Blog Posts - Jenny Wren Crafts

2nd September 2021

9/2/2021

Happy Anniversary Mark and Michelle. 20 years today.

Had to do some work this morning but after lunch went to Tattershall Castle. I like properties that are a bit different and this one certainly is. The castle is basically a tower with five stories and a roof. There is one large room in the centre of each floor and a turret at each corner. Three of the turrets on each floor contain small rooms and the other the spiral staircase. There used to be other buildings around it but they are no longer there. It was built in the 15th century of locally made brick which is unusual. The view from the roof was very good. I could see a water park with speedboats racing round and an area for water skiing. The stained glass windows are not 15th century.

On the way back I stopped off to visit the local town of Woodhall Spa. It is a Victorian spa town with large Victorian houses and a parade of shops (including three charity shops where I got some beads and some hand made coasters. I also got a book from the bookshop at Tattershall Castle).

There is also a memorial to the 617 squadron 'dam busters' who were based at Woodhall Spa.

Behind the shop on the corner with the blue signs there is a wood managed by the Woodland Trust. I had a little walk there as I had read about a 'Kinema in the woods' and wondered if it was here. I didn't find it. I should have looked up where it was first. Woods were pretty though with lots of squirrels scampering about.

1st September 2021

9/2/2021

Happy birthday to Mark, 48 today.

Left Rutland this morning and drove north to Woodhall Spa in Lincolnshire. Site is surrounded by countryside and very quiet. Richard and Debbie and the children (and the new puppy) spent the bank holiday weekend here but left yesterday so I missed them by one day!.

Had a Teams call for work from 2.30 - 5.00 so didn't get chance to go anywhere other than a walk round the site.

31st August 2021

8/31/2021

Met up with Mark and Michelle again today and went to Melton Mowbray. Got an interesting old book from a charity shop on needlecraft. I think it is from the 1930s. Anais got some more books and Mark got a pork pie.

Afterwards we drove to a local park to eat our picnic lunch and have walk round.

30th August 2021

8/31/2021

Did some work this morning and then had a walk along the path from the campsite to the church. The steeple is quite unusual as it has windows in. Picture's not much help as I have cut most of the steeple off.

After lunch I went over to Rutland Hall (was Barnsdale Hall) where Mark and Michelle are staying. They have a nice ground floor apartment in the stable mews. We had a drive to Normanton to see the sunken church. It was very busy with lots of cyclists. Came back for tea and did some more work.

29th August 2021

8/29/2021

Went with Mark and Michelle to Woolsthorpe Manor, birthplace of Isaac Newton. I have been once before but this time we joined a guided tour which was fascinating. His family were yeoman farmers so although not especially wealthy they did own their own farm and were able to send him to school and university (Trinity College Cambridge). Although he did not live in the house all of his life he spent two years there on a break from university when a lot of his ideas began to take shape. There are still some of his drawings on the walls and an apple tree in the orchard that descended from the original. The is also a new apple tree planted by Tim Peake and grown from the apple seeds he took into space. Coincidentally there was a young student on our tour whose design won a Blue Peter competition to design a logo for the space mission. The mission was named 'Principia' after Isaac Newton's first book.

Mark was in charge of the camera today as he had forgotten his.

Next we went to Belton House in Grantham. A very different property and again one we had visited before. The queue for the house was long so we just walked around the gardens which were lovely. The place was very busy.

On the way back to the site I remarked that the wheat fields on either side of the drive looked ready for harvesting and later I was sure I could hear the sounds of a combine so I went to investigate. When I arrived only the first row next to the road had been cut so I had a really good view. The combine was operated by a young man and the tractor by a young lady with the farm collie dog sitting on her lap.

28th August 2021

8/28/2021

Back in the caravan again, this time at Rutland. Site is right out in the countryside and is very nice. About 6 miles out of Oakham. I have been to this area before but not with the caravan. I have previously stayed at Barnsdale Hall on the shores of Rutland Water which is where Mark and Michelle are staying now. I met them earlier today for a walk round Oakham and then went to the museum which was really interesting. It was about life in Rutland which is very rural so had lots of exhibits about farming.

As a major wool producer there we also exhibits about spinning, weaving and knitting. The first picture is a hand loom. A note said that by the early 1800s patterns could be programmed into looms by punchcard systems. I think I have seen a punchcard one somewhere else but I had no idea they had been around so long.

The second picture is a sock knitting machine but I don't know how old and the final picture a wool winder. I actually have one of these but without the bobbin. The contraption for holding the skein of wool is ingenious. When all wool came is skeins we used to just get someone to hold their arms out or use the arms of chair.

Left - how washing used to be done and right - an early washing machine.

Caravan all set up. Fully serviced pitch.

15th August 2021

8/15/2021

Spent a lovely weekend with my sister Scarlett. On Saturday we went to Coughton Court and had a nice walk around the house and gardens, which were beautiful. We had some lunch there sitting on a bench overlooking the lawns and then moved on to Stratford. A nice walk around the shops and market, then tea in Zizzi's and on to the theatre. We saw A Comedy of Errors outdoors which was excellent. Luckily the weather was really good, lovely and warm with no wind and no rain!

11th August 2021

8/11/2021

Happy birthday to Brendyn, 15 on the 7th August.

Decided to join Mark and Michelle for a couple of weeks in the caravans at Studley. As we are staying a while we put up the big awnings. Roman and Anais helped to put mine up. Weather warm but a bit cloudy.

Went into the office on Tuesday, first time for ages. It was deserted, just myself and the chief exec in my area with a few more people downstairs.

Have finally finished a tapestry that I inherited from my mother in 1991. I think that might be a record! Just need to frame it now.

I am currently working on granny squares in mohair for a blanket. I did one before in autumn colours which I eventually sold and swore I would never crochet with mohair again. However .... I had quite a few odd balls of mohair in shades of blue and grey plus quite a lot of black so ... I have started another. This one is called 'midnight sky' and so far I have done 7 squares of each of the four colour repeats.

29th July 2021

7/29/2021

Staff barbecue at Lantra House this afternoon. Weather was a bit cloudy but warm and no rain. It was nice to chat to people I haven't seen for ages and for someone who doesn't like barbecued food it was very nice, all supplied by Farmers Fayre, the farm shop on Stoneleigh Park.

Popped in to see Mark and Michelle on the way back to wish them a nice holiday and to take them some Spanish (AKA large brown) onions as a laugh. We were talking the other day about how nice and mild Spanish onions are and how you can't seem to get them any more and I said that Lidl sometimes have them. When I did my shopping on Wednesday they had them in stock so I couldn't resit picking some up for them.

Have finally finished the scarf I have been working on using the Scheepjes whirl that I had for Christmas (or was it my birthday last year?!)

25th July 2021

7/25/2021

Nice week spent in the caravan at Studley with Mark, Michelle, Anais and Roman. Arrived Monday afternoon and going home today. Weather had been very warm. Had to pop home twice unfortunately, once for the alarm engineer to fit a new alarm system and one to visit the dentist to get my crown fixed back in.

On Saturday we went into Alcester, such a pretty little village and lots of charity shops to browse round.

On Saturday evening I had a ticket to see the Simon and Garfunkle Story at Malvern. I booked to eat at Prezzo again before and had a nice wander through the town and took some photos. The performance was excellent, they played all the well known hits and told the story.

Author

I am Jenny (when I was little my dad always called me Jenny Wren) and I enjoy making hand crafted things. Watch this space to see what I am working on.
I have two sons - Mark, married to Michelle with children Anais 19 and Roman 14, and Richard - married to Debbie with children Brendyn 15 and Olivia 11.

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