#pic three was from my terrace like we had our own garden

[ashmp3]

snippets from my italian hot girl summer

[sussex-nature-lover]

Sunday 1st November 2020

All Saints’ Day

♦ outside links are in bold type and are not affiliated to this blog

No, not for the girl band, oh no, never ever. Not for the High St fashion brand either. It’s a day to banish all the ghouls and more importantly...

the 1st November is also known as All Hallows’ and All Souls’ Day. I’m not religious but I like to think I have a spiritual side and a day taken to remember those we loved who are no longer with us, is space to stop and think and give thanks, treasure the memories. Having a month long lockdown again we’re going to have plenty of time on our hands for reminiscing.

Remembering lost family and friends is a very private thing, but as I wrote yesterday about the late Dennis, we celebrate our lost animal and nature loved ones too. I’ve got some photographs that kind of demonstrate that in connection with a National Trust property, but before I post those I had a thought about 

Chastleton  which is a fine Cotswolds’ Jacobean Manor House. It’s situated near Moreton-in-Marsh in Oxfordshire but because of its elevated position it’s said you can see four counties: I think looking north and to the west is Worcestershire, to the east, Warwickshire and to the south you might be able to look into Gloucestershire. Your exact location in the grounds and the weather will have an effect on this and to be honest, you’d be at the mercy of my memory, so it’d be best to check for yourself! Actually, Chastleton is closed until next March so if you do feel inclined to go and see for yourself, you’ll also need to see up to date information at the time.

It’s well worth a visit, I’d like to go again, it has the longest and oldest surviving barrel-vaulted ceiling of its kind in England. This was used to display portraits of ancestors and for exercise in times of cold and wet weather. We’re rather light on ancestral portraits here, but couldn’t we all do with a beautiful long gallery for exercise this Winter, especially on a day like today.

OH has just reminded me, as an aside, that another National Trust property, Polesden Lacey, used inspirations from the beautiful plaster work in its own restorations and decorations. 

*Polesdon Lacey is also closed at the moment

The incredible Long Gallery at Chastleton used for filming historic pieces including Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall.

I can’t remember how long I’ve had my Wolf Hall for, I must dig it out and start.

The house was built between 1607-1612 and owned by the same family, who grew more and more impoverished over time, until 1991. In a nutshell they started off incredibly wealthy but were heavily fined for backing the wrong side in the English Civil War. It’s a really fascinating story and well worth looking up. The property passed sideways to cousins a couple of times and finally ended up occupied by Barbara Clutton Brock

Barbara was, it seems, the very epitome of a Mad Cat Lady. Her husband had inherited the house in the mid 1950s but they really didn’t have funds to run and maintain it. She lived there for years as a widow, in very reduced circumstances, with only her cats for company - reports vary about their number, anything from 15 to (as we were told) 38. Apparently when the National Trust took over, all the floor coverings had to be stripped out. The cats truly were free range and left to their own devices. Barbara had got family, but no one was interested in living at the house, or in inheriting it later so it was sold.

In February 2018 Chastleton welcomed three new furry members of the team. Offa, Odo and Ottoline arrived from a cat rescue centre near Stratford-upon-Avon ready for a new life in the Cotswolds.

Offa, Odo and Ottoline's main duties are keeping on top of the rodent population and lying in the sun topping up their tan. They live in the Gardener's Bothy and we are sure you will see them out and about when you visit.

Our three new furry friends are the next generation of felines at Chastleton after the much loved Charles the cat died in August 2017 after a long and happy life.

The cats are named after Offa, King of Mercia, the earliest recorded owner of the lands of Chastleton in AD777, Odo after the Bishop of Bayeux, who owned the lands at the time of the Domesday Book in 1086 and Lady Ottoline Violet Anne Morrell, an English aristocrat who funded many artists in the Bloomsbury group. Barbara and Alan Clutton-Brock, the previous owners of Chastleton, were closely associated with the Bloomsbury group in London.

National Trust  

Nearer home we have another National Trust properties where cats feature large. I think when owners have such a love for their animals it’s often a condition of donation or bequest that their presence continues. I think it does at Chartwell, where Winston Churchill always had a house cat? Infact, I just checked and this is true, Read This, it’s worth it and again, here at Scotney...

