Sorry

there was no post yesterday but I was knackered after a very enjoyable outing [and lovely tea] with Mr and Mrs Cheddar.

We went here – Ashdown House near Lambourn.  Most of the house is let, so what you get is a guided tour of  the staircase and the pictures on it.

But it is quite a staircase – and the pictures are interesting, especially if, like Mrs Cheddar, you are an English Civil War buff. 

 

The staircase takes you right up to that little pimple on the roof – from where you get views like this. Pity the weather wasn’t better, but the sky was quite dramatic.

 

The house reminded me of those you see on some stumpwork or samplers – this is the best example I can find but I'm sure I’ve seen one even more like Ashdown than this.

Ashdown looks even more like a doll’s house from a distance. You can take dogs in part of the grounds, although not near the house – not even well behaved football playing dogs.

I cropped the ball out of the photo but I bet you can guess where it is.

 

After that we went to Eastbury Church, where there is an exquisite engraved glass window by Laurence Whistler, dedicated to the memory of the poet Edward Thomas and his wife. [Mrs Cheddar is a WW1 buff as well – I think it’s all those romantic, doomed young men.]

The window is beautiful – quite magical with the trees behind it.

 

 

From the sublime to the ridiculous. This is son of plank again, ‘Circle Splashed’ in Picnik. I see this as canvas work, perhaps with some couching – if only I had enough shades of purple …