Post Comment Love 27-30 August

August 27, 2021

Welcome to this week’s #PoCoLo - a friendly linky which I co-host with Suzanne, where you can link any post published in the last week. We know you’ll find some great posts to read, and maybe some new-to-you blogs too, so do pop over and visit some of the posts linked and share some of that love. If you were here last week it was great to have you along, if you’re new here this week we’re pleased you’re here.

I’ve had this week off work and it’s been lovely, though the weather hasn’t quite lived up to the forecast. We’ve had some time in Norfolk and then we travelled over to Lincolnshire for a few nights in the most glorious of spots. We’ve stayed in the the Gatehouse Lodge at Easton Walled Gardens and it’s been fabulous, and I have plenty more to share about our stay in the coming weeks.

We’ve been out and about and have mostly ‘done the Bs’ - that’s Barnsdale Gardens (the Gardener’s World home of Geoff Hamilton), Belvoir Castle and Belton House. We also ate out in the pub at Burton-le-Goggles - yes, it’s a great name - and the food was fantastic (and large) too. Burghley was also on our list but we didn’t quite make it. So it only seems right that my photo this week is a blue mop cap from the gardens at Belvoir.

My verdict is that Lincolnshire and its surrounding areas is a very underrated place.

It’s a Bank Holiday weekend here in the UK - which explains the nondescript weather - but it means our linky will be open until 11pm Monday evening (UK time), so there’s an extra day to link up.

I haven’t added my own post yet - it’s been a quiet blog week for me - but I’m hoping to add one later today.

Happy (long) weekend all!

Post Comment Love 20-22 August

August 20, 2021

Last weekend I picked up my new car, once I’d remembered the pin for my debit card that is. I don’t know about you but if I think about what the pin might be, that’s it - I’m destined never to remember it, ever. However if I just pull it out of my purse and use it without thinking, I’m fine. Of course it was the former that occurred in the dealership. Though I handily remembered my mobile banking app goes way further than a reminder and actually reveals the pin once I’d successfully broken in, and I’ve never been more glad of it.

I drove my car in the dark for the first time yesterday, and that’s a whole other experience. There’s lights for things I didn’t know I needed, let alone when it leaves the lights on when you walk away. Clearly it was showing some independence, which tbh it really didn’t need to and wasn’t appreciated.

The Greats at Knole House

August 19, 2021

By greats, I mean the Great Hall, the Great Screen and the Great Staircase and to be honest they’re very well named.

Knole, which is close to Sevenoaks and was our stop off on the way to our cabin for our escape weekend close to home, is a former Archbishops’ Palace. The Great Hall would have been right at the heart of it and where the whole household would eat together. For me the floor was a fantastic part of the space, but there was much more to it than that.

The carved oak screen dates to the early 1600s and is decorated with leopards and other symbols of the Sackville family.

But the ceiling can’t go unmentioned - isn’t it fabulous?

The staircase, unlike the hall, was only for members of the family, distinguished guests and high ranking sevants.

The paintings though - they really should be named as greats too. They depict the Four Ages of Man, the Five Senses and the Seven Virtues, though one virtue - temperance - is missing.

The sculpture is Giovanna Zanerini, a celebrated Italian ballerina and mistress of the 3rd Duke of Sackville. She was known by her stage name - La Baccelli and lived at Knole, and she remains there today.

There’s much more to see at Knole, and considering it’s only about thirty minutes from home I can’t believe this was our first - but certainly not our last - visit. It’s definitely worth a look if you’re close by.