The Reading Corner :: July

Hi there everyone 😀

I know it's a little bit late but I did manage to do a bit of reading during July ...

After really enjoying Lee Child's The Midnight Line back in June I managed to snag a couple more of the Jack Reacher series from dad's bookshelf ... starting with ...

A Wanted Man
Lee Child

The story starts with Jack hitching a lift and as the story unfolded it was plain to see that he had got himself mixed up in another web of intrigue and adventure. It's hard to see how so many strange events can be encountered by just one chap when just moving from 'a to b'.

It was another gripping tale and I really enjoyed it and finished reading it in just a couple of days.

Having now read two of the series back to back I decided I wanted to go back to the start and read from the beginning. Following my last Reading Corner post a local friend let me know that they had all of his books and that I was welcome to borrow them.

I picked up six to get me started and went back to the beginning eager to find out a little bit of Jack's history and how he had ended up in his current position.

The Killing Floor

Lee Child

The tale began with Jack six months out of the military police and deciding to just spend some time travelling about ... no ties and no real possessions, just buying what he needed on his way.

Within what seemed like five minutes of arriving in town, and in the midst of his breakfast, Jack's first adventure begins with him getting arrested for something he clearly didn’t do.

One thing that I found strange about this first book was that it’s written in the first person, whereas the later ones I’ve read have been written in the third person ... it certainly took a bit of getting used to and had me wondering when and why this perspective changed.

It was also odd reading about Jack seeming to be falling into a romantic relationship as this wasn’t something I’d encountered in the other two I'd previously read ... obviously having read ahead I knew it couldn’t become something permanent but I was interested in finding out where it went. As the tale went on I could only imagine one ending ... would I be right?

A massive coincidence introduced Jack's brother and the way that ended up kind of explained how Jack really is a loner with no ties to anywhere.

It was another good read but I think I may need to leave it a bit before picking up another ... you can have too much of a good thing you know 😜

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Please note ...

The Blogger interface has changed and it's taking me a while to get to grips with using it ... especially when it comes to positioning photographs. Please bear with my whilst I get used to  how everything works 😀

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Random Ramblings :: Life at Number 27

Hi there everyone 😀

There really doesn’t seem to have been that much of note going on over here over the last couple of weeks. We do seem to have got into a bit of a routine and have got the chores back under control, whilst still managing to find time for making face coverings, gardening and the occasional trip out. I have to say it’s been nice having the house all reasonably tidy and the ironing under control for more than five minutes.

We’ve still not really made many changes following the relaxing of lockdown rules, but are continuing to watch what is happening, both locally and around the World, with interest. I am constantly surprised by photos I see on Facebook of people who seem to think that the need for social distancing is no more ... with large groups meeting for BBQs and grandparents snuggling up with their grandchildren. 

I have to keep reading the rules to see if I've missed something but no ... it's still a maximum of six people allowed to gather outdoors from any number of households and only two households indoors, up to a maximum of 30. From conversations that I have with other people it seems that number 30 is cause for lots of confusion but hey, what others choose to do is up to them and I don't want to turn into a Covid 19 rules bore, so you do your thing and I'll do mine 😀

I did like this though, which was shared on Facebook and makes perfect sense to me ...

In other news we did have another outing a week or so ago to meet up with an old friend. This time I think we got a little bit complacent and arranged to meet up at Coombe Abbey. As soon as we arrived we could see that it was going to be a lot busier than we really felt comfortable with.

We had a bit of a walk, trying to keep our distance, which was tricky at times ...

We had chosen our parking spot carefully though and once back at the car, had a really nice picnic sat in our camping chairs at the back of the car.

It was nice to get out and good to catch up but I think it just reinforced the importance of doing our research before heading out to new places and being very selective with where we go.

We did get a bit excited about the possibility of visiting the gardens at Alton Towers, after seeing them on Gardeners World. They were offering a limited number of garden visit only tickets for a reasonable price. Sadly we left it too late and ended up missing out by one day as the park had fully reopened by the time we tried to book.

There has also been a bit of crafting and I have managed to make something that wasn’t a face covering ... I had a request for a drawstring mobile phone case, which went well ... at the second attempt ...

I've also made another embroidered gift card for my Goddaughter who's baby girl arrived safely during July ...

... and I finally got to grout the mosaic vase that I did on an old roofing slate ...

I'm not entirely sure what the plans are for this as yet but I have pressed some flowers from the garden that I may somehow try and incorporate, but I'll keep you posted.

We have also done a bit of gentle pottering in the garden with plenty of fruit and vegetable harvesting going on and actually managed to spend a week where we were able to eat something from the garden every single day.

It's not all been about the fruit and veg though ... the agapanthus are looking stunning ... my splitting and re-potting of them certainly seems to have done the job ...

