Going a Little Potty!

Hello, and welcome to our small corner. D and I are glad you are visiting us today.

Another week has flown by, and I am trying hard not to think about the festivities that will be upon us in just over ten weeks! 

Last Monday morning turned out to be bright and sunny—no rain! It was the day to pick the last of the tomato crop. To be honest, tomatoes have not done well in this small corner in 2024, and those that did ripen were very small. However, as D had suggested a Tuna pasta bake for our evening meal, I harvested these last bright jewels and made a small amount of sauce. It made our meal delicious.

I have been shopping again this week, but this time for something cheery to look at through my kitchen window in Autumn and Winter. Some sunny days might even see me taking 5 minutes in a chair with a cuppa. The space is just outside our back door, after all. 

I was looking for plants that could have a double life, first in pots and later in the ground behind the raised bed. This is the semi-shade side of our garden, and all these plants should be fine. The bright pink of the Heuchera really caught my eye first. I love the foliage as well as the flowers, and they will come back next year. This one is called 'Paris,' and next year, it will start to form the edging of a path.

The other new plant was this one. It is a Lophomyrtus, an evergreen shrub of the Myrtle family. It grows into a large shrub of about 4/5 ft over time but will need little looking after once it settles. After using its rather tongue-twisting family name, I rather like its personal variety name, 'Magic Dragon'. I can now say I have a dragon living in our garden! 😂

I also bought a pack of orange violas and added them to a small Acer

to brighten the raised bed.

As you can see, everything has been planted up into pots for this year. They are standing on a raised bed emptied of Summer plants and covered with weed-suppressant material until Spring. I know the pots are mismatched, but I don't mind that, really. I have also covered the weed material with some bark to make it a little prettier—just for aesthetics.

While wandering around the garden centre, I found these gardening gloves—so bright and cheery, with a yellow and red hot chilli design to remind me of Summer heat. They also joined my shopping basket.  

Looking at the week ahead, it looks like more rain is forecasted, so crafting and baking are more likely for D and me this week. We hope you all have a good week and enjoy whatever you have planned.

Bev and D x

Good Things

 Hello everyone.

The weather forecast seems to be for more rain again, so I am looking back at those things which have bought me happiness and sunshine in my life this past week.

Although our water companies are often in the national press for the wrong reasons, I thought I would share something positive that our own suppliers have done which has made me very happy. 

Several weeks ago we had a representative of the company canvassing in our street for water storage butts. I am always very wary of anyone coming to the door like that and was obviously cautious in my response. He was asking if we would like to receive one or more water butts for free to save water for the garden. We already have four of them dotted around the garden that were bought a various times but we agreed to accept the offer. We thought no more about it until one morning when there was a knock at the door and another man appeared with our new water butt. It holds 210 litres and came with the stand, connectors and tap included.

Yesterday, hubby fitted our new water butt at the bottom of the garden next to another one we already had. I'm sure both of them will be filled very soon and we can benefit from the stored water when we need it at a later date. I am a happy lady.

Something else that has made me happy is a new carpet for our stairs and landing. It has needed replacing for a long time, and a new one will now be fitted before Christmas. 

Also, last week, D and I went 'girlie' shopping. We decided that it was time to put away our Summer wardrobes and bring out more seasonal and warmer items, and this required a shopping trip. We left hubby enjoying a coffee and cake while we indulged in some retail therapy. We had a lovely time and came away with various new clothes. Two happy ladies this time! 

This week, I still have plenty to do on the cross-stitch project, and if it is too wet to be outside, there is always the greenhouse for me to play in. 

Whatever the weather is near you, have a great week enjoying what makes you happy.

B x

Mayfield House - Butler's Scullery

Hello!

Welcome back to our small corner, where we are returning to Mayfield House.

Previously, we visited Albert Jenkins - the family butler - who was hard at work in his office. If you wish to revisit that part of the tour, follow this link: Mayfield House - The Butler's Office. 

