Inspect a morse

This week has been one full of different and amazing jobs.

My friends Rod and Sheila are wonderful gold, silversmith and enamelers and they had an incredible piece to make for a Bishop. 

The clasp that runs across the front of a cope is called a Morse and it was the morse that Sheila & Rod were making. It had to be attached to the cope that was originally made by Juliet Hemingray. Little old me got the job. 

The original morse had to be unpicked and new hooks attached to link the new one on securely. Rod had cleverly made some silver hooks for me to attach but it was nerve wracking work dealing with such heirlooms.

 You can see here, the finished item with its garnets and enamelled plaques. Beautiful work. You can just make out some of Rod's chasing of shells and wheat.

In other news, I was asked to make some tiny cushions filled with rice from some of my beautiful kimono fabric to act as rests or supports for a 500  year old sword for a client who does aikido. 

I sometimes add a scent to the cushions I make, especially if they are for something so precious. These tiny cushions with birds flying across them smelled of Bergamot as it is helpful for grief and bereavement and the man who owns the sword had recently lost his father. 

If that makes you a little sad, here are some photos for you of what's happening in the garden of late. Spring has indeed sprung.

These next ones aren't actually from my garden but are from the botanical gardens in Cambridge

Great Hockham Mothers Union banner

A while ago a friend came to me with a plastic bag filled with something in the way of fabric in a very sorry state. She quietly told me that she'd noticed the Mother's Union banner at Church had been very grubby indeed so she washed it. The entire background of silk had rotted away and the embroidery was sadly in need of some tender care. Could I please have a look at it and see what I could do.
I love these kinds of jobs and have absolutely loved every minute of restoring this old and very beautiful thing. I had to use tweezers to pull out the old threads and it was fascinating to see what was underneath.Appliqueing primroses is a therapeutic exercise on a cold and wintry day.


and though replacing the threads around the lettering was a painstaking job, it was worth while in the end.
Luckily the embroidery and applique of the mother and child was still in good condition. It's extremely hard to make faces look good with fabric, it's where the real Art lies in this sort of piece and this one is beautifully done.
The work that no one sees is just as important as without this stitching , the banner would bag and look like a sack. I was able to use the original interlining but it was very thick linen and I ended up with plasters all over my fingers as I stabbed & stabbed again to get the needle in exactly the right spot.
Finally though it's finished. I'm very pleased with it and hopefully it will last another hundred years or so.

Royal wedding

This morning at Church, I bumped into my lovely friend Chris Tagg. She stayed up last night until 2am reading the blog and I promised her a new post today about my Royal Wedding Day out a couple of Fridays ago. Here we are Chris, this ones for you....
I went to the village of Banham which is close by as they were having a party on the green. By the time I got to my friends' Kate and David's house at about 10.30, I was really excited. On the way over, I'd been listening to BBC radio 2 and they had had great music playing, culminating in the fabulous wedding anthem by that raucous soul belter, Yvonne Fair 'It should have been me'.
I'd been singing along so loudly that I didn't realise until I got out of the car that all six bells at Banham Church were ringing. (You'll just have to imagine the sound ... actually if you listen here you might be able to hear something similar). This is Banham Church where our friend David Hill is Rector.This is David with his son Cuthbert... Bertie has inherited his Father's love of dressing up.This is his beautiful wife Kate, standing with Cuthbert and I resplendant in our matching Union-Jack-tea-towel aprons. Banham had put on a wonderful show and this is what greeted us as we walked over to the Green.People had gone to a lot of trouble to dress up. There was a wonderful Queen Elizabeth the First, as well as this woman dressed as Emmeline Pankhurst who stayed in the role all day shouting "Votes for women" at frequent intervals.
Kate had gone to a lot of trouble to make a picnic with roast beef sandwiches and strawberries & cream. We drank champagne (it had its inevitable results of giving me an instant headache.)
Then back to the green for races. There weren't enough grown-ups to compete in the wheelbarrow races so this clown juggled instead!winning by a narrow margin...
Although the judge had imbibed a lot of Champagne by then!
The lovely Owen had organised his horse Kahn and cart (yes it's the one we had for Richard's funeral)
A grand day out indeed. It seems to have lifted everone's spirits to have some sunshine and a wedding.

Richard's funeral details

Dear friends, family and blogreaders all. Richard's funeral will be this Friday. The details are as follows.

Friday October the 8th @ 4pm
Church of St Peter & St Paul
Church Rd, East Harling NR16 2NB Norfolk, United Kingdom.
www.walkingwithyou.org.uk
Parking opposite the church

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made at the church (or online) for charities: The Big C (www.big-c.co.uk), Macmillan Cancer Support (www.macmillan.org.uk), and for the Church Bell fund.
In the true spirit of Richard's life, please come dressed to celebrate such a wonderful person. The last thing he would want to see in the church is a sea of black and grey, so please add a dash of colour to your outfit, as he added a dash of colour to our lives.The wake will follow on after the service,in the next village along at Bridgham.

The wake will be from 6pm
Please bring a bottle and a nibble type dish.x

We received a lovely message the other day in amongst the many from our friend Lizzie who wrote..."Richard lives on in us all. I can't believe that his humour, musicality, love and sharp suits have not in some way impacted on us and changed us in some subtle (or not!) way."

Walsingham III

Today at the last minute, we had an outing to Walsingham with our friends David, Kate and Cuthbert (seen here with ladybird) and our Godson Humphrey.
It was bloody freezing but we soldiered on with our picnic.Every year they have a spectacular display of snowdrops in amongst the ruins of the Priory. We had the place almost to ourselves as the carpet of flowers usually only goes til the end of February but because it's been such a cold winter they are a couple of weeks late and are hanging on. Here's your first sight of them. Imagine trying to recreate this scene? Even if you had millions of pounds to spend, you could not replicate it.
I wonder can you use the inside of a crocus to colour risotto like saffron? It's SO yellow.
The ruins of the Abbey are like some fabulous folly. Someone had left a little 'Our Lady' in a niche.
This bridge called the Pack horse bridge was originally on the main road to Norwich. The stream underneath was crystal clear.

As far as you can see are snowdrops and the odd yellow Aconite. Occasionally you may get to see that rare bird, Ricardo (not feeling his usual self today though still as handsome as ever)


The perfect spot for a wood nymph.
Walsingham has a rare and strange air. This neglected windowsill sums it up really. It's one of the reasons I love going. It's like a tourist destination that time forgot.
After tea and toilets it was time for a quick look at the third "T" at Walsingham. TAT. There are a couple of shops which sell second hand ecclesiastical stuff and well worth a look, especially if you're with the Rev.

Look at this absolute beauty. Dark pink silk satin with padded gold embroidery.
Only £600. A bloody bargain if you ask me.