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!

American Museum & Gardens - Bath, Part I

The sign said, 'Welcome to the American Museum & Gardens'. 

The taxi stopped at the top of the hill and we all clambered out into a chilly,

 but dry, typical English morning, only to view breathtaking green rolling hills

 and the valley beyond - a view of Bath never seen before, literally a different

 side of this wonderful city.

Our friends Ruth and Mike who had traveled from Wiltshire that morning, met us

 with warming hugs and lots of chatter at the hotel whilst we awaited the taxi.

They picked this very special place to take us knowing it would be of interest

to us both - history for Bob and gardens and art for me. They certainly made
 the right choice - we loved it all, including a break for 'elevenses' with coffee and 

delicious homemade cake in the Orangery Café.

The American Museum takes you on a journey through the history of America,

from its early settlers to the twenty-first century. With its remarkable collection

of folk and decorative arts, the Museum shows the diverse and complex nature

 of American traditions and is actually the only museum outside the United States

 to showcase the decorative arts of America.

 

Claverton Manor 1820 - built of Bath stone in the neo-classical style - home

 of the museum since the 1950's.

Go HERE for more interesting history of how the museum came to be.

Posts later on the fabulous Kaffe Fassett quilt exhibition and the Folk Art Gallery.

First stop, beautiful Bath . . . . . .

We headed directly to Bath by motor coach from our Heathrow early morning arrival.

Just a few photos of Bath showing famous Pulteney Bridge crossing the River Avon, 

Bath Cathedral, the entrance to the Roman spa, and lovely buildings of golden stone

 along the winding streets. Last there in the summer of 2014 - click to see more photos

 of this amazing Roman city in the heart of the Somerset countryside.

That first evening we met up with a very special blog friend, sweet Rosemary of

Where Five Valleys Meet.  She and her charming husband drove to the city 

and we met in the lobby of our hotel for a long chat. Later we headed to a 

vegetarian cafe for a very tasty meal, followed by a stroll around the 

city center which was quite vibrant being a Saturday night. A lovely all too

short time together, but it will always be memorable as meeting long time

blog friends always is. If you don't already follow Rosemary, take a look at her 

amazing blog filled with color, flower photography, history, and travel stories

 to the most exotic places.

(Sunday arrived and another special day had been planned to meet our dear friends 

from Wiltshire - more on the exciting time with them in my next post from Bath. 

I have a ton of photos to organize and edit from that day).

Monday we were up early for departure from Bath to Torquay, again
by bus, but first we headed out to amble about the city streets.
 Washed down, clean, sun shining but quite cool, as 
were most days on this recent trip, but only a few raindrops!

Beautiful Bath, England . . . . .

Today I'm completing my June visit to the city of Bath having been sidetracked 

by other things lately. It's such a beautiful place with so many photo opportunities.

Disembarking Cunard's Queen Victoria, and leaving the huge port of Southampton, 

a country drive long bus trip through some scenic areas of southern England wasn't 

hard to take. 

The sun was shining and it was warm. The rolling green fields were shimmering 

in the early morning light, and dainty blossoms of Queen Anne's Lace 

blooming along the roadsides waved at us as the bus rushed by.

Bath Abbey

One of the most magnificent cities in Great Britain, Bath was founded on the site 

of the country's only naturally occurring hot springs.  

Its history from early Roman times through its popularity in the Georgian era, 

has reinforced its reputation as the finest spa city, along with splendid architecture 

to view at every turn.

Pulteney Bridge across the River Avon

The Great Bath is fed by naturally occurring hot springs - each day 240,000 gallons 

of water originating in the Mendip Hills, collect mineral salts along the way and 

enter the bath through a narrow channel. When the hot water was not required for 

use in the baths, the Spring Overflow was used to divert water into the 

River Avon nearby.

There is so much to see in the city of Bath that more than a couple of days is 

required to take in so much history.

If you ever have the chance to visit Bath you will not be disappointed.

If you've already been there, you know what I'm talking about.

 I would definitely love to return and spend more time here.