Out and About Archives - Page 23 of 32

1st December 201430th June 2018

The Very Last Poppy at the Tower of London

The very last ceramic poppy was removed from the moat at the Tower of London last Friday and I was honoured to be part of it.

The very last poppy in the moat

The night before a last dashed email had been sent out asking for a final batch of volunteers to clear and tidy up the moat, ‘reply if you can make it’. I rearranged things and replied “YES”.

Friday was a beautiful day and the sun was shining. Perfect. The volunteers were split into teams to tackle the last two areas of poppies. I was first tasked to clear the poppies from around the pet cemetery near Traitors Gate.

The view from the path before the poppies were removed

The processing boxes & tables and the poppies at the base of the distant tower

It was so strange when the tourists started flocking and photographing us doing the clearing up

One of the first pets to be buried on the pet cemetery

The Poppies and their stems were dismantled. Poppies carefully placed into boxes

After the clear-up

Following the clear up we moved to the moat at Cradle Tower where the last poppy was picked by the youngest and eldest volunteer.

The youngest and eldest volunteer and the last poppy: Eileen (82) and Alexandria (18)

The latter part of my day was spent collecting money thrown into the moat at Traitors Gate. All money goes to the British Legion.

There is more money than you think.

Some coins have left their mark

Found Objects – thrown down by tourists, collected and displayed in the moat

So much mud ! Back to get washed up. What was a brilliant experience.

3rd November 201414th March 2020

Selvedge Winter Fair 2014

The Christmas shopping has started! Over the years, I’ve found the Selvedge Winter Fair at the Chelsea Old Town Hall is the perfect place for finding all sorts of unique gifts and unusual stocking fillers all available under one roof.

This year the Fair was a month earlier than last year and the weather was on our side. The Kings Road was bathed in sunshine. It was wonderful to be sitting outside, having coffee and cake and watching the world go by.

The Fair was buzzing with creativity; lots of colourful textiles, vintage and handmade pieces.
So much to see! This year I combined the trip with a day out in London with my husband. I wasn’t sure how it would work out (you know, finding out how much I spend!) but he positively encouraged me to buy all the goodies I liked. He knows how much I adore displaying handmade goodies in my sewing room.

Here are some photos from the day from the sunny rooms of the Chelsea Old Town Hall.

The lovely Viv from Hens Teeth

Grace from A Threadbear Productions with her menagerie of friends

The Chelsea Old Town Hall has such beautiful interiors

Walking back to the tube in the afternoon sunshine of a crisp Autumn day.

The end to a perfect day in London.

28th October 201430th June 2018

Hens Teeth at Hope and Elvis – 2013

Last year I was a very lucky girl and managed to get a place on the Hens Teeth workshop at Hope and Elvis. The idea was to make a sewing or needle case, but as always, I tend not to follow rules and ended up creating something else!

I started off with scraps from an old blanket then added vintage red bias binding and vintage calico from my Arnold’s Attic stash. The wonderful Viv from Hens Teeth gave each of us a screen print for us to embroider the date onto, plus and a selection of screen printed figures to choose from too – I chose her iconic running hen. The whole thing was finished off with flurries of embroidery, inspired by Viv, and some vintage linen buttons from the stash from Arnold’s Attic.
Here is my finished piece…..I hope you like it .
Thank you to Viv for sharing your work with us and to Louise for sharing your relaxing Studio at Hope and Elvis.