Silent Sunday: Uppark House

Uppark House

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Castle Drogo

Last week I met some friends at Castle Drogo, before travelling on to Cornwall with them to stay in Newquay for a few days.

Castle Drogo is one of the most bonkers places I have ever visited. Unfortunately the house was shut but you can see some photos of the interior if you go to the # Castle Drogo Instagram page

It was built between 1911 and 1926 as a family home?!

What were they thinking!

It looked like a prison or a workhouse to us.

Trees mask the glorious views to the moors as you walk around the house.

There are two magnificent arbours. We were not sure what variety of tree they were but my best guess was a type of birch.

My favourite tree was this magnificent maple, what a colour!

with its twisty moss covered trunk.

After lunch in the cafe we drove the hour and a half to Newquay.

This is the view from the apartment we were staying in.

Oh happy days!

In a Vase on Monday: My Christmas Tree

On Friday I took my daughter and her children to see the Ignite Garden display at Kingston Lacy

Which was a magical way to meet outside at the start of their Christmas holidays.

This is Little Miss M, in a pixie hat I knitted, who just seemed to feel right at home in the Fern Garden

As we were walking round, we were talking about Christmas trees and I was telling the children how I used to take my children into the woods to collect fallen branches, that we would take home, and decorate for our tree as I did not want to kill a tree for Christmas.

Nowadays, I don’t ‘do’ Christmas and haven’t put any Christmas decorations up for years. I will be in a caravan by the sea this year, and I am really looking forward to it.

On Saturday, Little Miss M walked over to my house with a present

…….a branch they had to cut off their tree to balance it, topped with a decoration I had made with the children a couple of years ago

and some pink yarn because I like pink. She carried the lametta in her pocket so it wouldn’t blow away and then put it on the ‘tree’ as she gave it to me.

Heart-melting! I will take it with me to my caravan by the sea!

Joining Cathy for In a Vase on Monday.

Windows

Welcome to the Monthly Meet-Up Photo Challenge, posted on the first Tuesday each month. The theme of  WINDOWS is running throughout the year.

To join in please leave a link to one of your posts which includes a photo of a window. The post can be current or archive – sometimes it is fun to look back through your photos and old posts and rediscover them.

Three from me today:

Greenhouse shading creating pattern and atmosphere at Kingston Lacy

A window lighting the stairwell at Greenway House

And little Miss M painitng, looking out of my sitting room window a few weeks ago.

~

I’m excited to see the windows you are sharing with us this month!

Silent Sunday

Fernery Fountain and Camellias

 

The charming little fountain in the Fernery at Greenway House in Devon

and some more of the gorgeous camellias

 

I hope you are not getting bored with Greenway House – as you can tell – I’m besotted!

In this You Tube clip, Agatha Christie’s grandson talks about the time he spent there.

Here’s another view of the house and its position on the banks of the River Dart, click on the photos to see them full screen.

Along one of the high paths, a cute little cherry tree

so compact and absolutely covered with deep pink blossom

Joining Cee and her Flower of the Day

Silent Sunday in Branscombe

Silent Sunday at Corfe Castle

500 miles with Granny

This Summer it’s all about finding shade

Last Saturday I took Master R and Little Miss M to Kingston Lacy, where there is a lot of shady woodland to explore

I just love their enthusiasm for finding leaves and bugs and beetles and the conversations they have about nature interwoven with fantasy, dragons, monsters and fairies.

And they way they burst into exuberance when faced with a long stretch of path to run – “Race you!”

Joyful days

The promise of ice cream

An iced coffee for Granny

Slow meanderings

And

Dappled light

Joining in with Cee’s Which Way Challenge

And Little Miss M and I clocked up another 2.5 miles towards our target of 500.

Other posts tracking our progress are  here, here.

and here

We have done 31.5 miles, only 468.5 miles to go! Can we do it!??!

It will be fun finding out!

I use Strava, an app on my iPhone, to record our distances. It is brilliant as we can see the map of our walks at the end of each one. The children have fun tracing our route and working out where we were.

Will you be going on any walks this weekend?

 

 

In a Vase on Monday: Narcissi

My lovely daughter picked these for me from her garden – their scent is soft with smells of Spring.

They sit with Buddha who is always surrounded by little bits and pieces given and gathered.

Last week I stayed in The Hayloft for a couple of days and this vase greeted me in the hall. 

My Coastal Cosy blanket started to grow.

I am happy to highly recommend the Hayloft, it is the best Airbnb I’ve stayed in by far. Such a warm welcome, a generous welcome hamper and beautiful ambience. It is just a 4 minute drive from Nymans, which is a wonderful place to visit.

Fascinating buildings, beautiful magnolias

and what a wisteria trunk! This pergola must be a dream to walk later in the year.

Now let’s go and see what Cathy has popped into her Vase this Monnday.

Dark

The Kaffe Fassett exhibition, currently on at Mottisfont, Hampshire is beautifully staged.

