Letter from America 1. Eat your heart out Alistair Cooke

I wrote this for lack of anything better to do in the early hours of my first morning across the pond.  It details an average long haul flight but it does show why four long hauls a year forms one of the nails in our split-life coffin as far as I am concerned.

Some of you will pretty much have seen the untidy version of this, so you may be excused.

Friday 4^th September

It is now  silly early on our first morning across the pond.  I woke at around four o’clock having had eight hours (very broken) sleep.  By eight last night (1 am body clock time) I surrendered and and crept into bed.  Our travel day is a long one, starting before 6 am and made more tiring as it is filled with the boredom and frustrations of long-haul travel.  The flight is a physically wearing nine hours trapped in a plane following a stop-start motorway journey to the airport and rounded off nicely with the joys of picking up a hire car at this end and finding the resort.

We had the unusual experience of flying transatlantic with Thomas Cook.  We think we may have done this once before(?).  In comparison to Delta and Virgin it runs a distinct third.

Firstly, it goes out of Terminal 1 in Manchester. That, in itself, is not great news but it’ll ‘do’.

Security check was a whole other ball game. 

We fly often enough not to ever carry anything which could hold us up and, unlike almost everyone else in the queue, don’t need to spend half an hour in front of a tray sorting ourselves out.  I even pretty much travel in the same clothes/shoes so I don’t get sartorially challenged.

So saying, I was then buzzed and my hands and shoes swabbed.  OK, this is clearly one of the random stops, no big deal,  just mildly aggravating when you have done everything to avoid this.  Much worse than my tiny annoyance was what was happening next to me.  An frail-looking elderly lady in the next lane was undergoing the same process.  She was clearly distressed and it was obvious to anyone who was not totally cretinous that she had some cognitive problems (dementia?).  Clearly a requirement for a security job is an A-level  in cretin.  Her (I presume) husband was trying to calm her and explain to her what was needed from the sidelines…. Not allowed into the area. 

I arrived at the end of the area to pick up my scattered belongings only to find Ken having two bags of his diverted and meticulously searched.  As I said we are pernickety about not carrying anything that can need this.  After an unusually lengthy process an eyeglass repair kit was confiscated because ‘no tools are allowed on board in case you tinker with the aircraft’.  Have you seen the jewellers’  screwdriver in these kits?  You would have more joy disassembling a plane with a hair grip. 

Finally they were put back through the screening  machines and we were instructed to go round the corner to collect them…. only to discover one had been rejected again and was about to be searched for the second time.  I was insistent  it had just been done, to be shrugged off with well it has come down for inspection, ya, ya, ya….  Mrs Jobs-worthy then clacks her screen and mumbles something like they could only see half the box???  Doesn’t search it but sends it back through screening again. World gone mad.

We headed to the gate pretty much as soon as the Gate number was announced… A good 45 minutes from departure time so I have no idea how we missed the Premium early boarding but we did and arrived in time to see and join the massive queue feeding on to the aircraft.  Luckily we did have a front door access so avoided the crush onboard.

The seats in Premium Economy (no first class) on TC are rock hard but there is good seat room.  Loved the adjustable head rest … it can be raised (but not curved)… has a starting height for someone around 5’ 9” tall.  Adjustable means it can be  raised not lowered so my head spent its time on the bottom rolled edge??  I am am five-six, not exactly a squirt.  Poor small people in average world must struggle all the time.  Ken also had something ‘sharp’ in his seat.  This was enough for him to try baffling it with a rug.  For Ken to notice some discomfort borders on a miracle.  Good job the princess and the pea story was written otherwise we’d have to write the IT person and the mountain instead.

Back seat entertainment in Premium still only gives you a handful of movies not the huge range on offer on Delta or Virgin.  Virgin entertainment is probably the biggest choice.  There was not a single watchable one for me other than Still Alice but as we are already booked into the Naples library for that, it wasn’t a goer.  This was going to be an even longer trip than usual.

It seems to me that over the fifteen years we have been doing this,  Premium is now the economy and economy has slid way back to endurance class.  I took a trip through the main cabin.  It was full to the gunnels, narrow aisles packed with small children and rubbish.  No idea how the crew don’t kill someone on every trip.  Patience of Jobe.

There is no choice if we want to keep the cost of flights down to the minimum.  I was listening to someone on Radio Four who said the cost of the  example Berlin flight was the same three hundred pounds as it was thirty years ago.  We get what we pay for.  Equally obviously we are lucky to be able to afford to do this sort of flight pretty much as often as we like because the cost is actually so low compared to income these days.

