Back to July

We've been back from our yearly September sojourn in Belgium's west country for nearly two weeks now and I can't wait to tell you all about it.  That said, I had to go back to work straight away so I haven't even had the time to upload my photos yet. Also, I am way, way behind with blogging: no matter how hard I try, it seems nigh on impossible to get back into my old blogging rhythm. So, before I'm setting myself the pleasurable task of reliving our final holiday of the year, I need to take you back to last Summer, and more specifically the month of July.

We didn't go on any outings, so it will be mainly outfits you'll get to see here. Plus a garden update as lots of things have been happening since all signs of life had been completely obliterated from the main part of our garden in early June.

July's first week brought a temporary relief from June's heatwave temperatures, but by the time the weekend rolled along we were back into the high twenties.

On Saturday the 4th, this butterfly-sleeved dress came out to play. It's vintage C&A and I'd picked it up in the Think Twice sales for € 5 back in June.

Sunday's chocolate brown polka-dot maxi skirt came from C&A as well, but rather than vintage or even second-hand, I'd bought it brand new during one of my lunch breaks a couple of months ago. It's currently having a head-to-head race with my fuchsia tiered maxi skirt for most worn Summer skirt. It will even make a second appearance in this post!

Its companion that day was a blue King Louie blouse patterned with white dots and orange flowers, a charity shop find in September 2024. My belt, necklace and ring were all charity shopped too.

Speaking of King Louie, I found the blouse I was wearing on Wednesday the 8th of July at Think Twice earlier that week. And yes, it was yet another sales bargain. For those not in the know, the shops are having a round of sales about every 4-5 weeks, starting with 30% off and ending with all items going for the silly price of € 1. It's both a blessing and a bane to have all 5 of their Antwerp shops within walking distance from my office!

I instantly knew the blouse would go a treat with this midi skirt I purchased from the outlet shop for the Belgian Green Ice label in the small shopping centre near my place of work. 

My green stretchy belt with its bamboo buckle was a cheeky high street buy a couple of years ago and has more than earned its keep in my wardrobe by now.

We caught Bess staring intently out of the kitchen window on the morning of Thursday, the 9th of July, her whiskers twitching excitedly as she followed the shenanigans of this cheeky little creature. It patiently waited until I'd grabbed my camera, then posed willingly, looking straight at the lens with what looked like a big smile on its face. 

 

Another wardrobe stalwart is the groovilicious vintage dress I wore to deal with that day's temperature, which had once again reached 30°C.

I paid € 4 for it at Think Twice back in June 2017 and when I walked into the shop wearing it a couple of days later I was stopped by a lady who told me she'd been dithering over the dress but didn't buy it as she didn't have a clue how to style it! 

Surely that's easy-peasy! As usual, I echoed both colours of the flowers with a pink raffia brooch, pink plastic ring and orange necklace and belt.

I'm skipping Friday, as no outfit photos were taken that day, to arrive on Saturday the 11th of July.

With the weather gods still having no mercy on us, I opted for a skirt and blouse combo in cotton and viscose.

The navy, flower sprinkled skirt was another vintage C&A treasure from Think Twice, while the blouse, with its mid-century style pattern - you can see a close-up here - was a charity shop find.

Meanwhile, our garden was definitely coming into its own, both with the new additions I planted to kickstart its resurrection and those of the old stalwarts which had survived the ordeal.

The Rudbeckia (top right and bottom left) was one of our new buys. It is still going strong to this day despite having spent the entire Summer in a planter. Together with Helenium 'Moerheim Beauty' (top left and bottom right) it has provided sunshine on even the cloudiest of days. Not that there were that many ot those, I hasten to add. 

In spite of the heat of the day, it had been a productive one as, apart from ticking off a list of chores, we'd booked our passage on LeShuttle in the morning and drove to the garden centre for more treasures for our garden in the afternoon.

The next week saw a continuation of the latest heatwave, the mercury consistently climbing into the low thirties.

I was trying to give the garden a run for its money on Tuesday the 14th of July, when I wore this floral extravaganza of a maxi skirt - another sales bargain from C&A which has been gracing my wardrobe since May 2022 - combined with a charity shopped fiery orange cotton blouse from the upmarket Belgian Gigue label. It wasn't the first time they were worn together and I'm sure it won't be the last!

