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Posts from the ‘Destinations’ category

Where Is CadyLuckLeedy?

At the Trellis

At the Trellis

Hi! Garden fairies here. We are the fairies that live at The End Cottage, abode of CadyLuckNeedy, er Leedy! Ever since we returned from the UK, we have had to do most of the work in our garden! You see we think we are being punished, just a bit, because we pulled off a fast one! Last year we read all about her “English Garden Tour” on the blog, after Cady had made plans to tour gardens on the National Garden Scheme and the National Trust, in Kent and Sussex.  It sounded like so much fun and all those pictures of flowers, stately homes, and cottage gardens were fabulous! So this year when Cady planned another tour, this time to Cornwall, Kent and Sussex, we hid in the suitcases and went too! Boy, did it get hot and stuffy in there, not to mention all the movement! We were quite dizzy for a few days, but, it paid off when we got to Cornwall and met up with some of our garden fairy friends! What a blast we had! All those gardens with magical hiding places were just right for partying! We will add our own thoughts about the gardens if Cady doesn’t get a move on with the blog! Just what is her problem?

After we returned from the UK it has been guest after guest at the cottage! And Cady really ignored us and became the big entertainer of guests! First, it was the grandkids and all that talk about college, blah, blah, blah. Then it was “Aunt Jan.” Forget about helping us in the garden. Cady and Aunt Jan just sat on the sitting porch and yacked it up and laughed and laughed.

The Sitting Porch

The Sitting Porch

You could hear them from down the street!  Occasionally they looked over at the garden and as always after a big garden tour you knew there was going to be changes in ours! Gardeners just can’t help it, they are always changing things up! Their big idea of fun was to take the pictures of plants they liked and trot off to the nurseries looking for them!  They went to the nurseries (every day) and brought back more plants and work for us to do!  I think they got a pot fettish, because all the new plants were going in new big pots! Green ones, blue ones, purple ones!  

One of the Green Pots

One of the Green Pots

Everyday more pots would be brought in, not the plastic kind, oh no, they had to be big, and heavy, and frost proof too! Do you know how much time it took to get all those pots planted? We heaved and ho-ed, big bags full of Miracle Grow into those pots, not an easy task for the likes of us! Then we had to move the planted pots here and there to get just the right amount of light with their best side showing!

Plenty of BIG Pots

Plenty of BIG Pots

Voila! The Planted Pots with Snow and Summer Jasmine in the Front Cottage Garden

Voila! The Planted Pots with Snow and Summer Jasmine in the Front Cottage Garden

The Hidcote Blue Lavender

The Hidcote Blue Lavender

The New Foxtail Ferns

The New Foxtail Ferns

First Lady Speedwell

First Lady Speedwell (Planted in the Ground)

Jazz Hands Chinese Fringe Flower

Jazz Hands Chinese Fringe Flower

Chenille on the Sitting Porch

Chenille on the Sitting Porch

Dwarf Lime Spirea

Dwarf Lime Spirea

Snow and Summer Jasmine

Snow and Summer Jasmine

A fairy’s work is never done! We met up every night at dusk at the trellis. Minerva from the Woodland Garden and me from the Cottage Garden would decide what would be completed next. Plus we had all the weeding to do to make up being gone from the garden almost a month! In the meantime Cady and friends just sat on the sitting porch or the sleeping porch and ignored us, while admiring all our work! What about all those gardens in the UK? We want to read all about our new friends and see if you can spot us in the gardens! She needs to get a move on!

We may have to re-think going on a tour of the gardens again. We have been working every night and even in the day, (Yikes, we get so little rest now) and we are exhausted! But, we thought we should let you know what has been going on here and our big dilemma! Too Much Work! Hopefully Cady will read this and know we have found our way into the cottage (with the help of Bella, but don’t tell Cady or Bella may not get any more treats)

Bella

Bella

We now can post on her blog! That may get her moving!

Till next time! Posting has been daring and fun so we may try this again!

Minerva Woodland and Flora Cottage, fairies at The End Cottage.

 

Great Expectations

 

A Young Daphne du Maurier

A Young Daphne du Maurier

No this is not about the Charles Dicken’s classic novel. It’a about how I always have such “Great Expectations” before I set off on a new adventure (vacation)!

My new adventure is Cornwall in the United Kingdom and I am really looking forward to it. So I have been doing some research (as always) and this time was led to books by Daphne du Maurier, an English novelist who wrote between 1931 and 1989. She was born in Cornwall in 1907 and died in Cornwall in 1989. So I think she would know about Cornwall! Three of her books were written specifically about life in Cornwall; Rebecca, Jamaica Inn, and Frenchman’s Creek. So I ordered a book from the UK that contained all three books. It was published in 1939 and the book itself was a treasure. The binding was like new, so someone cherished this book. There was that musty smell that old books have, with the pages yellowed on the edges. I felt the book had just left the library of Miss Jane Marple’s cottage in St Mary Mead! I have a good imagination, don’t I? Agatha Christie is another author I enjoy! Imagine my surprise to find out that the sweet looking, Daphne du Maurier, who wrote these fantastic romantic novels, also wrote The Birds, which was made into an equally famous movie by Alfred Hitchcock!

