Day 4: Along the river

Melody and I set off this morning around 9.30 to find a watch repairer, a genuine horologist, to look at a couple of antique watches she owns. We found him in his tiny shop, full of watches of all sorts, eager to talk about watches, show his collection of US railway watches and to tell tales of places he has visited in his pursuit of rare, interesting and profitable watches.

He didn't recommend fixing the watch Melody showed him, but winding, watching (sorry) and waiting. The watch in question did, in fact, keep good time from that point on!

We came back to the hotel along the side of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre to the hotel. It was windy, chilly and a little showery.


There is a bit of  a bustle around the hotel, guests leaving and booking in - some for the retreat (the frames and hoops on their laps in the lounge give them away). 

Around midday, Melody and I set off for the church and the pub, in that order.

It is a lovely walk along the river. The sun had come out (though the wind had not dropped). There was a steady flow of cars along the narrow road. It's Saturday, and people are out adventuring.

Holy Trinity Church is right on the river. You see the substantial church hall from the path before you come to the church entrance, which is clearly marked. The path through the churchyard  functions as a footpath connection the river walk to the roadway. There were lots of people walking the path, some with dogs. Shakespeare's grave is an attraction for some.

It's an impressive tree-lined pathway through the graveyard to the church.

There are numerous interesting and beautiful trees of all shapes and sizes. The ground was very mossy and wet. and yes, there were daffodils.

We arrived at the church door as it was being shut for a wedding. We will need to return some other time to look at the interior.

From the river side the Western wall appears to be full of stained glass windows which must be at their best late in the day.













There's a crumbing stone arch and what could be a free-standing crypt with a particularly ferocious gargoyle.

It was very wet and spongy underfoot. The violets appreciated the conditions and it made for some picturesque remains of fallen stonework.


















Then there is the river. From this angle the river leads to the theatre.































and, of course, to the swans.



Speaking of which, our destination on the walk was  The Black Swan - or, as Martha Grimes disguised it in her 1984 book, The Dirty Duck. It's a long time since I read it, but, like Melody, I'm a Martha Grimes fan.

The Black Swan was very crowded, but we managed to find a table tucked away in a corner. I went for the breaded scampi with a glass of Prosecco.









By the time we returned to the Arden, the sky was bright enough to show the theatre to advantage.

We found Jean and Kathleen in the lounge. Much joy all around.


The blue sky didn't last. It was overcast, showery  and windy before the sun went down.




Finally, eight of us from past Spring Retreats at the Ryebeck in Windermere gathered for dinner. We had a lot to catch up on but we still managed to laugh a lot. We share a great deal in interests, values and attitudes.

This year we make up about 25% of the group. Tomorrow the work begins.

Day 3: Around Stratford-on-Avon

I spend several hours in this guest lounge yesterday, waiting for my room to be available. It was a fine thing to do - stitching my owl, reading and trying not to listen to the conversations between a hotel function organiser and clients wanting birthday lunches or weddings.









By 12.30 my room was ready. Rooms at the Arden do not have numbers. They are named for trees. Mine is Fir. In spite of that, it is roomy and quite light with a generously sized bathroom and, joy of joy, a walk in shower.


As I was finishing my very early dinner, Melody arrived. It was so great to see her and to catch up briefly. I was beginning to flake but managed to stay more or less awake, watching an old episode of Lewis. until 10 pm. I woke three times during the night but managed to get myself back to sleep. At 6.30am I read emails and news but drifted off again until around 9. Melody and I overlapped at breakfast, then set off to do a little shopping.

It was cold and raining, but every now and then some blue showed through.

















We found a Boots Chemist that carried several things Melody wanted and the Optrex Eye Wash I needed.



We then hit the Antiques shops to find a number of things Melody had on her shopping list. There is no shortage of Antique shops in Stratford and Melody knew where to look. She found several treasures on her wish list.













I was very content watching and keeping my distance from any likely bargains. Diane of the very pink tea room in the Antiques Centre never did open.
















The weather did not improve, but we got back to the Arden in our coats and hats
without getting too wet.




It is a long time since I walked anywhere in the rain!


Our route back took us past the Mercure Shakespeare Hotel, where I will be staying for 9 days after the retreat.

