Rattling On...

Calke Abbey...

Yesterday we went to Calke Abbey. It was heaving it down with rain when we set off, very windy and 2^oC. The house is just over 50 miles away and it was a horrendous drive, the roads flooded and littered with bits of tree-some of them quite large. We carried on undaunted thinking it was bound to be better when we got there.

Wrong. Well, it was three degrees warmer but just as windy and rainy. They'd delayed opening the house, and the church and gardens were closed 'due to the weather'. So, don't expect any pictures of the outside of the house, for those you'll have to click on the link and look at some ones taken in lovely sunshine!

Here, then, is a picture tour of the stately home abandoned in the early 1920s and left since then exactly as it was (sort of, explanations to follow)...

You first enter the working part of the yard, with stables and smithy...

After the working yard you meander through a bit of woodland towards the front of the house. I imagine in fine weather it's lovely, there are bluebells and what I think were cowslips but we didn't hang around...

Now we get into the house. It was gloomy and bloody freezing, not much Downton Abbey going on here. This must have been what it was really like back in the day when electric lights and central heating were but fantasies, because there's little of either. The house really has been kept as it was when handed to the National Trust in the 80s. Everything was catalogued and photographed and put back where it was found. The decision was made to keep it as a little slice of time, a country house in decay.

However, it was a little unsound and was going rotten with damp. So some structural work was done, and rot eradicated. Ceilings had to be replaced and even the original cracks were replicated when the new ones were put back in! Wallpaper was taken down, cleaned to kill the damp, and rehung. Hover over pictures for a brief explanation-if there is one...

The house is stuffed with stuff, the family over the generations were avid collectors, to the point of it becoming a problem. The last in the line was obsessed with taxidermy and if he couldn't shoot it himself he bought it in. Not to my taste.

The paintwork is scuffed, the carpets worn, someone loved the colour red- it's all over the place. The girls liked it here, after seeing Mr Straw's House I thought I'd love it as well. But I was lukewarm. Maybe the appalling weather affected the viewing, on a sunny day it would all look different, but then it was raining when we went to Mr Straw's as well. It just didn't have such a human feel to it for me, though it's fascinating all the same.

As things have gone rusty, dusty and mouldy (albeit if it's been cleaned and 'fake' cobwebs put back...really!) so has the house lost some soul. It doesn't, on the whole, look like the family are out for the day and may return at any moment. It's more like a creepy film set. Left me a little depressed to tell the truth.

The restaurant is ok and the grounds look amazing, we'll go back to see those and the church when the weather plays ball. As we left, after first taking a worng turn and driving up to the front of the house (whoops, but the attendant just laughed) we had to go over a cattle grid. It was overflowing with rain water and could just have been a big hole for all we knew.

We listened to the Disney CD in the car and sang along to all our favourites. Supercalafragilistic, expialidocious....

Dare I mention the weather?

If we didn't have the weather to talk about I sometimes think the recalcitrant British would be lost for conversation. I dare not type the words I would use to describe the weather at the moment. Not because I can't think of any, but because I'm a laydee and will spare your blushes.

Suffice it to say it rains almost continually. Last April we had 13mm of precipitation. So far, and not including today, we have had 184mm.

Last April there were 186.74 sun hours...this month so far 70.73, with 0.51 yesterday. I like to look at the statistics on the weather station page. It confirms the rain as a reality and not just an urban myth.

The pond is full to the brim and actually almost overflowing in places, see above. One part of the lawn is a no-go area, the Bermuda Triangle of the garden, where the unwary are sucked into the grass and merged with the water table.

I know I shouldn't moan, I know other places are dry as a bone. I know all this, but it's horrible here. Unless, of course, you have a water fetish. I could tell you a story about that.

On the plus side, I was in the garden taking these photos when I noticed that I could actually smell the bluebells that are now starting to open. I've smelt them in bluebell woods, but never in the garden- unless I was kneeling down with my nose pressed into one.

The forget-me-nots are loving it, and the rhubarb too. Normally I'd be pondering rhubarb jam, but a good stodgy crumble seems more fitting at the moment!

Anyway, I've found a project to while away the dark hours. Something that may be very useful for getting to work...

Added at 10pm: Just back to say that today's recorded sunshine figure was.......... 0.00 hours with a top temperature of 6.9^oC. And yes, it has rained all day. Hoo-bloody-ray for Spring.

