Hartwell House

Our daughters lead busy lives and time spent in their company is precious. This week our elder daughter caught the train out of London and I met her at Aylesbury station to enjoy an overnight stay at Hartwell House, a National Trust property run as a country house hotel. What a treat! Plenty of time for leisurely conversation in beautiful surroundings. If you are a fan of English country house style then this is the place for you!

We were shown to our room up this wonderfully crazy staircase.

You can see why I couldn't stop photographing it!

The figures were taken down and stored during the Second World War whilst the American army was in residence. A good job because some of the statues in the garden have holes in them, having been used for target practise!

we were shown into a lovely bedroom

and a polite notice in the bathroom told us not to allow water to soak on the floor as a rather precious ceiling was beneath us. We bathed with care!

Beautiful drapes at the window.

Although thunder rumbled we went to explore the grounds.

Rain overnight, but in the morning we woke to sunshine

and a wonderful view from the window

 tempted us out to explore some more.

Flaming June

June is 'flaming' and I love it! It's my favourite month in the garden, especially when the weather is as beautiful as today. The tomato plants are taking over the greenhouse and there's hardly room to sit.

It doesn't matter because we've pulled the garden furniture out of store so now we can sit and eat outside.

All the old favourites are putting on a show.

'Constance Spry'

and 'Gertrude Jekyll.'

Friends came on Sunday and brought this wonderful present,

an Edwardian stand to display my auricle collection.

(Well, some of them!)

Celebration

It doesn't take much of an excuse for our community to plan a get-to-gether. Yesterday a picnic was held to celebrate the queen's ninetieth birthday. Everyone dug out their picnic chairs and cutlery and brought a contribution of food to share.

A canopy had been set out in the vicarage garden.

A cake baked

and eaten!

Everyone had a lovely time.

(Goodness, what's happening? A bank holiday and now a picnic with NO RAIN!)

Skywatch Friday

It was impossible to post a skywatch photo last Friday, thunder rumbled and lightening flashed intermittently all about the house and we unplugged all our electrical equipment. No problems today  - even the sun is promising to shine! But it is cold and the threat of rain is never far away.
A shopping street in Bath has been decorated with umbrellas, very appropriate for this country. How pretty they look, I wasn't the only one taking photos. They look as though a good gust of wind might have them flying away.

It's rather Mary Poppins!

Happy Skywatch Friday everyone.

Gurt lush!

We returned home from the airport a week ago in the very early hours of the morning. We'd been away for ten days and during our absence the English countryside had blossomed in spectacular fashion.The car headlights lit roadside verges awash with cow parsley and overhanging hedgerows were a white-out of may blossom. Everywhere was lush and green. It looked like a Helen Allingham watercolour.

Helen Allingham 'The Cottage Gate.'
1884-1926

On holiday in Crete we had been told that their winter weather had been warm and dry, there were none of the beautiful wild flowers that we usually see in Greece at this time of year, the landscape looked barren.
But what a difference ten days away from home can make - I've been on catch-up in the garden ever since!

Holiday washing on the line.

The perennial borders jam packed

and starting to colour up.

After many months of rain there is more moss than grass on the lawn. We've put down lawn sand. Once the moss blackens we'll start the great rake-up!

The pond is pretty messy and I've had a bit of a go at cleaning it out. But there are lots of newts in there and they seem happy enough so I'm loathe to purchase any chemical cleaner.

It's good to get away but it's great to be back home, especially in May when everything is bursting into life!