Checking out the camellias

On our recent Dorset adventures I was keen to revisit Kingston Lacy and see the garden at a different time of year. I'd hoped that the camellias would be in flower, and I wasn't disappointed. I remembered that this gate would lead me to the camellias, but first we needed to walk through the Lime Avenue which this time was lined with daffodils.

The last time we were here - in 2015 - the lime trees were undergoing some work and the bushyness around the trunks were being cut back, but they were back, so it seems like many gardening jobs it's one that needs to be done, and re-done quite often.

It was a chilly day and our wooly hats were out.

I'd remembered correctly and it wasn't long before we were in the Winter Garden and admiring the camellias.

The plants originate from China and Japan centuries before they were seen in Europe; here in the UK they were first seen in Essex in the 1730s which is quite something isn't it? And the first here were red and white blooms, and by pure coincidence I'm typing this between a red and white flowering bush.

For me camellias are the type of flower you draw as a child, with their petals emanating from the centre. Red, white and pink are typical colourings - we have one of each in our garden - but I was rather taken with this pink version at Kingston Lacy.

The other thing that strikes me about camellias is how they fade; their petals turn brown but often they stay on the bush decaying beautifully. They're definitely an outside plant though, I cut some once to have as cut flowers in the house and within a day all the petals had fallen off.

They do eventually drop, but I think they look just as beautiful on the ground. 

We also saw camellias - both the faded sort and the more colourful versions at Compton Acres, another of the gardens we visited in Dorset.  I'll share more about that garden another time, but if you're in Poole, it's worth a visit and it's always nice to visit an independent garden, as as nice as the National Trust gardens are, at times I think they can feel a bit formulaic and same-y.  That's not to say I don't enjoy them, but at Compton Acres it had a different vibe.

At Kingston Lacy I decided to look closer at some of the fallen flowers, this one was huge - easily bigger than my hand - and had a hole right through the centre where the stem would be. I tried to persuade MOH that it'd make a great adornment for his wooly hat, but he was less sure and having none of it. I've a photo of him looking none too impressed and I'll spare his blushes by not sharing it here, instead just take a look at the flower. I told you it was big...

I was also struck by the different shapes of the flower, this almost triangular, or star-shaped flower just goes to demonstrate my point. It has a more delicate look to it I think and is a delicate blush pink.

The buds of camellias remind me of peonies. All bound up tight in a ball and ready to burst; we saw that at both Kingston Lacy (above) and Compton Acres (below). They're fab aren't they - so much prettiness bound up into such a small and tightly bound sphere.

One of the camellias we saw at Compton Acres in Poole was this red one below, it stood out for its centre. It's quite different to the others we'd seen. The central section has much shorter, almost brush like petals, although I'm not sure if that's the correct name for them. It's just as pretty though isn't it?

And the other thing for me about camellias is how pretty they look on the ground. I was reminded of a walk around Standen a couple of years ago, but instead of a single bloom on the ground, it was more like confetti.

In our garden our red camellia is still flowering, it's still a little shy but I think that's mostly because it's shaded by the fatsia. At the back of the garden our newer, white camellia is also quite shy. The bush is growing and there's been a couple of flowers, but I think its best is still to come, so for me, it was great to see these camellias in full bloom while we were away.

Are your camellias still in flower, and are they as abundant as the ones we saw in Dorset? 

Recovering from no wifi, and a week of no* blog posts!

It feels a bit odd to be back home and not to have written a blog post until now. I expected to be chomping at the bit to get blogging again, and in a way I am, but it's more of knowing where to start after a busy week in Dorset. But first, how did I cope without wifi? 

Honestly, in the end it wasn't so bad. But initially - and I'm not afraid to admit it - there was panic. Partly because in my head I had plans to catch up with myself, read lots more blogs and spend some time maybe even writing those blog posts I keep promising myself that I will. With no blog posts written for the week, I know it was optimistic, but hey, I'm an optimist. 

So discovering there was no wifi was a bit of a blow!

