Sorry (again). Those of you who care will undoubtedly feel short-changed (again). We’ve been very busy following our return from Cumbria – we have Open Gardens in a week’s time but, more importantly, we had to prepare for our upcoming visit from our very good friend Miles and his wife who arrived yesterday. So, this edition will be mercifully short and hopefully somewhat succinct.
We had a great visit last weekend with our good friends and former neighbours Lesley and Graham who moved up to Cumbria coming up for a year ago. We’ve been promising to visit ever since and finally managed to pull it all together this past weekend.
They live in the lovely little village of Beetham near Milnthorpe in Cumbria, just on the edge of the Lake District National Park. Walks galore much to Penny and Daisy’s delight – I trudged along resentfully in their wake. Beautiful scenery and the weather was simply outstanding, bright, sunny and warm. So warm that Lesley and Penny ventured into Windemere for a wild water swim. Or, at least Lesley did – Penny tried to join her but Daisy got so vocal at this “very dangerous” activity that she eventually had to give in and come ashore to quieten her down.
They have a lovely little community theatre in the village – the Heron Theatre – which we stumbled along to on the Saturday night to see and hear the Out and Out Blues Band. It’s a very small and “intimate” theatre and they were good fun.
On Friday afternoon we went along to Blackwell House, an Arts & Crafts house perched above the shores of Windemere which was gorgeous with spectacular views. It was built in 1898–1900, as a holiday home for Sir Edward Holt, a wealthy Manchester brewer. And, we had the place more or less to ourselves! Stunning.
On Sunday we made our way to the Laurel and Hardy museum in Ulverston which was “interesting”. (Stan Laurel was born in Ulverston). Someone has collected every bit of Laurel and Hardy memorabilia available and thrown them all together in what was a former cinema. The young man on the ticket desk could have entered Mastermind with a specialist subject of Laurel and Hardy – he gave us their life histories as we paid for our admission. When Penny took the photo of me standing between the life-size statues of Laurel and Hardy her immediate comment was, “Oh, the Three Stooges.” How accurate she is sometimes!
We also made our way to the charming little village of Cartmel, famous, apparently, as the place where Sticky Toffee Pudding was invented. Penny bought some samples for the kind neighbours who watered her plants while we were away. But, would she let me have one? No chance.
Back home and immediately hard at work taming the garden in preparations for next weekend’s opening. Hedges have been clipped, lawns mowed, flower borders weeded and refreshed and, we’ve had to resort to a lot of watering – everything is so dry and we’ve not had any significant quantity of rain for months! Even I’m parched.
Thursday afternoon we set off to the charming metropolis of Kingham, just the other side of Chipping Norton from here, for a sculpture exhibition in the grounds of Kingham Lodge. We stopped at The Chequers in Churchill for some lunch which is where we met up with our good friends the Waltons and Kelly-Browns. I don’t particularly want to put anyone off their breakfast but we’d just about settled into our seats when Jeremy Clarkson, who lives locally, came into the pub. If you don’t know who he is, count yourselves lucky – he is an arrogant, loud-mouthed, right-wing arsehole. I guess he must be used to folks shouting abuse at him because he scuttled through the bar into a secluded back corner like a startled cockroach. In spite of that slightly nauseating introduction, the meal was delicious. I would definitely go again but for the thought of running into Clarkson again. Or any of the other high-profile repugnant locals, David Cameron, Rebekkah Brooks, the list goes on and on.
Then, down the road to Kingham Lodge for the sculpture show. Fabulously beautiful garden which went on and on and on, with dozens and dozens and dozens of sculptures large and small scattered throughout. It was fun but I have to confess there were very few pieces I felt like I would want to give garden space to – only a handful of pieces. Most of which were neither as imaginative or striking as the work my brother Sandy produces. I reckon he could mount a similar show all on his own.
Here’s hoping the weather stays moderately decent for our visitors this weekend. Fingers crossed.
Meanwhile, keep breathing, keep happy, keep smiling, keep exercising, be good, be careful, and keep safe. And be gentle to wasps and bees – we need all the pollinators we can get.
Lots of love to you all,
Greg