Cozy Casita II, The Lovely Courtyard

It has been hot, hot, hot in the last couple of days here in San Diego inland with highest temperatures reaching 99F/37C yesterday. Needless to say that my garden is suffering and I often wish, that I had planted a more drought and heat tolerant garden at this time of the year.

There is just one catch, even though it is not politically correct to say, I have to admit that often drought tolerant gardens are not very appealing to me. I simply love my roses too much. But two years ago I had the chance to visit an incredibly beautiful one which was a true exception. I blogged about it already here, showcasing the front yard and today I will continue to introduce you to it and take you into the very lovely courtyard.

You enter the courtyard through a small insignificant wooden door from the street and suddenly you are in a completely enclosed very cozy and colorful space decorated with many, many containers holding drought tolerant plants. I was very impressed by this big cactus, adorned with, what I believe is, Spanish Moss.

The attention to detail in this garden room was incredible. Look for example at the foot of the cactus from the photo above. It is underplanted with many pretty succulents in all shapes and sizes and a small blue and white ceramic sphere is placed just for a pop of additional interest.

Details of the fountain that you can see in the first photo of this post. It looks like all the objects are loosely placed in the stone bowl that is the actual fountain. That certainly makes for a captivating display. The Mexican tiles add plenty of color and cheerfulness to the space.

A view of one corner of the courtyard. Plenty of beautiful containers in many different shapes, sizes and materials and some art objects are keeping your attention.

This looks like an old fireplace, that is not used anymore. More fascinating containers planted with small drought tolerant plants. I love the blue ornate sphere in the right corner. Blue was definitively a color that was often used and tied it all together.

Another container vignette. I love the blue-gray hues of these plants.

This one was my favorite. It really looked like that. The photo is not photoshopped.

This unique table was placed in the middle of the courtyard and shaded by a white sun umbrella. I think this is an amazing place to have breakfast or to end the day with a nice drink. I definitively would feel very comfortable here. 

This is the left side of the actual entrance to the house. The door to the house is open, visible to the right of the photo.

Another interesting pot parade to the right side of the entrance to the house. Do you see the beautiful copper rain chain?  And the Mexican violinist made out of metal? To reach the back yard, which was actually located on a very difficult to plant, steep, hilly terrain, you needed to walk through the house. The backyard was nothing short of spectacular, but this is material for another post.  

If you liked this courtyard and you haven't seen my first post about this garden, yet, I highly encourage to click the link below and go back and take a look at the front yard. I think it is truly special as well.

Cozy Casita I, Front Yard

Hope you are able to stay nice and cool and enjoy the summer if you are living in the Nothern Hemisphere. I am not a big fan of water, but I may consider taking a dip in the pool later today, the heat is really getting to me.

See you in the garden!

Warm regards,

Christina

I am linking up to 
Rustic & Refined - Dishing It & Digging It  //  Everyday Living - Gardens Galore  //  Between Naps On The Porch - Metamorphosis Monday  //  Dwellings - The Heart of Your Home - Amaze Me Monday  //  Cedar Hill Farmhouse - The Scoop  //  Sweet Sensations - Celebrate Your Story  //  A Stroll Thru Life - Inspire Me Tuesday  //  Savvy Southern Style - Wow Us Wednesday  //  A Southern Daydreamer - Outdoor Wednesday  //  Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson - Share Your Cup  //  21 Rosemary Lane - Share Your Style  //  Eclectic Red Barn - Thursday Favorite Things  //  A Delightsome Life - Home and Garden Thursday  //  French Country Cottage - Feathered Nest Friday  //  Rattlebridge Farm - Foodie Friday & Everything Else  //  Shabby Art Boutique - Create, Bake, Grow & Gather  //  How Sweet The Sound - "Anyting Goes" Pink Saturday  //  My Soulful Home - Sundays at Home  //

A Posh English Afternoon Tea at The Slaughters Manor House, England

Honestly, we didn't have the best weather when we have been in England for our annual vacation a little over two weeks ago. It was raining quite a bit and it was unusually cold for the season. Nonetheless, we enjoyed our vacation abroad very much, making the best out of every day regardless of the typical English weather caprioles.

