My insurance company were very good about giving me a hire car. I told them anything small will do as I don't use my car very much. I was given a VW Tiguan which is not small and incidentally drives like a tank. It also has farting windscreen wipers - they were so dirty they could hardly drag themselves across the screen. My complaints with the car are myriad. Mostly it is wider and heavier than my CHR which I love as that is such an easy car to drive. So, with the possibility of travelling the length and breadth of the UK in my other car, I sat tight and waited for the phone call to find out when my car would be collected and taken off for repair. Finally it went on Friday morning. This was a week where I did not want to do too much just in case I missed the call.
At least sitting tight was good for my garden. I spent time tweaking and tending my dying plants. Next week promises to be another heatwave so I'll expect more casualties in the garden. It was also lovely to have Adrian and Chris visit on their way back home. They came to meet me at the orchard. It is so abundant with fruit, I tried to palm some off on them. Apparently, there is a nationwide glut of fruit. Everyone I offer fruit to says they have already got some from elsewhere. This week I'm off to get some blackberries so I can stew them with apples.
Close to Danielle's home is a fig tree that is laden with figs and also with wasps burying into the fruit. I have picked a few carefully chosen ones and they are really sweet. I asked the owner if I could take some cuttings. Hopefully we will be able to propagate them at the orchard.
 |
| Diane in thr garden at Wrest Park |
I did not forget that Saturday was Singapore's birthday... I expect with 60 years to celebrate it was an especially big one. Happy Birthday! On National Day, I went out and did a very British thing. I went to Wrest Park for the day. Diane volunteers there. Even though it is not too far from my place, it is somewhere I have never visited. Originally owned by the De Grey family, it covers acres of beautifully landscaped gardens. Everywhere you look, there's a view to wow you. Oh, how the other half lived! Diane gave me a guided tour round the grounds and I did the house while she was working.
Of particular interest in the house is the Chinese wallpaper. You are only allowed to see it when accompanied by a docent. The man who took my group up to the room was so enthusiastic, he didn't notice how his audience were wilting in the heat while he spoke. By the end of the talk, it was almost a personalised tour. The "information" rooms on the ground floor have been nicely laid out and the amount of writing is just about right to keep your interest through the whole exhibition.
 |
| The library... |
Something I am drawn to in these old houses is the library. The books we display says something of who we are. So in the mighty room I browsed the books and there were all sorts of incongruent titles - "Soils and Fertilisers" in many volumes by the year. Law books, Swedish books... Apparently they were a job lot to fill the shelves as the original books are of far too greater value to be on display. As the house and surroundings have been the backdrop for lots of films and series. I could almost have had a "Bridgeton" moment. Maybe something exciting happened after all this week.
No comments:
Post a Comment