Category:

Simply..an English idyll....

28/7/2018

The gardens at Newby Hall were looking wonderful.

There are 25 acres to explore and the double border above is 172 meters long - I was really impressed at how very good it all looked in spite of the heatwave.

We were given a pot of this!

The most idyllic part was a boat trip on the River Ure - I loved how modest and un-commercial it was. Just a lazy half an hour on a simple boat with a relaxed guy who loved the quiet and the wildlife of the riverbank and enjoyed sharing it - he knew where all the nests were, was sweet with the children and never asked for the money. You just gave him the £5 as you got off and I had the impression he really wouldn't have cared much if you forgot...

It was also cooler on the river! 28/29 degrees is too hot for me.

Makes me idle.

An idle idyll is no bad thing now and then... thank you Lynne!

How has the heat affected you this summer?

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Simply..bacari and cicheti....

15/5/2018

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Bear with me as they say, for I am still on about Venice!

I am passionate about Venice - it just happened. I did not need to try (I just needed to be there).

(Can I just add here that a friend who has been reading the comments recently said 'How did they all get to be so wise?')

I loved the cookery book Polpo as much for it's information about Venice as for the food and knew that I would want to eat cicheti at a bacaro (see the Polpo story here) - the kind of place Venetians will stop at on the way home from work, maybe with a colleague or meeting a friend, for a glass of local wine or a spritz and some delicious small snacks. I was delighted to find that one of Russell Norman's recommended bacari was on the street right below our apartment!

I had also read somewhere about a cafe in a greenhouse (Serra di Giardini) and found it quite easily (Vaporetto stop Giardini). We enjoyed a lunch and an aperol spritz there on a sunny warm day - so sunny they had to lower the wonderful blinds...

Neither place was expensive.

Saluti!

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Simply..not the real thing....

2/5/2018

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..but exquisite facsimiles of wonderful books dating from the 1400's.

In the Scuola Grande di San Marco is a display of very convincing facsimiles of famous and beautiful books which you are allowed to handle and leaf through.

The illuminated manuscripts made into books (codex) were owned by families such as the Medici, d'Este, Rothschild and Duca di Berry and handling them in their bejewelled and embroidered covers we got a sense of how precious books were, and how valued.

Any bibliophile would be thrilled by this exhibition (Barry would have loved it).

I think it is on until September but it will surely travel to other venues in Europe. I am so glad to have experienced it.

In the larger room with it's magnificent ceiling and paintings by Tintoretto, are printed books from the 1500's and the Museum of Medical History (the building is part of the hospital).

To see these originals, which were of course in glass cases, as the originals of the codices would also be, brought alive the concepts of the Renaissance for us.

Theophrastus is known as the father of botany and is a bit of a hero of mine.
The medical instruments on display were in Heather's words 'a chamber of horrors', especially those associated with childbirth, but we spent a couple of hours in this quiet museum and I would certainly visit it again.

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Simply..it's a miracle....

30/4/2018

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..not only that it still exists, but that it works as well as it does.

Venice that is.

Deliveries, ambulances - yellow with blue flashing lights, rubbish collection - steep fines if you get it wrong! Repairs, sewage, I was aware of working vessels on the canals day and night. Washing hanging out to dry. One of the nicest sounds was the voices of children going to school in the mornings in the street below our apartment.

This issue is one of the most contentious of all..

We saw a swallow in Venice, and yesterday I spotted the first one here. I wonder if they will nest with us again...

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Simply..Italian style....

28/4/2018

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We did not shop in Venice, except for food. until our last morning when I bought some Murano glass gifts and Heather bought a beautiful little bag, but do come window shopping with me - what windows! What style!

Elegance and simplicity in a quiet back street

and in front of the Gritti Palace Hotel.

Wit in the optician's window,

and charm outside a restaurant.

Stunning glass of course...

Jewellery of every kind.

Fabulous clothes.

Paints aand pigments by the jar or bag or box...

Antiques.

Pennacchio!

Do you have a favourite place to window shop?

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Simply..ghosts?

26/4/2018

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There is a 'back story' (if I am using that term correctly) to my Venice trip which newer readers of Live Simply Simply Live may not know of..

My husband Barry and I had planned to spend a month in Venice in February 2016 and had done lots of research and planning and booked an apartment which was very Venetian. We wanted to know we were in Venice and didn't want to stay in a place which could have been anywhere. So the one we found had a canal, a bridge and a private terrace with a view of this 15C church! You can see the apartment here.

When Barry died unexpectedly the owners of the apartment said they regretted they could not refund the deposit but would hold it indefinitely to be used by me or anyone I cared to give it to, and it went to the back of my mind for many months.

