CHELSEA

This has been an exciting week as we visited the Chelsea flower show which is held at the Royal Hospital Grounds near Sloane Square.  The Hospital is a home for veteran soldiers and is an impressive building indeed.
Visiting this show has been only a dream for ever for us and so to actually get there still seems unreal.  Before leaving NZ we bought our tickets through the RHS (Royal Hort Society - for those of you who dont know) - as We had renewed our subscription and this gave us entry tickets at half price.  Plus they had selection times for ticket holders and it controlled the crowds really well.  Our ticket time was 3.30 till 8.00.  We really lucked out on the day too as it was perfect - no wind, sunny and warm - the only day this week so far like that.  Today it poured!!

We caught the train in to London from Banbury at 9.15 (if you go after the main morning commuter rush you get much cheaper fares) the journey was about 1 and a half hours.  We got off at Marylebone Station and had a few hours to do a bit of sight seeing.  Harrods is a minute walk from this station so we made that our first port of call and really enjoyed a couple of hours appreciating the grandeur of the building and products.  The food hall is absolutely luscious with its decorations and food presentation.  Bought a gorgeous bagette each of beef, stilton and chutney for lunch and had it in the sun outside the building on some seats.

Made our way down to Sloane Square where the rich and famous shop.  Some of the shops has gotten in the spirit of the show week and done lovely flower and plant displays in their windows.

The show is regarded as the best of its type in the world.  The displays in both the main pavilion and also all the designer gardens and product stalls were just top class.

Growers displayed a huge variety of product - Delphinuims 10 feet tall and so vibrant, Oriental Lillies with lovely new cultivars and the most gorgeous scent.  Hyacinths, sweet peas - three thousand of them in individual vases - chrysanthemums, daffodils, - amazing new styles - and lots more.

The competition for junior florist champ was fantastic - this years theme being a day at the races.  Most contestants had created a racing jacket and the winner ,Joe Malone from Manchester, collected his third consecutive win.  His finish and presentation was just beautiful.

The highlight of the show is the designer gardens.  There were seventeen large ones this year plus a series of artisan gardens.  Considerable challenge was involved with these as they had to be sustainable, use recycled materials and were very small - 7m x 9msquare.  Our two favourites were the Monaco garden and the Laurent - Perrier garden.  Prince Albert of Monaco was the driving force behind his garden and it was to represent the life style of people there where space  for gardening is minimal  because they are the most populated country in the world.  The designer, a British woman who has had a few gold successes in the past did a fabulous job.  One of the criteria for judging was to create a place that transported you and she really achieved this.

The Laurent Perrier garden was by Luciano Guibbilei  and he used  a restricted colour pallet of whites, creams, mauves, lilacs soft pinks and sage greens.  It was very simple, restful and elegant.  It was my favourite.  The supreme gold winner was the Daily Telegraph garden which was a composition highlighting old and new and the shift that change gives us.

There were hundreds of stall holders selling hundreds of varieties of product from conservatories, to clothing, tools, plants, art, food, books, educational material etc all with a very high standard of presentation.

We loved the experience of being there.  Walked down to Grosevner Square which is some of the most expensive real estate in London at the end of the day to Victoria Station to return home.  This area houses lots of official looking offices and gorgeous homes all joined together and the streets have gorgeous giant overhanging trees.

Afternoon tea no tables

Outside Harrods with no money

3 stories of herbs on wall

a selection of some of the 3 thousand sweet peas

Hyacinths-imagine the scent!!!

Dam good sandwich

Rows of herbs-brilliant colours

 of

Grand champion garden 

Floral chair cushion

Queuing at 3 o'clock

ption

The Monaco garden Jonnie's favourite

Part of Food hall  Harrods

Junior florist winner

Laurent Perrier garden- Sue's favourite

Are getting prepared for our first meeting with Susie the owner this weekend.  Have cleaned her house from top to toe plus the barn, which is not really a barn but a gorgeous entertainment space with kitchen, bathroom, mezzaine bedroom and huge lounge area.  The gardens are mostly in order and looking much fresher for the heavy rain we have had today.

more shots of the property

  Here are some more    
shots of the garden. The last photo is looking across to our flat just behind the large walnut tree and going right a shot of our 1995 Vauxhall Astra parked outside the Tower.

                                                          The Rose Arbour with about 70metres of edges

                                              John as Lord of the Manor

                                                View thru' gate to barn

     

UPDATE NUMBER 3

Another busy week - both in the garden and touring.  Continued making our way around the property attacking one area at a time.  By the time we get to the last area the first one will be waiting for us again.  Are trying to be very thorough as we go through.  I get very excited when I find soil that I can put my spade in and it doesn't bounce back.  Parts of the garden are like rock - especially if it is dry.  Just loving the greenhouse though and was estatic when my little gem seedlings came up in four days.