Some of the rooms are light and bright and some are dimly lit with rich and cosy colours – so dark it was difficult to take photos of the wonderful quilting.

My entry in our One-a-week Photo Challenge.

Please leave a link to your entry in the comments.

Shadow

remember

sweet scents of childhood

in green lanes

~

Join Cathy and me in our One-a-Week Photo Challenge,  by leaviing a link in the comments

and

Ronovan in the weekly Haiku Challenge. This week’s prompts: SWEET and SCENT

The photo is of Master R, taken in summer 2016 at Kingston Lacy, one of our favourite places for a day out.

 

17 for 2017: March and April

Life has been unpredictable and very busy since my return from a crazy fortnight holiday on 20th April. My attention is mostly away from the computer at the moment, but I just wanted to record my 17 for 2017 progress for March and April before May skids by.

A few targets for 2017 have been ticked off:

17 – walks longer than an hour

SIX

One in March : Badbury Rings

3 in January, 2 in February

16 – handmade greetings cards.

SIXTEEN – DONE!

You can see the Never-ending cards here.

15 – beachy things (split into 3 x 5s – 5 pieces of beach related art, 5 beach cleans on new beaches, 5 beach clean sculptures, assemblages or mandalas)

14 – items for my Etsy shop

FIVE

1 in Feb, 3 in March,

Three wigs that were in the WIP box were completed and put in my Etsy Shop in March

as well as 1 new pattern in April

I’m particularly excited about this one as I have been developing the pattern on and off for so long. I have loved making this jacket for Little Miss M and as presents for babies, but getting the pattern ready for general use is a whole other business. Gosh it takes such a lot of concentration!

13 – drawers, cupboards, shelves or boxes sorted out.

SEVEN

One in January and a shelf in February.

I cleared a Drawer in March, which led to clearing out the whole chest of drawers, 5 drawers in all. What a stash of yarn and abandoned UFOs I found

The UFOs have been unpicked and all yarn rolled and stashed in better order. I found things from over 10 years ago – so many projects abandoned for one reason or another – still, the yarn lives on to see another day. Chaotic life events have often interrupted the creative flow – it’s been an ongoing life-long theme. I’m sure I’m not alone.

12 – WIPs finished

SIX in March: see #14 above

and I managed to finish three blankets

3 blankets, first the Mexican Wave. I hope to give details of this one when life calms down a bit.

Then

a ‘Blanket for a Mermaid’, which I started for my niece (S) when I went to Japan

Again, details to follow.

and

the Dorset Hedgerow Blanket for my other niece (L)

Go the my PAGE of Throws to see some more photos and some links to POSTs about them

11 – paintings/ art works

10 – house and garden tasks

9 – textile books worked on.

8 – hand written letters to grandchildren

7 – find 7 interesting objects

6 – items made for Pippin or improvements to Pippin.

5  – random acts of kindness

FIVE – done!

The Hedgerow Blanket, for my niece and the Mexican Wave blanket which was a present for my daughter’s best friend were both Random Acts of Crafty Kindness.

Whilst in the Caribbean I was crocheting seahorses in all sorts of odd places. I had some wonderful encounters with both children and adults taking an interest in the craft and the seahorse – I gave away 5 all together. I’m hoping to write a bit more about these encounters, but the way things are at the moment, that might be a long time coming.

4 – new National Trust properties visited

TWO visited in April.

A 3.5 hour drive to ad from Gatwick Airport took me past two National Trust properties. They provided a welcome stop each way.

Hinton Ampner

and Petworth House

3 – make three up-cycled items of clothing 

2 – meet two fellow bloggers

1 – car boot sale

0 – Buy zero new clothes

ZERO – even though I was tempted to buy new shorts to go on holiday – I resisted – well done me!

~

Still much to do!

A list of others I know to be taking the challenge:

Mrs Snail, Nanacathy, Gillyflower, Murtagh’s Meadow., Ouch My Back hurts, Ruth’s Arc,  Cherie Langlois, Erin’s Big World, Country Ways and Cottage Days, Mrs. Craft

I have no idea why the post has gone all thin and down the middle – I’m having trouble with WordPress at the moment. Click on any photo to see it larger.

On the path

I’m entering this photo in Cee’s ‘Which Way’ Wednesday Challenge.

It was taken last year on a gloriously wonderful visit to Bateman’s, the home of the author of the Jungle Book, Rudyard Kipling.

If anyone asked me what or where they should visit if they only had a limited amount of time and wanted to soak up English heritage, Bateman’s would be at the very top of the list.

It is the singularly most peaceful and beautiful home I have ever visited. A delight and a joy.

The picture above is only the tiniest glimpse.

Walking on Wednesday at Corfe Castle

a view from the ramparts

We took Miss E, Master R and Little Miss M to Corfe Castle, and had a wonderful time. The children had a quiz sheet to fill in and then we watched lots of staged battles, after which they were able to try on the armour. The sight of little Miss M (aged 2) wielding the biggest shiniest sword, with a very determined, delighted and serious face was fabulous – girl power!

