Hopton Hall

We usually visit a Snowdrop Garden at this time of year, and last year, the garden we usually visit (Hodsock) was a huge disappointment (due to the owners trying too hard to maximise profits!) .  My lovely bloggy friends Rosie and Louise suggested Hopton Hall, and so we thought we would give it a go.

Well all I can say is that Hopton Hall was gorgeous.  The day was perfect - so sunny  with lovely blue skies.

It seems to have been a very good year for Snowdrops.  They look taller and more robust than ever!  They are such a beautiful flower and so very welcome at this time of year.

We loved the walled garden.  It was a real suntrap.  Hubby and I found a bench and sat with our faces pointing into the sun for some time.  I love that feeling.

We had a great wander round the gardens.  I'm not a winter person and I love the promise of "things to come" on days like this.

Thank you Rosie and Louise for recommending this gorgeous place.  We had a fabulous day - and it didn't end here.  I'll show you where else we went later.  But until then, just bask in this glorious sunshine like we did. xx

Lemon and Poppy Seed Madeleines

After work, I decided to be a good wife and bake before hubby got home.  I decided to make Gordon Ramsay's  Lemon and Poppy Seed Madeleine's - recipe here.  They are relatively easy to make, the timing is critical though.  This successful batch were baked using a silicone baking tray......

 My romantic notion to bake using this vintage Madeleine tray from France didn't quite work!

Five minute crafting

As I get older, I find that I have used ip most of my patience!!  So sometimes I need a craft that literally takes 5 minutes.

 I made bunting from an old book that I found for 10p on a car boot sale, stamped it, glittered it, punched it, threaded it with gold ribbon and strew it on the top of a book shelf that I had painted earlier in the week.

 And pretty effective it looks too.

Book Binding for Beginners

On Saturday I had a book binding class booked at the studios of Hope & Elvis.   The class was taken by the wonderful and very patient Cath Ray - she made it look sooooooo easy.  

 I had a wonderful surprise as I walked into the studios as my bloggy buddy Lyn from Everyday Life had booked too .  She knew I was attending and thought she would shock me!

 I had booked the course for part of my daughter's Christmas present.  She loves notebooks and has a huge collection - all with the first 3 pages filled in then sadly neglected! She's never been a "maker" but she got really into the bookbinding and proved herself a natural at it!

 She must have taken these photo's of Lyn and I using the pressing contraption, but we were so engrossed in trying to work it, I never saw her!

 Cath had to step in to lend a helping hand,

 and of course there was a lot of hilarity throughout the day!

 Believe me, it is much harder than it looks, but by the end of the morning, we had produced our first book each.

 And after lunch, we went on to complete our 2nd !

 We got to use some fantastic materials both new and vintage, and we were all thrilled with our books - but my plans to make a load of these for Christmas might have been a little ambitious!

 I loved the 2 that my daughter made - she chose lovely materials for these.

 And no visit to Louise's studio would be complete without a good nosey around.  I love this shelf in the loo.

 Her kitchen cupboards....

 And amazing stash of vintage fabrics...

 ,,, and stuff!!!.....

 But my heart beat a little faster when I saw this wonderful nurses uniform.  When I was a girl, I dreamed of being a nurse (after reading the Sue Barton books).  I particularly wanted to join the Queen Alexandra's Naval Nursing Corps (I'd seen the advert every week in "Jackie" magazine and the thought of just me and my pick of a thousand young sailors might have crossed my mind!).  The QA's had uniforms very similar to these in those days!

 When I told Louise that if this was mine, I would wear it at home and pretend to be a nurse - my daughter dryly commented that she would not be surprised by this at all!

Thank you Louise, Cath, Becky and Lyn for a wonderful creative day of fun, friendship and magical makery.  Just what rainy blustery days in February were made for.

The Great Sheffield Flood of 1864

Last night, hubby and I went to a talk at Sheffield Manor Lodge about the Great Sheffield Flood of 1864.  This disaster was the biggest man made disaster of it's time (in terms of loss of life) in Great Britain in the Victorian era, and yet the incident is not know well outside of the local area.  The city is commemorating the fact that this event happened 150 years ago on 11th March by holding various events.  The talk was fascinating and full of facts that I didn't know.  The horrific event happened as the Dam was filled for the first time to capacity, and although a crack was spotted, it was deemed not to be of consequence.  The Dam broke at midnight and for 30 minutes, 650 million tons of water poured down the very narrow Loxley Valley, through Hillsborough, and on through the city, wreaking death and destruction on a horrific scale.  At least 250 were killed - the exact number is not known as entire families were wiped out in some instances, and it was common in those days for extended family to live together.  The chap who gave our talk had once been a headmaster at Malin Bridge school - Malin Bridge hamlet had seen the worst of the casualties.  His interest had been stirred when his class had researched the disaster as a project and he realised that many of the children in his class had the same surnames as the victims of the flood.   The aftermath of the event was well documented in photographs as mobile darkrooms had just been invented and the town (as it was then) was descended upon by photographers taking "souvenir" photographs.  The whole event, and eyewitness reports is well documented too as Samuel Harrison (who was a new journalist on the local Sheffield Newspaper) took it upon himself to interview every one he could find that was involved and write a book on the subject.  You can read a copy of this here.  It is fascinating stuff, and gives an insight to how these working families lived in Victorian times.  We are hoping to explore more of the area where the flood occurred and see what relics we can find.  

I dug out these photographs of a newish memorial that had been built in the city to honour the flood victims that I had taken in 2012.  Until this monument was erected, I don't think that there had been anything to mark the event - even in the city.

 The monument stands by the side of the river Don in an area called Millsands which is a very historical industrial area of the city, and always worth a wander around.

Peter - our lecturer - is appearing on the One Show in the next few weeks as the gorgeous Dan Snow filmed a piece about the flood when he was in Sheffield in September.  I hope I catch it .

Glad that I live am I - that the sky is blue..Glad for the country lanes....

I was exceptionally glad for the good weather today as I needed a walk after having a full day decorating a bedroom yesterday.  

 I could wander around Wentworth all day - as could the rest of the world it seems as it was very busy with walkers.

 As well as the views, I took in the smaller details too.   I love a decent bit of moss.

 The estate office looked gorgeous against the very blue sky with it's lovely display of Spring flowers.  We have had a lot of dull greyness around this week and the colour today was most welcome.

 Daylight Robbery - the phrase came from bricking up the windows for "window tax" .

I returned refreshed and full of the joys of pending Spring.