Cornflower

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow

    From one Close to another ... this sundial is part of Malmesbury House in the Cathedral Close, Salisbury. Click here for an informative article and pictures of the beautiful interior, and here is Macbeth's soliloquy from which the inscription comes:

    "Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
    Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
    To the last syllable of recorded time;
    And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
    The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
    Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
    That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
    And then is heard no more. It is a tale
    Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury
    Signifying nothing."

    By the way, if you have around £5,000,000 to spare, you could live just across the Close in this fine residence.

A garden in the Close

Click to enlarge for a much better view

    This is The Dean Garnier Garden in the Cathedral Close at Winchester (where yesterday's rose is to be seen). I came upon it by chance as I'd been heading for the Cathedral itself only to find that it was temporarily closed to the public as a memorial service was in progress, so I walked on round to the south side of the building and found, up some steps and beyond a 13th. century doorway, this very beautiful and tranquil spot (there are more pictures here).

    It lies on the site of a Benedictine monastery - on what was the monks' dormitory, to be exact - and it commemorates 'The Gardening Dean', Thomas Garnier (1776-1873), a botanist and Dean of Winchester.

    The sculpture in the central picture is by Charles Normandale and is of fish, the symbol for Christ, "rising from a rock and ascending into heaven". Note also the stone fox curled up under the bench.

Perfection

    Found here.

Shoe shopping

    I've written before about a marvellous shoe shop we have here in Edinburgh, and as I was there today (and made another purchase) I thought I'd mention it again.

    Helen Bateman's shoes are very wearable and they are unique - Helen designs them herself. Do follow that link - and this one - to learn about the process and see the storyboards and swatches.

    If you can't visit the shop in person you can buy online, and that's an important part of the business as I learned today when I saw the postman collecting two large sacks full of shoes - parcels being sent all over the world. The assistant (who couldn't have been more pleasant and helpful) told me that they get a lot of information from customers when orders are placed to ensure that the fit will be right, and if you are a repeat customer, as many are, records showing which shoes you've bought in the past help staff advise on the correct size for any future purchases.

    Looking ahead, I understand the A/W13 collection will be available in August, and Helen is currently working on designs for S/S 14. I'll be looking out for them.

More tapestry progress

    Our panel of The Great Tapestry of Scotland has just come back to me so that I can complete Flora's sleeve over the next couple of days. Since I last saw the panel my fellow group members have done some marvellous work on it, as these details show:

The badge of Our Dumb Friends League (later The Blue Cross), and Flora's handkerchief.

Flora's hair - complete with net.

Sandy's kilt.

The Women's Land Army badge (and here's a clip of the ladies marching).

The sea.

Take it easy

    Today is, apparently, World Sauntering Day, and its purpose is to encourage us to "take it easy, smell the roses, slow down and enjoy life as opposed to rushing through it".

    The OED defines 'saunter' as to 'walk in a slow, relaxed manner', and gives another meaning, of late Middle English origin, that is 'to muse or wonder'.

    I shall try to do both today. How about you?

Competition time!

    I'm giving away some great books over on Cornflower Books today. Click here to enter the 'Judge the Jackets' competition.

X marks the spot

    It has been a fraught few days here at Cornflower HQ. A blocked drain sounds like a minor inconvenience - a sink temporarily out of action, say - but when it is the main drain into which everything, that is every basin, appliance, bath/shower, toilet, and rainwater downpipe drains, then the problem is more major.

    That is what has been happening here since Thursday when a puddle appeared outside the back door and that puddle grew to become a black, stinking, sludgy swamp as no waste water of any kind could get away to the sewer and was backing up through a rainwater 'soakaway'.

    To cut a very long story short, a pump was supplied to clear the back area by pumping the water into the garden; when it broke down, bailing with buckets was the only course of action (Mr. C. was even doing this in the middle of the night as the water rose higher and threatened the house). Meanwhile we managed to get hold of the 1888 plan above (drawn 60-odd years after the house was built) and our drainage man said he thought the next step would be to try to find the 'trap' marked 'C' on the bottom of the plan and jet the drain from there.

    We spent much of yesterday digging in the front garden (luckily the plan is roughly to scale so we had a fair idea where to start) and we found this:

    Beneath that slab is a brick pit around 12' deep. The drainage men came this morning, broke off the metal cover, put a ladder down into the pit, uncovered the trap and jetted the drain. All is now well.

    Two things for Edinburgh readers to note: the council has a drains database which contains old records such as ours. I could get only part way into the site when I tried on Saturday, but it's worth knowing that it's there, and as long as it's not the weekend you could call or email for help if you can't access it yourself. Secondly, if you ever need a contractor for this type of thing, I'd recommend Peter McLeod of Drainage Solutions. He solved a big problem for us once before and he's come up trumps again this time, so many thanks to him, and to the unknown Victorian gentleman whose carefully drawn and extensively annotated plan helped us get to the bottom of things.

Yomping

  

    Son-of-Cornflower is up in the Highlands this weekend taking part in the Cateran Yomp, a 52-mile hill walk done over 24 hours, in aid of ABF The Soldiers' Charity which gives support to serving and retired soldiers and their families - a very worthy cause.

    Good luck to Will and his team and all the other participants, and may the heavy rain which is forecast not dampen their spirits.

Glass works

    Over at Cornflower Books I've written about The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction which is to be awarded at The Borders Book Festival this weekend. The winning novelist will receive a cheque for £25,000 and this beautiful glass sculpture by Colin Reid, commissioned - along with another piece for their private collection - by the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch.
    Click on the download link at the top of this page to see an extensive photographic record of the making of the second commissioned piece - a fascinating, and at times unlikely-looking creative process which produces a stunning result.

Glow in the dark

    Stir-fried samphire, asparagus and broccoli.

Early evening sunlight catching the colour in the pan.

Good lines - the house

   

    "He stood now on the threshold of the library downstairs, looking at a bowl of coral-coloured tulips whose transparent delicacy detached itself brightly in the sober panelled room. He was grateful to the quietness that slumbered always over the house, abolishing fret as by a calm rebuke."

                 ~~~~~

 

    "For at the centre of all was always the house, that mothered the farms and accepted the homage of the garden. The house was at the heart of all things; the cycle of husbandry might revolve - tillage to growth, and growth to harvest - more necessary, more permanent, perhaps, more urgent; but like a woman gracious, humorous and dominant, the house remained quiet at the centre."

 

    From The Heir by Vita Sackville-West.

Morse's Oxford

    If you're a Morse/Lewis/Endeavour fan - and especially if you're a subscriber to Lovefilm or similar - look out for the documentary DVD Inspector Morse's Oxford which features, among others, Colin Dexter himself and Kevin Whately talking about the Oxford locations which are used in both the books and the television series, and Barrington Pheloung on composing the Morse score.

    The colleges don't figure as largely as I'd expected they would, possibly because of the prohibitive location shooting fees they charge - a fact alluded to in the film - and disappointingly there aren't clips from the series to view alongside the locations, but it's interesting nevertheless, and even takes a look inside the 'tribute' Morse Bar in the Randolph Hotel where you can sample a special Morse champagne cocktail - something I doubt our hero would have drunk.

Buttons, a blog, and the search for happiness

    In the post this morning was a novel which may well be of interest to readers of this site, even if you're not in the habit of visiting Cornflower Books. Above are cover shots, and you'll find the full details here.

Friday flowers - some favourites

    Centaurea montana, aquilegia, and the rose Mme. Alfred Carrière.