Sunday Garden Party

I spent an enjoyable afternoon amongst the rich and famous whom nobody has yet heard off. Sunshine, warmth, friendliness (yes they did know me) and wine. Quite what was in that punch I am not sure but several drank large glasses of the stuff.  I preferred the rose however this was better than the cheap plonk I have indulged in all too often in occasionally.  
The house is a bit of a mystery, attempts to trace its linage going back several hundred years have led nowhere.  Clearly it started smaller and developed over the years and someone had a lot of money at one time to improve the place. No-on knows who however.  
The lady of the house has dressed it up very well and we were allowed free access everywhere, an idea which suited the women of course.

Poor Tiddles

The better mannered, the men, merely browsed the lounging quarters and accidentally found ourselves where the grub was housed.  I can vouch for the several layers of chocolate cake which accidentally fell onto my plate, and those little round jammy things with cream were not bad either. Then we ate the meat!  

This electric lamp is not Victorian and I suspect the place was done up in the 19th century at some time, as these places often were, but I doubt they would have had a gas lamp even then! Behind the gates the servants would secure the grounds and possibly a large dog or two may have been housed here.  There certainly is one now, conveniently removed for the day.  I remain far from jealous of those who have such dwellings.  The cost of maintenance, the cellar requires seeing to, and general upkeep take a lot of time.  It also fails to have a swimming pool and if you buy such a house you require a covered in pool somewhere!  Lots have pools in this area and hardly use them as normal weather forbids it.  How daft can you get?

A few fan tailed Doves in here would go down very well.  They would also avoid starvation during hard times, very nice with white wine I believe.  The 'Dutch Style' is not unknown around here, all them Flemish weavers of the past, and possibly a dealer in cloth moved in here and remodelled it to suit himself.

In the corner of the basement we find this!  At first we thought bread ovens but there is no flu, then our little historical minds ran wild and we, er got nowhere! So many mysteries and so little info.  A quick consultation with ourselves and back to the wine gathering.

The nice wee touches throughout the house and surroundings are very good indeed.  I loved the way she has made use of this old mangle (I still use mine) and made the back door attractive.  An apple tree amongst others surrounds the back yard and improves the servants entrance!

Oh yes, and as you might expect, there was a naked woman in the garden.....

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