Bluebird...

When we visit National Trust properties we usually end up in the tea rooms but not the shop. Or at least we may look, but I've never bought anything before.

However, at Little Moreton Hall at the weekend I saw this tiny jug and couldn't resist. It's so vintage in appearance, a bit blurry, and reminds me of the things in this post. It's also available in their on-line shop.

I suppose it's a milk jug really, but from the moment I saw it I thought it would make a better vase. Besides, I have a few milk jugs already...

Monkey see, monkey do...

If you think you've see this cake before you wouldn't be wrong. Or at least you have seen a similar, better, one on Andamento's blog. It's there on the sidebar and I have admired it for a long time.

As it was No2's birthday yesterday I decided to shamelessly copy it. Such a lovely decoration idea. I went for a three layer jobbie with mucho chocco. One slice and it was Goodnight, Vienna. The girls loved it.

Very annoyed with Amazon, or maybe the Post Office, as half the presents still haven't arrived despite being scheduled for Saturday delivery. As there isn't a bookshop or anywhere that sells DVDs in town I rely on the internet. Funny how the junk mail keeps plopping onto the mat, that doesn't seem to get lost...

Reader participation...

The other day I mentioned the vintage bits and pieces I buy occasionally, Teddy now presents you with one such.

It's an oyster coloured silk satin little coat with tiny mother of pearl buttons. How proud someone must have been to show off their baby, in the coach built pram, sporting this little number. As it's buttoned left over right it appears to have been made for a boy.

The poor light yesterday doesn't do it justice at all in the photo, it's much prettier than it looks .Maybe I should just have said I was aiming for a vintage effect in the pictures and left it at that.

Teddy is wearing a rather nice vintage Viyella baby dress made of brushed cotton, like a comfy old nightie. I think my teddies will have to be hermaphrodites for the purposes of dressing, it'll depend on what things fit them and the season.

I have a friend  (a very no-nonsense Yorkshirewoman) who has two bears who go everywhere with her. They have outfits for every occasion and even went to her son's wedding in special clothes she made them which matched the whole theme. Very smart they were as well. If I remember rightly they have been to Vegas as well, and came back with cowboy boots.

After the last post about bears a couple of people sent me pictures of their own bears. So, in a while I shall be doing a feature on other people's childhood bears, with links back to their blog if they have one (doesn't matter if you don't). If you have a bear you'd like to feature then please do email me a photo. I shall obviously be getting my own bears ready for a photo shoot, although they have been on the blog before. I say my own bears meaning the ones I've had since I was a child.

No bear is too tatty or too strange to join in. In fact we embrace the unusual here. Please let me know if the bear has a name and anything else you think is pertinent. Pandas and other furry friends are included under the broad banner of Bears (I have a goat...). Style points may be awarded...

Little Moreton Hall...

On Sunday we went on our latest National Trust visit. This time to a building that's over 500 years old, and is the most crooked little house you ever did see. That's little in the relative sense, stately piles-wise. It is amazing and I wanted to share just some of it with you, so this post is long... but mainly pictures (hover over them for a brief description).

The house has a moat and is arranged round a little cobbled courtyard...

The windows are incredible, all leaded with tiny little panes. The long gallery runs along one side and is a tour de force, it is also a display of wealth.

The wood panelling and carving are beautiful, the walls ooze history, even the floors are interesting. Upstairs it looks like someone has used concrete (which is all cracked from the shifting of the house) but it's the original flooring made from compacted lime ...

The gardens are very attractive but not extensive..

 

And as I said, there's a moat around the house. Which in days of yore might not have been as attractive as it is today...

The garderobe (lavatory) is on the second floor, with an unglazed window, it juts out over the moat and the seat is suspended over fresh air. There's a bunch of lavender on the wall to hide smells and a bucket full of sheep's fleece bits to wipe your bum on. Tres eco. Don't suspect much hand-washing went on either.

The visitor toilets are somewhat less rudimentary and the Hall had the best eating facilities we've encountered so far at a National Trust house. The car park was free and there's a brand new shop and reception centre, very swish.

Elder daughter went on a school trip here when she was around 8 or 9. Since then she has wanted to live there. After yesterday's visit she wants to do so even more! (She'll be 20 next week)

Blackbird diaries...

