Mr C was off on a stag do last Saturday, so I decided to head up north, meet up with my parents and explore somewhere where we used to go when I was a child.I have very fond memories of going for lunch in the Big Kitchen at Hardwick Hall. Now that I'm a bit larger myself, the kitchen didn't seem quite as big as I remembered, but the rest of the hall certainly didn't disappoint. Bess of Hardwick used to be the second most powerful woman in the country, following Queen Elizabeth I, and the house gives the visitor an insight as to just what that power brought in terms of a home. ... read more
Dig In Seeds
I was delighted to see this message when I opened the front door this evening. It seems like an age ago that I ordered by seeds via the BBC Dig In website after hearing about it on Gardeners' World. A shame that it took them so long to arrive, but I'm just glad that they are here. There's a useful little booklet accompanying the seeds that tells you exactly what to do with them. Sadly I think that when we get our garden in July it will be a little late to plant anything this year (mainly as we'll have to actually dig the beds first) but fingers crossed ... read more
A cross-stitch garden reminder
After such a fantastic day at Heligan to celebrate our wedding anniversary I really wanted to have a physical souvenir from our day to sit along side all my wonderful memories. Between us we too plenty of photographs on the day, but an amble around the gift shop found a little something extra.Like many visitor attractions that attract female visitors of a certain age demographic, Heligan has a small selection of cross-stitch kits available. These ones all seemed to be produced by Sybilla Davis Designs, a local company specialising in Cornish designs. I wasn't so keen on some of ... read more
An anniversary at Heligan
Mr C and I decided to spend our wedding anniversary itself at The Lost Gardens of Heligan. Both of us had read about the gardens and seen them featured on various television programmes and as soon as we planned our trip to Cornwall it was obvious that we'd have to visit. For those of you that aren't aware of the history of the gardens here is a very brief summary. The gardens were originally part of the Heligan estate owned by the Tremayne family. A team of gardeners were employed there, but many of them were called away to serve in the First World War. As a result of the ... read more