Apologies for the lengthy hiatus.  It’s been a very busy few weeks.  I’ve travelled nearly the whole length of the country, only falling short by about 80 miles.

The trip started at mid-day on the 13^th.  It was a late start as I hadn’t been able to pack the day before.  There was a lot to consider – I’d be at friends’ houses part of the time, but also at the family home and at a residential course.  Plus there was a day-long bell-ringing event near Edinburgh. At the course I’d need music, tools, and instruments.  For the stay in Northants, an extra suitcase to bring things back.  You know how it is when you pack for a trip.  You think it will take an hour, but you discount the time spent searching for things and don’t finish until much later.

A foggy day

I arrived in Edinburgh in the gloaming, glad of the lengthening days.  The next day, I rested for the next day’s event, which was the Spring Rally of the Scottish Region of the Handbell Ringers of Great Britain.  It was held in Haddington and I was attending along with 4 others from my team.  The ‘rally’ was held in an old church tucked away in the back streets. After an AGM, each team played a couple of pieces, followed by all teams ringing together.

The following day I hit the road again, driving to Northamptonshire.  I only stopped a night before heading down to Cornwall to pick up a friend.  We were both attending the residential course near Exeter.  This was plan B, plan A being to meet her at the course and follow her home.  But her car developed a fault, and the simplest solution was to collect her.

Tree-lined Avenue

The next day the course started at Cadhay, east of Exeter.  The venue, when we found it, was amazing.  The main building, reached by a tree-lined drive, is a small Elizabethan manor house set in its own grounds.  Half of it was under scaffolding undergoing roof replacement.  The house has a forecourt in front, an internal courtyard, a ‘long gallery’, and spacious bedroom and reception areas.  One of the rooms had a tester bed with a set of steps!  It is probably the closest I will ever get to staying in a stately home.

After settling in, the course began.  The purpose of the course was to introduce recorder players to bamboo pipes.  To this end, four pipers and four recorder players came together to play and make pipes.  The playing standard was high, and the recorder players took to pipes like ducks to water.  It was a fantastic and busy few days, with all the recorderists completing their first pipe and playing them on the last day.  It is hoped to repeat the course again.

Magnolias and daffodils at Caerhays

After this, my friend and I needed a few days rest back in Cornwall.  We had a look around the nearby harbour one day, and visited Caerhays park on another, to view the camellias, magnolias, and daffodils. 

From Cornwall, I drove to Northants, to stay a few days and hopefully get some sorting done.  I met with the folks who are helping us with managing my brother-in-law’s estate.  Another day, a piping friend travelled up from London for a visit.  We had a good look around a nearby garden centre and later went for a walk along the canal, all the while solving the ills of the world. 

Cornwall

The last stop of the trip was a return to Edinburgh to spend another few days with my friend there.  And finally, finally, last Sunday I returned home. 

And the gansey.  Yes, I took it along, but progress was ‘Tower Bridge’ – ups and downs.  There were a few days where, like Penelope, I ripped and reknit as much as I had done the day before.  The wrong side rows are proving difficult in the dark yarn.  I’m constantly peering to see if the next stitch should be a purl or a knit.  But despite all that, there has been excellent progress.