Heale House, Salisbury and Stourhead

On our first full day in Somerset, we headed east toward Salisbury, and visited Heale House, the city of Salisbury itself, and then Stourhead Landscape Garden.  These first few pictures are of Heale House, which is still privately owned and occupied.  It is a beautiful, relatively small garden, which is currently being renovated and restored by the owners.  Because of its age and the fact that it has been in the same family for so many years, it has a real softness to it, that I can only relate to some of the grand old homes in Charleston.

The lavender borders went on forever, now accentuated with camellia standards and boxwood.

The anemones against the ancient walls were just stunning! 

This lawn ornament shows that there are certain things one just can't rush!

From Heale House, we went into Salisbury itself, which is the city from which my mother's ancestors emigrated in the early 1600's.  It's a fairly sizable city now, but still retains so much of its Tudor architecture.

                             
Since Atlanta is the headquarters of "tear it down if it's more than 30 years old," it was great to see these buildings still used as stores some 500 years after they were built.

Salisbury's real claim to fame is the cathedral with the tallest spire in England, and I loved the fact that the grounds were decorated with very contemporary sculptures like the one below.

The Cloisters of the Cathedral, below. 

We next went on to Stourhead, which will get a post of its own, since it falls into the "OMG" category!

Sunday in the Park at Oakland

                                             
I spent the day volunteering in the "Antique Plant Emporium" at Oakland Cemetery's "Sunday in the Park" celebration.  Many probably think it's an odd way of spending an afternoon, but what a cool street party atmosphere!  More information at http://www.oaklandcemetery.com/  If you're in the Atlanta area, you should put it on your calendar next year!

Westbrook House Bed & Breakfast

After Windsor, we set off for Somerset for the last three days of our England trip, deciding that Westbrook House B & B would be our base for exploring that part of the world.  I don't honestly remember how I first came upon it many months ago, but it seemed like a county house owned by an interior designer and a garden designer had to be a great place to spend a few days.  As the trip got closer, I even considered moving into a more urban place like Salisbury, but something made me stay with this reservation.  It was definitely a smart thing to do! 

Westbrook House is in West Bradley, very close to Glastonbury and Wells, and proved to be a perfect base for exploration.  In and of itself, it's really what one would picture as "the perfect English house."  I would highly recommend this to anyone traveling in that part of the world.  David and Keith are perfect hosts, and are a wealth of knowledge about the area.  An added bonus was that I got a first hand demonstration of cooking on an Aga, which has always intimidated me.

David and Keith both work an "high end" market with their respected clientele, and it shows in the way their own home is detailed.  Perhaps we'll find an excuse to go back again..... 

Windsor Castle and The Savill Garden

From very early in the planning stages of the trip, Frank had expressed an interest in visiting Windsor Castle; when we were in London many years ago, it was a couple of years after the famous fire, and large parts of the Castle were closed to visitors.  I was a little put off by the reputation as "England's most popular tourist destination," but I must say it was a great place to visit.  Because there are so many visitors, the staff really have things down to a science with reference to making it a pleasant visit for tourists. 

There are no photos allowed in the castle itself, so you'll have to believe me that it is every bit as exquisite as television says it is.  I particularly loved seeing how beautifully the fire areas have been restored, using methods and materials identical to those of the original construction several hundred years ago.  I really liked watching the caterer setting up one of the public rooms for a luncheon being hosted by Prince Phillip!

Outside, the most impressive gardens are in the area that was originally the moat around the main tower.  It is, by design, an incredibly steep slope, and the gardeners have done an amazing job in developing it as a garden. 

Because we had driven so much the day before, and we doing another two hour drive at the end of this day, we opted to visit The Savill Garden rather than go into London to visit Kew.  I have heard about the Jubilee Garden for the past few years, and was anxious to see it, as well.  This garden definitely did not disappoint!  The Jubilee Garden was installed a few years ago to mark the Queen's 50th year on the throne, and is a series of color beds, done on an ENORMOUS scale.  The section below is the orange area. 

I fell in love with this amaranth in that orange bed, and plan to use it next year at home if I can find seeds. 

Here's another area of reds, leading into purples.  The Castor Bean will give you a feel for just how large this display is. 

Pinks and roses were incredible portions of the display garden. 

Right next to the Jubilee garden is a new contemporary rose garden, that is designed in a cyclone pattern of roses and some fabulous grasses.  There is a contemporary sculpture representing the bow of a boat that juts out into (and above) the bed.  Here's Frank pretending he's Leonardo di Caprio...... 