As for culpable homicide, my companion across the aisle came close to being my victim many times.  He was an extended belt passenger who did nine hours flying which was completely comprised of (smelly) eating, drinking and snoring.  I seriously claim he was only conscious long enough to ingest something then slept and made every sound under the sun.  I was hugely thankful for the wider aisle during his sojourns to the bathroom.

OK, at last, here comes a plus.  Bet you thought there never would be one and for it to be in the food category makes the whole of this diatribe worth writing.

We had a very good in-flight meal.

I let that sentence stand alone for its sheer remarkableness.  No idea what was served in the main cabin but ours was a James Martin concoction and he is to be commended.  We had:

A selection of nice bread rolls.  From the choice of two meals (admittedly that's hardly a huge choice) we opted for the Thai curry, coconut rice, spinach??  There was no salad starter as with the two other airlines but, in my case, that's not something to be missed.  The dessert was a high quality  dark chocolate mousse with a bitter cherry compote underneath.  Two pieces of very good cheese, Cheddar and Wensleydale, with  biscuits. All of which was lovely.  It could only be improved by not having to eat it out of boxes with plastic implements and the challenge of doing it in a twelve by six inch area.  My aisle companion had all this sorted as it was eaten from the top of his stomach which was more than the statutory twelve by six; clever man

There seemed to be the offer of any drink under the sun at any time if you knew what to ask for and if the staff member remembered to bring it.  Tomato juice is usually a basic on the trolley, not on TC and it took two goes and a reminder to get one.  Ken got a J2O by going to the galley.  Some people have smarts.  Oddly there was no offer of water at any time during the flight.  Our usual flights have one bottle in the seat-back pocket and the crew offer beakers of water during the flight and always a place to get your own.

We also had ice cream and later a teatime service consisting of cheese and something tomato-ish on a roll and an  egg and cress roll along with a scone, cream and jam.  The scone was very good.  Oddly, in addition to that neatly packaged deal we were offered a tiny Victoria Sponge which was inedible as it tasted entirely (unsurprisingly) like its cardboard packaging. Why would someone in their right mind think it is OK to combine (very absorbent) spongecake and cardboard?

Ultimately we landed in Orlando.  The other things TC don't give you with Premium is Priority deplaning or our luggage delivered first.

The following sentence needs to be in flashing lights and an absolute first:  Immigration was great we got ‘picked’ to use the machines … Yeah! super fast and we were almost on our way.

We collected our luggage and visited the food police where we declared we had no mad cow or bananas, or indeed any other food, with us in our luggage and we were released into outdoors Orlando and off for the hire car.

My pedant husband is given a single instruction, “Take any car”. He searches for a car section labelled Standard Cars as that is what he ordered.  Bear in mind he ordered in English we are now working In American/Mex/Tex where we have areas labelled Full Size, Mid size and a zillion different grades of SUV’s….  As we had four large cases, two on-boards and two handbags to lug about in a very large car park, my two suggestions were:  ask someone and, when that didn't work,  ….."take any car as instructed"….. Ken…..finally ......off to find assistance.  Bit of a language problem between him and said assistant  Eh by gum v. Cuba…. Cuba wins and we take any car.  It is a very nice one; the technical specs follow:  lovely colour blue.

I am not asking Ken, ‘cos he will tell me.

We are staying at a huge resort in Disney as it is where the Dolls house Miniatures show is being held.  It is spelled as Miniaturia… Methinks too many ia’s in there somewhere. The resort is classic Orlando size… HUGE and has all the usual stuff, multiple pools, 230 foot slide, movies poolside at night etc etc etc.  Several eateries.

We are wearing Disney wrist bands that open gates and doors and allows you to pay for everything automatically.  Their marketing cannot be flawed.  They remove your money so gently it is hardly noticeable.  The upside is that if dementia strikes without warning I can be returned to my keeper easily.

in case I forget my name, my location is electronically tagged

touch Mickey to Mickey and buy the world

Oddly our only meal experience so far suffered from poor service.  This is very unusual, but then we forget we are always using a Naples baseline not an American one.  We always fall foul of this mode of thinking and say America does this or that when really we mean our experience mostly comes from one tiny spot in a vast, vast continent.