Little window on the terrace

As you can imagine it was with mixed feelings I went to Venice without Barry and to the apartment we had so carefully chosen. I know Barry would have been as thrilled as I was that our lovely Heather came along. She made it fun and a very healing and happy experience.

Last night I watched a production of Vera Brittain's Testament of Youth. In it, towards the end, Winifred tells Vera, who has suffered devastating losses at a very young age,

'All of us are surrounded by ghosts. Now we need to learn how to live with them. You must start at the beginning. Get up, get dressed, eat. Spring is out there, waiting...'

For me, Venice was out there, waiting, and I'm very glad I went to meet her.

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Simply..birth, death and politics....

24/4/2018

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..in Venice which is still a living city of some 57,000 people.

I had read of this tradition to announce the arrival and the sex (blue for a boy, pink for a girl) of a new baby by attaching a ribbon to the door.

Graffiti on the hoarding around the Accademia Bridge which is being restored.

I had planned to visit the church of SS Giovanni e Paolo on our last morning but a funeral was taking place.

I have been following this blog about Venice with interest for a few years. The writer Steven Varni, wrote a post about the very funeral I mention above.

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Simply..indulge me....

22/4/2018

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as I post a few more memories of Venice!

I learned from Heather, who learned from Cinzia, who learned from her mother exactly now to make an espresso. I didn't know I liked it.

This came today. First try tomorrow morning.

How do you like your coffee?

This is quite fun.

I only read it after I came back :-)

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Simply..a bookshop....

16/4/2018

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..like no other!

In Libreria Acqua Alta they are prepared for high water and flooding

with books stacked in a gondola

in bathtubs

and in kayaks.

You can sit and read looking onto the canal

This is also the fire escape. And there are chandeliers on the crumbling ceiling,

and several cats.

Fantastico, no?

Back soon.

9 Comments

Simply..early and late....

15/4/2018

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If you have been to Venice you will know that even in April it can be very crowded and we found it best to be out early, or late after the day trippers have left, and to go to some of the lesser known museums and galleries.

On our first full day Heather had us up before dawn to see the sunrise from in front of the Doge's Palace.

This is my favourite shot.

One of the many sweepers out at dawn to clean, with birch brooms, the Piazza and the surrounding areas.

There were only the sweepers and a few other photographers around and the light was beautiful.

The Bridge of Sighs Ponte del Sospiri built in the 1600's and so called because of the supposed sighs of those who passed from the courts of the Doge's Palace on the left to the prison building on the right.

It took us just 15 minutes with the help of Google to get from our apartment to Piazza San Marco, without it it took 40 fascinating minutes to get back!

There is something to astonish and delight at every turn.

Back for breakfast on the terrace in warm sunshine!

Bliss.

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Simply..Venezia....

13/4/2018

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Heather and I were walking back through a quiet, almost empty Piazza San Marco to our apartment having just been to a superb performance of Madame Butterfly in La Fenice. It had rained while we were in the theatre. The cafes were almost empty and the chairs were being cleared away but the orchestra was still playing...I didn't really want anything other than Puccini in my head, but my feet were doing the listening and they could not help but move to Scott Joplin. Heather laughed and videod me (No, I am not showing it here!)

Almost exactly two years to the day since this post...

I am passionate about Venice.

A wedding today.

More passion.

More dancing!

So happy.

Venice by night is magical. Lighted windows became something of a theme....

'Our' bridge! The door to our apartment is just by the railings on the right.

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I simply danced....

13/4/2018

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..for joy in Piazza San Marco last Tuesday night.

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Simply..sunshine....

1/4/2018

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..on Loch Fyne today.

In the village of Newton is a long floating pontoon.

Looking north from it..

Looking south to the village..

and at the end of it a picnic table! With flag.

One day I will take a picnic there.

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Simply managed....

3/3/2018

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..to avoid the snow! We must have been in one of the very few places in UK not to have snowstorms (my village was cut off while I was away). Ardfern was bitterly cold but dry and bright with barely a flurry of the white stuff, and we had a most relaxing time.

We were five (three good cooks - I am so lucky with my friends!). A walk around the frozen ponds in Arduaine Gardens looking at the strange hieroglyphs on the frosted paths, books, films, food and wine and lots of laughter. We watched in amazement the rest of the country on the nightly news and shared pictures and news from our stranded friends and families.

The roads had re-opened when it was time to come home.

This seemed to be the only hazard (and we didn't see it).

How did you fare?

I hope you are all safe and warm.

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Simply..faster than fairies faster than witches....

16/1/2018

7 Comments

A snowy journey home..

