Five on an Friday in August

 Five random things to ponder upon on a Friday.

The Marigolds in the jug were taken out of the greenhouse where they had been companion plants for the tomatoes.  I love their bright colour but I had a feeling that they weren't seen as joyful flowers so I looked them up in the language of flowers.  Apparently in Victorian England they were seen as flowers of grief or despair, oh dear - but in Hindu and Mexican cultures they represent the warmth of the sun (well we certainly have that) positive energy and creativity.  I'll go with that one.

On a recent visit to a stately home (of which more later) we found this unusual monument in the nearby churchyard.  I've tried to find out more about it but with little success.  It is covered in moss which was bright green in the sunlight.  It was under a tree near a wall and was quite small.  Is it a child's grave?  It also looks a bit like an 18th century clergyman's collar with his two preaching bands at the neck,  or am I dreaming? Does anyone have any ideas?  

I've been enjoying reading in the afternoons or late evenings.  The Museum of Second Chances by Jo Leevers I enjoyed very much.  I've taken another book out of the library written by her and hope it will be as good.  The Burning Tide by William Shaw is also from the library.  It's the second of his Eden Driscoll series set in Teignmouth in Devon and I've just started reading it. Memories of childhood holidays in Teignmouth and Shaldon drifting through my mind when the author mentions certain places. A Year on the Fosse by Rick Thompson has been on my list for ages and I decided to treat myself to a copy.  The Fosse Way is a Roman road, 230 miles long that runs between Lincoln and Exmouth in Devon. We recently watched a tv documentary by Tom Fort called A303: Highway to the Sun in which he mentions the Fosse Way, seeing this reminded me of the book.  It was a programme we'd seen before but we enjoyed it a second time.  The Hawk is Dead by Peter James is a DCI Roy Grace novel, the derailing of the royal train just outside Brighton takes the detective up to London and into the very highest echelons searching for clues. 

Two of our Heritage pottery attractions are closing or have been closed for filming.  The Gladstone Pottery Museum will be closing soon for filming of The Great Pottery Throwdown which I always enjoy watching.  

Middleport Pottery  was closed for a few days last month for the filming of a new series called The Cadburys.  I assume about the chocolate manufacturers.  I know that another Birmingham set series, Peaky Blinders, has done some filming there once or twice.

As well as reading I've been pottering with family history.  I recently found out that an ancestor was a Chelsea pensioner.  

Thomas Parker served with the 3rd regiment of foot guards from 1798 to 1820 before being discharged after suffering a head wound whilst in Holland.   As this was during the time of the Napoleonic Wars I'm intrigued to find out more.

All for now.

In the Garden

 The garden is bit of a mess, mainly because it has been too hot to work out there but also due to lack of rain.  The grass yellow and dry, shrubs with crisp brown leaves, flowers and most produce stunted.  Such a shame.   

The three water butts are empty, we try to save tap water into jugs, mostly from water run whilst waiting for it to turn warm enough for washing up also any water used for washing and rinsing fruit and vegetables.

The 'no mow' area at the top of the garden has now been cut down, you can see where it was from the very faded area around the seat.

Hardly any sweet peas, strawberries or gooseberries this summer.  The tomatoes in the greenhouse have taken ages to ripen but at last one of the varieties has started to reach the expected size and colour. 

These are Golden Sunrise.

Garden visitors still arrive for food and water.  

Vixen lazing in the garden around 6.30p.m. in the evening.

Badger hoping for worms but the soil is too dry.

Linnet on the bird feeders. We sometimes see up to four at a time.  

There's always one that escapes notice - a marrow sized courgette.

Shaded, Faded Elegance

 Bishton Hall in Colwich, Staffordshire is a grade two listed Georgian house and gardens.  The present house dates from around 1750 although the estate has much earlier origins and is mentioned in the Domesday book of 1086.

From the 1770s the house belonged to the Sparrow family. John Sparrow bought the house and it eventually passed to his daughter Charlotte who added to and enlarged the mansion and built the gardens over the years.

