Lavender Festival

This weekend was the Lavender Festival at Castle Farm, Kent. In fact Sunday was the last day, it runs for two consecutive weekends. This was the view from the field where we parked............. I dont know about you but I really like to see yellow and purple together, not everyone's cup of tea I know, must be my Seventies childhood!

This basket was just one of many with bunches and bunches of fresh lavender. I especially liked that they hung the bunches from swags of rope so that it resembled bunting.


You may have read about the festival in Country Living the marquee and gazebos are where they offer massages, how decadent.


This was one of the barns they opened up and had stalls inside, brilliant! you can see the lavender bunches hanging, so simple but en masse it was beautiful.



Back to the stalls, anyone for a lavender meringue with blackberry and blueberry topping? I thought so

I offer these hydrangeas as a little light relief from all those wonderful lavender blue hues, and if in doubt always throw in a splash of pink I say!

I love the hazy light on this fab open barn and the lilac bunting, my photo doesn't do it justice

The view from the top of the lavender field back towards the farm...............................

And finally (stolen from the two Ronnies!) by popular demand. Well actually especially for Hen and Lou and Lisa................the patchwork Hampton Court purchase. First by way of a teaser here is my favourite square!

..................and here it is in situ, in our telly/snug room. Mr.Buster Boodle who is looking wistfully out of the window, wholeheartedly approves and has been snuggled up on it every night since it came home!

Have a lovely week everyone!

Hampton Court Flower Show

Hello hello! I went to Hampton Court Palace yesterday to the Flower Show, heavenly day. So grab a cuppa and let me show you the teensiest slice of all the things I liked, lots of pictures and no babble from me if I can possibly help it (unlikely!)
Seriously dont ask! I have no idea what was going on but it caused a very inappropriate guffaw from me and SIL and I had to make a hasty exit from this particular Marquee, not quite Men in Union Jack pants but not a million miles away either!

Anyway, on to the beautiful stars of the show..........................................

This poppy is called "Ladybird" I think it's perfect

My heart broke to think that this pebble mosaic will be dug up at the end of the week. I offered to take it home but "computer said no"

You knew if there was one there I would find it!

This whole display was full of herbs planted in unlikely objects, I loved it

What lucky chickens

Couldn't quite get this in my bag

There was this one awful moment where those pants looked terrifyingly familiar but then I remembered I was wearing them !

I long for a pizza oven in the garden a la Jamie Oliver, Sarah Raven et al.

This one is for you Dids!

He said "I dont know anyone else who goes to a flower show and comes home with a patchwork quilt"

"Oh I do" I said breezily "lots of people do."

(And anyway its a patchwork sleeping bag.)

Message from my Editor in Chief (Him down the lane.):

"There are far too many pictures in this entry you must learn to edit them down and only show your very very best! "

So I have left the other 103 images out for now!

Heartfelt Thanks and a shameless plug!

I have found myself in turn so charmed by this blogging world I feel I have stumbled into (a bit like Alice down the rabbit hole!) and so buoyed by all your comments and kindnesses it truly is a marvel and I want to say thank you! This little outburst has been prompted by the arrival of this treasure today.....................isn't it divine?

Thank you, thank you to Viv at Hens Teeth (check it out right now! http://www.hensteethart.blogspot.com/ )

I am a huge admirer and as I said , my lovely postie John drove down the Lane this Morning and handed me one envelope..... "only one today Sarah" he reported.

ONLY ONE!

ONLY the Best little piece of post I have had in a long time so thank you Viv your kindness and generosity is now the stuff of legend here Down the Lane!

This is going to be winging its way to one of my faraways.......more about that another time.

And thanks to all of you for reading and commenting and inspiring and creating and making and baking and...................................................EVERYTHING! x x x

Beauti"Firle" day out

"Come on!" he said. "Lets get out and have a walk," he said.

Off we bowled in the car to Firle Beacon, which on a good day feels like being on top of the world."Chocs away!" said the Boodle as the wind lfted his amazing aerodynamic ears! He is officially allowed to say "chocs away" being a choccy lab!

I waxed on about the amazing smell on the breeze, how it smelt of dry grass and clover, the sea and salt.............................. Mr.Lane interrupted this outporing "It smells of Summer." He pronounced, and he was, of course absoloutley right!



After an hour and a half of windswept walking we arrived at the pub, hooray!

