Hidcote Manor Gardens

Last week Mr C and I had a lovely day out to Hidcote Manor Gardens in the Cotswolds. We have been a number of times before but love to visit at different times of the year. The gardens are always stunningly beautiful whenever you visit, even in pouring rain !

When you go in you pass through this cosy sitting room with faded floral armchairs, old books and this beautiful painting on the wall.

The view from the desk window is wonderful.

The gardens are divided in to 'rooms' with different themes. There are lovely little places to rest and take cover from the rain or sun all around the gardens.

This is the beautiful red border full of red and orange tulips.

An artist was at work renovating the lovely wall paintings in this summerhouse.

There were gorgeous tulips everywhere along with lilacs,magnolias and peonies.

The shades of pink, lilac and the blue merged beautifully. Bluebells were everywhere along with forget-me-nots and coiled ferns.

Every way you turn there is a beautiful view. The white garden was restful and cool.

The peonies were stunning.

Little glimpses of a thatched cottage could be seen through the trees.

The yew hedges and conifers gave wonderful structure.

The ponds will be magnificent once the water lilies are out.

There were a number of stunning old wisterias that scented the air all around them. Every time I visit I am reminded of my lovely grandad as this was his favourite place to visit. Hopefully we won't leave it too long to go back as I would love to see the rose garden in full bloom.

A Day In The Cotswolds

Friday started off slightly grey and wet but as Mr C and I had the day off and my lovely girl was in London all day with her friends, we decided to have a trip out. We both love the Cotswolds and parts are within easy reach of home. We headed off and the weather immediately started to improve. First stop en route for some lunch was the pretty village of Deddington. I had a delicious lunch of homemade pate and crusty bread. I then popped next door to the quaint Deddington Antiques Centre . My best purchase of the day was a Lloyd Loom style set of shelves with faded sea green paint. They were being used to display old linens but of course I had to ask if they were sale and the lady quickly unpacked them and agreed to let me have them. I have wanted some of these for a long time but have never seen any for sale.

I knew straight away what I would use them for, a little spot on the landing between the bathroom and loo.

They look a bit empty still but I will gradually fill them with more of my seaside themed bits and pieces.I positioned them underneath my two Vernon Ward seaside pictures. The two colourful pictures at the top are covers of the 'Girls Own' from the 1930s. I bought them last year because I just loved the cover illustrations.

The Deddington Antiques Centre is well worth a visit. It has around four floors full of little rooms crammed with linens, blue and white china, vintage clothing and jewellery.

Next stop was Chipping Norton and I found a couple of old glass sweet jars in the local charity shop. Of course I had to pop in to this little shop and came away with a sweet little nursery ware plate for a few pounds.

We carried on to pretty Chipping Campden and had a delicious cream tea. I thought these worn stone steps were really pretty.

Hollyhocks are one of my favourite summer flowers and they looked amazing growing at the front of these gorgeous stone houses.

On the way home we stopped off at Moreton-In -Marsh and a beautiful village called Blockley where we spent a wonderful holiday when my lovely girl was very little.

My lovely girl had been in London for the day with her friends. They had gone to see Les Miserables , mainly because Nic Jonas (one of the Jonas Brothers, American band much loved by teenage girls) had a starring role. She returned home with some lovely Cath Kidston goodies, some tea towels for me from the sale and this gorgeous Stanley dog for us both to share. He is pink on one side and blue on the other and apparently part of the new Kids range.I thought for a minute that she was finally starting to see the light on the vintage loveliness front but that was shattered a few minutes later when she shouted ' what's this disgusting thing on the landing ?!' obviously referring to my lovely new shelves. Oh well I think she has made some progress.