The Grass Beneath My Feet, a Walk on Sand...

I have been off the radar for some time - the result of some unexpected and major life events - but am making a return to blogland now. I am, however, currently still in the process of looking for a new flat to move into, so I may still be slightly sporadic for a while at least. But I'm definitely back, and I have a little stash of things to post about. 

The first of these is my Bank Holiday weekend visit to Kew Gardens, in the last week before my year's membership expires. Fortunately I opted to go yesterday, when there was some sun and warmth about, rather than today, which is all about torrential downpours and hanging about inside with cats (I'm currently cat-sitting...).

In addition to being the last week of my year's membership, it's also the last few weeks of the current event running at Kew Gardens, called Plantasia and being all about the healing power of plants. In addition to Plant Family Croquet (see the picture above), where I learnt about how plants are turned into medicines, I went on the Barefoot Walk. (The Barefoot Walk came before the croquet for me, hence the slightly dirty feet in the croquet picture!)

The Barefoot Walk had you removing your shoes and walking across and through various textures and surfaces, including stones, bark, charcoal, logs, water... and thick, sticky mud.

Starting off...

You could opt to take the dry route or the mud... I went with the mud, of course!

A fork in the road...

It was wonderful and fun, and I opted to leave my shoes off afterwards, except when I got to croquet, as I thought I might not be allowed to play barefoot! But I'm a great believer of slipping off your shoes whenever you feasibly can when you come into contact with the natural earth. It is definitely re-energising at any time, and I very much enjoyed all the textures and temperatures and squelching of the Barefoot Walk.

Then I checked out the Healing Giant - a garden planted in the shape of a human body, with the relevant herbs and such planted in the areas that they are reported to heal.

But what was my summery Kew outfit for this adventure, aside from my new(ish) blue shoes? Well, it was my jolly daffodil/ray of sunshine Easter dress. Which is a good thing as I never got around to posting any Easter outfit photos here as Easter Sunday was such a rainy, un-photogenic day this year. And what's the best thing about this dress, apart from the fact that it's such a happy colour, and exactly the colour dress I've been wanting for ages? I made it myself!

Yes, indeedy, I bought a 1960s pattern from Patterns from the Past and headed out to Walthamstow Markets, then got out my neglected sewing machine and whipped up this baby. It wasn't smooth sailing either, as I launched straight in without trying the sizing beforehand and the bodice was WAY too big around but also WAY too short. So I had to adjust it to be slimmer and add in some length. Fortunately, I could work it so that the seam where I had to sew in the extra strip of fabric came under the bust and it ended up not looking like an accident...

A close-up to allow you to appreciate the fancy contrast hand-stitched bit around the collar (that was actually part of the pattern, not an accident correction...)

Oh, and the other awesome thing about this dress? There's a matching jacket! But that's in storage at the moment as part of the flat-moving process, so I teamed it with a cardigan instead when it got a little bit chillier yesterday.

Dress: made by me
Cardigan: Charity shop
Hat: Accessorize
Shoes: Jones Bootmaker

And here are some flowers to complement the colours of my dress. As I suggested, the two shades of yellow I picked for my dress were inspired by daffodils, appropriately for the timing of an Easter dress. But these flowers are nice too... and there's some bees in there, as an added bonus.

So, I will leave you with a few lines from one of my favourite Belle & Sebastian songs, Asleep on a Sunbeam, which feel especially appropriate to the Barefoot Walk and the last days of the season:

Another summer's passing by

All I need is somewhere I can feel the grass beneath my feet

A walk on sand, a fire I can warm my hands

My joy will be complete.

And, indeed, it follows on to be appropriate for my flat-hunting:

I thought about a new destination

I'm never short of new inspiration

Roll out the map and mark it with a gin...

Good bye, Kew! It's been nice having a year with you. Maybe we'll do it again sometime. 

If you want to check out my other posts of Kew through the seasons, you can enjoy another August, October, November (2011), February and May. Also, January at Wakehurst, Kew's sister gardens.

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.

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.