July Part One.

As I seem to be on a role I’m going to dive straight on into July. 

On Saturday the 6th I was up early and on a train to Birmingham to meet up with my friends Charlotte and Alex and finally get to see the Victorian Radicals exhibition. 

I arrived there first so got to have a lovely browse around the Monsoon sale before first Charlotte and finally Alex arrived. We headed straight to 200 Degrees coffee shop as they both love the coffee there. I had a decaf tea and an amazing cinnamon bun which are a great weakness of mine. 

Whilst there we discovered I had actually booked the wrong entry time and was meant to be going in an hour before them, and had in fact already missed my entry, what a muppet.

We decided to take a punt on the museum letting me in later or worse case scenario I would just re-book. We headed across to the museum and luckily for me the museum gods were smiling on me, as there was a small queue when we arrived.

 As we approached the queue, a large and loud American lady and her colourfully clad companion tried to barge past everyone and go in. A short but animated discussion took place between them and the young man scanning people’s tickets as he firmly pointed them to the back of the queue which we then joined behind them, they still complaining and fussing. 

It was only once they had reached the front of the queue that they started to hunt for their tickets on their phone, and whilst they did more people arrived behind us. They finally found their tickets but were still going on about something or another and by this I think the lad on the door was thoroughly fed-up with them. Charlotte was next and showed her ticket, Alex and I both had our phones ready in our hands, he asked rather abruptly if we were together with the other ladies, Charlotte replied in the negative but said we 3 were together, so thankfully he waved us through without checking my ticket too closely.   

As usual we all went round at our own pace and in different directions, coming together and parting again. One of the reasons I love going to exhibitions with these two is because we can do exactly that without worrying about keeping up with each other or holding each other back. 

I enjoyed studying the Pre-Raphaelites at college though I’m the first to admit I wasn’t a fan of them all, and I definitely liked the second wave better, in particular Edward Burne-Jones. 

So for me it is always a joy to be able to get up close and personal with his work, meaning I particularly enjoyed the second half of the exhibition.

I will admit I am in awe of the sheer level of detail in the style of painting even if I don’t always actually like the picture in question, I never have been and never will be a fan of William Holman Hunt for one. 

Or to use one of the pictures in the exhibition as an example, The Long Engagement by Arthur Hughes is a picture I have always disliked but I could marvel at the detail of the scenery right down to this little squirrel depicted in the tree. 

I was having to dredge my memory when the others asked me questions (I’m not going to say exactly how many years ago it was that I was an art student!) but I think I was mostly able to answer correctly. I really enjoyed seeing pieces of furniture, clothing and jewellery as well as the paintings and drawings.

I will confess I have more of an appreciation for Rossetti and his drawing skills now as well. 

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the exhibition and I’m glad I was able to finally get there.    

 

Once we had browsed the shop, we decided it was time for lunch. As Charlotte and I had been waxing lyrical about the Sunshine Shake at Damascena we decided to go there for lunch. It took a while to get seated, but it was well worth the wait. 

We all ordered the delicious mango milkshake, and just like the last time the waitress taking our order said what a good choice and that it was her favourite. So much so she told us on her first day working there she had one in the morning, and one in the afternoon! 

You can’t really get a better endorsement than that and it was as good as we remembered.

By the time we finished lunch the weather had turned and it was pouring with rain, so we decamped to the pub next door The Old Joint Stock. 

The building used to be an old bank and all the old fixtures and fittings have pretty much been kept, with an ornate and much in keeping bar added in the middle. 

We all had a pint but sadly all too soon it was time to head back to the station. 

Alex and I from New Street and Charlotte from Moor Street. Alex left first and as Charlotte and I had some time we had a browse in a couple of shops and bought a drink for the journey before she headed across to the other station. 

As ever my train home was absolutely packed full and standing. Yet again I was grateful I went in person to the ticket office instead of buying online, because not only did the staff there get me a ticket £20 cheaper than I could find online for exactly the same trains they also pre-booked me a seat.

 

According to my work diary I had Monday the 8th July off but I have absolutely no recollection of why, or what I did! I think I need to take a leaf out of Ann at Polyester Princess book and keep some notes.

On Friday I was in the office and came home from work around the same time as Himself, glancing out of the kitchen window I spotted an unusual looking bird so had a closer look and was delighted to see it was a green woodpecker busily eating ants who were getting ready to fly.

 

We decided to book ourselves dinner at our favourite pub on Saturday 13th, Our table was booked for 8pm so about 7pm we left home and walked the countryside route which is over an old disused railway line. Of course, on the one time I didn’t take my camera, not only did we saw a buzzard right next to us, whilst pausing on one of the old railway bridges we saw a young fox come trotting down the road! 

He saw us about the same time we saw him, so he stood still for a bit before heading into a nearby field of long grass, then absolutely delighting me by bouncing across it in that thoroughly carefree, series of running jumps foxes do and I have only ever seen in pictures or on TV.

