Esther Hughes Photography Blog

…of banana bread

Jenga is generally played in the evening with lots of drink, however in the morning you can be as clumsy. Anyway, I have been playing and building with my kids this morning. I took photos because I liked the bricks and their shades… here we go

You can count the flowers in my garden on your fingers but anyhow, I have kneed down and took pictures of almost each one of them. I know it sounds boring but I like the photos that came out of it. Some of them look like they had grown out of nowhere.

Another National Trust outing, our last for this holiday as it is drawing to an end. Mottisfont impressed with the grounds more than the house. The water of the little stream was crystal clear. You could see the fishes as they greedily snapped up the bread crumbs visitors threw from the little bridge. Until they were chased away by the swan family you can see in the photos.

Such beautiful colours and shapes! Couldn’t resist taking more pictures!

Spooky old bit of the abbey

the actual house

the swan family

I love the National Trust – it’s the only place where you meet posh parking attendants! Last time we even had a parking attendant who was both posh and looked like Father Christmas. They always have cafes on the grounds where you can have a lovely cream tea and the gift shops have interesting stuff. Yesterday we saw a book on the worst jobs children had over history.  You mainly meet younger families or older people. And so far, on every site we went to, nobody has been complaining about our children not behaving. My son Sam has been bombarding them with 101 question and they have been very patient, explaining everything.

Uppark House is another National Trust site we went to. We have always driven by and wondered what was there. Now we know!

It has an interesting history and quite a romantic one where the former playboy Sir Harry Featherstone married his dairy maid, scandalising Sussex society. He heard her sing and asked who that was. They said that the dairy maid was too old so it must have been one of the helpers. Then Mary Anne Bullock took over as the dairy maid – the girl he had heard singing. He went to the dairy and asked if she would marry him. If she would, she should cut the leg of the mutton that was going to be served at dinner. When the dinner arrived, the leg was cut. There was quite an age gap between them – he was 70, she 21. Anyhow, much to the dismay of society they married and he left her the estate after his death in 1848.  Maybe you say “She didn’t love him, she just did it for the money!” Well, she certainly looked after the house very well and her efforts meant that it was kept in great condition. She left it to her unmarried sister. As they didn’t have children, together they made provision for the estate to pass, after the life tenancy of a neighbour,  to the second son of another friend and neighbour, the fourth Earl of Clanwilliam on the condition that he should assume the name of Fetherstonehaugh.

Splashing pictures of the pool where we are spending our holiday!

Petworth House was again very impressive, even after visiting it a few months ago. We had the best weather, lovely skies as you can see in the pictures. With such a big garden, you meet many families having a picnic there (like ourselves). You can’t see them in the pictures as everyone stayed in the shade of the trees near the house. Best of all, the cafe had cream tea and ice cream!

Background:

Petworth’s 700-acre (283 ha) Park was designed by Capability Brown from 1751 to 1764. He moved thousands of tons of soil and replanted whole clumps of trees to produce the deceptively natural look of parkland receding into countryside for which English gardens are so renowned. The Park inspired several landscapes by JMW Turner. It also contains the oldest and largest herd of fallow deer in England. Petworth House, also National Trust, which is only just visible a mile away, houses a stunning collection of paintings by Van Dyke, Reynolds, Claude Lorrain and others.