Nymans, Standen, and Wakehurst

Tuesday morning we packed our lunch and headed out to visit Nymans, a late-Victorian house remodeled in the 1920s into a medieval manor house that was extensively destroyed by fire in 1947. The gardens there are lovely, of course, and the remaining part of the house is quite cozy and personal. We next visited Standen, a house designed by Philip Webb and the interior was designed by William Morris's company. It is now one of my favorite houses in England. We ate our lunch at Wakehurst, a lovely botanical garden and seed bank/research center run by Kew Gardens. The house at Wakehurst is a very fine English-Renaissance manor, and the gardens are wonderful. For supper we cooked the beets we purchased fresh from the garden at Standen.

 Vast gardens at Nymans

 A vibrant spot of fall calor

 Pergola at Nymans

 The medieval appearance is from the 1920s

 Ruined by a fire in 1947

 The center portion is what remains 

 The cozy interior

 Beautiful flower borders

 Up close

 Kitchen-garden view of Standen

 The entry court at Standen

 Entry doors at Standen

 An alcove in the billiards room for watching games

 An attractive alcove with a fine porthole window

(enlarge to see Morris wallpaper)

 Standen is filled cozy and charming rooms

 Original Morris wallpaper

 Ditto

 Dining room with a deep-green painted wainscot

 The wallpaper is Morris and the painting is by Ford Madox Brown

 Garden side of Standen

 Wakehurst

 English-Renaissance staircase at Wakehurst

 Garden view of the manor house

 Beautifully designed and maintained landscape

 The house seen from the charming walled garden

 Seed bank and research center

 Heather in bloom at Wakehurst

Beets and greens for supper

This was a fun day. More is planned for tomorrow, but this is all for now.

OXO

D.

Off to Old England...Again

Sunday, 2 October, Connor drove us to the airport for our direct Delta flight to London Heathrow. The flight went well, but it is near impossible to sleep sitting in a tight seat. Fortunately, the flight was not full and I was able to move to a couple of empty seats two rows up where I could finally stretch out a bit and fall asleep. Border Control was a breeze and we, luggage and all, were in the arrival area within half an hour. Kim and Brigham were there waiting and whisked us off down the M25 to Junction 6 and Edenbridge beyond. We went to Waitrose to pick up some odds and ends (mostly treats) before driving south to dinner at the Little Brown Jug. We are home now and feeling like it will be nice to go to bed.

 Direct to London from SLC

 Happy travelers

 Flight 50 almost ready for departure at 8:03

Down the M25 to Surrey and Kent

 The reception committee

 The Coach House on Marlpit Hill

 A happy stop at Waitrose

 Mmm, mmm, mmm!

 The Little Brown Jug in Penshurst

 Ordering at the bar

 Pie and mash

Chocolate cake and custard back at home

There are some fun visits planned for tomorrow, so there will be more. This, however, is all for now.

OXO

D.

September 2016

It's fall! Colton's new burger place opened and we have been several times. All the usual stuff, like morning walks, group dinner, Hale Center Theater, and cousins' breakfast all happened. In addition, the NY Gibbs spent a weekend; they were here for  the Affirmation Conference. In addition, Kris and I made a trip around the Alpine Loop and the Nebo Loop. The fall foliage was spectacular.

 Maxwell worked at Chom for a few weeks

 We found Tom and Katy at Chom, too

 Group Italian dinner at the Boyntons

 A cuddle with Evy

 She's a corker

 Dinner at La Casita with Evy and Katy Kathryn

 A fun English farce at Hale Center

 Fall colors on Timp

 Looking toward Provo Peak

 American Fork Canyon below

 Timpooneke trail head

 Aspen Grove and the Timpanogos summit

 Feeding Evelyn a little supper

 Evy and Linda

 A bunch of Taylors at Chom (again)

 Y Mountain on a rainy fall morning walk

 Lots of visitors

 The NY Gibbs except for Michael

 Katy and Daniel hosted family dinner: good pasta!

 Cousins' breakfast and a train ride home

 Salt Creek side of the Nebo Loop, near Nephi

 The aspens were almost orange

 Mount Nebo with a skiff of snow from an early-fall storm

 Wonderful, colorful vistas

The view down into Utah Valley

Tonight we fly to London so there will be stuff to post, but this is all for now.

OXO

D.