Rainy Day Gardens

When I visited the deer park at Knole last summer, I noted with some sense of regret that the walled gardens at the property are open on Tuesdays only over the late spring and summer. I love an historic garden, but when does one ever have a free Tuesday when one works full time in an office? If you have a Tuesday off, it's generally because you also happen to be abroad as part of a longer break.

However, I was delighted to discover that my new place of work has a few extra bonus days off each year in additional to the usual ones, one of which is the Tuesday following the late May Bank Holiday. So I knew immediately what I was going to do with my day, come rain or shine. And boy, did it rain! But that's okay, because I had my brand new wellies.

My new wellies were just one part of my incredibly generous parting gift from my former workmates. One of my friends took note of my comment that I was in need of a pair of fit, respectable, good wellies. My new job is likely to require walking around a fair few churchyards, which can be very wet underfoot, so it was thought that furnishing me with wellies would be a good idea for seeing me off on my way.

So when I knew what the weather was to be for my Knole visit, I dressed from the wellies up. I went with a fitted green jacket (part of a 1940s suit) and shirt for a respectable country look, but coupled with a denim skirt to keep it from being too dressy for a muddy, puddly garden romp.

And I had a delightful time in the garden in the rain. Yes, I couldn't sit down and enjoy a book or anything like that but I marched through with my wellies and umbrellas, unhindered. What a wonderful, extensive gardens, full of many hidden treats within the 'Wilderness' and all around.

Because my wander around the gardens was naturally slightly inhibited by the weather, I also had plenty of time to explore the house, which I missed on my last visit as I was too busy enjoying the fine summery day. No photography was allowed inside, but sometimes that's kind of preferable, because you can just look without feeling as though you have to capture...

The house was itself wonderful, and I would definitely recommend a visit. The spaces were amazing, the stories fascinating and the collection full of fabulous and exquisite objects, furniture and paintings. I enjoyed hearing about the Spangle Bedroom, which takes its name from a bed with curtains which, in their Elizabethan heyday, would have shimmered and sparkled with the firelight reflecting off the thousands of spangles or sequins that formed part of the decorative embroidery.

The Spangle Bed (Image source: Knole Conservation Team Blog)

So, all up, a rather satisfying day of rainy day walking, historic interiors... and a perfectly warm and delicious toasted cheese and bacon bagel bought at a bargain price from a local bagel shop on the way back to the station... Bliss!

Go Right at Buckingham Palace...

It was a beautiful day in London today for Bank Holiday Sunday (though tomorrow's forecast is not so ideal... Never mind!). In an appropriately leisurely fashion, I therefore took the time to smell the roses in Hyde Park. To get there, I hopped on my trusty bicycle. As I was looking up my route from Islington before I headed off, I was saying the instructions out loud to help them stick in my head. And as I did so, I was struck how much it sounded like something from a children's book about London...

"Along the Strand and through Trafalgar Square...

... up The Mall (through Admiralty Arch)...

... then right at Buckingham Palace..."

I love how a commute through London can be so iconic and take in such sites and more without even trying!

Although it was a perfect day to be outside, I spent a few hours in the V&A before getting to Hyde Park. It's been quite some time since I was last there and I've been looking for an opportunity to get there for the past few weeks. It didn't seem like a waste to be inside a museum, especially after my lovely cycle (it's so much more relaxed cycling on a weekend then during weekday rush hour!).

Some of the contemporary display in the silver gallery at the V&A

But after a couple of hours, the sunshine was calling me, so I headed back out and to Hyde Park. I was enticed into the rose gardens there, where I stopped to stroll, admire and inhale... and to take some pictures.

Pink roses for my pink outfit!

Hope that you've all had a lovely weekend, and that those in the UK who get a bonus day off tomorrow have a good one.

Existential, Unrequited Love Letter from Salford

I was in Manchester over the past few days, and my friend and I went on a magical musical adventure around the city, seeing some of the significant Mancunian music-related sites. This included a trip to Salford Lads Club (don't you love the fact that it's 'lads' rather than 'boys'?) to strike a heaven-knows-I'm-miserable-now, Smiths-esque pose, inspired by the famous shot in The Queen is Dead album sleeve.

Lisa Marie, May 2014

I think this is the first time I've appeared in my glasses on this blog, which feels somehow appropriate for the Smiths' aesthetic. I don't need them all the time - just for seeing details, like when I'm catching trains, and reading things from a distance, and when I fancy seeing everything in super-sharp focus, which is often the case when I'm going on devoted architectural wanderings...

The Smiths, c. 1986

Kew Garden Florals

It's been quite a while since my last Kew visit. So with the long weekend, good weather, and my determination to do some proper, carefree unwinding following the hectic end days of my long-term job, it seemed like a good idea to head out there today.

This is what I saw, and this is what I wore. Flowers and colours in abundance, in both instances! I wore tulips, thinking it was about the right time for them but I saw very few of them in fact, and think I may have been a tad late in my timing. Oh well, there were plenty of other things to see...

A plane caught my attention... One of the few problems with Kew is the massive number of loud, loud planes
that go over. It somewhat interrupts the sound of leaves rustling in breeze...

Making friends with trees again

Bumble bee! I love bees!

Dress: Beyond Retro
Jacket: Cow (Sheffield branch)
Belt: Beyond Retro
Shoes: Jones Bootmaker
Bracelet: Recent gift from a friend
Earrings (little red beads that are barely visible!): market in Nottingham

I photographed some of the last of the season's roses last year... and this is one of the
first of this year

Statue entitled 'A Sower'

Some ironwork photographed once before, but now with leaves on the tree and a
brighter background

Cricket on Kew Green after the Gardens

Happy Sunday! And happy May Bank Holiday to those other lucky people who get the day off.

New Blue Shoes

I bought new blue shoes yesterday, on the way home from my first day of my new work, walking back from Westminster to Clerkenwell because of the tube strike and the puncture on my bike wheel.

I went into a shop thinking (in the immortal words of Eve Rice in her classic children's book and one that has stuck with me through the years): "I want new blue, nice blue, nice new blue shoes." 

... And I found some! What are the chances?

Shoes: Callaloo, Jones Bootmaker

Pop back soon to see them styled... And happy May Day to one and all!