Snowshill Manor- the Collection

Hello everyone, welcome to 'Back2OurSmallCorner' and thank you for taking the time to visit.

Last Monday was the final bank holiday in August for all of the UK except Scotland. The forecast had been for showers, but we decided to go out anyway and hopefully dodge any showers. We headed out to Snowshill Manor and gardens, which is in Gloucestershire. The property is now owned and maintained by the National Trust, which meant free entry for both hubby and myself.

The main building is typical of Cotswold properties, and although it dates back to the 16th century, its most famous owner was Charles Paget Wade, who owned it in the early and mid 20th century. Wade can only be described as an eccentric who liked to collect a vast amount of items that interested him. 

Wade restored the property as he was an architect himself, but he never lived in the manor. Instead, he lived in a small priest's cottage in the garden and used the manor to display his vast collection. However, Wade did not want it to be set up as a museum, and his eclectic style is evident in every room. His motto was " Let nothing perish". 

Here are just a few glimpses of Charles Wade's vast collection.

While we were inside, the promised rain arrived, but very kindly stopped when we wandered around the gardens. These are laid out as a series of outside rooms and also include a dovecote, the model village (photos below), a kitchen garden, an orchard, and a small sheep field. 

Back home, I have been working on another project that has been collecting dust in my craft room. I bought the piece of slate about 5 or 6 years ago, intending to make it into a useful kitchen item. I really love the artwork on the narrowboats I have seen on the canals during our travels, and I wanted to include something similar in this project. I didn’t feel confident in my painting skills, so I decided to use some wonderful self-adhesive stickers instead. After applying the stickers, I added a spare white kitchen tile. We also varnished the slate, and now I have a brand new cheeseboard!

And so a new week begins. Whether you are due for sunshine or showers, take care, everyone, and have a great week.

B x

Saving a Family Kilt

Hello everyone.

I hope you have had a good week. 

The rain here has been wonderful, but it has kept me inside for a while, and I decided to go in search of a crafting project. I have a lot of these activities awaiting my attention; some are partially started, while others are still just ideas. The one I have been working on this week is a family project. 

My husband and his family on his father's side have some Scottish ancestry, and this project was intended to showcase some special items.

When hubby and his siblings were youngsters, they often went along to Scottish dance evenings with their parents. They learnt many of the dances, and hubby's brother and sister also took part in competitions. Hubby's kilt was made using the tartan with our family name. This particular tartan is Ancient Wilson, with orange and green colours woven into the fabric.

Hubby kept his kilt from those early years but has not worn it since then. It has been in the loft, and unfortunately it now has some moth damage as well as wear and tear. I was reluctant to get rid of it and instead wanted to transform it into something we could display on our living room wall.

It was quite scary cutting into the kilt fabric, but it needed to be done for the greater good. I had a suitable frame and some backing fabric and set to work. It was at this point that I realised the intricacies of how a kilt is made and the huge amount of fabric involved. Eventually I managed to fit everything together, including a section of the pleats. 

Once this was firmly attached, it was time to add the other items.

The largest item was the leather sporran, which was wired through the fabric to keep in place. A sporran is worn at the centre of the kilt, around the waist. It acts like a money purse for personal items because traditional kilts don't have pockets. This one is really for daytime wear, as it is made of leather, but there are many beautiful and far more intricate versions for more formal occasions. Sporran means purse in Gaelic.

The ornamental knife is called a Sgian Dubhs (pronounced skee-an-doo) and is tucked into the right or left sock depending on the dominant-hand side, with only the upper part of the hilt showing.

Finally, the buckle is from hubby's leather belt that he also wore. He gave it a good clean with some metal polish before adding it to the display board.

And here is the final photo showing all the pieces together. Now it can be properly displayed, and our family can still enjoy those memories of Scottish country dancing together.

Have a fantastic week, everyone, and who knows, I may start another project this week. 😊

Cat sitting and a Walk in the Forest

Hello everyone. 

I hope you have all had a good week. If you are in the UK, hopefully you will have had some cooler weather and maybe a spot of rain. If you live somewhere else that has already given you lots of the wet stuff, I hope the sun shines for you in the coming week.

Our son was on holiday in Morocco last week, so we have been keeping an eye on his two sweet girls, Lola and Nala.  

