Garden ornaments and Bramley Apple Day

One of the things we like about Newark and the surrounding areas is the relatively large number of independent and antique-type shops, but one of the things we’ve done very little of since we’ve been here is visit shops like this. In fairness we’ve had a lot going on with getting our new house how we want it, and our trips into Newark have been almost entirely functional.

However after having dropped MOH off at the station and with some time to myself ahead of an appointment I had time for a little mooch around, finding two new-to-me vintage shops which I know I’ll be back to visit.

One of them, based in an old Methodist Chapel has plenty to explore, but what caught my eye immediately were the iron garden ornaments and signs.

They were reasonably priced too, so I’m sure I’ll be back at some point as these would look great in any garden, but something that adds height and structure is definitely something I’m keen on for our new build garden. While I have some ideas, they’re very early stages and something like these garden ornaments could definitely help both in the short and more longer term.

There were also stacks of the traditional hooped plant supports, what I would have done to know about this place for our previous garden. I’d often see these types of plant supports in gardens we’d visit and admire them, but the garden centres near us in London had nothing like this, or at least not at prices I’d be willing to pay. Now though, I just need some plants to support but that will come!

The only other picture I snapped in here was of these vintage metal signs, mainly to remind myself to go back and look at in more detail, as I’m sure there will be ones that will make us smile, some for brands we may remember and many more to admire too.

I’m very much of the opinion of the more you look the more you see.

Which I know makes sense, but often when you look regularly inspiration strikes and if you’re very lucky then you might find something that’s absolutely perfect that you didn’t know you were even looking for! As someone who likes a quirk to their decor (which is thankfully mostly accommodated by MOH), these shops provide plenty of opportunities to add something with character into the mix.

Bramley Apple Day

Being new to the area one of the things we’re doing is keeping an eye out for local events, mostly this is through Facebook groups, but not always. There’s a lot going on, especially in the run up to Christmas with plenty of local fairs and Christmas Markets appearing almost weekly.

We went to one, and not a Christmas related one, last weekend. We saw that Southwell Minster were holding a Bramley Apple Food and Drink Festival in the Minster, and as it’s somewhere we’ve been a couple of times now we thought we’d go along.

We didn’t realise the significance of the event, or of Bramley Apple Day (28 October), though as we approached the town we started to get an idea that it was bigger than we’d anticipated as car parking spaces were few and far between. We tried our usual two car parks, both were full and ended up in a third getting lucky with a space.

As we walked back through the town towards the Minster we spotted a lot of apples, and a lot of shops adding them to their windows, this one even had a sign.

Still not realising the full significance until later, when I learnt that the first Bramley apple tree was sown in Southwell in 1809, and the original tree is still there, which seems incredible. To be honest I’d never thought about when or where an apple would originate, but there’s a lot more information on the Bramley Apples website if you want to know more.

Consequently it’s a day, a week after the UK’s national Apple Day, that is celebrated in a town that’s about half an hour down the road. Who knew?!

But anyway, in the Minster there was a throng of food and drink stalls and plenty of people. The church was decorated with apples too and it seemed unusual to see the refrigerated cabinets in the main body of the church, until you think back to the bible stories and illustrations with traders and markets doing this very same thing. Then it’s not such a giant leap from our more established and traditional views of what a church is and should be used for. I’m also sure that churches, of all denominations and sizes up and down the country, like many businesses need to diversify and work with and alongside their communities to survive, and this is no different. It seems odd at first, but it makes an awful lot of sense.

We’ve been to a couple of events where the traditional church set up has been very much not the setup, and it’s great to see. We left the food and drink festival armed with some local cider, and more unusually a homemade keema lamb curry, samosas and a huge onion bhaji, which are now in the freezer ready for a day when we need an easy evening meal.

Obviously the cider’s not in the freezer, that didn’t hang around for long as while chatting to the brewer he helped us match cider to our dinner the following night - a pot roasted chicken cooked with fennel, celery and white beans. And both were very nice indeed!

Southwell has some great shops too, and once again I found myself looking at things I didn’t know I needed, and wasn’t even sure I wanted. These large glass jars caught my eye, and the ones with the larger necks could potentially be used with a candle, similar to a hurricane lamp I think.

And you can’t beat a florist’s display can you? Hydrangeas and eucalyptus are both favourites, but even so I left the bouquet there - and remembered to add both to my plant wish list!

It’s good to get out and do something for fun every now and then, especially when it reminds you of where you are in the country, and why.

Pots of garden inspiration

I’ve marked this post as an Ad for transparency as I was invited to attend the Garden Press Event where I spoke to suppliers about their products. I am under no obligation to post about the products I saw, and as usual all views and opinions are my own.

Last week I went along to the annual Garden Press Event held at the Design Centre in Islington - you may have seen my Instagram stories on the day. The event was a show for companies to showcase their products to catch the eye of the press and bloggers alike. It was another great day, and although it’s been a few years since my last visit in 2019, but I found it as useful inspirational as I did back then.

It’s also an opportunity for companies to showcase their new products, and there was a notable increase in sustainable products, which can only be a good thing. I spoke to many people learning about their products, and even managed to get some photos of some of them. Not all, though which is frustrating now - but if you get a chance do pop over and check out the Kindling Cracker over at Fandango Firetools, the galvanised steel water butts over at Arthur Jack & Co, and the beautifully colourful bulbs over at Taylors Bulbs.

