Good Kharma

I love to watch the British--and original version of the--Antique Roadshow, and this week there were broadcasts from several locations which I'd visited last month. (I think they were actually filmed in 2009, but that didn't diminish my enjoyment of the programs.)

One was at St. Fagan's, the Museum of Welsh Heritage, a collection of homes, stores, and other buildings, spanning several centuries, and furnished with appropriate antiques of the respective eras. They were moved to the site from all over Wales and are attractively set in a large rural parkland. We didn't have enough time to do more than a short wander, but at least it gave everyone in the group the desire to return at a later date.

There were also two programs from the British Museum in London. I hadn't been there for many years and this was the first time I'd seen the glass roof addition. Very attractive. I get overwhelmed by large museums--just don't know where to start--but it's still an amazing place.

Later today I leave for Scotland. I'm very excited about this--it will be the 14th Scottish Skeins & Skerries Tour. Hard to believe that what started out as an idea in 1995, would still be going in 2011. As in the past, we have an interesting group of travellers--from many places in the U.S. and Canada, plus one person from Australia. For this year, I've added one more day on Shetland so that we'll be able to visit the islands of Unst and Yell.

May 2011 Trip to Wales by Shirley Scott

Wales – Heritage, History & Handicrafts

Joyce James Tours -May 13-23, 2011

Article by Shirley Scott (Shirl the Purl)

May 13- 23, 2011. It’s finally here! Those dates have beckoned to me from the pages of my calendar all winter long, adding a little ray of hope to the cheerless days. I’ve left my home in St. John’s, Newfoundland, and my dear little cat Frankie in the able hands of my friend Katrin to start on this adventure. Now I’m in Toronto, meeting up with Joyce and some of the gang to travel to Heathrow together. What fun! After an enthusiastic rendezvous at Pearson and the usual restless night over the Atlantic dawn comes pretty darn early to our group . We stumble from the plane and shoot off immediately on the fastest moving sidewalk I’ve ever clung to. We’re in the big city now, I think. No time for ambling along, lost in obscure Celtic thoughts.

I am so looking forward to this trip. Wales is on my bucket list. I’ve loved the Celtic world for as long as I can remember...

Read More... Download the rest of this article in PDF format.

http://www.joycejamestours.com/2011/Wales/2011-WalesTour-Shirley.pdf

Joyce James is conducting a second trip to Wales:
SEP.1-12, 2011

More Information at this link.

Shetland News

The tourism site of Visit Shetland has a monthly newsletter which I always find interesting. Among items, in the latest issue, there is news of a "puffin cam" to follow the nesting of the puffins which spend a brief time in the little niches on the face of Sumburgh Head. As I understand it, this is the only time that these colourful birds come ashore--that is to lay their eggs and to raise their young.
http://visit.shetland.org/may-2011newsletter

There is also information about the Shetland Angling Association, especially for those who are interested in doing some local fishing.

A previous posting of Visit Shetland had an article about the brochs. (Thanks Jean for sending this.)

Of course, for me, knitters are never forgotten and there is an article by Carol Christiansen, the textile curator at the Shetland Museum about Shetland lace.
http://visit.shetland.org/shetland-lace

It's finished!

I've finished the Piecework Blanket! (Feel that it's been such a project that it deserves to be capitalized.) I've taken a photo, but (again) have had trouble putting it on my blog, so will do that in future.


There are a total of 70 mitred squares, plus a knitted moss stitch border. This is the second blanket of this design which I've completed, and initially was drawn to it as I was hoping to cut down on 'stash', plus have a project which I could work on intermittently. (The only new yarn I incorporated was from a previous purchase, which I realized I wouldn't use for anything else.) It's amazing, as in spite of all the yarn which was used, I still have a basket of more to be knit. While I was knitting, it brought back memories of projects for which the yarns were initially purchased.


I subscribe to way too many magazines, but one which I welcome and immediately read from cover to cover is the British Country Living. In the May issue there is an article and beautiful photos about Snowdonia--hard to believe that we'll be there in a couple of weeks. on our Wales tour. www.joycejamestours.com

Also, I always enjoy the internet newsletter, Knitter's Review. The author, Clara Parkes never disappoints me with her analyses of new yarns, fibre farms and knitting events. In fact, if I lived closer, I would have gone to the event in Minnesota this weekend.

More news about Wales

Even though there is so much in the news about Wales, with the royal wedding approaching later this week, there is much more in the principality than the royal connection.

I've come across a really interesting site called: Gathering the Jewels (Casglu'r Tlysau in Welsh!). http://gtj.org.uk/en/search/. It covers a wide gamut of topics and is stated as being the website for Welsh Cultural History. The introduction to the site indicates that there are over "30,000 images of objects, books, letters, aerial photographs and other items from museums, archives and libraries throughout Wales." Again, I've spent way too much time looking at different topics, mostly history and the textile arts.

A few of the sites which I've noted: images of hand-knitting items from the former Cambrian Mills, now known as the Museum of Dre-fach Felindre, the Welsh Wool Museum (where we will visit on both tours of Wales); a photograph dated 1885 of a ladies' club; and two photos of women knitting in the Welsh national dress, dated 1875. (Concerning the stove-pipe hats, I once read that a wealthy, titled woman decided that the Welsh needed a national dress and decreed that style of hat would be included!)

While I've been researching highlights for our itinerary, it's been very interesting to learn of all the small farms and wool producers. It's reached a point where I've had to omit several stops as there just isn't enough time. Such an interesting, beautiful area. Come join us on the tour in September.

Today is Earth Day

My family chides/teases me the way I'm so determined about recycling--I think they secretly feel I'm obsessed. Composting is not allowed in the apartment building where I currently live, so I take many bags of orange peels, egg shells, coffee grounds, etc. to a son's home, where composting is collected. (Especially necessary when I've bought a case of juice oranges.)

I don't think my kids feel that dementia is approaching as I've been recycling since the 1970s, when I used to take bottles and cans to a City of Ottawa works yard. I would wash all the cans, remove the labels and flatten them. The bottles had to be separated by three colours; clear, green and brown (I used to wish that more people in the city did that.)

I'm happy that there appears to be a heightened consciousness of looking after the environment and recycling, however, I think we still have a long way to go. Just hope it isn't too late.

The Welsh Drovers

During the first tour which included Wales and England--I cannot remember the exact year but think it was 1997--we had a speaker in Wales by the name of Idris Evans. (With a name like that, he would have to be Welsh!) Idris had been recommended by a contact at the Welsh Tourist Board and was reported to be an informative, interesting speaker. He certainly didn't disappoint us. The subject of his talk was the tradition of the Welsh drovers, something we all found very interesting.

I'd lost touch with Idris since 1997 and as you know, times have changed a lot since then, but thanks to a search on Google, I was able to locate him. (I also learned that in the interim, he had written a book called Hard Road to London.) For both our 2011 Welsh tours, it's been arranged for Idris to speak to us about the drovers, In addition, he'll tell us about the flannel mills which used to operate in Wales and the knitters of Bala. This will be another opportunity to learn more about Welsh traditions and a chance to ask questions.

As I've indicated before, the May tour to Wales sold out quickly but there is room on the September version. Have a look at the details on my website: http://www.joycejamestours.com/

Still working away on the final details of the piecework blanket--haven't had much time lately but its coming along. I'm looking forward to getting it finished.