Marble Fireplaces...

We now have to decide on the fireplace settings and mantlepieces for Willowbrook.

There are 8 internal fireplaces and 2 external fireplaces.

Here are some of our favourites so far...

Some of these examples were found at Jamb.co.uk, a company which specializes in high-end chimneypieces, such as the Lansdowne Neoclassical fireplace above, and the Pelham fireplace, below.

Given that English country houses are a hodge-podge of styles, due to additions and alterations over successive generations, we do not have to religiously stick to Georgian period fireplaces, although that period produced some of my favourite stone and plaster work. Anything with a classical and monumental effect will suit well...

I must say that I do prefer natural stone hues to that of more colourful marbles, malachites et al, but they can be pretty...

I am not a fan of ultra tall chimney pieces, but here are a few nice examples...

What are your thoughts???

Dorset Horn Sheep...

Well, we had a lovely time at the Horse of The Year show, and came back with several nice antiques and a Georgian oil painting (a portrait of an unknown lady). We also collected our Dorset Horns. They are so cute, and very friendly (despite their horned appearance).

The Dorset Horn, which was developed to its present form in the mid 1800s, and is known for its all round qualities as a meat and wool producer.

Its chief distinction is its horns – large and curled – in both rams and ewes. Ewes with horns of this size and type are unique to the Dorset breed among modern domestic sheep, while the rams’ horns are even larger and tightly curled in “regimental mascot” style.

The Dorset Horn is a big sheep, hardy and very active. It boasts capacious stomach and is an excellent “doer”; a ewe in good condition tends always to look as though she is in lamb and even the rams often look a little “preggie”. The fleece is of medium length, fine and very white, and the face and legs, clear of wool, are also noticeably white and show another of the Dorset Horn’s distinguishing features – a pink nose and light coloured hooves. This pink and white look is particularly marked in lambs where it appears to be intensified. A young Dorset has "hoofs of mother-of-pearl and a nose like a fresh raspberry".

The breed’s other great distinction is the forwardness of the ewes. Dorset ewes can breed twice in one year although three lambings in two years is more usual. The lambing rate is good and they are excellent mothers with abundant milk.

The Dorset’s characteristics, the horns and the breeding rate, were bequeathed to it by a dominant ancestor – the now extremely rare Portland Sheep, found originally on and near Portland Island, very close to Dorchester. The Portland Sheep was first recorded in the sixteenth century and its origin is obscure, but it was spectacularly horned, and noteworthy because of its ability to lamb all year round – with up to four births in two years.

Dorset Horn sheep were imported into New Zealand in 1897 and several times in subsequent years, but did not prove very popular. A further importation in 1937 marked a period of breed increase, but numbers remained low. By the early 1990s they had dwindled less than five hundred in New Zealand and were also rare in their homeland, Great Britain.

Their horns are no longer acceptable at a commercial level. They cause carcase damage in these days of trucking sheep rather than driving them, and the shearers don’t like them either. They are, however, an excellent breed on a smallholding, being extremely quiet and easily handled, as well as producing excellent meat and saleable fleeces.

The Horse Of The Year Show...

Well, we are off for the weekend to the Hawke's Bay to watch our friend Shiwon compete in the Horse of the Year Show. It is the largest equestrian show in the southern hemisphere, and is (as the name implies) an annual event. It's always a little daunting watching riders much more skilled than oneself doing things that one only dreams of achieving. Still, it is a lot of fun, and also provides an oppurtunity to go antique hunting as well as pick up some more sheep (we are collecting another 5 ewes and a ram of the Dorset Horn variety - another rare breed). Will keep you posted on our return.

Have a great weekend,
David.

Horse of the Year Official Website

Rabbit Pie... Shooting parties and Wild Fare!

Last weekend some friends, who own a neighbouring estate, invited us over for lunch. They served a rabbit pie, which Richard had made from a rabbit he shot the night before. It was delicious. Which got me to thinking: why had I never tried rabbit before?

Known to city folk as cute little cotton-tails, portrayed as victims in such classics as Watership Down; but known to farmers as marauding vermin who are at best a free meal, and at worst the destroyer of the crops which provide their livelihood; these little creatures, I must say, are incredibly under rated.

As Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall puts it:

If I described to you a meat that was low in fat, delicate in flavour and hugely versatile, would you be interested? If I added that it was inexpensive, usually sourced very locally, and subject to none of the serious welfare concerns that attach to so much of the flesh we eat, would I have closed the deal? Such a meat certainly does exist - in abundant supply. But very few of us eat it.

I'm talking about wild rabbit. And I really rate it. Portioned, on the bone, it's an excellent meat for stews or casseroles. Boneless and trimmed, it makes a nifty stir-fry. And minced, well-seasoned and mixed with a bit of good fatty sausage meat, it can be pressed into service as a fantastic burger, too.

So, I've copied the recipe from our hosts, and here it is to share with you now...

