A week in the North East

Well, where to start?

As you may have guessed from the title of this post we’ve been to the North East. It started in Yorkshire for a family wedding, one that was on its third date - thanks Covid. But this time it happened and it was great. The journey there took us a little longer than we expected, and it did for quite a few guests, but that was pretty much forgotten once we saw the view looking over Robin Hood’s Bay from our hotel room.

The hat bought in 2020, only slightly just before the pandemic, finally got its outing - though it was pretty windy outside so I mostly held it, or held it on my head, just in case. My dress had cape sleeves, and luckily they were attached, but during my reading I’m sure they were making a bid for freedom.

I told you it was a stunning view.

OVERLOOKING ROBIN HOOD’S BAY

Northumberlandia: The Lady of North

Once we’d caught up with family, friends and the newly weds over breakfast and said our goodbyes, we had an overnight stop close to Morpeth. We didn’t have much planned and it wasn’t until the next morning we realised we were staying right next to this large land sculpture. It’s the largest in the world - and in our defence it wasn’t visible from where we were staying!

It’s really quite enticing and shows a reclining female, with viewing points and paths around and up and down the sculpture. I’ll share more on this in another post, but it really was quite a lovely thing to find and to explore, and if you’re close by it’s worth a stop.

Cragside

Our plans for the day, before checking into our accommodation for the week, was to head up to the National Trust’s Cragside - billed as Britain’s original smart home, being illuminated with hydro-electricity and powered by hydraulics. It was fascinating, and beautiful too - and lots to see, and share!

After learning more about how the hydro-electricity system powered the house we headed through the woodlands and approached the house over the iron bridge and up through the rock garden, which made for quite the entrance - a more usual route is also available! Inside the house there was so much to see, so much that I’ve struggled to choose the photos to share with you in this post.

The kitchens are, for the time, high-tech but there’s also the traditional butler’s tray and so many copper moulds, and some so, so tiny!

In the dining room they had what looked to be a very patriotic table, but one which extends to sit many more than you’d think. Out in the hallway, and an entrance hall that was added later on are arts and crafts style tiles, which wouldn’t look out of place in a modern day home.

And still there was more to explore, and so we headed off towards the formal garden with its Edwardian glasshouses which are currently being repaired. There were some surprises in this part of the property too, but I’ll save that for a fuller post.

The Treehouse, Beacon Hill Farm

Cragside was slightly north of where we were staying for the rest of the week, so after a stop for tea and cake we were able to jump back in the car just as the rain started. By the time we arrived at Beacon Hill Farm after a quick shop for supplies the rain had stopped, which made unloading the car into the golf buggy a lot easier task. It was great to get a lift down to the Treehouse, but it actually wasn’t that far we discovered quite quickly!

The treehouse was stunning, and just as we expected it to look. It was much warmer inside, which was a pleasant discovery and useful throughout the week where the weather had everything: wind, rain, hailstorm and even some sun. While we got out and about, we did spend quite a bit of time mesmerised by the views and on cow-watch.

Alnwick Castle

I was keen to get to at least one castle on our trip, and we did. And if you’re going to chose a castle then why not Hogwarts? And so that’s where we went. It turned out to be the only castle on our trip, but I’m sure we’ll be back to this part of the world to visit some of the others - there are many!

Alnwick Garden had been on my list to visit too, and even though they’re next door to each other, each was charging its own entry fee - and both were pretty steep, but I couldn’t help but try and sneak a look at the gardens as we walked past. In fact of all the places we visited on this trip Alnwick, while great, is the place I have the most criticism for. The double entry fee which I’ve already mentioned, without even a discount for visiting both felt a little too one-sided and grabby. I know these places must cost a small fortune to upkeep, and the past few years have been tough, but even so.

In the Castle pictures weren’t allowed in the State Rooms, but you could buy a guide book for £5 and throughout the rooms there were banners promoting their new book. I’m pretty sure that the pictures I’d want to take wouldn’t be in the guide book, so it’s a shame not to be able to have taken any.

The gates though, on part of the garden boundary, were pretty spectacular.

Barter Books, Alnwick

Now this wasn’t on my list before we arrived in the North East, but it is one of the Alnwick attractions and I’m glad we went. The bookshop is in the former train station and has pretty much every genre of book you could ever want. And there’s model trains running overhead, and much more. Definitely visit here if you’re in Alnwick.

Wallington

My photos might show bright sunshine, but we arrived in a torrential shower. One so heavy that I was surprised that the National Trust man came out of his hut to share information and zap our membership cards - we were happy to have waited, we waited before we got out of the car in any case, and were grateful that our walking boots remained in the car.

You wouldn’t believe how quickly the weather changed, and how quickly it started to dry out - by the time we reached the Walled Garden, having decided to head there first in case the rain came again, the sun was out and the warmth was so welcome.

The walled gardens were spectacular, with many more plants than you’d expect from the shot above. I’ll definitely be sharing some more from the gardens so look out for those. Back in the house the dining room was set for an afternoon tea party for the upcoming jubilee, which made me smile.

It was a lovely house, with the rooms set around a central hall and the decor was simply stunning. The ceiling in the Drawing Room took my breath away, MOH was rather taken with the library and I’ve a feeling he’s keen to have one in our new house!

The painted panels in the central hall were also stunning, and there were at least twelve panels each one different.

