Autumn Cottage Diarist

Fifty Memories of Six Days in France

11-16^th June 2009

 

Chez Russell

The first view, the first steps, into the Magic Garden

The beating sun on the patio

The swish of the pool filter

The “chuk-chuk-chuk-chuckAH!” of the hens next door when they laid an egg

The incessant birdsong with no break for lunch

 

The skitter of the lizards from beneath-the-bergenia-and-up-the-wall

The humming bird moths in the lavender bushes

The red squirrel – dropping his nuts!

The walnut tree, the walnut tree, the spreading, verdant walnut tree

The soft patter of rain on the terracotta tiles

 

Ancient churches on a route to Santiago

Wall paintings discovered – and washed away

Cross-legs, fork-beards, musician-figures... on the western arch at Avy – who are they?

Ceramic flowers on marble tombs

The bedroom in a cupboard!

 

Poterie de Baignes on windowsill and wall

Baby hedgehog on an evening ramble

Elaine and her sister on a wineglass perambulation of Bran

Crumbling old buildings - dreams and fantasies – buyable for 10,000 Euros?

The dog, the sun, a ramshackle shelter and more than one tear in my eye

 

Sweltering lunch in the shadow of the Donjon in Pons

Precarious descent to the Lower Square in St Emilion

The tiny-train tour of the Vineyards and Chateaux

Roses planted at the end of vine rows- “to give warning of diseases”

Downloading David by his desk at dawn!

 

 Vin rouge Lestac in a box

Fine wines in many bottles

Accordion music floating through the garden on Sunday morning

Croustade - Gascon filo and apple pudding splashed with Armagnac

Eroding limestone everywhere

 

Chateau de Clerbise

A chateau lost in time

Sunlight filtering through muslin-hung windows

Leather embossed walls

A huge ceramic stove

A ruined chapel still hiding many mysteries

 

Sarcophagi and graffiti

Lavender and Roses

Oleander and Wisteria

A swan gliding beneath us as we dined at the Moulin de Sorgues

Glassy surfaced, lily-studded river, reflecting golden lamps on the walls above

 

A goat being chased by a pony, a bunny and a goose – all on the other bank!

Naughty Elaine, Camp Christophe and far too much XO Cognac!

Rain coming down, a pile of books and my journal – another sort of bliss.

Last-night -leftovers-supper – good bread, good wines, great cheese

Mist-covered vineyards, aquamarine sky at dawn departure

 

Strutting Norman soldiers along the Bayeux “tapestry”

Thomas a Becket being beheaded - again - in the cathedral

A heavy heart for the boys who landed on Sword Beach, Gold Beach, Juno Beach

Millpond calm English Channel crossing

The winking Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth, to welcome us back home.

For Good food, Good wine and Good Company – Godde be Thanked!

The well is well and truly filled - for now.

(Each one of these lines holds a story - a List of Memories is a great way to capture your holiday if you don't have time to write much when travelling...I'll be expanding each of these, along with more of the 700 photographs, over the next few weeks).

 

Come into the Garden, Maud!

Who would not be tempted by the cover of this book - "Ther Morville Hours" by Katherine Swift - who made a home and garden at Morville Hall in Shropshire and then wrote about the experience using the structure of a medieval Book of Hours. What could be a more delicious combination? I am anticipating the advent of warmer weather towards the weekend, so am already imagining myself listening to the buzz of the bees on a hot summer's afternoon, with this book in hand. I'll report more when more has been read!

The Passing of a Trouper - Farewell, Danny La Rue

I have just heard this sad news.

He was my fathers hero(ine) - the one upon whom Dad modelled his glamorous interpretation of the Pantomime dame. Danny La Rue's stage dresses were legendary (I was commanded to make Dad's as close as possible to "the real thing" - but without the resources of La Rue's budget) - his stage presence was even greater.