This is the female blackbird who waits for food in the front garden every morning. She and her mate had been making a nest in the laurel hedge outside the back door, but all the snow the other week seems to have put them off, maybe the nest got knocked down.

Instead they have made another in the honeysuckle, where they built one the year before last.

They have been very inventive and added some dried hydrangea flowers which you can see in the above picture. As the nest is deep in the bush it's quite dark in there so the pictures are on the grainy side. Hopefully when the weather improves (please...) and there's some sunshine I should be able to get better views.

She can be seen in there occasionally giving it a test run...

I don't think I'll be able to get pictures of any eggs later on, as it's quite high up. But then I've said that before and still managed. As she is so used to me there's no danger of me frightening her away.

I love and hate this time of year in equal measure. I love watching what the birds are up to and hate all the worry when the chicks fledge. The jackdaws mobbed and killed a pigeon the other day. Next door's dog was trying to catch the spiralling feathers, snapping away at them.

There's also a nasty cat appeared. It tries to catch my mice in the back garden. I shoo it away. Pointless as that is.

Speaking of mice, I was driving to work the other morning and had to stop the car in the middle of the road as a tiny field mouse was just crossing. I wonder where he was off to?

This is the Mister of the pair, sitting on the front garden hedge, keeping an eye on his manor.

The new hobby...

Some years ago, it must be more than ten, I saw a small dark-brown teddy in the window of an antiques shop. I really wanted it, it called to me the way a certain thing sometimes does. For one reason and another I didn't buy it. It's one of those might have beens that have followed me around, that and a little mouse ornament I saw at a fair and would have meant spending the last tenner I had. Prudence reigned, but looking back I should have spent it...

When I was born my Across-the-road Aunty, at the request of my cousin, put his little teddy into the washer then hung him by his ears on the line to dry. My cousin then gave me his teddy which I kept until a few years ago. Following a lot of domestic issues my cousin found himself with three small children, two dogs, two cats and re-locating to be nearer family. It was at this point that he happened to mention that he had no toys from his own childhood to pass on to his children. Like a lot of men, he'd got rid of everything thinking he'd never need or want it again.

Obviously, I knitted the old bear a new jumper, spruced him up and gave him back. But I miss him, even though I was glad he was going back to his original owner.

All this is leading to me explaining my new hobby. Teddies, or the collecting of them. With a bit of a view to also possibly selling some, at some point when I've stopped just buying the ones that are calling to me...

Because, and I assume you knew this anyway, there are different styles of teddy peculiar to certain manufacturers. And I have a particular favourite, rooted in the love of Cousin's Teddy.

Thus I feel my Collection, should it ever be able to be glorified by that title, will probably consist of lots of teddies who look the same-like a family!

This little bear isn't quite in that category, though he almost is. the two pictures are supposed to be before and after. I'm not sure whether I took a crap first picture or rubbish second! The first shows him off better than he was and the second doesn't do justice to him.

He was rather grubby so I gave him a good wash. Very carefully, I may add. His hands and feet were mucky and now are much fresher. He looks perkier altogether, and smells really lovely.

I am going to be a sad git and make them some clothes, and dress them in vintage things I find, and have already found in the past but have had nothing to use them for. Sometimes I just can't pass a little frock or pram coat, I imagine how many people started their lives wearing it and wonder where it's been.

Like the teddies really. I just love the fact they have histories and have been around. I want to save them for future generations, so a bit of social history gets passed on. I like how they look sitting on my tapestry footstool. They are my friends.... no, of course I don't mean that bit!!

Anyway, I shall bore you from time to time with teddy bear tales. I would love to hear yours. Did you keep your old bear, did you never have one and wished you had? Am I becoming a sad old nutter....?

A rolling stone...

You know it's time to get a move on in the garden when the pots you left to be put away later have now got moss growing up them.

To be honest I love how it looks and am tempted to leave the whole lot right where it is. You'd pay a premium for patina like that in some shops...

The pots came from the bottom of the pond when we had it re-lined last year, Joe the pond-man said it wasn't necessary to have hidey holes in there and that broken pots could actually cause damage. I see his point and hope the frogs and newts are content to wallow in mud.

Anyway should you need to 'age' new plantpots, find a convenient pond and leave to marinate before moving to a shady spot in the garden. Where Nature will embellish...

