Finest Piece Yet...

Yesterday I decided, as it was one of my few days off, to treat myself. After going to the gym, followed by a home cooked full-English (one makes the other possible), I decided to visit the local antique store. I had not been there for about a year, so I thought they may have acquired some new pieces.

The moment I walked through the door I espied this beautiful Jasperware urn, which had evidently arrived only the day before. Well, the ink was barely dry on the price tag before the lady was wrapping it up again ready for it to wing its way back to NZ next week when I go home to see Peter.

 Above: Front and Back

Below: Side and Top

It stands 32cm (12") tall. It is not as large as some pieces I found at Harrods last year, but was much more affordable...

Above and Below: Wedgwood at Harrods.

We have stopped collecting small pieces as we have plenty of those, and are focusing on larger or more unusual items. We want the china room to be a private collection of note, not resemble grandmother's curio cabinet.

Manor House Update...

We are now exactly 1/3 of the way through the build and the roof for the manor has just been laid...

Last week the timber trusses and framing were completed in preparation for the roof, as well as the courtyard area and foundations for the carriage house and chapel...

We are tracking on time and on budget so far. I have watched enough Grand Designs to know that is quite something (hope I'm not speaking too soon...)

 Below: Some pictures of the raised cocktail lawn starting to take shape (taken prior to the roof going on)...

Grinling Gibbons...

Above: Portrait of Grinling Gibbons by Godfrey Kneller

Grinling Gibbons was a dutch born and trained wood carver hailed as England's best craftsman.

Said to be discovered by Diarist John Evelyn on a walk through Deptford one night, Gibbons came to be introduced to Charles II and eventually became the royal carver.

In his hay-day anyone who was 'anyone' wanted to commission his work for their country houses (a bit like everybody wanting a Capability Brown garden).

His realism was created by carving many motifs out of different pieces of wood and then layering them and joining them together with joints and glue in order to create the most amazingly detailed 3D carvings (usually of lime wood) which left shallow traditionally carved pieces (made from a single piece of (usually) oak) in the shade.

I think his most amazing piece is the Cosimo panel, created as a diplomatic gift from Charles II to Cosimo, Grand Duke of Tuscany.

Above: Full Panel

Below: Details

Above: The amazing wooden 'lace'cravat that he made for Horace Walpole, who reportedly greeted visitors to his Strawberry Hill dressed up to the nines wearing it.

Below: Some of the ornate boiserie carving that he did for the Duke of Somerset at Petworth House...

There is a great BBC documentary on Grinling Gibbons from their series Carved with Love. If you can find it it is well worth watching.

August Door Lock

The August keyless doorlock is controlled wirelessly via your smartphone's bluetooth. It fits to most standard single cylinder deadbolt locks. Once you have set it up online and with an app on your smartphone it will automatically recognise your phone and unlock the door when you come close or using the app depending on how you set the phone up.

You can send invitations to other people's phones, to allow them access: for certain periods of time or only at certain times or certain days. Perfect for boutique accommodation, where you can allow access from say 5pm Friday through to 10 am Monday. Never worry about lost keys. Never worry about passwords or codes. And it keeps a log of all ingress and egress, as well as sending you a notification anytime someone comes or goes, so you know who is in your house. This combined with our security cameras should have most of the bases covered. And, unlike integrated home systems, they are not expensive.

 The black unit will hardly be noticeable on our black front door.

Here is the advertisement for the August lock...

Olive Grove...

Here are some pictures of our olive grove. It is amazing to compare the progress over 3 years. Above a photo now, below, a picture of a similar view 3 years ago...

 Below: A picture of the entrance, soon to be a sweeping tunnel through dense alders from the lake into the grove...

A panorama of the grove from entrance to end...

We plan over time to make the olive grove an Italian themed garden. We plan to put a stone benches around it (a wooden bench we originally put there has not survived the elements). On either side of the benches will be potted lemon trees; and hopefully we will find room for a traditional wood-fired pizza oven for the ultimate Italianate dream: picking olives straight from the tree to put on the pizza and fire. What a lovely way to enjoy a summer evening!