Had fun visiting a few places later in the week.  One of my wishes was to see the Gardens of the Rose which has the biggest collection of roses in Britain and has lots of history etc.  Thought we had better get there early as the spring was the warmest ever recorded and there has been lots of grief by the Chelsea designers because the plant behaviour has been really abnormal - some things have peaked early and they have had to redesign etc.
Headed off there last Thursday only to find that the garden does not officially open unitl mid June.  However the head gardener met us at the gate and allowed us to enter - seeing we had come all the way from New Zealand.  Sadly it was a bit early to see most of the blooms, but we have decided to go back in early June and give them a voluntary days work.
The nearest town is St Albans which has an enormous cathedral.  One of the displays was a stitched timeline, by children on sacking, of  pictures of the historical events of the building of the church (and the falling down cause that happened a few times).  It was very interesting and well done.  On our way home we stopped by Waddestone Manor which was build in the 1700's by the Rothschilds.  I had checked it out on Google before we left but wanted John to see it.  This was late in the day and the gates were closing at 5.30 so we could only drive in and have a quick peek.  The opulence and grandeur of the house and grounds is truly gob smacking.  Will definatly go back.  The stripes in the lawns inspired me to work on the quality of the lawns here.

Called in to our local put (well one of them) and had a pint.  Enjoyed a chat with two local guys who frequent the place.  Both were engineers with the Aston Martin factory which is about 10 minutes away.  Enquired about visiting, but they only arrange visits from dealers - mmm will have to work on that one.

Friday took us to another historic and gorgeous manor - Blenheim Palace which is the home of Winston Churchill.  This palace is set beside the most pretty village - Woodstock - which we will return to so we can check it out thoroughly.  Had lunch at a lovely cafe/deli, similar to Zarbos.  Blenheim Palace was built as a thank you to the first Duke of Marlborough for winning the battle of Blenheim in France.  This apparently changed the course of history substantially.  Queen Anne gifted the land and house and it has been the home to the dukes of  Marlborough for about 12  generations.  The third or fourth descendant was a woman however and she married a Spencer - relations of Lady Diana, but a few generations later they were allowed to put the Churchill name back in there so it became hyphenated with Spencer.  The tour through the palace was absolutely fantastic - done with video faces and voices but dressed up and moving mannequins.
The property was re-landscaped in the early 1900's by capability Brown and was just so so gorgeous.  The mature trees - especially the walk down to the lake he formed with the cascade  - of giant copper beeches and oaks with perfect lawns with stripes was lovely.  Next Saturday they are going to have a food and design festival so we will go back for that and have a picnic.  Amazing to think that this home was also where Winston Churchill lived and he also led Britain to a serious historical war Victory.  There were three tiered glass cabinets of formations of soldiers in battle throughout the corridors and apparently Winston was fascinated by them and used to spend hours assembling them.  This Palace is a world heritage site and there is only 3 others in Britain and about 8 in the world.

Will add some pics now for you to see how much fun we are having.

John feeding the rams which are in a paddock we pass on our morning walks.

These very cute black faced critters graze in a paddock which we pass as we go around the block on our morning walks.  There are 8 of them and one has a white face.  Their ears are huge and they  just love digestive biscuits.  Today as Jonnie was emptying the trailer of large garden rubbish in the paddock next door, he had to rescue a lamb with its head stuck in the fence. All he got was a loud BAAA and off it scampered.

THE SECOND WEEK

It is hard to believe that we have been here two weeks already. We have managed to do some serious gardening this week - actually in credit for our 20 hours, but no doubt is better to be that way as opposed to having a deficit. Duties included mowing, weeding, edging, weed spraying and feeding some of the expansive lawns, planting veges and starting seedlings in the greenhouse.
I am really enjoying the greenhouse. My beetroot seeds sprouted in 4 days - wow how fantastic is that.

Have really loved finding new things to see and visit. Discovered a fabulous Italian wholesaler with wonderful and cheap produce. The owner is a true passionate Italian and gave us tastings of his special Balsamic Vinegar. He claims it will cure any possibility of women being temperamental!! John says I proved him wrong.

Spent last Friday with Brother Bill and his wife Ali. They live in Chelmsford in Essex and we decided to meet roughly half way. This was to be at Hatfield House - famous for being where Queen Eliz I spend alot of her childhood and where she held her first court. It was owned and build by Robert Cecil - a powerful statesman and he was Eliz I advisor. He was also the first Marquis of Salisbury. He also was responsible for James (I think Eliz I nephew) becoming King as she had no children and would not say who would succeed her. The house is 400 years old this year and is still owned by the latest Marquis and Marchioness of Salisbury. Beautiful and very historic with lovely gardens and topiaries and a lovely new cafe area and gift shops. The other 400th anniversary this year is the celebration of the first english translation of the King James Bible and the original and first copy was on display there being owned by Robert Cecil. Quite amazing really.
Our journey home took us through Buckingham where we stopped for a lovely Italian meal for dinner.

