In my garden

I have been taking photos up my garden and have used an android tablet (just at the moment, I can't lay my hands on my camera!) I have uploaded them onto web albums with google+  but can't find how to move them into Picasa so that I can manipulate them. I was hoping to collage a selection of auriculas but as I am not a competent computer person, I will have to add individual photos which I fear will not have a great deal of impact -ah well !
First up is my version of an auricular theatre - this will be better next year !

Now here are some of my lovely blooms -

Norwich

Had a few days in Norwich last week - really interesting city with a medieval centre of 'Lanes' reflecting the trades and commerce that helped build the city. Many 'strangers' came such as the Huguenots and craftsmen from the Low Countries who brought their weaving and dyeing traditions with them . Local names such as Maddermarket reference their work and Strangers Hall, one of the oldest buildings was once home to wealthy merchants and mayors who helped to make the city great.
In the Cathedral I saw the work of a modern craftsman - abstract artist John McLean. The exhibition charted his design work for three new windows that were installed in the cathedral in March. He works with blocks of colour and collages his designs rather like Matisse before the windows are cut and assembled. The windows themselves were hard to photograph because of the light but I think you can get an impression of their impact from these two photos taken as you walk down the North transept towards them.

You could see the stones bathed in light all the way down the transept.
Also in Norwich, in the modern Forum ,was an exhibition by a group of less acknowledged craftspeople - knitters ! A knitted pergola was constructed with contributions from near and far (see sign !) and was being greeted with delight by young and old - my excuse for blogging lots of photos !

Cute or what !

Le Grand Depart !

Beautiful Yorkshire is the setting for the Grand Depart of the Tour de France this year and communities along the route of the race are planning lots of celebrations to welcome visitors to our lovely part of the world. One of the Embroiderers Guilds in the area has made a banner following the route through the Dales with each town and village marked with a small t-shirt embroidered with its name and an image to suggest its location. The banner will be on show at the Regional Day of the NE region then displayed in a shop window in Leyburn for the days surrounding the race. Closer to the time I hope to blog the whole banner, but in the meantime here is my contribution .

The reference is the village's locally renowned pub, The Blue Lion - world famous round here !