Where have you been walking? Please do join in with the Wednesday Walk-Along and add a link to one of your walks, it would be fun to wander along with you.

Wednesday Walk-Along around Bodiam Castle

A bit more of Bodiam Castle in a peaceful corner of East Sussex. (from August 2014).

Also you can take a dramatic coastal walk-along with Sarah in Cornwall; a glorious visit to a rarely accessible Italian garden with Jules;

And joining in with the wonderful Wordless Wednesday crew, have a wander around this stunning Italian garden; bask in a sunny photo from Julie; enjoy Cathy’s diamonds.

Feel free to add a link to your own wonderful wanderings.

Kingston Lacy Haiku

Yesterday I went to a ‘Haiku and other Short Poetry’ Workshop at Kingston Lacy, a National Trust property.

First warm-up exercise:

We played a Haiku ‘consequences’ type of game:

We were each asked to write the first line of a Haiku – five syllables, with a theme of Spring. Then fold the paper over and pass it round.

Then the second line with 7 syllables, fold over and pass it on

Then the third with 5 syllables, fold over and pass it on. The words in pink are the ones I wrote.

And then we read them out:

Bluebells under trees

Spring has sprung out of the soil

Holding the moment

*

Petals underfoot

Deeply inhale the blue scent

The trees are alive

*

Morning has broken

Stepping softly in the silence

Trip over with joy

 

It was fun to co-create and felt pressure free with only one line to write at a time.

I get such a buzz out of creating something with others, whether it is a design with my grandchildren or a Haiku or a Renga

 

 

Later we talked about flipping the first and the last lines to see if this would be an improvement, e.g.:

The trees are alive

Deeply inhale the blue scent

Petals underfoot

*

Holding the moment

Spring has sprung out of the soil

Bluebells under trees

*

And then used our own lines and flipping the first and last:

Trip over with joy

Deeply inhale the blue scent

Bluebells under trees

This seems like a fun way to play around with a Haiku to look for different emphasis and sometimes it seemed to create more poetic strength – I’m definitely going to try this one out in the Haiku challenges.

It was a fun workshop, I really enjoyed it, and then I had a wander around the house and gardens.

I’m just a teeny bit obsessed with bluebells at present. I bet you got that!

I love them for their fleeting beauty, their subtle yet heady scent and the way they mark the beginning of my most favourite time of the year, when all the Spring flowers burst forth in a soft fluffiness of colour.

 

A bluebell doodle

And they remind me of a bluebell time when love was in the air – oh that heady feeling, remembered each time I walk in woods carpeted in a soft purple-blue haze.

lying in bluebells

mirroring clear skies above

on high forever

*

Latin name for Bluebell: Hyacinthoides – that’s 5 syllables, the first line of a Haiku right there! Or maybe a better last line?

Trip over with joy

Deeply inhale the blue scent

Hyacinthoides

“Hyacinthoides non-scripta: The Bluebell’s Latin name, Hyacinthoides, comes from a Greek myth: when the Prince Hyacinthus died, the tears of the god Apollo spelled the word ‘alas’ on the petals of the hyacinth flower that sprang up from his blood. Non-scripta means unlettered and distinguishes this bluebell from the similar-looking hyacinth.” (from the Scottish Wildlife Trust site)

Does the scent of a Spring flower bring back happy memories for you?

Wednesday Walk-Along at Brockhampton

Blossom, blossom, blossom… fluttering, floating, swirling on the breeze  and sprinkling the air with beauty.

Having driven down and down, deep into a wide valley you come to Brockhampton Manor House, a National Trust property in Herefordshire. To get to the house you walk through a spectacular ancient damson orchard and I managed to catch it in all it’s glory (about 2 weeks ago).

Such a cold and cloudy day, but still immensely peaceful and full of Springiness

The house is small, but cute and quirky, brimming with history and quaintness.

The Gatehouse looks like it could have been built by a child, and might topple over any minute.

It seems quite strange for such a small house to have a moat – grandeur in miniature.

And then into the orchards with ewes and their lambs, and a bench to sit upon an soak up the atmosphere – oh if only one could bottle that!

I can’t seem to stop thinking about poetry at the moment – not very high brow, but I’ll share with you anyway what popped into my head whilst sitting on that bench wrapped up in a warm coat and doing a spot of crochet:

Lambs bleat
Birds sing
Swallows swoop
Here comes Spring!

There is plenty for children to do and several long, well-marked walks.

And a very nice cafe with seating both outside and in

Happiness is a hot cuppa, time for writing and crochet in a peaceful place and a beautiful view.

And then how about a Walk-Along with Cathy in Scarborough, Kim in the South West of England and then a quick hop to Christina’s beautiful garden in Italy to warm up a bit!

Where have you been walking this week?