Wednesday 21 February 2018

Sissinghurst off-duty



The tower is under wraps.
From a distance it looked as though an office block 
had sprung up in the Kent countryside.


The garden is deserted.


You can listen to chattering birds


instead of chattering people.


The narrow paths were only ever wide enough
for one person and a wheelbarrow.
200,000 people have squeezed down them in the last season.


This is the earliest display I have ever seen here.


The stone sinks at waist height
are especially well suited to small bulbs.


Snow drops and crocuses are held clear of wet grass 
and splashing soil.



Snow Bunting lifts its face to yours.


I must remember to pot up some snowdrops
in the green this year.

These are outside South Cottage
and this has been opened for an exhibition


of some of Vita Sackville-West's bits and bobs
removed from her writing room while restoration takes place.


As the caption says, there are many objects in the collection which
you wouldn't expect the National Trust to look after,
(see above)
but these are being looked after in perpetuity
and include her Christmas present lists,
(see below).


The Burlington Magazine still runs. Ben was getting that in 1941.
Simpsons and Gamages are no more but a Boots token is always a safe bet.
I think that Harold must have been getting a gimlet not a glimet.
But did he really want a glass bowl for bath powder and puff 
or was that a gift that could benefit Vita,
like the new car tyre for Jack Cooper the chauffeur?
I hope his duck-ducks have been looked after in perpetuity.


6 comments:

  1. There's something very Rachel Whiteread about that first photo...
    And isn't the combination of flowers and stone or old brick beautiful?

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  2. Thank you. I did enjoy that visit Lucille.

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  3. Thanks for sharing pictures of the ephemera - interesting tidbits of social history. It's also lovely to see spring flowers from over here in cold Canada!

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  4. Oh, lucky you being able to pop into Sissinghurst. It's really not handy for Edinburgh. But what fun to see it at this time of year (when I never will). Love the granddaughter pictures!

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  5. how magical that display of potted bulbs in their arched display box (which probably has a proper technical name)

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  6. I write poetry and plant bulbs, but I don't suppose anyone will want to peruse my candle ends and Christmas lists in perpetuity. My oldest granddaughter did ask me to leave my reading glasses and house shoes to her when I pass which is, more or less, the same thing don't you think?

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