He paved the way for the modern "glamorous" drag act...though like many others of his generation and inclinations who have found refuge in the accommodating world of the theatre, he struggled to come out as gay until late in his life. Thankfully, so thankfully, the world is a different place now.

He brought joy and tears of laughter to millions - and even provided material for one of my essays! They don't make many like him any more -  a true professional, the world will be a slightly less joyous place tonight without him.

I hope he is at peace now - though in my imagination, I'd love to think of him and my Pa, on fluffy pink clouds somewhere, (studded with MILLIONS of sequins, naturally!) playing Mother Kelly's Doorstep on their harps, a glass of gin in their hands, having the most wonderful time, comparing frocks, frills, feathers and furbelows.

Rest In Peace, Danny La Rue.

Celebrating the Ordinary

Every Sunday  - at the margins of the day, 6 am in the morning, or 11.30 at night, there is a half hour of concentrated pleasure to be heard on BBC's Radio 4 in the form of "Something Understood" - a programme of poetry, prose, and observations interlaced with both scared and secular music, each week on a different topic.

The theme today was "Ordinary Time" - a variation on the theme of my virtual friend Fran's blog "Sacred Ordinary" - of finding fulfilment in the acts and events of our own lives which we may  find ordinary in the moment-by-moment... but which may sometimes be far from ordinary to other eyes.

You can "Listen Again"  to today's programme and browse other themes and playlists at the programme archive. Give yourself a treat - kick back and discover half an hour of "Something Understood" - I think you will be pleased that you did.

Blissful Summer Days are Here

Acquilega

Those balmy, blissful summer days have arrived - calling me away from my desk, into the garden, onto the patio...down to the pond...where the white acquilegias - which glow mysteriously in the evenings, are in flower just now

I'm lucky to have a window in my office which opens to overlook the garden, though - a window which I keep open all through the day - so that Lissie and Pip can come and go as they please. Not much coming and going in the warm weather...more a case of "please do not disturb our sleep" and on the warm earth - who can blame them? Here they are..resting, instead of play-fighting - for once :-)

(They also both say how excited they are that Aunty Diana is coming to Winchester - and much more importantly, to visit them, and chide me for not replying to her last message - which I will do over the weekend!)

Treasure Hunting on a Friday Afternoon

Antique glass and inspiring room settings in this £3.00 charity-shop bargain book from Hungerford

I've loved Friday afternoons ever since I was five years old, when it was "paint and clay time" heaven in my infant school. The sense of anticipation and "Play-time" has stayed with me ever since, not even dampened by my later years in my Grammar School, (Newport High School in Monmouthshire),  where Friday afternoons meant double maths and Physics lessons!

Play time for me still calls on a Friday afternoon, when I often drive to Hungerford for just an hour's browsing in the charity shops and Antiques Arcade. I think even I excelled myself in the treasure-economy stakes today - since I acquired ALL the items below for under a total of five UK pounds (approx $8.00). Credit crunch - get thee behind me - there are still hundreds of treasures to be found for a pittance!

These two sadly damaged little characters were a mere 25 pence (50 cents) each - missing arms a plenty, but otherwise of fine quality modelling and painting. They will go at the back of the china cabinet, where their "armless" nature will go unheeded.

This gentleman was more expensive, at one whole UK pound - a nice addition to my collection of Victorian chimney figures which would have been cheaply produced at the time, but I find full of naive folk charm.

No visit to the Arcade is complete without leaving with a couple of books - today I brought a copy of "Spanish Still Life from Velazquez to Goya" - of which, more later...and also this intriguing book detailing "Five Centuries of Women and Gardens"...

No doubt there will be some ideas in there which will inspire me in Autumn Cottage garden over this coming long Bank Holiday weekend. Fingers crossed for good weather - there is a LOT more digging to do out there!

