Playing hooky down in Devon

Oh I've had such a lovely weekend! I went down to Devon to stay with an old friend from my time at University and we spent our days visiting National Trust properties, dodging the downpours and having some yarny fun with crochet hooks! 

The first property we visited was Knightshayes, a Victorian Gothic house. The house was built by the Amory family, whose ancestors invented the mechanised bobbin lace making machine. In fact, the factory was moved down from Loughborough to Tiverton in 1816 after it was destroyed by Luddites, and many of the factory workers walked from Loughborough to Devon to continue working for the family. 

There were beautiful gardens to explore as well as woodland to walk through. The walled garden was enormous, and bursting with produce.

The other property we visited was Killerton. As well as the house and grounds, there's a costume collection there and I spotted this knitted wedding dress!

The National Trust had worked with local schools on a project connected with World War 1, finding out about the impact of the Great War on villagers and there was a very moving display of poppies made by the children, each one remembering a villager killed during that time. Quite shocking to see the number of dead from just four small villages in Devon.

In between times, I taught Diane how to crochet! We both knitted while we were at Uni, but she had never tried crocheting before. Well, she was a natural and managed to master the basic stitches to produce some flowers and granny squares. Ta dah!! By the time I got back home to Norfolk, she'd emailed me a photo of her next square!! I love the fact that I've taught someone a new craft to enjoy.

And of course, I didn't let you down! We enjoyed a delicious cream tea on Sunday afternoon - freshly baked scones, Devonshire clotted cream and blackcurrant curd from the National Trust shop. It's really yummy and I'm going to call in at our local NT shop to buy a pot for Mr JK's birthday tea on Sunday! xxx