A secluded spot

Over the weekend I made more of a concerted effort to tackle editing my photos, which seem to be building up, even though we’re not going out anywhere as much as in a normal year. But as some are edited there’s no reason not to share, so for a couple of posts this week we’re heading off to Standen. I visited on the August Bank Holiday with MOH and MIL, what was a nice surprise was being able to go inside the house, even though it was just the ground floor, it felt quite a treat in these strange times.

So of course we headed there first, there was a short (socially distanced) queue but being a National Trust crowd it was all very amiable and all very nice (not that we’ve queued anywhere tbh which isn’t nice!) Afterwards we headed out into the central garden, starting off on the terraces just outside the conservatory, pretending, as you do, that perhaps it was our house.

outside the conservatory at standen nt
flowers spilling over the border

Actually Standen is one of those National Trust properties that you feel you could actually live in. But clearly we don’t. It’s the sort of place, that even now, it’s easy to find a spot to sit in, and it has the best secluded spot.

a bench in a secluded spot

To the right of the photo above is the conservatory in the house, which is equally a fab space, but this covered space, with its tiled background has to be the best secluded spot, surely.

hardly visable from the terrace

Even the plants on the terrace conspire to keep its secret. Though the plant itself is pretty spectacular.

but obscured by a pretty special plant

Looking more closely it was the tiles, not the bench that drew my attention. It’s easy to see why isn’t it?

never mind the view look at the tiles in the background

But where do the stairs and the little door go?

a few steps to a little door

I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure this is a spot you could sit for a while or two, and maybe then you’d find out. Either way it would be time well spent.

PoCoLo

The ruins at Nymans and a peek inside the house

I’ve already shared some photos of the foggy garden on our visit to Nymans last month, but there was more to our visit than this. And even though we weren’t there too long - it was pretty chilly - I did get a chance to admire the ruins and pop into the house for a warm up, which is where I spotted my new room crush. The fog does give the ruins a slightly ethereal quality.

A grand facade at Nymans

The green bushes and the terracotta pots though.

palms and ruins

I was smitten before I even saw the topiary.

the gable in the fog with benches and topiary

It’s quite a view isn’t it, and it’s all the detail. The symmetry, the details on the benches. And the dovecote, in the walled garden.

A dovecote in the garden wall
A tree in the fog with topiary

This is definitely a garden I want to visit when the weather’s better. But the advantage of visiting on a chillier day was that the fire was lit in the house, not the ruins, and it was lovely and toasty. It was, like many of the National Trust properties, beautifully presented and in such a way that you could easily imagine it being yours, even just for a moment.

inside the house a piano
letters on the table in the hall

The upstairs though was quite different. It served as an exhibition space, but what caught my eye was this lighting above the stairwell. It has a modern feel, but wasn’t out of place in the house.

a more modern light at the top of the stairs
A hinge in the shape of a K?

And then, with a turn of the corner we were back to the more historic. Who wouldn’t love hinges like that?

Nymans in the fog

We’ve made it to two gardens in two weekends this year, and already have plans for a third for this Saturday. Though our visit to Nymans looked a bit of a lost cause as we arrived and stepped into the main space.

Atmospheric though.

I WASN’T SURE HOW MUCH WE’D SEE…

I WASN’T SURE HOW MUCH WE’D SEE…

As we turned the around the bend this view encouraged us on. The bare triangle shaped tree intrigued me, it looked almost like the veins of a leaf, well I thought so anyway.

IT WASN’T AS BAD AS I THOUGHT

IT WASN’T AS BAD AS I THOUGHT

THE BULBS ARE WELL ON THEIR WAY TO MAKING AN APPEARANCE

THE BULBS ARE WELL ON THEIR WAY TO MAKING AN APPEARANCE

With the views obscured by the fog it did highlight what was closer, had there been views I do wonder if we’d noticed these bulbs pushing through as much. In the distance though I spotted some topiary, and well you know how much I like a hedge. I resisted though, but I know we’ll be back to get a closer look later in the year.

HMMM… I SPY TOPIARY

HMMM… I SPY TOPIARY

There was colour too, in spots, with the dogwoods flaming in the beds around the garden. And there was lichen too. I know hedges and lichen, I told you I’d be visiting again.

DOGWOODS BRINGING COLOUR

DOGWOODS BRINGING COLOUR

LICHEN LOVE, AGAIN.

LICHEN LOVE, AGAIN.

We didn’t explore the whole garden, it was grey and cold, and it was only a bit of a leg-stretcher. But we did pop in to the rose garden. No roses, but there were a few rosebuds - I’m not sure if they were left from last season or are early for this year. What struck me about the rose garden though was it’s structure, with the plants at their barest, it was clear to see.

NO ROSES, BUT GREAT STRUCTURE

NO ROSES, BUT GREAT STRUCTURE

WELL MAYBE A ROSEBUD

WELL MAYBE A ROSEBUD

There’s a house and ruins there too and a sunken garden, as well as a kitchen garden. The house provided a place for a quick warm up part-way round the garden, which was most welcome. It also provided me with a new room crush, but more on that later in the week.

“TheGardenYear