The terraces at Scotney with a modern day installation

The terrace fountain with...

A permanent place for puss

The expansive countryside views over the estate

Betty Hussey who remained in residence at Scotney until she died, absolutely loved her cats, really loved them. There are lots of books and ornaments around the house and a resident to this day. You can see her basket and food dishes in the kitchen, where she has a very grand cat flat affair.

There you are, yet more National Trust info and cat news from a Dog Person. A Dog Person and a Bird Person, that ‘s me.

GARDEN WATCH:

According to my OH the boy was here, but when I came downstairs I could only see his girlfriend, right down in a far corner of the garden and looking thoroughly miserable. Silly girl. I never understand why they expose themselves so much to bleak conditions and don’t get hunkered down in the shelter of the shrubbery instead.

Fed up and grumpy - reflecting the mood of the nation

Now, how funny, just as I was typing that the boy appeared through the side window. The sun also put in a brief appearance, just for those few moments, by the time I’d downloaded the pics the sky had turned grey again.

The beautiful colours of the male pheasant in the rough patch

What an elegant chap he is. I’ve just taken a picture through the patio doors and we’re getting the odd splashes of colour, especially considering it’s almost too dark to see inside the house. A few times today there’ve been three Woodies at the same time. Two of them squabble and the other one seems just to get on with its own affairs.

Double Trouble

and finally a note with a reminder that bold type navigates to outside sites:

For November I’m concluding blogs with the Poppy, a symbol of remembrance

[rb-abroad]

Rome

For my last adventure outside of Amsterdam, I met up with my roomies and best gal pals Maddie and Mackenzie in Italy! We spent our first 3 days out of 10 in Rome, and boy was it amah-zing. Here’s the breakdown:

On Day One, Mac and I arrived fairly early and had a chill jetlag-friendly morning and afternoon. After a late breakfast, we hung out around the Piazza del Popolo and had our first (of many) Aperol Spritzes. It basically changed our lives :P

The fanciest iced coffee

That #spritzlife

Next, we headed back to the hotel to relax and meet up with Maddie, who booked us all a room at the very chic and cool Villa Laetitia. Owned by Anna Fendi, the property is beautiful and has incredible sketches from famous designers all over the walls. We stayed in the Karl Lagerfeld room, which was super cool, and got free bfast every morning! If you want a boutique hotel experience somewhere less touristy/off the beaten path but still close enough to walk or use public transit, Villa Laetitia is a great choice. 

Oh hay, Karl

Once we finally confirmed that the taxi driver found Maddie and she wasn’t TAKEN (phew), the three of us went out for a pre-dinner drink at Settembrini, which was down the street from the hotel. It was so beautiful out and a perfect night to sit on the terrace and take selfies ;)

Cute building on the walk over

After drinks, we crossed the street for dinner at Cacio e Pepe, which was seemingly a very local spot but the food was just okay (...for Italy). However, we did highly enjoy the 8-Euro liter of house wine.

Carbonara obvi

The next day, we woke up early and headed straight to the Vatican for a guided tour. It was super crowded (it was a Saturday, after all), so having someone guide us through the whole thing was really great. The tour included the Vatican Museum, the Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter’s Basilica, and although I had seen all of these spots back in college, I’m so happy I got to experience it all again. Absolutely worth coming back again and again! I took too many pictures of ceilings, and the truth is very few of these pics do it justice - you just gotta see it yourself. 

Inside the Vatican 

Outside St. Peter’s Basilica

St. Peter’s Square

After our tour, we walked over the bridge and into the city center for the first time. Luckily for us, we had many Rome spirit guides with killer recommendations. The first was for the best Roman-style pizza at Pizzeria Da Baffetto, and it definitely was worth the hype (thanks Ari!!). This is a must-eat!

A random cute alleyway - Rome is full of them!

Sausage, shroom, n onion delight *heart eyes*

After lunch, we moseyed around a bit more and then headed back to the hotel to get ready for the evening festivities (there were a lot of them). In search of some rooftop views, we had pre-dinner cocktails at the Roof Garden of Les Etoiles. Just stunning!

