How did I only just find out Sheffield Park Garden is such a fabulous place for seeing Autumn colours?!
Judging by the queues yesterday, the world and his wife already knew. We arrived at exactly 10am, opening time, yet we had to park in an overflow area and the entrance was closed shortly after. The park is huge but even so it was hard to take a photo of the gorgeous trees without a stranger in it.
The weather was crisp and sunny, the best day in quite a while, so no wonder everyone had decided it was a perfect Autumn colour viewing day.
'Capability' Brown helped shape the park and next year will be the 300th anniversary of his birth so the Trust is planning themed events. We will certainly make another trip or two because it felt like we barely tickled what the park has to offer.
When we left to begin the journey home, there was a long queue of cars in the driveway waiting for parking spaces to come free, the entrance had been closed to cars and the country road had dozens of cars parked up on the verge. Yet all around the countryside is awash with equally gorgeous coloured leaves. Beautiful natives with leaves in mellow yellows, oranges and browns rather than those flashy red 'look at me' acers!
BTW, if you fancy a coffee while you stroll, there is no need to join the long queue in the cafe tucked away in the car park as there is a coffee cart set up by one of the lakes. Wish I'd known that!
Despite all the pleas from the Tower of London officials for visitors to stay away, I took my little girl to see the field of poppies during the school holidays. We arrived at about 9.30am on Saturday morning and it was, as predicted, already heaving.
The noise was mainly from staff controlling the crowds with megaphones and from the traffic. The visitors were pretty quiet as they took in the huge beauty of the ceramics and also the huge pain and loss they represent.
Rather than shuffling along with the crowd, we found the best spot to view was from Tower Bridge.
I am so glad to have seen the memorial and yes, as many people as possible should see it too but I really hope the Tower does not change its plan to start dismantling on the 12th.
Ending on the 11th day of the 11th month, Armistice Day, is just perfect and adds to the poignancy and that feeling of how ludicrous it was that killing the enemy was allowed on the morning of the 11th - but not after lunch.
The horror of war. Lest we forget.
Almost four years on from my last post, I have decided to spark up Many A Mickle once again! A lot has happened in the time that has passed but also a lot is very much the same I suspect.
One thing that has changed in this household is the acknowledgement of Halloween. It didn't figure much in my childhood but, if the shelves in the shops are to be believed, it is now very much a date in our diaries. My now seven year old certainly knows about it!
I do remember hollowing out a swede as a jack-o-lantern in my youth. Now that took some doing! Not like these overblown, monster pumpkins that sit in crates in the supermarket doorways. So easy-peasy to scoop out and carve. A swede however took real dedication to complete!
My effort was a shameless copy of this one but my daughter's witch on a broomstick was all her own work (but I did the cutting). I was really impressed! She certainly didn't get her artistic side from me, that's for sure.
The huge Gauguin exhibition at the Tate Modern is a riot of beautiful colour. It is possible to get right up to many of the paintings and so examine closely the way Gauguin layered and blended colours.
Yet oddly it was Ai Weiwei's installation down in the Turbine Hall, a huge expanse of grey ceramic sunflower seeds, which gave me the most pleasure.
Attending the Knitting and Stitching Show has increased my stock of knitting projects unlikely to be finished any time soon!
Added to the To Do List are:
Cabled mitts using Blue Sky Melange 100% alpaca purchased from Loop
Pattern for Father's New Socks by Susan Crawford to be knitted in Jamieson's Shetland Spindrift
Christmas stocking from a (soon to be available) pattern from MillaMia. The yarn was purchased at a show price discounted rate.
It's about four years since I last went to the K&S Show. What I missed this time were the booths of people taking part in lessons and workshops. They are now tucked away, out of sight, in another part of the building so the 'doing' part of the show has been taken over by the selling.
One aspect of selling which could be much improved is the sandwiches. "Impressively Premium" they were not!
The judges of this year's BP Portrait Awards at the National Portrait Gallery got it wrong. This picture, Ciara by Alan Coulson, should have won! 
If ever there were to be a competition to judge the best painting amongst the NPG's main collection my vote would go to this one of Lady Colin Campbell by Giovanni Boldini. Each time I visit the gallery, I always seek out it.
All the BP Portrait Award contenders can be viewed here. Which would you have voted for?
A great way to spend Sunday afternoon, sitting in the warm sunshine, eating delicious fish and chips at the West Beach Cafe.
I could not believe what I was seeing. It is just half way through October yet John Lewis has decked out the whole shop for Christmas!!!!
Sorely tempted by these bunches of Chinese Lanterns but sadly couldn't justify the cost.
A trip to the V&A to see the new ceramics gallery.
Followed by a cuppa in the beautiful Gamble Room. This room, and two other richly decorated rooms, formed the first museum restaurant in the world and were intended as a showpiece of modern design, craftsmanship and manufacturing.
(Note to self: remember to charge camera battery before going out!)