We got to the pub a little early but our table was free, so they seated us straight away. I had lamb shank and Himself had the homemade chilli. 

Full of good food we wandered home and spent the evening listening to vinyl and being slightly horrified/hysterical at how bad some of it was. I swear there were albums there I haven’t played for at least 30 years. It’s probably time to have another sort through…         

On Sunday we took ourselves out for a walk, there had been a couple of rain showers so there were some very dramatic skies. 

 

The following week I had Tuesday and Wednesday off because Wednesday was my birthday and since turning 40 I have made it my rule to never work on my birthday.  

On the Tuesday I was meeting Soo for a day out at two wonderful gardens Hidcote and Kiftsgate. They are literally opposite each other so you can park at one, go round that and then walk to the other. We started out at Hidcote which has been looked after by the National Trust since 1947. 

The garden is the work of Lawrence Johnston who moved to the manor in 1907 with his mother, and quickly decided to turn the surrounding farmland into a garden. The garden was designed in the style of garden rooms which are separated by hedges or walls. 

Our enjoyment wasn’t dimmed by the rather chippy lady of a certain age selling the entry tickets, who refused my Gardener’s World 2 for 1 voucher because apparently it was the wrong time of year, which I would know if I had read the small print, (I had read the small print thoroughly, and did again afterwards and it said no such thing!) She then argued with me over why I should buy a National Trust membership, I pointed out as I don’t have a car and as this was the first property I had visited this year it was hardly value for money in my case! Next she proceeded to tell us several times the garden was Arts and Crafts style and not a formal layout and continued to mention this even after we had said that was what we liked. 

I conclude she had clearly got out of bed on the wrong side that day, and perhaps was not a fan of the less formal style of planting!

 

The gardens were surprisingly busy with a couple of coach trips worth of German and Italian tourists, the later were quite rude when I accidentally walked into shot of a view they were busy snapping pictures of.

To go off on a tangent for a moment, I have to say in a most heartfelt way, dear god please don’t let me turn into one of these nasty natured old people with their anoraks, sensible shoes and sour faces. Whilst walking round we encountered a couple of people who were very rude about the fact there were so many German visitors, I wish I had thought to reply with a German phrase! Then another extremely loud couple from Yorkshire in the café who shared their negative thoughts on everything for all to hear. I got glowered at when I sat down at a table stopping the man in question swapping the chair and then very deliberately ate some of my soup, going ‘Mmmmm delicious’ whilst staring at his wife who had just said she hadn’t picked it because she thought it looked thin and badly made. At least she had the grace to look embarrassed and say oh sorry.

 

Anyway, we thoroughly enjoyed the not formal gardens, and walked every last inch of them. At one point having to take shelter from a sudden downpour under a tree with some thankfully delightful other visitors.

We arrived back where we started and realised it was lunchtime so decided to see what the café had to offer, knowing we could always check out the one down the road at Kiftsgate if nothing took our fancy. As it happened they had homemade pea and mint soup which is one of my favourites so I was happy to eat there, for a £1 extra I got to have a huge cheese scone with it instead of bread so that was also a no brainer.     

 

We timed it well because there was another short but torrential downpour whilst we were eating lunch. After lunch we checked out the plant shop where I bought my brother a reduced fern and had a lovely chat with the lady working there, and the main gift shop where I bought a couple of little bits for my Mum. We also asked the ladies there about the footpath to Kiftsgate and they were so lovely and super helpful showing us on one of the maps they have for sale. After popping the plant in Soo’s car we headed out on the short journey to Kiftsgate which took us alongside the road into Hidcote and across a field of sheep who couldn’t have cared less about us.  I’m delighted to say they were accepting my 2 for 1 Gardener’s World voucher and the lady selling tickets was charming so that was a good start. It was slightly quieter though we were amused to see the coach party of German tourists were also there.

Kiftsgare Court Gardens are the result of the work of three keen women gardeners, and I’m sorry Lawrence but we both preferred them!

The original formal gardens began to be changed in the 1920’s by Heather Muir who was a close friend and confidant of Lawrence Johnston at Hidcote. Unlike his gardens, she did not want them to be formally planned, but just let them sort of evolve which I think is why I liked it more.  

Diany Binney her eldest daughter took over the garden adding the huge pool and various sculptures and was the first to open it to the public, it is now maintained by Anne Chambers and her family who added another pond where the tennis court used to be and more sculptures. 

It was such a joy to wander around, and we literally covered every inch before retiring to the café for a much-needed cup of tea. 

They also had a plant sale at the entrance where I was able to get my Mum a plant she has wanted for several years now, which I was thrilled about. I should maybe have given that a bit more thought as the journey home from Oxford on the train was interesting given the plants size, and the fact the train was full and standing!

So that's the first half of July. More anon.