Next, we had dinner in the back of Roscioli, which was so cute and suuuuper tasty. We had some of the best Italian wine on the whole trip AND delicious pasta. Doesn’t get much better than that!

If you see this bottle on a menu, just get it. 

The fanciest caprese I ever did see

Delicious pasta #1

Delicious pasta #2

Let me be clear - if you go to Rome and you don’t pay a visit to Giolitti, YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG. I think it’s one of the oldest (if not the oldest) gelateria in Rome, and it is downright amazing. We definitely went more than once. Gelato in hand, we headed to Trevi Fountain and lived our basic tourist dreams <3

Hazelnut and chocolate chip gelato with WHIPPED CREAM OMG

There she is!

We finished off the night getting drinks at Bar del Fico, which was very lively/cute/easy-going, and at the Jerry Thomas Speakeasy, which was super cool inside and worth checking out if you love a fancy cocktail, but it’s definitely on the pricey side and we had to have a reservation. 

For our final day in Rome, we started out on a free walking tour! We started at the Spanish Steps and saw many cool sights along the way. 

Look at how cute my fwends are!

  It me

We stopped by the Pantheon and it was soooo cool! There was a service going on while we were there, so I’ll have to go inside next time. 

Toward the end of the tour, we stopped in the Church of St. Ignazio di Loyola. It was SO cool - the inside was beautifully decorated, and the paintings on the walls and ceilings were incredible. The roof of the church is flat, but it was painted to make it look like it’s curved (there’s no dome)! 

How cool is that?!

We ended our tour with one more look at dat Trevi Fountain. 

Our next stop was lunch at Osteria di Fortunada, where I literally had the best pasta in my entire life (leave it to my friend Denny to tell us where to eat)! I had the gnocchi with ragu sauce and honestly I’m still dreaming about it... I can’t even begin to describe how good it was. The restaurant itself was pretty small and you have to get there during an off-hour or right when it opens to snag a table. They even had an old lady on display making the pasta by hand! If you don’t go to this place while you’re in Rome, we can’t be friends anymore.

There she is, the love of my life. 

How cute is this espresso mug??

Next we hauled over to the Colosseum and took a whole bunch of pics!

And then we went back to Giolitti.....

For our last dinner, we went into the Trastevere area for dinner at Cave Canem, which was a local recommendation. The pizza was just okay (again, for Italy), but we had a lovely time sitting outside on the terrace!

And that was it for Rome! We LOVED it. The food was amazing. The sights, unparalleled. The time of year was perfect, it was pretty hot but it was riiiight before all the other tourists would arrive for the summer, which was just happened to work out in our favor (so go in May, y’all!). This is a place that I could never get tired of visiting. Next stop, Tuscany!

[chaoticnerdhologram-blog]

