Autumn Cottage Diarist

A Quiet Haven by a Peaceful Pond

We called it 'Stephen's Summerhouse'. Named after Alec's dad, as it had been bought with a small inheritance that came after Stephen's death. He was a kind, placid, peaceful person and we could both imagine that he would approve of such a quiet haven, under the oak tree and by the pond, so 'Stephen's summerhouse' it became.

I've spent many hours in there over the last eighteen years, with journal and laptop, watching the wildlife at the water's edge and listening to the birdsong from the trees, but in the last three or four years it has become something of a dumping ground for garden furniture, deteriorated more when the roof felting was ripped off in a storm last autumn and was finally invaded by ivy growing in through decaying wood corners which needed serious attention.

The Dumping Ground

The roof - on the floor - after a winter storm - not great for keeoping the rain out!

Invading ivy & mouldering desk

Something needed to be done - and so it was that I resolved to spend the last few weeks on a period of renovation there - both to return the little room to use for our own pleasure, but also to give a writing point in the garden where attendees to my therapeutic writing courses may, in future, squirrel themselves away if they choose.

Half done is well begun

I painted the interior to begin with, and alongside that I've also painted the motley collection of furniture in there to give some semblance of unity. I've chosen a vaguely Scandinavian 'Gustavian' colour palette to create a tranquil atmosphere, and set out with the intention of spending as little as possible on the project, attempting to use junk furniture, old pots of paint, off-cuts of flooring and old textiles where I can find them.

The following series of photographs catalogue some of the steps I have taken so far - almost there, but there is always something else to add. (Oh, goodness me! Does this mean I am going to have to visit even *more* antique and curio shops, street markets and boot sales? How will I ever cope? Watch this space!)

Outside still to be done - but inside now welcomes rather than repels

Temporary lamps - to be replaced by small shaded candle lamps when found - or made!

Pictures of a fieldmouse and a hare from the loft; cross-stitched runner draped over the desk until it is stencilled; the old curtains previously installed looking even nicer because they had faded and also been bleached to remove damp mould.

My sentiments to anyone who visits here.

An old wollen travel blanket in lovely, heather-y shades thrown over a scruffy (but original 1930's) bedroom chair

OK - I bought this cushion! just a few pounds though...too pretty to resist

Another favourite - a cobalt colourwashed cabinet adding a touch of Mediterranean blue (the missing drawer had a defunct wasps nest inside, so is still being cleaned in the kitchen)

So who's for tea with me in the summerhouse??

Upon Midsummer's Day - at last, the Roses

Everything a month late in the garden and I have been longing for some roses to bloom. At last, today, I walked around and there they are; in places just one or two blooms but elsewhere in some abundance - so here's a quick walk around the garden to look at the flowers, and to send you good wishes and your own abundance upon this Solstice day.

Royal purple irises, foxgloves and catmint

Olearia macracantha - the New Zealand Holly

On the trellis - at last, some roses!

Hostas in abundance - and this year *un* touched by slugs! - on the patio

Abundant tubs of Rosa 'Winchester Cathedral' in the herb garden - (that table needs to be cleared ready for wine-o'clock!)

...and Rain Will Make the Flowers Grow

Sandleford Place - a 'Sprinkling Tree' trickle fountain in the foreground

Another garden visit - another downpour. This summer is not as sodden as last year, but the damp downfalls are stll making their presence felt. New plantings in my own garden are loving it - but oh, how I feel for the gardeners who open their premises as part of the National Garden Scheme - they must decide at least eighteen months in advance on which dates they will open their gardens - hopefully when they are at their best - but nobody can take into consideration a springtime a month late, or downpours which knock over choice tall plants. They just have to grin and bear it.

Even so - there is so much inspiration to be had by visiting these gardens - photographs can still be taken and when the sun does pop out, everything sparkles and looks - as it is - newly washed. This is what Sandleford Place, on the south edge of Newbury - looked like this afternoon. I hope there are some ideas here for you to use in your own green and pleasant plot.

