Seeing the world in black and white

England is abloom with daffodils and blossoms; there is plenty of colour However, I m fascinated by the black and white houses. Not all are Tudor, I love that Mock Tudor here is something that happened in the 18th C!! In NZ, it happened in the 1970's!

 In Shrewsbury or Hereford, can't remember now but both towns are black and white house heaven! Do click on the image, hopefully in its bigger size you can see how very higgledy piggledy this place is.

 Shrewsbury? Hereford? Sorry! What amazes me is that you will find 17th C houses/shops with a Boots Chemist or a Costa's cafe in the bottom of them. Talk about two centuries living together!

 This one leans ominously over the street-look how crooked the windows are! The leaning I think was built in but as these jutting out second storeys are not really supported by anything, it may also be down to time. Me, I wouldn't be standing in the window jumping upside down, all I'm sayin'.

 Isn't this a cutey! And take a look at the door and frame! The doors on these places are amazing. I'm doing a whole blog on doors one day. Hereford.

 The Old House in Hereford town square. It's a museum and the upper rooms are full of furniture from the time. All bedrooms interconnect upstairs as was the Tudor way, and the labels suggest that the curtains on four poster beds were not just for warmth but also privacy!

Oh My Giddy Aunt! This is Umbrella Cottage just 30m down the road from our B&B in Lyme Regis. Amazingly it was built in the 19th C! Early on mind you. It was a Toll house originally. So far it tops my Favourite House list. I've not seen any others like it. Has anyone else?
These are a mere sampling of the buildings we've seen and I've photographed. So much house bling, so little time!

Tor Blimey.

Glastonbury is such an amazing place. Famous for its Tor, Abbey and well. Among other things. The Tor is a challenge difficult to resist, and as it is also the easiest place to find, sticking up so much, we headed there before doing anything else, took a deep breath or three, and tackled it. All nearly 600ft of it.

Mysterious and spiritual, the Tor and its tower dominate the Glastonbury skyline.

 Proof I was there! It nearly did for me but after managing to climb to the top of the hill in Incheon, no way was I letting this one defeat me. And it was worth every gasping breath and aching muscle.

 Using the camera zoom to spy on the residents of farms around the base of the Tor. That white thing in the back yard looked familiar...

...Only In Glastonbury will you look down upon a beautiful Somerset landscape, and spot a yurt in someone's yard!
Incidentally, while in Glastonbury you can buy any type of healing crystal, hippy clothing, book on magic, ethnic jewellery, ceremonial cloak, spell or potion, etc, you cannot buy a pair of knickers or socks! It is very much geared up for tourism. But charmingly so. And there is a town called Street only a mile away that sells lots of high st stuff and that's where the vast majority of very normal Glastonburians do their clothes shopping!

Spring is busting out all over!!

What a brilliant time to come to the UK. A slightly risky tactic as if winter hangs about, it can be pretty miserable. But really, it is Spring all over and the flowers and blossoms have been busting out while we are here. We are seeing it unfurl almost before our eyes and WOW.

Today in the grounds of Shrewsbury Castle, where we turned up 15 minutes ltoo ate to get in, I took some closeups of the glorious spring flowers. And some long shots too.

 A spectacular border of daffodils, tulips and other things leading up to the Castle doors.

 Tulip variety 1

 Magnolia? David thinks so. For all I know it's a cabbage so I believe him!

 Tulip variety 2

 Tulip variety3

Impossibly pink primroses in my landlady's front garden. No wonder Carltonware were so inspired!

That's what I call a kitchen!

We landed up in Glastonbury and after climbing the Tor (more on that some other time) we went to see the abbey ruins. I could write a book about them, so fascinating, but I am going to focus in right now on the Mother of all Kitchens.

 This is a kitchen. It's the size of a 3-bed house and about four storeys high. Only one room inside though.

 One of the four fireplaces set up like it would have been in the 16th C, when it was last used.

 Another fireplace. There is one in each corner, in fact they ARE the corners, with a hood across for the chimney. It was a beautiful day, quite warm, but it was chilly inside the kitchen. Thank goodness as with those fires going it would have been roasting!

 The ceiling and a window.