Back at the Arden we had plates of sandwiches as we stitched and talked in the guest lounge. There is a lot to catch up on.
A few others who are clearly retreaters have arrived.


As we were reaching the end of our dinner this evening, Genevieve arrived in the dining room. It was a most joyful reunion! Again, so much to catch up on.

So here I am, in my old routine of blogging before bed.
Tomorrow, if I can be up in time, I'm accompanying Melody to find a watch repairer. It looks as if there is a proper horologist in Stratford.

It depends, of course, on whether I can wake up in time. Tomorrow most of the tutors, organisers and fellow students will arrive.  The weather is not showing any improvement - but it doesn't matter.

Day 2: Getting to Stratford-on-Avon

I arrived at the Arden Hotel, Stratford-on-Avon, 28 hours and 15 minutes after I left my apartment in Adelaide. This might seem a long time to some, but to someone who first travelled from Sydney to London 52 years ago, this is pretty good travelling!

It was surprisingly to me, a nostalgic trip. Qantas has new videos to outline the safety features and instructions of aircraft. The video on the 737 Adelaide-Perth leg cleverly used footage shot in various cities around the world serviced by Qantas to illustrate individual elements such as brace position, seat belt closure, escape slide position. The Perth-London Dreamliner video used historical settings and uniforms from the 1950s through decades to today. It reminded me so much of my mother, who began working for Qantas in their staff canteen at Mascot airport in 1959. She was soon in love with Qantas, its history, the planes, the pilots, the 'hosties' - and travelled on most of the planes in the video in the more than 25 years she continued working for them as a file clerk. My brother and I heard all about it - the history, the changes, the daily interactions. It was often tedious, but left me with a strong sense of the impact of aviation on Australia. I really appreciate that Qantas values that history and maintains it as part of its culture and brand. My mother would have loved it.

On the first leg to Perth I mostly read, but did begin the first of my grab-and-go travel projects. I chose two bags I bought a few years ago. They are a reasonable size - roughly 35cm x 40cm - and were marketed as bags to be coloured with water-setting pencils or felt-pens. I thought the kids might like them but I had missed the moment. Although the figures are larger than the zenbroidery I have done before, I thought they would make great travel projects, using some of the 5 perle thread I've used for zenbroidery.

The bags are double-sided, with the same print on both sides of the bag. I began with this one.

We were delayed about 40 minutes out of Perth. so no sunset view. It was overcast and raining.

We made up the lost time, but the flight is currently 18, rather than 17 hours,  because the route has been rescheduled over Singapore and further north due to air traffic control issues 'in the Middle East'.




I had the 'supper' then slept, on and off for over 10 hours. I finished a book and got the eyes on one side of the bag to this point. It is a lot of fun working out which stitches and colours to try.

Technologies at airports have advanced since I travelled a year ago. Clearly data is being gathered and shared: no immigration or customs forms required, ePassports dominate and luggage screening happens as you move. Heathrow at 6am was very efficient. I had only a few minutes wait for my airport transport & the 90 minute drive to Stratford-on-Avon.

It was a miserable, wet, misty and cold morning, reminding me again of why I don't drive when on my own in England at this time of year.



So here I am, in the warm and cosy visitors' lounge at the Arden Hotel, with a few hours to wait for my room to be available, the sun struggling out, swans on the river, feeling relatively rested and content.

Might advance that owl.

Day 1:On my Way

The day has dawned- a lovely dawn followed by an overcast Adelaide morning. 

No need to bore anyone with the details of my final packing, cleaning out fridge, watering and feeding plants, tidying up,putting out rubbish of varying kinds, turning off water, hoping the taxi will turn up.

It did. 

Adelaide Airport security has improved since I was last here - no need to take electronic devices out of bag, no need to take off shoes (I could have worn my boots instead of packing them!).  So here I am in the Qantas Club, relaxed and beginning to feel a frisson of anticipation. My 3hr 30 min flight to Perth goes in two hours - then the 17hr 40 min flight to Heathrow. Sleep, reading, stitching.

This is by way of a test run.  I intend to enrol those who've requested email alerts for blog posts in a minute, then I'll post this.  The real thing will begin in about 36 hours or so from Stratford-on-Avon.