After seven nights away we spent Friday travelling back south, knowing that we’ll be back to explore the North East at some point again. There’s so much to see, and our four nights there meant we only scratched the surface. If you’ve been to Northumberland where would you recommend?

Leaving flowers and a crocheted throw

For the past few weeks the house has been full of flowers and it’s been lovely. I’ve appreciated their bright colours and the scent and the thoughtfulness from my former colleagues. They were beginning to go past their best, as cut flowers do, but it was good to have them at their best for a good two weeks before we came away. It struck me as I was removing some of the blooms that hadn’t lasted quite so well that the colours were very similar to the crocheted blanket I was close to finishing. And so that became my challenge - to finish, or almost finish - the throw before the flowers completely went.

My aim was to photograph them together. And I did.

The crocheted throw is in the very loosest terms ‘finished’. It’s finished in that I’ve used up all of the Yarn Advent box from last December, and the two additional skeins that I’d bought to offer some consistency through the project. I knew this was always going to be a colourful blanket, and I wasn’t wrong was I?!

But what I didn’t know at the time -and couldn’t have known as the Yarn Advent is 24 individual small skeins where the colour is a surprise - is how well they would match my leaving flowers, but they do, don’t they?

So this blanket will now forever be known as my leaving flowers throw, and nothing could make me happier.

I’ve still to completely finish the throw by sewing in the ends, and I may add a couple more rows to enlarge it a little - though I’ll need to keep the colours bright, but I’ve a feeling that will be easy enough. And what a great unplanned memory to have of my leaving my job flowers.

My garden in April

This month the garden has really come back to life, and that’s meant there’s been plenty for us to do and to admire too. I’ve been raving about my tulips throughout the month, and thanking organised me for getting them sorted in the autumn. And because I’ve been raving about them so much - rightly because they’ve been brilliant - I’ll be sharing them in all their glory in a separate post. So it’s safe, this is a tulip-free zone.

While the predominant colour in our garden remains green, this month we’ve been through the full spectrum of colours from the blues, whites and pale pinks of the bluebells, to the yellow of the forsythia and kerria and the gorgeous reds and pinks of the hellebore, acer and more recently the weigela - which as you can see is just getting set to burst into flower.

The deepest red of the hellebore was also very welcome - we have dusky pink varieties at the back of our garden, which do a really good job of self-seeding and keeping themselves going (long may that continue). This one was one we brought back from my MIL’s garden, and so it was great to see it flourish and flower in its new spot, and for it to reward us with such beauty.

We continued to tackle jobs around the garden, with the greenhouse getting a light tidy to match that of the shed last month. And like the shed I’m sure it’ll fill up again real soon!

The berries on the fatsia were - and are still going strong - they’ve since darkened and reduced, no doubt the local bird population making good use of them. The zingy lime green euphorbias brought a welcome zing of colour, which was set off really well against the rusting black iron pot behind them.

Elsewhere in the garden, the yellow pom pom plant which has moved in from next door was full of blooms and at the back of the garden the cherry tree had its blossom on show too - that seemed early, but I’m not sure it is, it’s just that the weather hasn’t been where it would usually be up until now. There were some lovely days this month, but very little rain and most days were a tad overcast.

But nature is intent and consistent in doing its thing. I think every year I’m amazed by this and how nature just knows. The ferns too are fascinating to observe as they unfurl (though not in real time), and it’s especially good when my iPhone picks up the furriness of their stems.

MOH has spent many hours on his knees this month, chip, chip, chipping out the old grout before regrouting the patio and fixing the slab that wobbled a bit as you walked across it. It looks great and I know he’s pleased with it too - and it should last for a good few years yet.

We have watched our neighbour’s camellia bushes flower and fade, we know ours is always late to the party - but April is pretty late, especially considering it looks as if the four plants in adjacent gardens are very similar. One (not ours obviously) has the audacity to flower at Christmas some years, and yet here we are waiting for ours - but when it does, it’s definitely worth the wait.

Another of my favourites is our peonies, and while they flower they flop a lot and the ants take over. I was keen to avoid that this year, as once this happens I’m less keen on bringing them into the house, and so I had a plan. It seems that I’ve lost a plant over winter, which is a shame but the remaining two were doing well and were already quite tall. I thought I might have missed my chance, but decided to go ahead anyway. And so, my two remaining peonies are now in pots and staked, staked much earlier than before - and easier to achieve too thanks to the pots. I’ve been very lucky as they have both continued to grow with no obvious ill effects from moving at such a late stage, whether or not I get any flowers this year (and whether or not they’ll stay upright for longer) remains to be seen, but hopefully I’m in with a chance.

We’ve had one more new addition to our garden this month, and that’s this lovely acer. It’s another plant that MOH has brought back from his family home, and one that needed a bit of ‘surgery’ so that it would fit in the car along with everything else. This was trickier than it should have been as the majority of garden tools had already been moved or given away, but I found some old secateurs that were just about up to the job. I also had to put it into a temporary smaller pot for the journey, so while we were hopeful it would survive, we knew we were taking a chance.

It’s thrived. And I’m so happy. It lasted in its temporary pot for a short while, and then has moved to a much larger, more permanent pot. Strangely one that for the past year or so hasn’t really had much of a purpose - but now it does. The acer is sitting proudly on our patio, which means it gets some sun for part of the day, and it’s doing really well.

Phew. Nature really isn wonderful isn’t it?