After thanking Mr Jenkins for his time, we continue to the Butler's Scullery at the end of this part of the house. Here, we find Jones at the far end of the room, carefully putting away some of the crockery. 

He has also been polishing some of the family silver and cutlery under the direction of Mr Jenkins. The two men have worked together for years, and the family butler trusts Jones to complete the task while he carries on paperwork in his office.

While Jones has already cleaned most of the glassware, some crockery still requires further attention and a longer soak in the butler’s sink. This is an ongoing task for Jones, and he will return to finish them in a minute.

Another task that Jones is trying to finish is ironing the daily newspapers. This was done to prevent black print from rubbing off on the hands of the homeowners upstairs. He was in the middle of that task when 'cleaning the silver and glassware' was added to his 'to-do' list for the day.

A cup of tea lies beside Jones’s reading glasses on the bench. He hopes to finish his tasks before it goes cold, maybe with a quick read of the newspaper headlines. His sandwich remains uneaten.

We will now leave a very busy Jones to juggle his time between his work and drinking his quickly cooling cup of tea while we retrace our steps back to the basement hall and look forward to the sights and sounds of a bustling kitchen.

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As usual, I wanted to set this room to tell several stories, so I used the full length of the room to fit it all in. 

At the far end of the room are two open cupboards filled with crockery, and Jones is hard at work putting items away. 

I added a small bench with a curtain where polishing and cleaning tasks could be carried out and a small bucket where any items that needed soaking could be left. Above the sink is a shelf with several cleaning items and also some spare candles. I used some clear PVA glue in the base of the sink before adding the quick-setting water to the bowl. I am hoping that the glue will prevent the water from discolouring - this  happened before

Again, the bench scene with the glasses, sandwich, and cup of tea conveyed the busy activities of the room, which meant some pleasures had to wait longer.

I remembered the newspaper and ironing board scene from the first episode of Downton Abbey and wanted to recreate it here. 

Progress has started on the next room, which D and I will bring to you next time we visit Mayfield House.

D and I wish you all a good week and hope the sun shines for a while!

 x

Cake and Kittens

Hello everyone. How has your week been?

Until a short while ago, my week had been lovely, with a cake made by D and a visit to see some new kitty babies that our son C and our daughter-in-law J are fostering.

Another large piece of one of my teeth has sheered off, so I will require yet another trip to the dentist. I think the tooth might need to come out, which I dread, but I can't keep having this happen. 

So, let's move on to brighter things to share with you.

As many of you know, August was a very special month for us this year. We shared several birthdays that month, but we could not have any birthday cake because we had been away. Yesterday, D made this lovely Victoria sponge to celebrate.

We took the cake to C and J and visited their new baby kittens. They are fostering them like they have done several others in the past. These sweet babies were found in a shed and are only about 7 weeks old. They are two brothers and their sister and have been named Kaia, Java and Checkers.

We had a lot of fun just watching them start to investigate their new surroundings. Kaia, the sister, is in charge of the trio, and her brothers seem happy about this arrangement. Hopefully, it won't be long before they all find new forever homes.

Wishing you all a good week.

B x

Wedding Day Memories

Hello everyone. I hope you have all had a good week.

In my last post, I shared some of the memories from our August summer holiday. The other family event from August was our son's wedding to his beautiful fiancée, J.

 

They were married on Thursday, 8th August, at this stunning venue.

Although it was a rather drizzly day outside, there was sunshine all the way inside the venue. We have so many happy memories of the day. 

The bride's bouquet and bridesmaids' flowers were white, with sprigs of green fernery and leaves. They were simple but very elegant.  

The eucalyptus stems in the bouquet are a nod to J's Australian heritage, which is a lovely addition.

The huge bowls of orchids were on every table at the wedding breakfast.

The buttonhole that C wore on his lapel and the star above it was very emotional for me. The star was given to immediate family members when my mum passed away a few years ago, and it seemed very appropriate that they were included as well on this happy occasion. It brought a tear to my eye.