The Fawlty Towers part of the experience was Ken going to get a glass of wine at a dedicated wine area in a sort of food court type arrangement.  Merlot took some explaining, followed by it needing opening and the wine section did not have a corkscrew?...mmm… The server is duly instructed to go to the kitchen and they would do it….girl disappears….food congealing….. I insist Ken quits.  To be fair she did appear a good deal later with said glass of wine and sought us out….  The way it generally works here…woops …… in our experience here in Naples…. Is that waiters' errors are paid for by the waiters, so it always makes it worth the effort to deliver the wine and get things right.  Not a great arrangement for people on minimum wage - or working for tips!  Excellent for the customer.

So here I am at the crack of sparrows trying to convince my body it has been time-shifted.  Watch this space.

August 2015 - another blog for the bin?

Clavering is an odd creation and has been stopped and started more times than I care to consider.  Originally begun in 1999, when we bought a home in Naples, to keep people posted as to where we were and what we doing it has gone on doing that  (ad nauseum) every since.  With the possibility of selling our Naples home in sight this may be its death throws. Whether Clavering bites the dust or transforms into something else time will tell.

Meanwhile....

The last month before we go back to Naples is always a time of building a level of tension for me.  I have been wanting to leave Naples for three years (plus) and, at some level, actually 'dread' the 'going back'.

It is a really lovely place and all that glorious weather during our miserable winters makes this hard for others to accept.  I am not immune to its lure in that sense but I am bored with the fixed life that we have, being bound by owning two houses.  It is incredible really that I have done the same something for fifteen years!!  This is the longest pattern in the whole of my life.  (imagine)  I am now very bored on the other side of the pond and dreadfully homesick.

So, as I was saying, the approach of Naples hung over me for most of this month.

Happily August is also Ken's birthday month, so we arranged a week's break around his day and toddled off to Scotland on the 13th.  He originally wanted to do a week of solid driving up to John O'Groats staying in a different place each night but I persuaded him that this would be exhausting and not very productive in terms of getting to see anywhere.  He then moved on to maybe doing some sailing so we booked a wonderful place in Fearnan, overlooking Loch Tay.

He decided to do an overnight break on the way there in Helensburgh so we could visit The Hill House next day.  On our way to Helensburgh we stopped off at Pollock House. (I seem to be writing this backwards!)

Pollock House is very much one of the National Trust's corporate/wedding venues and it felt and looked exactly like that.  It is three miles outside Glasgow so is a good location for such things.  

We managed to arrive on the day that the electricity had been 'out' and therefore there was no cafe (our main reason for visiting!).  The house had only just opened and with a skeleton staff.  This isn't why we were underwhelmed.  It is the first NT property (I think) that has ever left me joining the debate about why do we want to preserve these houses en masse?  It was in no way unique or beautiful.  Maybe it earns them good money - I do hope so.

I edited out the vans and wedding marquee

On to Helesburgh and our hotel, The Rosslea Hotel.  

It was the usual quintessential Country House Hotel.  Three floors, but no lift.  To be fair our bags were brought up for us - that's not always on offer.  You can have sandwiches in your room twenty-four hours a day but not in the bar after 5.30pm.  You get my drift.  How easy it must have been to write Fawlty Towers.

To be fair it may have been the usual quirky service but it was very pleasant and the staff were excellent and location hard to better, overlooking the Firth of Clyde (Rhu).

The next day, and Ken's birthday, we began our day visiting the overwhelming Hill House.  I chose my adjective carefully.  As a bit of a Rennie and Margaret (MacDonald) Mackintosh fan for many years I was very familiar with images of Hill House.  I loved the designs and total originality of the work in the way that you like any piece of art which pleases you but to stand in those rooms and understand what it was like to have lived in them was a whole other experience.

The images I had seen were a sort of beautiful but sterile landscape of large overly-white spaces; the house, in a way, is nothing like them.  The rooms are human-sized and it feels very much a home - just a uniquely beautiful one.  

Mr and Mrs Blackie were hands-on in every inch of the designs and were as obsessed with detail and functionality as they were with RM's work and the house really was a creation of a lovely workable home for them.  You can feel it in every inch of the place.

Quite an odd approach to the house

The 'prettier' rear of the house

the bedroom is smaller and softer in reality

incredible table

This table is a perfect example of detail.  The small inlay in the centre changes its appearance through the day as the sun moves across the windows.  It looks like mirrors, or mother of pearl, or takes on colours or even looks like glass - just stunning and is one very tiny thing among many such beautiful objects.

the hall

Somehow the rooms don't lend themselves to photography.  The hall is just glorious and much more welcoming and warmer than this.  I get the feeling that all the photos show something sharp, angular and rather cold whereas the reality is much softer.  The warmth of the wood and beautiful fireplace and the way the light is used in every room is gorgeous.

