Returning home
This week I have been away at two work conferences and I was able to stay with my sister for the night. The following morning I awoke to a magnificent dawn chorus (better than at home) and heavy rain! So I only attempted a take a couple of pictures from the gardens of the flats were she lives.
It is hard to believe that this is just a 5 minute walk from Marble Arch and Oxford Street in the city of London. As you know I am not a city girl and it is many years since I have wandered these streets. However it felt like returning home to familiar territory, as I stayed with my sister many times in my teenage years when I was at boarding school and our parents were living in Germany.
Returning home everything seems to have grown a few more inches in my absence!
With the sight of blue skies and so many leaves appearing on all the trees we decided to visit Littlebredy, where I also once lived. Regular readers may remember that I lived for a few years with my parents in a cottage which came with a huge Victorian walled garden. See previous posts here and here for pictures and further details.
It was a gorgeous morning and it was delightful to just take in the views.
As I mentioned previously the "Scented Wall gardens" were converted to a beautiful flower garden a few years after we had left, and are now shared with many visitors on selected days. We knew before we set off that today was not one of them but I couldn't resist taking a peek through the gate at the garden and my old home.
(In our time the walled garden was mainly filled with fruit and we feasted on raspberries, loganberies, black and red currants, gooseberries, figs, grapes, a few peaches and cultivated blackberries. Other parts of the garden were full of herbaceous plants and it was from here that my real passion for gardening began.)
(In our time the walled garden was mainly filled with fruit and we feasted on raspberries, loganberies, black and red currants, gooseberries, figs, grapes, a few peaches and cultivated blackberries. Other parts of the garden were full of herbaceous plants and it was from here that my real passion for gardening began.)
We then walked through the village towards the lake watched by some friendly "residents" !
Luckily there is something to stop them going over the edge and theysoon decided that swimming was more fun in the lake and turned around (there were still 3 ducklings safe and sound, but I only managed to get 2 in this picture!)
After our lovely walk we returned home and as we sat drinking a cup of coffee my latest copy of Country Living (June 2014) was posted through the door. Looking through the index I immediately noticed a picture of the waterfall above and then this lovely article about the walled garden! Wasn't that a strange co-incidence?
I also noticed that the front cover of Country Living magazine also features Sarah-Jane's buttercup field !
I was only reading and commenting to Annie at Knitsofacto about which place we feel rooted too. As you can see I feel as if I still have roots in many different locations how about you too?
Welcome to my new followers and a big thank you for all the comments you leave me.
Sarah x
Dear Sarah,
ReplyDeletethank you so much for this wonderful 'familiar family walk'!
Your photos are so beautiful and impressive!
Sunny greetings,
Siret
It sounds as if you had a lovely week. How nice to be able to stay with your sister and get reacquainted with London. I'm a country girl too, but love London. That was quite the co-incidence with the magazine having an article on the garden you had just been to! I hope this week holds many nice things for you as well, including some good weather so you can enjoy your own garden. :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm like you and dislike my work trips to London, I can't wait to get back to fresh air and the sound of seagulls. Lovely little ducklings in a beautiful garden-how funny you had the same images as the magazine.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you enjoyed your visit back to the City, and so nice to catch up with your sister. Enjoyed reading your previous links about your former home in Dorset :-)
ReplyDeleteOh wow, I can't believe that garden is in the city! I'm glad you enjoyed your visit but being home in the country must feel so amazing! Lovely photos, and that duck and ducklings! Aww!
ReplyDeleteI am in awe of the beautiful gardens you feature.
ReplyDeleteWe are in year 3 of a drought so nothing here is so lush.
How spooky!! I read Country Living and Littlebredy is on my list for our next (sooon I hope!!) trip to Bridport! Your pictures do far more justice than Country Living, and they were lovely, so looking forward to seeing the garden for real!! Was hoping to be in Dorset this weekend, but it didn't work out, however I have dug both fruit and veg plots so not a weekend wasted!! X
ReplyDeleteI know you will enjoy visiting Littlebredy on your next visit. The church, estate cottages and lake (it looks a bit like a miniature Stourhead) are just beautiful and peaceful. It was a magical place for us to get married from almost 30 years ago. At least your garden is now looking good and you have planned your next trip to Dorset. Sarah x
DeleteWhat an amazing coincidence. I absolutely love the look of this place, it's exactly what I picture when I hear the words "English garden." Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI'm just back from 8 exciting days in London and how the garden at home has changed in that short time (also weeks behind London..) As they say 'East west, hame's best! I loved your walled garden posts Sarah.
ReplyDeleteLovely post and what a nice coincidence that after your visit you should find the same place in the magazine! My roots are firmly in one place (the rocks where I grew up) but my family are from all over the Peak District and I spent time in so many parts of it as a child that although most of the roots are in one place, I think I have off shoots in others and I feel very privileged to have had a childhood in such wonderful countryside :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful place, and what a coincidence finding it in Country Living. I'm a huge fan of walled gardens, they're wonderful. Glad you enjoyed London too. I've been thinking I should visit soon, I do like it there and I haven't been for ages.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful place you used to live in Sarah - was it strange going back and seeing it again. I haven't been to London for years - it used to feel exciting to go down to 'the smoke' not sure I would feel the same way now. Love the picture with the two dogs it was as if they were posing for you. It's always the same being away from home for a few days - the garden always looks different - whenever we come back home from holiday it's always the first thing I do - got out and see what has happened whilst I have been away.
