While on a recent holiday in Helsinki, Finland we visited the National Museum where I discovered this beautiful sampler made by Johanna Charlotta von Knorring (1758-1829) when she was 25 years old in 1783. The workmanship is lovely, but what I liked best was the unusual inclusion of a lobster in the animals decorating the piece. Living near the sea I guess it made sense for her to add creatures she knew well.
Author: Patricia Wilson
Helsinki for Christmas 2018
Spent a week in Helsinki, Finland this Christmas. It was quite dull with cloudy skies for most of the time but we did get a little bit of snow here and there. The people are very friendly and the food was amazing. It is a much quieter, more sedate Christmas than we are used to and they celebrate the event on December 24th with a family sauna, rice pudding for breakfast, going to church and giving presents in the evening. There were quite a few people complaining of having a hangover on the 25th!
Christmas Day for us was very quiet and we went to a Finnish restaurant for dinner in the evening. Thought there’d be lots of Finnish families having a meal out, but the majority of the clientele were tourists some of whom spent the entire meal on their phones even when sitting with a group of people – very strange!
Also visited the Helsinki Christmas Market, saw Helsinki and Uzpansky Cathedrals, saw the magnificent Rock Church and the National Museum with it’s gorgeous ceiling and stained glass, went on the Helsinki Wheel, took a dip in a 27 degree C pool (it was -11 degrees C air temperature), visited the Helsinki Zoo to see the Snow Leopards and walked around Suomennlina Island on the ice!
Merry Christmas 2018
This little robin was a practice silk-shading piece which leads me to believe that my skills in this area have improved. However, he’s also a good reminder that the holidays are soon upon us! We’re off to Helsinki, Finland for Christmas as the girls are all elsewhere for the holidays. Looking forward to some snow and new adventures!
Naughty squirrel
We’ve had a crackly landline phone for the last few days and finally had to get a British Telecom technician to come have a look. After climbing the pole the guy told us that a squirrel had chewed some of the cables and water was getting into the line. I was happy to have a clear phone connection but Steve’s response was all for the squirrel, “Aw I hope he’s okay?”
Baking harmony
An amazing thing happened at our house today – Steve and I actually had the best Christmas baking day ever! We didn’t fight, we didn’t burn anything and Steve only sighed at my untidy cooking habits once or twice. Ask our kids as this is a truly a remarkable event – normally one of us wants to tip the basin of cookie dough over the other one’s head! Don’t get him to help you say? I can’t not as he’s so good at the steps that require patience, he times the baked items to perfection and he absolutely insists that the dishes are dried and put away before we’re done.
Bath Immersion
Had a lovely weekend with my youngest daughter – we visited a new quilt store, had breakfast for lunch, stayed in a lovely rural hotel with a view (see below), treated our bodies to a facial and hot pool soaks and ate a great steak dinner! That was only the first day.
On the Sunday we had a fantastic breakfast at an old favourite haunt, wandered through the Bath Christmas market, completed most of our Christmas shopping lists and went through the Fashion Museum in the basement of the Assembly Rooms.
It was a great two day break in which we didn’t stop talking!
Christchurch Cathedral, Oxford
My women’s group went on a guided tour of Christchurch College at Oxford University yesterday. We got to see the cathedral and had tea in the Harry Potter dining hall but the highlight was the library which has 8,000 pre 1800s books in its collection. As a special treat the librarian showed us this parchment outlining the charter of the College with Henry VIII’s signature and seal! Amazing! One of the many wonders of living in England and being able to see items from the 1500s.
Lady Suzanna Heatherington Smythe
My beloved VW Beetle, Suzie, turned over 30,000 miles today which isn’t bad for four years of driving. Since VW isn’t going to be making Beetles in the near future my car will soon be a collector’s item. Note: nobody was hurt in the taking of these pictures as Steve was driving at the time!
Friend from Williamsburg
Heading out for a two day overnight trip to see some friends, including an American friend who has come over from Germany, and to visit a quilt store. After being at home for five weeks recuperating from my hip replacement surgery I feel disproportionately excited as I slowly get my freedom back!
Magnificent Royal Albert Hall
Went to the Royal Albert Hall for a concert this afternoon to celebrate our anniversary. We have never been and this venue is truly amazing. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra playing Holst’s The Planets wasn’t bad either.
