The Turquoise Drawing Room at Castle Howard

One of my favourite rooms from our visit to Castle Howard back in the summer was the Turquoise Drawing Room - and it’s easy to see how it got its name, isn’t it?

It’s the type of room that makes use of a single pattern and colour.

Everywhere.

On the furniture, on the walls and at the windows.

It’s definitely bold, and better for it. As with many of these grand houses, the rooms are large and therefore need everything on a much larger scale than in our domestic settings.

And of course there’s the matter of showing off, or making sure your wealth isn’t hidden. And the turquoise here is set off against the gilded furniture and picture frames, which I think gives it an extra pop.

The window dressing though had me remembering festoon blinds from the eighties, which of course, just goes to show that even interior trends come around time and again.

I’m a fan of it in this setting, I’m not sure it’s a colour I could live with in my own home though, what do you think?

A lacy leaf

While I was distracting myself when the back breaking work of picking up leaves was taking place last weekend, I discovered the most intricate of lacy leaves in the agapanthus. Clearly it’d been there a while, and the leaf tidy up that had happened previously, clearly hadn’t been so thorough, but once it was found and managed not to disintegrate in my gardening gloved hands, it made sense to loiter just a bit more and take its picture.

Worth it wasn’t it?

…And I was hardly even missed!

Liking the Lichen

I know, I know. I’ve said that here before, but it’s a phrase that still makes me smile. Every. Single. Time.

I’m still fascinated by the lichen, and there was plenty of it at RHS Rosemoor. So that’s another reason we’ll be heading back there again. I also learnt more from the lichen covered bench, or more precisely the sign placed next to it.

The lichens on this bench were deliberately allowed to remain, and it seems I wasn’t wrong when I said there was plenty of lichen there. During a lichen survey undertaken at Rosemoor in 2005, they found a number of rare species around the garden. I’d like to claim I knew this intuitively, but I didn’t, I just liked looking at the lichen, and then I learnt more from the sign when I edited the photos. Maybe I should make more of an effort to read more of the signs at the time, or knowing me I probably won’t, I’ll just smile like a goon at the lichen…

Now onto what I learnt, from the sign.

“Lichens consist of microscopic algal cells, which photosynthesise. The fungal threads absorb moisture and provide the framework for the fungi to grow.”

So not only can I do the liking the lichen line again, I could also roll out the funghi being a fun guy quip too, but of course I won’t. Gah!

But the bench wasn’t the only place I spotted lichen. The kitchen garden also proved to be fruitful, and I was beginning to suspect it might be when I spotted these on the gate.

And then more on the fruit trees.

These really do look more wavy and individual than those on the bench. Perhaps it’s the stems, but there’s a real 3D feel to these.

So, as is becoming customary, the only question I can ask on this post is do you liken the lichen too?!