Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew

I have been looking forward to last weekend for a number of weeks.  The Teen had a Girl Guide camp to attend so the Engineer and I decided to do something just for us.  In fact, as I have been allowing the Engineer to spend as much time building his workshop as he needs (and I've even been helping on occasion) he suggested we go to Kew gardens.  My mum in law, C, had suggested I go to the Marianne North gallery at Kew and had bought me a book on her work for last Christmas, so I was eager to go and thoroughly approved of the Engineer's suggestion.

 

So, on Friday afternoon we dropped the Teen off at her camp and then drove to London.  We had booked a room at a Travel Lodge near Kew Bridge.  I have to say although the room was a little tired it was clean and well equipped.  We had our evening meal in the hotel and the food was quite good, the bed was very comfortable and we both slept very well.

On Saturday morning it was sunny and bright - a perfect day for a visit to a garden.  The view from our hotel window was across to some maisonettes and in the front garden of one was a lady sitting in the morning sun crocheting a blanket; this made a smile for the rest of the day.

 

Breakfast was good and we were joined by what must have been a school rugby team from Australia, large teenaged boys with voices that cracked.  They were all polite and well behaved. There were a lot of other Australian voices too and one family who were from Wales.  They were all in London for the Rugby world cup which we had forgotten about until we tried to book a room for the Saturday night and found that the Travel Lodge was the only place that had rooms left.

 

After breakfast we walked over Kew bridge to the nearest Kew gardens entrance - Elizabeth gate.  It was a 10 minute walk which started on a typical city street, crossed the Thames and finished by a village green and cricket pitch and beautiful big houses with gorgeous gardens and huge ornamental gates outside.  The whole area near the Elizabeth gate had a nice feel to it.

Some Alpines and the dew of early morning

I thoroughly enjoyed the whole day; we walked and walked, so much that our feet were hurting.  The Engineer liked the Alpine house as a piece of engineering, I just liked everything.

 

We visited the vegetable garden and I got very excited about the kale; it was such a wonderful colour that I wanted to take a leaf and draw it then and there.  I pointed out the carrot fence to the Engineer who had not been convinced about the whole concept when I suggested I grow carrots.  Next year it will be carrots and courgettes in our garden.

 

It was a lovely late summer's day and as we had arrived so early the gardens did not seem to get crowded until much later.  Just before lunch we went to the Shirley Sherwood gallery of botanical art to look at the works on display; some of it took my breath away, it was so beautiful.  The Marianne North Gallery was mind blowing too, not because of her work, which is lovely, but because of the sheer amount of it.  Every wall is covered in paintings - there is absolutely no space between them.  It really was an overload for the eyes.

I have no photographs of the art works as photography was not allowed in the galleries and I respected that, although some people didn't.

Victoria water lilies

 

We left the gardens just as they were shutting and went back to the hotel via a shop for some real milk for my cup of tea later that evening.  We had an early dinner and watched Dr Who and then the England - Wales rugby match which was nail biting. 

The following day, Sunday, we had breakfast early and drove home, stopping off at the Royal Horticultural Society Gardens at Wisley as it was on our way.   

 

Its a very different garden to Kew with some very formal areas which were beautifully kept.  There was a sculpture trail in the garden and many were very nice but these two were our favourites:  The hare is part of the trail but the bear is a permanent fixture.

 

After some lunch we drove back to pick up the Teen who had had a good time at camp.  I think I would like to revisit Wisley on a week day as it may be a little less crowded. 

 

I am now trying to finish off my pepper as I would like to draw some acorns and conkers, maybe a composition with both. 

My day

What a beautiful day it was today, warm with a gentle breeze.  Not like autumn at all, hooray!

I had a healthy breakfast:

A handful of strawberries and raspberries with a sliced banana and some shredded wheat crumbled on top.  Just add a pot of fat free yoghurt, yummy.

Then I hung out the washing: it was a little misty outside to start with but I hoped that would burn off.

Next I prepared another meal to go in the large slow cooker, once cooked it will be portioned up and frozen for later.

While the slow cooker was gurgling away I popped to the local garden centre.  I had a cup of tea whilst sitting in the sun and then bought some cyclamen, beautiful colours and interesting leaves.  The only down side was the Christmas decorations that were on sale, yes I said Christmas decorations!  No wonder this year is seeming to speed by, retailers are blending one season into another. 

It was so sunny that my sedum, which is usually covered in bees of one kind or another, was visited by a butterfly which stayed long enough for me to get a photograph.

