Cricket on a Sunday Afternoon

Hello friends. 

I hope you enjoyed a lovely week.

Last Sunday afternoon, hubby and I spent a lovely afternoon with our son and daughter-in-law at Edgbaston Cricket Ground in Birmingham. Before I begin, I want to point out that I am not usually a sports fan of any kind, but sometimes I can surprise even myself. 

Hubby and our son have always had an interest in watching cricket, and our son worked at these grounds when at University. As retirement is coming up shortly for my other half, I had flippantly suggested he take himself off to the cricket grounds some days. That resulted in our son booking tickets for the 2024 Vitality Blast, a set of matches completed in a day, unlike Test cricket. They are generally known as T20s.

We were able to see both a women's match and a men's match, which were both great fun to watch.

The whole atmosphere was wonderful, with everyone clapping for all sides - bowlers, fielders, and batters - true sportsmanship!  I actually learnt a lot and at least know how the scoring works now. There was some amazing play, with one of the bowlers bowling out six unfortunate players and gaining a hat-trick as well. I think we will be revisiting Edgbaston after retirement. Here are a few pictures from the match; that's my sports reporting for now. I did have a great time, though.

On Friday, hubby and I were off again in search of another interesting home and its gardens. Baddesley Clinton, in Warwickshire, is about 40 minutes away from us and was perfect for a sunny afternoon. This was originally a medieval manor house with strong Catholic connections. This religious fervour could be very dangerous, especially during the English Civil War, and the house was a safe place for Catholic priests. The Ferrers, who owned the property, leased the manor to two sisters at that time. They had several hiding places, or priest holes, cleverly fitted, which proved to be life-saving on several occasions when Catholic priests were being hunted down.  

As it was a hot afternoon, we decided to take a stroll in the shade around the house and made some new feathered friends.

 

We also enjoyed seeing more of the formal gardens and my favourite flower was this beautiful Peony.

Back in our own garden, it's the turn of some other fruits to take centre stage after the strawberries did so well. I have a couple of blackcurrant bushes scattered around, and they have all produced a lot of berries.

The gooseberries are also doing well, although someone has been munching on some of the leaves. I need to be a bit more vigilant to prevent the sawfly from attacking next year. 

This week, in this small corner, it looks to be another warm week to enjoy in the garden.  I'm going to add more bark mulch to the woodland area at the bottom of the garden, which has become a little overgrown over the last few weeks. Although there is less need to weed there, I'm hoping the mulch will help retain moisture in the soil for longer when it has been watered or rained on. One or two plants also need to be removed and replaced, and so a trip to the garden centre is also looking likely. We also have some family birthday celebrations in Essex next weekend, which will be lovely

I hope you have some lovely plans for the week and that the weather is perfect in your own corners.

Best wishes

B x

Visiting Croome, Worcestershire

Hello Friends.

This morning (Saturday) promised to be another beautiful and sunny day, so hubby and I headed out to visit a local National Trust site that we have visited several times over the years.

Croome Park is in the county of Worcestershire and about 40 minutes from where we live. The grounds are always wonderful to wander around, and we began our walk with the sun on our backs and a gentle breeze.

Croome was built in a low dip in the landscape as a country house and was the vision of George William, the 6th Earl of Coventry. He utilised the designs of Capability Brown for the landscapes and Robert Adam and later James Wyatt for the interior of Croome itself. The current house was built between 1752 and 62.

The grounds at Croome were naturally heavy clay, and it took a great deal of engineering to construct suitable drainage systems to make the area useable. Various native and exotic species were planted in the fertile ground, and the woodland is now a joy to walk in. 

These Crown Fritillarias were a welcome surprise. 

Although the Gothic church was originally much closer to the house, the church was moved to higher ground, where it now overlooks Croome's country mansion.

One of the outstanding features of the landscape is the winding river developed by Capability Brown, which meanders to the west of the house. The restored bridge, which William Halfpenny built, is named the Chinese Bridge because of its style.

This rather splendid building is a very fancy eighteenth-century greenhouse! This is the Temple Greenhouse; it even had underfloor heating when the owners originally used it. There aren't many exotics kept in there now, but you get the idea.

This dry bridge was constructed so visitors to the grounds and lake did not have to cross the busy carriage drive that led to the house.

Hiding away in this shady grotto is the water nymph Sabrina, who, according to legend, lived in the nearby River Severn. The stone from which the grotto was made is limestone, which gives it a sponge-like structure. While we were there, the insects seemed to enjoy the cool resting places in the rock holes—a beautiful habitat for wildlife.

By the 1870s, Croome was past its peak glory days, and the old ways were lost to modernisation.

In the twentieth century, the RAF used Croome to create a new airfield during the Second World War. Later, it became a Catholic school and, in 1979, was the base for the International Society of Krishna Consciousness. Now, the National Trust looks after Croome.

Meanwhile, back at home, a few more things have been happening in the garden. We have planted this year's potato crop in the ground, where we stripped the turf to edge the pond. I'm hoping for tasty potatoes in the coming months. Early lettuce is sprouting, and my onions, which I always start in pots, are making a good start in the greenhouse.

I am also ready to start picking rhubarb for this year.

The Amelanchier has blossomed in the front garden.

And here is another welcome visitor to our garden.

It has been such a lovely week here, and I hope it has been the same for you. A new week is starting, and I hope it is filled with more sunshine for you all.

Take care

B x