It’s ages
since I complained about Google so I thought I’d mention my hatred (I know GB –
one should never ‘Hate’ anything) of the fact that when one goes to someone’s profile
their list of blogs followed appears before their personal details. In the case of novelist DeborahLawrenson who follows about 2 million
blogs I found it a bit tiresome.
Especially when one gets to the end and finds the ‘complete profile’ is
the same as the one on the blog so all one has learned is the list of blogs the
person chooses to tell you they own.
And while I’m
in a moaning mood I should mention the Mad Blackbird who goes berserk from 4
a.m. to 9 p.m. – non-stop. He’s a bit of
a pain in the neck. I am loathe to
suggest the demise of any living creature but if someone were to ring its neck
they might be ensuring its defective genes were not passed on to future
generations.
And before I
go on to happy things I’ll mention the weather.
It’s been raining. And raining.
And raining. It stopped yesterday
afternoon but this morning we have heavy, threatening clouds again. Come on summer, give us a break!
On the good
side I’m spending quality time with my daughter, son-in-law and brother and the
only work I have to do is pull my duvet cover back up when I’ve got out of
bed. I’m being waited on hand and foot
and chauffeured around.
On Tuesday we
went to Otter Nurseries for a look around and a coffee / crossword (of course).
Daughter-who-takes-photos
À la Ronde
Then we went on to a
National Trust property called À la Ronde, near Exmouth. Having seen a picture of the outside it
intrigued me but I never expected it to be as fascinating as it was. One visit is definitely not enough. Sadly Friend-and-son-in-law-who
loves-otters was working and could not be with us.
The National
Trust has got so much more customer friendly over the years. Not only can one now take photos inside most
of their properties but in this case one could have played the piano (once used
by a concert pianist)…
Give us a tune, Marcheline!
And there were chairs which one could have sat
in had one need to. They weren’t all
marked with huge ‘Do not sit’ notices as they would have been years ago. Well done the NT.
Monkey Puzzle
And in the
grounds Daughter-who-takes-photos and I were delighted to see a Chile Pine (aka
Monkey Puzzle) with cones. Not something
I can recall ever seeing before.
GB
The marvellous design of the floorboards – to compensate for
the shape of the house.
Looking up in the central room.
In this ball you can see some of the doors off the main room.
The house is full of shells in every form possible including shell pictures and the marvellous shell gallery which goes all the way around the third floor (not yet accessible to the public but visible in part from below and in its entirety on a comuter screen).
I don't know where we are headed today but no doubt it will be somewhere interesting and bloggable... See you soon.
Part of the shell gallery
I don't know where we are headed today but no doubt it will be somewhere interesting and bloggable... See you soon.
I do hope the weather improves for you soon... We had a lovely summer day here yesterday. I'll get back to this post again for a closer look at the photos - I'm off out in a minute or two myself.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting building, an eccentric person's home? I will have to look it up and read about it.
ReplyDeleteI love that Monkey Puzzle, never seen or heard of it before.
Yes, Kay. It was built for 'two spinster cousins', Jane and Mary Parminter, in the eighteenth century after their return from the Grand Tour of Europe.
DeleteHahaha..your rant was humorous - especially the black-bird! Your photos, though...awesome. Love that reflection and taken with those floor boards, as you were.
ReplyDeleteIt made me giggle with your writing of everything else on the page...and then there's 'GB'.
:)
A nice visit with you, even if you were ranting first!
Love to you and safe and happy traveling.
A fascinating place indeed! What was its original purpose? In Scarborough, The Rotunda was - at least that's what they tell you there - the first purpose-built museum in England.
ReplyDeleteThe Monkey Puzzle - now that's an interesting name for a plant! I think this is the one that is called Araukarie in German. Only last Saturday I took a picture of the one in the castle grounds here.
It was a home - please see my reply to Kay.
DeleteYes, it is the same plant and its scientific name is (Araucaria araucana).
DeleteWhat a great post. Love H's new haircut. And the A la Ronde house is fascinating. Loved the photo of the floor boards too -- a carpenter's nightmare to get all those weird pointed shapes to fit! Must've taken forever to do. And I didn't know monkey puzzle trees even had cones. Just never thought about it before, I guess.
ReplyDeleteSounds as if you're enjoying your holiday. Take care and God bless, and love to all, including Misty/Roland the monkey cat xoxox
I've just about got used to Helen's haircut - it's taken some time but now I've accepted the loss of her lovwly long hair this style looks good on her.
DeleteBack to check out this post a bit closer. What a fascinating and enchanting house. I looked up the National Trust website to read a bit more about it. Love how you caught the reflection in that globe, of all the doors!
ReplyDeleteGlad to see someone else unload once in awhile. I need that from time to time. I'd take some of your rain-- send it my way!
ReplyDeleteI was fascinated by your photos of A La Ronde. I have heard of it but never visited it, and your photos are much more interesting than any I have ever seen. It's good that the NT was allowing photos. They wouldn't let me take any a couple of months ago in Clandon Park, to my disappointment. (a very interesting house which I can recommend).
ReplyDeleteThe Mad Blackbird sounds rather hyperactive to me, poor thing. Perhaps you should put some birdseed laced with sedative out for it! :)
I think allowing photos is generally in their own interest. Showing things on blogd, etc, is much more likely to bring a place to people's attention and make them want to go there, in my view. I can thoroughly recommend A la Ronde and whilst I cannot vouch for the cafe personally the fact that it was so busy there wasn't a single table for us must say a lot!
DeleteRound structures are rare in The Colonies, but we do have them. I saw a few round homes in Boulder, Colorado when I visited my aunt and uncle. Most round homes (here, anyway) are actually kidney shaped and the appeal of living in such a place tends to wane over a short time. For one thing it's difficult to fit square furniture into a round room.
ReplyDeleteThe photo of the floor is absolutely outstanding! I am not much of a carpenter and never have been. I lack talent or patience or something. That floor should be photographed and copies sent around to vocational schools throughout the U.S., because clearly if you want to learn advanced carpentry you must go to Jolly Old and apply yourself.
My sympathies to you regarding the mad blackbird. Being a gun owner, hunter and recreational shooter I have any number of firearms that are suitable for dealing with the blackbird, but I'm told such are illegal in your country. If that's the case, you could try a slingshot or blowgun. Either would work. In my case I had a woodpecker who was attacking the walls of our house. My bedroom wall, and right at dawn every single morning. Then he'd go for the rain gutter which is made of metal and produced a nasty banging noise, not unlike an overjoyed three year old child playing with a set of cookware. By the time I'd dragged myself out of bed he'd always vanished. Oh well, it only lasted one summer.
Keep up the good work!