Saturday 31 May 2008

May Endings - Gardens and More

I just happened to look across at my microwave oven one day this week

and realised that it reflected out to the side of my garden

so out came the camera



This is what the oven was reflecting





It has been a very wet week and not a time for being outside
Three days and nights of almost continuious rain and then a thunder storm
with continuing heavy showers
I was glad that I managed to get a day and a half's gardening in before the rain
One minute I was concerned that the garden was drying out and cracking
too early in the season
and then the borders were again under water
It is certainly not easy working on clay soil
but the roses love it
So too wet to go out or garden
but a great opportunity to get on with spring cleaning
It was the back sitting room this time and quite a lengthy task with 400 books to remove from the shelves in this room and 4 pairs of floor length curtains to be washed and ironed due to having wall to wall windows on 2 sides of this room
The previous week we had a long day out where we visited
3 National Trust places in one day
Pushing it a bit I know but 2 were in the same area and 1 was on the way home
I'll be posting on them soon
At present both my children are out of the country
my son in Spain and my daughter in Toronto for work
It must be so hard for Mum's whose children live abroad
So greetings to everyone and I hope you all have a good weekend

Friday 30 May 2008

Leonardslee Lakes and Gardens Part 3 - The Dolls House

Having toured the beautiful rock garden and then the main gardens and lakes
at Leonardslee
it was time to visit the Dolls House
This exhibition which was called "Beyond the Dolls House"
was more than I could ever have imagined
It is a fascinating display of life at the end of the 19th century
This minature model was created by Helen Holland
and she did it in 10 years
It looked more like a lifetime's work to me
It consisted of a market town and a complete country estate
done on a 1/12th scale
with 140 foot of frontage
I photographed just a part of it
and I do apologise for the quality of the photos
They were all taken through glass and the place was so packed
it was difficult to photograph without being nudged
Do look at the detail
it is amazing and one forgets that this is just a dolls house
with everything in minature and not some large model

A school room



The laundry in the manor




The pantry



The kitchen


The dining room



The library


A smaller house




The Apothecary


The doctors surgery



Gentlemen's outfitters


The music shop


The Photographers studio


The artist



The Tearooms
no different to today



The bakery and cake shop



The greengrocers


The Butchers
see the dog running off with a piece of meat


A family room in one of the smaller houses



The Inn
If you double click you will see the mice on the floor



Are you alright Sir?


Children's outfitters and Haberdashery


Toyshop


Toy Theatres




Church



Farmyard


Afternoon in the park



Formal garden


Tea on the lawn at the Manor House

House and kitchen garden








The Farrier
Ten years - can you believe it
what a talented woman


Monday 26 May 2008

Leonardslee Lakes and Gardens Part 2

In response to those who queried the pink flower in my last post
It is a Rock Rose
I grew it from a cutting taken from a friend's garden
After 200 years, this garden at Leonardslee is often described as the
"most beautiful landscape garden in Europe in May"
I think I would agree with that.


We saw the rock garden in part 1, but now let's walk through the main garden.
We will walk the many paths that wind around this 200 acres of paradise.We are going to be walking up and down the steep slopes and around the 7 lakes at the bottom.
We will walk the wooded slopes steeped in Azaleas, the Magnolias and Camelias having finished and enjoy the
contrast of the wild Bluebells.
We will not miss the reflections in the lakes,
the Philip Jackson sculptures and the
wallabies brought to the garden 100 years ago as a way of keeping the grass clipped.
The white wallabies are a rare species.
They are moved around the garden as necessary




















Have you noticed how often this man appears in my photos!
He's a saint actually to hang around while I do all this photography!









I'm 'stumped'






Beautiful reflection



























Behind the scenes


































We did take 4 breaks
coffee, lunch, ice-cream and afternoon tea
When we had seen the rock garden and these main gardens there was still the amazing dolls house and the vintage cars
so do come back soon and enjoy