It's now half-way through the week-long geometric course I'm teaching and we all have an afternoon off.

Of course most of us want to fit in as much beading as possible but I decide that beading from 8am until 11pm every other day is enough and that I'll take a couple of hours out for a walk along the nearby beach at Bracklesham Bay.

Fortunately it's a lovely day and warm enough for me to have a paddle in the water (ok, it was warm enough for me, maybe not for everyone else!).

After getting some sun, sky and air I head back for an afternoon and evening of more beading.

One of the students on the class is a great beader and embroiderer, Pat Trott, who has brought along (after much requests from me and the other students) a lot of her work and that of her mothers.

It really is an amazing collection of many different types of lace and embroidery created over many years and it was a joy to get to see and hold it as well as learn all of the history of each piece.

Amongst the pieces were this amazing piece of lace created to be added to the legs of a pair of French knickers and this beautiful 1950s embroidery piece.

One of the most touching pieces was an unfinished one where, during the 2nd World War, Pat's mother had soldiers sign their names and regiments onto some cloth which she began embroidering. Incredible to think of all those young men signing their names and wondering what paths their lives took soon after.