On one of the days we were kitty-sitting, we ventured out to Kingsford Country Forest for a walk. It was clear to see how the weather had taken its toll on the ferns and other plants. Even so, there were green shoots and plants unwilling to give up completely. Kingsford is owned and managed by the National Trust and is in the southern half of the Kinver Edge escarpment. We followed one of the shorter routes for our walk, which was quite steep in places but still very enjoyable.

We found this swing in the forest but were not inclined to try it out!

Even though we found many areas that had been scorched and burnt by the excessive heat and sunshine of the Summer heatwaves, we did find plenty of places that were still green or showed some colour. 

It has also been one of the busiest birthday weeks of the year for our family, with hubby, daughter and son celebrating their special days. I shall need next week to recover from all the cake. 🎉🎈🎂😂

Wishing you all just the right amount of sunshine and showers this week, good health, and something to make you smile.

Take care.

B x

A Few Degrees Lower Makes All the Difference

Hello everyone,

I hope you are all well and the week has been good for you.

For most of this week, it has again been exceptionally hot, with more fires burning closer to home. Our son lives near Stourbridge, where people have had to be evacuated. I do hope people take note of the requests about lighting any outdoor fires at the moment. A spark can so easily cause flames to spread quickly. I am so grateful to the fire brigade and others who are working tirelessly to stop this happening.

This week we had the solar eclipse on Wednesday. Unfortunately, hubby only managed to get a few atmospheric photos of the sun's rays through the clouds that covered the skies. Our son managed to get a better photo.

Meanwhile, just a few more photos of the bees enjoying the sunflowers. They are such a joy to watch, as they are busy collecting nectar.

We also enjoyed a 30th birthday party with a friend, and this is what we bought her for a bit of bright fun. Hopefully it will keep her smiling whatever the weather. It is also practical, as it is a doorstop. 

With the cooler temperatures arriving this week, I intend to get back outside and try to bring some order to my frazzled garden.

Wishing you all a happy and safe week.

B x

Chocolate and Cruising

Hello everyone. 

As it has been a little cooler at times this week, hubby and I have been baking again. This week we made Easy Chocolate Squares. It was a lovely recipe that just required some melting, mixing and some time solidifying in the fridge.

Here is the recipe, which I changed to the ingredients I had in my store cupboard.

Easy Chocolate Squares

Ingredients

225g/8oz plain dark chocolate

75g/3oz butter

2 tbsp golden syrup

75g/3oz shortbread type biscuit ( I increased the amount of biscuit and kept the pieces chunky rather than having too small crumbs)

100g/4oz raisins or sultanas. (I also added some glazed cherries)

Method

1. Grease a swiss roll tin or line with baking paper.

2. Put the biscuits in a strong food bag and lightly crush with a rolling pin.

3. Break the chocolate into pieces and put in a small heat-proof bowl. Add the syrup and butter. I melted these ingredients in the microwave in short bursts, but if you prefer, you can do this over a saucepan of hot water.

4. Stir the biscuits, dried fruit (cherries) into the mixture and spread over the swiss roll tin. Chill in the fridge for at least 2-3 hours, preferably overnight. Cut into pieces and enjoy.

And now, over to D with an update on her holiday adventures.

Hello all, D here.

I had a lovely time on holiday around the Greek Islands - plenty of rest and relaxation amongst a few excursions I went on. I thought I would share some of the photos I took during the tours.

The Acropolis at Athens - that's the Parthenon. 

The site of the First Modern Olympic Games

The famous Hourly Changing of the Guard outside the Greek Parliament

Santorini

Bodrum Castle, Bodrum (Turkey)

The Palace of Knossos, Crete

This is the great palace of the Minoan civilisation, which existed between 3000 and 1100 BCE; they are considered to be the first civilisation in Europe. However, you might be more familiar with Knossos from the myth about Theseus and the Minotaur - this palace is where the labyrinth was supposed to have been. Although sadly, there are no signs of a labyrinth anymore.

Aphrodite's Rock, Cyprus. 

According to Greek Mythology, this is where Aphrodite - the Greek Goddess of Love  - rose from the sea.

Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sunion.

This temple looks out over the Aegean Sea, and it is a very stunning place to visit. However, when I visited, it was very windy - I had to shove my hat in my bag, for fear it would try and fly home without the benefit of an aeroplane. Still, I managed to get some really lovely shots of the temple.

The Habour at Rhodes.

Have a great week.

B and D