Yes, I know I am raving but it is in hopes that if you have the tiniest interest in Mackintosh you will go and visit the house.  Not many things are a unique experience but this one is.

Onwards to our accommodation for the week - another beautiful place - Tarmachan, Fearnan, Loch Tay.  I commend this to you if you ever need a place around there.

bedrooms downstairs and 'living' areas upstairs to take advantage of the views

our view, our red car and Loch Tay

S & S joined us for a few days and helped us celebrate the old man's (!) birthday with a lovely meal at the Bridge of Lochay.  Ken had been very good and saved his cards and gifts and cake for after dinner back at the apartment.  A very low key 70th (that's us) but very nice.

The next day we were off to hire a boat.  After much searching around we kyboshed that idea, having seen what passed for luxury sailing - not what we imagined.  We did the next best thing and went to eat at The Smiddy in Killin followed by........

The Rannoch Highland Gathering in Welley Poley Park (could it sound any more Scottish).  Great fun.  We bought exciting things like socks and hats and tablet and watched others' exertions.

races round the field at the same time as caber tossing.

Tossing the caber - we thought you had to toss a lump of pole as far as you could - actually you have to flip it and try to land it at 12 o'clock from yourself.  How they lift it is beyond me never mind toss it.  Look at the the 'hill' in the left of the photo - it will feature later.

non-stop highland dancing competitions, yes they are levitating

just about everything piped in and out of the field

the very top of the hill you saw earlier with a couple of people up there

The point of the hill pictures is that there was a hill race.  The top in the above photo is about one sixth of the total height and a fairly long way away from the field.  I have a good long focus on my camera.  The competitors were to run round the field (400 yards), through the village, up the very steep and rough hill and back.  The announcer said twenty minutes - we assumed we had misheard.  23 minutes 59 seconds later a fairly decrepit looking (not young) man ran through the finishing tape.  He was followed closely by another three runners - all of whom were a good way ahead of the rest of the pack.  Bravo to the others who kept going.  We were mightily impressed and munched our tablet in admiration.

Tablet, incidentally, is Scottish fudge.

Even Stuart born and bred east Lothian  said he'd never experienced so much Scottishness in one day.

Glad we never found a boat, this was warmer, drier and much more fun.

The following day it was time to find the obligatory ice cream farm for Ken and my daughter - both ice cream faces.  This was Stewart Tower in Stanley (Perth).  Ken is happy to put in the miles for the proper stuff.  Sitting outside sharing flavours in the sunshine watching the ducks and geese and goats on a farm seemed like a proper holiday!

On to Scone Palace.  Scone pronounced Scoon.  This is a building simply bursting with history of all sorts not least of which was it being the home of Dido Elizabeth Belle (book/film).  Seek out her real story it is an interesting one and helps to remind us that we have some very fixed ideas of about 'how things were back then' and we always need to take into account that not everyone fitted expected patterns of behavior or expectations.

not the real Stone of Scone but then it is believed the real one isn't the real one either!!

S & S left us the next morning and Ken and I drove up to Oban to revisit his old diving haunts of yesteryear.  It is always odd to think that our 'recent' memories are now sometimes thirty plus years old.

No cruise liners in Oban Bay in Ken's day.

We had a bit of a more relaxed day the following day with a trip out to visit Pitlochry and then feet up time.

Wednesday came with a fun trip to a Winery - Cairn O'Mohr Winery and Ciderhouse, East Inchmichael, Errol.  They make wine and cider from every fruit under the sun - well under Highland sun - not to mention oak leaves.  Very good it was too. 

Entrance

We had one of the best eats of our trip there.  Always amazes me how you get these fantastic cooking couples in the back of beyond - almost un-lauded.  Probably like anyone with talent once they become 'known' it gets spoiled, so maybe not a bad thing some don't.  

huge stainless steel vats everywhere, taps not locked!

Our last day and we just trotted a couple of miles up the road to Bolfracks Garden.

Tranquil pool

This is a large private house and garden.  The garden is open it to all and sundry with a system of trust for paying for your entrance (in a box on the wall) and buying plants (a loose cash box on a table).

the original house (inside this frontage) is 18th century

a detail of the Wendy House

We were at the back end of the season really but the gardens were still lovely in that sad blousy way that August has.  They are certainly a challenge being North facing on a very, very, steep slope overlooking a valley.  The views are incredible, the variety of plants immense, and the gardening challenge - quite something.  A lovely peaceful place to visit, tucked away and not over run with visitors.

This was a very nice way to spend our last day in Loch Tay and we stopped off to say goodbye to the Loch from our private beach!

where did seventy years go?