Saturday we visited a local and one of the largest open air markets in Britian. Wellsbourne is about half an hour away and sells almost anything you would want to buy. Was about a kilometer long and had 4 aisles - we stocked up on fruit and vege for the week, plus got some kitchen things. All ridiculously cheap. On our way home we discovered another old chateau style building and stopped to enquire what it was. Turns out it is an art gallery so we will revisit in June when there is going to be an exhibiton of Quentin Blakes - illustrator for Rhoald Dahl and another one of Capability Brown - the famous early english landscaper.

Stopped by the British car museum - largest in the country - all of the above only 20 min drive away - which has fantastic displays of cars - the Jaguar, landrover and astin martin factory is next door. The Astin Martin factory is where they dream up, design, build, test, and market the car and is very top secret. The girl on reception of the museum said she has worked there for four years and had not been allowed to set foot in the door. You can also trial a landrover around a course doing very extreme things. We will go back.


Saturday afternoon was the final of the FA cup between Manchester (the favourite) and Stow. We chose a local pub - the Wharf Inn which sits on the Oxford Channel and you can watch the boats come and go - to watch the game. Was a very tame atmosphere compared to an NZ rugby final.

Sunday was quite a bleak day so we had a coffee out and checked out the train station into London from Bandury. We are off to Chelsea flower show next Wednesday and needed to get our heads around times, fees and stations etc. Visited the local garden centre to collect some things for the garden here and did some more exploring in Banbury. Took pics of the Banbury Cross - the first three originals were destroyed by puritans in the 1600's but the one there was erected to commemorate the wedding of princess Victoria - Queen Vic's daughter. The lady on a fine horse is also there and is a beautiful bronze number with the nursey rhyme around the base. They think is comes from the old rocking horse as there used to be a rocking horse day in Banbury each year, many years ago.

Must sign out - John has cooked roast pork in the aga - we are practising to get it right for the owner as it is her favourite. She is quite paticular about how she likes certain things cooked. John is mastering the machine!!!

Sorry about no pics - have a stack to add, but are having trouble mastering this part of the blog. Will keep trying
THE COOK AND THE GARDENER

The journey has begun

Well here we are at Knightcote Hall Farmhouse in Knightcote England. Knightcote is a small settlement of only homes and no shops or store or postoffice. The nearest locations for these
are two miles away at either Fenny Compton or Bishop Ichington. All villages are only two miles apart for the whole of England.

Our nearest town is Banbury, 12 miles away and yes it is the famous Banbury Cross Banbury.
The Property we are looking after is 35 acres, but 30 acres is leased to a neighbouring farmer so we can see the sheep with cute black faces from our window. We are in charge of the 5 acres of garden which consists of lots of areas consisting of woodland, herbacous borders, vege areas, potting sheds, wild walks and rose beds, a tennis court, indoor pool and sauna, a tower block and a gorgeous barn which is really a beautiful space for summer entertaining. I am absolutely in heaven being able to pick bunches of flowers from the borders. The paeonies are about to burst and the lily of the valley is like trees compared to what we grow. Lilac are in full bloom and smell devine.

We live in a little apartment with 5 rooms so only takes 3 minutes to vaccuum. Yay Yay Our duties are to manage the gardens and cook and clean for Susie the owner when she comes up. We have yet to meet her, but her son Olie and his lovely girlfriend Nic were staying for a couple of weeks when we arrived. They were wonderful to have around and gave us some tips on local treasures. Olie took us to a fantastic Italian wholesaler owned by a real character and passionate about anything Italian. Needless to say we bought some good wine and pasta.

Managed a good explore around Banbury last Saturday as it was raining and we could not do any gardening. Found a very good coffee stop and an amazing butcher/grocer/deli called Betts Butchery. The selection of stuff to buy was totally amazing. Well at least we have food and drink sussed.

John has had a turn at mowing (the first day we arrived) using both the ride on and the push mower. This is a heavy duty machine with a roller behind so you get stripes - there is considerable mowing, but mostly with the ride on. He also had great fun with a long arm, long bladed hedge trimmer for the hornbeam hedge. Took him no time at all to cut this extensive area. You can imagine the smile on his face when he finished.

Today we explored Oxford University town. Only a 40 min south of us. Very historical and busy with loads of students and bicycles!! We were unable to access most of the colleges as they were busy with lectures etc, but very interesting.


Notes from the Cook: Aaaah the AGA. What a beast.Have had a couple of go's preparing dinner for Olie and Nic but will spend some time at the main house this week cooking our meals to practice before Suzie gets here. Will do a couple of roasts etc. Food is very reasonable here-8 spuds, 3 carrots, 1 head of broccoli 2 quid!!!! Can also get 2 main meals at some pubs for 6 quid.Anyway wish me luck but once I get the hang of it it will be great.