A jam packed week off

I said last week was a quiet week on my blog as we were away, well this week has been quiet too and we’ve been back at work. I’ll admit to enjoying time away from my laptop in my week off and so while this week I’ve been back on the laptop during the day, I’ve stayed away during the evenings too, picking up my crochet instead.

And also knowing where to start, and what to post from the many, many photos I’ve taken. So many photos, so many gardens and historic houses - and such a good time - and so, this post has a bit of everything. A kind of whistle stop tour of what I’ve been up to.

We started in Norfolk visiting some of my favourite places, including the shops at Creake Abbey and the historic Georgian town of Holt - it made a lovely change to wander around shops, though still wearing masks.

A great day in Holt ended with a bit of a downer when a stone thrown up by a passing van hit the windscreen with an almighty crack. And it was quite a crack, no chip in sight and quite a shock. On reflection a crack is way better than a chip, as that meant a new windscreen rather than a repaired one. Thankfully the crack kept outside of my vision for driving, and the insurance and replacement were easy to navigate with all the necessary recalibrating done in a single visit once we were back home. Even there they realised that after having the car for less than a month, I probably didn’t need to replace the wipers!

It was definitely a night to opt for fish and chips and we headed off to Eric’s for the first time. We ended up with double fish and chips each, and more than we could eat - and we couldn’t resist trying the black pudding fritter, which is exactly what you’re thinking - black pudding in batter. I’d eat it again - obviously - but probably not as a side order to cod and chips.

Up next was our holiday cottage in Lincolnshire, part of the Walled Gardens on the Easton Estate - and it’s the first holiday cottage we had with its own library - a small space with a chandelier, but a library no less.

It also had one of the best equipped kitchens we’ve experienced, and best of all it provided direct access to the walled gardens which were available for us to visit outside of their usual opening hours, and it was really special to have such a lovely space to ourselves.

This was a sign that I wasn’t expecting to see - thankfully the giraffes were statues.

We got out and about a lot in the few days we were in Lincolnshire and first on my list was Barnsdale Gardens, which was the Gardener’s World home of legendary presenter Geoff Hamilton. There were 38 gardens there, so plenty of inspiration - and while I wasn’t a Gardener’s World viewer when he was a presenter it was a great place to visit. I’ll be sharing some of the gardens here, but somehow I’ve lost some of the photos I took, but even so there’s still plenty to share.

What is always special is the chance to look around the nursery and growing spaces, and this is the heucheras at Barnsdale - not lettuces as MOH first thought (though they do look a little lettuce-like from a distance).

That evening we headed back out into the Walled Gardens this time exploring the Cottage Garden and the Pickery - great name isn’t it? - and discovered this most amazing bark, I promise you it’s a real, living tree and not a sculpture.

Another of the places I was keen to visit was Belvoir Castle - a few years ago when we cycled between Grantham, Melton Mowbray and Newark we spied it on the hill top in the distance, and had it marked as a future place to visit. It didn’t disappoint, the interiors were stunning - from the displays of rifles and swords as you entered, the vibrancy of the wall coverings and the grandiose rooms - I was ready to move in.

We also spent some time walking around the gardens, including the formal rose garden, which considering the gardens are on many levels was a lot of up and down, but definitely worth it.

But we weren’t done with visiting historic houses just yet - our next stop was the National Trust’s Belton House, where it was easy to pick up on a greyhound theme, including on the door plate and on the weather vane on the roof.

The orangery in the grounds was just as spectacular, and I think I’ll need to add an orangery as a requirement to my next house! (Some chance, I know).

With our week almost at an end we managed to squeeze in a visit to nearby Stamford, another Georgian town - no prizes for guessing the type of architecture that MOH and I are drawn to.

I told you we packed a lot in, and now you know why it was so hard to choose just one part of an action-packed week away from home.

The view from the (hot) tub

We’re staying in the Lake District for this post, and more specifically the hot tub from our cottage stay back in June. I’ve yet to share the cottage interior, and that’s good, but the view from the hot tub was exceptional. Even getting to the hot tub was more unusual. Though it was sited on the back of the cottage, access was by walking around the building.

Though it really wasn’t a hardship.

Remember those stones for later.

How’s that for a gate post? With the blossom on the slate, the traditional stones and the well worn wood, the first time we visited we knew we were in for something special.

We weren’t disappointed. It was a gorgeously private and dramatic space.

With everything you could want - the outdoor shower, and somewhere to hang your robe and towel.

And the view.

A purposefully included (or should that be excluded) window, giving the perfect view of the rock and the stones I shared earlier. And the view up the hill of the field. And completely private, and relaxing.

The ferns against the darkly painted walls though.

And just to show it really is private here’s my best shot at trying to look over the top - and failing!

It’s clear that a lot of thought went into the planning of this space, and it truly paid off.

Adding a flowery touch to my handbag

I love colour, and quite often my handbags are colourful too. I do have some more sober ones, but they get used less if I’m honest. During the past year and the various lockdowns handbags have become kind of superfluous - as has lipstick - and it was way into the summer last year that I realised my purse and keys were still in my ‘winter’ handbag.

Since then I’ve mostly used a vintage tan handbag - which I’ve had since new! - and my favourite bright yellow Joules handbag, with a few excursions into bags for special outings, which at points during the past year or so could have been simply visiting a restaurant, afternoon tea or seeing family as special occasions have really been few and far between haven’t they?

But both the tan handbag and the yellow Joules bag have started to show signs of wear. I’ve bought some leather nourisher for the tan bag, which I have yet to get onto the leather and I know it won’t do any good until I do. It’s the straps though on the yellow bag, the top coating of the surface is peeling, and it’s not a good look. Since I’ve been wearing the bag on my shoulder more it’s taken to leaving the peeling yellow vinyl on my shoulder, so it looks as if I have a special kind of yellow dandruff on my left shoulder. So this needed fixing, but the bag’s too good, and too much loved, to be retired or fully replaced.

As it’s yellow buying new straps is possible, and I think will be the ultimate solution even if they’re a different colour but I needed something now to get me through. And so I’ve taken a slightly left field and creative solution.

The straps are the buckle sort, not the clip sort, which I think helps a bit. So detaching them from the bag, I’ve glued some pretty yellow and orange flowery bias binding around the straps (having first removed as much of the vinyl that was peeling as I could).

As I was gluing - just PVA craft glue - I realised it would be best for the straps to dry as they’ll be used, rather than dead flat. With the use of some pegs and the bannister on the top landing, I was able to recreate the handbag strap shape. I was quite pleased with myself!

I wasn’t sure how I’d finish the ends tidily, so I took a different approach and decided to stop the fabric just short of the buckle hole that I use. I looks a little peculiar without the buckle, but I was confident that it would look better when the straps were back on the bag.

And I’m really happy with how it turned out.

The next few days I’m going to be out and about for work more than I have since March 2020 and now I’m confident that I’ll be able to use my summer bag, which I know is big enough to chuck everything I need in, without the weird yellow dandruff - which is a very good thing!

And I get a individually styled handbag at the same time.