Sunshine in Stroud

We drove to Stroud on Tuesday to meet up with Jess and bring her home at last! It was lovely to see Granny & Grandad and it's always nice to visit Stroud again: it always looks so picturesque when seen with fresh eyes.

We took the dogs for a walk by the canal in Saul. There has been a huge amount of work done to open up the canal network in the area after years of disuse and neglect: as a result Stroud is hosting a major boat festival on July to celebrate.

Fittingly I've been re-reading Laurie Lee's autobiography of a childhood growing up in Stroud in the days before cars dictated the pace of life. The book is beautifully written and so evocative of a lost way of life, when a family trip to the next village, four miles away, meant a day's travelling on foot.

And after all that gorgeous sunshine we're driving back now under grey skies and interminable drizzle. Foolishly I forgot to to take any sewing projects with me so I've been itching to get on with my quilting...