Guest Post - Fancy House & Gardens

Hi all!  Luther here.  Mum and dad have finally taken me on an adventure worthy of sharing with you, my loyal readers.  Please don't blame me for the lack of adventure in my life lately.  If only they'd let me take the bus by myself....

Spring tends to be on again, off again here in England from what I can tell.  And today happened to be mostly on again so mum decided it was a good day for an adventure.  Dad has been working really hard lately, but it seems to be paying off.  But because of all his hard work, it's been hard to plan outings for the weekends.  He had now turned in his 1st year review paper and given his presentation at Oxford, so off we went. 

Mum and dad renewed their Historic Scotland membership because we used it so much last year and we get to go to sites managed by English Heritage for free.  Mum found this place on the site and found out that we could get to it pretty easily - so that's what we did.  

So two buses later, we started walking to Audley End House & Gardens.  It is about 1.5 miles from the bus stop - but since we're so used to walking, we didn't mind.  When we got to the property, mum and dad kept saying something about how they felt like they were at Downton Abbey - whatever that is.  I just kept thinking - look at all the grass and the water and the birds.  THIS PLACE IS GREAT!  If only I could run around properly.  But - stupid rules said I had to stay on leash.

Bus 1

Bus 2

We saw this door on our walk to the property.  I bet it leads to a secret garden full of lots of squirrels. 

It was lunch time when we got to the property, so we headed over to the cafe to grab some sandwiches.  After lunch, we walked through the kitchen garden which supplies the property with organic fruits and veggies.  I wasn't that interested because there weren't any chickens.  Chicken - yum!  Salad - I'll pass.

On our way to the cafe we stopped by the stables so that dad could practice to become a 'fine English gentleman'.  Whatever that means.

Apple trees 

Then, before heading to the house, we strolled through some of the other gardens.  

I wasn't allowed in the house but mum told me that it has been restored to look like it would have in its prime.  Because I'm not allowed, dad and I went to watch a cricket match while mum explored.  Then they switched.  I don't understand cricket - but if you get to play it in places like this, then sign me up!

After we got tired of cricket (which didn't take long), we wandered to the back of the property where there is a temple and a lovely view of the house.

On our way out, we learned a bit about life 'under the stairs' - the dairy, laundry and kitchen.  Nothing big to share here.

And then we headed home.  It was a great day.  I am now sufficiently tuckered out and I think it's time for bed.

Thanks for reading!

Luther x

My First Garden

This year, I decided it was time to plant my first garden.  Because we rent our house, I didn't think I could dig up the lawn, so I opted for things that I could grow in containers.  I figured I could give it a shot and see how things went.  

So - one Saturday in April, I hopped on the bus and then another bus to go to the large garden centre south of the city.  I probably should have done a bit more research before I got there to see what grows well in England and in containers.  But time didn't allow for that and so I wandered in hopes that the vegetables would 'speak' to me and provide me with some inspiration.  

I eventually decided to stick with plants rather than starting from seeds.  Since it's just Luke and me - I didn't think that I'd need the number of plants that would come from a packet of seeds.  And I tried to think about vegetables that I thought Luke would eat.  That narrowed down my choices a bit - but not too much.

I knew that tomatoes were definitely going to be a significant part of the garden.  You can't get anything better than a fresh from the garden tomato.  When I was small, my grandad grew so many tomato plants that he'd set up plywood and sawhorses in the basement for the tomatoes to wait until it was time to can them.  I'm pretty sure that I ate my weight in tomatoes each summer.  I always swiped the small ones because I thought no one would notice.  But the canker sores that eventually developed definitely gave me away.  I'm pretty sure Grandad didn't mind.  The hard part was deciding on the varietals.  There are so many!  I ended up with a couple in an attempt to diversify for success.  We'll see how it goes.

Courgettes (also known as zucchini) also made the top of the list.  I picked up a couple green and a yellow.  I also planted a cucumber - but it has unfortunately not survived.  I may try to pick up another if I can find one closer to home.

The other veg to make it into the garden are snap peas, garlic, red and yellow bell peppers, a hot pepper and spinach.  I also purchased a few herbs - basil, coriander (cilantro) and chives.  I don't really ever use chives - but it looked fun.

Because the spinach was already little plants when I transferred it into the container, it was the first to be ready for harvest.  We went away to Germany towards the end of April and I was sure that I'd be able to harvest spinach when we got home.  Instead I came home to find out that my spinach had already been harvested - by slugs!  And this first time gardener was not happy.  I have since been warring with the slugs.  Not sure who is winning yet but there are definitely four casualties dehydrating today.  Take that slugs!

So, after about a week, I was finally able to harvest some of my spinach.  There is definitely a sense of accomplishment that comes from eating something that you helped to grow.  I'm now able to harvest every couple of days and I use the spinach for salads or in my omelets.  I'm still finding some leaves that have been eaten, but it's not near as bad.

And other than the cucumber, everything is thriving.  The yellow squash had a bit of a rough start, but he's starting to fill out now.

I had to stake the beans a little over a week ago because they've started to wrap around each other and today I did the tomatoes.  And both are starting to flower which I'm pretty sure is a good sign.  

