Sunday 2 December 2012

Sunday Shenanigans



First thing Sunday morning is always a really bad time for trying to get on the Internet. It must be outside the house – the BT line – because there is no reason otherwise that a Sunday morning should be so hard.  It’s annoying.  I shall have to investigate the new ‘Superfast Broadband’ via fibre-optic that they are advertising.  Somehow I doubt it will be free.  And talking of money…
 
The Kitchen – A Progress Report
Perhaps it might be better to label this a regress report.  The good news is that we have the freezer freezing, the fridge fridging and the stove stoving and, hopefully, by the end of today I will have the cooker hood up and working. The bad news is that we have a leaking pipe to add to the one in the bathroom (which two different plumbers have had a go at fixing – unsuccessfully). This pipe is before the mains stop cock within the house. And the mains stop cock in the road has been asphalted over last time they did the pavement.  Apparently it is no longer the Water Authority’s responsibility to pr0vide and outside one.  So, in order to mend the pipe – which has been causing a lake under the kitchen and dining room – we have to have a new mains stop tap installed at our own expense.  Once that’s done the leak can be fixed and a new indoor mains stop tap (also faulty) fitted.  Please, don’t even ask about the sink unit…

I am taking a sneaky break from working on the kitchen and looking through some photos from earlier this year.  Outside the wind is howling and the rain is lashing down so the job I had planned for today has been abandoned. I had aimed to sort out the shed (known to us as the Wendy House to distinguish it from the garden shed at the bottom of the garden). I need to do so in order to be able to make some kitchen cabinets in there.   In order to even get inside the Wendy House half of its contents will have to be spread around the garden and today is not a day for doing that.

Woman Flu 
Partner-who-loves-tea is not drinking tea at the moment.  At least, not black tea.  Herbal ones, instead.  She's poorly.  Despite an anti-flu shot (her first ever) this year she has flu.  She is so poorly she not only cancelled a social engagment she was looking forward to but also gave her studnets a day off.  She has to be poorly to be that generous to her students - she works them hard!

Hello Kitty
We came across this car in Stornoway earlier in the year. There’s nothing like making your car unique, is there?





Knigtshayes Court – the Walled Garden
It’s wet and windy and most of the pretty autumn leaves have now been blown off the trees so I thought I’d show you some photos from our trip to Knigtshayes Court in Devon in early October.  These are not the main gardens – just the walled kitchen garden. It’s the largest walled garden I have ever seen.



 (This can be clicked on to read about the garden)
 















All that, and more, within one walled garden!

19 comments:

  1. What a fabulous garden! Bummer about the water problems. Best wishes to Jo.

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  2. I'm in love with that little tower in the corner of the wall, with the red door! I want one! (but I guess it would look strange on my balcony...)

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  3. Ooops! I put a single word "Hi" in the comment box, because I've been having trouble getting Google to let me comment on blogs. So of course this morning, with just the single word, it worked perfectly. Go figure ...

    Sorry about the kitchen mishaps and leaks. If these Lakes were here, we could help you with the lake in the kitchen. I can't plumb, but I'm fairly good at mopping up standing water!

    Rob replaced the sink in our upstairs bath this autumn, and was thrilled because everything worked on the first try with no leaks. Don't think that has ever happened before. Usually it takes at least two or three tries.

    Love this report on Knighthayes. Such a gorgeous garden. And it looks as if you had a perfect day for your visit.

    Also please give our best to Jo and tell her we hope she gets well quickly. The 'flu is the worst. Take care and God bless, love, Carol

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    1. Tell Rob I think he's very brave. I'll tackle anything about the house except plumbing. I'm always too frightened of the consequences when things go wrong. Mind you, the jobs that the last few plumbers we've had have been as bad as anything I could have done - we had a flooded downstairs toilet and upstairs bathroom after one had left us.

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  4. I love these photos! Everytime I see a duck upended like that, I think of Jemima Puddleduck looking for her clothes. I thinkI spent too much time with the Beatrix Potter books when I was a kid!

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    1. I wonder if anyone has ever told ducks how silly they look? I can't resist photographing them whenever they do that - they are so delightful. I think Jemima Puddleduck may have shaped a lot of our childhoods!

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  5. We are having a really super windy day here too. I was out shopping at the office store and had a trip planned to go to Target but that darn wind changed my mind.It kept blowing stuff in my eyes, so I decided to head back home and look through blogs instead. Ugh!
    Those are very nice pictures of the garden.

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  6. How beautiful! It's rainy and windy here today and your pics have brought me back to a sunny day in early fall..ahhh...so pretty! I love the garden wall too. What a great place. I always think I could do a huge garden area like that but then reality hits and I remember it takes work..and time...and work. I hope your remodel goes well, but I understand your frustration with the plumbing. Is there ever an easy job? One that doesn't require constant crazyiness, mess and money to complete? I doubt it! Good luck! I'll be waiting to see the finished product.

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  7. Wonderful photos, Scriptor, especially of the moth -- or is it a butterfly? We just got back from Kauai on Friday. Awful flying there and back, but had a wonderful time otherwise. My grandfather was once in charge of a walled garden in Hertfordshire, at the home of Sir David Rutherford. It is no more, - like most of the aristocracy. I don't remember much about it. I was too young but my father was overly proud of his connections with 'the Big House'. Glad I didn't have to deal with that aspect of life. I'll be blogging about my time in Kauai soon.

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    1. So many walled gardens disappeared after the First World War when the gardeners didn't come back from the trenches (absolutely no pun intended on such a serious commnent!). Then more disappeared after the Second World War and then in the sixties cheap imported food killed off many of the rest. Fortunately their value is now being realised and a lot are being re-instated by the National Trust and similar charities.

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  8. What beautiful pictures of that kitchen garden! I'd love a stroll round there.
    The yellow Hello-Kitty-car would be MINE - I love yellow, and I love Hello Kitty :-) The owner is, I suppose, my sister-in-spirit!

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  9. ...I was too quick on the "Publish" button.
    Wishing your partner-who-drinks-herbal-tea a speedy recovery!

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  10. As the council are responsible for the roads/pavements I'd send them the bill for the new stop cock and explain why it was needed. Even if they didn't cover it over they are responsible for checking that anyone else working in the road, repairs it properly. They might pay up, and at worst you'll have wasted a stamp.

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  11. One of the many reasons I'm grateful for the good cameras we have these days, is the chance to relive past times - good weather instead of bad, happy people instead of ones blowing their noses and feeling grumpy.... yay for cameras!

    Sympathetic about the plumbing problems. I don't think they train most plumbers properly so they don't know what is wrong in the first place. We usually try to get an old guy who is just about to retire and has "seen it all ". And with any luck he might have "seen" our problem too in his long life!

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  12. Made me think of the quote, "Seeing the world in a grain of sand and Heaven in a flower" ... Your posts are always so wonderful and so varied. xoxo

    PS - How is Jo's bout of the 'flu? Hope she's better soon. Love to both of you, xoxox Carol

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    1. I love that quotation!

      Jo is still pooorly - can't seem to shake it off.

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  13. Loved the photos...especially the close-up shots.
    You have a keen eye for capturing the good stuff.
    Hope your water woes are solved soon.

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  14. Enjoyed the walled garden with you John.

    Have seen some of those 'eyelash' cars down here but not a hello Kitty one. I was assuming my 3 year old grand daughter would be out of HK phase soon!

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