Two days later it was the turn of another beloved vintage favourite: a 1950s cotton Summer dress.

Plucked from the Think Twice rails back in June 2019, it has been a Summer staple ever since. For many years, I thought its background colour was black, but it's actually a very dark navy blue!

By Friday, it had thankfully cooled down to a much more bearable 25°C.

Being a non-office day, I had time to play dress-up, rather than hastily assemble an outfit or wear one I've prepared in advance. That day, the giraffe print skirt I charity shopped in June 2025 caught my eye. I've got a bit of a thing for chocolate brown lately and it does go surprisingly well with lots of items in my wardrobe. The top that made the grade that day is by King Louie and was a charity shop find back in May 2022. My belt, necklace and tomato-red sandals were all high street finds.

It was a lovely surprise to see the splash of fiery orange supplied by Crocosmia 'Carmine Brilliant' (above, top right), which we planted back in the Summer of 2020 and which we thought had gone for good.

Having joined our garden one year later, Clematis 'Guernsey Cream', with its big saucer-like flowers (below, top left), decided to join the party too, even if it only produced the one flower. 

 

Phlox 'Sweet Summer Wine' (above, bottom left and right) is another one we planted back in 2021. After having done a disappearing act in the last couple of years, it clearly felt the time was right for a comeback. It's currently a mass of vibrant magenta flowers!

Finally, it looks like the next generation of foxgloves is ready for next year (above, top right).

The mercury didn't climb higher than 20°C on Sunday, when I joined my friend Inez for drinks and a long overdue catch-up at our usual haunt in the village.

My swishy pleated green and white zig-zaggy maxi skirt was charity shopped last Summer. It's an absolute delight to wear although I do have to refrain from wearing it to work as it tends to get eaten by the wheels of my office chair! I paired it with a flowery vintage blouse and pink and green accessories.

No outfit photos were taken during the following week until Friday the 24th, when I had to go into the office for a couple of hours as my colleague was on holiday.

My chocolate brown polka-dot maxi skirt from C&A made another appearance, this time combined with a multi-coloured zig-zag patterned t-shirt which caught my eye in a charity shop in the Summer of 2024. I was wearing the same dusky pink belt I wore with Sunday's outfit, and a necklace bought from Accessorize back the mists of time.

We woke up to a grey and gloomy day on Sunday the 23rd, with a couple of short-lived but very welcome showers on the menu during the day.

I fell head over heels for the skirt, which I snapped up at the silly price of € 5 from Think Twice back in June. For its first outing, I wore it with a nautical style knitted top from the Belgian Who's That Girl label, bought brand new from their shop about a decade ago. My accessories, as usual, were a mix of new and new-to-me. 

Slowly but surely, the Boston Ivy - cut back completely on that fateful June day - is starting to clothe our boring old concrete shed again. 

Don't worry, we're no longer using these watering cans as their bottoms have rusted through. As they're purely for decoration purposes now, we don't mind them getting marooned by the Boston Ivy. The black thing in the middle of the table is a solar lantern, its filigreed sides throwing magical shadow after dark.

In true yo-yo fashion, temperatures were on the rise again by Wednesday when they day's highs of 29°C demanded I wear another one of my heatwave-proof frocks. This cotton Grace & Mila maxi - yet another charity shop find - provides additional ventilation with its floaty butterfly sleeves!

This post's final outfit was worn on Friday the 31st of July. My floral cotton dress in delicious shades of blue and green was a Think Twice find in May 2021 and for some incomprehensible reason I hadn't worn it in years. It's good thing I hadn't thrown it out after a year of being unworn as advised by the fashion police! It's not going anywhere any time soon!

