Homeward bound........... well, back to my roots.......... root bound?! No wonder English is such a difficult language to learn!
October was the month when I made a loooooooong awaited trip back to England to visit my family. It had been eighteen months since my last visit and I was VERY excited to see everyone. It was a short, but very sweet visit, jam-packed with lovely memories.
Luckily, I have parents who are more than happy to feed my fibre addiction! After spending my first day in England visiting with my sister, we went off to the Cotswolds for a few days. Our first stop, before reaching the bed & breakfast, was to William Morris' home Kelmscott Manor http://kelmscottmanor.org.uk/home (the first photo). It was wonderful to see so many of his original textile designs within the home.
October was the month when I made a loooooooong awaited trip back to England to visit my family. It had been eighteen months since my last visit and I was VERY excited to see everyone. It was a short, but very sweet visit, jam-packed with lovely memories.
Luckily, I have parents who are more than happy to feed my fibre addiction! After spending my first day in England visiting with my sister, we went off to the Cotswolds for a few days. Our first stop, before reaching the bed & breakfast, was to William Morris' home Kelmscott Manor http://kelmscottmanor.org.uk/home (the first photo). It was wonderful to see so many of his original textile designs within the home.
After a good night's sleep in a lovely cotswold farmhouse (and a very hearty breakfast) we headed towards Oxford to the Hines Tapestry Barn. They have a selection of machine-woven tapestries, hand-woven (from China!) tapestries and some antique Aubusson tapestries.........all under one roof. Whilst it was simply amazing to be able to handle these antique weavings, it was also dismaying to see exquisitely woven reproductions being sold at a fraction of their value simply because they were woven by cheap labour in China! This was a very bitter/sweet place to visit...... made the more so by the fact that I don't have the answer............ I just know that it isn't right.
That afternoon we visited Winston Churchill's birthplace, Blenheim Palace (photos 2 & 3). I had never been here and it has been on my stately-home-hit-list for a while. It was impressive, but not beautiful in a Chatsworth kind of way. You can see how his early home environment may have contributed to Winston the man.
On friday we explored the countryside more, stopping in a beautiful village Lower Slaughter - photos 4 & 5. It was picture-perfect, with a river running through and a mill-house. It was almost possible to take a step back in time - trying to take photos without cars in them was quite tricky! We also stopped in at the more touristy town of Bourton-on-the-water. Luckily it wasn't full of coachloads of visitors and we were able to wander along the river in the autumn sunshine.
The last three photos are of Stowe Landscape Gardens where we stopped on our way home. The gardens are owned by the National Trust and are full of beautiful Follies, mostly on a european or greek theme. It was a lovely, early Fall day to wander amongst them. We also took a tour of the house which is now a private school. Prior to becoming a school, it was a stately home that was about to be demolished.............. can you imagine knocking this down?........... can you imagine going to school here?!
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