Our trip home the next day, including a wretched traffic jam for Blackpool and environs and a meal break, took Ken just 5 hours 22 minutes.  Hope the 1200 miles we drove that week filled his lust for driving for a while. 

As we always seem to do we got to the last two weeks of our stay here in Bury with a ton of tasks to tidy up before decamping.  In the main these were boring things like the dentist and minor repairs to house things and the car windshield.  I like to do some 'auditing' of the garden and the dolls house hobby so I don't forget what's what when I get back.  By end of March it has all changed and I can't remember what's what.  

Among all this irritating trivia though we saw friends and ate out as we usually do for our farewell 'fests' and Ken had a great half day riding a Segway round Heaton park with some chums as a belated birthday gift.  They had all done it before in Naples so it was a bit of a contrast in all kinds of ways but they loved it.

My 'ayjed' aunt had her 83rd birthday so we made that out last visit to her before we left.  As she said she 'is blessed'.  There are people who remember her and send cards and gifts and she had us and two other people visit her.  We took gifts and a birthday cake for teatime and wished her well.  She is physically very well but 'confused'.  We are her legal deputies so do see her each week when we are here and have lots of stuff in place for when we are not.

Worse case scenario, if that is my destiny, it isn't too bad from where we are standing.

On that cheerful note I'll leave August and wander off absentmindedly into September.

July 2015 -

The month opened with my getting rid of the last of my 1/12ths by giving them to a splendid lady who is organising a terrific Dolls House show, locally.  She did her first one last year and, being a glutton for punishment, is doing it again.  I so admire the energy and enthusiam of some people for the things they enjoy.  She also organises a local club which meets once a month.  I am lucky if I can just crank myself up to actually doing something on my minis instead of just thinking about it.  I seem to be doing a lot of the latter lately and not all good.

So we toddled along into the month with friends and meals and bits of gardening and miniing until the 11th rolled round and we nipped off to Chatton for a week, in part to meet up with my daughter and husband.  

Chatton is near Alnwick in Northumberland and is a neck of the woods that we have been to before but like it enough to go back.  This is a huge recommendation from me as I am famed for my 'been there, done that' attitude.  I like to think of it as a virtue and describe it as a low boredom threshold.

I am also a twerp and have now just discovered I didn't take a photo of our splendid little cottage - actually not so little.  Small from the outside but a veritable Tardis when you went in.  

Never mind, I do have a photo of the place next door.  

The Percy Arms Hotel

The Percy Arms Hotel has a good food reputation and, on Sunday, we decided to give it a shot.  We had the most bizarre experience ever.  

We later discovered most people enter through a side door from the car park and when you do that the place possibly makes more sense.  Silly us, walking all the way from next door, we went in through the main door at the front of the hotel.  We landed in a mini lobby with a choice of three doors - feeling like Alice in Wonderland we opted for the one which said Dining Room - rather than the one signed for Ladies Toilet (!) and another which I think said Private....   We entered a small but perfectly formed dining room all beautifully laid up but totally empty.  A member of staff appeared from (probably) the kitchen and I said, "Is the restaurant open?"  Yes, she says and proceeds to head off back through the hall and through the Ladies door so we duly followed her ......  into a bar where we were then abandoned.  Three servers, three muddled conversations, such as "Do you want to eat?" and three tables later we were finally seated.

Two more servers and more muddled conversations followed just trying to order some food.  There was nothing suitable for our gluten free member on the menu (Sunday lunch), they had mashed potatoes and they didn't have mashed potatoes.... eventually we asked for an alternative menu - only to be told that couldn't be done because "chef is in today".  Yes, chef being in means you get a choice of three things, the inference being if he wasn't in (???) you could have more.

Things went downhill from there and we left.

Ken and I braved it again later in the week at which point it transpired we had been sitting in the bar which had a limited selection on Sunday and the restaurant was a whole other large room somewhere else.  The empty dining room we first went in is apparently for hotel guests' breakfasts.

Don't ya just love British service.  How any foreign tourist ever returns, having visited once, I have no idea.

The post script is Ken and I had a perfectly normal lunch, served in a perfectly normal way and the food was delicious.

S & S came to visit for a couple of days, so we did a bit of a drive here and there and found the nearest 'home-made' decent ice cream place - which is an absolute when we are together.

Ken and I spent the rest of the week driving around more than actually disembarking and visiting any where.  It appears you can't park in Northumberland in August.  Every beach was just heaving with people and traffic and full car parks. Indeed the day we ate at the Percy Arms we had been to Low Newton, Caister and Seahouses - all of which we gave up on, hence our early return to our little home in time for lunch.

