Discovering stunning plants at Holker Hall

I discovered these plants for the first time last June when we were in the Lake District, and then again more recently when I was finally sorting through and editing my photos. With no firm plans on what to post here, and also wanting to finally post the outcomes of a delayed pre-pandemic post, I decided to share them today.

Holker Hall is an independent garden in Cark, Grange-over-Sands which was close to the cottage where we stayed in Cartmel, and just around the corner from Sizergh which we also visited.

Part of the beauty about these plants, is that for most I don’t know what they are - that doesn’t make them any less stunning, but if you can identify any which I can’t then please leave a comment and let me know.

The lightness and airiness of the white flowers above is their appeal, but I’m not sure what they are - they look like they could be related to a chrysanthemum but I’m happy to be told otherwise.

It’s not often that you see a blue flower, even bluebells can be more lilac, and I’m not sure I’ve seen plants like the ones above and below before. I’m leaning towards them being some kind of wort or maybe a euphorbia, but I really don’t mind, as I think these are absolutely the most stunning. And if it turns out these are suited to woodland type environments then they’ll go to the top of my wish list.

Alliums and irises are more well known so I feel on safer ground with the next few photos. Each appeals for their vibrancy and delicacy, in equal measures.

And one final shot which I couldn’t resist including…

Isn’t it great - the expression, and how good does that stretch look?

Papped in the City

One of our festive traditions is to treat ourselves to a steak night in the run up to Christmas. I think it probably started as a reward for Christmas shopping, starting most probably, not completing it. But over the years the shopping part has been dropped and the steak is the focus. Last year we managed to fit in a visit to the Hawksmoor at Borough, walking from Fortnum & Masons in Piccadilly, mostly to avoid the tube and because it had been such a long while since we’d been into London.

This year though we were headed towards the City of London, so I thought our Fortnum & Masons luxury mince pies (another festive tradition of ours) might not be on this year. Then I learnt that they had a shop in the Royal Exchange, you don’t know how happy that made me. And so with my mince pies ordered for click and collect to coincide with our steak night, I was happy. The mince pies are divine, expensive, but divine.

What I wasn’t expecting was to be papped by Gillie & Marc’s Paparazzi Dogs at the entrance to the Royal Exchange, but I was so glad we were.

They definitely made me smile.

Mince pies, paparazzi dogs and steak - it was shaping up to be a very good night.

It’s the first time that the dogs have been in the UK, I’d like to think they knew I was coming - but that’s not true at all.

On the Royal Exchange website, they explain more about their temporary exhibit:

Designed to highlight the pack mentality of the media, the four Paparazzi Dogs have been travelling the world from New York’s Rockefeller Center to Melbourne’s Federation Square, Shanghai’s Jing’an Sculpture Park and Dublin’s Dundrum Town Centre, before arriving at The Royal Exchange to turn their lens on Londoners in a piece of public art that gives us all a taste of the glare of celebrity living

As well as the dogs, the mince pies and the nibbles to try in the store both the exterior (top) and interior (below) never fail to impress. For many years I worked opposite this building, and for many of those years had never been in until it was transformed into a posh shop mall - and even then, mostly just to look.

Our next stop was a favourite City pub - The Counting House on Cornhill - where both MOH and I have spent many evenings, with many colleagues. We were apprehensive about how busy it would be, and our tolerance levels for what we remembered being one of the busiest pubs where often it could take tens of minutes to make your way from the front of the pub to the back.

Reassuringly for us, less so for the publicans I’m sure, it was by comparison empty. There were people there, and we found a table to sit relatively easily - of course this was much to MOH’s horror, as he’s not a sitting down in pubs kind of person. But as I am, he did. It was still as beautiful as we remembered, and enhanced by the Christmas decorations.

After an aperitif or two, we along with our box of mince pies headed towards our steak restaurant - Blacklock just off Fenchurch Street. We’d been here before and in my usual style, I have no in-restaurant photos. We took the scenic route through Leadenhall Market to the restaurant, and this chandelier - in a coffee bar of all places - caught my eye.

Do you think it’s large enough?

Ah, Leadenhall Market always looks so good at Christmas, and while it’s the emptiest I think I’ve ever photographed it, it was good to see that some things don’t change. Let’s hope that the pandemic doesn’t completely silence places like this, that we know and love, but can’t always visit as much as we have in the past.

Beautifully wonky

For this post we’re back at the Argentine Ambassador’s Residence for another of the exhibits for London Design Week - each of the artists’ work was stunning, and their placement had clearly been carefully thought through.

These ‘beautifully wonky’ glass urns are by Chris Day and are titled ‘Under the Influence’ and they’re well named - it’s easy to see why. The glass is blown and sculpted onto a copper base, and copper wire and rope give them their delightful shape.

And the light from the full length windows on this sunny day really made them sing. The whole room full.

Each was beautiful, and I’m not sure I could choose a favourite - though I’m equally sure I couldn’t afford even one of them!