I read all three novels (they were romance) and I did get a good perspective of the sea, coves, bogs, moors, smugglers and inns in Cornwall. I got a good idea of the Cornish people as well; very sturdy those folks! So now in my mind I have “Great Expectations” for Cornwall. I googled Jamaica Inn with the plan of going there, since it still is a working inn. The reviews, however, were very dismal. The location is off a very busy road (as it was in the old days) but the Inn is more like a rest stop on a toll road. Very touristy. It did not meet my expectations, so rather than ruin my dream I’ll think of Jamaica Inn as written in the book.

Another book I read before my vacation was The Lost Gardens of Heligan by Tim Smit. Wow, this garden has been in Cornwall since the 1600’s and there is quite a story here! Heligan is on my “List of Gardens” to see during my Second UK Garden Tour. I won’t spoil it for you, but I must say, I think it will be the first garden I’ve ever visited that had an exorcism by a priest in the 20th century! Now that should interest you, it did me!

One of The Lost Garden of Heligan Sculptures

One of The Lost Garden of Heligan Sculptures

I was also inspired by all the documentaries, mysteries, and great TV programs to be found on the Acorn App (all British TV) that is streamed to my TV! I hardly watch anything else now! No sex, no violence, no filthy language here! How refreshing! I especially like all the Agatha Christie, Miss Marple series, with my favorite Miss Marple being Geraldine McEwan, who was the sleuth from 2004 to 2009. What a darling old lady she was! I am glad I got to peek into her cottage at St Mary Mead (on TV) because I know I will see small villages that are very similar on my Garden Tour and I just know my book came from one of those cottages! Hopefully, I’ve offered some inspiration for your pre-travels, it’s good to know something about the place you’re visiting, so you get a feel of it before you arrive! Great Expectations To You!

Geraldine McEwan as Miss Marple

Geraldine McEwan as Miss Marple

 

 

 

Sitting On My Porch Today

The Dog Walker

The Dog Walker

I saw……. The same gal I see every morning walking her canine. The thing that puzzles me is the big rucksack she always has strapped to her back. It looks like she is trekking in the Himalayas! Also today she has added a new item, a very large branch from a tree! I do not know what this all means exactly. Dear readers, any ideas? Who says a Small Town is boring?

PS  I am trying out this post to see if I can actually post from my phone! I may be trekking myself in the future and a post from the hilltops could be awesome!

JustPark: How To Find a Parking Space ANYWHERE in the UK!

My Abarth, Zoom, Zoom!

My Abarth, Zoom, Zoom!

Time for the annual Garden Trip to the UK! YEAH! For Americans there is the thrill of driving on the wrong side of the street with the steering wheel on the wrong side of the car! Now if that is not enough to say you are having fun then let’s add looking for a parking space in a village with unknown, very narrow streets where you pull in the side mirrors to keep from hitting the cars that are double parked on the only main street. And these are the villages that have only one main road!

Last year, after driving from Heathrow Airport to Tenterden, we thought we were well into the feel of the wheel so to speak. The hardest part is pulling out onto the road, we tend to forget and go back to our old ways on the wrong side. It’s good to have another person with you to remind you, “You are on the wrong side dear,” or more like, “What the hell are you doing? You’re on the wrong side!’

When we arrived in Tenterden we immediately began our quest for a parking lot. We wanted to go to the grocery store and have a look around town before we went to the B&B. We pulled into a lot and a spot after waiting for someone to pull out. It was a very busy lot to say the least, but we were so glad we had even found a parking lot! We got out of the car and noticed quite a few people were sitting in their car. Well that was good because we couldn’t figure out how to pay the meter. There was only one at the end of the lot. A very nice man came to our aid and said we had to put in the number of our license plate to correspond with the number marked on the pavement of our spot in the lot. Back to the car to get all the proper information. Then back to the parking meter and after having to get the correct change made from quite a few of the car sitters, we were making quite an impression. Then I noticed a very sick looking woman walking with crutches from across the street to the car park. As I looked up I saw the sign, “Surgery Parking.” It was what we call, the doctor’s office parking lot. OMG! So we went and moved the car. We drove down the street a little further and found the entrance to the grocery store parking lot. Imagine our amazement that you pay to park here as well! But at least we knew how to pay the meter and after again getting change from some more of our new car friends, we were able to get out and about. Now picture this scene, to some extent, in every town we visited. At least after that first day we always tried to keep a lot of change with us!