Charlotte Sparrow was known as an educational pioneer and philanthropist.  She founded the Colwich Primary School in 1827.   She never married and lived at the hall until her death in 1876.  The Hall passed into the hands of Edward Harland, Vicar of Colwich and then Major Charles Wood who lived there until 1945.  In 1946 it became St Bede's Preparatory School.

The Orangery

The Temple Garden was probably designed and built in the 1830s, possibly by local architect James Trubshaw . It was certainly completed by 1838 when it was painted by Thomas Peploe Wood who came from nearby Great Haywood. 

 

It is thought to be one of the finest Doric screens in the country.

There is also a woodland walk and fairy trail.

In the courtyard there are several shops and Sparrow's Tea room.  As we walked around we saw many butterflies especially around the Buddleias, all too busy to sit still for photographs. 

In 2019 the hall was bought by Charles Hanson and it is now the headquarters of Hanson Auctioneers.  There are two salesrooms in the gardens, one of them in what looks like a WWI hut.

It really is a gem of a place to visit and wander around.  Both garden entrance and parking are free.  There are plenty of shady areas to both sit and walk, much needed on the day we visited.

Just a Smidgen Cooler

It feels slightly cooler today, cool enough to lift me out of my stupor of the last few days and inspire us to get out for a short walk whilst it was overcast with a softly cool breeze.  Trentham as usual I'm afraid as we didn't want to travel far and it's just down the road.  

After the wildflowers shown in my last post I was looking at the more formal flowers in the small show gardens this time. 

First the Reedmace or bulrush by the lake

Lots of lovely colours and shapes

Now back home, I have laundry drying outside and Paul is mowing some of the grass which had grown quite high in places.  

Yesterday, early morning we did manage to make a Summer Pudding. Strawberries, Raspberries, Cherries and Blackberries.

We ate a portion this evening with a scoop of ice cream.  It was cool and delicious.

It's probably going to get hot again this week but I've really enjoyed the cooler air today and the short respite from the heat.  We really do need some rain.

Wildflowers

 The Wildflower meadows at Trentham are looking wonderful at the moment.

These pollinator friendly displays are by Pictorial Meadows and were originally designed by Professor Nigel Dunnett from the University of Sheffield.

It was a joy to walk amongst them.  They sparkled in the weak sunshine after the gentle rain earlier this morning.

Bees and butterflies hovered everywhere.

Mostly large whites and wood browns.  It was lovely to see the butterflies as we haven't seen many this year.

We also spotted a Skipper.  Is it a small Skipper?  I wonder as there are several different ones.

What a lovely first step into the month of July.

The Last Day of June

The last two weeks have flown by in a haze of not coping very well with the heat, mostly due to my medication and not walking very far because of painful and swollen knees and ankles but also popping out now and again here and there for treats and visits for Paul's birthday.

This lunchtime Woody visited, he landed on the tree in front of the kitchen window.  Luckily my camera was handy on the kitchen table where I'd left it when we came in from our morning walk - how wonderful to walk in cooler weather.

Isn't he handsome?

Over the last couple of weeks we have visited the Trentham Monkey Park, the RAF Museum at Cosford, taken a late evening Beaver Safari at Trentham and on the actual day a music event at the Dorothy Clive gardens where various performers sang songs from the musicals from each decade 1920s to 2020s, folk music and sea shanties.  Thank goodness it was cooler and the morning rain cleared.  Later we popped up to Bridgemere Garden World, where we visited the Food Festival and the show gardens.  One more treat to come is lunch with friends in Nottingham later this week.

Our Beaver Safari bus took us to the ranger station for a talk and presentation and then around the lake.

 Barry, the only beaver I saw that evening even though one was spotted on the lake and several people saw it.  Paul did manage to capture a photo of it.  I had binoculars but couldn't see it. I'll write more about the Beaver family group later.  The ranger in the purple top below was an excellent guide and so enthusiastic.

I thought with it being a Sunday Bridgemere would be crowded but it wasn't too bad at all.

We had the Octavia Hill show garden to ourselves.

See you in July.