I've got a final garden update for you as well. I'm sure it won't come as a complete surprise that our tiny garden pond had suffered from the ongoing neglect. A couple of weeks earlier I'd made the effort to empty its contents - a compact and very stubborn mass of dried mud - and filled it again with fresh well water. As a joke, I added two yellow plastic ducks, a gift from Jos's younger daughter when we moved into Dove Cottage back in 1999. They don't seem to like each other much, though :-)

But I simply cannot bid you goodbye without imparting some good news. Last week Jos had another CT-scan, the results of which we got on Thursday. I'm sure you can imagine what a relief it was to hear that everything is stable! He doesn't need any further treatment for the moment and is only due back at the hospital for his next scan in January!

Meanwhile, I hope to be back with the first installment of my west country travelogue shortly, and I solemnly promise to be visiting your lovely blogs soon!

Back to the UK - Part 2

 Hello, and welcome to the second part of my UK travelogue!

We've reached Monday, the 10th of August when, after a leisurely start to the day, we were ready for another little adventure. With the weather gods gearing up for what would ultimately be the hottest day in the UK later that week, we were thankful for the temporary drop in temperature to a more bearable 27°C.  This we judged to be the perfect opportunity to make a return visit to Royal Tunbridge Wells after we'd last been there back in the mists of time 2005.

Truus, our Satnav, was well-behaved for once, and brought us to the Upper Pantiles car park without any issues. There, it seemed that all parking spaces with the tiniest bit of shade were reserved for hotel guests, so that there was nothing for it but to park in full sunshine. 

From here, it was just a couple of minutes walk to the Pantiles, although it took us some time to cross the traffic heavy road separating us from the town's most-visited landmark.

The Pantiles are a historic Georgian colonnaded walkway, its Upper Walk lined with cafes, bars and restaurants, while the Lower Walk is home to a range of high-end boutiques

In 1698, Princess Anne, who was a frequent visitor to the Wells - more about these in a minute - gave £100 to have the Upper Walk paved after her son, the Duke of Gloucester, slipped and fell whilst playing. When she returned the following year nothing had been done and she left never to return.

Eventually both Walks were paved with Pantiles which were clay tiles baked in a pan. 

The Pantiles is also where you’ll find the Chalybeate Spring, the iconic spring discovered in 1606 that put the town on the map. 

The Chalybeate Spring (pronounced ka-lee-bee-at) water contains iron, manganese, zinc and calcium in extraordinarily high volumes. It has been claimed that the water has rejuvenating properties, helping to cure hangovers, stomach ailments and even infertility!

In fact, in 1629, Her Majesty the Queen of England came to enjoy the waters – quickly followed by finding herself pregnant with Charles II! Eventually, in 1909, King Edward VII granted Tunbridge Wells its Royal title to commemorate its long-standing royal connection.

On the occasion of the coronation of King Charles III in May 2023, a new brand of spring water was introduced: Royal TW Spring Water.  Available to buy in glass bottles from the vending machine (above, top left), it includes natural, sparkling and botanically-infused varieties.

According to the town's website, it takes 20 minutes to walk from one end of the town to the other, which is something we often did back in the days when we were 20-odd years younger. It took a bit more of an effort this time around, particularly as part of the way is slightly uphill. At one point, I left Jos sitting on a bench, while I went ahead to see how much further our destination was. 

Ever since I'd learned of its existence, I was determined to have lunch at Tunbridge Well's branch of Wetherspoons. This was originally built as an opera house, opening in 1902 and becoming a cinema in 1931. About 40 years later, it made the transition into a bingo hall and then finally, into a pub after it was purchased by J D Wetherspoon in 1996. It was tastefully restored it to its former glory including the stage, stalls, circle and boxes. Since 2006, they are even hosting annual opera performances.

My photos definitely doesn't do the venue justice as, having accidentally left my camera behind at the cottage, I had to make do with my phone's camera.

After lunch, we ditched our plans to do some proper shopping and made our way back to the Pantiles, stopping for a browse at a handful of charity shops along the way. Then, after a final round of cappuccinos on the terrace of a Pantiles coffee bar, we returned to the cottage.

The weather on Tuesday was almost a carbon copy of Monday's, with a deep blue, almost cloudless sky and temperatures reaching the high twenties. 

On the menu that day was a visit to Hever Castle, just under half an hour's drive from our cottage. 