every little thing about Salkantay Trekking

Machu Picchu is actually a UNESCO globe Heritage web page, both cultural and all-natural. considering that its discovery in 1911, developing figures of visitors check out the website yearly, reaching four hundred,000 in 2000.[37] As Peru's most frequented vacationer attraction and significant income generator, it is continually exposed to financial and industrial forces. inside the late nineteen nineties, the Peruvian government granted concessions to allow the construction of a cable automobile along with a luxury lodge, which include a vacationer complicated with boutiques and places to eat as well as a bridge to the site. The situations cited On this itinerary are approximate. Walking situations rely upon the group plus the manual can transform lunch spots and campsites, depending on the progress from the group. Each and every guide has their own preferred route and it won't correspond precisely on the route described here. this kind of notification will only be considered to have already been given on receipt of your letter or e-mail, because we can only act on receipt. be sure to condition The main reason for cancellation as you could be coated by your insurance coverage. For custom made courses: DAY four: La Playa – Hydroelectric – Aguas Calientes you have got THREE options in this article, according to your curiosity and Exercise. it is best to talk about Just about every with all your guidebook. It's also wise to be aware that Salkantay is the second most touristed route from the Salkantay location and ineveitably this means you can encounter Other individuals (its not a "wilderness" knowledge). Important Be aware: The following options are determined by "group bulk" - When you are signing up for a "trekkers preferred" group then the choices is going to be produced by the team at your briefing or around the path. a bonus of forming your own personal, private group, is that you can nominate beforehand which selection you wish to choose. 1. take it easy alternative. You will take motorised transportation to the campsite outside the house the village of Santa Theresa (not generally a quiet campsite) to ensure during the evening you could visit the not long ago reopened very hot springs at Colcamayu. UNFORTUNATELY the Colcamayu very hot springs have been wholly washed absent during the flooding of January 2010 and are now not a tenting possibility. peru treks tripadvisor On working day four you are going to then consider transport towards the amazing Machu Picchu Hydroelectric procedure in which we can have lunch and check out an Incan ruin. just after this, we will stroll for 2.5 hrs additional alongside the teach tracks to reach for the village of Aguas Calientes. 2. Adventurer´s selection. We go away early and climb for about three hrs in the jungle in advance of descending on the intriguing, but mostly protected ruins of Llactapata. machu picchu hike tour Don't let your guideline communicate you out of this!!! Sure, its three several hours climb, but It is additionally an exceptionally intriguing introduction to Machu Picchu! Orginally identified by Hiram Bingham concurrently that he found Machu Picchu, modern day explorers Vincent Lee and Gary Ziegler recently recognized that these ruins are much more substantial plus more crucial than Formerly imagined. From right here We've got our 1st check out of Machu Picchu, inside the saddle with the mountain opposite. We descend quite steeply on the muddy trackfor two several hours into the remarkable Machu Picchu Hydroelectric procedure where we will likely have lunch and go to a Inca wreck. soon after this, We are going to wander for 2.five hours more together the teach tracks to reach on the village of Aguas Calientes. On this, you could possibly see the principle Square, the round Tower, the Sacred Sundial (the most important preserved Intihuatana) the royal quarters plus more. You will have a guided tour which can last 2 hrs (approx. one hundred twenty min). After the stop by, you should have some spare time to just take pics and take pleasure in the ruins at your leisure ahead of heading again into the bus to “Aguas Calientes” to take the teach back again to Ollantaytambo that leaves at 09:50 hrs arriving to Ollantaytambo at 01:thirty a.m. There will certainly be a transportation called “Mara excursions” awaiting you in Ollantaytambo with your name on a list (Test the sticker on the ticket envelope) to carry you back again to Cusco, dropping you off at “Regocijo sq.”. machu picchu itinerary continually the choice of the organization's guide or agent are going to be ultimate on all issues likely to endanger the safety and perfectly remaining of your tour team. The shopper have to constantly strictly comply with the legal guidelines, customs, and international Trade and drug rules of Peru. need to the consumer fall short to comply with the above, or ought to the consumer interfere Together with the properly getting from the team then the tutorial or organization agent may possibly get the client to leave the tour without the need of recourse to any refund. Cusco’s climate is divided into two differentiated seasons: the rainy period, from November to April (the heaviest rainfalls taking place normally concerning January – March); as well as the dry time, from may well to October. The dry time is colder, so temperatures can drop to beneath 0 degrees in the evening. ’ for those who employ equipment and split it – you are chargeable for price of substitute /or repair service. (be sure to do the correct detail!) By the time they camped at Mandor Pampa, with Huayna Picchu 2000 feet earlier mentioned them on the other bank, they had by now examined quite a few ruins, but none healthy the descriptions of Vitcos. The ruins were being typically coated with vegetation except for the cleared agricultural terraces and clearings employed by the farmers as vegetable gardens. Because of the vegetation Bingham was unable to observe the total extent of the site. An appropriate deposit for each person for the picked out plan is asked for for the time being of the scheduling. This deposit is non-refundable in case of cancellation by the client. in place of making it possible for my views to operate wild with worry, I took Charge of my intellect, and thus my body followed fit. inside the event of any service getting withdrawn by any of our suppliers, ENIGMA shall have no responsibility outside of refunding all monies paid with the participant for that assistance.

[isabellelambert1975]

What colour should I paint my shed?

I have been debating the crucial issue of what colour to paint my shed.

Painting your shed transforms your garden. And if I paint my shed, it’ll also last longer. The wood is protected by the paint or stain.

I love Wenche Immink’s pale shed – she used just one coat of a pebble grey exterior paint. Wenche’s garden is open for Faversham Open Gardens & Garden Market Day, June 25th. It’s Garden 13.

