






This stunning quilt was made with . . .

hexagons!

Liberty print dresses.

(I'm not sure if they were vintage or just made to look so).



A group quilt from 178 ladies in the Czech Republic made its way into the Guiness Book of Records.


Clearly a quilter lives in this wonky house.


I loved the international dimension to the show.


This stunning quilt was from Russia and close up you can see the applique


is raw edged with two layers, the bottom layer being gold lame.


Some of the quilts in the minature section were very tiny indeed! This quilter has my admiration for those tiny triangles.



And I would love to visit this coastal landscape.



The winner of the minatures was this heavily quilted beauty.

the detail!

Another stunning hexagon quilt.

And lastly I loved this pretty blue and white quilt from Hungary.




Thank you Quilters Guild of the British Isles for organising such a wonderful show and an amazing day out!


Ros

Victoria Plums

This summer has been very good for Victoria plums. An abundance of sweet juicy fruits hanging like jewels from the tree. This little tree was planted three or four years ago, then moved last year (by the builders with their JCB!) to another spot with more sunlight.


The wasps are starting to buzz around the tree so I'm picking them even though they are a little sharp. They should ripen very quickly.

Pomona has this great receipe for spicy plum chutney which you can find here. I shall be trying this out for sure. There will be plenty more for freezing so we can enjoy them later in the year (plum crumbles, plum sponge pudding). We will be enjoying a feast!


We've had some charming little visitors this week, and they have been enjoying the good weather too. Cassie is quite a bold little bunny but her companion Bo is a little shy. They love the sun and the tasty fresh grass. (Tim renamed them Casserole & Bolognese!! We are a veggie household so they are quite safe!)

There has been a bit of stalking going on, as the resident kitties are a tad jealous. But extra treats and tummy rubs have cured that. And the bunnies come indoors at night just to be extra sure.

Ros

Stunning Blooms

These glorious blooms appeared in my garden this week. Just an inexpensive bag of mixed lily bulbs from the local supermarket which were tossed untidily into an earthenware pot sometime last year.


So I didn't have any high hopes for them. The foliage is untidy but if you can ignore that and just take a huge lungful of air you have the most wonderful heady scent.


Perched beside the greenhouse for shelter and reflected sun they seem to be enjoying themselves and rewarding us with this beautiful show!

Photo: BBC Gardeners World

We did have some unwelcome visitors, red lily beetles, which had to be despatched very promptly! Check here on how to deal with them www.gardenersworld.com

Ros

My Favourite Drink

Fresh mint tea, straight from the garden. Delicious!
Just break off the young leaves from the plant, put into a mug and pour over boiling water.
Leave to stand for a few minutes and its ready to drink.
Any time of the day.