Mid-week we bobbed over to visit S & S in Edinburgh which was nice - lovely to see them at home and we had a delightful day with my daughter (and a garden centre) and we stayed on to spend a couple of hours with her other half when he got home.  It was an hour and a half's drive from them to Chatton, but a very pleasant one on a summer evening.

The following day we visited Wallington.  A house we have been to a couple of times before but it offers the very best of gardens not to mention a room filled with dolls houses.  What more could I want.

the most beautiful hall

tiny part of the truly unique walled garden

a not-too big house

The doll's house collection is eighteen houses, with a huge centre piece house - the Hammond house which has 36 rooms, 1,500 pieces of furniture and 77 figures.  I had enough to go at for a while.

on end wing of the Hammond house on the right

The following day we visited Bamburgh castle....  mmmmm.... there was something a bit Hearst Castle about it.  It is another nineteenth century rich man's grand folly.  

It is odd to think it has incredibly expensive apartments in it - I know Miriam Stoppard had an apartment there.  I rest my case.  

I think you can also just stay there and then, amongst all that, is the endless stream of day trippers.  As to the place itself it is decidedly an over-egged pudding and, of course, you are not really seeing what you are led to believe you are seeing.  There is little or nothing 11th, 12th (etc) century - you are merely walking through a Victorian creation of someone's 'dream'.

The current Armstrong owner lives on a nearby farm.  Sensible man.

Having said that there is no denying it dominates the landscape in a dramatic way.  Try and get planning permission for that today!

How do we get to that empty beach?  Why is it empty?

a carpenter's rendition of the castle

The following day we returned to Bury stopping in at Houghton Hall on our way home for lunch and for me to 'do' the Dolls House Emporium shop......it is no more.  Hey ho, lunch was fine!

The rest of the month did its usual thing and took us off into August.

If you follow by email

I have just realised that if you 'Follow by email' rather than becoming a follower, you are probably reading the blog post which is embedded in the email.  You are actually getting a much poerer version of the real McCoy.  You need to click on the heading which acts as a link to the actual blog or you won't have access to photo albums or videos or a mass of other stuff. Not to mention that the blog just looks much better!  Obviously the choice is yours but do try clicking on the heading at least once and see if you prefer to read the blog as a fully formed entity rather than just in mail.

This discovery also answer queries from people who tell me they can't see the album link or can't leave comments and various other queries I have had over time and had never been able to resolve.  I hadn't realised they were following the blog from their email.

June 2015 - even less to report

This month's post is a challenge - bit like school - write 500 words on what you did in the summer break......  uggghhh! nothing... apparently writing this 500 times is not acceptable.

So basically June came and went with nothing notable other than a trip to York and a visit from my daughter and her husband.  We try to see each other once a month and take turns-about, so last month we were in Edinburgh and this month they made a flying weekend visit to us.

Our York trip is certainly worth noting though as we had a lovely couple of days there.

I had got permission to take photographs in Fairfax House.   These photographic tours are all to do with the mini project I am working on.

I was surprised to realise I had never visited it as I am something of a 'Fairfax' fan.  I became fascinated with the family when reading Andrew Marvel's 'Upon Appleton House'.  I can only say I spent four years 'in love' with the metaphysical poets and it was always a tussle between Donne and Marvel for my affection.  If you are a child of the sixties I commend them to you, you will get the connection.

Circa 1650–52, Marvell served as tutor to the daughter of the Lord General Thomas Fairfax, who had recently relinquished command of the Parliamentary army to Cromwell. He lived during that time at Nun Appleton Hall, near York, where he continued to write poetry. One poem, "Upon Appleton House, To My Lord Fairfax", uses a description of the estate as a way of exploring Fairfax's and Marvell's own situation in a time of war and political change. wikepedia


Nun Appleton no longer exists but sitting snugly in York is the lovely Fairfax House.

It has an absolutely fascinating history and even spent its last inhabited years as a cinema!  The large yellow entrance to the left of the house is how you go in, but this was once the cinema entrance, so you need a moment to get the orientation right when you get to the proper main entrance hall.

It has the very best ceilings I have ever seen in a house - certainly a house of this size.  Fortunately through all its different uses, offices, dance school and the rest it has managed to keep much of the original house and has been restored sympathetically,

This is the (real life) size of the house I am working on so it gave me the very best feel for what I could and couldn't do with my project.  It was also a delight to be able to take photos of the tiny details as you can never find those on-line or in the guide books.  Who else would be interested in door knobs and hinges!