The contrast with our previous visit, on a rainy Sunday afternoon in July 2004, couldn't have been greater. Apart from the weather, it was definitely a lot busier now, smack dab in the middle of high season. Arriving at the car park, there was a sea of cars already parked in the grassy field, with a handful of parking assistants giving directions as to where to leave our car. 

Having paid for our tickets, we admired the impressive Loggia, overlooking the 38-acre lake, before venturing into the Italian garden with its Pompeian Wall and classical statuary, all part of the 125 acres of glorious grounds at Hever Castle, and one of the most spectacular gardens to visit in Kent. 

I'm sure it would all look even more spectacular set amid fresh green lawns instead of the semi desert these had been turned into courtesy of the relentless succession of heatwaves this Summer had in store for us. 

I was charmed by the so-called Blue Corner (above, top left), a rockery garden where the predominant colour is - you've guessed it - blue. The plants are concentrated around huge rocks and a set of steps (see outfit photo below) and include blue hydrangeas, ceanothus and blue seasonal perennials.

Although there was so much more of the gardens to explore, it was nearing midday and our stomachs demanded that we stopped for lunch. Silly us hadn't brought a picnic, or even a bottle of water to drink, so thankfully we weren't too far from the Guthrie Pavilion. Here, we ordered egg mayonnaise sandwiches and cappuccinos, plus a sweet treat for afters. 

Then we were ready to continue our explorations, but not before taking outfit photos in the Blue Corner.

My Missoni-esque zig-zag patterned skirt came out of my suitcase again, combined with a drapey black patterned top by Rhétorique, charity shopped about two years ago. My Clarks sandals - bought in Shropshire back in 2018 - were the only footwear I would wear that week.

We started walking into the direction of the castle, which was once the  childhood home of Anne Boleyn, the ill-fated second wife of Henry VIII and mother of Elizabeth I.

The romantic double-moated 14th Century castle formed the backdrop to a sequence of tumultuous events that changed the course of Britain’s history, monarchy and religion, making it one of the most fascinating castles in Kent.

Its panelled rooms house fine furniture, tapestries, antiques and what is regarded by some as one of the best collections of Tudor portraits after the National Portrait Gallery.  

Today, much of what you see is the result of the remarkable efforts of William Waldorf Astor, who used his fortune to restore and extend the castle in the early 20th Century.

The fact that it was quite busy - more often than not, there were queues for entering certain rooms - made photography a difficult exercise, particularly if like me you don't want people in your photos, the odd exception notwithstanding!

Lacking the patience for using audio guides, we just roamed at will, preferring to buy a guide book which we could later leaf through at ease. 

It is traditionally believed that Henry VIII visited the Castle on several occasions during his courtship with Anne Boleyn, though it is doubtful that he ever spent the night considering the small size of the castle as well as his ownership of Penshurst Place, located a mere 3 miles to the north.

Now, let it be so that Penshurst Place was next on our itinerary, and our destination for Wednesday the 12th of August. The weather gods were having a dress rehearsal for Thursday, which would officially be declared the hottest day of the year in the UK. For starters, they'd cranked up the thermostat to a sizzling 32°C.

Once again, Penshurst Place is somewhere we'd been before, in July 2004. I'd forgotten to take note of the temperature in that year's travel journal, but I'm sure it wasn't anywhere near this hot. That said, judging from our photo album, the sky definitely matched this year's.

Trying to keep as much to the shade as possible, we ventured into the garden, where we were captivated by the sight of the 14th Century turreted manor house peeking out above the hedge, with the lily pad covered pond in the foreground.

We briefly stopped to get our bearings, perusing the estate map while sitting on a stone bench in a shady corner. 

As you can see, I was wearing my tiered fuchsia maxi skirt again. A Think Twice find back in March 2025, it has more than earned its keep by now. Its companion this time was an orange and pink patterned cotton top by Belgian label Mer du Nord, charity shopped in May 2022.

Having had another late start that morning, it didn't take long for our stomachs to remind us that it was time for lunch, for which we returned to the Porcupine Pantry Café, which is situated just outside the property itself next to the ticket office. There, we ordered cheese and ham sandwiches, which came with a complimentary packet of crisps. 