One day was particularly cold and rainy though, and we hardly made it to drag us out of our cozy and warm cottage and realize our plans to explore the charming Cotswolds villages of Lower and Upper Slaughter.

When we parked the car in Lower Slaughter, an impressive manor house in the middle of the village caught my eye with an inviting sign reading "Afternoon Tea" at the entrance gate of the property. When we got closer it turned out to be The Slaughters Manor House, a three-star hotel. We took a closer look at the house...




...and briefly toured the beautiful, well-kept grounds. Isn't this formal "blue garden" lovely?

I always fall for old statuary like this pretty lady surrounded by blue delphiniums and catmint placed in the center of the formal garden shown in the photo above.

After the initial quick look, we dismissed the idea of having an English Afternoon Tea there, because this place seemed to be quite upscale. We dutifully stuck to our original plan and walked an admittedly very beautiful footpath called the Warden's Way to Upper Slaughter (highly recommended for a sunny day!) and explored this charming sleepy village. When we returned back to Lower Slaughter we were so cold and wet that I really felt like having an English Afternoon Tea as a treat. After our rainy walk, posh and fancy somehow wasn't so much of a concern anymore but sounded now on the contrary quite appealing. The need for something warm, delicious and lovely was just overriding any other objections. After all, who doesn't need a special reward from time to times?

So we walked up to the manor house hotel, again.

The entry looked like right out of a fairytale.

The staff was quite friendly and gave us the option to have our tea in the lounge or the library. After a brief reflection, we decided to take our seats in the beautiful lounge and ordered a Full Afternoon Tea to share. And then, after a short wait, the highly anticipated tea arrived! What a feast for the eyes! 

Let's take a closer look: It contained a selection of finger sandwiches, a plain and a fruit scone, clotted cream and jam, and some very fancy sweets. Tea or coffee was included. My husband went for a Darjeeling, which was quite delicious. Instead of tea or coffee, I preferred just hot water with lemon. 

The lounge was such a lovely stately room with a beautiful fireplace, a wonderful ornate white-painted ceiling, beautiful parquet floors, and tasteful modern furnishings. The wonderful ambiance of this space definitively contributed to our overall English Afternoon Tea experience.

Close-up of the sweets. Such a beautiful presentation!

When the waiter brought the three tiered tea stand, he explained to us what all the items were, but some of the descriptions were so complicated that even he got stuck. So please, bear with me that I am not able to explain the tea treats in more detail. 

Overall the savory treats were good. The little bite of salmon on the cracker was outstanding though, the fish just melted in the mouth. The scones were average. Some of the sweets tasted extraordinarily delicious like for example, the nutty mousse served in the special glass. The only sweet that I wasn't sold on, was the one that looked like a mini eclair filled with red and green cream. To me, it tasted a bit synthetic and I hope, that they didn't use artificial food coloring. 

  

Cut through, this fancy sweet tea treat revealed a tart heart. It was ultra delicious! 

I love chocolate and this sweet tasted just heavenly.

As we had initially expected, with 30 British Pounds (about 39 US Dollars)/person having an English Afternoon Tea (yes, that is without bubbly!) at The Slaughter Manor House is on the pricey side,...

...but the beautiful presentation, some extraordinarily good tea treats, and a wonderful atmosphere make up for that.

I would love to come back and enjoy this special tea, again.

Before I finish, I would like to let you know that I am on Instagram now. I post daily and would love if you would pop over to my Instagram account and see what I am up to there. Of course, if you would follow me on Instagram my joy would be even greater! You can either click the link in this text or use my Instagram button on the sidebar to the left of my blog.

Wishing everyone a lovely rest of the weekend, and in addition to that, my American readers, a wonderful 4th of July. Maybe you find the time and treat yourself to a special tea time as well.

