Good Morning Sunshine...

Happy May Day! Here are some lovely shots of the dawn breaking as seen from the balcony of the bridal suite...

The sun's rays cascading through the early morning Waikato mist on a cool Autumn day...

The crisp blue sky...

with Swallows darting about, and the Nymphaeum in the background...

Lakeside Folly - The Finished Result...

Today we are staying outside with our tour and catching up with the progress made on the folly since the first post. Here is the finished product that Peter and Dirk worked so hard on...

Above: The Folly as it was before the wedding.

Below: The roof being hoisted into position back in November.

Below: The view as it was later that day once the roof had been bolted to the side walls.

There was a brief hiatus in progress just before Christmas, but that didn't stop family enjoying it on Christmas day...

Then Peter and Dirk finished the external walls, and plastered and painted it and fitted the columns ready for it to be enjoyed by our wedding couple. The photographers realized it made for some great photos...

Later that night (2 am), after we had done most of the tidying up, I crept out to see what it looked like with the landscape lighting we had installed, and was thrilled to find this marvelous reflection in the lake...

Above: The folly reflected in the lake.

Below: The statue of Bacchus also lit up. 

The lighting works well, because you can see the folly very clearly from the manor. When I crept over there I surprised a number of frogs that were ribbiting away, which could almost be heard from the back lawn, as well as a few rabbits I think. There was the sound of splash splash, and then silence. In time we hope to light up the jetty, as well as install the lake fountain, which will be lit up at night too.

Lakeside Folly...

Peter is currently building a classical styled folly to sit upon the hill behind the lake. Above is a mock up of what the finished folly may look like. He has been building it with the help of a friend, Dirk, who was a cabinet maker by trade, so is a perfectionist when it comes to carpentry! Below is a view of the hill without the folly...

They are building it from plans I drafted. The design is based upon many photos of other classical follies I have seen (shared below), with the dimensions and construction method ensuring that the building remains a permitted activity under council bylaws (no building consent needed for portable structures with an area of less than 10 square metres). It has been constructed with 2 large towable skids hidden under the floor boards, forming part of the foundation, so can be towed on and off if required...

You may notice similarities with these follies below...

Above and Below: A little wooden folly at Kew Gardens.

Above: A lakeside folly with windows in the side walls.

Below: A similar folly without side windows.

Some larger follies of a similar design...

And a smaller, simpler folly...

Below: The roof for Peter's folly, sitting on the base. The tiles are made from pressed sheet metal.

Below: Views of the front of the folly, showing the pediment...

Below: Dirk holding up one of the capitals which will be placed on the front of the side walls with a pilaster below.

Once it is completed Peter is going to paint it with a textured plaster finish paint, so that it matches the manor house. I can't wait to share the finished photos, almost as much as I can't wait to sit inside it and sip a G&T watching the sun go down over the lake. I think we should call it the Temple of Apollo, given that the sun will rise just above it if you were admiring it from the manor house. Does anyone else have any suggestions as to the name?

Lake Overhaul (3rd Time Lucky) & Fountain...

At present we are having a major over haul of the lake.  The lake was one of the first attractions we created at Willowbrook, but has over the years caused us a number of problems, due to issues with the liner, trauma sustained to it, gas build up underneath it, and indeed, the difficultly of several times trying to set up the perfect micro-climate in the lake.

To start with our Indian Runner Ducks polluted the lake and ate the new shoots off the waterlilies before we could establish a nitrogen balance. Once we re-homed our ducks to the pond on the farm, they were no longer an issue, but then the wild Mallards found a new home and continued to graze on the flora in our lake, and added their own nitrogen to the water...

So at great expense we drained the lake, cleaned it out, replaced the lilies and other oxygen creating plants, and refilled the lake, but alas further accidents ensued, and the lake required draining again.
This time we are determined to get it right (especially with our opening this Spring!).

The lake liner has been completely removed, the edge of the lake reveled, the bridge started, and soon it will all be put back and planted straight away with approximately 25% surface area of plants (which will grow quickly to the required 33% which is generally considered to be the minimum amount of surface water coverage to keep a lake clean and clear and to deal with the nitrogen balance).

Warning to those considering clearing a green lake or pond by dropping bales of pea straw into it - it doesn't work!

At the same time as our great remediation we will install a proper water oxygenating fountain. There are several on the market, but for our little lake this 1/2 HP model with 5 different fountain heads seems to fit the bill, especially with 1 head specifically designed to oxygenate lakes of volumes up to 25000 cubic metres of water.

Above: The ornamental Tri-star head.

Below: The oxygenating / aerating head.

Oxygenation heads can look pretty...

Although the other heads could be used for special occasions, as they are more dramatic...

I have also found a series called "The Great British Garden Revival" (Following in the increasingly common trend of the Great British Bake Off, and The Great British Sewing Bee, etc.) But it does showcase some wonderful gardens and ideas. I think there are about 10 episodes in the seris. The episode on water gardens is posted below for your perusal. Enjoy...

I am currently back in NZ and should be able to share more progress photos soon. The project is getting a bit like the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel - "Things will be alright in the end, if they are not alright it is not the end".

The Great Country Estates of Britain: Holkham Hall Revisited 1 of 5

Having studied and blogged about Holkham Hall previously, I was pleased to have the chance to visit it last year on our country house tour. Over the next two weeks I shall share some of the photos I took of Holkham. 

We arrived at the estate by the north gate, having stayed the night at Wells-next-the-sea (that was another story in itself, having arrived there to find no accommodation available we almost had to stay on a fishing boat over night!)

Above: The North Gate

Below: Detail of the wrought iron work in the gate

We drove through the deer park, parked the car and arrived at the visitors centre.

Above: Small side gate and gate houses.

Below: One of the lead rainheads. Peter was quite under-whelmed by the brown brick, expecting the hall to have been fashioned from large slabs of stone like Chatsworth or Castle Howard.

The visitors centre which housed a cafe and gift shop...

As it was a lovely day we decided to see the park and gardens first. We departed by a gate to the right in the above picture and strolled around the hall anticlockwise... 

We came across two large bronze lions...

and the Leicester monument...

before coming to a small weir on the estate lake. 

From here we looked back towards the hall to notice a terrace with a large fountain....

Looking over the balustrades of the raised terrace lawn we could see the remains of a neoclassical orangery...

Unfortunately it appears it was necessary to place signage requesting people not to 'jump the fence'...

It was quite an attractive wall actually...

with the occasional self sown beauty...

Here are some photos of the large fountain, which unfortunately was not in operation...

To the right of the orangery there was a small classical belvedere...

We then walked back towards the lake and on to the walled garden.

on the way we passed the old ice house...

and fields of free-ranging pigs...

To be honest the walled gardens were very disappointing. Having just seen the fabulous gardens at Houghton the day before, the gardens at Holkham were looking very much under-loved...

There were parts where they had started to tidy them up...

In the next post we will venture inside the hall to see the marble hall, statues, dining room and kitchen.