The Ram

Lovely food and warm welcome, we found a table outside





This was the view inside from our table




Lovely scrubbed sideboard, candles ready for dusk and such a pretty jug with lilies.





Had to have a little meander through the village just to walk off lunch.

I love, love Firle Stores, just as a village shop should be and still a Post Office too!



Oh and a Red phone kiosk

The window boxes were glorious! They just made me feel really happy!

And amazing flint wall curving round into the lane......

Where the terraces of cottages are so comforting.

(Missing Larkrise!)

The final treat came walking back to the car.

Look at these beautiful Hollyhocks

Happy days! Thanks for a lovely time Mr.Lane x

All white now!

This week has been so so hot and dusty. The light has been so fierce I feel as though all the colour is being bleached away, and warm winds lift the dust, the particles infuse the light with a hazy dry quality. I am in need of a balm, a salve...................the answer is WHITE,

white so cool and cleansingThe grass is turning brown and crispy and the earth is bone dry and I long for the seaside.

Everything in the garden seems exhausted with the effort of flowering.

A kind of summer malaise is settling over me.

I cant get to the coast this weekend but I can find my stash of pretty shells! I love the simple beauty, the way they have been washed, tumbled and rolled by the ocean.

My mind wanders to the beautiful opening sequence of Sense and Sensibility with those gorgeous shots of shells strung and knotted onto string and being blown together by the wind.

perhaps I will get round to my own version this year (my own version of a pretty shell mobile I mean. Luckily I found my Colonel Brandon 12 years ago!)

They have really pretty ones in Grace and Favour in St.Mawes

When I was thinking about this post I also thought about the beauty of the White garden at Sissinghurst, so wonderful but a little out of my league. Then I remembered a couple of years ago well three to be precise, I was captivated by this tiny white garden complete with picket fence at Hampton Court Flower Show! Sorry it's not a brilliant photo but I had a job to get it as there was quite a crowd admiring it. I especially like the mini bandstand with table set for tea and the white clematis scrambling along the picket fence.


One thing the heat amplifies beyond all else is fragrance. My favourite perfume seems to take on a much more intense persona, the same familiar scent but bigger somehow.
In the searing peak of the day I like to pause in a shady spot and drink in the heavy nectar laden smells that pervade the still dry air.
This mock orange is almost sickly if you stand there too long! But heavenly to pause for a moment and take it in.

All the flowers seem papery and fragileat the moment, if you so much as brush past them they give up the ghost and drop all their petals.

I took this photo a couple of Summers ago in Porthscatho.

I include it as I am really looking forward to the Home Spun Fair on 2nd August! and beacause I simply adore these flowers they are really quite large in the flesh and I hope that they will be in flower when I visit and someone clever will tell me what they are.

I am off to put on a white vest and linen drawstrings and waft my way through the weekend!

On my doorstep

Lets be honest it's not every day that Sophie Dahl rocks up to your doorstep bang on trend with a gorgeous pink painted gypsy caravan in tow! OK possibly a slightly misleading opening statement. All the same, what a glorious day, I opened the front door to Sophie and the summer burst in.....................
Whilst soaking up the dazzling morning sunshine and the wall of heat I took a moment to appreciate this year's clematis.
I say this year's as we are always very unlucky when it comes to growing things up and over our porch. It really does get hot and things struggle to get going and then to add insult to injury in the winter the frost rolls up the field and finnishes off whatever we planted earlier in the Spring.

Yesterday I was reading the Vintage Magpie Blog and was really inspired by the gorgeous picture of N's dresser, how many ways do I love that Union Jack bunting? So as an homage I decorated mine with some spotty bunting....it is a little bit make do and mend, but very cheery.

Sorry, stay focussed!
Back to Miss Dahl, I ordered her new cookery book and it arrived today!
Loving, loving already, it is beautifully produced and I really adore her writing. Lots of family stories and great recipes. What should be on the cover.....you guessed it, what a beautiful caravan, there is an even better shot inside the book.



I am now thinking about making some cards and starting a collage, need to start rummaging!

Must stop flitting from one project to another!

If any of you clever creative girls can help me with a good supplier of card stocks and envelopes I would be amazingly grateful! At the moment I buy mine from an art shop but am convinced I could get better value for money if I knew where to look?

Final thoughts jump to Roald Dahl, what a brilliant story teller. I have been trying to decide on my favourites and my top 3 are:

1. The fantastic Mr. Fox
2. James and the giant peach
3. Charlie and the chocolate factory
   

How about you?