This year I found the App, JustPark, an app for parking in the UK. I tried it out to see if it would actually work in some of the places I was going. It did. Just put in location. The map pops up with the location of the lot. Then pick a lot, if there is more than one. Sometimes in really small places there is no lot, you may be parking in a private drive close to your location. It also shows how far you are from particular sights or events. Good to know! A virtual camera shows you the actual parking space. It asks you what day you want to park there and for how long, and you can extend it without returning to the lot to put more money in a meter, so no parking tickets either! The App shows you the fee to park there. Because I have put my credit card info into the app, at home on a secure computer, my spot is paid for when I get there. The map screen shows me exactly how to get to the lot! I hope this works as well as I want it to! It will make my day so much easier! Check out JustPark.com! Oh and how do I always have wi-fi everywhere abroad? Without the roaming fees that drive me crazy? See my next post on TEP!

PS I am posting this under my Tuesday Travel Tips even though it is not Tuesday. I have too many tips to post and not enough Tuesdays right now. And no I am not taking my Abarth!

 

 

Thursday Doors; The Hidden Doors of Italy

 

 Italian Door

New Doors Set into Old Door Opening

 Italian Door

Italian Door Blocked Up

Blocked Up Italian Door

Blocked Up Italian Door

 Italian Door

The Wrought Iron Italian Door Covering

New Very Narrow Italian Door

New Very Narrow Italian Door

Today for Door Day I thought we might look at some more of the fascinating Italian Doors! Sometimes when I am looking for doors I come upon doors that look like there have been different doors in that spot in the past and new doors have taken their place for whatever reason. I always wonder what was the previous door like? Some have an arch where the door would have been and some entrances have been bricked up!

 Italian Door

Italian Church Door Within a Door

Then there are the doors within the door.  I see these quite frequently at churches. The main doors are massive and quite heavy, so there is a little door in the big door, making it easier to pass through. Look for the pull, that is still above your shoulder! The heavy, giant, door usually has a bolt system on the inside. Is it to keep out unwanted guests?

 Italian Door

New Italian Door

And then there is the door that looks like it is in the mouth of a grotto!

This is just one of many photos in the Thursday Door Collection featured by Norm2.0!   Won’t you join in or take a peak at all the doors? See you next week!

 

One Word Photo Challenge: Camel

Camels at Great Pyramid of Cheops Pyramid of Chephren and Pyramid of Mycerinus Cairo, Egypt

Camels at Great Pyramid of Cheops Pyramid of Chephren and Pyramid of Mycerinus Cairo, Egypt

Camel by Pyramid of Chephren. Cairo, Egypt

Camel by Pyramid of Chephren. Cairo, Egypt

Go to the source I say! Here are the camels!

Look here to participate the One Word Photo Challenge presented by Jennifer Nicole Wells!

Monday Window: Montisi, Italy

 Montisi, Italy

Montisi, Italy

Is this a window of a house or a prison?

 Montisi, Italy

Montisi, Italy

This window is in a small park. Is it for puppet shows? There are always interesting windows to look for!

For more photos of windows, by fellow bloggers, just look at Monday Window!

Thursday Doors: The Medici Family

A Medici Door, Florence, Italy

A Medici Door, Florence, Italy

Here we are in Italy, this time in Florence, seeing fantastic doors!

A Medici Door, Florence, Italy

A Medici Door, Florence, Italy

The Medici Family was an Italian banking family, and political dynasty that produced three Popes of the Catholic Church, and two Queens of France. The family ruled Tuscany from 1513 until 1737. We find their symbols,(balls) first displayed on their crest, then prominently displayed on buildings all over Florence and Tuscany, which were financed by Medici money. Some say the balls represented coins, others say medicinal pills that recalled the family’s origins as doctors or apothecaries. This door represents everything that the Medici family represented: the Popes, the Queens, The Dynasty! Balls, balls, and more balls!

A Medici Door, Florence, Italy

A Medici Ball, Florence, Italy

Here is another interesting door! This one can be found at one of the churches sponsored by the Medici family. Do you know what this door was used for? The poor would knock on the door and receive scraps of food!

A Medici Door, Florence, Italy

A Medici Door, Florence, Italy

A Medici Door at the Duomo, Florence, Italy

A Medici Door at the Duomo, Florence, Italy

A Medici Door, Florence, Italy

A Medici Door, Florence, Italy

A Medici Door, Florence, Italy

A Medici Door, Florence, Italy

I hope you have enjoyed our walk through Florence today seeing some of the Medici Doors! If you go to Tuscany be on the lookout for them!

This is just one of many photos in the Thursday Door Collection featured by Norm2.0!   Won’t you join in or take a peak at all the doors? See you next week!

 

 

 

One Word Photo Challenge: Cage

Montefolonico, Italy

Montefolonico, Italy

Here is a Stone Sanctuary in Montefolonico, Italy. Are they trying to keep the stone mushrooms in or out? Inquiring minds would like to know!

Look here to participate the One Word Photo Challenge presented by Jennifer Nicole Wells!

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