So what caught my eye?

These garden wool pads by Hortiwool are fantastic - I’ve already seen something similar, mostly when I’ve had cheese delivered! However these 100% British Wool pads can be used extensively in the garden, and won a sustainability award at the show. I’ve previously used as a liner for hanging baskets, but they have so many more uses including as something to kneel on, protection from frost and something I’m keen to try, deterring slugs.

These small bottles from Azpects promise to have a big impact, with each bottle making up to 3 litres of either a deck, algae, patio or exterior fabric cleaner - and let’s be honest at some point we all need some additional help cleaning parts of our garden. And like some of the kitchen/bathroom cleaning products available now, these are concentrated so you can dilute them at home when you need them, which also saves on the amount of packaging too.

I wasn’t the only one to think these Wool pots were fantastic, they one the ‘best new product’ for the day which is voted for by attendees at the show. It was great to speak with this company which I learnt is based in Hammersmith - the sheep capital of the world, or so I’m told. I have some of these and will be testing them out, and will share how I get on.

A lot of gardening is about confidence, and when you’re faced with a blank canvas that must be quite daunting. The Garden on a roll aims to help people overcome that, and with planting schemes for shady, evergreen, Mediterranean and English Country Garden there looks to be something for everyone and every garden.

Unbelievably these pots have been made from ocean waste using reclaimed fishing nets, trawl ropes and boxes which significantly reduces the amount of manufactured plastic by Woodlodge, they also have a range made from wood waste.

Earthy Sustainable also uses waste products made during harvest for their products. They use straw, coffee husks, wheat chaff and bamboo fibre for a range of products, but the ones that caught my eye were these bee, butterfly and bird boxes. They’re frost proof and can be hung from a branch, or can be screwed to a fence or tree with inbuilt fixings.

There were some great gift-type products from the collaboration between Blue Diamond and the National Trust, including seed and twine sets - or Grow & Tie with a sunflower and sweet pea version - two of my favourite garden flowers. The second photo shows one of the ready to grow plant trays which includes bulbs in a biodegradable tray - you simply take off the lid and place the tray in your pot, cover with compost and water and wait for the bulbs to do their thing. The bulbs have been chosen to perfectly partner the height and flowering times, and I’m assured that there’s more to come from this range both on the pot size and bulb varieties, so keep a look out for these and the developments.

And finally there were a couple of things I have my eye on for our potential future garden. These solar powered drop bulb lights by The Solar Centre, which were a winner of the garden lighting, water features and ornamentation award at the show. We have our sparkly little lights, which look fantastic but give out little light so I expect that to be something I’m after this year.

The other thing is on a future garden wish list is an aluminium garden pergola, and the Maze Living pergolas and outdoor furniture at the show were fantastic. I was just glad MOH wasn’t with me, as with their outdoor kitchens I was pretty certain his wish list would be growing way longer than our budget, and I don’t even know what our budget is!

So all in all, a good day with pots and pots of inspiration. I plan to share some of these in more detail over the coming weeks, so look out for those, but in the meantime what caught your eye?

A posh lunch out

Last Saturday MOH and I got our glad rags on and headed out for a posh lunch, we even put proper shoes on. Mine weren’t quite the heels I once would have worn out, but small steps and all that. As it turned out, it was a good test for the wedding we’re off to later this month, so that’s all good.

Lunch was at Gravetye Manor in West Sussex, and yes, we were back - it’s been a while, but it remains one of our favourite places. It’s not somewhere we go often and is definitely in the treat category, which makes it all the more enjoyable. The attention to detail is phenomenal, and nothing is overlooked. This small table decoration in the lounge is a great example of that - a yellow tulip, and leaves and flowers from a strawberry plant shows how simple can also be effective.

The menu cover picks up the detail of the image panels on the walls around the restaurant, and the view over the garden is absolutely stunning.

And the food. Well, I even managed to remember to take pictures before I started to eat. This was my starter of asparagus, it looks a picture and the taste was sublime. I followed this with hogget and wild garlic and finished with the intriguing fennel, honey and lime - which was nothing like you’d expect, or I’d be able to recreate. All of it was absolutely delicious, and it was great to see more dishes around the table as between our table we managed a good selection from the menu for each course.

The yellow tulips, along with gorse and the purple-blue irises formed another stylish but not dominating table centre.

As it was such a glorious day we opted to have coffee in the garden, which was full of spring flowers - and clearly is well looked after.

There’s plenty of grounds to explore, but after a good lunch and in our finery, a walk to the walled kitchen garden was all we were up for. But even so, the route there was calming and enticing. It was slightly further than I remembered, and previously I’d done this in heels, but we got to the iron gate and let ourselves in.

It’s another huge space, and needs to be as the produce from the garden is used in the kitchen - but what a space.

We headed back towards the restaurant taking a different route, one stepped and easier to navigate, but definitely no less colourful only to be greeted back at the stone porch by the cheeriest pots of fully in bloom tulips. They definitely make your heart sing, don’t they?

Throughout the public spaces there were large arrangements of flowers, all of which we’d seen growing in the gardens. We stopped for a picture making use of one of the large mirrors, and we just about snuck in alongside one of the large displays - so here’s us wearing flowers, in amongst the flowers.

We might not be back for a while, but I’m pretty certain we’ll be back at some point.