Whoops, tulips!

Relatively recently I remembered I'd bought some tulips. And quite quickly after that I remembered I hadn't planted them yet, and I was kind of late doing that. But in that moment, the thing I couldn't remember is where they were. 

Hmmnn.

This in itself was more troubling than not remembering to have planted the bulbs in the first place. I was pretty sure they would be ok, maybe sprouting a bit, not too much if I was lucky. I hoped that they were the same as seeds, in that they're programmed to grow, so will try their best for you, well, as long as you eventually give them some help. Help like soil, and water, that kind of thing.

My brain is one of those brains that usually knows where things are, even down to the exact location. For example I'll send MOH to get something from the spare freezer, he'll be rummaging (as usual) and I'll helpfully suggest, top shelf on the right, or wherever it is he's looking for, to much amazement from him (and sometimes me too). 

So it's a bit disconcerting when my brain can't retrieve that kind of information. Usually it'll pop back in at some point, so I leave it a while before starting The Search. 

And sure enough, after a little while of mulling, a day or so later, it came to me. There were in the conservatory, with my seeds. And when I checked, so they were. Thankfully they weren't sprouted so much that they'd grown through the bag either. Phew. 

I resolved to plant them as soon as I could, but that was easier said than done with a weekend in Norfolk planned and then another busy weekend with a long to do list, and one where the tulips didn't make it to the top of the list. But finally this weekend I planted them, and it was lovely to be out in the garden again. 

There was some maths involved too, I had ten of each of the following tulips:

• Weisse Berliner: a white flower, with up to four flowers per stem
• Flaming Flag: a white flower with purple streaks, almost like a raspberry ripple ice cream (but different colours!)
• Menton: a pale coral pink tulip
• Queen of the Night: the infamous black tulip.

And I had either three or five pots to plant them in. Neither was easy for the maths. As I'd also found 55 alliums, I split the 40 tulips between three pots, and the alliums between the remaining two.

And I'm hoping they'll grow. I figured the fact that some of them are sprouting already is a good sign, they're obviously going to be late flowering, I won't be having tulips in April I'm sure. But I hope they'll manage something at some point this year, if not there's always next year.

Normally I'd plant some pansies or something that was already flowering to make the pots look a bit prettier, but not this time. It all feels very disorganised, most likely because it is, but I thought it waa about time these tulips were planted. They're a good four months later than they should be.

As I said before, whoops, tulips!

Behind the Orangery at Blickling

I've already shared some of my pictures from Blickling, especially of the Hellebores and Hydrangeas from behind the Orangery. But there's one shot I haven't shared yet, and I think it's a bit of a special one. To me it looks as if it could be a painting, rather than a photo and it has a wistful feel to it. 

What do you think?

The painting feel is I think because of the green rising at the bottom of the photo. In reality the green is probably not very romantic at all and caused by the damp weather and soil against the wall, but in the photo it takes on an entirely different role emulating the fields which surround Blickling, with the hydrangeas almost taking on tree-shaped forms in the make-believe landscape.

Or maybe that's just me?

Either way, I was pleased to discover this shot as I looked through my photos. Not bad for an iPhone!

A treasure trove of crockery

On a recent visit to Norfolk dad told me about a place he thought I'd like, but would say no more. On Sunday morning instead of pottering around the garden we got in the car and headed down to Snettisham, a few miles along the A149. We stopped at an old industrial building which I knew previously used to be a carpet shop, and had then turned into a cafe and I was intrigued.

Even more so as we headed to the cafe, and hoping for a large iced bun, my hopes were high. There wasn't an iced bun, and instead of going into the cafe we headed upstairs and into a space full of curiosities and no doubt lots of families own histories.

The place was full of bays of all manner of items, big and small, but what stood out for me was the amount of crockery and kitchenware they had. Today I'm sharing some of those photos, most of the items are what would be classed as mid-century modern and I'm sure it's the kind of place where new stock is arriving all the time, so for me it's definitely a place to keep an eye on.

I was amazed by how many different sets they had, as well as how many different designs. The jewelled coloured cups, and black saucers, caught my eye, but I wasn't sure about the circular patterns on the side plates. Black featured quite a lot I discovered, in roses too.

It was absolutely the type of place to be inspired, and somewhere I'll be heading back to when I hope next time I'll be less overwhelmed and more prepared, and perhaps pop in with something in mind. I mean, this colander, apart from being used in the normal way would be ripe for an upcycling project, wouldn't it?

And then I saw these mixing bowls and almost squealed. They just remind me of cooking at school and were just as heavy as I remembered.

Next I discovered a dinner service whose simplicity appealed to me. I spent a bit of time trying to consider and convince myself that the serving dishes would match our Greenwich Denby set and would be perfectly fine to buy as some extra crockery for those dishwasher-is-full-there's-no-plates-left kind of days.

But I failed at the time and looking at them again I think they might, well apart from the mustardy coloured lids (the same colour as the saucers above), but now I've given it more thought they'd tone with the chairs wouldn't they?  

So I think I've convinced myself and might well be leaving with them if they're still there on my next visit - thanks for your help, that's much appreciated.

Next up was a tray of old cutlery, which is always an interest, and I'm always on the lookout for old teaspoons and cake forks. Because that's normal, right? Well, ok maybe not, but I've got this idea that if I collect pretty vintage tea sets then at some point I can hire them out, but for that I'll need teaspoons, cake forks, tea strainers and cake stands too. It makes perfect sense now doesn't it...

This next set reminded me of an aunt and uncle, who I'm sure had their front room decorated in very similar colours. All blues and purples and all very seventies, and perfectly normal at the time. Unless, like us, you went for the brown, orange and yellow colour scheme instead.

Ah, yes, more serving dishes. I've clearly a need for more in my life. These have a more natural look to them, and definitely won't match in the same way the ones earlier will, but I quite liked the tulip design. 

I'd clearly found the more sedate end of the display as these were up next and I think have a timeless quality to them and would easily slip into everyday use.  Although with just one side plate to the four bowls and four dinner plates I feel it's a little unbalanced.

But moving onto some more classics, bone handled cutlery. I loved these, just look at the detail on the blades of the fish knives, and the presentation box. Definitely swoon-worthy, and *almost* enough for be to be less fish-phobic, but not quite. Now if they'd have been teaspoons and cake forks, it would have been a different story!

And to finish, a design that I was very taken with. At first glance I saw Christmas trees, I think it's the shape, but looking closer it's clearly not Christmas-related at all, and is the type of design I could stare at for ages trying to work out where it was and imagining all the times we've sat on the side of a river and watched the world go by.

As I said before, definitely somewhere I'm going back to. I've been back once already so far, to show MOH something completely different, a wooden chest that I've got my eye on for our spare bedroom. Before we got to Norfolk again I'll be measuring the space I have in mind for it and trying much harder to bargain with them, as by then if it's still there they'll have had it a while. And if it's gone, I'm sure there'll be something equally lovely to consider instead.

If you're near Snettisham on the A149, stop off at The Granary and prepare to be amazed.  But don't buy a wooden chest, or I'll be after you!