Wollaton Hall and Deer Park

Hello, everyone.

Over the weekend, we visited Wollaton Hall and Deer Park in Nottingham. It was a lovely day to explore and discover more about an area we hadn't visited before.

We looked around the Hall's interior and read about its long past and more recent history. 

Sir Francis Willoughby built the Hall between 1580 and 1588 and richly decorated it. He possibly hoped that Queen Elizabeth I - the ruling monarch at the time - would visit.

Unfortunately, Queen Elizabeth never came to Wollaton Hall.

Maybe the distraction of the Spanish Armada in 1588 and constant intrigues at court kept the Queen's diary full!

We particularly liked the painted ceiling and walls of one of the staircases, which were added by subsequent owners. 

Although the Hall remained in the family until the early 1880s, Nottingham Council eventually bought it in 1925. They opened it the following year as the city's natural history museum. There is a large selection of stuffed animals, birds and reptiles on display, but we were not fond of them. However, we found the geological displays with fossils and minerals much more enjoyable. We also saw Titus the T Rex dinosaur, or at least his bones were on display.

We also learn that filmmakers used the Hall as part of the set for "Batman- the Dark Knight Rises" in 2011.

While at Wollaton Hall, we also visited their tea room for coffee and cake.

 This was D's choice: Jammie Dodger Blondie.

Afterwards, we took a leisurely walk down to the lake and saw some of the wildlife swimming in the water.

However, our favourite part of the day was the close encounters with the resident deer in the park. It was hot and sunny yesterday, and these young bucks were taking shelter under a large tree close to our walking path. There were two types of deer at the park: Red Deer and Fallow deer. 

We took lots of photos of them.

Tomorrow is a Bank holiday here in England, and although it looks to be wet, it will be good to spend time together as a family. Whether you have the day off tomorrow or not, have a good week, everyone.

B x

Spring Cleaning! Mouse Style!

Hello and welcome to this small corner, the place that D, hubby, and I call home. 

We have seen plenty of sunshine here this week, which has been lovely. There have been many tea and coffee breaks spent outside. It has been a joy listening to bird songs in the garden. 

After a slow start, everything is growing quickly, and the plants are jostling for space.

As you can see, one of my favourite spots is the woodland area. It is covered with plants, and all are doing amazingly well. The ferns especially love the small amount of dappled shade the tree provides. One of the good things about this part of the garden is that the weeds stand little chance of establishing a foothold with all the other planting.  

Hubby also finished the other raised bed for me this week and it now has some lettuce growing in there. I have covered it for now, as otherwise, it might make a tasty snack for the pigeons! I'm looking forward to salad from the garden.

D has also been spending more time outside and looking forward to planting new crops every day when she comes home from work. Slowly, she is learning the pleasures of gardening. Long may it continue and develop!

With all the time spent in the garden, there has been less done on general cleaning inside, so this sweet mouse has been offering her help. I wish!! 

She even offered to spring clean in between the flower beds. Bless her. 

This coming week, I should give her a hand: it is a lot of house for a tiny mouse to clean. The pattern is another of Jean Greenhowe's creations. Little Miss Spring Mouse will be joined by her Summer and Autumn cousins at the appropriate season. Winter mouse is snuggled away with the Christmas decorations.

Both D and I wish you a lovely week wherever you are.

Sunny Days

Hello everyone. 

Firstly, D and I want to thank you for all the encouraging comments about our doll house. We look forward to showing you the next room.

We have finally had a hot and sunny week here in our small corner, and both D and I have been taking advantage of this by being outside as much as possible. There is now a lot of colour appearing in both the front and back gardens.

These flowers are growing in the front garden.

Herbs and a courgette enjoying the sunshine.

Here are some of the plants currently flowering in our back garden.

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that we were working on the L-shaped part of the back garden outside the back door. Hubby has been very busy putting together another raised bed, which I quickly filled. He is now working on a second bed to match on the other side.

These last few pictures are of the alpine bed on top our dustbin area. It is pretty to look at and the plants have loved the sun this week.

On Monday, D, hubby and I took a trip to Bewdley, which is not far away from where we live.

Lots of people were enjoying the dry Bank holiday weather, and there was a significant increase in the sale of ice-creams that day. The highlight of our visit had to be watching the geese on the river. They were very noisy with their youngsters swimming nearby. The geese were also spectacular show-offs when coming into land, with feet first and bottom and tail feathers acting as the final brakes.

D has also been spending some time baking in the kitchen, and we all enjoyed her chicken, bacon and leek pie. 

I had half eaten the meal before remembering to take a photo!

As well as all the gardening, I have taken full advantage of the weather to do as much of the bulkier items of washing as possible, which included the covers for our three-piece suite. They dried brilliantly outside. It has been a good week here.

With the weather set to change again back to more rain, there will be more indoor crafting and some work in the greenhouse for us this next week.

D and I wish you all a healthy and happy week whatever the weather happens to be.

B and D xx

Mayfield House - The Lower Hallway

Hello, everyone, and welcome to this week's blog post from Beverley and D.

As promised, we are starting a periodic series about our dollhouse: its construction and the imagined guided tour, telling the story of each room. We can't wait to share this journey with you.

Welcome to Mayfield House.

We set this Georgian-constructed house in 1914, on the cusp of a new era with the recent outbreak of World War One. Although most male staff have left to join the war effort, life in Mayfield has changed very little. Female staff continue to support the family, but even those numbers have started to fall.

It, therefore, seems appropriate to begin our tour of Mayfield House in the basement, where staff work to ensure the smooth running of the house for the family. We start the tour today in the lower entrance hall, a place of bustling activity and the gateway to the rest of the house.

The staff and tradespeople enter and leave via this front entrance, constantly crowded with dusty and muddy boots. 

The young maid, Polly, has the thankless task of keeping it clean and tidy. You can see her at work with a bucket of water and rags while a brush and pan lie nearby. She dreams of rising through servant ranks to lady's maid or even housekeeper, but that is many years away, and things are changing. 

Behind her, a half-opened door leads through to the back hallway and the staircase to the upper floors. One of the resident basement cats has discovered a tiny mouse hiding in a tall planter – the standoff between the two is mounting. 

The hall furniture comprises a large mirrored coat stand, a small table with an indestructible plant, and a settle seat. The seat is on the opposite wall to the rooms occupied by the butler. If you sit down, you can see the servant bells, high on the wall, which ring when the upper house requires staff attention. 

Next time we will call in to visit the Butler of Mayfield House. See you soon.

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Putting the room together

After we painted the walls a pale yellow with white woodwork and cornices, we covered the floor with individual quarry tiles. We also changed the room depth by adding a false wall to give the illusion of further rooms beyond our view, such as the servant's hall and the stairs to the upper floors. 

The long seat or settle has been covered with a seat pad made from a small piece of leather belonging to Beverley's grandma.

The coat stand was a bought item with a few things added that might have been stored there, such as the hat, scarf and walking canes. The book on the show keeps track of tradespeople visiting and the purpose of their visit.

We also added a backboard to the servant bells with numbers written above to denote which room they related to. 

Polly the Maid was a store bought doll.

Have a good week, everyone, and if you are in the UK, enjoy the Bank holiday.