A friendship day

Purposefully, I delayed my weekly  post this week as  I knew how wonderful today would be and I wanted to share some of that loveliness on my blog. You see today I finally managed to meet the charming Helen of Dixon Hill in the gorgeous setting of Haworth, Bronte country. 

I am astounded what an impact the online creative community has had on my life. I met Helen for the first time in Susannah Conway’s Unravelling class online and so this was a very special day to meet my friend in person! There I was,  meeting someone for the first time, who I already knew so much about,  and admired  deeply, without having talked to her or even having heard her voice. Needless to say Helen was even lovelier in real life than I could imagine her to be. My life feels so much richer through the friendships that are forming through these creative tribes, I know for certain that I wouldn’t be as inspired or as committed to my creativity without these wonderful, strong, inspiring women like Helen who reach out so warmly. Having spent a few hours in her company, my head is buzzing with ideas from working on going to a creative retreat, to creating a more dedicated space for my art work,to finally grasping the nettle and learning how to use my sewing machine!

Haworth itself was a gorgeous setting with its cobbled streets and friendly looking shops. Needless to say I felt the need to purchase the odd item as a reminder of a lovely day such as the polished glass piece below, which sits proudly on my desk now. 

As it was the day after the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate, there were many street bunting flags fluttering merrily in the breeze. 

Whilst on the subject of the wedding, I must take a tangent and say what a glorious occasion it was. I thoroughly enjoyed celebrating with the majority of the nation as this young couple with so much potential for the future, married in  elegance and with such a connection between them. So often Britain is in the news for negative reasons so it was a really pleasant change to feel really proud of a day when the nation did something well; be it the cheerful street parties, the sheer beauty of the occasion or the celebration of traditions in all their glory.

Back to Haworth, if you ever visit there you must have lunch at Cobbles and Clay, a cafe come pottery painting establishment,  which serves really tasty homemade food, using fairtrade products along with  locally sourced ingredients. uI always remember a place by what I have eaten there, strange but true, and I never wanted my caramelised onion and goats cheese tart to end ;)

Of course Helen showed me the moors she loves so much, they were absolutely breathtaking. I could imagine wondering for hours amongst the stunning scenery with its rich textures and colours. Helen is fabulous photographer of the moors so you must take a look at her website to do this striking environment justice.

Although there wasn’t time to visit the Bronte museum this time, I couldn’t resist taking a quick shot of the museum sign. I thought  the silhouette against the backdrop of trees was a most beautiful sight at the end of a really lovely outing.