Celia Hart's blog about what's going on in and around her studio.
Art, printmaking, inspirations, gardening, vegetables, hens, landscapes, wild flowers, East Anglia, adventure, travel.

Friday 20 May 2011

These are a few of our favourite things

I've had an enjoyable few days sharing my corner of East Anglia with Terry Golson who was on a brief visit to England from her home just outside Boston, USA. In two and a half days we visited Ickworth Hall, Wyken Vineyard and the Leaping Hare Restaurant and Country Store, Clare village and the Antiques Centre, Saffron Walden, The Star at Lidgate, Cambridge and Baldock and treated Terry to a proper sit down luncheon and cream tea (you can read more about that here).

Here are some of the highlights . . .

Lunch at the Leaping Hare Restaurant, with the light filtering through a screen of fig leaves outside the windows . . .


The food was very special too – and as bloggers do, we had to take photos (we almost forgot, we were so eager to taste it!) my dessert was the trellis of rhubarb poached in cinnamon syrup served with a hazelnut meringue which had been secretly filled with vanilla cream from underneath – genius!


Admiring the clever colour themes in the gardens at Wyken Hall . . .



and spotting hares – peeping out of the windows . . .


and in the pargetting . . .


We met some gorgeous birds with beautiful feathers!


There was time for Elevenses in Cafe Clare, with toasted tea cakes and crumpets with jam . . .


It was eye-opening to look at familiar places with Terry, she loved the textures and patterns in the vernacular building styles – she's given me lots of ideas!


I'm now back to the old routine – an illustration deadline, the village magazine to publish, the Pick'n'Mix Makers Market in Holt on Saturday 11th June to prepare for and new prints to work on. Oh, and I'm still having to water the garden as we haven't had any proper rain yet (just a brief shower of drizzle).

While we were out about and about doing fun things, Terry received texts from her husband breaking the sad news that her hens were not well, the news got even worse – Lulu, her favourite hen had died. It was so difficult for her to be so far away and not to be able to help her husband cope with the hens and the young chicks in the horrible rain and cold.

Terry has returned home now and I'm sure you'll all join me in sending her and her husband Steve good wishes and hope that their hens pull through and that the sun comes out for all of them in more ways than one!

Celia
x

12 comments:

  1. Sounds like you've had a wonderful week. Good luck with your deadlines... and hope Terry's hens are okay.

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  2. Will try and get over to the Pick and Mix at Holt but it's a bit of a busy weekend.

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  3. sounds like you enjoyed your company :) loved all of the hares running around.

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  4. Trellis of Rhubarb! That made me chuckle.

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  5. If I'd known you were in Cafe Clare I'd have popped in and said hello! What a lovely day - Wyken one of my favourites as well

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  6. Salivating over the photos of food at Leaping Hare Restaurant!

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  7. Such a treat for Terry - you have visited some of my favourite local haunts Celia.

    I was only at Wyken a little while ago. Their food seems to get better and better and that fig tree is a sight to behold.

    Sounds like a fun few days.

    Jeanne
    x

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  8. It was a pleasure to pull you out of your "routine" (nothing routine about your days, Celia!) and have you show me around. I'm still reeling from the color scheme at Wyken, and I just might have to make proper scones for my family! I did come home to a health crisis - mycoplasma - but Steve caught it in time while I was away, an avian vet supplied potent drugs to combat it, and I'm hoping we'll have only the one (albeit heartbreaking) loss. Thanks, again, for such a wonderful visit!

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  9. It is so lovely to have such a friend, they show us how to look with new eyes. We get a little blase with our surroundings and forget to look at the 'familiar' around us.

    The food looks scrumptious, I shall put the Leaping Hare on my list of places to visit, deserts are my passion and they look amazing.

    Great post.

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  10. I will begin by sending along wishes to Terry that her hens will be much recovered.

    And continue by thanking you so much for showing us the marvelous places in this post. What a marvelous time you and Terry must have had indoors and out.

    And let me assure you I would be so very glad to share all the rain that we continue to receive here in New York. May is continuing a theme set up in April.

    xo

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  11. Hello Celia, We met at The Asthma Fair when I stopped to look at your lovely work. Your tour round East Anglia sounded fun; I love it at Wyken Hall, haven't been for ages. I now have a blog as well - I called it inky fingers; my friend Gina got me blogging!

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  12. Strange how having a visitor to stay makes you see things afresh.

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