I must try to get there this summer. I read an essay by V.S.W about her + her husband's very first night at Sissinghurst. I can't remember where I came across it. They hadn't had the house done up yet so they intended to 'camp' in the tower and look around next morning. I think her essay said they had difficulty getting the place so it was dark when they arrived then a big problem surfaced. It was just the two of them - no servants. What is one to do? As neither of them did cooking,thats what staff are for (Vita says all this ) Vita improvised. Using a little camping stove they had first course SOUP - an oxo cube crumbled into boiling water. Main - fish,Vita opened a tin of sardines. Dessert. Vita opened a tin of peach slices. These items had been put in the tower on her orders in advance as 'emergency rations and so they proved to be. I just thought it was funny that for Vita and Harold this was a kind of roughing it adventure and the 'meal' extraordinary. Yet to me it sounded like some of my childhood regular meals!
They knew how to travel, too. When you were part of a cultured elite, staying in other countries with said elites gave an access to the locality which is otherwise hard to obtain.
Anne, The Cottage Garden is my favorite one for some reason. But I appreciate your sharing this photo journal. Hope you're well this week. Cheers, -Thalia
My top gardens I want to visit are Sissinghurst and Charleston--glad to see Sissinghurst is everything it's chalked up to be. And I do love a verbascum
A friend just visited Charleston and told me she found it pleasantly messy. Which is much like I found it 40 years ago. But the house! I love that house.
It would be fun to know how most people would interpret that pose, there! In that situation I'd be wondering where Charles had wandered off to, leaving me behind as usual...
Thanks for this lovely visit Anne - and I'm in total agreement with Troy - in my mind, all gardens are about romance, atmosphere and the story of the place. All these magical spots .... and I too have NEVER managed to take a photo of that clematis without people sitting below!
My favourite garden, bar none!
I adored the sight of that Perle D'Azure clematis - thank you both!
The spread of it is wonderful!
The Nuttery is one of my absolute favourite places ever. So devastatingly simple. So unutterably magical.
Absolutely agree!
Nice story. I’d like to visit.
I must try to get there this summer. I read an essay by V.S.W about her + her husband's very first night at Sissinghurst. I can't remember where I came across it. They hadn't had the house done up yet so they intended to 'camp' in the tower and look around next morning. I think her essay said they had difficulty getting the place so it was dark when they arrived then a big problem surfaced. It was just the two of them - no servants. What is one to do? As neither of them did cooking,thats what staff are for (Vita says all this ) Vita improvised. Using a little camping stove they had first course SOUP - an oxo cube crumbled into boiling water. Main - fish,Vita opened a tin of sardines. Dessert. Vita opened a tin of peach slices. These items had been put in the tower on her orders in advance as 'emergency rations and so they proved to be. I just thought it was funny that for Vita and Harold this was a kind of roughing it adventure and the 'meal' extraordinary. Yet to me it sounded like some of my childhood regular meals!
They knew how to travel, too. When you were part of a cultured elite, staying in other countries with said elites gave an access to the locality which is otherwise hard to obtain.
Anne, The Cottage Garden is my favorite one for some reason. But I appreciate your sharing this photo journal. Hope you're well this week. Cheers, -Thalia
I am, - thanks.
My top gardens I want to visit are Sissinghurst and Charleston--glad to see Sissinghurst is everything it's chalked up to be. And I do love a verbascum
A friend just visited Charleston and told me she found it pleasantly messy. Which is much like I found it 40 years ago. But the house! I love that house.
I'm glad to hear the garden's still pleasantly messy--I think that's why I like it. :) Definitely want to see the house too.
Loved this tour. Thank you.
Good to know - thank you.
That clematis! And Vita's writing room! Some day I'll get there.
(In the meantime, if it were me with my arms akimbo, I'd probably be thinking, "Now where did I put down my pruners...."
It would be fun to know how most people would interpret that pose, there! In that situation I'd be wondering where Charles had wandered off to, leaving me behind as usual...
Thanks for this lovely visit Anne - and I'm in total agreement with Troy - in my mind, all gardens are about romance, atmosphere and the story of the place. All these magical spots .... and I too have NEVER managed to take a photo of that clematis without people sitting below!
Maybe we should have sneaked up in the early morning like photographers are supposed to !