Embroidered Linen

Today was forecast to be the hottest day of the year so far, so A and I walked earlier than usual and kept the 'walking' part of our walk short.  We walked as far as the Kelling Halt railway platform where we sat for over an hour chatting and enjoying our flask of coffee.  Quite a few dog walkers and holiday visitors stopped to chat with us too, which was great.  We waited to see the visiting engine 'Betton Grange' pass by.  John RH photographed this engine so beautifully yesterday:
https://www.blipfoto.com/entry/3269350281392949722
It's certainly an impressive engine.  See extra.

Back home, I started to go through some of the things that I'd brought back from my late stepmother's house and amongst them I found the original receipt for her Singer sewing machine (also now in my possession) dated 1927 and costing 8 Guineas. 

I also came across some very pretty hand-embroidered linen including these beautiful linen napkin holders.  I'll definitely use these when entertaining.  The other fine linen I will use as props when doing still life photography with flowers.  I'm currently watching an on-line course by Molly Hollman on photographing flowers which I'm really enjoying.

It's rather sad that my stepmother used to love to knit and sew but later in life she developed a shaking condition that particularly affected her hands and so wasn't able to enjoy these hobbies any more.