I'll leave you with the most interesting find of all for me - an image of four of the twelve Victorian mourning cards which I discovered in the Junk shop - all 12 for a pound, and very relevant to my present studies

Quite fascinating, for only two of them even mention Death in the flowery verses inside...choosing to make all manner of other allusions, such as "falling asleep", "nipping in the bud" "going to join the happy throng", "Passing Jordan" and "withdrawing to heaven".

Well, I'm withdrawing to heaven right now - but in my case, that means ONLY going downstairs for a cup of tea on the patio - don't worry, I'm not intending to "Join the Happy Throng" just yet - I'll be back sometime very soon!

Procrastination Central!

I want to spend today here...

The veg beds

 When really, I should be here.....

 But it's SO much nicer here...

With Lissie, down by the pond

 Or here...

The herb garden

Or here...

The summerhouse

 Well, wouldn’t you? I take a walk around outside each morning – and though I really should have my head deep in my books, reading papers and writing today, I have found it really difficult to drag myself away from the garden, which is just so very lush and verdant at the moment. It’s a combination of sunshine and heavy showers, but it is making this May an exceptionally abundant one.

Chelsea Flower Show is on at the moment and my suspicions have been confirmed – many of the experts commentating from there have been making the same observation that I have done over the last couple of months – this is also an exceptional year for blossom in the UK.

OK – that is another half an hour of procrastination that I have spent, writing this blog (coming back to blogging has given me another excuse not to work!) – but now I suppose I really must get on. I’ll leave you with two old-fashioned oil heaters that are knocking around in the veg garden

(I use them as plant stands, indoors and out) – time to give them a coat of paint to spruce them up, do you think – or leave them just as they are? (Carolyn – I know you will say “Stay your hand!”)

 Now - shall I take my laptop down to the summerhouse to work? Hmm... the summerhouse is so untidy after the winter....perhaps I ought to spend an hour - or two - tidying up down there before I get down to writing?

Now Remind me What I was Saying...?

Clematis over the front door last week

Oh, I know. Sigh. I have been away for far too long - again. No excuses - except to say, as always - so much to do, so little time. (Actually, there have been one or two reasons - a few health issues and other things to cause delays and distractions...but nothing that is remotely of interest to anyone else...so lets not bother with them, shall we? :-))

I have so appreciated the messages that many of you have sent during my "down time" - and each time I have received a message, I have felt drawn back to blogging, but also been aware that I could not keep it up with any sort of regularity while other things were impinging on my time.

But now the last essay has gone in - and come back, and I am now writing my dissertation - lengthy, but not due until the end of August, and now the days are blissfully longer, so there are more "useable" hours in the day, well, perhaps now is the time to come back to the blog again. Bear with me if I lapse, but I'll see how things go and if I can get here at least once or twice a week to share life here at the cottage with you. I'm not going to even try to recount all that has occurred in the three months since I last posted. Let's just leap in again and start from now, shall we?

Talking of Autumn Cottage - would you like to see the garden? Have any of you who live in the UK noticed just how prolific the blossom has been everywhere this year? Here are just a few pictures of the garden, together with a couple of other "catch-up" images from the last few months.

 March -The first days of spring...daffodils under the old apple tree

 

March - Lissie on patrol around the just-waking pond

 

March - Flowers from others and a gift to myself on Mother's Day

 

April - Abundant blossom on the Magnolia stellata

 

Early May - Setting out a lavender hedge around the veg garden

My dissertation topic (and thief of time!) - "Modern grave ornamentation" - I'd be interested to hear your own opinions on this way of decorating a grave...

And finally for today - who could resist viewing a blog with the enticing title of "On Not Being a Sausage"?...I came across it during research associated with my dissertation...I'll leave you to discover for yourself more of what it has to say.

It's good to be back -  I'll see you all again very soon!

