What does the fox say?

Random weekend photo blog - Foxes.

Photos from Tumblr.

Dubbo Chronicles. No 13...

Well, it's probably time for another Dubbo update, as a lot has happened over the past few months!

At present the NSW forest fires have died down, but they did get close enough to spread a veil of smoke over Dubbo (see the photo above). The temperatures don't show any signs of letting up however, with the past few weeks being in the 30s (90F). It is sure to only get hotter in the months ahead.

Meanwhile I have accepted a promotion at work, to Director of Emergency Medicine Training, with which comes quite a bit more work and will see me staying in Dubbo for at least 3 years. Peter and I talked about it, and it was an offer too good to refuse. The past 9 months have flown by, and we are sure that the next 28 will do the same. I am going to start flying back to NZ more next year – aiming to return every 6 weeks for a long weekend.

With my promotion comes some additional training, so I am off to Melbourne for a couple of days next week which will be nice, and I am also going down to Adelaide later this month for a conference, which I am really looking forward to. Peter is flying over from NZ to meet me there, and we are both hoping to catch up with Ms Millie from The Laurel Hedge.

I've also received my first formal invitation to a party, which luckily is the night before I fly off to Adelaide. ..

The dress code is 'Formal Chic' – luckily I still have some of the clothes that I bought in London with me. There is not a lot of call for black tie in Dubbo – the last time I went to an event in Dubbo I was well over-dressed, but then as Oscar Wilde said...

This year will also be the first Christmas that Peter and I have been apart since we were married, which will be rather odd. It is always my favourite time of year for so many reasons. Still, the plan is for me to work this Christmas in Dubbo, so that I can have next Christmas to return to NZ, where Peter and I can celebrate our first Christmas in WBP, surrounded by our extended family and friends.

Construction Progress: Week 12...

The masonry is almost up to the first floor. It is hard to get a scale of the Manor from the photos, and it certainly looks surprisingly small at this stage, but we are assured by many who have built houses before that they always look small when they are being built, and once they are finished and plastered they look more like one would expect. The width across the front of the house (below) is 36 metres (120 feet).

Below: View of the South Facade (Front of Manor House) from across the courtyard:

 

From left to right: Gold Drawing Room, Biliard Room, Foyer, China Room, and Dining Room.

Architect's Model and Elevation of same:

Below: Views of the North Facade:

Kitchen far left, Ballroom far right, and the Informal Entertainment Area in between, all opening out onto the North Terrace.

 Architect's Elevation of same:

Below: View of the West Facade, with the Ballroom on the left and Gold Drawing Room on the right The width of the manor in this view is 20 metres (66 feet):

 Architect's Elevation of same:

Below: The view of the East Facade, with Dining room on left and Kitchen on right:

Architect's Elevation of same:

 Above and Below: Panoramic views of the Informal Entertainment Area looking over the North Terrace

Below: 360 degree video of the Foyer

The Norfolk Clock....

One of the more unusual pieces of treasure Peter and I managed to smuggle back in one piece from the UK on our trip was a PH Mourey mantle clock. It was one of those marvelously recherche finds - we had just pulled into the small village of Holt in North Norfolk on our way to Houghton Hall, for a bite of brunch and to stretch our legs. To our surprise this randomly chosen sleepy village could have been something out of Midsommer, with its perfectly manicured streets full of bakeries, boutiques, bistros and no less than eight antique dealers!

And thus it was that we came across the clock in one of the dealer's. It was the sort of piece which when One comes across One looks longingly at and then moves on in an 'íf only' moment, then - after a few hours shopping and a liquid lunch - One returns and manages to articulate compelling reasons why One simply ought to take it home! Peter has a lovely phrase that he uses when I am looking at things -"Darling, it is only expensive on the day that you buy it" (I believe a nun used to tell him that about her shoes!)

Philippe Henri Mourey (1840-1910) was a 19th century clock designer and case maker. He was an exceptional artist when it came to the art of ormolu (gilded bronze) clock design, and worked very closely with several of Paris' leading clock makers of the time. His most famous relationship was with Japy Freres & Co. He specialised in the Louis XV-XVI style of clock, decorated with rococo and classical motifs on porcelain panels in the Sevres style, and also in using marble and alabaster. We have two other PH Mourey clocks in our collection of about 30 clocks (Peter and I both collected clocks before we met. I collected gilded mantle clocks of an ornate fashion, and Peter collected grandfather clocks, station clocks and carriage clocks, all of which I am sure will be the subjects of posts to come)...

Above: A black marble and ormolu Mourey found in Christchurch about a year before the earthquake. 

Below: A white alabaster and ormolu Mourey found in Lostwithiel, Cornwall.

The garnitures, if any existed, were not with the Norfolk clock. The pale blue porcelain panels do not suit the darker Sevres garnitures we found a couple of years ago, which is a pity, but the clock would be flanked well by one of our pairs of ormolu candelabra. However, given that the clock is destined for the China Room, I am on the look out for a lovely pair of pale blue Sevres plates, similar to those below, to flank the clock...

It might be nice to find some other Sevres pieces for The China Room (Sevres has grown on me since the previous posts). Here are a few other pale blue pieces which are quite nice...

The China Room started out as a Card Room, with the walls decorated to resemble a giant Wedgwood plate (as most of our collectible china at the time was Wedgwood), however, the collection has diversified, and although the room is still designed to look like a Wedgwood box, the card table has been moved to the Gold Drawing Room, and replaced with a round Chippendale table - suitable for a high tea with fine china!

Forcing the Issue...

We are trying to source some Rhubarb Forcing pots for our potager and for a friend's. They are easy enough to come by in the UK and Europe, but getting them here in one piece is tricky. I think our best bet is to commission a local potter to make some for us.

Forcing, or growing a plant in darkness in order to force it to grow taller in search for light, is a great way to grow all manner of stem plant more quickly, such as celery, chicory, rhubarb, chard etc.

We saw plenty of forcing jars in the gardens of the country estates we visited recently.

When you first take the lid off the jars the leaves are yellow from the lack of light on the chlorophyll.

but after a few days they green up quickly...

The jars themselves make nice ornamental additions to any garden.