More paintings, Poldark scything...and other things

 While we were at The Usher Gallery, looking at the BP portraits exhibition, we also had a wander round some of the rooms, and this watercolour, painted in 1828, was one which I was very pleased to see.  It is by Joseph Mallord William Turner and is of Stamford, Lincolnshire, which was my home for a good few years.  The church which can be seen is St Martin's, which is where I was a chorister for fourteen years and also where Chris and I were married.  It was lovely to see the original watercolour, rather than a print.

This painting caught my eye with the impressionist background of the cornfield.  It is called 'The Mowers' and is by George Clausen.  It was painted in oils in 1891.  I couldn't help thinking of Mr Turner as Poldark; even though I didn't watch the series, I couldn't help but hear about that scything scene.  

(photo from Radio Times - for all you Poldark lovers)

I also read about some historical inaccuracies in both Poldark and Victoria.  Apparently, anyone scything would never remove their shirt - it just was not done.  As you can see in the painting, all men are fully clothed! 

Out on the landing, we spotted this chest which had gold painted decoration (we think) of rather wonderful people, beasts and foliage.  I especially liked the border. There were no details, so the maker will have to remain a mystery.

This light caught our attention too - well, you couldn't fail to see it, as it was quite large.  It is made of lots of plastic items and we thought how clever it was to make something ubiquitous into something rather beautiful.  However, when we read the information, it became something more thought provoking as all the pieces of plastic were picked up along the British coastline.  That is not a nice thought, is it?  Unfortunately, I didn't note the artist's name, so there's another reason to go back.

Visit to Burghley House (part 1)

 I visited Burghley House (built for William Cecil in the 1600s) last week; I last visited over twenty years ago.  I used to live in Stamford, opposite one of the entrances to Burghley Park, so it was all familiar.  I was interested to see what had changed.  There had been some building to create a new entrance and exhibition space, but, as you would expect, the house remained as I remembered. The last time I visited, it was by guided tour only and while you do get lots of nuggets of information from the guides, you are limited as to how long you can stay in each room.  This time, no guided tours but audio ones if required and a guide was in each room - some of them added to our discussions (particularly concerning women artists and sitting for a portrait).  We could spend as long as we wanted to in each room, which was a bonus.  Photos without flash were allowed in the house, but in the event, I didn't take many.

 I liked the orchid and fern display in the massive copper pot in the kitchen.

 The array of servants' bells also intrigued me - there was another wall like this to my left.

The Heaven Room is described as the painter Verrio's masterpiece and is indeed very impressive. Burghley featured as Rosings Park, home of the formidable Lady Catherine de Bourgh (Dame Judi Dench) in the 2005 film of  Pride and Prejudice.  There is an interesting blog post here. 

 I was more taken with the fabulous floral carpet!

Outside the orangery (well, we were obliged to stop and have tea), there is a small rose garden with a lovely Magnolia Grandiflora.  However, Burghley does lack the typical beautiful gardens which I, for one, expect to see at an English Country House and I remember being disappointed by that when I was much younger on a previous visit.
There is a relatively recent addition to the gardens with 'The Garden of Surprises' which comprises different gardens around the theme of water and plenty of opportunities to get wet!

I liked the calm of the tree water fountain.

The rill edged with lavender was also lovely (but paddling was not allowed, sadly).

There was some pretty planting in some of the gardens.

This one squirted mist at you as you went in.  There were lots of wet children running about and laughing, having a marvellous time, but it was all a bit manic and we were quite relieved to head out to the Sculpture Garden (more about that in my next post and I am pleased to say that the Sculpture Garden did make up for the lack of formal garden.)

A quiet view into the Garden of Surprises.

We wandered across the park (noticing the ha-ha on the way, designed as an elegant solution to stop meandering livestock from getting onto one's front lawn, without destroying the view of one's rolling acres).

We went to Lion Bridge which gave a pleasing view of the house across Capability Brown's landscape (although I'm sure those trees didn't used to be there, obscuring part of the house).

The view the other way - a quintessential English landscape, designed and implemented by Mr Brown and his huge team of workers.

One of the four lions continuing to guard the bridge.  Burghley is an amazing house with some stunning artworks and furniture and a perfect way to spend a day.

Doorstops

Back in January, my friend Maria visited from Canada and we went to Stamford.  You can read about it here.  While we were there, we went to a very nice interiors/haberdashery shop and Maria saw some material printed with a London map, which she absolutely loved. I bought a metre of the material and rashly promised to make her a doorstop, for her birthday in July, which I would send to Canada.   I did some research in books and on the internet.  I was looking for a pattern which had velcro on the base, and a handle and I ended up feeling a bit like the Prince looking for his Princess in the story of 'The Princess and the Pea'...one was too small, one had a zip, one didn't have a handle, one was a pyramid shape...you get the idea.  Eventually, I found the perfect one for me!  If you'd like to have a go yourself, it's here.  I liked the jokey way the tutorial was written and can say that it was easy to follow and surprisingly easy to make.  I practised first by making a lining from calico, which was a separate cube placed inside the main one, for ease of filling.

Look, here it is!  I made this!  As you can tell, I am pretty pleased with myself. 

 I did have to think about which way up the pieces would have to go, but it worked out well.

 The fabric looks good too.

Not content with that, I also made a notebook cover, with a felt flower made from my felt.

It all arrived safely with Maria (only a few weeks after her birthday...oh well...) and I think she liked it.  It's a little reminder of her visit to England.

A visit to Stamford, Lincolnshire

We spent a lovely day last Saturday, visiting Stamford.  My friend from Canada, Maria, was in the UK visiting her family and we arranged to meet up and go to Stamford.  I was a bit concerned as there was a snow shower first thing, but luckily, nothing for the rest of the day.  I used to live in Stamford and went to school there and got married in St Martin's Church there too, but hadn't been back for at least ten years and was interested to see if there had been many changes.  It is a beautiful town in the south of Lincolnshire, with a high percentage of Georgian buildings.  It is so photogenic that it has been used in various TV productions, including Middlemarch and Pride and Prejudice.  Above are some of the houses in St George's Square, with the Assembly Rooms on the right.

 Here are more Georgian houses in St Mary's Street.

This used to be The Stamford Hotel but is now a rather pretty shopping area. Stamford had changed a lot - there had been a lot of new houses built, albeit in stone, so blending in (to a certain extent) with the more ancient buildings.  The shops had changed too and there was a plethora of boutiques.

We found a nice interiors shop next to a textile shop and just before reaching the shops, Chris said 'Look at the little observatory up there!'  I looked up and indeed, there it was. (He is extremely observant, looking up as well as where he's going and often points things out which I would totally miss otherwise.)

 Just up there - I expect there is a lovely view over the town from there.  (The birds very helpfully made some rather nice shapes to add to the interest).  (Speaking of birds, there were quite a few starlings perched on our lilac tree this morning - it could have been a little disturbing, as they did seem to be watching, but I think they were checking out the bird table, rather than devising any Du Maurier/Hitchcock-inspired attacks - I hope so, anyway!)

Right, back to Stamford.  This is St Paul's Street, with more lovely buildings. There was a little bookshop which we went in and a florist's shop next door. I love that evocative smell of soil, earth and flowers in a florist's.

A view looking up the High Street.  I had egg and chips in a little cafe (the others had an all day breakfast)...I don't think you can beat egg and chips, especially on a cold day...and we visited most, if not all, of the charity shops in the High Street, buying a few bits and pieces.  It was a lovely day which we all enjoyed and was lovely to be reacquainted with Stamford.