Clematis - possibly 'Mrs N Thompson' or 'Wilhelmina Tull'

Nectaroscordum siculum - the Sicilian Honey garlic, a member of the allium family

More pots on steps - this time of a much more suitable proportion than those at Stockcross (bottom right hand one almost falling apart, though, with a whopping great crack - probably frost!)

 
Geranium psilostemon - a hardy cranesbill

Interest through variation in form and colour - variegated Yuccas underplanted with Stachys lanata

The peeling bark of Acer griseum - the Paper Bark maple

An old water pump makes a pretty feature amongst purple sage, Sambucus niger (the black elder) in the background and the golden leaves of a fuschia (or philadelphus?)

Huge glazed pot and seat complimenting and enhancing each other

A poppy bud, ready to pop

Poppies - popped!!

Pretty fruit cages in the kitchen garden

Oh, for a greenhouse just like that!

The herb garden - some areas awaiting replenshiment planting. One patch of the insidious box blight visible on the extreme right hand side of this picture - hopefully it will not run further, as it can destroy a whole ornamental planting like this in weeks.

Pink geranium, yellow leaves - an attractive combination for a terracotta pot.

There will always be a picture of a compost heap! Here, looks as if it is placed in an old pigsty. Look at the colours of those beautiful bricks...

A gorgeous, blowsy Rhododendron

Roz trying to Be British, fending off the rain :-)

On the Disruptive Nature of an Artist's Date

The Death of the Virgin - altarpiece segment from the Northern Rhine, 1430-50. Painted and Gilded Walnut.

Anyone who has read Julia Cameron's 'Artists Way' will know that one of the activities which she suggests is that of taking oneself off at regular intervals for 'Artist Dates' - time spent alone at some particular venue which will stimulate your creative juices, so that one's 'well of creativity' can be periodically refilled in order that it can then be dipped into anew.

I had the opportunity to do this two days ago, when I was invited to travel to London to the Victoria and Albert Museum - a temple to creativity - to which my close friend J had been given gift membership last Christmas. As a result, we were both allowed to use the Members Lounge - a quiet room in the upper reaches of the building, accessed via the Glass Galleries...

Exceedingly covetable miniature (not quite 1/12 scale) Bohemian 19th century glass in the Glass Galleries

...and also gain free entry to one of the two major exhibitions open there at the moment -  The Treasures of the Royal Courts, celebrating 500 years of diplomatic and trade relations between Britain and 'Muscovy'

You can read more about the exhibition on the V&A's own website - so this post is not really to tell you about that in detail - but more to notice the disruptive, as well as the 'well filling' effect that such a visit can have. As you all know, if you read this blog at all frequently, I am spending a great deal of time at the moment in the garden, which is gradually taking shape again from a fairly neglected patch of greenery. I love almost every minute I spend there, getting my hands dirty, the rest of me often dirty and wet, making my back and feet ache - but standing back periodically, deeply enjoying the natural world and saying 'yes, at last this is becoming a garden'.

The Troyes Altarpiece, French, 1504 - incredibly finely detailed portraits carved not in wood, but in (painted) limestone

But now - after my Artist Date at the museum on Tuesday (large parts of which I did spend on my own, as my friend and I split up most of the time to visit our own favourite galleries), after immersing myself in the balm of a different kind of beauty, and knowledge, and discourse, why - I am totally disrupted!! I am hankering once again to pick up my books and tickle my brain cells in a different kind of way - be creative in a different kind of way to how I create when I am gardening, and also pursue study of some of the collections in both a broader and a deeper manner. What was the historical background of these items? The particular story of the church in which that carving was placed? What do the symbols and postures of the figures denote? How did the cult of devotion to the Virgin Mary in medieval times encourage certain styles and patronages? There is a beauty, too, in discovering all these details, and more in seeing how these works of art do not come to exist in isolation, but for a reason and within a context. As explanations make sense and pieces fall into place, I think there is much beauty in gaining greater and wider understanding,  But I need to juggle my days around to enable me to fit in both kinds of beauty; I *need* both kinds - otherwise, one life time will definitely not be enough to enable me to appreciate all that is waiting out there for me!