... as are the hanging baskets and pots ... the fuchsias that we saved from last year are really doing well ...

This is the cup and saucer vine that we have grown from seed. There is no sign of any flower buds yet, but I'm hoping that it is going to be a stunner towards the end of summer ...

We also managed a garden catch up with friends this week and there may just have been a little bit of baking going on ...

Whilst lockdown has been good for the garden that is most definitely not the case for the waistline!

We’ve continued with our fortnightly food shop ... wearing face coverings for the first time ... which was certainly an experience that I never imagined I would have whilst living in this country. Whilst I can totally see the point and will be complying for as long as is required I can’t say it’s something that I particularly enjoyed ... it was good to see the majority of other shoppers complying and I have to say it did make me feel just that little bit safer.

Oh ... I did have a hair appointment booked for this week ... it's doubly stressful as, not only is there Covid to tend with, I’ve had to find a new salon as the one I’d been going to for 20 odd years has closed down. Anyway I called in for a skin test last week and ended up having to cancel my appointment as it just didn't feel comfortable in the salon at all. I have managed to book in somewhere else for next week as I am more than ready to get rid of the grey and the split ends ... hopefully it will feel a lot more comfortable.

There has also been lots of progress with the sharing of Will's WW1 story on the Away From the Western Front website and we heard recently that it has now been published. It is fabulous to see his story out there somewhere other than on my blog ... it’s always felt a bit frivolous it sitting on a blog called Life of Pottering and Away From the Western Front is a far more fitting place for his story to be shared.

Normally at this time of year I would be working my way through sharing our March and June trips away with you but sadly both were cancelled and I seem to be struggling for inspiration of where we can visit next for the moment ... it all just feels quite ordinary ... not that there's really anything wrong with that 💜

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Random Ramblings :: Time to Harvest

Hi there everyone 😀

If you are a regular reader you will be more than aware that this year we have had another go at growing more edibles in the garden, especially in our new vegetable beds ...

Well ... we are now starting to see the fruits (and vegetables) of our labours and last week we actually managed to harvest or eat something that we'd grown ourselves every single day ...

Monday 27, July

We started off the week with plenty of crisp iceberg lettuce for our salad ...

It's the first time we've grown iceberg lettuce and whilst they don't quite 'heart up' like a supermarket one does they have been really reliable and the leaves taste just like the supermarket version.

Tuesday 28, July

We added a bowl full of spinach to our salmon curry ... a recipe taken from the Britain's Best Home Cook show, which has definitely become a favourite ...

Spinach has been another first for us this year and seriously, nothing could be easier to grow. The seeds are a nice size so can be planted spaced out so no need for thinning and they just grow really quickly. We just keep picking the leaves and within a few days another batch have grown to take their place. We are already on our second sowing ... the first was just in a bucket, but the second is now in the vegetable bed.

Wednesday, 29 July

Wednesday's pickings came from my herb box ... basil for our Abruzzi Lamb ...

I am so pleased with how the basil is doing. The plants you can see in this photo are grown from cuttings taken from a supermarket basil that we bought a good two or three months ago. I've taken more cuttings this week and the original plant has been split in two and both are still going strong. I am aiming to have a season's supply of basil from just the one plant and so far it's looking good.

Thursday, 30 July

Today we had more lettuce for our hot smoked salmon rolls which we had for lunch. I was also given some plums, harvested from my sister's Cornish garden, which we made up into jars of sugar free plum jam ...

Friday, 31 July 

Today it was courgettes, of which we have a number building up. We had ground beef strogonoff and just chopped one up and added it in to bulk it out a bit ...

If you fancy having a go at this recipe we also switched the butter for cooking spray and the full fat cream cheese and sour cream for a low fat cream cheese with garlic and herbs.

Saturday, 1 August

Today we used the first of our green beans ... on the side of a Slimming World friendly lasagne ...

This wasn't the only thing that got picked on Saturday ... I picked the last of the blueberries for dad to have with his yoghurt ... we just have no more room in the freezer ... another big bowl of spinach to wilt and freeze and another courgette ...

We still have beetroot, carrots, turnips, cauliflower, brocolli and leeks to come ... none of which are looking too promising at the moment, but time will tell 🤞🤞🤞

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Exploring :: Sezincote ... India in The Cotswolds

Hi there everyone 😀

We’ve continued trying to find somewhere nice and quiet to visit for a day out once a week and last week we got to tick somewhere off the list that I’ve wanted to visit for a while.

I first became aware of Sezincote from a Gardeners World programme and straight away I added it to the list of gardens that I wanted to visit. It just looked very different to anywhere we’d been before and it was in travelling distance for a day trip.

I’d originally hoped to tie it in with a visit to Bourton House Garden, which is literally just down the road but, despite having reopened following lockdown it had closed again as a result of a staff member falling ill ... just another reminder that this virus is most definitely still around and things are not really back to normal just yet.

