Lunch out

Our daughters were home for a few days and we walked up the road for lunch. It's aways interesting to see what arrives on the plate because the hotel has a 25 mile food policy with much of the produce coming from their well-stocked vegetable garden. A meal is always followed up with a wander around to see what is growing.

All well labeled.

The food is garnished with flowers and/or herbs giving great plate appeal and the plates themselves are a mishmash of old styles, this beetroot puree looking good against the blue.

A few marigold petals sprinkled on the dessert.

In the greenhouse 

squash and pumpkin stored under the workbench

and a record of what has been picked.

    Other temptations in the drawing room where we sat to have coffee.

Note to self: make more use of petals.

Visible Monday - mid season jacket

Such a strange light this morning, a pinkish-yellow glow. And up in the sky the sun was looking quite peculiar!

I learnt on the evening news that the reason for this was that Storm Ophelia had dragged up red sand from the Sahara. Rather freaky weather, the wind was whipping everything about yet the temperature was warm. 

Last week I was given the present of cotton indigo-dyed jacket, made in Japan. It is blissfully comfy, like wearing a dressing gown, perfect to wear outside in this mid season and inside in the winter.

It's a simple and very traditional-looking design,  like a piece of peasant clothing, (just the thing for me!) sold by Toast. I think it will look as good dressed up with skirt and heels as it does in battered old jeans. The colour will fade over time. The wind has conveniently blown open a corner of the jacket so that you can see the simple cotton lining. 

Joining with Patti who hosts Visible Monday.

My hair was whipping about all over the place but the topiary pheasant's tail was firmly in place - Himself has tied it down so that it will grow into a better shape.

By the afternoon things were looking more normal.

The pear branches had been staked

but I still had a busy time picking up windfalls.

Cambridge, Degas exhibition.

Last Saturday, on a rather dank autumnal day, we went to Cambridge to see the Degas exhibition at the Fitzwilliam Museum. 

But first we walked to Christ's College to look at the gardens.

A good display of window boxes in First Court

and interesting gateways to walk through,

or not!

More gateways elsewhere in town.

Not everywhere open to view.

Our gown buying days are long gone!

And reflections in the glass have spoilt your view of this glorious attire!

I'm always on the hunt for a really zingy-coloured shirt for Himself. But no luck here.

We walked through the market to the museum.

Some rather foggy images taken from a short film of Degas walking along a street in Paris.

It's a very comprehensive show, full of interesting detail, with so much to absorb that we did it in two halves with a break for lunch in the middle.

Apart from the expected images of dancers, horses, portraits and the like, there were some surprises. This lovely landscape I would not have recognised as a Degas. It was hung between a Corot and a Thomas Jones and it was this sort of intelligent hanging, and the accompanying text, that made it such a fascinating show. 

Such interesting details, this X-ray of the figurine of a dancer showing the shop-bought armature that Degas had purchased and adapted for his particular use.

We left Cambridge as the rain began to fall

but they were still punting on the river!