Rabbit, Prune, Bacon and Leek Pie

1 Rabbit (500g of meat)
2 tbsp unsalted butter
a little flour for dusting
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 leek, washed and trimmed and chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
200g streaky bacon, chopped.
1 bay leaf
1 small bunch thyme
1 cup cider
500ml chicken stock
1 cup cream
a pinch of grated nutmeg
stlt and freshly ground black pepper
100g putted prunes, chopped
400g flaky pastry
1 whole egg, beaten

Dust the chopped meat with flour and add to the foaming hot butter and cook till lightly coloured on all sides. Set meat aside. Cook onions in meat pan for 3 mins without colouring. Add leaks and garlic and cook for 2-3 mins till leaks soften. Add bacon and bay leaf and thyme. Then return rabbit to the pan. Pour in the cider and stock and simmer gently for 40 mins. Remove meat and as much vegetable as possible, then reduce the stock by half on a high heat. Then add the cream and simmer for 15 mins. Sprinkle in nutmeg and add salt and pepper if necessary. When the meat is cool enough to handle, shred the meat from the bones and place it in a bowl. Place meat in a pie dish and sprinkle on the chopped prunes. Pour over the sauce and cool for 30 mins in the fridge.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Roll out pastry to fit the pie dish, leaving 2 cm overhang. Dampen the edge of the dish with water and drape pastry over the top, then crimp the edges. Make a steam hole in the centre of the pastry. Brush with beaten egg and bake for 40 mins or until the pastry is golden brown and a skewer inserted into the filling comes out hot. Serves 6 (although, I suspect some rabbits may serve more....)

Cire Trudon Candles...

Cire Trudon is the oldest candle manufacturing company in the world. It was founded in 1643. and was the largest wax-producing factory in the French Kingdom during the 17th and 18th centuries.

In 1643, a salesman named Claude Trudon arrived in Paris. He soon became the owner of a shop on Saint-Honore, which provided its customers with wax candles for domestic usage as well as church candles to the neighbouring Saint Roche parish. The candles were "home made", developing and building on a specific manufacturing process. On the eve of the reign of Luois XIV, Trudon established his first family-owned factory which was to bear his name and make the fortune for his heirs.

Claude's son Jacques took over, becoming a grocer and wax producer and joined the Versilles royal court in 1687 as the apothecary and distiller of Queen Marie-Thérèse.

At the time, wax was under high scrutiny. Carefully collected on the hive, it was bleached through a series of pure water baths that washed off all the impurities. Dried in the open air, the wax was whitened by sunlight. When burning, the flame lit the translucent edges generating the glowing aura of the candle.

In 1737, Hierosme Trudon, purchased one of the most famous wax producing factories of the time, which belonged to Lord Pean de Saint Gilles. Pean de Saint Gilles was then the official wax provider to the King. Drawing from the family expertise, Hierosme devoted his skills to the development of a vast factory. He produced a wax of very high quality, collecting it from the best hives in the kingdom and trading directly with the producers. The wax was then treated with the utmost attention: it was washed with the purest water after being filtered with gypsum, guaranteeing the highest quality. The factory also imported the finest cotton to manufacture wicks whose combustion was clean and regular. The Trudon candles, so white and so perfect, could burn for hours without crackling; their flame neither trembled nor smoked.

Maison de Cire Trudon furnished candles to the royal court, cathedrals, and churches over France. More than one hundred people worked in the factory during its height, now protected as an historic building. The company's Latin motto and blazon are engraved on a stone at the factory: a depiction of hives and bees bordered by the saying: Deo regique laborant (they work for God and for The King).

Maison Trudon still keep records of recipes and also the tools for wax whitening: 17th century wrought iron pans. The moulds used to form candles bearing the royal blazons still remain: “cierge paschal pour la Chapelle du Roy à Versailles, Bougies de nuit pour le Roy”… (“Easter candle church for the Royal Chapel in Versailles, night candle for the King”…)

Trudon supplied Versailles until the end of the monarchy. During his captivity, Louis XVI used the candles of his royal wax manufacturer. The blazon and the motto would be hidden under a layer of mortar to avoid the furies of the Revolution. Today it is still the candle provider for many churches, like Saint Roche in Paris, which has burned their candles since 1643.

The manufacture distributes its products in France and abroad. It makes vegetable wax candles for the greatest French and international brands such as (Hermes, Cartier, Dior, and Guerlain) as well as for palaces and high-grade restaurants.

WORLD Store...

We bought our Cire Trudon candle from the WORLD Beauty Store in Auckland. It is the Roi Soleil scent, which is modelled on the fragrance of the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles -

"The smell of the vast wooden floors, vapours of wax from the candelabras, blended with the green wooded wake of coniferous trees and the sumptuous dizziness of incense, with a light ray of citrus".

We will have to build a collection, with a different candle for each room. There are 18 different fragrances to choose from!