Hay on Wye

Every second Friday, Michael goes to St Richards Hospice (McMillans) where he has a great time painting, drinking (I kid you not, they get wine/whisky/etc before lunch), eating and generally chatting to a group of people in the same situation. It's a beautiful place with an enormous well-laid-out garden which is immaculately kept and contains a very large duck pond. The flowers are all planted in high beds made of old railway sleepers so that folks in wheelchairs can enjoy them. 

Well that's him. What about me? I could stay at home and do some textiley things but that seems a pity when it is so difficult for me to go anywhere more than 20 minutes drive away without organising someone to look after Michael. So yesterday I went to Hay-on-Wye which is a drive of 75 minutes. I went intending to buy some distressed books for rebinding but found nothing that I liked. Instead I bought a raft of art books. A book on Sargent's watercolours for Michael, a book on Bawden in North Africa for me, a book on David Gentleman's designs, a Rex Stout we haven't got. I was surprised at the last. I thought we had everything. I found a crafts shop which had mice made of twisted wire and good glass but only bought three sheets of wrapping paper (for bookbinding).

To get to Hay from Malvern, you need to go through Hereford and there are two ways to get to Hereford from Malvern, one of which is rumoured to be having problems with roadworks. So I went via Ledbury. On the way home I thought I shall be driving past Mr Waller's. So I stopped and bought beef for the weekend. Ledbury is a small town with a bustling main street and five high class butchers and the highest class is Mr Waller's. I have been in a posh restaurant (coq au vin etc etc) and the first main course listed was 'Dave Waller's sausages with onions and wine gravy'. So I bought some of them (the Bosbury Bangers to be precise), some drycure bacon and one of his award-winning pies (pork and garlic) which I started on when I got home because I had missed out on lunch. 

Later on I stitched and cut up the Megado output (see yesterday's blog). There are half-finished projects all over the place and, since we have no visitors this weekend, I am hoping to finish a lot of them.

I am enjoying reading various blogs about CW and Convergence, Cally Booker, Daryl Lancaster, Sandra Rude, Alice Schlein. I wish - - - -