And heroes appeared to be a theme..

Here is the engine that pulled the train on the outward journey.

And I saw Gary Oldfield as Churchill in Our Darkest Hour (he will surely win an Oscar).

Where was I?

In York to meet Mary!

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Simply..the texture of a village....

21/11/2017

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Does this give you a feel of the wintry place? Though there is still quite a lot of colour.

The village is Riccall in North Yorkshire.

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Simply..Nairn....

19/10/2017

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A nice wee Scottish town with great beaches,

and long-legged people

with interesting shoes

I wonder who designs the soles?

and if it's a fun job..

Nairn also has

this lovely old postbox

and the best flower shop in the area. (My sister's!)

www.theflowershopnairn.co.uk/

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Simply..under wraps....

29/9/2017

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So many of York's important buildings were under scaffolding on my last visit (Phoebe the cat lives in York).

St William's College.

The Mansion House.

Micklegate Bar.

With photograph. (To show you what you are missing.)

And many many more..

Inluding the Minster which always was and always will be partially covered in scaffolding. It's essential work and it is good that the money can be found for conservation though it must be a bit frustrating for visitors who have come especially to see the architecture.

The east end of the Minster has been covered in scaffolding for many years while the restoration and conservation of the largest expanse of medieval stained glass in the world was carried out. It is wonderful to see it uncovered again.

4 Comments

Simply..holiday....

26/9/2017

8 Comments

The very essence of an ideal holiday for me..being out of doors in gentle sunshine, eating out, a total media break, a good book/gallery/concert...simple requirements.

This can be city or country, abroad or at home, any season, and for a day or a week. I could add no timetable, the freedom to change my mind on a whim, and I would always want my camera.

I prefer short breaks and like to think that is because I love home and don't need to 'escape' it to have a holiday.

Are you also torn between returning to places you love and going somewhere new?

I enjoy quite frequent changes of scene and prefer the company of family and close friends to that of strangers, though I'm happy with my own company too.

Childhood holidays at the seaside, away from the city grime were very special and keenly anticipated once a year events, though when an aunt moved to rural Wigtownshire we spent Easters and some of summer there in the bracing air with wide sandy beaches to ourselves and the freedom to go and explore on our own.

I love holidays.

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Simply..holiday....

24/9/2017

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What four things make your ideal holiday?

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Simply..cat sitting....

23/9/2017

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Meet Phoebe.

A dear little contented cat.

An undemanding companion, who knows, as only cats know, how to relax totally.

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Simply..time to party....

11/8/2017

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A special birthday with a patchwork theme.

Quilt expert Maggie (we set up Quilter's Patch in York together) hung her favourite quilts around the walls of the prettily transformed hall where the party was to be held. We took the opportunity to photograph the collection the day before.

It was such fun being part of a team again, and I also had the nice job of doing flowers and candles for the tables....

Plentiful food and drink, music, family and friends to catch up with - the party, like the birthday girl, was amazing!

Thank you Maggie and family.

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Simply..my second home....

10/8/2017

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Do you have a place you think of as your second home?

Regular readers will know that I feel that way about the city of York.

I love this statue by the Minster.

That hand - so expressive of power, cinfidence, arrogance even. It makes me wonder about the man and his times and want to know more. Nowhere brings history alive for me quite like this city.

I was there for a very special party.

More tomorrow....

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Simply..Bach....

21/12/2016

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The Bach Christmas Oratorio in the Berliner Dom was thrilling.

A dusting of snow on the hills at home today...and here is a poem for the solstice.

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Simply..in Berlin....

20/12/2016

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I was staying with my artist friend Lynne Cameron who is living and working in Berlin and has an exhibition at Under The Mango Tree Gallery in the attractive Schoneberg district - good restaurants, stylish clothes shops, great coffee shops and a Saturday market with traditional German cakes, Turkish food and Polish specialities, Christmas foliage and amaryllis and masses of mistletoe.

See Lynne's work here and read what she says about the recent tragedy here at The Empathy Blog.

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Simply..an English idyll....

Simply..bacari and cicheti....

Simply..not the real thing....

Simply..it's a miracle....

Simply..Italian style....

Simply..ghosts?

Simply..birth, death and politics....

Simply..indulge me....

Simply..a bookshop....

Simply..early and late....

Simply..Venezia....

I simply danced....

Simply..sunshine....

Simply managed....

Simply..faster than fairies faster than witches....

Simply..the texture of a village....

Simply..Nairn....

Simply..under wraps....

Simply..holiday....

Simply..holiday....

Simply..cat sitting....

Simply..time to party....

Simply..my second home....

Simply..Bach....

Simply..in Berlin....

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