American Museum & Gardens - Bath - Part II

Leaving the riot of color in the American Museum gardens was hard, and

looking out across that beautiful English countryside HERE dressed for spring

 I had to tear myself away to go inside Claverton House. 

Born in San Francisco but later settling in England, Kaffe Fassett has dedicated

 the last 50 years of his life to the world of knitting,  needlepoint and patchwork, 

promoting these crafts through his own work and inspiring others to find their

 own creativity.

The gift shop was a treat - if only the suitcase had been larger to bring all 

these beautiful books home.

One of many of Kaffe Fassett's extraordinary quilts. The exhibition of 20 stunning new 

quilts designed by him is inspired by the Museum's world-renowned collection of

antique American quilts (photos of them not permitted due to their fragility). 
This provides a unique opportunity to see the old and the new alongside one another.

Shaker sewing box.

As part of the Museum's fiftieth anniversary celebration, the collection of folk art

 treasures are redisplayed in an acclaimed new gallery. The collection testifies

 to they exuberant resourcefulness of art and home decoration made

 'by the people, for the people'.

As always, discovering new places with Ruth - see us together in the reflection

 above - and her husband Mike, was special. Later that evening an extra treat was

 meeting their daughter, an accomplished equestrienne, who joined us for dinner. 

Prior to that, after returning to Bath city, we made a stop at wonderful
 independent bookshop 'Mr. B's' where Ruth took me on our first meeting
 a few years back.
My stack of new books is awaiting exciting page-turning - yes I did make
 room in the bag to get those home - and will be discussed in a future post.
 I brought back some special ones!

Michael - Scribble Picnic Host!

Even if you don't know Michael you will know of him if you follow me and look

 at my Scribble Picnic entries on Wednesdays.

Right now we're taking a summer break as our little art co-op needs a

 chance to stay cool, well except for artist member Serena who's cool enough

 down under enjoying Australia's Winter months! Hello Serena.

Michael and I have been virtual friends for many, many years thanks to blogging.

He, like me, is a British ex-pat, and he, like me, is always somewhat homesick for

our former lives as children and teenagers in England. 

We each have stories to tell as to how we ended up here in America, bits of which 

we've gleaned from blog posts and comments over the years.

Now, at long last, Michael and I are going to meet in person! Bob and I plan to 

catch up with him in Colorado next weekend before he moves to Kentucky 

where his adorable wife/talented artist Alexandra has already settled in.

Would have loved to meet her too, hopefully that will happen sometime

 down the road.

Scribble Picnic Collage 2017-18

Soon we'll be heading west to enjoy a change of scenery and, most important, 

to meet up with a very, very special blog friend in Utah, followed by our visit to 

Colorado to meet Michael. 

Stay tuned for more this coming week.

After that dreary, damp post of yesterday, I'm happy to share good weather news. 

This morning the sun is brilliant, Bob is mowing the lawn before it gets too hot. 

I just gathered a ton of fragrant basil and am making pesto. 

Picked a few figs yesterday, added to sweet red plums they made a lovely

Gateau de Mamy - here's a link to another version as I forgot to take a photo of 

the fig-plum one.

I then cooked down remaining figs and plums with a little sugar and water

and puréed into a fruit coulis, adding crème de cassis once cooled.

Must say, served drizzled over the cake with a dollop of whipped cream

it was delicious. . . . . . . . . .and ruined my diet!