The buildings of Newark-on-Trent

As we cycled into Newark from our base at Ivy Farm I knew I was going to like the town.  The first things we saw were this traditional cycle shop and the Palace Theatre, surely they were good omens?

EAGLES!

And while I knew I wanted to come here, I hadn't really planned much of what we should see, or where we should go.  Clare had said the best place to leave our bikes was in the Market Square, so we were pleased to spot this sign.

MARKET PLACE

NEWARK TOWN HALL

The Market Place was a traditional market square with the town hall at one end of the square.  I can't tell you how many times we walked through here sometimes checking on our bikes and other times because we just found ourselves back here.

And inevitably we often got a view of the Parish Church, a beautiful building inside and out.  I've some photos from inside the church which I'll share another day.  But it's an elegant church isn't it?

On one of our walks around the church I spied these brightly coloured front doors over the wall, and I was off to get a closer look.  And the second photo below was taken standing in the middle of the road with MOH on watch for oncoming cars.

There were plenty of great looking buildings in the town - and as I had my camera in my hand, I snapped quite a few of them.  The details of the stonework and the fancy bits on the roof stood out on this one.

The vintage signs and the plant which was climbing up this building caught my eye at the time, and now when I look at this photo I think it has a timeless quality to it.  And that's how I felt about Newark - a place that still has traditional values at its heart.

There's not many letterboxes you'll see at this height, and it's a traditional green colour too isn't it?

I was curious about, what turned out to be a boot scraper to the left of the red door below.  And I loved how it was built in to the building's fabric, I think because I'm after a classic freestanding boot scraper myself.  I'm quite fussy and have an idea of what I want, but haven't seen the one I want yet.

Heading back towards town we headed into The Arcade and the roof caught my eye.

At the end of the Arcade we spent some time looking in the window of a vintage shop, and two things from my childhood caught my eye.  The first was this dress, which I'm sure my mum had something similar, it was either peach or blue but had the same fine pleats.

The other thing that caught my eye was the mustard coloured cups and saucers - the very same set that we had at home in the 1970s.  I was very tempted to buy these two trios (plate, saucer and cup) but they don't really match my usual, more prettier style of tea sets.  I think that dinner set is long gone, but maybe they have an odd piece or two hanging about.  I'll have to find out.

I've still more to share from Newark-on-Trent - some from inside the Parish Church and of course some from the Castle - so look out for those.

Fabulous outdoor planters (and more) from Cox & Cox

Now that the evenings are getting lighter (yay!) and Spring bulbs are bringing colour to parks and gardens, I'm starting to be tempted out into the garden again. I've shared the plans I have for our allotment and my seed order is being finalised, but what about my garden?

I've mentioned before that our garden is a mature one, with lots of shrubs and so it's predominantly green. The challenge I have is to introduce colour to keep MOH from wanting to rip the whole garden out and start again. But because the trees and shrubs are large traditional bedding plants aren't always that successful, and let's be honest sometimes they have that municipal feel, don't they?

I've found though that pots are a great way to introduce colour, as not only can you control the soil (and not dig into a tree root) grouped together they can bring height and interest into the garden. 

And the pots don't have to be boring either. Just look at these, which are just a selection of the new range from Cox and Cox:

BIRCH EFFECT PLANTERS, PHOTO CREDIT COX & COX

RUSTY NESTING PLANTERS, PHOTO CREDIT COX & COX

The three above aren't quite what they seem either. They're not stone as you might think, but fibreglass so they'll be easy to move around the garden, even when they're planted. The finish of these emulates silver birch, and I like the texture and age that gives. 

GALVANISED FLUTED TROUGH, PHOTO CREDIT COX & COX

Or there's the rusty planters, aren't they a gorgeous colour? For me they also prove that a simple design is a winner too. 

Troughs to edge a path

I have a small path alongside my greenhouse and I've been on the lookout for some low-level planters to help soften the edges of greenhouse. But I don't want something so big that it blocks the light to my seeds and plants busily trying to grow in there. 

My plan is to grow herbs here so when I brush past I'll catch their scent. Again I'm drawn to the simple design of this zinc trough. They'd look equally good with cheery spring bulbs in too, and as window boxes.

AGED ZINC MILK CHURN, PHOTO CREDIT COX & COX

Definitely not boring

Remember that I said your planters didn't need to be boring?

Well, how about a milk churn - I think it'd look great with some cheery daffodils sprouting from the top.

It'd certainly bring a smile to my face.  Although it's too late to plant Spring bulbs now - usually I plant mine in the autumn using the lasagne approach - it's not too late to add some Spring colour to your garden.  

You can pick up ready grown bulbs relatively cheaply in the supermarkets and garden centres. My bargain hyacinth last week cost just £1.49.

Or you could think a little further ahead and plan some fabulous summer displays. 

AGED METAL BIRD CAGES, PHOTO CREDIT COX & COX

And just because... 

I couldn't resist sharing these metal bird cages, while they're not planters as such they're definitely on my wish list. I know though I'll have a job to convince MOH we need them.  

Sigh.  

His argument, after the what are we going to do with those, would be where would we put them? And he'd have a point. I'd love to say in the conservatory, and to have that kind of conservatory. You know the airy sort that you see in stately homes?

Our conservatory has a little way to go - we're currently using ours as a bike store and general dumping area, so it's a campaign I'll leave until I'm on stronger ground. 

But who knows, maybe one day...

 

This is is a collaborative post with Cox and Cox, but all opinions are my own 

Styling the Seasons: September

This is the first time I've joined in with Styling the Seasons that Katy at Apartment Apothecary and Charlotte at Lotts and Lots run each month.  I've read lots of their posts and those of others that take part all the time thinking that my posts would never match any of those. But this month when I read Rachel from The Ordinary Lovely's post she inspired me to give it a go, mainly because if I'm not trying to style my photographs then I'm not going to get any better at it.

So off we go...

The prompt for September - and yes, I'm only just scraping in - is vintage, that was another push to join in. That and autumn being my favourite time for food...

So it's apt that my setting is a chopping board in my kitchen.

For me September is full of tomatoes and blackberries, and this year there's been apples and crab apples from the allotment too. None of those are vintage but they scream September to me.

The vintage items are these bun tins which were my great nan's and I photographed them a while back for the black and white photo project.

The Hovis tin is an original and was a birthday present from my parents. I love how that I can bake Hovis bread, just by using this tin. It's smaller than you think, but it sure holds a lot of tomatoes!

While the books aren't usually in my kitchen, I do regularly have my nose in and out of books during the month deciding just what recipe I'll be using this time round. I've some favourites of course, but it's always nice to try a new chutney recipe.

So far this year there's been blackberry and lime jam and some crab apple jelly. I'm planning some tomato salsa and I'm sure there'll be pasta sauce for the freezer and more, plus some apple compote for breakfasts too.

The cup and sauce are part of a six piece set that I've had for many years, picking them up at a jumble sale of all places. They're pearlescent and pretty and they're great for serving chocolate mousse in. Which reminds me, it's about time MOH made some more of that...

The jar clearly isn't vintage but it's an essential in the kitchen this month with all the preserving and chutney making I'll be doing.

So that's what September means to me, what does it mean to you?