J wore a very fitted ivory-coloured dress covered with beading and fine lace, and the groom's suit was a very pale green, almost pale grey. 

The bride had six bridesmaids, and the groom, not to be outdone, had two of his close friends as best men.

The wedding cake(s) were again very elegant, following the simple colour scheme that the couple had chosen. One cake was a sponge, while the other was a chocolate cake covered with creamy ganache. Delicious!

One of the very special ideas that C and J had for their wedding was to have an envelope on each table, while we eating, so that everyone could write messages for the couple. The envelopes were all numbered and they will open one tables envelope on their anniversary for the next ten years. What a lovely idea.

The party continued for several more hours before the day was finally over. As a fun finale to the celebrations, the happy couple had arranged for everyone to have a hand-held sparkler firework to light up the night sky as we formed an archway for the newly married couple to pass through. 

Perfect! 🎇

After that, while we boarded a ship in the Mediterranean, C and J were off on their honeymoon to Singapore, Bali, Borneo, Indonesia, and Malaysia. They had a great time visiting new places, trying new foods, and seeing lots of wildlife.

August was the best month for us this year.

I wish you all a great week wherever you are in the world.

Take care

B x

Holidays

Hello everyone, and thank you for joining us here. 

August was our main holiday time in this small corner, and hubby, D, and I spent two very, very hot weeks cruising around parts of the Greek and Turkish coastlines and some of the islands. 

We joined the ship at Marmaris in Turkey, and after a day at sea, we arrived at the port of Piraeus in Greece. Hubby and I took a boat trip along the Corinth Canal.

This is a man-made canal that links the Aegean and Ionian seas. These photos were taken from the bridge that spans the canal, followed by a few we took while on a small boat sailing through this quite narrow gap.The bridge in the photos is also a favourite spot for bungy jumping. We did see someone doing this while we were there, but it was not an activity any of us fancied joining in with!

                                

D and her friend went on a different trip to the Greek capital, Athens. They visited the Acropolis and the Parthenon.

Next port of call was Souda, Crete. We visited the beautiful Monastery Of Agia Triada. It is also famous for extensive and well cared for crops of grapes and olive trees.  

Our visit also included a little wine tasting which was most enjoyable! 😀

A few more views as we were driven back to the cruise ship.

We have visited Santorini several times, and it really is a beautiful and picturesque place. The bluest of seas and white-painted buildings scatter the coastline.

Next stop was Kusadasi, Turkey. D and her friend visited Ephesus to see the ancient ruins of the Library of Celsus. 

Hubby and I wandered around a Turkish shopping area, which was quite an experience. Unfortunately, we couldn't fit a beautiful Turkish rug in our suitcases. We did, however, sample the delights of Turkish coffee. It was lovely.

Another place we visited was Istanbul, Turkey. While the girls took a leisurely boat trip, hubby visited the famous Blue Mosque and Hagia Sofia. He ended the day with a walk in a spice market, Turkish style.

This large ancient amphitheatre is in Bodrum, Turkey and is still used today for concerts and shows.

The remains of these windmills, high on the hillside of Bodrum, are a reminder of their use in the past to grind grain.

Rhodes was our last port of call on this holiday. Such a beautiful place to visit.

We were very glad of the shade here. The steps led up to the remains of a monastery dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

A view from the top of the hill at the monastery

A beautiful avenue leading up to the monastery

An inner courtyard at the monastery

And we met some of the local wildlife.

Lastly, a view over Rhodes harbour. 

We saw some unforgettable sunsets on board the ship every evening and have many memories to treasure of this year's summer holiday.

The newlyweds are also back from a three-and-a-half-week honeymoon, having visited Borneo, Bali, Singapore, and a few other places. We look forward to sharing the wedding and some places they visited next week.

Until then, have a good week.

B and D x