We had driven to York on a lovely sunny Saturday, parked in the car park about fifty feet from the house (!) and initially had the place to ourselves.  If you visit begin at the top of the house with the terrific video and then work your way down.

There was a concert being held there in the evening and we had considered going but reneged at the last moment and decided to visit Noel Terry's house for tea before retreating to our hotel on the edge of York.

the back of the house

I thought it lovely but a bit quirky.  Goddards is an Arts and Crafts style house which he had built in 1927, so rather towards the end of the period.  In a way it seems bordering on cliche but in the nicest possible way and you most definitely get the impression of it having been a glorious and truly loved family home.  

Lucky children to have been raised there.

Our tea had echoes of the same era, all white clothed and properly served.  Ken, of course, indulged in a chocolate orange cake.  I hope he made Mr Terry very proud.

The next day was one of my favourite Dolls House Shows.  I was booked to write it up for the magazine so expected to be there all day taking photos and nattering to folk as well as my own ferreting and shopping.  Instead of which when I crossed the threshold before the doors officially opened I was told someone was already there from DH&MS.  Clearly I wasn't thrilled I was double-booked, but as she had pipped me to it the gig was decidedly hers.  As it turned out this was a good thing.

I managed to finish my trawling the stand by lunchtime rather than the planned 4.30 pm so I gave Ken a ring to pick me up.

One thing he always does in York is go to a fabulous Sicilian ice Cream shop and he suggested we had lunch there - sly move on his part as he hadn't made it to an ice cream because I finished early.

So glad he did - here's another recommendation or you if you are in York.  Lovely food and lovely service.  Trinacria

So, with the sun still shining we trundled home - a happy me stuffed full of olives and sardine and a lap full of dolls house stuff - died and gone to heaven.


We did seem to get ourselves inveigled into local gardening stuff this month helping out with managing the Lotty and somehow being volunteered for some sweated labour in our local country park. The irony is, of course, I now pay a gardener because my own garden is beyond me and Ken would never do it as he hates it and there we both are fettling a large raised bed each in the park.


Also this month we began to auction of my 'ayjed' aunt's goods and chattels which we put in store almost two years ago when she moved into a care home. She has agreed that paying storage on twenty boxes of stuff that she will never have a home for is potty and they are best sold for her 'spends' and we save on storage costs. Win win.


Auctions are new to both of us. I suppose I have been to a couple in my life but for something specific - like a house! - so have never really taken an interest in them. I am now fascinated. Talk about hard work - I have no idea how they keep on top of thousands and thousands of items passing through their hands each week along with hundreds of buyer and sellers, but they do.


The company we are with uses the web in a massive way - publishing the catalogue so people can see the the stuff and then conducting the auctions live and visible for the selling. They have a general auction each week and a 'special' one every month or so. We stayed for a couple of hours at one of the general auctions and were astonished at the pittance they get for things which cost a lot originally and then at the complete opposite end of the spectrum they get silly money for stuff most of us wouldn't give house room to. Good job I am not in the business I wouldn't have a clue.


All rather exciting though.


As I said S & S came to close out our month with a lovely visit.


Two more months here and we are back in Naples. Someone is stealing my life.

May 2015 - almost nothing to report

I did my usual flick through pages in the diary to remind me of events - especially as I am now three months on from this point when writing so not a chance of remembering May!  It showed a lovely time of gardening, minis, seeing friends and eating out and movies and pretty much that was it: none of it hardly worth recording inch by inch though it is good to be reminded how great my 'small' life is.

Finally by the 22nd there is a notation that we were off to Edinburgh for a week and all those happy sunny days came bouncing back.

22nd - drove up to Edinburgh stopping off in Hawick (pronounced Hoyk) in the strangest looking little Italian restaurant.  It is always a good sign when an Italian restaurant looks oddly dishevelled and is full of Italians - both staff and diners.  If you are ever travelling that way you won't miss it as it squats in a Georgian building which itself squats on the bridge over the river.  It is called Sergio's and, when checking it out retrospectively, comes tenth on Trip Advisor.  The other nine must be like dying and going to heaven as Sergio's delivered the best Italian food I have had in ages.  Kept getting flashbacks to our finding an off-the-beaten-track place we found in Florence many years ago.  Sergios was certainly the real McCoy.

Ultimately we two contented individuals arrived at our apartment/cottage which was brilliantly close to my daughter's home - ideal.  Bijou is most definitely the word to describe it and it was so named.  Any plans of having S and S round to dinner were quickly scuppered.  Lacking a dishwasher was the clincher - no cooking for us either!