While all my business was going on the Engineer was finishing putting the shingles on the roof of his shed.

All in all a busy and productive day.  I even started to do a pepper in colour pencil .....watch this space.

Cooking

Today I have been mostly cooking, stocking up for next week and longer.  If I cook my own ready meals it not only saves me time during the week but also saves me money.

Caribbean pepperpot stew in one slow cooker............

Pepperpot stew before it went in the slow cooker. Slimming world recipe

...........and a chicken curry in the other slow cooker.

My own recipe

My plan is to do a chilli as well and tonight it will be roast chicken for dinner.  The left overs from that will do us another meal and at least one lunch for work for me.

The Engineer is still busy putting the shingles on the roof of his shed.  He is making good progress although it does frustrate him that it seems to be taking so long.

I have finished one of my projects though.

The granny stripe blanket (pattern from attic24) is now complete.  I love the colours, just right for autumn.

SAD, colouring and watercolours

A couple of weeks ago I took the plunge and purchased a light to try and help deal with my Seasonally Affective Disorder.  It is not something I have ever really tackled before: I have just accepted that during the dark winter months I will get more down than usual. 

http://www.sad.org.uk/

But this summer I was hoping to come off the small dose of anti-depressants that I take.  Unfortunately this year has been particularly difficult for our family and I thought it wise to stay on the tablets for the time being.  So to combat winter (I don’t mind the cold, I just hate the dark and the rain) and on advice from a counsellor, I have started using the light for about half an hour a day from the 1^st of September. 

 

I tried to do some art during this time but the light is SO bright that it’s impossible so I have acquired an adult colouring book and I do that for half an hour.  It is brilliant (excuse the pun): I use pencils (cheap ones, not my best ones) and carefully colour each amazing design.  I use the same technique which I use for my colour pencil art work and I add shading etc.  It’s very soothing and quite addictive.

 

There are some positives to winter that I try and remember:

Snuggling down on the sofa next to the lit wood burner with a good book and some chocolate. 

Thick stews (just for me as the Engineer and the Teen don’t like them).

Snow, as long as it doesn’t last too long and I can go out and play and then go back inside.

Wrapping up with hats, scarves and gloves to go out on a cold crisp day. 

The sense that nature is waiting and sleeping ready for spring and that winter won't last forever.

 

I went back to my Wednesday morning art class this week and was brave; I didn’t take my colour pencils but instead took watercolours.  I am very comfortable with colour pencils but watercolours scare me.  I decided to paint a red pepper and my lovely art tutor demonstrated how to do washes.  She made it look so easy, .... its not.  It’s basically learning to control a whole new medium, one that uses water!  So below is my very first attempt, I can see where I have used too much water, not enough water and basically got a bit scared. 

 

I will keep practicing though.  It is nice to use a paint brush, there is a nice feeling to seeing the paint appear on the paper and feeling the paper underneath your brush.  I also didn't have very long to do this so its only about half an hours work, I will add some more to it later on. 

August Bank Holiday

It was a dreary and grey August Bank holiday here today so I stayed in and did some drawing.  I harvested my onions a week or two ago and allowed them to dry; we've used a few already.  I know they are a bit small but they are the first onions I have ever grown and I am very pleased that they survived.  Similarly, my leeks will be baby leeks as they are not very big either; I just hope they taste good.

The roof of the shed is now on (yippie).  Its not waterproofed yet but that is the next thing to do after putting the gutter brackets on.  The Engineer is working hard to get as much done as possible before going back to work tomorrow; there is gentle grumbling over the seemingly endless rain but he is making progress buoyed up by bacon and egg butties.

Image from finedininglovers.com

The Teen and I went shopping today; on the list were shoes, a bag and trousers for school and makeup.   All were purchased in a very short time; unusually the Teen doesn't like shopping!

Image from youcopia.com

As for my drawing, I am working on a chilli plant in colour pencil.  A good friend lent me the plant to take along to a weekend workshop where the weather was amazing, the teaching excellent and the food brilliant; strawberries with balsamic vinegar and black pepper, yum.   I am faithfully watering the chilli while I draw.  Now the chillies, being a beautiful red and green, are I have to say, a dream to draw with fantastic contrasts between light and dark.  The leaves on the other hand are not so much fun.  The composition means that I am drawing the underside of a lot of the leaves and although some of them have some dappling on them they are very boring to draw.  Next time I do chillies I think I will just get a handful and draw the fruit and maybe a dissection.



copyright Su+2

Holiday Pictures

We had a wonderful time visiting family in Devon a couple of weeks ago.  One day the Engineer and I went out for lunch by ourselves, leaving the Teen behind to bake and help C in the garden.