Thus fortified, we made our way towards the manor house, again keeping to the shade wherever possible, as it had become unbearably hot by then. Once the  property of King Henry VIII, who used it as a hunting lodge, the house was left to his son King Edward VI and granted to Sir William Sidney in 1552. The Sidney family have been in continuous occupation for more than 470 years since, making it one of the oldest family-owned estates in England. 

If at first we were mystified by the café's name, the penny dropped when I noticed the carved porcupine plaque in the wall and found out that the porcupine is part of the Sidney family crest. 

Before entering the house proper, we paid a visit to the small but perfectly formed Toy Museum in the courtyard. The collection consists of around 2000 items, with pieces dating from the Georgian period to the 1980s. Its undisputed star is the Drinking Bear, a 1920s automaton made by Roullet & Decamps of Paris, for which 2 p coins were generously distributed by the museum's warden.

The manor house is entered via the Baron’s Hall, which is at the very heart of Penshurst Place.

Belonging to the original part of the house, the Hall was completed in 1341 and features a magnificent chestnut roof, arcaded windows, a 16th century Minstrel’s Gallery and unique octagonal hearth.

It was mercifully cool inside, so we might have lingered a bit longer. At regular intervals seats were provided for Jos to make use of while I took in the details of the various rooms.

The Queen Elizabeth Room (above, top right), named after Queen Elizabeth I, who often held audience there during her many visits to Penshurst Place, has a remarkable display of early upholstered furniture. It was one of the first additions to the original house in the early 15th century.

Once the withdrawing room of the medieval house and where the family would retreat for some privacy, the West Solar (above, bottom left) contains an interesting collection of family portraits,  furniture and porcelain.

We wandered along the magnificent Elizabethan Long Gallery (above, bottom left) full of royal and family portraits. The wing that includes the Long Gallery was started in 1599. Long Galleries were very fashionable at the time and were used for exercise and showing off portraits, tapestries and furniture.

Penshurst Place is a popular filming location for historical dramas and television series. The costumes on display on the bottom right were used in Wolf Hall (2015),  a British television series adaptation of the book trilogy of the same name by the late Hilary Mantel.

Located in the 15th Century Buckingham Building, the so-called Victorian Kitchen – with its high ceilings and flagstone floor – was used as the main kitchen for Penshurst Place from at least the 1800’s through to 1950. Now carefully restored, it provides a snapshot in time of how a traditional kitchen in a large private house would have been used, plus insight into the roles of the household staff on a country estate.

After a final round of refreshments at the Porcupine Pantry café, it was time to return to the cottage.

And then Thursday, our final day, dawned, bringing along temperatures which would climb to the mid-thirties and beyond, making it the hottest day of the year in the UK. 

Now, what to do? Well, we actually spent a large portion of the day in a blissfully airconditioned shopping centre in Tunbridge Wells, as we had some shopping to do.

To make up for the fact that we would be going home the next day, I treated myself to a couple of naughty purchases at Monsoon, all at 70% off! I wore the gingham maxi on our journey home on Friday.

A quick look at what I was wearing on Thursday. Funnily enough, both the skirt and the top were charity shopped in the UK. If the skirt looks familiar, it's because it featured in my previous post as one of my finds in the charity shop in Wadhurst on our first day.

Well, that was it. In the meantime, our bags are packed again, as we will be leaving for our usual week in Belgium's west country on Sunday!

See you on the other side!

Back to the UK

We've been back from our week in the UK for over a week now and, courtesy of my return to the hamster wheel on Monday, the memories we've created are already starting to fade just that tiny little bit. Obviously, we can't let this happen, so it's high time I got this travelogue started!

In spite of the weather gods having somewhat thwarted our plans by treating us to yet another heatwave, we had a wonderful time away from it all, rejoicing in the fact that, after an absence of two years, we'd made it across the channel once more.

But let's begin at the beginning by showing you the outfit I travelled in on Thursday the 6th of August.

Apart from the necklace, which I charity shopped in Poperinge in September 2019, everything I'm wearing was bought on the high street at one time or another, my most recent acquisitions being the sales bargain belt and brooch.