ReplyDeleteWhether it's the seaside or the country gardens dearest Sarah, you take me away. I just let out a sigh when I saw that cottage off the road with the green countryside...I too am not a city dweller, yet I grew up and worked in large cities. I do enjoy an occasional romp in the city, but do I ever enjoy and need my time with NATURE. LOVE this post, as you share your lovely trip!
ReplyDeleteI always look forward to your posts the ocean or the garden there is always something magical about them.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely post again! I hadn't seen the two earlier ones on the walled garden as I hadn't found you yet at that time. The cottage must have been a wonderful place to live in.
ReplyDeleteDelightful, as always! We've lived in this house for 33 years--only my 3rd house/apartment in the 45 years we've been married. I moved 15 times during my childhood, so I can't say I feel connected anywhere but where I'm at now. It is so very special that you CAN go home again to your childhood home and see it much the same as it was, except for the changes in the garden. Is the village pretty much the same as well?
ReplyDeleteWhat are the chances of you visiting and then seeing the garden in the magazine! I am so far behind on my magazine reading that I haven't opened the newest CL, so now when I do I will read the article and think of you! It is so beautiful and so lovely to see! Glad that you got to enjoy such a lovely visit. xx
ReplyDeleteHi Sarah! I really enjoyed this post and the other posts from 2012 you're referring back to. How wonderful it must have been to have grown up in that beautiful walled 'enchanted' garden and what an amazing coincidence the garden is featured in Country Living just now. I used to buy that magazine from time to time but not anymore for the last two years since the only shop that sold it doesn't sell it anymore, not enough buyers I guess which made and makes more than disappointed since I loved that magazine!
ReplyDeleteMarian
I always enjoy see your garden photos, they are so very pretty.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful garden & how funny to open the magazine & find it there ! I adore walled gardens x
ReplyDeleteNow I know the most places you have lived before. Where have you lived in Germany!
ReplyDeleteThe photos from the walled garden are very intersting, and also the place in London.
Sigrun
i have lived inNorth Rhine-Westphalia in Lübbecke, Bielefeld and Gütersloh. Sarah x
DeleteMy parents never moved from their original house....and I now live 30 minutes away from that original location....i guess I am pretty rooted to this area :). I love visiting London....as a tourist it is so exciting.
ReplyDeleteIt must be good to have lived in the same area for all of your life. Sarah x
DeleteHello Sarah, What a joy seeing all your photos of the beautiful gardens. They are so unique and colorful.. I love the English Garden.. Hugs Judy
ReplyDeleteHello Sarah,
ReplyDeleteYou were in fairytale land. What beautiful photos and thank you for sharing another beautiful place. I enjoy Country Living also. I like the English version more. It seems it has more photos of gardens then the US version.
Regarding my garde, yes, it has grown and I was just looking through my garden journal and blog photos and it was not too long ago since I planted my summer garden. Last weeks hot weather (without the humidity) did a lot for the garden. This week much cooler weather, a 20 degree difference. I hope stays that way tomorrow because I have a lot a weeding to do.
Have a wonderful day and glad your back home safe and sound.
Blessings,
Bobbie Lynn
What a special place, your sister lives. In the middel of London! And that garden is so nice, funny to see the same pictures in the magazine. Lovely greetings
ReplyDeleteBeautiful photos Sarah and what a lovely gardens where your sister lives. I love London and spend a lot of time walking and exploring, more in the City than the West End. I love the buzz and it's diversity. But, it's oh so nice to return home again in the evening to our home near the sea - well River Thames really. There's something about the coast that is so refreshing and calming. Lovely post.
ReplyDeletePatricia x
Enchanted seems the perfect word for that glorious garden :)
ReplyDeleteI hear you when you say you are rooted in a number of places, or perhaps we mean those places are rooted in us?
Thank you for the link Sarah :)
What a gorgeous place to return to. Everything is so lush and green, it's absolutely beautiful.
ReplyDeleteIt is lovely to think that one can have such a beautiful garden so close to the centre of London. Like you I have really enjoyed seeing the leaves appearing once more on the trees - they just complete the spring picture for me.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a student in London, I used to escape to green parks and gardens whenever I could.
ReplyDeleteI love your walled garden. What a wonderful place to grow up in!
We have moved round a fair bit over a lifetime, so I have a few roots in several places, but the New Forest is the place where I feel I really belong.
I've just had to read back over your previous posts about the walled garden - what a magical place to have lived as a child! I really want to visit it now, fancy having those wonderful glasshouses to work in. Gosh, my dream! I wonder if it feels strange going back to visit when you must have so many memories of the place? I also love the garden of your sister's flats, it looks extremely well cared for! A lovely view to look out on, especially with all those shops nearby!
ReplyDeleteDear Sarah,
ReplyDeleteI also read back about the walled garden and what a delightful place. Love the pretty gardens.
Such an interesting coincidence seeing the waterfalls and then having it in the magazine.
The ducks are sweet.
Happy weekend
Hugs
Carolyn