Four and Done! Phew!!!

This is the fourth and [at least for now] final quiet book for toddlers - they are a joy, but also a big job as they take ages to do and I have tried to make each one different, tailored to the recipient.

Am glad to report they have been well received - at least by the parents 😊.

Following this I am on to trying to finish my sister's quilt by Christmas, a handful of crochet cowls and next back to a few reed baskets.  Oh and of course catch up on my various volunteering activities.

Faces obsured for obvious reasons

And a peak under those numbers ... I hear the recipient of this one likes dogs.

Whose in that house to eat a bone?

Also made progress on that quilt - 16 pieces in each of 40 squares to make the center panel, 

including incorporating a few red pieces from the quilt made by our great grandmother.

My first foundation piecing - Phew!

Local Sights and Sighs

Inghtham Mote (pronouced something like 'Item Mote') first built around 1320 and a family home until 1985 when sold to the National Trust.  So 700 years old!  The name a bit of a mystery.  Inghtham may be an early settler Ehta or Ohta.  Mote could be moat -- this manor house is afterall surrounded by a shallow (3-4 feet) moat -- or old English moot - a gathering place or court. There was some interesting stone work there - very labour intensive, called Galleting, an architectural technique in which small pieces of stone are pushed into wet mortar, Kentish ragstone a hard grey limestone) wall. We were told galleting protects the wall from frost, but Google is less clear - perhaps done for aesthetic, or econmic reasons (reducing costly lime mortar and contributing to the stability of the wall by minimising the effects of shrinkage in the mortar as it dries), or for ease with irregular stones acting as wedges and a shield from the weather or even superstitious reasons in an attempt to protect a building from evil influences such as witches.

We found these new Beacons by Conrad Shawcross, overlooking the North Sea with , colours referencing  nautical flags with input from local school children. Apparently they are installed for 1 year - I confess I find the bases hidious!

Some are even brave enough to swim in 15C/59F waters on 30 October - but they were wearing wetsuits and we didn't see them in the water for long ...

In between days out, doing a little crochet test, which doubles as a doll's blanket for a grandniece. I really like this Cozy Blanket pattern from Attic24. Think she will love the sparkly wool.

And SIGH, here's one of my favourite sights --