Love this #85 Superlambananas

Now, before our weekend in Liverpool Superlambananas wasn’t even in my vocabulary. I mean, it’s not a usual kind of word, is it? But it’s a fun one to say (it’s said as you think it would be) and add a Scouse accent to that and it’s an absolutely fantastic word, especially when said with a straight face.

But anyway, these were all over the city and were part of the city’s celebration when Liverpool was the European Capital of Culture in 2008. They are, as you’d imagine, a cross between a lamb and a banana and the largest of them stands at 5.2 metres tall, and was designed by New York City-based Japanese artist Taro Chiezo.

We saw the giant yellow Superlambanana while on the open topped bus ride to Anfield. The city are proud of these sculptures and rightly so, and like so many of these sculpture trails they bring a fun element to the area with their designs and requirement to be photographed, and as you can see from the rest of this post, I joined that club too.

THE LARGEST - BICYCLE LEFT IN FOR SCALE

OUR FIRST: ECHO AND THE BUNNYMEN SUPERLAMBANANA

THE FIRST OF THE FOUR SUPERLAMBANANAS OUTSIDE THE MUSEUM OF LIVERPOOL

What do you think, are you a Superlambanana fan - or convert? And have you followed the trail?

The parterre at Helmingham Hall

We’re getting about a bit this week with the posts I’m sharing, so in between quick visits to Lisbon on Tuesday and Italy tomorrow, today we’re somewhere a little closer to home and have landed in Suffolk. In the parterre at Helmingham Hall to be precise. It’s a great garden to visit, another independent garden where you’re never quite sure what you’re going to find.

We visited during our Suffolk break, and I was surprised to see I’ve only shared a single post from our visit so far, and if you’re a fan of knot gardens, then this is worth a visit if you’re in the area. I originally planned to share photos from the Potager, but somehow my fingers had other ideas, but who am I to argue?

While first off this garden might look very traditional, and its choice of plants - box hedging and santolina, it’s not quite as traditional as you’d expect. It’s in good company as that’s the combination used in the formal gardens of Chenonceau too, though the santolina (the light coloured plant) was more densely planted in Suffolk, which brought a bolder ‘stripe’ to the parterre.

The other less traditional thing, but gorgeously so, are these pink cosmos which on our visit were used in the central bed.

From a distance, I assumed they were roses, so it was quite a discovery when I got close enough. While I’m converting to roses, i think because these weren’t roses, it was even more of an exciting discovery. It’s quirks like this, or the plant you don’t expect to see that makes a garden a garden and not a forumaic reproduction of what we know works.

It’s a great space, calming and viewable from the house across the moat - which if I’ve not mentioned before is pretty and fascinating, though sadly not open, but I mean, it has a moat. And surely that means you can imagine anything you like about the place and the reality would never match up to it.

The other thing this garden has, which appeals to me, is those gates which lead to the Potager. So soon, I’ll share more of what’s behind them as I’m rather partial to those too, as i discovered at Cheverny.

Overlooking the rooftops in Lisbon

I’ve finally made a start at editing my photos from our trip to Portugal at the start of June. I know, it’s taken me a while, but with so many photos I haven’t really known where to start. Eventually I worked out that the best thing to do was actually start, and so I have. And I’ve been quite traditional about it and I’m sharing some shots of the first place we stayed in Lisbon. Actually we only stayed in one place in Lisbon, but it was the first place on our trip.

I’m much more partial to an apartment than to a hotel. It gives us the flexibility to eat what and when we want, and even if we want - sometimes our days feel like they’re punctuated by food, and quite often it’s hard work fitting in three meals. Then on other days, it’s no problem at all! Anyway, once again i’d found a great looking apartment in Portugal, and I was later to recall the great lights in our Porto apartment - hold onto that thought, we’ll come onto the lights.

But first the view. I’d specifically chosen this apartment over another for its garden. As it turned out, while it was nice to look down on we never actually stepped inside it, despite its inviting shade in the mid-thirties heat.

The pastel buildings in the street behind us proved to be a good foil for the garden’s lushness, the blue of the sky and the terracotta tiles. And it was a view I was quite enthralled by, so seeing it from ground level and without air conditioning didn’t seem quite so important.

The bedroom had a juliet balcony, and if we didn’t have the air conditioning on (it’s nice, but it gets on your nerves doesn’t it?) the door was often ajar, but even so it framed the view nicely.

I could take many pictures of roof tops and their tiles, and I probably have taken countless similar shots over the years, but I’ll never tire of them. But I wanted to share more than the view outside, as the furnishings inside are also worth seeing. In the small dining area, the copper light and tubular chairs added a certain panache to our first impressions of the space.

The red lacquered wall hanging in the bedroom was a great way to add some interest, colour and design to a quite plain space (excluding the view, obviously!) It was the sort of piece that your eye could just wander over and explore, without ever finding the reason why, or losing interest.

Throughout the apartment red was used to add colour, and it’s here that we start to get onto the lights. Clearly the Portuguese have a thing for great lights, or I just have a knack of choosing apartments with great lights. I’ve a feeling it’s probably the former, I mean, just look at these bedside lamps.

Simple, modern and effective. And easy to replicate.

In the living space we were spoilt with a couple of free-standing lamps. This silver coloured ‘branch’ light and the giant anglepoise lamp, which I totally fell in love with. I’d seen them before in magazines and online, but didn’t really get them, or the need for the size. Now though, I’m sold.

It’s a design classic - whichever size you go for - and it’s an easy and effective way of adding light, and style, to the right space. Overall, as I said before, the Portuguese have great lights…