I knew it meant my plans to become uber-organised were unlikely to materialise and that didn't sound that great. Plus it's unlike me to go a week without posting and I hadn't prepared myself mentally for that. If I know I'm away I usually schedule at least some posts in advance, but not this time, there'd just been too much going beforehand.

I mean, who'd book a cottage without wifi?

Yes, indeed. Well, erm, me... 

Somehow I'd overlooked the lack of wifi. Clearly I'd been seduced by the loveliness of the cottage.

Ahem.

But at least I had no one else to blame, which was probably a good thing.  So do you want to see the cottage, or actually the converted barn?

The stone exterior looked smart and the use of wood inside gave a nice homely feel. When we arrived the heating was on full blast, and was quickly turned down to more liveable levels. Rooms were allocated, things were unpacked, space was made in the large kitchen for the provisions we'd brought, and a bar area was quickly set up in the dining space.

Well, it would have been rude not to.

The boys were soon making themselves very comfortable on the sofa in time for the last six nations game, and I'm not sure if they were impressed more by the lazy boy than the rugby. Actually I know they were, I'm not sure who I'm kidding!  MOH thinks he's having an inbuilt area in our next sofa for his beer glass and snacks, because it's such a great idea, isn't it?  Erm, no dear.

It was good to see the barn's transformation in photos, and no doubt it was quite an undertaking. 

Wood featured heavily in the bedroom furniture too, with similar pieces in each of the three bedrooms. 

The dining room was a double height galleried space, with roof lights flooding light into the space below. Our bedroom had a velux window which was a great way to check the weather for the day ahead, without having to move a muscle. 

And over the road, we could see breakfast too!  I think those chickens must have been working overtime for their new neighbours - you can't beat a good egg for breakfast, can you?

Hatching a plan

By the end of the weekend I'd hatched a plan to explain my unexpected absence and you know what, it wasn't so bad! I didn't get the reading I'd hoped to done, or the blog posts written either and well, it wasn't the end of the world. It's not how I've been used to spending my evenings either, and I did make use of the time to edit many, many photos that somehow had escaped me, and now I've plenty more posts to actually get on and write. 

Nor was I totally cut off from the online world, I chose to post regularly on Facebook and Instagram, and saw my engagement on those channels increase, and I did make full use of my mobile data and any free wifi service I discovered when out and about. It was a great week away, and not only do I still have that reading and blog posts to do, I've a stack more photos to edit from our Dorset adventures too. 

And next time I book a cottage, I'll be sure to know in advance if there's wifi or not. And to plan accordingly!

* Well, when I say no blog posts, I mean hardly any!

A blustery visit to Corfe Castle

It was a chilly day for our visit and the sky was pretty grey. And like many castles it was on top of a hill, which wasn't so great for us as we blew our way to the top. Although we did pretty much have the place to ourselves, most probably because there weren't that many people that were as mad as us. There were some, not many and the other two couples we saw there did the very British thing of making a point of visiting another part of the castle so that each of us felt like we had the place to ourself.  It certainly helped with the photos.

There were some restorations underway, which you expect if you visit out of season, but it seemed there were some quite large scale works. It wasn't our first visit here, we visited one summer's day a few years before when the place was thriving with families and Saxon and Viking enactments keeping everyone entertained.

The castle is over 1000 years old so it's not surprising that some work is needed.

It's been a Saxon stronghold, Norman fortress, a royal palace and a family home - some home, hey? and in all that time it's dominated the Purbeck landscape. It's seen murder and war, paupers and kings and no doubt has seen much more than we can ever know.

It's another favourite childhood place of MOH's, with lots of family holidays in nearby Swanage, so a bit like Tintagel Castle he was keen to pop back and see the old place. It looked much different to even how I'd remembered it, so I can only imagine how much different it looked to him.

There was clearly some leaning going on...

And this red ivy leaf caught my eye among the greens and greys.

As it's one of his favourite places we had some fun posing for photos for a while, until we decided it was way too cold to be messing around on a catalogue-style shoot.  The sheep didn't want to play either (and in case you're wondering, it is a different gate)

And so, I'll leave you with one of my favourite shots from our visit and a glimpse across the Purbeck landscape.  

Do you have childhood haunts that you revisit?