A posh lunch out

Last Saturday MOH and I got our glad rags on and headed out for a posh lunch, we even put proper shoes on. Mine weren’t quite the heels I once would have worn out, but small steps and all that. As it turned out, it was a good test for the wedding we’re off to later this month, so that’s all good.

Lunch was at Gravetye Manor in West Sussex, and yes, we were back - it’s been a while, but it remains one of our favourite places. It’s not somewhere we go often and is definitely in the treat category, which makes it all the more enjoyable. The attention to detail is phenomenal, and nothing is overlooked. This small table decoration in the lounge is a great example of that - a yellow tulip, and leaves and flowers from a strawberry plant shows how simple can also be effective.

The menu cover picks up the detail of the image panels on the walls around the restaurant, and the view over the garden is absolutely stunning.

And the food. Well, I even managed to remember to take pictures before I started to eat. This was my starter of asparagus, it looks a picture and the taste was sublime. I followed this with hogget and wild garlic and finished with the intriguing fennel, honey and lime - which was nothing like you’d expect, or I’d be able to recreate. All of it was absolutely delicious, and it was great to see more dishes around the table as between our table we managed a good selection from the menu for each course.

The yellow tulips, along with gorse and the purple-blue irises formed another stylish but not dominating table centre.

As it was such a glorious day we opted to have coffee in the garden, which was full of spring flowers - and clearly is well looked after.

There’s plenty of grounds to explore, but after a good lunch and in our finery, a walk to the walled kitchen garden was all we were up for. But even so, the route there was calming and enticing. It was slightly further than I remembered, and previously I’d done this in heels, but we got to the iron gate and let ourselves in.

It’s another huge space, and needs to be as the produce from the garden is used in the kitchen - but what a space.

We headed back towards the restaurant taking a different route, one stepped and easier to navigate, but definitely no less colourful only to be greeted back at the stone porch by the cheeriest pots of fully in bloom tulips. They definitely make your heart sing, don’t they?

Throughout the public spaces there were large arrangements of flowers, all of which we’d seen growing in the gardens. We stopped for a picture making use of one of the large mirrors, and we just about snuck in alongside one of the large displays - so here’s us wearing flowers, in amongst the flowers.

We might not be back for a while, but I’m pretty certain we’ll be back at some point.

Evolve

I thought that sharing my word of the year in April last year was a one off. It seems not. But even more than that it seems that 28 April is becoming my day for it - exactly one year ago I wrote a post about Irony and priorities, and here I am one year later still living by that.

Partly the delay this year was planned and circumstance, and you’ll understand why as you read on. Another part is focus elsewhere - work, house and more - but anyway, here we are again. The plan for this year was to evolve, and explore where next. Things have potentially changed somewhat since the start of the year, but it will still be a year to evolve and grow.

And before I explain more, how calming is that picture? It’s part of a mindful colouring book and is a trailing vine, which of course would always be completed using pinks, oranges and yellows…

Anyway, evolve.

Yes - my plan for this year was to slowly evolve and learn what I wanted to do. Towards the end of last year we took a major life decision and decided that it was time that we would - and were fortunate enough to be able to - stop working, taking the (very) early break from work (aka retirement) that we’d planned and hoped for, but weren’t really sure would happen quite as planned. So with a three month notice period, much earlier in the year I handed in my notice (electronically) at work. I finish working full time in a week or so, and that’s both scary and exciting.

Our plan was always to spend some time living and enjoying life in London. But like many people the pandemic has brought a rethink, and you’ll already know that our house is on the market, following our offer on a property in Leicestershire being accepted. There is still a very long way to go, especially as I firmly believe the house purchasing system in the UK is broken, so I’m trying not to mentally move in, just yet. It’s hard though!

MOH is also planning to finish work this year, though he’s contracting so there is more flexibility there - I needed to plan it more, and I wanted to give my organisation notice, as that seemed fair. It’s a decision that as I said before has taken a while to get to, and is often met with incredulity - we’re not old enough surely? (we are) and then admiration. We know we’re fortunate - I’m clear it’s not luck that has got us here, it’s good fortune - and we know not everyone will be able to do the same.

My short term plan is to take some time to relax and refocus, and evolve how I spend my time. Though our May will be busy with my brother’s Covid-affected wedding finally planned to take place (third time lucky and all that), a holiday in Northumberland added on to the end of that, so I think it won’t be until June that I’ll really have time to start working it all out.

I know that I do want to spend more time on all those crafts I should have been doing during the pandemic. I’ve plenty of half-started projects, and plenty more that I want to start. I’ve some gardening plans which include finishing the area in front of our pizza oven, and definitely plans to eat more home made pizzas! And of course if we do manage to move then that will take up some time - let alone clearing out what we no longer need, some of which has already been earmarked for those auction sites, and I’m sure there will be much more besides.

So, exciting but also scary times, but bring it on.

My garden in March

I am so pleased that last year organised me bought and planted up some pots of bulbs. As this month we’re starting to see them emerge and I’m hopeful that we will soon have tulips to enjoy. I was hoping the local squirrel population wouldn’t disturb my good intentions and had inserted some sticks into each pot to deter them - whether it did or not, I’ve no idea, but the bulbs are growing and it’s good to see.

As well as plenty of signs of new life throughout the garden, March is also one of those months where there’s also reminders of the jobs to tackle. Alongside our patio the jasmine and the trellis have ‘captured’ several falling leaves and so, we’ll remove those and other leaves which over the winter have provided our plants with some protection. The spots of pink you can see are fallen petals from next door’s camellia and bring a welcome burst of colour, albeit faded in the early part of the month.

And not all new growth, is the growth we want - we’ve also plenty of weeds making themselves known. Thankfully though these are easy to remove and are disposed of in our council green bin rather than our own compost bins. But even so, they are making the most of the early spring sun.

One sure sign that spring is on its way is when our ornamental quince starts to flower, it’s often the first colour in the garden - here you can see its orange flowers, with a few of the yellow carreira flowers, which originally popped over from next door but have stayed.

From our kitchen table we’d been able to spot the palest of daffodils as they bobbed about in the sun and the wind. They’re pretty resilient and have lasted a fair while, and I don’t know about you but daffodils are one of the most cheeriest plants I know, whatever the variety. Many years ago we planted hundreds of bulbs and years later they are still rewarding us - at the time I questioned the number of bulbs we bought, but today’s me is ever grateful!

The other thing about spring is spring cleaning, and our shed was long overdue a sort out. So with the forecast of a dry and sunny spring day, that became our task for the weekend. As it turned out, we’re getting so much better at sorting and tidying that it took us just a few hours and while we still managed to dispose of some of our accumulated junk (technical term there!) most of it went back in, and in a much more ordered and hopefully findable way.

Though I live under no illusion that this will need doing again in a few months time! But at least for now, it’s tidy and MOH can find the things he wants, and there’s somewhere to store our bikes which also makes our conservatory a much nicer space.

So, what’s happening in your garden this month?