Misty Morning

 Sunlight was struggling hard to break through the heavy mist which had enveloped the garden this morning.  More fog than mist as the bottom of our side of the Crescent wasn't visible.  Now the houses are bathed in bright sunshine.

Cobwebs hung from trees like velvet trip wires or skipping ropes.

Spiders had devised intricate lacy patterns between the leaves and flower heads of the verbenas.

Earlier in the week we had a stroll around Biddulph Grange Gardens as I wanted to do a spot of gift shopping there.  First things first on a cold morning was a warming hot chocolate in the cafe.

The garden was looking tidy and winter ready.  Lots of work was being done.

Mrs Bateman's Dahlia Walk had been cleared, the corms stored away ready for next year.  Below is a photo I took last month.

 

Mrs Bateman's Garden, October 5th 2024

Festive Christmas lights were being fitted along the walkways and amongst the trees.

I liked these lights on the path to the Geological Gallery.

They were switched on,  I expect everything will look spectacular on dark, winter evenings.

The gallery was open so we had a wander inside, it seems to be complete now after all the work of the last few years to recreate the orginal.  

Plenty of leaf gathering and pruning was still happening across the garden.

I remember a few years ago we visited and these berry bushes were full of Redwings, a little early this year for them although I have seen reports of them being about.  We only spotted Robins and Blackbirds around the garden and coots on the lake.

All for now.

 

A Bit of Family History

 I've been taking advantage of the free access to the 1921 census offered by Find My Past over last weekend.  I'd already paid for the copies of returns for both my sets of grandparents and found my parents listed along with some of their brothers and sisters.  This time I was looking for great grandparents.  On my father's side three of the four great grandparents were still alive.  On my mother's side all four were no longer alive.  Three of those great grandparents are buried in the same cemetry as my maternal grandparents and my father.  My mother is buried with my step-father in a nearby village churchyard.

I've also found my father's elder sister Millicent Mabel (always known as Millie) on the 1921 census.  She was in service with a retired land agent and his wife.  Edwin Henry and Emily Ada Story lived at  Brownhill House in Hucknall, Nottinghamshire.  Millie was one of three girls working for them and they were cook, housemaid and under housemaid.  There was also a butler called William Lionel Graves and he came from Tewksbury in Gloucestershire.  Two of the girls were from Upper Midway near Burton-on-Trent and one of them was my Granny's younger sister Clara so an aunt to Millie.  The other girl, had the wonderful name of Eveline Modwina Staley and she came from Ashby-de-la-Zouche, Leicestershire.

All this is quite fascinating, probably only to me but I'm enjoying myself with family history again.  

Granny Rose

 For years I've wanted to do something about my father's grave as it was rapidly deteriorating.  It had been there since 1955, although the stone surround was added by my Granny Rose in 1961.  I applied to the local council and was recommened a memorial stonemason and then had to apply to take over the management of the grave from my Granny who'd died in 1963.  It entailed a visit to a solicitor to get a witness signature. 

My father, middle back, his cousin and uncle both called Tom and a couple of pals.

 All done quite quickly and the replacement stone is now in place.  I've been sent photos but have yet to go and see it. 

Into November

 Five things for Friday.

1. In the garden. 

Leaves and plenty of them from the Tulip tree all over the top lawn.  They have been raked up a couple of times so far and there are a lot more to come down.  Today there is a slight breeze blowing them about.

 

Our foxy visitor seems to have something wrong with its eye,  I'm not sure if this is permanent or if it will clear.  We have another fox that visits and that one has a slight limp.  Lets hope that clears up too.  Life is precarious for our urbn foxes. 

2. Lakeside Walks

Cormorant

 

Photos taken on a recent walk around Westport Lake.  There are not so many visitors now the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust has closed its visitor centre and cafe.  Such a shame, it was a lovely place for coffee overlooking the lake.  Many locals used it to meet friends and there was a good community spirit.  The city council are hoping to find someone to take over and are still maintaining the lakeside walks, car park and children's play area.

Muscovy duck and Runner duck

 

They are  always together and seem to be great pals.

3. Halloween

Lots of pumpkins and pumpkin carvings at Trentham gardens this week

 

4.  Autumn Colours

A quick walk at the Dorothy Clive gardens on Tuesday as it was quite damp and grey.  The wonderful colour in the trees and shrubs made up for the dismal day.

The tables in the cafe were decorated with fresh flowers and small squashes and gourds.

 

 

5. Recent reading

 

The Dark Wives by Ann Cleeves.  The latest novel featuring DI Vera Stanhope.  One of my favourite series of books

 

The Comfort of Ghosts by Jaqueline Winspear,  the very last Maisie Dobbs novel. Another of my favourite series.

Bournville by Jonathan Coe, set in and around the Bournville area of Birmingham.  It's the story of Mary and takes her and her family from the second World War through notable times in our recent history right up to the Covid 19 epidemic.  

 

It's another grey day here but at least the slight drizzle we had yesterday has disappeared.  I think more leaf raking and gathering is in order for this afternoon.

Snowdogs at Buxton

We chose to visit Buxton on a beautiful day.  At first, as we travelled along the A53 past the Roaches and the Winking Man we were in mist and low cloud but as we descended into the town this cleared and half an hour later the sun was out giving a golden glow to everything.

We parked at the Pavilion and popped inside for a coffee and to pick up a map to tell us where the Snowdogs were.

Here we spotted the first Snowdog.

Elf, artist Amanda Quellin 

The Snowdogs are, of course, from the popular cartoon The Snowman and the Snowdog by Raymond Briggs.

The Snowdogs are a Wild in Art event, sponsored by Markovitz in aid of Blythe House Hospice.  There are twelve to find spread across the town outside various landmarks,  in parks and by the riverside.  The furthest out of town is at Poole's Cavern.

We took all morning to wander around the town.  The dogs were proving very popular.

The Heron below was popular too as it strutted proudly along the river. I think it was used to having an audience.

Below outside the Opera House

 

Classic by the Wild in Art Studio. 

On top of Monument Hill.

Boats on the lake in Pavilion Gardens.

 

All Twelve Snowdogs on display until 15th December.

We did find all of the Snowdogs, the last one up at Poole's Cavern probably my favourite.

 

Rosy Posy by Jessica Perrin.

 

We ate our lunch outside next to Rosy Posy, pieces of homemade pizza and the last two homemade date slices. 

  In my last post I promised a second post about Clumber Park, that will come but I wanted to show you the Snowdogs whilst the day was fresh in my memory.

 

I've added links to the places mentioned on our journey. 

Clumber Park

In the walled garden and glass house at Clumber Park in Nottinghamshire it was all about Apples, Pumpkins and Squashes.

It was a lovely sunny afternoon

 The apples looked wonderful against the warm red brick walls.  There were many different varieties.

In the Apple store there were boxes full of them for sale but still many windfalls in the garden.

The walls and ceiling were full of bunches of dried flowers and grasses.

 

We missed the Apple day as we were there the day before.  I expect it was very popular.

 

 

In the garden the Auricula theatre had been filled with dried flowers and apples.

In the main entance to the glass house were lots of displays of pumpkins and squashes.

Plenty of places to sit, both inside and out.

 

It was warm enough to sit outside with an ice cream but we decided to head towards the cafe for an afternoon cup of tea.

On the way out of the walled garden I spotted a Medlar tree.

 

I've never tasted a Medlar, Have you?

 

After some refreshment in the cafe, where we reminisced about childhood visits, it was time to walk down to the lakeside through the autumnal trees before we moved on.  I'll be back with more in a second post.