Ickworth House & Gardens Pt. 2

Continuing our stroll through Ickworth House
Note the curvature of the Rotunda
lots of pillars which I guess are needed to compensate for the lack of straight walls

The Library

Sitting room

the outer corridor which circles the inner living areas

but also in places connects rooms

and back to the entrance hall

with the central dome in the ceiling

and upstairs to several different levels

I like these circular open areas that look out onto

the central area

we are on the top level now

a bedroom, obviously

I guess this was from the time that water had to be carried into bathing areas

the silver room

A model of the house with the central rotunda sliced off at different levels to give an idea of the positioning of the rooms

we will now descend and will give you a feel of the gardens in next post

Garden and Grands and House Church in November

Finished at last - my Quirky corner mirror

It has taken so long through bad weather, guests, Alan having a nasty cold for 3 weeks, and the fact that our fence is not level or straight.

Our neighbours over the back are several feet lower than us due to living on a hill

so we are stuck with a concrete holding wall and concrete posts that go deep into the ground which are not in line from the time the house was built I guess

Bringing the fence in a couple of feet would not be a good idea as this would leave a 'no man's area' which would be overcome with weeds in no time

so it was not just a job of hanging the mirror but attaching it to a frame to make it level

I have always liked the idea of seeing my garden in reverse

and the sense of seeing beyond the fence!

I am sure there will be lots of pictures of this next Summer plus some bunting in the corner

Rose bed emptied and turned over

Will be planting with just one colour 

A David Austin deep red with gorgeous perfume

Having a change from mixed colour beds 

and this rose bed will be grassed over

when we first planted this one the shrubs on the left were small

now they are all mature it leaves little room for working around them so watch this space

we get so flooded here - this was after the water had receded

The delicacy of fading Autumn colours

enjoyed having the Grandchildren to stay during school half term

When did pyjamas begin to have Tutus on them ?

My first visit to a play barn (though not the Grands of course)

Here we see Oliver (centre) with friend

and 3 year old Rebekah coming down backwards

This was just after opening time

by the time we left it looked like a frenzy

They enjoyed the morning with the Grandchildren from next door

all of them with such high energy charging non-stop for nearly 2 hours - Grand parents and Mums exhausted from watching!

Had 24 adults and 4 children from House church for Soup and bread last night before a time of sharing

I made 12 portions of Carrot, Orange and Ginger soup

while others brought about 30 portions between them

Carrot, Lentils and Chilli, Mixed vegetables and Root Vegetables

Heating so much soup up at one time in the kitchen caused the windows in my kitchen , back sitting room and conservatory to stream with condensation afterwards

As outside was cold and wet it made me long for the warm Summer nights when one can open windows and doors