Spring Posy

So Spring has sprung, the sun has shone, the days are longer and the windows are open!
In corners of our gardens or on woodland walks primroses start to appear and whilst, we may still spend our days dressed like this little boy, all wrapped up against the elements, we're sure it won't be long till we don our Spring frocks and wellies, garden trugs on our arm and a spring in our step as we step out into our gardens to sow our Summer seeds.



It is certainly an exciting time of the year, a time to embrace the daylight, enjoy the birdsong and the sweet scent of Spring blooms.



With this in mind we have been busy filling our shelves with all kinds of Spring related goodies. A Song to April and vintage wooden chocolate boxes for your Easter delights in our Attic. Petticoats and posies in our Boudoir – a delicious brooch especially for Mother’s Day and a pretty crinoline lady foil picture for your walls.



There are daffodils, poppies and birdsong in our Dovecote, just beckoning you out to the garden. Spring embroidery, vintage sewing kits and more Make Do and Mend in our Sewing Room., all manner of flora and fauna in our Box Room and jigsaws aplenty in our Nursery to keep you busy, from frolicking lambs to bunnies and chicks and velvety rabbits to grace your shelves.



If you fancy a read on the garden bench, why not have a look on our Library shelves? Daffodil story books, Spring time walks. The Darling Buds of May, butterflies and birds all await you.



So if you fancy a Springtime saunter, our doors and windows are open, the shelves are freshly dusted and, as always, there’s a welcome and a vase of daffodils waiting for you in the stockroom.

Rhubarb Rhubarb

As a nation renowned for having a sweet tooth and penchant for all kinds of sugary confections.. we favour our puds and are fiercely proud of our old stalwarts such as Jam Roly Poly pud..a formidable concoction of suet and sticky jam guaranteed to stick to your ribs and other extremities. Or how about Sticky Toffee Pudding.. another calorific challenge..



Eve's Pudding, Floating Islands, Apple Charlotte, Eton Mess, Knickerbocker Glory, Rice Pudding, Baked Alaska, Peaches and Cream, Syllabub, Bread and Butter Pudding, Tapioca with a blob of crimson jam, Gooseberry Fool..there are many more from this larder of British puds and we expect you can add a few of your own favourites. Milly is rather partial to Spotted Dick whilst Dottie has a particular fondness for Rhubarb and Custard ... Rhubarb Crumble and custard to be precise ..



Anyone who has a rhubarb patch nestled in their garden, will have noticed the spires of ruby red stems sprouting, stimulated by the frosts. Rhubarb is a vegetable with a unique taste that makes it a favorite in many pies and desserts. It originated in Asia over 2,000 years ago. It was initially cultivated for its medicinal qualities, it was not until the 18th century that rhubarb was grown for culinary purposes in Britain and America. Rhubarb is often commonly mistaken to be a fruit but rhubarb is actually a close relative of garden sorrel, and is therefore a member of the vegetable family. Rhubarb is rich in vitamin C and dietary fibre. With delightful names such as Champagne and Timperely Early. So pull some of those ruby red stalks today, stew lightly and make a crumble topping. Smothered in lashings of creamy custard.. It's a marriage made in heaven !!