I'm sure that those of you who have been following my blog for a while might have recognized the background and might therefore be doubting my sanity as surely, this is not in the UK? You are right, of course: I'm standing on the balcony of our beloved Marjolein Guesthouse in Poperinge, so I guess I've got some explanation to do ...

In the weeks leading up to our holiday, I'd read with dismay that there would a serious disruption due to roadworks on the E17 motorway in the Ghent area at our time of travel. As we were not looking forward to the delay this would undoubtedly create during rush hour on Friday morning, we'd contacted our friend Marino in Poperinge, who kindly agreed to put us up for one night only, even though normally the minimum stay at the cottage is for two nights.

So, we travelled down on Thursday afternoon, spent a relaxing evening and good night's sleep at the cottage, before continuing our journey to Calais. The beauty of this was that it was less than an hour's drive from Poperinge and, apart from the final stretch, mainly along quiet country roads. And we didn't even have to get up at the crack of dawn! As we'd booked a midday train, we were able to wave goodbye to Marino just after 10 am.

As Jos's health and stamina didn't allow us to travel too far, we'd booked a cottage on the Kent/East Sussex border, about 5 miles from the town of Royal Tunbridge Wells. We'd holidayed in the area twice before, both over 20 years ago, and were looking forward to our return visit to what is known as The Garden of England. 

However, what should have been a straightforward journey of about one hour and fifteen minutes turned out to be a little bit of a nightmare as about half way in we were faced by a road closure, after which Truus, our obstinate Satnav with the Dutch accent, made us drive around in circles. Thankfully, my map reading skills managed to come to the rescue, but it was still almost 45 minutes later than planned that we arrived at our cottage for the week.

Granary Cottage is all we could have wished for, and more. Tastefully decorated, it was part of the owners' property (called The Dairy, hence the cow and milkmaid weathervane!) but sufficiently private and with a little walled patio garden of our own.

The owners couldn't have been more welcoming and helpful. Although check-in was normally from 4 pm onwards, Clare had called me the evening before to say that the cottage would be ready for us from 10 am onwards!

After unloading the car and making ourselves at home, boosting our muddled brains with restorative cups of coffee and some of the treats we'd brought from LeShuttle's Flexiplus lounge, we drove down to Sainsbury's in Tunbridge Wells for a food shop.

In spite of the sweltering temperatures, it managed to stay relatively cool inside our cottage. Even our bedroom and en-suite bathroom under the eaves cooled down considerably in the evenings by having the huge VELUX windows open at both ends. It was only during the last two evenings - with temperatures having soared to well over 30°C during the day - that we had to make use of the fan we'd found hidden away in one of the built-in cupboards. 

We woke up refreshed on Saturday morning and, after one of Jos's famous Full Englishes, we were ready to face the day.

Although I did need to lie down for a bit after the ordeal of pulling on Jos's compression stockings! I'd like to think I've become a bit more proficient at the task in the meantime :-)

We started the day by driving down to Wadhurst, about 3 miles down the road from the cottage. 

A historic market town, with a Charter dating from 1253, Wadhurst lies almost at the northern extremity of East Sussex in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, on a high ridge of the Sussex and Kent Weald.

It's a delightful little town with a vibrant high street, where I was lucky in the first and only charity shop I visited, called Hospice in the Weald.

Within 5 minutes of stepping inside, I found a green cotton Broderie Anglaise maxi and ditto maxi skirt, both by M&S, and a stripy white and green linen blend maxi by Tesco's F&F label.

Before returning to the cottage for lunch we shared a brownie washed down with huge cups of chocolate sprinkled cappuccinos at the delightfully named Artful Grocers, a grocers and deli with on-site café. 

After a latish lunch at the cottage, we were ready for our afternoon outing. For this we'd selected Pashley Manor Gardens in Ticehurst, a leisurely 15-minute drive from the cottage.

Like all the properties we would visit during our stay, this is one we'd been to before, back in 2004.

Although the manor itself cannot be visited, the garden, comprising 11 acres of beautiful borders and vistas, are an absolute treat.