One factor which makes the V&A museum so impressive is its stated philosophy of being a place to stimulate the creativity of all those who visit as well as a place to admire the creations of the past. They have an exceptional outreach programme of classes, courses, lectures, symposia and visits with related online 'subject hubs' - of which their Creative Writing hub immediately caught my notice. It is worth taking a look if you are at all interested in any form of personal writing - six segments with writing exercises in each, using items from the museum collections to stimulate thought and imagination. Not everyone can travel to London, but anyone can browse the V&A collections, so why not do so yourself - and in so doing, give yourself your own little Artist Date with the museum.

And as a final thought - if you could visit, explore and/or study an area, subject or topic in greater detail - what would it be?

Sunday in the Garden - with cake!

An irresistable invitation to 'come inside' the garden at Stockcross House

The National Gardens Scheme has been running for some 85 years in the UK. It was originally set up to raise money to support the Queen's Nursing Institute, but today raises large amounts of money, by the opening of both grand and modest gardens, which is now distributed amongst a number of charities. For three or four pounds, anyone can have the privilege of wandering around a private property to see how this  alchemical process of 'Gardening' is carried out - the chance to look around the compost heaps and greenhouses as well as the spectacular borders, to see if one can discover their secret of NO weeds (definitely on the 'unacceptable' list in NGS gardens!) and add to a personal visual library of inspiring planting to take back and implement on one's own modest plot.

Yesterday we had just such a privilege - visiting Stockcross House, just ten minutes away from Autumn Cottage, on the other side of Newbury. Gardens are - as far as I am concerned - so much more about pictures than words, so here are a few glimpses of what inspired and encouraged me as I walked around in the long awaited summer sun.

Stockcross House - a former Victorian vicarage (itself a renovation of an earlier building) now a private home.

...and is there honey still for tea? (with the church clock standing at not-quite-ten-to-three) - the view from the stream-side walk to the pool.

The lily pool - with the grandest duck house in Berkshire.

Such a simple idea - a terracotta pot with (in this case applied lettering - but could easily be engraved with a craft drill (e.g. Dremel) with abrasive tip.

A closer look at the duck house (and wouldn't it make a wonderful dolls house?)

Gateway into the Old Bowling Green - an injection of unexpected colour in a garden can make quite a statement.

The herb & vegetable garden with another great idea - obelisks made from battens screwed loosely to two discs of wood of different sizes then rotated to give the desired 'twist' - it looks so easy (and inexpensive) to do.

Visits are for learning about the best - but also, sometimes, for stimulating thinking about things which could be improved...these pots, for instance - perhaps not quite imposing enough to go with the more imposing flight of steps?

...or these spent plantings (beautiful, eyecatching pots - but in also an eyecatching place) might have been better moved away to a more private area (such as the compost heap corner at the back of the veg garden?) - That's the value of pot plantings - they can be moved and replaced when they have 'gone over'.

Plenty of room here for spent pots to either recuperate (i.e. spring bulb plantings) or be replenished. Also an excuse for me to share a picture of one of my favourite (and most important) areas of any garden - the compost bins - and, here, the beautiful logpile/wildlife haven :-)

Now look at the contrast - appropriately sized pots used in an appropriate position - worth paying more for 'special' pots like these when they look so good (though the planting still a little lacking)

...and here's another 'big impact' pot planting - a single, beautiful acer in a large pot at the entrance to the pergola.

The enticing, cool allee of the pergola, draped with wisteria and clematis.

A beautiful point of tranquillity and contemplation half way along the pergola - look out for similar items to utilise in this way in junk shops or car boot sales - no matter if they are damaged - ivy can always be used to cover up the flaws!

Everywhere, vibrant purple alliums - here, all along the pergola, providing an aura of peace and restfulness on a warm afternoon.

The other oasis of restfulness - and the 'cake' component of the afternoon - the Old Bowling Green (now croquet lawn) tea pavilion - a most essential stop on any garden visit!

A 'win-win' situation - we get to see glorious gardens for a pittance, while at the same time, so many charities benefit.

The Coach House, showing definitely the way to do it - saying Goodbye to visitors with a blaze of glory from the wisteria...

...and leaving me with memories and ideas from an idyllic afternoon.