Of course I also dream about a more dramatic transformation. I pored over the results of  the first ever Grand Shed Project at this year’s Grand Designs Live, which was sponsored by AXA Insurance.

This featured five inspirations for transforming garden sheds, including a Reading Snug, Sewing Shack, Miami South Beach Bar, Boutique Bedroom and an Outdoor Room. You can see them here, and AXA Insurance are also sponsoring this post.

I would adore a Reading Snug, but, for the time being, I am just going to paint my shed.

But what colour to choose?

Vintage-style blues, greys and greens must be the most loved shed colours at the moment. Who can resist a duck-egg blue shed with eaves and a window?

Lindsay’s shed is such a pretty blue and goes well with her planting.

Location, location, location…

The first thing to consider is where is your shed, and what is it for? Our new shed has been designed to merge with the fence. We want it to minimise its impact, not make it a focal point.

Greens and blues are wonderful garden colours, and blend into the landscape.

Green – especially dark green – helps a shed blend into its surroundings and is also attractive in its own right. This shed is seen on the Stonebridge Pond Allotments in Faversham (open for Faversham Open Gardens & Garden Market Day).

But if your shed is a focal point for the garden, the colour decision will be different.

Choose a pale romantic shade for your shed…

If you’re thinking of a pale colour, then test it carefully to see how it behaves out of doors. If you’re using a specialist outdoor paint such as Ronseal or Cuprinol, the colours seem to come out fairly close to what you might expect.

Wenche’s shed is ‘romantic’, with its white rose climbers.

However if you use exterior or interior versions of paint ranges designed mainly for indoors, I have discovered that the shades look much paler outside under the sky.

For example, we previously painted our back gate in Farrow & Ball Hardwick White. This appears to be a mid grey inside but properly white outside.

This colour – Hardwick White – appears mid grey inside (in our house anyway). So maybe go a shade or two darker to get the effect you want.

When trying out pale paint shades for your shed, you may need to go two or three shades darker to get the effect you want.

Be bold and paint your shed a bright colour

I love Angie’s lime-painted shed with its contrasting purple bird feeder.

There are some more brightly-coloured sheds in Revamp your shed – a short and easy guide here.

A white shed?

White sheds can be stunning. You might worry about white getting dirty. However, we had the back door (above the photo of the lime green shed) painted in Hardwick White for about seven years without repainting it. It does look a little grubby in the photo, but nothing that the odd wash wouldn’t have remedied.

White sheds can be romantic, seaside or modernist.

This shed in a seaside-themed garden in Whitstable is painted white, as is the fence around it. It’s in Clare Road, Whitstable, and is the view from a room available through Airbnb.

Tie in your shed colour with your border scheme.

Rosie Turner’s bright pink shed has featured on this blog before, and it’s always very popular.

Rosie Turner’s pink shed is a backdrop for her ‘pink garden.’

She chose this shade (  from Cuprinol) because she has a long thin town garden, with everything on view from the house. The theme of the garden is pink. She has crab apples, pink clematis, pink hebes, pink peonies and more.

Rosie Turner’s shed echoes her planting.

If you’re wondering whether you need to re-paint bright colours on sheds more often than darker colours, Rosie’s shed first appeared in 8 really simple, cheap ways of transforming your shed in 2014. The photographs above were taken three years later. She hasn’t re-painted in that time.

Go over to the dark side…

Award-winning garden designer Charlotte Rowe once told me that dark colours make a boundary recede. In 12 Creative Tips For an Urban Garden, she explained that she often uses dark shades for fencing.

I also think there’s a big move towards using chunks of dark in kitchens. (Put ‘contemporary kitchens’ or ‘kitchen decor’ into Pinterest if you don’t believe me.) We’re about to re-vamp the kitchen and I’d like to echo the paint shade both inside and outside the kitchen window.

And when I wrote about the renovation of architect Tom Croft’s garden, I was really struck by how wonderful dark green doors looked.

This barn door is painted in Amsterdam Green (Sanderson paints). I love it, and strongly considered it for my shed.