We went to the pretty town of Tavistock and after a very nice lunch we walked through the town, explored the market and walked along the canal.   The canal runs through a park which was full of children playing on the play equipment, feeding the ducks or riding bikes and scooters.  As we continued along the canal tow path we went into a quieter area of the town and were very privileged to see a kingfisher flying from tree to tree (sorry no photos); every time we reached the area where it had landed, it flew on, meaning we saw it at least 9 times.  Wow!



Some views of Tavistock

That evening C,D, the Teen, the Enginer and I went to the theatre to see Shrek the musical

Before the performance began

It was brilliant, such a lot of fun.  There were all the crucial lines from the film which we knew very well as when the Teen was the Toddler she watched it again and again, usually at six in the morning with either me or the Engineer sitting sleepily on the sofa with her.  I have such admiration for those who can sing, dance, act and burp on cue (you need to see the film).

The following day it rained and rained so we did something indoors: we went to the aquarium.  Unfortunaly everyone else who was on holiday in the area had the same idea so the place was full of damp adults and wound up children.  There was a lot to see including sharks and glow in the dark jelly fish.  However, my favourite bit was just as we had decided to leave: I walked on ahead and was called back by the Engineer and we watched an enormous turtle swim across a tank that filled a whole wall, he (or she) was magnificent.    We didn't get many good photos as much of the aquarium is in subdued lighting.


One of the tanks of the aquarium

The next day we went to the Eden Project in Cornwall, we have been there several times but it changes on a regular basis.  Again it was full of people, but this was only really evident in the eating areas. 

There were so many georgeous plants to see I can't incude them all in the blog, so below are two collages of some of them.

On our way back home from Devon we stopped off at Monkey World.  Of all the places we visited this was the cheapest and I have to say the best.  Although there were a lot of people there and a lot of children it was quite peaceful; I think this is because the animals don't like a lot of noise.  As you can tell below the lemurs were our favourite, they were so chilled out.  The other primates seemed to enjoy looking at us as much as we liked looking at them. 

All in all it was a good week away.

I even managed to carry on with my rose whilst we were away.  As you can see from the photo below I was sitting in C & D's conservatory.  I am surrounded by flowers from the garden show that C was helping to organise. 

We have been back at home a week or two and I have been painting the shed while the Engineer has been putting on the roof. 
We have been stopped frequently by the rain, but finally the roof is on all except the felt so its not yet watertight and at present is covered by a tarpaulin. 

Traveling and arriving

We were out of the house early today to try to avoid the worst of the traffic on a trip to Plymouth.  We planned to be on the road by half seven and stop for breakfast on the way.  However, time and the Teen don't always function well together so we finally left the house at almost eight o'clock.
The traffic was ok but as its that time of year we got stuck behind quite a few tractors carrying hay or combined harvesters.  It always makes me feel a little thankful when I see this; we need to appreciate our farmers much more.
We stopped at Felicity's Farm Shop in Morcombelake and had bacon rolls for breakfast:

I ate most of the bacon bap before I thought of taking a photo, sorry.

They were freshly made and delicious.  Its take away food so we sat in the seating area behind the shop and enjoyed the amazing view towards the south coast.

 There were some lovely flowers too.

We are staying at C and D's while we are in Plymouth: below are some photos of C's georgeous garden.

These photos don't do the garden justice

Later, after arriving, we all went for a walk in Plymbridge woods along the cycle track.  It was a beautiful evening.

The cycle track runs along the track bed of a disused railway line which runs up the valley and onto Dartmoor.  Part of the railway has been restored as a heritage line which runs for 1.5 miles and is operated by the Plym Valley Railway ; they regularly run steam trains from Marsh Mills station. 

The cycle path continues climbing the valley side and overlooks a beach area on the river Plym where the Engineer used to play as a child.  That evening the area was quiet, the only sound apart from the birds and the rustle of the trees was the "excuse me" of cyclists (who don't seem to know they are allowed to have a bell on their bikes) and the occasional splash as a dog jumped into the river chasing its ball.

After our walk we all went for dinner to the Engineer's sister and brother in law's new house.  Its lovely and we had a wonderful time together catching up as the Teen played with our nieces L & I.  We hope to see them again before we return home.