Hidcote and Kiftsgate

When we starting planning our England trip, it was clear that it was going to take a little schedule juggling to balance all the places we wanted to visit with the sometimes limited opening hours of privately owned properties.  We almost decided not to go to Gloucestershire, since we were driving all the way from Cambridge (and then back to Windsor), just to visit two gardens.  The factor that pushed us over the edge, however, was that the two gardens were Hidcote and Kiftsgate.  After driving two hours from Cambridge to Gloucestershire, then another two back to Windsor, I can confidently say that it was definitely worth it!

I was completely enamored of Hidcote almost from the first second.  Just seeing this incredible shade of blue used on the gates and other accent pieces on the property made me fall in love with this garden.  To make it even better is the fact that Hidcote is  "all about the plants." 

Hidcote is the garden at which the concept of "garden rooms" was really started and developed, one of them being The Red Border, below.

                                  

I loved this combination of hot pinks and orange crocosmia. 

The Beech Allee is very impressive, appearing to go on for miles. 

The greenhouse shelters lots of beautiful tender plants. 

A view from inside a building into the entrance court also caught my eye.

After leaving Hidcote on a complete gardening "high," I don't think I was fully prepared for how incredible Kiftsgate Garden is.  Since it's directly across the street from Hidcote, it's easy to combine the two gardens in one day.  The difference, of course, is that Hidcote is a National Trust property, and Kiftsgate is privately owned and inhabited. 

To say that this garden is "wild" is an understatement.  In some areas it appears as though the four generations of women gardeners are on a quest to see just how large something can grow before it completely engulfs the house. 

Down an incredibly steep hill is the relatively new pool, which is a structural masterpiece in its own right.  The black lining of the pool makes it all the more impressive. The contemporary structure shown is the cabana.

Back up the hill at the main house, another distinctive blue is used in this garden, here on a door leading from one garden room into another. 

This reflecting pool is a fairly recent addition to the garden at Kiftsgate, replacing an unused tennis court.  You need to enlarge this photo to really get the full effect.  Each of those tall copper leaves is dripping water down into the pool. 

This final shot shows another angle of this beautifully controlled "out of control" garden.  This is definitely a pair of gardens that are worth an extra drive!

Jamie Oliver's Cherry Tomato & Sausage Bake

Yesterday was Frank's birthday, and since he's been nursing a head cold since for the past ten days, it called for a very quiet dinner at home.  This recipe proved to be pretty perfect for the evening.

Ingredients:
• 2kg lovely ripe cherry tomatoes, mixed colours if you can find them
• 2 sprigs each of fresh thyme, rosemary and bay
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
• 12 good-quality Cumerland or coarse Italian pork sausages
• extra virgin olive oil
• balsamic vinegar
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Splash a little oil in a roasting pan (I used 9 x 15), then add in the tomatoes, garlic and herbs.  Add a couple of tablespoons of Balsamic, then give it all a stir.  Lay the sausages on top of this mixture, and pop in the oven for 30 minutes.  Remove from the oven, turn the sausages over, and put back in for another 30 minutes.

NOTES:  I went to Whole Foods and got three different chicken-based sausages, which was really good, though I think it might be even better with pork-based sausage.  I served this with farfalle pasta tossed into a seasoned olive oil, and a Caesar.  Super easy, and something I will definitely make again soon!  The added bonus is that any leftovers can be rough-chopped and added to the leftover pasta for a great lunch! 

Sandringham Estate

One of the favorite places for me was Sandringham Estate, which is the Queen's country home in Northeast England.  While we were touring the house, an elderly gentleman who was serving as a docent said, "This is the house where Her Majesty is not "Her Majesty;" this is where she is "Granny".  Although I obviously don't know the Queen, this is a home and garden that feels like the country home of an older (very wealthy) woman, not a property that feels regal and off-putting like Buckingham Palace.

As one enters the gate, the house is visible across the enormous lawn, which is very much in scale with the house.  Following the path through the wooded areas, glimpses of the house keep coming in and out of view.  

Along the walk, I fell in love with this conifer, which was not labeled.  The coloration is just incredible!   (Click to enlarge to get the full effect).

Most of the seasonal containers were blues and purples, which were quite perfect for the soft brick color and the 80-something owner.  This enormous container (approx 8 feet by 4 feet) was jammed with vanilla-scented heliotrope. 

Lots of lavender, fuschia and soft fluffy flowers in the traditional containers around the terraces. 

A beautiful view from the terrace across the lawn to a pond, below. 

Having come from Atlanta's 90 plus degree weather, a day strolling around Sandringham (with stops for the requisite scones with clotted cream) was pretty perfect!