And some beautiful Spring flowers to cheer the house up.
A chance to play in the kitchen where I made soup from these... nettles foraged from 
Which really did make the most fabulous soup... delicious with a swirl of creme fraiche. Thank you Diana for the inspiration. And still plenty more nettles where they came from!
We had the soup with some home made bread - sun dried tomato focaccia.
Saturday was a lovely day with all the family at home, lots of leisurely eating and drinking oblivious to the grey drizzle outside. On Sunday we had planned a day at the Norfolk coast but the weather forecast did not seem very encouraging and so we stayed closer to home and visited Hatfield House instead. Despite being on our doorstep neither of us had been to the house before and it was a real treat. A fabulous Jacobean house with a wonderful collection of paintings and tapestries.
One of my favourite paintings is this one of Elizabeth I, especially as I've been studying Elizabethan embroidery.
And finally I've had time for some more recreational sewing... another bag. Jacob has wanted a new bag for school for quite a while but I was appalled at the price of type of messenger bag he wanted, so after a trip to Cambridge last week I declared I would make him one. We found a pattern and the obligatory black fabric and after several hours... he has a bag. Of course if I add up all the hours it has taken to make the bag it would have been far cheaper to buy one but not as much fun.
Especially with this surprise lining which he chose from my stash!
He didn't think it would be very "cool" to admit his mum had made the bag but decided he would like one of my labels inside so he could pretend it was a designer bag made just for him.
Knowing how teenagers treat their bags it probably won't last that long but it was fun to be able to make something for him. It's been a long time since any of the boys have worn or used anything I've sewn or knitted!
This week there is more R & R planned... this time Reading and Research for my next assignment looking at 21st century embroidery.
I need to make a bag very similar to that one so may be approaching you for tips!
ReplyDeleteWe always look at the signs for Hatfield House when we exit the custard tunnel, and keep saying we must go. Maybe this year ...
Gina I'm SO glad you relaxed over the weekend - brilliant.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great bag for Jacob - love the lining! How fab that you've been studying Elizabethan embroidery. I bet you'v been peeping at some beautiful images.
Emma
x
So glad you had a well deserved relaxing Easter. What a great bag!
ReplyDeleteI haven't visited Hatfield House for years - we used to live nearby. I love the knot garden :-)
Celia
x
Beautiful spring flowers and love that Easter choccy bunny - Lindt choccy is one of the meltiest in the mouthiest chocs ever, yummy!!!!
ReplyDeletehow lovely for you to make something for your son - mine never seem to want me to anymore! i love the lining of the bag how brilliant is that!
ReplyDeletelooking at that pic i think elizabethan embroidery must be amazing - the hours they must have worked!
xxxx
Those chocolates looked nice..
ReplyDeleteThe bag is wonderful, what a sense of humour teenagers have these days.
Good luck with the R and R
Jacob's bag is fantastic! Very professional and designer-y!
ReplyDeleteAnd how brilliant to be able to get a vegetable crop from the garden at this time of the year ;o)
Lucy xxx
How fun! What a great kid to let his mum sew a bag for him -- love that lining!!!
ReplyDeleteWow Gina! That bag is amazing!!! I am very pleased that you have had a nice relaxing weekend with lots of chocolate and food. Just how a bank holiday should be. xx
ReplyDeleteLove the bag, I will have to make my studying lad. Excellent lining fabric. Glad you are feeling rested now and enjoying the local area's pleasures.
ReplyDeleteJacob's bag is great and is most definitely a designer bag made specially for him. Lovely images of Hatfield House. Glad you had a relaxing weekend and no doubt the health giving properties of your homemade bread and nettle soup counteracted the consumption of chocolate and any other 'naughties'! Good Luck with your research.
ReplyDeletePicking nettles from the wild ehh? Reminded me......is there a fairy story of a girl that had to knit from nettles and her brothers turned to swans? I'm going back to my childhood with that one, so a very long time ago.
ReplyDeleteFantastic messenger bag...glad you have had a break.
Lovely blog, just found it tonight!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing such great art (Elizabethan embroidery)!
Debbie Moss
Ribbit! Ribbit! (Sorry, got a thing about frogs!) The bag looks very professional and I can see the orders pouring in.
ReplyDeletePleased to hear you've been getting some rest and relaxation in. Keep it up if you can.
Glad you relaxed Gina! Thank you for trying the soup, bet the creme fraiche made it even more delicious. Somehow (quite how I fail to comprehend) chocolate passed me by this easter. Love the bag, well done.
ReplyDeleteFor once I can feel very smug that we seem to have had better weather here in Lancashire than many other places over the easter weekend.
ReplyDeleteThe bag is a designer bag indeed. I didn't realise you still had school age children by the way.
Just popped in to read your blog and was fascinated with the nettle soup....what do nettles taste like????...all i know about nettles are stinging nettles... those are the ones we come across in Canada anyways...can't image you made soup from those...looks yummy!!! oh cute bag!!!
ReplyDeleteGreat bag, he'll be bringing you orders! Can you imagine what Elizabeth's dresses look like for real, mind blowing. I will be interested in you thoughts on 21st century embroidery.
ReplyDeleteSo pleased you had a good Easter - are you feeling fully recovered now?
ReplyDeleteThat bag is very VERY gorgeous. Lucky Jacob! Very pleased to hear your teenager treats bags badly too - I get sooo frustrated at the way No.1 treats the nice rucksacks/bags I get her.
x
Lovely bag. i bet jacob is secretly very pleased with his bag. Which course are you studying, it sounds very interesting.
ReplyDeleteSounds a perfect weekend of relaxing and fun sewing, I love the lining of Jacobs bag. I'm not sure about nettle soup though- what does it taste like? Jane x
ReplyDeleteHatfield House looks a must, I visited quite a few when I was studying Elizabethan embroidery for the C&G.
ReplyDeleteYou're making me hungry with your lovely nettle soup and bread.
What a great bag, I love the lining, my DD has a stash of this and others like it from Makower fabrics.
Where to start? The soup from the Wild Flower Garden!! The Designer Messenger Bag!! The homemade bread!!
ReplyDeleteI bow before you Gina - are there more days in the weekend in East Anglia?
What a great bag! My Mum used to pick and cook nettles when we were young and not so well off! They were lovely.
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