My top 10 posts of 2022

I’m back with one of my start of year traditions, which appeals to the nerd in me. Each year I like to look at the posts from the past year which have been the most popular and those that have been around a while longer that continue to bring in the views. I’m not sure there’s any scientific reasons as to why some of the posts swap around on that second list, but it’s always good to know that people are reading some of the stuff I put out there!

So let’s start with my most popular posts from 2022:

1 A new, bigger rug - eventually

Remember our year started off with a new rug, and a disagreement? Thankfully the newer, bigger rug solved that and we're still really happy with our new, bigger rug!

2 How tall is a Liver Bird?

Well seeing as though I asked, it would be rude not to tell you - it’s 18 foot - with a wingspan of 24 foot. To put that into perspective a double decker bus is 14 ft 4” - so quite big, is a good answer. This post shares views and facts from our visit to the top of the building in Liverpool, getting much closer to Bella and Bertie.

3 In the Orangery at Belton House

This year there’s an influx of posts from our trips to Lincolnshire and surrounding areas, which is not surprising really as it’s where we’ve been looking at houses. So it made sense to check out the area while we were there, and this Orangery at Belton House is likely to become an easy and early favourite of ours, hopefully when it’s much closer.

4 Interiors inspiration at Margo & Plum

The Engine Yard at Belvoir Castle was already a favourite place to stop and mooch around, and the interiors shop there is full of inspiration. So much so that MOH bought me the aqua bird decorated vase for my birthday on a whim. When I say a whim, it wasn’t quite so - it took him ages to remember the name of the shop, and then search out the vase. And I thought he’d bought it because he was an avid reader here…

5 Vibrant interiors at Belton House

Another one from Belton House, this time inside which was full of colour and peculiarly hidden (or not so hidden) greyhounds - there was even one on the weather vane.

6 Heat, feet and my happy place

In this post I’m musing about the way above average temperatures we experienced here this summer, and the trouble that had started with one of my toes - which is still not right, but not infected and not really giving the medics any clues, so we watch and wait. Thankfully though this post is accompanied by photos from the flower garden in Greenwich Park, definitely a happy place of mine.

7 A mindful afternoon twiddling

With more time on my hands this year I’ve been trying out some new crafts. Quilling, which isn’t as easy as it looks, was incredibly mindful, and for an afternoon twiddling paper this is what I had to show for it! It’s something I want to do again, but so far it’s not happened, but when I have a bit more space and my craft supplies are more ordered I hope to spend more time twiddling, and to have something more to show for my efforts.

8 The kitchens at Belvoir Castle

Belvoir (pronounced Beaver) Castle is another fascinating place in Leicestershire, and there’s a lot to see. Less so on the garden front, as you’d expect from its position on top of a hill, but there were some which I’m not sure I’ve shared here yet. While the formal rooms full of finery and treasures are fantastic, somehow the behind the scenes rooms that hold as much interest for me - and these old tins in the Housekeeper’s room where a real treat, pop over and take a look at the kitchens too.

9 Leaving flowers and a crocheted throw

So this year has been a transitional year for me, and at times it’s very much felt that. Back in May I stopped working full time after almost 40 years working at only three companies all that time. I left feeling fantastically spoiled by my colleagues, and with arms full of flowers and gifts. I was struck though by this vase of flowers and how similar the colours were to my most recent crocheted throw.

10 Where do you find peace?

This was the thought provoking question that greeted us as we started a walk around the Lake at Stourhead. Our visit was full of autumn colours too and even on a wet day, I’m sure that the surroundings help many people answer the question posed.

Again, a great choice made by many of you - and the posts here really do seem to have summed up my year, which is another reason for doing this, there’s clearly something in it!

So onto the second list

This list is posts created at any time but viewed in 2022, the year in brackets is the year it was originally posted - and it’s often very similar to the previous year. For whatever reason these posts continue to attract views, and it’s good to see some of the old favourites remaining on the list.

1. Filling our gabion baskets (2017)

2. My IKEA hack: HOL storage table to laundry basket (2015)

3. Let's talk Edwardian house decoration (2017)

4. Post Comment Love (2016)

5. About Me (2014)

6. Sean Murray's Great Chelsea Garden Challenge (2017)

7. Softening our gabion seating area with plants (2017)

8. 52 Cookbooks #36: Beef in easy tomato sauce (2014)

9. Three of the six show gardens at the Ideal Home Show (2016)

10. Fabulous outdoor planters (and more) from Cox & Cox (2016)

So, tradition completed for another year!

A mindful afternoon twiddling

I’ve recently spent an afternoon doing as what only be described as ‘twiddling paper’ and once again I’ve been inspired by many fantastic paper craft and quilling artists over on Instagram. What they can do with twirls of paper is just amazing, and clearly they’re far from my beginner level.

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However, as I’m firmly of the belief that everyone has to start at the beginning, and that starting is better than not I decided to get some pre-cut strips of paper and some basic tools, and try it out for myself.

Now this is clearly where this post strays into ‘all the gear, no idea’ territory but with an online tutorial or two under my belt I was ready to get started.

How pretty do all the tonal strips of paper look?

This flower template also came with the kit, but was quickly put aside for a more ‘advanced’ day.