We had also hoped to be able to sneak a visit to the Cotswold Lavender Farm which only opens to the public for about a month each year and having seen photos of other people’s visit I really wanted to be able to take some of my own.

We had to book tickets on line for Sezincote and it was really reassuring to see that just 30 tickets were available for arrival for each hour of the day. We were hoping it would be nice and quiet and we would have no problems with social distancing.

We arrived quite early so decided to have a drive up to the Batsford Garden Centre, which is next to the arboretum, another place I’d like to visit, and dead opposite the entrance for Sezincote.

We had a lovely walk round the garden centre ... they were very well organised and it was nice and quiet.

Just before our scheduled time slot for visiting we headed back to Sezincote and made our way down the long, narrow and windy lane which took us to the garden ... this was our first view of the house which isn’t open at the moment ...

The road took us past the entrance to the garden and up a pretty long and steep hill to the car park ... already we weren’t looking forward to walking back to the car later ... especially as it was pretty warm already.

We were soon parked up and heading back down towards the property entrance, where we availed ourselves of the facilities before picking up our map and guidebook and heading in to explore ...

We headed over the Indian Bridge, pausing in to take in the view ...

... and to plan our route ...

We decided to head for the house first as it certainly looked like it would be something pretty different ...

This was our first view of the house from within the garden ...

There were a few moments taken admiring the old Hindustan ... 

... which was very plush inside ...

There was a real wow moment as we rounded the corner and could see the front of the house and the Persian garden with the orangery stretching away in a beautiful curve ...
It was absolutely stunning ... the weather certainly brought out the best of the view.

The Orangery was beautiful and just seemed to stretch away for ever ...
All of the doors were open and filled with huge potted fuchsias ... they were glorious ...

This is the view from the opposite end ...
... with the Orangery Pavilion ...

Apparently under normal circumstances you can take tea and cake in the Orangery, which I imagine would have been just lovely. Today though it was enough to just wander through taking in the views ...

We had a really good explore of the Persian Garden ... it was nice and quiet so being patient bought plenty of people free shots ...

Finally we decided to head up past the elephants ...
... from where there was a fabulous view of the whole of the property and the Persian Garden ...
We ended up at the top of the hill in the wildflower meadow ... passing the Dionysus Urn on our way ...

Martin was thrilled to find some orchids in flower ...

But for me ... it was definitely all about the view ... which just got better and better as we made our way through the mown footpath ...

To see the house in all its glory was a real treat and made the walk most definitely worth the effort ...

... especially when the sun put in another appearance ...
We made our way back down for one last wander round the Persian Garden which was now pretty much deserted ...
It was time to head for The Thornery, or water garden, and we took the path which took us past the Tent Room ...

The path brought us out at the top of the garden at the Surya Temple, which was a beautifully peaceful spot ...
... and I couldn't resist a sit on the Temple steps in the sunshine, just taking in the view and the sound of the fountain ...

By now it was pretty warm and it would have been wonderful just have dipped my toes in the cool water ... but decorum won out and you will be pleased to know that I didn't disgrace myself.

We carried on ... following the stream down through the garden, which was so lush and green ...

... to the Indian Bridge, which we'd crossed when first entering the property ...

The path took us under the bridge ...
... where we negotiated the stepping stones in the stream to bring us out by Snake Pool ...

 

We carried on down to the Island Pool before heading back up on the other side of the stream ...

By now we were seriously flagging, especially knowing that we still had that final drag to get us back to the car.

We took our time and stopped for a breather at a very conveniently placed bench back by the entrance before building up to the final leg ...
It was pretty warm and we were both seriously feeling it by the time we got back to the car ... we are both just so unfit!
After a cold drink and a few minutes to catch our breath we decided we would head for the Lavender Farm and see how busy it was.

It wasn't long before we spotted the purple of the lavender fields in the distance. As we got closer we could see that it looked very busy with people all over the place. We drove past the car park and decided that it was just too busy for us at the moment so decided to give it a miss.

We did have a drive round the lanes though in search of a quieter spot to perhaps capture the lavender and this is the best we could do ... not brilliant but better than nothing ...


By now we were more than ready for our picnic and decided we would head back to the Batsford Garden Centre and make use of one of their picnic tables which we’d noticed on our earlier visit ... we also popped into their Terrace Cafe, which was very quiet with lots of space, for a piece of cake and to avail ourselves of their facilities before heading for home.

We had a lovely day ... Sezincote is definitely worth a visit ... it is certainly different to anything else we’ve seen. And in normal times, we would definitely have partaken of tea and cake in that stunning Orangery ... which may just be worth going back for when things are just a little more normal.

Now to find somewhere for our next adventure ...

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