A Morning at Felley Priory

Hi there everyone 😀

With Martin being off work for three weeks we had kind of decided that we should be able to manage at least one day out a week, amidst the other necessary catching up with chores and appointments.

The plan was that week 1 we would have a big day out on our own, week 2 we would have a day out with mum and dad and week 3 we would finally get to have our day out with Jackie and Phil, to celebrate the boys birthdays from back in March and April. All of course were weather dependent.

We were due to have our big day out on the Thursday of Martin's first week off, following a day at the hospital on Wednesday. We were in a real quandary on where to go ... I really fancied the coast, but we are just so far away and with it being school holidays and due to be about 30° we neither fancied the crowds, nor the traffic.

As it happened we were just about to set off for the hospital on the Wednesday when we had a call confirming that Martin's appointment had been cancelled. Well we were up and about so decided that we would head out on the Wednesday instead. It was due to be just a little bit cooler so thought it might be nicer for wandering around. In the end we opted for visiting a couple of gardens that are included in the Gardeners' World two for one scheme.

We started off at Felley Priory  in Nottinghamshire,which is about 45 minutes away. The plan was to spend the morning there and then head over to Melbourne Hall, near Derby, for the afternoon.

We had absolutely no idea what to expect at Felley Priory, but it is literally half a mile from Junction 27 of the M1, via a very unassuming driveway, with no real indication of what was to come. It really is one of Nottinghamshire's best kept secrets.

We parked up on a fairly small car park and, with no real signage, headed further along the driveway ...

It certainly all looked very intriguing and we couldn't wait to find out what there was to be seen. We carried on along the driveway, passing the house on the right. There is plenty of history to read about the house and its transformation from a small hermitage back in 1156. It is now a beautiful family home and it is just the gardens that are open to the public ...
We spotted a sign for the tea room and nursery and decided we would have a breakfast stop before going any further. To get to the tea room you have to walk through the nursery, which was a real surprise and a lot bigger than we would have expected ... and very well stocked ...


At the other side of the nursery is a little wooden gate ...

... leading to the tea room. If we had been surprised by nursery, we were pretty much in total shock by what we found through that little gate. The tea room was far bigger than we would have expected and there was lots of outside seating ...
I couldn't resist a wander around the garden ...

... before having a look inside, which was lovely ... and the cake looked amazing, but 10.30 in the morning was too early for cake ... yes, even for me. We found a table outside, under the shelter of a marquee and Martin opted for a toasted sandwich and I went for a sausage roll ...
Ready to explore further, it was back through the nursery, where we paid for our garden visit ... just £6 for the two of us, with our Gardeners' World two for one card ... and then across the drive to the entrance of the garden, which is at the back of the house ...
We didn't really know where to head first but ended up opting to walk along the back of the house to start us off ...

The first thing that really caught our eye were these rose arches ...

We carried on a little further and got our first glimpse of the herbaceous borders, which were some of the finest that either of us have ever come across ...
The views out across the garden and on to the open countryside beyond were just lovely. You really wouldn't know you were just half a mile from the M1.

Round the far end of the house we found this ...

Labelled as Romneya Coulteri, it was absolutely stunning and something we'd never come across before.

From here we headed into the White Garden ...
... which was absolutely afroth with gypsophilia and astrantia ...

From here it was into the rose garden, where we were just a little too late to see the roses at their best, but there were more delightful herbaceous borders and we were particularly taken with this, though we aren't sure what it is ...

... and the agapanthus were just amazing ...

We emerged from the Rose Garden at the bottom of those amazing borders that we'd seen earlier on ..


We couldn't resist finding out what lay behind this gate ...
... and made our way through to find ourselves in a small arboretum ...

From the arboretum we made our way along the bottom part of the garden, where we could look back up at the house and the topiary ...



By now the sun was shining and there was plenty of blue sky and I couldn't resist nipping back up to those herbaceous borders to catch them in the sunshine ...

The last part of the garden for us to see was the pond, which was looking very lush and green and we could see the tea room in the background ...
So that was about it ... though we couldn't leave with one last look at those borders ...

We chatted to a fair amount of other visitors whilst wandering round the garden. It was interesting to hear that every single person that we spoke to had been before. Lots recommended visiting in the spring when the daffodils are out ... I've already made a note on my calendar.

We loved this garden and will most definitely visit again ... I can see us becoming regular visitors ... it's not too far away, it has good opening times and the tea room is a real treat.

For now though, it was time to head off to Melbourne Hall for our second visit of the day ... we couldn't imagine it could be as lovely as here though, but I'll tell you all about that in another post 😀

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Joy in the Everyday Ordinary - July, 21-31

Hi there everyone 😀

I really can not quite believe the pace with which this year is passing. July has just whizzed by in a flash of scorching temperatures and driving rain ... what I wouldn't give for a bit of consistent weather ... a nice comfortable 24 degrees would be lovely, with a hint of a gentle breeze. Warm enough to be outside in summer clothes, but cool enough to not mind moving about.

We are just over half way through Martin's three weeks off work and, whilst we have managed to get a fair few bits done, as well as getting out and about, there is still plenty on the list that needs tackling.

We have a couple of welcome quiet weekends coming up, which we are both looking forward to and then, before we know it, September will be upon us and it will all be about holiday planning.

But for now ... here are our last 10 days ...

Day 21 - Our regular slot at our monthly craft fair, where these allium caught my eye on my wanderings.

Day 22 - It's time for the next splash of purple in the raised brick planter on the patio. The hydrangeas are coming on a treat.

Day 23 - It was Tuesday and it was hot, hot, hot. We were planning on a gardening day but it was too hot really, though lots of jet washing did get done. We finished the day with our second BBQ of the week.

Day 24 - Wednesday and Martin's hospital appointment was cancelled at the last minute. We decided to make the most of the good weather and had a lovely day out visiting two gardens that we had not been to before and they were a real treat, with one providing us with the best display of herbaceous perennials we have come across. 24 July must have been a corker of a day last year too as I had a memory show on Facebook of our day out to Weston-super-Mare at this time last year. 

Day 25 - I have to say that, for me, today was too flipping hot. Too hot to be out and too hot to be in. I was suffering with a load of itchy bites that I picked up on our day out yesterday and it was just one of those days where you just don't know what to do with yourself. Today, I found joy in dipping my arms up to the elbows in a sink full of cold water. We struggled to decide what we fancied eating and ended up with a sausage fritatta mash up, which we ate in the garden once it had cooled down a little bit.

Day 26 - It was Friday and another hot one, though the weather was due to break for the weekend when we were planning an afternoon tea party in the garden. Oh well, the show needed to go on so it was an afternoon of baking for me.

Day 27 - It was time for the first of the Christmas gift afternoon teas. We had a lovely afternoon and evening with plenty to eat, drink and lots of fun playing board games. We had a dig through the bits and pieces that we had collected from Martin's mum's house and actually used six of these China cups and saucers. They looked beautiful and there is nothing like drinking tea from a real china cup. It was a real joy to bring them back into service.

Day 28 - Just loving the sunflowers my lovely friend bought me yesterday.

Day 29 - A major blueberry harvest!

Day 30 - We were supposed to be on a day out garden visiting with mum and dad today but rain stopped play. We opted for an lunchtime trip to the cinema to watch Current Wars and an afternoon of holiday planning.

Day 31 - Martin's rearranged hospital appointment followed by a visit to the brewing shop and a cheeky breakfast on the way home, which was very nice but I forgot to take a photo of it. Back home and a bit of gardening for a neighbour who is not too well and using some of the excess blueberries.

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