So I decided to paint my shed dark. That’s partly because the shed in question is practical. It’s not one of those sheds that serves as a pretty focal point. It has been designed to blend into the fencing line.

Farrow & Ball Black Blue on the new shed.

But the final choice is Farrow & Ball’s Exterior paint in Black Blue. The shed has ‘disappeared’, and people don’t seem to notice it all.

‘We’ve painted the shed since you were last here,’ I say, encouragingly, when people come round. They look somewhat bemused and seem unable to spot a shed at all.

The shed before painting. Don’t tell me you preferred it like this!

And the side view…

This was the previous shed in this position – sorry about the poor quality of the pic, but you get the idea.

Paint the shed door in a contrasting colour

Painting your shed door in a contrasting colour – or just painting the door and leaving the rest of the shed as plain wood or brick – can be remarkably effective.

This is a very attractive shed in Anna Turner’s garden in Deal.

A Plankbridge ‘shepherd’s hut’ with a contrasting door. Once again, the dark blue makes the hut almost fade into the background.

Jacqui and Richard Drew’s shed with a contrasting door. They are Garden 31 in Faversham Open Gardens on June 25th. Photo by Richard Drew.

And I didn’t just paint my shed…

We now have so many different elements on our terrace. There’s the shed, plus a bin store, log store, brown back door, white side gate and green water butt.

We decided that it would be calmer to paint everything the same colour.

The back gate, the bin store and the log store are all painted in Farrow & Ball Black Blue.

What the bin store and log store looked like before they were painted. The back gate was white, and our back door was brown. We bought the bin and log store from Wayfair.

We even had the water butt painted. It was an old green plastic water butt. I researched online to find an attractive alternative.

We painted the water butt to match the shed. It was green before.

The nice water butts were quite expensive, though. It was much cheaper simply to use the same paint we used for the shed. It may not last long – although it’s been four months now with no sign of it wearing off, in spite of some hard rains.

Wenche’s pale grey-white shed is a background for climbing roses. She’s painted the back gate the same colour. The bench and table in front of the shed are also painted in a harmonious wash.

Or do something dramatic…

I recently wrote about Jack and Carolyn Wahlberg’s charming small garden (Garden 36 in Faversham Open Gardens & Garden Market Day on June 25th). Jack has painted his shed and has also used CDs, which reflect in the sun.

Jack and Carolyn’s shed with its unusual treatment of CDs.

A shed at Sussex Prairie Gardens, covered in magazine covers. Possibly not the most long-lasting of treatments…but it’s fun.

The practicalities of painting your shed

When I decided to paint my shed, it was like doing a rain dance. The minute I bought the paint, the heavens opened.

We had booked a painter to paint my shed, and he had to cancel several times. You shouldn’t paint a wet shed. Or even a slightly damp shed. It must be properly dry, which means no rain for at least 48 hours.

If there’s any roughness, blistered paint or fungus, that needs treating first.

And there are counsels of perfection. Sand down the wood so that it is smoother. Use an undercoat. Use a spray paint for easier application (if you do, make sure the paint is suitable for use with a sprayer).

The log and bin store getting their primer (undercoat). They were both new so needed relatively little preparation.

You’ll need two coats, and it makes sense if one of those is a primer. But painting outside is much more forgiving than painting inside a house. It won’t matter so much if it isn’t quite perfect.

Wenche used just one coat of paint to get a washed or weathered effect.

We simply used some leftover Farrow & Ball interior emulsion paint on one of our sheds about 10 years ago and it’s lasted pretty well. It’s faded, but the effect is still much nicer than its original orangey-brown wood.

You can just see a standard brown wood shed at the end of this path.

The same shed, painted with a wash of leftover paint. Even in winter, I like it better. We did this seven years ago, so it’s worn well but the faded look is part of it.

For those of you planning to buy a new shed, there’s more advice on how to avoid buying the wrong garden shed here.

If you’d like to go further than just painting your shed, read about the Grand Design shed project sponsored by AXA here.

And let me know what colour you’ve painted your shed and how you chose it.

Pin this for later:

The post What colour should I paint my shed? appeared first on The Middle-Sized Garden.

from The Middle-Sized Garden http://www.themiddlesizedgarden.co.uk/what-colour-should-i-paint-my-shed/