Day 6: Solid stitching & Hall’s Croft

Today was a day of solid stitching. The weather was pretty pleasant.

I enjoy breakfast at the Arden. The meusli is good, there's plenty of fruit and a decent selection of hot food cooked to order.  I got there soon after 7.30. People drift in over the next hour and catch up. By 8.20 I was in our work room and stitching.

Our room gets good sunlight. By mid-afternoon there are shadows and I used a light. I also swapped my barrel clamp for a seat frame, which was an improvement. It means I can sit back and sit straight. Nevertheless, my body protested a bit today.  I needed to stretch my back and eyes several times.

I  progressed Titania and we moved on to Moonbeam the dragonfly.






That had numerous challenging components. We are all progressing at roughly the same pace. We get very personalised attention and the conversation is relaxed, considerate and reflective.  We have known each other for a while and there is a level of trust.


I made a few errors today, and undid small amounts. It is a really lovely design to work on - and I just want to keep on with it.








My body however, called a halt today after six and a half hours of stitching.

I began on Oberon - but didn't get very far. I was feeling very physically tired.

We were scheduled to have canapes at the Shakespeare Trust at 5.30, then dinner at Hall's Croft - some distance apart. I  begged off the canapes but planned to walk the 400 yards or so to Hall's Croft to join the group for dinner. I had not seen Hall's Croft in the daylight and walked past it in the dark.


When I retraced my steps I couldn't work out how to get inside. There may be a carpark entrance off another street, but I couldn't find it. Rather than hang around in the dark and hope some of the group were not already inside,






I walked back to the Arden, retrieved my embroidery from our workroom, sent Laura a text message explaining my absence,

ate the fruit in my room and progressed my Midsummer Pillowe while watching Poirot. I had, after all, had rather a lot to eat at both breakfast and lunch.









I have progressed Moonbeam - might finish it before I go to bed.

From my point of view, a very satisfactory day.

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.