See you hopefully soon,

Christina

 I am linking to
Rustic & Refined - Dishing It & Digging It  //  Dwellings - The Heart of Your Home - Amaze Me Monday  //  Between Naps On The Porch - Metamorphosis Monday  //  Antiques and Tea Cups - Tuesday Cuppa Tea  //  Cedar Hill Farmhouse - The Scoop  //  Sweet Sensations - Celebrate Your Story  //  Savvy Southern Style - Wow Us Wednesdays  //  Bernideen's Tea Time, Cottage and Garden - Tea In The Garden  //  A Delightsome Life - Home and Garden Thursday  //  Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson - Share Your Cup  //  21 Rosemary Lane - Share Your Style  // Vintage Mama's Cottage - Thursday Favorite Things  //  French Country Cottage - Feathered Nest Friday  //  Rattlebridge Farm - Foodie Friday and Everything Else  //  Shabby Art Boutique - Create, Bake, Grow & Gather  //  How Sweet The Sound - Anything Goes Pink Saturday  //  My Soulful Home - Sundays at Home  //

The Beautiful Little Church Bouquet From Adlestrop

When my husband and I visited Adlestrop for its Open Village Day to see some of the local gardens that opened to the public for this event, I spotted a woman walking on the street, holding a beautiful little bouquet of garden flowers in her hand. Then shortly after, I saw an elderly lady with another very similar bouquet. I thought there must be a connection and this time I simply had to ask her where she got her flowers from. She held her bouquet up and asked me to smell the roses used in it (they had a very lovely fragrance) and replied, that they were for sale for charity purposes in the little church of Adlestrop. So, of course, I had to go there and see if there were still some left and I also might be able to acquire one of these beauties.

We toured a few more gardens on the way to the church and when we finally arrived the bouquets were pretty much picked over and already a little disheveled. Most of them were past their prime and had started to wilt a bit. But that didn't deter me. I found my own little jewel under the last four small bouquets that were most likely made by volunteers from flowers from their gardens. The little plonk came with a tag attached that said: "From Adelstrop made with love". Isn't that sweet?

Happily, I brought it home with me, meaning back to our self-catering cottage. Directly after we arrived there, I cut the flowers back and most of them recovered pretty quickly.

I want to share this little source of joy for me and hope it will be the same for you.

The combination of the white and peach colored roses, together with the intense blue centaurea montana (blue violet cornflower) and the small blooms of the white mock orange simply spoke to me.

I like the contrast between the soft colors of white and peach and the strong saturated blue in the small bouquet.

From this angle, you see only blue and white which changes the ambiance of the small posy quite a bit.

 

 The sun was caressing the flowers.

All photos for this post were taken on the table standing in the little courtyard behind our rented cottage with the early evening sun shining through an adjacent tree creating interesting patterns of light and shade on the bouquet. 

I find this little plonk so beautiful and cheerful. It makes me want to grow all these typical cottage flowers in my own garden to be able to recreate something similar myself.

 

The magic of flowers!

 

Initially, I couldn't find a suitable vase in the cottage, but when I searched it for a fitting vessel, I came across this one in the bathroom. It was sitting on the sink and I believe it is meant for our toothbrushes and toothpaste, but I think it is ideal to hold this little bouquet.

I hope that a little flower bouquet finds its way into your homes this week as well and brightens up your days!

Warm regards,

Christina

I am linking up to 
A Delightsome Life - Home and Garden Thursday  //  Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson - Share Your Cup  //  21 Rosemary Lane - Share Your Style  //  Vintage Mama's Cottage - Thursday Favorite Things  //  French Country Cottage - Feathered Nest Friday  //  Rattlebridge Farm - Foodie Friday and Everything Else  //  Holunderbluetchen - Friday-Flowerday  //  Shabby Art Boutique - Create, Bake, Grow & Gather  //  How Sweet The Sound - "Anything Goes" Pink Saturday  //  My Soulful Home - Sundays at Home  //  Angie The Freckled Rose - Dishing It & Digging It  //  Dwellings - The Heart of Your Home - Amaze Me Monday  //  Rambling in the Garden - In a Vase on Monday  //  Between Naps On The Porch - Metamorphosis Monday  //  Cedar Hill Farmhouse - The Scoop  //  Sweet Sensations - Celebrate Your Story  //  Savvy Southern Style - Wow Us Wednesdays  //  A Southern Day Dreamer - Outdoor Wednesday  //  Everyday Living - Gardens Galore