Just So!

Whenever I can't sleep at night and I look out of my window into the darkness, such beautiful words as Jungle book author Rudyard Kipling once wrote, never come to my mind :-) 



“At two o'clock in the morning, if you open your window and listen,
You will hear the feet of the Wind that is going to call the sun.
And the trees in the Shadow rustle and the trees in the moonlight glisten,
And though it is deep, dark night, you feel that the night is done.” 

Somehow the words give me comfort.
 

I am taking you to Bateman's, the 17th century house and garden in East Sussex, where the author and poet once used to live. Many of his stories and poems were written here.

My daughters and I enjoyed our walk in the garden. We sniffed the roses, had lunch on the grass near the pond and played frisbee on the lawn. We liked the house with it's oak beams, mullioned windows and dark interior. You take a huge step back in time, when you cross the threshold.

We still remember the colourful stories the enthusiastic volunteers told us. My middle daughter, who studies cultural heritage, was explained how to preserve leather wallpaper, while I listened to the story about the father of one of the volunteers, who had been a pilot during the Battle of Britain and was shot down in his aeroplane twice (and survived). It's not only the images you take home with you afterwards, but the people and the stories they have to tell as well. Just So :-)

If you are interested in visiting the house. Please have a look at the website of the National Trust.


Have a great week!

Love,

Madelief x

Autumn storms on it's way

Can't believe I am still posting photo's of my garden, whereas it's already half October. The garden is still looking fine. More leaves are falling and the garden house already feels damp inside, but there are still some roses, dahlia's and asters.

With autumn storms on it's way, my eldest daughter and I moved the garden chairs and tables to the greenhouse and to a safe place on the veranda of our garden house. We put the table linen and pillows in plastic bags, to take home with us. We pruned and tied up the climbing roses, cut the grass, replanted several perennials and brought wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow of old plastic pots and other stuff to the garbage disposal on our allotment complex. I forgot how much you can do with a pair of extra hands. It's much more fun too!

I baked an orange meringue pie this week. My first one ever. A lot of work, but very tasty! You can find the recipe here. I used normal oranges instead of Seville oranges.

On the photo's you can see some of my latest vintage finds. In one of my next posts more will follow.

Hope you enjoyed some fine weather this weekend too!

Wishing you a happy week!

Love,

Madelief x

A sweet surprise

Sometimes you are in for a sweet surprise. I thought the garden would be covered in a thick layer of autumn leaves and there would be no colour left, but I could not have been further from the truth.

Opening up my garden gate I step into an enchanted world. Rays of sunlight peak through big fluffy clouds and mist. The garden path is covered in red, yellow and amber coloured leaves. There are pine cones and hazelnuts everywhere. As I approach the garden house, I hear them cracking under my feet. It looks like there are hundreds of spider webs. I feel the wetness of them on my face. Hoping there are no stray spiders in my hair, or worse, my clothes. Since I have the garden, I am less afraid of insects, but there is one particular spider in the garden that still gives me the shivers. The body of the spider has a width of 1 cm and its legs are long and hairy. I had one in the sink of the outdoor kitchen recently.....and in my dreams that night. Yuk, what a nightmare :-)

It was my intention to lift my dahlia tubers and put them in storage, but the plants still looked lush and green and were full of flowers. There were even some new varieties in bloom, which I had not seen before. As the weather was fine, I fetched a chair and sat in the sun for a while. The Dahlia tubers can wait, so can the tulip bulbs.

Thank you for your sweet emails and comments on last weeks post. I haven't been able to reply them all, but I can assure you they are much appreciated by my daughters and I.

Have a great week ahead!

Love,

Madelief x