I Dream of Poppies

I've had this photo on my desktop for ages, and I finally decided to share it. It doesn't even look real, it's so gorgeous. 

I have always wanted to grow poppies but have been unable to. It's probably due to the humidity and heat of the summers that suck the life out of them (and me too!).

This photo was taken in the gardens at Lindeth Howe Country House in Bowness-on-Windermere a couple of summers ago. Obviously, I have yet to post on the stay. I need to because it was a magical place.

Perhaps soon.

Labels:  England, Jacq, Flowers,  Bowness-on-Windermere, Summer

Dishes in the Sink

Hub is away, so there are dishes in the sink.

But, these dishes are so pretty sitting there,  in their own pretty way. 

Harrogate, North Yorkshire

At some point in my detailing our car trip around the UK, I found a blurb on one of my favorite sites for finding good food throughout the world, Chowhound.  It said that en route to Edinburgh, there must be a stop over in Harrogate.  And that is just what we did after leaving Stratford.  We had a beautiful, sunny day.

I don't know why we always feel funny driving by a nuclear plant.  Let's just hope there's no China Syndrome while we're driving by.  You see them all over the place in the UK, and I'm always fascinated with their sight.

Our main destination, of course, was Betty's Tearooms.  Do I need to tell you it was well worth the detour?  Oh my, was it ever.

Yes, we arrived properly at tea time.

We spied these coming in.  Bad, bad.  Bad.

There was sparkling pink lemonade, Swiss Alpine Mac (& cheese),

(Kids were HAPPY!  We like happy kids. 

Rösti (hashbrowns) and Yorkshire Sausages.

And then . . . . dun dun dun . . .  (scroll WAY down if you're dieting!)

How hard do you think it was to walk away without any pastries?  Pretty darn hard.

But we were good.

Look at these luscious petit fours and marzipan.  The detail is amazing.  I loved the little cabbage. 

The take-away counter.

Harrogate is a lovely town.  One I have added to my list to return to with lots more time to explore.

On our way out of town, I spied these perfect places to live.  I'd take a flat in any one of these, thank you very much.

And then I could walk to the park where I worked in this little shop.  Is this not the most precious of shops you have ever seen?  Ahhhhhhhhh.

When I Grow Old . . .

I want to grow a garden.

I came to this realization after visiting Anne Hathaway's childhood home in Stratford-upon-Avon.  Nooooo, not the American actress, Anne Hathaway, silly.

I'm speaking of the 16th century Anne Hathaway.  Uh huh, Shakespeare's Anne Hathaway.  That one.

I was fully expecting to fall in love with her house, of course.  I'm that first-magazine-subscription-to-Architectural Digest-in-junior-high-school gal. And, of course yes, I did fall in love with the house. 

It had me at thatched roof.

 I was even able to sneak a shot in of the inside.  Photogs.  Pffft.

But it was the gardens that grabbed me by my heart this time.

The colors grabbed me.  The delicacy of each bloom grabbed me.

 Of course, now I have to plan a move to cooler climate.

2012.

If we all don't die.  (What's up with that?  I musta missed something.)

*Hub home from Sweden tonight.  Buffalo burgers need to get grillin'.