In actuality it was a lovely little place and will suit us very well for future visits - beats being in a hotel room by a mile.

Sat 23rd - over to S & S's home to make a new garden.  The four of us worked like little Trojans on a very hot day but produced a large, fully planted four foot border into the corner of the lawn: patched in the remaining lawn cut out: made a gravelled utility area with boarded edges: tweaked pots on the patio and generally did a darn good job.  Well done us.

Sunday 24th - we spent half a day at my daughter's just tweaking tiny elements of the garden and had lunch with them but retreated back to the Bijou early afternoon for R & R.  Ken watched the Grand Prix and we had a fish and chip dinner from round the corner - life is good!

Monday 25th - I had got permission from the National Trust of Scotland to take photos in their splendid Georgian House and had a 9.15 am appointment so I could be there before it was open to the general public.  I had the most wonderful couple of hours going round the house in Charlotte Square and studying and recording every inch of it.  I have to say my dealings with Nat Trust Scotland were far and away a happier experience than those I have had with the English NT.  Such warm, helpful and efficient people.  Indeed weeks later when I was thanking my contact for their help and mentioned other places I had visited,  she immediately said just to get in touch any time if I knew I was going any where and she would give me permission to take photos or see things I was interested in.

We then went to real tourist land - The Royal Mile 

Royal Mile

- to visit the Museum of Childhood to take a look at their remarkable dolls houses.  It is an eclectic collection for sure and they seem to be unaware of what treasures they have.  Another friendly and welcoming place.  Free entry and can take photos!  Virtually unheard of on both counts.  It is always odd to see one's own childhood behind glass in a museum!  Are we really that old?

brilliant!

We had lunch at our favourite garden centre up there - Pentland Plants - so I could pick up an obelisk for my daughter's garden.  She and husband stopped by on their way home from work for a cuppa - end to a perfect day.  Be lovely if we lived round the corner from them.

Tuesday 26th - this day we were off to burgle S & S's house.  Let ourselves in while they were working to behave like the shoe-makers elves.  We watered the garden, added in their obelisk and repaired some curtains and collected up all the clobber we had taken up to do our work there.  My daughter sidled off work early so we spent some of the afternoon with her which was lovely.

Wednesday 27th - managed to spend the whole day with the 'kids' just 'doing stuff'.  It began with a planned trip to Newhailles - a large Georgian House - it was closed! NT!!  Plans scuppered we went off into the city and visited Gladstone's Land which was another one on my hit list.  I know someone who is making it in 1/12th!  It was kind of odd to be standing in a full scale version of something I have been watching appear.  Terrifically interesting place though so I can see why the lady concerned is interested in replicating it in The Tenement.  Nice bit of a quirk in our language.  It seems the phrase 'the land' actually refers to the building (the tenement) and the word 'tenement' actually means the land the lands stand on.

Gladstone's Land

There is also a very bizarre place to visit - a wild west street...

It wasn't actually built as a tourist attraction.  It is just one man's notion of facing all the buildings in the street with 'cladding' to make it look like a street in the American West of the 1800's.  It is fading rapidly as it no longer is being cared for - visit soon if you are curious.

We managed to squeeze in some ice cream in a lovely place called Nardini's - check it out if you are in Edinburgh.  This didn't prohibit us having lunch shortly after at The Colliery and a large tea at my daughter's later.

Thursday 28th - S & S were back to work so Ken and I decided to entertain ourselves with another attempt at Newhailles.  I am so glad we did as it was a very unusual version of the by now expected Georgian House.  It has lived through its three hundred years with very little actually being done to it.  Indeed it has only been painted three times in its history.  This was my first encounter with the notion of preservation by the NT rather than restoration.  Their intention is that we see the house as a lived in entity with the changes that have been made since its inception still in place.  This made for an interesting tour of a very quirky and I can honestly use the word properly - unique - property.

The original building at Newhailles before the wings were added

S & S stopped in to the Bijou on their way home for a couple of hours to say goodbye in anticipation of our leaving the next morning - always sad to part even though we try to see them once a month when we are in the UK.

Friday 29th and we wended our way home from a lovely time visiting S, her husband, her home and the lovely city of Edinburgh.

So onwards to June ........... hope to get it written tomorrow..... stop by then if you want to read the next episode in an ordinary life.

(PS: should you ever want to see my garden or my minis, if you go to this link it will give you all my blog addresses:  All my blogs)