A Day Out in Morecambe

Rob, Brock and I went for a day out for my birthday yesterday, to Morecambe.

On the journey down, we started off with coffee and cake in the UpFront Gallery near Unthank, Cumbria (a bit of a detour, but worth it!). They always serve excellent coffee, lots of vegetarian choices and even gluten free options.

As you can see from the photo, we were among the first to arrive, but it can get quite busy at times.

When we arrived in Morecambe, we headed straight for the dog-friendly pub that I had picked out for lunch, but sadly it wasn't serving food. A very friendly and helpful man cycled ahead of us and took us to a carpark handy for the centre and other restaurants.

We headed down to the sea front to my second choice of dog-friendly establishment: Rita's Cafe. It was a very traditional, no frills place, and all the better for it. The food was very good, with fast and efficient service and incredibly reasonable prices. We both had jacket potatoes with cheese and beans and two large mugs of instant coffee for under £8!

We walked right along the promenade, sadly dogs are not allowed on the beach until October :o( but Brock enjoyed meeting and greeting plenty of other dogs along the way, while we chatted with their owners.

It is a traditional seaside town with arcades, rock, ice cream and souvenir shops, etc.
There are some interesting buildings to see, such as the wonderful Art Deco Midland Hotel (shown bottom right in the photo collage, and in both the bottom photos in the second collage.) There are also some run down areas, which are just as interesting to me. The town centre has a range of independent shops as well as a few chain stores, sadly many vacant shops, too. There are quite a number of second hand shops, so I had an enjoyable time browsing in them :o)

The sea front area is immaculately kept, with formal gardens, sculptures, and no litter to be seen.

One photo I didn't take was of the Eric Morecambe statue, although we did see it from a distance. There are also markets to browse, so I am sure we will be back when the weather is cooler, and we can leave Brock in the car for an hour or so! Lunch or afternoon tea at the Midland Hotel would also be nice.

Kielder Viaduct and The Aviva Tour of Britain Stage 3 Cycle Race

Rob, Brock and I had a walk in the Kielder Forest today. It is walk 28 on the Kielder Trail Guide.

We started off with a coffee in The Olive Tree café in Newcastleton. We sat outside with Brock and enjoyed the sunshine. The coffee was good and reasonably priced, and Rob enjoyed a slice of carrot cake. Sadly, there were no gluten free cakes available. :o(

Some views from the walk:-

We stopped off in Newcastleton again on the return journey and had lunch at The Copshaw Kitchen (a giftshop and café). I had a jacket potato with cheese and beans and Rob had scrambled eggs and toast. The food was tasty.

It was busy in the café, and we soon realised that the road outside had been closed for a cycle race: The Aviva Tour of Britain Stage 3. Since we couldn't move the car, we made the most of it and took some photos of the passing cyclists and entourage, including the Team Wiggins vehicle.

A Walk By The Solway Firth At Newbie

Rob, Brock and I had a lovely walk by the sea this morning near Newbie. The sun was shining and the reflections off the water were very bright. The swathes of thistle down were haloed by it, too. The land on the horizon, in the first three photos, is the Cumbrian coast.

The walk we did was from Newbie Mains (shown in the last photo) to Barnkirk Point. The link takes you to a map of the area.

Latest Vintage Goodies

Here are some of the latest vintage items added to Fire Horse Vintage HQ.

[Please click on the link beneath the photo to go to the listing for sale.]

Vintage 'Pufferfish' Vase, SOLD

Pink Basket Glass Vase, £20

Carved Oak, Leather and Brass Bellows, £32

Controlled Bubbles Aqua Glass Ashtray, £20

Small, Painted Wood and Metal Box With Galleon, £15

To see all the items currently for sale, please visit Fire Horse Textiles HQ.

Six Crosses - Patchwork Art Quilt Wall Hanging

Here is my latest small wall hanging, made to look like a vintage doll quilt.

 I included repurposed fabrics, and tried to achieve a 'scrappy', improvised look to the piece.

 There is simple hand quilting and then tea-dyeing to give an aged appearance.

This wall hanging is available from Fire Horse Textiles on Etsy.

Potfest in the Park 2015

Rob, Brock and I enjoyed our annual trip to Potfest in the Park at Hutton-in-the-Forest near Penrith.

[Please click on any photo to see a larger version.]

Entry is £6 per person and includes entry to the grounds and gardens of the house, as well as parking and, of course, access to the ceramics exhibition and sale.

We began with a walk around the wild flower meadow and walled garden. They were looking on top form, and buzzing with insects.

Then it was on to the exhibition and competition area. The theme this year was 'Biblical'. Unfortunately, I had forgotten my camera (the photos here are all taken by Rob), so didn't get a photo of the three pieces I voted for, but here are two of Rob's choices:-

 Jonah and The Whale

The Last Supper

Brock enjoying the day out

There were 130 potters showing off their wares, so plenty to look at and even buy...

Some lovely earrings I bought from Steve Woodhead Ceramics. I also have a pair of yellow ones, purchased a few years ago, which I wear all the time.

This adorable container with bird ornament is from Charlotte and Sigerd Bohmer of Germany. We have quite a few of their pieces now, as we buy one or two every year.

Nine Eggs - Making A Textile Art Wall Hanging

This piece has just been listed in my Folksy shop.

It was inspired by the lovely fresh eggs that my own chickens lay. We have kept chickens for over 10 years. We have two hens at present, (Connie and Lily, below), and a cockerel called Monty. A friend once commented that he spoke to his hard boiled egg every lunch time, because "each one is an individual". That thought stuck with me, and here is the result.

The first task was to tea-dye the lovely antique, woven fabric that I wanted to use for the background to each 'egg'. I then chose the fabrics that I wanted to use for the eggs. I chose a subtle palette, which is rather different to my usual bright colour schemes.

Each egg was hand cut to be slightly different in size and shape from the others. The 'eggs' were hand appliquéd to the background rectangles, then the individual rectangles were machine sewn together.

The front was ironed, then sandwiched with cotton wadding and a backing fabric, pinned all over, then hand quilted in cream and black threads.

Next comes trimming to size, and the binding - a fabric which I overdyed - it has a subtle brownish black colour. This is half attached by machine, and half by hand stitching.

The hanging sleeve is also attached at this time, and then the 'Fire Horse Textiles' label is added to the reverse.

Finally, a hanging dowel is sawn to length and sanded on the ends to prevent splinters.

Rather a windy day when I was taking the photos!