Back from Holiday

David and I spent a week away near Shrewsbury in Shrophire. From there we visited Malvern Flower Show at the Three Counties Showground last Sunday and by yesterday went back again for the Quilts UK quilt show.   We also visited the Welsh Highland Railway for a return journey from Porthmadog to Caernarfon, saw the Tailor's Quilt In Wrexham, 3 NT Properties, a quilt shop (with a castle nearby) and also Shrewsbury itself.  That's a lot in one week!  I may break this up over this week with a few blog posts rather than big post here.

The B&B we stayed in is in Leaton, just outside Shrewsbury, called the Old Station, which is beside a still working railway line so there were trains about every half hour and a level crossing too, but we got used to that. 

Our first outing was to the RHS Malvern Spring Festival.  Just lovely weather for the day as it was so sunny.  A few lovely outdoor gardens and the large floral marquee to explore and lots of photos taken, with the backdrop of the Malvern Hills.  Here are just a few pics.

Lovely garden sculptures

Victorian style exhibition inside the Floral Marquee.

Gorgeous display of carnivorous plants 

The school gardens with the theme of Out of this World. Top left isn't a school garden but I couldn't resist this pic of stick men sculptures by the shed.

As this was the beginning of our break we couldn't take any plants, which was a shame, but it gave us ideas for the garden and it was an enjoyable day out.

On Monday we went to Wrexham and nearby NT property Erddig, not far from the town.  David took lots of pics, but I was interested in the gardens and items around the house.

I was amused by the sign in play area called the Wolf's Den, in the bottom right picture. There is a resident wood carver and the pic in the top left if a carving.

In the town at Wrexham Museum there is a small display of The Tailor's Quilt, which is in the quilt collection of the Nationak Museum of Wales, together with some mini quilts by local quilter's, influenced by The Tailor's Quilt. Unfortunately I don't have photos of this.

Tuesday saw us go on a trip to Porthmadog to get a ride on the Welsh Highland Railway to Caernarfon and back.  The weather was miserable but by the time we took the journey back to Porthamdog the skies cleared.

The engine is South African and coped well with the tight curves on the line.

A bit difficult to show because if the reflection from the window, but this shows the map of the line on the table between our seats.

We enjoyed a Welsh afternoon tea, Bara Brith, Welsh Cakes and even Welsh tea.

When back at Porthmadog we saw the train come in from the Festiniog Railway

So a really good day out.  More to come soon.