Four seasons weather in one day

Looked out around 5pm yesterday afternoon to see this amazing light. It's been a weird day as far as the weather is concerned, starting out fine enough, but by 10am, this was the outlook.

Ten minutes later, it had all gone and the sky was a brilliant blue. Wouldn't you just know it, but by the time I'd got my camera, the sun had gone in, the clouds had overlaid the blue and it was starting to rain.

By the time we'd had lunch, the rain had changed to hail and a vicious wind was whipping up. Finally, by tea time, the thunder clouds rolled in and there was much ominous rumbling and a few flashes of lightning; enough for us to run and turn computers off!

I wonder why we British people talk about the weather so much?

Mothering Sunday

Celebrating Mothers everywhere today, Mothering Sunday, especially mine!

Discovering new places on our doorstep

Well, of course, they're not new places at all, but very old ones indeed. They were simply new to us. I suppose it often happens that, although we travel the world, we sometimes overlook places rather nearer to home, and a sunny Saturday and the Kempley Daffodil Weekend provided all the motivation we needed to get ourselves over to a corner of Gloucestershire we hadn't explored before.

This part of the county is reknowned for daffodils at this time of year, and they grow wild all over the place.

Local villages play host to visitors in turn over several weekends and this weekend, Kempley had pulled out all the stops to celebrate this lovely flower. The little Arts and Crafts Church of St Edwards was full of daffodils of every kind - stitched, painted, photographed and of course, the real thing.

Having enjoyed some locally made cake with our tea in the village hall, we set off along the Daffodil Way to St Mary's, a little gem of a church nearby.

Along the way, we passed a rather special tree.

St Mary's turned out to be a remarkable place indeed, being one of the finest examples of Norman architecture in Northern Europe. It was built at the start of the 12th Century and still has some amazing 12th and 13th century wall paintings and the original wood beams!

The wall paintings were breathtaking and looked wonderful in the warm Spring sunshine. For all of you who did "The Normans" at school, did you ever see a finer example of a Norman arch?

Can you imagine that those walls were painted in 1130? And here they still remain, tucked away in a corner of a small church in the English countryside.

What treasures we have here on our doorstep. How lucky we are to be able to enjoy them!

Socks done!

Have finished my socks! Contrary to everything I said about Jaywalkers, I thought the Fleece Artist yarn (SuperMerino, Cosmic Dawn)was so well suited to such a pattern and will admit to finding it much, much easier than before. In fact, it was a good indicator of how much more knitting experience I have than the last time I knit them!

I even had the confidence to adjust the heel slightly, for ever since I got Charlene Schurch's Sensational Socks book, I've found her heel instructions to be second to none. Next time I do the Jaywalkers, however, I'll follow Charlene's heel instructions to the letter, for Grumperina's heel flap is slightly too short for my high instep and I find them a little tight to get on and off. Of course, not only is this the most obvious adjustment to make, it's also a pretty easy one too. Quite why I didn't do that this time around is a mystery - guess I'm still not that confident to muck about with patterns!!

I've cast on another pair of socks for my "mindless" knitting project (Mark's turn) and I'm mulling over my next "challenge". I guess I'm a convert, too - it's another pair of Jaywalkers!

Can it be Spring?

We spent today in this glorious city

Marvelled at the skyline which we'd never noticed before

Can you guess where it is?

The President of Ghana was visiting, which is why the little hut is there (no, not for him!)

More clues needed?

This lake is in front of a grand palace.

I think you've guessed already.

St James Park looks lovely in the late afternoon sunshine, doesn't it? And those buildings beyond Horseguards Parade form an interesting collection of roof shapes, I was delighted that the light was good enough for a clear photo.

Lastly, it was the first time I'd seen this memorial in Whitehall. Presumably, the women commemorated were far too busy doing what they did to model for it.

Isn't it great?