So how did I get on? Well, I had some success - though not much - and it was a great way to spend an afternoon. I think it’s something I’ll try again and aim to develop further so that I can incorporate the shapes into card making, but in reality I’m a long way off some of the wonderful creations I’ve seen. Thankfully I’m also a realist and realise Rome wasn’t built in a day.

For now though my quilling adventures have been cut short as a plaster on your index finger doesn’t provide the dexterity needed for such detailed craft. I’ll return to this again, soon hopefully. And my finger? Well it’s the most mundane of injuries - a simple, but dramatic, cut through picking up the food processor vegetable slicer the wrong way, ouch. Those blades are sharp, way sharper than I expected!

Heat, feet and my happy place

Don’t worry, there aren’t any pictures of feet - but mine, or rather one of my toes has been giving me some gyp this past week or so. Instead, you’ll be relieved to know I’m including photos from the flower garden in Greenwich Park, aka my happy place. My toe is improving with the antibiotics, but I suspect it has a little more in store before it’s totally fixed. That along with the high temperatures, and life generally have conspired to keep me away from my laptop for longer than I intended.

But let’s start at the beginning.

Since the middle of June - in fact the day we had all our tree work done - the temperatures here have been warm, and warming up with a red weather warning and temperatures of 40 C forecast a month after this. I’m not sure it made it to 40 C where we are in London, but it was pretty close - and extremely warm!

Our garden has suffered since the tree work was completed. The grass has turned straw like without the canopy the trees provided. We expected it to bounce back pretty quickly with some rain (and still do), but so far the rain hasn’t shown up. Instead it’s got warmer, much warmer. But as you know a garden waits for no one and so I’ve been pottering about in the garden aiming to keep it tidy. I’ve also been picking up many, many branches which appear where I’m sure I’ve already cleared, while timing this pottering outside of the hottest parts of the day.

TREES IN THE FLOWER GARDEN, GREENWICH PARK

On those two hottest days, it was like nothing I can remember experiencing in the UK. I know 1976 was warm, but at 9 years old my experiences and memories were understandably entirely different, and the temperatures were four degrees cooler. The first day I ventured out, briefly, fully sun-screened up and with a rather glamorous large brimmed straw sun hat. Both destinations - the local supermarket, and the dentist - were air conditioned and appointment booking me was very impressed with managing to coincide an air conditioned appointment with a very hot day. Glossing over the fact that it was still the dentist!

Our house got warm - the warmest we’d ever known it, and so a change of tack was required the following day. As well as keeping the curtains shut, being awake early meant we could open the bifold doors into our north facing garden, until it started to warm up around 7am. Then they were closed for the rest of the day. MOH ventured out onto our patio briefly at lunchtime quickly coming back in declaring that it was “like Barbados out there” - and he wasn’t wrong.

A STUNNING BLUE MOPHEAD, GREENWICH PARK

Even late into the evening it had that warm air feel you get when you’re on holiday, and so we spent the evening in the garden under the umbrella. Some very welcome but only a few drops of rain appeared, but they had almost dried before they reached the ground, and no way enough to make any difference to our grass!

ECHINACEAS, GREENWICH PARK

It’s clear that our houses and infrastructure in the UK just aren’t designed for these temperatures, and will need a rethink if the temperatures continue as is predicted, as will government policy. I expect we’ll see more houses adopt shutters like those in the Mediterranean do, whether they’re internal or external. I think it’s something we’ll seriously think about when we move (no news yet!), as while retro-fitting isn’t easy, retro-fitting in a decorated and ‘finished’ space is even harder.

I did feel a bit cooped up those two days though, and that’s where my happy place comes in. With the temperatures a whole ten degrees cooler I was keen to get out, and so I did. I realised that it had been far too long since I’d been to Greenwich Park, and so headed out to the flower garden, a place that from these photos is easy to see why it makes me smile.

COSMOS, GREENWICH PARK

So much colour too, and while the grass there is a similar shade of parched as ours, the flowerbeds were being kept watered. The grass around those noticeably greener. And it was good to get out, strangely these two days felt much worse than lockdown when we were each allowed out for an hour a day. I’m not sure why, perhaps because then, while it was warm, the garden was still a relatively cool spot - that tree canopy worked obviously playing its part.

With a walk to Greenwich Park and then various errands and a trip into town for dinner and the excessive temperatures behind us (for now) all was good, mostly. That’s when my toe started to swell. It had swollen slightly the week before, and was brought down by ibuprofen - that wasn’t working quite so well this time round, even after a weekend of doing very little and sitting with my foot up and iced it was still twice as toe-sized as it should be.

CROCOSMIAS, GREENWICH PARK

Cue an emergency doctor’s appointment, some bright red antibiotics - thankfully not the same ones I had recently for my tooth infection which I had a reaction to (yes, I’ve been in the wars a bit lately - I’m putting that down to stopping work, seriously). The swelling is reduced, but not gone and similarly for the pain. It’s remains red and has been likened to a cocktail sausage rather than a toe, and there is definitely some likeness.

I’ve still some of the course of antibiotics left to take, but I think there’ll be another doctor’s appointment before it’s well and truly fixed. But I know this for sure, enforced rest isn’t all it’s made out to be, but hopefully there’ll be good toe news soon!