The peppers are still pretty small, but I think they just need some more time.  And lots of sun.  

And the courgettes are starting to require more space and are getting ready to flower as well.

I also bought two Gerbera Daisies.  The slugs have been taking their toll on these as well, but they're starting to make a comeback.

And I think the Luther-man enjoys the garden as much as I do.

Especially when Daddy scratches his head just right.

Not sure how long it will take before I will be able to harvest anything other than spinach - but I'll be sure to post about it here - in due course.

Love you & miss you,

Aubs, Luke & Luther

The White Cliffs of Dover

As posted previously, our good friends the Turners came down from Edinburgh to help us celebrate Luke’s 30^th birthday.  Because we live outside of Cambridge and have to take the bus to get anywhere, we decided to rent a car so that we could be a bit more free with what we wanted to do and when.  It was fantastic.  I miss that freedom – I just don’t miss the cost. 

Because we had the car and the weather was beautiful, we decided that a road trip was in order.  Luke did a bit of research and we decided on the White Cliffs of Dover.  Dover is on the southeast corner of the island and is where you can take a ferry to the continent or the EuroStar train through the chunnel (channel tunnel).  There also happen to be amazing chalk cliffs. 

So we packed a picnic lunch and headed south.  It look us right at 2 hours to get there.  After lunch, we headed off to see what we could see.  It’s always amazing when you top a hill and see something as amazing as the cliffs.  I can’t tell you how many times we stood dumbstruck by the majesty of creation. 

On our way home we decided to stop in to Canterbury to see the cathedral and have dinner.  Definitely a good choice.  The detail on the outside of the cathedral is amazing.  I have no clue what the inside looks like, but I’m sure the stained glass alone is awe inspiring. 

Hope you enjoyed the pictures.

Love & miss you,

Aubs, Luke & Luther

Luke's 30th Birthday

On Friday (16 May), Luke turned 30.  A couple years ago for my 30^th, Luke and our friends the Garners and Phillips threw me a very classy 30^th birthday party with cocktail attire and lots of sparkling wine.  So I decided to return the favour and throw a party to celebrate Luke. 

First up was to design an invitation.  Fortunately one of our friends is a graphic designer so I passed along my ideas and he produced the most amazing invitation ever!  It was exactly what I wanted and set the tone for the party.  Luke’s favourite whisky is the Old Pulteney 17.  He will tell you it’s like drinking silk.  So – I pulled images from the web of the OP17 bottle and this is our invitation.

Graphic design by Peter Gurry - www.gurrydesign.com 

Once the invites were ordered, I turned my focus to planning.  Planning a party in the US is so easy – jump in your car, drive to Target, buy what you need – DONE!  For the most part anyway.  What you don’t find at Target, you get at the stores next door.  This is not the case in the UK. 

We don’t have a car so shopping involved taking the bus into Cambridge and then walking between stores.  Not such a bad thing, until you start making purchases and you have to carry them from store to store because can’t put in them in the boot (trunk) of your car.  This definitely limits how much you buy on each outing – and means that shopping will involve a number of outings.  It is also much harder to find things here than it is at home.  However, I definitely lucked out when it came to the glassware and struck gold at Tesco (our version of Wal-Mart) and found high ball glasses in the clearance aisle, pitchers that weren’t £5 ($8) each and champagne flutes for a good price. 

I spent the Saturday before his birthday walking all around Cambridge making purchases all over town and actually fulfilling most of my list.  The only things I had to order online were fairy lights for the back garden (yard) from Ebay and plates and forks from Amazon.  (I about had a panic attack because the plates and forks hadn’t been delivered to the house by the day of the party.  I had also ordered some face wash and received a note that it needed to be picked up from the distribution centre because we were not in to sign for it.  We stopped by the centre on Saturday and as I stood in line, I realized that the slip was for two items.  Royal Mail had attempted to deliver it and it was waiting for me.  My day got so much better once that issue was resolved.)

Without Luke knowing, I contacted his cousin Morgan who has become an expert at making bow ties.  She was kind enough to make bow ties for Luke, Luther and Theo.  All three looked extremely handsome. 

So dashing!

Our good friends JT and Bethany Turner who live in Edinburgh came down for the weekend and it was great to have their help as we prepped for the party.  They’re amazing friends and we really miss living in the same city as them. 

I think we had about 30 people come to the party – which was perfect.  We had just enough cake.  And by the end of the night most of the food was gone.  And it ended up being a beautiful evening.  We couldn’t have asked for better weather during an English spring.  AMAZING! 

Thanks to everyone who was able to celebrate with us.  We are so thankful to have such wonderful friends here in Cambridge. 

Now to find excuses to host more parties and use all my stuff…..

Whisky Line-Up:

Old Pulteney 12

Auchentoshan Springwood

The Glenlivet Master Distillers Reserve

And Sparkling Wine and Sparkling Juice for the non-whisky drinkers

Menu:

Spicy Sausage Rolls

Veggies and Humus

Bruschetta

Cheese and Crackers

Raspberry Jalapeno Black Bean Dip

Fruit Salad

Melon, Mozzarella and Prosciutto Skewers

Birthday Cake:

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cake

Love you & miss you,
Aubs, Luke & Luther