It's just a number...

I happened to be passing through a classroom and spotted this on the board...

Not only are policemen getting younger, it seems teachers are as well. If you were thinking 60 was the new 40 then think again.

I remember when I was small, buying a birthday card for my Aunty at the Post Office in the village where we lived. The Postmaster said 'How old is your Aunty, then?' and I replied 'Oh, very old, she's 34 tomorrow.' I can also remember the smirk on his face very well, though I didn't understand it at the time.

But now...

Plenty easy cake...

I went round to a friend's house last week where a few of us girls were getting together for a natter and some lunch. This is the cake she'd made and it was so good I asked her for the recipe.

It's quick as well as tasty, always a good thing in my book. So, here's the low down...

140g of each of the following: ground almonds, butter, golden caster sugar, self raising flour. 2 eggs, a teaspoon of vanilla extract, 250g raspberries, flaked almonds to top.

All in the same bowl and mix. Put half the mixture into a lined 20cm cake tin (it's a thick mix so you'll have to force it to cover the tin), scatter on the raspberries (or maybe blueberries, blackcurrants-whatever's in season), cover with the rest of the mixture and scatter the flaked almonds on the top.

Into a 160^o(fan) , 180^o(normal) or Gas mark 4 pre-heated oven for roughly 50 minutes.

And there you have it.

Back to work...

Not the most exciting of photos perhaps, but just to show that the frogspawn survived the snow and the little tadpoles are hatching and milling around.

Back to work today, where has two weeks gone? How come holiday weeks and working weeks don't seem to occupy the same amount of time and space?

I admit that I've been busy and idle in equal measure. There are things I got done that I wanted done, and things left that I really would've liked to have got out of the way. But then I also did get something out of the way that I've been meaning to do for such a long time.

I started selling on Ebay.

I've been buying stuff for years, I even used to bid from Russia and have the booty delivered to my parents' house, but for some reason I never got round to opening a seller's account. Turns out it's very easy, getting your things ready is the time-consuming part. Photographing, weighing and pondering what you'll say in the listing. So much more civilised than car booting!!

And I upgraded my phone, not so much fun. All that faffing with transferring data and such malarkey. Thank goodness the bloke in the shop offered to do it all. Even after I got him to reduce my contract by £9 a month-with a free handset. I quite like a good haggle. Unless it's at a car boot sale...

Boris...

Boris has become a bit of a piscine celeb...

So many people contacted the management at the Pavilion Gardens that a special notice was put up...

(You can click on the picture to enlarge)

It would appear that a spot of skullduggery has been going on and someone has left poor old Boris in the indoor pond at the park. He attracts quite a crowd and the gardener is kept extra busy answering questions on fish keeping.

Up in the clouds...

I drove to John Lewis yesterday, it's an hour away and the journey is quite a pleasant one for most of the way.

You leave town on what is considered to be the most dangerous road in Britain, which is where I kept stopping to take these pictures. If you clicked on the link you'll see two others in the top ten lead to my hometown...

I suppose I'm just used to driving on them and know most of them very well, if you want to go anywhere you have no choice but to get used to them! On the whole it's motorcycles and young drivers who have the accidents.

A friend of mine was coming home on this road one day when the car in front of her went over the wall and down a steep hill. She stopped (no-one else did) and was very afraid of what she'd find.

As she got closer she could see a leg hanging out of the driver's window and she called out 'Are you ok?' There was a pause then came the reply. 'Thanks, love. I'm just on the phone to the police.'

I went on my special shopping trip to buy fabric which my Mother is going to whip up into some summer outfits for me. She very kindly volunteered (ahem) to copy something I already own. I can sew. But I wouldn't necessarily wear the finished product in public, though I used to quite happily in the past. I must look for the photos I know are lurking somewhere as proof...

You learn something every day...

On our trip out to Sudbury Hall the other day I noticed this tree in the front garden. It has balls, like those clackers that were banned in the 70s, hanging from the very top.

Never seen them before. Not the trees, the balls. It's a plane tree and these are the fruit.

They look for all the world like someone has thrown them up there and they've got tangled in the branches. Or like Christmas baubles. I wonder how far the seeds manage to get blown and how many local gardens have interlopers in them?

The tree was very tall and most impressive...