The Distancing Diairies - 17th & 18th May, 2021

 It was so dark on Monday morning when Stephen woke me demanding breakfast that I had to double-check the alarm clock, thinking it was at least a couple of hours earlier. I did my Wii Fit workout, put away yesterday's laundry, wrapped my weekend sales & snaffled an amazing dress on eBay. After breakfast, Jon went round to Tony's via the post office whilst I started on my to-do list outside.

After admiring the petunias that had flowered overnight - they remind me of circus tents - I positioned cracked pieces of pot around my planting in a bid to keep the evil slugs & snails at bay. The bindweed was starting to spring up beneath the laurel so I covered the area with cardboard the bench was delivered in last week, dampened it down and added a layer of mulch and carried on with turning over the soil outside the gates.

Despite the forecast for torrential rain, the morning stayed mostly dry and was deliciously warm when the sun broke through the clouds. I'd just popped inside for a glass of water when Jon returned and, after a break for lunch, he took over the digging whilst I bagged up the roots we'd uncovered. I had to laugh, several people walked past and congratulated Jon on all his hard work, I'd done half of it! After raking the surface, Jon dug in some fertiliser ready for sowing grass seed later in the week.

We painted the posts for the kid/dog barrier (Silver Birch wasn't our first choice but will hopefully look good surrounded by lush greenery) then pottered around for a bit until the rain stopped play and we had to scuttle indoors. I had an early bath and read my book whilst Jon prepared tea. 

Later we watched the rest of the series of Floodland. What next? We'll have to trawl Walter Presents and the i-player for more dark and dismal European dramas.

It was sunny when I got up on Tuesday morning, although violent showers were predicted for later. I wandered around the garden, did my Wii Fit workout and after breakfast Jon made sandwiches and we headed off to Calke Abbey in Derbyshire (a 55-minute drive away) for some culture and beauty.

On Monday some of the Covid restrictions were relaxed meaning that we could go into National Trust properties once again - it's only the second house we've ventured into since March 2020! Known as The Unstately Home, Calke Abbey is the house where time stood still, portraying a period in the twentieth century when many country houses did not survive to tell their story. When the house was handed to the National Trust in 1985, many of its rooms had been abandoned for decades and were in a state of rapid decline. The Trust decided not to restore these rooms, but rather preserve them as they were found. The house is dark and gloomy with peeling wallpaper and vast collections of strange and unique objects, presented exactly as they were found. We loved it.

Inspiration galore in the gardens! Herb Robert (the abundance of pink in the collage below) goes straight to the top of the I want list. I wouldn't say no to the rare surviving auricula theatre, either.

We fell wildly in love with the Orangery on our last visit in December (HERE). Built in 1777, it's one of the oldest surviving garden buildings. They were roped off today although there were signs up encouraging us to peep through the doors and windows. 

Venture through the creaky gates into the physic garden which still grows a variety of fruit and veg and houses a small orchard, home to local and historic apple trees. We were pleased that they'd signed up to No Mow May and the grass was alive with the buzzing of insects.

Blending in with the landscape is becoming a bit of a habit! 

I hope our wildflower lawn eventually looks as good as Calke's!

After a few hours of wandering, we were absolutely ravenous and devoured our sandwiches back in the van. The rain, which we'd managed to avoid all day, fell like stair rods on the journey home but had dried up by the time we'd reached Walsall. 

The perfect end to a perfect day! The dress (another by Dilli Grey) I'd bought from eBay before 7am yesterday morning was waiting for me and it was every bit as amazing in real life as I'd hoped.

Tea will be halloumi with roasted veg and a cheeky glass of wine. 

See you soon!