In the Victorian kitchen

CleanSteve, Lozarithm and I had arranged a blipmeet at Avebury Manor (NT) today. Fortunately, it was great weather for picnicking, and no one minded that there were strips of julienned courgette in the sandwiches, which we ate close to the prehistoric standing stones that are all around the village.

The Manor house was acquired by the National Trust in 1991, and they let it out to tenants for 18 years. By this time, it had become dislapidated, but happily the BBC was looking for a property to do up, for a series. So the house was redone, with every room fitted out in a style belonging to a different period, over a short time frame. Visitors are actively encouraged to sit on the chairs, test out the beds, etc. This makes it more fun!

One of my favourite rooms was Alexander Keiller's 193os study, but I forgot to take any photos! The carpet had to be specially woven, with a dashing pattern of racing cars of the day. My great aunt, Kay Petre, was a racing driver at Brookland racing track in Surrey in that era, so it struck a chord, as did the wireless radio and many other features.

The Victorian kitchen also took my fancy, so here are the pumpkins (or possibly squashes) and some period cooking accoutrements. I liked the colour contrast. Being a busy sunny Sunday, there wasn't quite enough time to wander at leisure, but then again I'd find it hard to visit on a weekday. One of the great surprises was that the library had been converted into a tea room, but they had left the books there. It was rather fine, but CleanSteve has already blipped it, including a lady in a splendid hat. The cake portions are also very generous, and I believe it won a tea room award last year.

I haven't seen the BBC TV programme, but will try to rent it. The NT shop has decided not to to sell the DVD as they can only have it burned and packaged for £20 retail, but Amazon can have it burned and sold for £8. Something is wrong there...

Talking of libraries, I finally finished my book, Tigers in Red Weather. I concluded it wasn't half as good as the reviews made it out to be, with its comparisons to Mad Men, The Great Gatsby, Hemingway, et al. Ok for the beach, though, if you own one on Martha's vineyard.

Another square blip for Square September

I have made the edges a bit grey and blurry but now I am not sure...