I am blessed where I live as I discover more, (even though I have lived in the Cotswolds for over 30 years) I have never really explored it.
But in the past couple of months I have wanted to do things outside either my comfort zone or just trying something new and I have began researching places a lot closer to home.
I have been twice before to the Malvern Flower show and I knew it would be great day out and I was definitely not disappointed.
So I made a picnic, I had my trusty knitting with me and off I went. It is always a beautiful drive heading towards the Malvern Hills which to me look like a theatre set of hills that have just been painted on the otherwise pretty flat landscape that surrounds me.
The Three Counties showground is literally at the base of the hill range where you can see from one end to the other, one day as my fitness progresses, I would love to try and walk it.
For the whole four days the show is on it will be blessed with beautiful weather.
Once I got my bearings I headed for the Floral Marque to start with.
Now to follow a whole lot of beautiful floral images taken from within this tent.
There was also an amazing selection of cacti and indoor plants.
I loved this one as it is the shape of my first name!
I also love these planters.
Once I had wondered around the area for a while I decided fresh air was called for, as even though it was a Friday and I naively thought it may be quieter, it most certainly wasn't!
So I found a little spotted where I could see the hills and got out my flask and knitting.
Feeling refreshed I was ready to have a look outside at the showgrounds and other exhibits and stands, they even had some amazing classic cars. I could not get over how huge there are!
They even had a blacksmith working away.
He asked me if I could take an image of his sculpture in the show ground next to his stand which I was happy to oblige. Hope you like them Paul!
I also loved the RAF garden.
I also came across a beautiful knit stand
Aran Crafts where the garments are made in County Kerry, Ireland. Having looked at the website, oh my I think I may just have to invest sometime in a
Mucros Hat they are soooooo me!!
As cable is one of my favourite stitches I just had to have a look at the jumpers they had on display. I loved the label detail telling you what the different cables represented too.
I find this fascinating and when I next come to designing will definitely do some more research.
I ended up only purchasing two items, one of which was a calendar by an incredibly talented artist who lives at the base of the Malvern hills, I so can't wait to view this when the time comes, but for now it has gone away till the new year as a surprise!.
But my other purchase after seeing the beautiful stand was a Clematis for my very bare fence as the one of the ones purchased from a chain store just has not taken.
Again I was amazed to find how close the nursery that grows them is to me, literally only 10 miles away! There stand was just beautiful and the knowledge they had is outstanding. The
website explains that Thorncroft have been running and specialising in Clematis for over 30 years and is a family run business. They also hold
twelve Chelsea flower show Gold medals which you can read more about
here.
There is pretty much no where that you can not grow this plant I have discovered and why not when they have such variety.
These two varieties caught my eye and made me return to the stand to make my purchase.
To me the colours are just exquisite!
I did however come away with
Clematis x Aromatica which can be grown in a pot, grows to maximum of 4ft with the most beautiful vivid purple flowers which I can't wait to see.
Here it is in situ
My own Clematis which I have had for many years is currently looking beautiful.
So I hope you have enjoyed reading and seeing all the pretty images, I will leave you with one of the other highlights of the show for me which was the steel band.
Until next time.....
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