An autumnal wander at Belton

After a pretty dismal and completely non-inspiring stop at a motorway services on our trip to West Sussex I was pleased when MOH suggested a detour to the Belton Estate on our return trip. While we stopped earlier on the journey back, we just took a quick break and avoided repeating the previous McAwful experience (something that tasted bland, yet was overly peppery at the same time!), and let’s face it a National Trust cheese scone, pot of tea and a slice of cake would always be a much more preferable option.

Plus we got the chance to properly stretch our legs, the sun was out and it was too good an opportunity to waste. And if I was lucky I’d be able to have a nose around the orangery and see how that had changed since my last visit, and see how it was faring in a different season.

Unfortunately my luck was out, as the orangery was closed for the day - ah well, as Belton is just thirty minutes from home it gives me the perfect excuse to head back another day, hopefully sooner rather than later.

Of course, that didn’t stop me peering into through the glass though as you can see taking photos was pretty futile - though I kind of like the effect, but only for a photo or two!

All was not lost though as Belton still has plenty of beautiful gardens (and a large estate) to explore, but we were only here for a short journey-breaker this time, so treated ourselves to a wander around the area at the back of the orangery where the roses grow up the walls, and there’s medlar trees in the quadrants.

It’s also an area of the gardens which have some intricate topiary designs, which you know I’m also keen on.

It’s probably a part of the garden I overlook in my keenness to check out the orangery, so that being closed for the day was really no bad thing. Next time I’ll be sure to head for this bench so I can admire the exterior of the orangery as much as the inside!

With the orangery and the small walled garden behind it checked out, we headed to a golden tree which had caught our eye as soon as we entered the garden with its leaves appearing to burn against the bluest of skies.

A stunning golden tree taking centre stage in the garden

The leaves seemed to ‘burn brighter’ the closer we got to the tree.

Isn’t it gorgeous?

Google tells me this is a tulip tree and with the, what I presume are, flower heads it’s easy to believe this suggestion. Looking again, it tells me that the tulip tree is part of the magnolia family and again I can see the likeness with the bud/flower head. Either way, it’s a beautiful tree and such a beautiful colour - there wasn’t a tree around it that had the same vibrancy.

There really isn’t anywhere better to wander on a bright autumnal day - let’s hope there’s more days like this to come.

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My garden in September

In my garden September has been all about fruition - finally the sunflowers flowered, and the tomatoes started to show the briefest hint of ripening, then suddenly boom! they were ripe, and quite literally burst with the influx of rain we had suddenly!

I’m surprised to find that I have no other garden photos this month - usually you’ll find pictures from around the borders, but I think that tells its own story and just how much the sunflowers took over, and while they were late bloomers they were so good when they got going, in fact it’s the middle of October now and they’re still going, just not quite how I thought they would be.

At the start of the month the height discrepancy between the two remaining sunflowers was huge, and as the month progressed it got even larger. Both did eventually make it higher than the wall, but only just in the case of the smallest one. That wasn’t any bad thing though as it meant I could quite easily check progress, and I was surprised to see a ladybird nestled in the flower head one morning.

Gradually though the yellow petals started to appear, and unfurl. It was a slow process though, and I was particularly impatient it must be said. I was also curious about the flowers growing on the side shoots and how they would turn out.

But we had a flowering sunflower, finally - and it was the smallest one that flowered first. Clearly it knew how impatient I was and decided to put its energy into providing a flower rather than height - and I’m glad it did, as I was beginning to think it might not happen at all.

Similarly the tomatoes had been keeping me guessing, but they too finally started to show the vaguest hints of turning colour. Though not all of them.

And just with everything, once it starts it starts and then the rains came and some of my poor tomatoes burst!

But during those rains the tallest sunflower also flowered, so I wasn’t too upset for long.

Finally we had two flowering sunflowers, even though the first one did well to hang on for the largest sunflower to do its thing. And not long after that the side flowers started to flower, but the winds also came - and that brought new attention to my sunflower watch, but that’s for next month’s update, where I might also have pictures from elsewhere in the garden, who knows?!

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A stack of vinyl pouches

You’ll know that I did a bag making course earlier in the year, and I even completed the pouch that I hadn’t quite finished before our holiday. I wanted to get more confident with zips, and since then have gone a bit zip crazy, what with those garden cushions I’ve shared recently, and now this stack of little pouches.

It started with a kit I picked up a while back after seeing them online and deciding I couldn’t live without them. Before the bag making course I sat down to tackle it but got stuck at the first tip, which was to put the interfacing on the whole fat quarter before cutting out - but there was more fat quarter than I needed for the little pouch, and much more than the amount of interfacing included. The other tips for sewing the vinyl put me off too - it recommended using tissue paper, which makes a lot of sense - and a zipper foot. Neither of which I used making these - so the course has been a success as it’s given me the knowledge and confidence to follow what I’ve learnt in practice.

But anyway, they are rather cute - I made the small and mini versions from some of the materials provided in the pack, which are probably ones I wouldn’t have chosen myself, but I like nonetheless.

Following the instructions, and using the materials provided in the kit I ended up with a small vinyl pouch which I’m very pleased with - and definitely benefited from having the experience of a tutor-led session previously, even though it wasn’t for this exact item as there was lots that could be applied to this pouch.

I realised after I’d finished that while I’d used the fleece lining on the pocket’s lining (the insect fabric) I hadn’t used the thinner interfacing anywhere, and it probably would have benefited from it, at least on the strip below the zip.

I decided to have another go and make a mini version - that one didn’t go quite so well, but it does have the interfacing below the zip. I added some ribbon embellishments to the sides as afterwards I worked out that I’d attached the backing piece the wrong way round - doh! I was pleased to find the zigzag strip in my stash as it covers a stitching mishap - but you wouldn’t have known that if I hadn’t told you.

Even at this stage I could see how useful they would be, both for crafts and elsewhere. But I didn’t want to leave it there on my ‘embellished’ version, as I was sure I could master this little pouch, and I’d also been saving some red-checked vinyl which had (strangely) come as packing, all scrunched up between bottles, and I was keen to see if that would work.

Turns out it did, and I’ve now made ten of these pouches, learning and adapting as I’ve gone along - and I’ve got a stack of pretty pouches too!

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