Roadtrip: Hidcote and Snowshill

On this visit I especially loved Mrs Winthrop's Garden in Hidcote with its yellow and blue planting scheme

I always wanted to return to Hidcote in June. In 2011 I had watched the BBC Programme Hidcote - A garden for all seasons and knew I had to visit. This first trip to Gloucestershire sparked my interest in the National Trust gardens and as I like to experience favourite places in different seasons or at least at different times I simply had to put Hidcote on my list for 2015.

I arrived early yesterday morning and actually when things were still quiet and I had the chance to be the first visitor in many of the garden rooms. Everything was saturated with dew and the rain that had fallen in the night and all my photos have a weird haze on them, as if the garden had been shrouded in mist.

After spending the morning in Hidcote I drove on to nearby Snowshill, where I visited the manor garden (also National Trust) and the lavender fields of Cotswold Lavender. The garden of Snowshill Manor lies on a steep hillside and - like Hidcote - is made up of several garden rooms. Really wonderful was the flight of white doves (according to britishbirdlovers.co.uk you can use "a dole of doves", "a piteousness of doves" or "a pitying of doves" as alternative collective nouns for doves ...) which was busily getting on with life among the visitors.

Much love,
Qaroline

The iconic cedar at Hidcote Manor

The Old Garden, Hidcote

Rose in the Old Garden, studded with rain drops

Primroses in the Stream Garden, also one of my favourite gardens at Hidcote



The Pillar Garden, Hidcote

The Long Borders, Hidcote. Especially loved the Crambe cordifolia (flowering sea kale - small white flowers)

Topiary in the garden of Snowshill Manor. And doves.

More doves. And flowering cat mint

Snowshill Manor

Snowshill Manor

Long border at Snowshill Manor

Blue and white planting, Snowshill.

Lots of lavender. Different varieties in the display fields of Cotswold Lavender

Display fields of Cotswold Lavender

Roadtrip: Mottisfont Abbey

Roses and love-in-a-mist

The weather this weekend was undoubtedly weird, muggy and grey with occasional glimpses of blue sky. This morning it didn't really look promising but I set off anyway. Mottisfont is run by the National Trust and holds the National Collection of Oldfashioned Roses. I have been there before but later in the year, when the mulberries on the trees standing in front of the walled garden were ripe. I remembered that I was very impressed with the planting but always wanted to return when the roses were in full swing.

At the moment, the opening times are extended to 8pm and there were a lot of people so it was a bit difficult to take photos without them in. My favourite combination was love-in-the-mist planted among roses and pinks and on the photos you can really see the hazy effect this flower creates.

The fragrances wafting through the garden were quite amazing, I even teared up at one point because the scent was so strong. There were distinctive areas in the walled garden where certain fragrances were most prominent, on some corners it was the lavender, on some the roses but most surprising was the clove-like smell of the pinks which almost bowled me over. I bought 2 tiny pinks (Dianthus Mottisfont Pink) in the shop and planted them in the sunniest spot of the cottage's garden. Hopefully they will fill my garden with the same overwhelming scent next year.

Much love,
Qaroline

The house, still early and with overcast sky, later the lawn was filled with picknicking families

Moss rose 'General Kleber', 1856

Rose riot

Fast forward: January to June

Today: Open garden at Stockcross House. White wisteria and roses.

Finally I have a new card reader and am now again able to post photos online - so sorry about the silent months in between! To bring you up to speed, this post will feature a best of from January to June, including my April holiday in Southwold, Suffolk.

Much love,
Qaroline

January: Banbury Castle - Iron Age hill fort in Wiltshire

February: Snowdrops and aconites in Welford Park, Berkshire

 

Early April: Quay Hill, Lymington

Early April: Hurst Castle - fortifications opposite the Isle of Wight

Hurst Castle - remnants of brick columns

End of April: Southwold Pier, Suffolk

Southwold Harbour

Southwold Harbour

Southwold Promenade - a storm is coming

Aldeburgh, Suffolk

May: Old cemetery in Cirencester

Late May: Roman wall in Silchester, Hampshire

June: Avebury Avenue, Wiltshire

Today: Stockcross House, Berkshire

Today: Stockcross Church with bowling green

 

Bookshelf Revisited: Wintersonnenwende

 

In two days will be the winter soltice ('Wintersonnenwende' in German) and as usual I am reminded of one of my favourite books, a true children's classic that has hugely influenced the kind of books I like and the stories I want to write.

I was quite obsessed with Wintersonnenwende (engl. The Dark is Rising) by Susan Cooper and with the whole series she wrote about the Light and the Darkness. I must have read it dozens of time and even had favourite music I would read the books to and that became connected with the story in my mind (Generator by Bad Religion, how weird is that?). And I will always see the cover of the 1980's German Paperback edition in front of my eyes, mustard yellow and bleak, although I found one cover for a newer English edition online which I really liked.

The book is actually quite dark and when I read an extract while sitting with friends around a fire when we engaged in a spot of wild camping, one of them squealed and begged me to stop as the book was too atmospheric and scary for this particular occasion ...

On 22 December we will finally be half-way out of the dark.

Much love,
Qaroline

Roadtrip: Aldbourne, Wiltshire

It has been a weird day, foggy but sunny, and when all my Saturday chores were done I spontaneously jumped in the car and went for a drive.

Aldbourne is really just up the road, only three villages from Hungerford. The bus to Swindon passes through there and I kind of remembered that it looked pretty. I arrived around 3pm and the late afternoon light was extraordinary: hazy and brittle and somehow warm and chilly at the same time.

St. Michael's Church in Aldbourne, though mostly Gothic, curiously reminded me of the Romanesque St. Michael in Hildesheim (Michaeliskirche), one of my all-time favourite buildings and a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site. When I studied in Hildesheim, this was my go-to place on a rainy Saturday and even though both churches look nothing like each other, I instantly made the connection. Probably because both buildings look more like castles than places of worship and stand on a mound, overlooking the surrounding houses. Incidentally, Aldbourne also has the coolest bin on the planet. I imagine there are lots of them about, but this is the first one I have seen.

Love,
Qaroline

The coolest bin on this planet

 

The Goddard Monument in St. Michaels, Aldbourne

Yew tree in the churchyard

The pink library in the Old Forge

Hamish in Hungerford

A rainy Sunday just like today is the perfect excuse to curl up on the sofa, each way too much caraway pound cake, read the new Terry Pratchett and post a few cat pictures.

Since Hamish has arrived in Hungerford in April I was meaning to post a few photos of him and they have accumulated over the last months. After a short settling in period he seems to be happy enough in the cottage.

As I adopted him originally from a Spanish shelter he now is (involuntarily) a very widely travelled cat. Weirdly, he seems more attached to people than territory and a lot of friends have remarked that he actually acts more like a dog anyway. Seeing him basking in the sunniest spots available always makes me happy.

Love,
Qaroline

 

"We have been expecting you, Mr Bond."