Me trying to get a photo that captures the grandiosity of the space.
This is the Abbot's Kitchen. It didn't serve the whole Abbey, just the Abbot and his immediate staff, guests and visitors! It does give one a sense of how important the Abbot of Glastonbury was, until Henry 8 came a long and ruined it all. Pillock.
Perhaps my efforts to renovate kitchens in the past few years are unambitious? Me, I'd happily LIVE in this one! Maybe with better heating, and not from one of those big draughty fireplaces...

Why I pulled the plug on Bath

I was so excited about going to Bath. What diehard Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer fan would not be? I even know the names of several of the streets.
We got there mid afternoon and we were tired. The town is like dodgem cars - lots of windy, one way streets and strange intersections, and heaps upon heaps of traffic. We finally found our hotel only to find it was not exactly walking distance back into town. And it wasn't anywhere as nice as it thought it was. So, we had a few hours of relaxing in our room before venturing forth again for dinner.
Bath is expensive. Very. We settled for a plate of chips and a drink each, 8GBP. The only good thing to come of it is that the pub in question was quite pretty, and had bone chine teacups and saucers as tealight holders. Very effective, especially the whiter ones.  Then home to bed.
The next day we headed out, determined to make the most of our day in Bath. Wondering where all the famous architecture and streets were, I realised that if one looks UP, there they are. The Georgian residential part of Bath is built on a pretty steep hillside. So we went to take a look. At least up there there was no traffic.

 Peeking thorugh someone's front gate, I saw this amazing Wendy House. It's practically a granny flat!

Typical example of the Georgian terrace houses and garden. Not THE Georgian Terrace of course, that is amazing but there are heaps of pics of it online.
By the by, these streets are steep and quite a haul up from the town below. I wonder if this contributed to the demise of Bath as a fashionable place to go - I can imagine ladies hiking up that hill in Regency stays, but once corsets started to reshape waistlines and dresses got heavier and more cumbersome, I'd be making excuses not to go!
By 11am I confess we had had enough and we ran away to Wells and Glastonbury. I never went to any museums, not even to the Jane Austen Centre. I am so chcken! But honestly, the place is a bunfight and I think it requires a stop of several days and better planning and concentration that we were capable of by then.
Can you forgive me??

Happy Early Birthday to me!!!

I have big everything. Big feet, big body, big wrists, big head. Shoes, necklaces, watches, hats; they never fit me. Shoes have improved, but ladies watches, much jewellery especially costume stuff, rings, bangles etc, never do. I live with this, oi vey.
Hats are the worst. My head measures 62cm and I've not met a soul with a bigger head. Hats usually stop at 56cm.
Why am I telling you this? Not to get empathy, but thank you if you feel for me, it's always nice to be 'got'. No, it's because today in Glastonbury, I found something so amazing I just had to have it. I am not sure how to get it home yet.

Fans and friends and family and followers, I present to you my new tophat. It fits. And yes, you are not imagining it, it does have a pair of steampunk goggles around it. I couldn't resist! Why would I! The only time I will wear it is to do steampunk (mind you, that sounds like Famous Last Words type talk) so when presented with such an exquisite accessory at a very reasonable price that I doubt I could make myself, I folded.
And in the very same shop (called Lilith, btw) MrC bought a fantastic black coat.
I think Glastonbury is my spiritual home. I thought Bath would be but it WAS NOT (more on that later). Wells and Glastonbury totally, utterly rock.

English Coffee - an oxymoron I have come to dread.

We were warned that the English didn't really understand about coffee. But being warned and living with it are two different things.
They just do not get it. The coffee is tasteless, the beans stale. Quite upmarket cafes still serve filter coffee, or plunger coffee, less upmarket places sell instant.
But the thing that has fascinated me (a good distraction from wanting to scream in the middle of many a cafe) is the way they make latte.

 The very patient lady behind the counter at Wells Cathedral Cafe was perplexed as to why I wanted to photograph her making our lattes. They fluff/heat the milk, then pour the 'coffee' into it.

It takes on this layered look. It is almost always served in these tall glass mugs (handles are turned away from camera). Yes I know that having coffee so milky is not very staunch, but at home a latte or flat white TASTES OF COFFEE too.
If you order a flat white, you usually get a black coffee and a jug of steamed milk.
*sigh* Mojos I hope you are ready for our landing at Wellington Airport. No sweeter welcome could I have!