Charming Chartwell

Today is not as hot as last Saturday but we have still had pretty good weather all week. It is due to rain a little over the bank holiday weekend but there are sunny bits in between so I can't complain. During the summer I have visited a few National Trust properties on my "Thursdays off work" with my parents. Last week we went to Chartwell in Kent, home of  Sir Winston Churchill. I am a member the NT so I have visited this lovely house on many occasions and I never tire of all it offers. Even the grounds are spectacular.

There are acres to explore and it's fun to see the outside swimming pool (more a pond in my books) and also the lakes above, one is where the resident Black Swan resides.

I'm not sure I would fancy swimming here, would you but it is a fantastic setting. As you can see the rain we had all summer has paid dividends, the gardens were the most lush in the summer that I have ever seen them.

The Black Swan is very protective of his lady and kept fluffing up his feathers at us. He is very amusing to watch but I would not get too near!

There is a wonderful walled garden, Churchill built all the walls himself. He took brickwork lessons to do so. The National Trust grows flower and vegetables which it sells and uses in the restaurant.

There are timed tickets for the actual house so we spent an enjoyable few hours eating our picnic and exploring the gorgeous grounds.

It even has it's own croquet lawn...a really fabulous place. Now I don't have room in my tiny garden for a croquet lawn the thought of croquet and a Bank Holiday weekend it will be Pimms O'Clock at some point, just like last weekend at my house.

Now interestingly it turns out that Pimm's seems to be a very English drink. I had some questions and emails from my blogging friends over the pond about it so I decided to do a little bit of research. It turns out that Pimms was first made in 1823 by none other than a James Pimm who owned an Oyster bar in London. It was created as a tonic and had a secret recipe to which he added gin. The first variety (Number 1 cup)  was a gin based fruit cup. Over the years he made 2 other variations of fruit cups with brandy and scotch added. These were called Pimm's Number 2 cup  and Number 3 cup.

His drink was a sensation in London. By the 1960s this fame had spread country wide and there were new varieties including vodka.  There were eventually 6 different vairieties.

In the 1970 and 80 Pimms became less fashionable and only No 1, 3 and 6 continued to be made.
Number 3 is used as a Winter Warmer but I have not been able to get this recently. The supermarkets usually only stock No 1. In recent years Pimm's  has gained huge popularity with a clever series of adverts called "Pimm's O' clock". Check them out on U Tube they are great fun. I have loved drinking Pimm's in the summer since I was a teenager and it's obligatory for me to have a glass at Wimbledon whenever I have been lucky enough to get tickets. My husband and I enjoy making up a jug on a hot sunny afternoon at the weekends.  It is best served as 1 part Pimm's, 3 parts R White's lemonade (the only lemonade in my books ;0), any fresh fruit (strawberries, lemon, orange, lime, apple etc etc, I even love cucumber in it), ice and fresh mint. I have plenty in my garden and it just makes it! Mmmmmm

So there we are I hope that explains my favourite summer tipple!

Onto my card challenge for today. I have used one of my Saturated Canary stamps by Krista Smith. I love this one called "Dorothy". I find these images have a wonderful retro feel to them, it's the eyes that do it for me. It takes me back to my teenage years of Betsy Clark etc...wonderful

I coloured her with my Promarkers and shaded with my Prismcolor pencils. I added lots of details including lace and buttons and a Tim Holtz tag and a lovely textile corner that my dear card blogging friend Brenda sent me (thank you again Brenda you are so generous). The sentiment is Lili of the Valley.

I did put her into my Etsy shop but she sold in 12 hours! I have added a different Saturated Canary card here


I would like to enter my card into the following challenges.





Saturated Canary photo inspiration challenge #24
Sassy Cheryl Happy Birthday #129
Bearly Mine Anything Goes #49
Whimsy Stamps Lots of layers #50
Totally Papercrafts Zesty summer colours #131
Divas by Design Anything Goes #49
Paper Crafting Journey anything goes

I hope everyone in the UK enjoys the last bank holiday before Christmas (yes there are 122 days left) and I know that I will have to peel Vivienne off the ceiling after saying that ;0) We are off to Southampton to see the newly weds on Monday and hear all about their wonderful honeymoon to the West coast of the USA. Milly even found me 2 Martha Stewart punches near LA, they are more or less dollars for pounds in cost so much cheaper than here. She found a shop called Michael's and she said if I had been there I would probably still be there now; it was crafting heaven.

Cheers everyone whether you have a holiday or not and thanks as always for your lovely visits and comments. It's always lovely to see you. Do remember that my giveaway is still running here. It will finish at  4pm (GMT) on 31st August. Please remember to mention the giveaway in your comment if you would like your name to go in the hat.

Bye for now,

Jane x