These stunning gardens, on the border of Sussex and Kent, are family owned and maintained. All the ingredients of an English country garden are present: sweeping herbaceous borders, a ha-ha, well maintained (if due to the succession of heatwaves rather dry looking) lawns, box hedges, espaliered rose walk, walled garden, kitchen garden, venerable trees, all with the Grade I listed house as a backdrop.

So, it might come as a surprise when you learn that the gardens as they are now are fairly young. The current owners, the Sellick family, bought the manor with its overgrown and neglected gardens in 1981, and they were opened to the public in 1992.

Tucked in and around the planting and gardens are a number of sculptures, both by eminent sculptors and local artists.

After touring the gardens, I left Jos sitting at the swimming pool - he insisted on the silly pose, above, bottom right - while I explored the walled garden and kitchen garden until the clock insisted it was time we made our way to the café for cakes and the obligatory cappuccinos.

As an aside, the history of Pashley Manor dates back to the 13th Century when the house stood on what is now a moated island at the bottom of the lawn at the rear of the house. It was owned by the Pashley family until the mid-15th Century when it was bought by Sir Geoffrey Boleyn the great-grandfather of Anne Boleyn.

We woke up to what would turn out to be a scorcher of a day on Sunday the 9th of August, but although we'd made plans for the day, we needed to stock up at the supermarket first. This would involve what we thought would be a quick dash to Tunbridge Wells. Needless to say, we'd thought wrong as we'd only arrived at Frant, the next village up the road, when we were faced with another road closure. We were obliged to follow a diversion along a road which was chock-a-block with diverted traffic. We were left to our own devices when the diversion suddenly ended and it was nothing short of a miracle that we managed to end up where we were going to.

But I digress. Having finally made it back to the cottage, it was time for lunch and a little rest, after which we embarked on the 20-minute or so drive to the one and only National Trust property we would visit during our week.

Bateman's is a Jacobean house built in 1634, in Burwash, East Sussex, which was the family home of Rudyard Kipling from 1902 until his death in 1936.  Kipling's widow Caroline bequeathed the house to the National Trust on her death in 1939. 

The17th-century house, with its mullioned windows and oak beams, provided a much needed sanctuary to this world-famous writer and inspired his work.

The rooms, described by him as 'untouched and unfaked', remain much as he left them, with oak furniture, Persian rugs and artefacts reflecting his strong association with India. 

Kipling wrote Puck of Pook’s Hill and Rewards and Fairies at Bateman's, which includes the poem ‘If’. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1907.

Bateman's is very much a family home that feels as though the Kiplings have just gone out for the day.

A rare watercolour painting of a  Baloo, the "wise and gentle brown bear" and one of the most beloved characters in The Jungle Book, is on display (above, bottom right). The 1902 painting was created by Edward Julius Detmold – one of the Detmold twins who were commissioned to illustrate the book when they were 18. It is said that of the original 16 watercolours created by the brothers, only five are known to survive.

Courtesy of the heat - the mercury had mercilessly climbed to 32°C that day - Jos was feeling in need of a sit-down, so that we made a bee-line for the café for shared pieces of shortbread and brownie washed down with - you've guessed it! - cups of cappuccino!

Leaving Jos ensconced on the café's terrace, I briefly wandered around the garden, but I lacked the stamina to walk to the Park Mill like we did on our previous visit back in July 2024, coincidentally on the same day we visited Pashley Manor. No lack of stamina back then, it seems!

We passed this fun height chart on the way out, which we made use of to show you my outfit. As always, my charity shopped Missoni-esque skirt accompanied me on my travels. This time, I wore it with a peasant style green broderie anglaise blouse picked up in the New Look sales many years ago.

But surely I'm taller than 1 m 50? At the same time, rather confusingly, I seem to be taller than an elephant :-)

Obviously, we couldn't leave without a browse in the shop, which yielded two must-have books and a forget-me-not brooch. I am currently reading A Circle of Sisters, one of the sisters being Alice, Rudyard Kipling's mother.

We ended the day by winding (and cooling) down in our little patio garden until the sun went down, which we would be doing on most evenings that week.

I will be back with the final installment of my UK travelogue soon. I can't afford any dilly-dallying as we'll be going on another little adventure in just two weeks time.