Transported Again - Another Place, Another Time

The Pedersen family (?) on holiday in Chesieres, Switzerland, 1897

The first time I have really been "out and about" for pleasure for nearly two weeks and my first thoughts today were "why couldn't it be like this a week ago?" - for today the sun was shining, the roads had not a trace of snow on them (though there is still plenty in the shady hedgerows) and it was more than easy to get to Hungerford. Too late for Britt-Arnhild to enjoy its pleasures this time - and my deep sadness still looms over me in regard to that disappointment - for me and for her. But I did make up for my continuing chagrin a little by finding a treasure in the Antiques Arcade - just a small portion of which I want to share with you  here.

Is this Eliza?

The label said "3 old photograph albums - £10.00" - the "old photograph albums" was enough to catch my eye, and though two of them are nondescript, the third holds such delicious images - and there is even a name inside the album cover... "Eliza C Pedersen - 1900"

 

The photographs inside are taken from 1893, and seem to be of a Swedish family, at home (?) in Raskog, and on their holiday travels to Switzerland. Anyone with an interest in the paintings of Carl Larssen will see many echoes of his domestic scenes in these photographs - they are pure delight - and because I have scanned them at high resolution, the costumes are also visible in great detail.

"An auction in Raskog"

Enjoy a little glimpse into another world of innocent pleasures - don't these children look just so contented and the adults so composed?

More images to come, when I have time to scan, enhance and tinker with some more, and with gratitude to my Epson scanner colour restoration feature - modern technology restoring a world that would otherwise have disappeared.

One Damn Thing After Another

What's missing from all these photographs, dear reader - that I only now have the heart to write about here?

Here is Britt-Arnhild, the missing person - and how very much she has been missed.

It has been one thing after another at Autumn Cottage since last Friday, when the snow fell, down, down,down - not great in quantity in comparison with those of you across the world who experience 5 foot drifts as a matter of course. But in this part of the country, on that day - down came the snow - then the sleet, then the ice....until I could not get out, and nobody could get here to me. So, as many of you know, I made "an executive decision" and advised Britt-Arnhild to divert to the relative calm of London rather than the wilds of North Hampshire.

That afternoon, I went out to take photographs of the unexpected snowfall - just minutes after taking the one of the house sign (above), I turned round to return to the house and promptly fell - er - base over apex, twisting my ankle and landing on the base of my spine. Since then, I have hobbled around like a Fairytale Crone - (even grateful for Mother In Law's walking stick yesterday morning, but don't tell anyone I did that!)

And then, also yesterday - a phone-call, while I was making my morning tea, from my oldest son, telling me that "I'm OK Mum, but I have had a car crash" - the words that every parent dreads to hear. It was the snow again - he was travelling at only 10 miles per hour, but hit black ice and lost control - finally coming to a stop when meeting a brick wall. Then someone else hit him. Thankfully, the kindness of strangers provided him with breakfast and a warm coat while he waited for the recovery vehicle. He is all right now, physically at least, but still shaken up, and the car is a write-off.

So - instead of enjoying the company of  Britt-Arnhild, whose visit I have been awaiting for weeks, painting and decorating, with textiles, old journals and cookbooks ready to share, (and a package of goodies for Marta!) - I am now sitting here all on my own, mostly enjoying the comfort of lounging on my bed, keeping the foot up and the bottom down, not getting around very well, and surrounded with textbooks and papers for a final essay submission at college.

At least something worthy is getting done - but I  would MUCH rather be visiting Kew Gardens with dear Britt- who I have just spoken to on the phone, and who is truly making lemonade from lemons! I am also lucky enough to be warm, and have food (loads of food - LOADS of chocolate!) and the company of the cats, (who want to know where their visitor is?), so I am very grateful for these bonuses...but still....

Come to England again, Britt-Arnhild, so that we can finally meet up and enjoy each other's company. Next time it will, I promise, be sunshine and roses round the door to welcome you, rather than a catalogue of disasters.

I'm so sorry, my friend. At least, have the welcome that awaited - and still awaits you here....

(Portrait of Britt-Arnhild, taken by B-A, from her blog)