The Lake District

 What attracts people to The Lake District?

Sunlight on the Mountains

To me it is tranquility. The scenery, 

the views, the way the light reflects

on the water, the 'mountains'.

Lake Windemere

Lake Windemere is enormous, in the Southern Lakes. It is so tranquil.

Being on the water is a really fun way to travel, taking in

the fabulous views.

From Beatrix Potter

Lovely old rowing boats

Famous poet William Wordsworth 

lived in Grasmere. 

 He quoted of his garden.

'It was the work of our own hands.' 

'It was a place of refuge, meditation 

and inspiration.'

So whoever we are, 

we all search for a 

refuge where we can 

be 'alone' with our 

thoughts and feel able 

to create something 

great and profoud.

Wild Roses near Keswick

Poet, Samuel Taylor 
Coleridge spent 
many days in
the Central Fells
walking, thinking 
and writing letters.

We all love Trees

May be these poets
sat amongst the Trees?

Towering overhead
 makes me feel small
and insignificant.

View across Lake Windemere

A landscape to draw 
inspiration from.

Peaceful waters, 
contrasting
colours of the sky.

Contasting light and shade

What do you see?


Is this a canvas to 
paint words onto?

Is it too beautiful 
to describe?


 

We all love to be in beautiful and

inspirational places. It is good for

quietening the mind.

Words need to come from somewhere deep 

within our 'soul'. We can be creative in the 

ways we express ourselves. Photography, 

still waters on a lake, changing skies,

sitting contemplating.

Views are a great focal point for inspiration
From Mirehouse Gardens, Keswick

Elegant gate
creates a
cool vista
for the eye.
Soft greenery
surrounds it.

What an
artist's palette
here, the sun
came out and
the clouds are
a perfect contrast.

We all seek tranquility.

We need to recharge our batteries

 

Life needs to be simple

We need to open our minds to the

still and beautiful scenery which

we find in The Lake District. 

Perfect day and fabulous place Hill Top Farm

Beatrix Potter's famous home.
Still and homely.

I hear the wisteria looks amazing earlier in the summer. 

Summer Roses- Hilltop Farm

View from Dodd Wood

Views high over Bassenthwaite Lake
from osprey viewing point.

Dry stone walls - What an Art!

 How many man hours did they take to build do you think?

Don't you think these
dry stone
walls are amazing?
Like an artist
designed them to create 
boundaries
between fields.

Secret Passage at Mirehouse Gardens

The beautiful way the tunnel has been created from wood.

Perfectly formed hollyhocks at Mirehouse Gardens

Beatrix Potter blog P2.

Tell me your experiences of Hilltop.

Welcome to my interactive blog.

                   

Q1. Can you picture Beatrix
 feeding her sheep?


Q2. Do you know the breed
 she was famous for?

One Beatrix Potter's outbuildings

 

Q3. Do you think 

Beatrix kept pigs in here?

Q4. Can you picture her working 

hard as a farmer through the long,

dark days of winter?

Q5. Which stories did she write 

here?

Anything to do with pigs?

 

Q9. Which story did she base here?

Q6. Did you recognise any 

places from her books?

Q7. Which was your Favourite Book?

Q8. Can you picture her working

 out who, what, where, the plot, 

inside this house?

Q10. Does this remind you
of any of the Characters?

 

 Beautifully characterful.

Q11. Do you love 

the way she dresses 

up her characters 

in clothes and shoes?

Q12. Who do you think may

have come through this gate

in her stories?

Q13. Did the peace and quiet 
help her to write so well?


See the art of the dry stone walls.

Feels very homely 

 

Q14. Can you picture Beatrix sitting 

in her study sketching her pictures?

Q15. What gave her inspiration 

do you think and ideas to create 

such clever characters?

 

 

Do you think Beatrix made her own fruit jelly?

Q17. Was she a strong,

determined, take no

nonsense kind of a

woman?

Q18. Where did she get

her independent streak

from do you think?

Please share your stories and tell me 

what you loved about Beatrix Potter's 

life, books, home, skills, creations.

Leave me your comments below.

 

Q.19 Do you think Beatrix would

have chosen this?

Outside her Gallery
at Hawkshead.

 

Q21. Do you think Beatrix

 

             plotted her stories on this hill?

Q20. Do you think good

writers need beautiful

scenery to help set the

scene of a story and picture

their characters, be they friends,

animals or acquaintances?

How are you all doing 

so far? Please do let me

know! Who has been here?

I would love to hear your stories.

Q22. Who might you find

hiding in her Veggie Garden?

 

Q23. Who lost their beautiful

jacket?

 

Q24. What names come

to mind?

What makes Beatrix Potter so 

special is that she 

was very down to Earth. 

She worked very hard, 

with the help of others, 

but never gave up!

She was very adaptable 

and could turn her hand 

to anything. She seemed to 

be a tough woman and 

was so commited to her cause.

This is a view Beatrix will
have known very well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A fascinating character 

that we can connect with.

A woman loved by so many 

but someone who was so 

focused and cared for the 

outside world.  

Her world became 

our world.  

Q25. Do you think Beatrix 

grew Rosemary and other 

herbs?

This is outside the Gallery 

in Hawkshead, a few miles 

away from her home at Hilltop. 

The exhibition there

is changed regularly

showing her work. 

Q.26 Do you know how many 

books Beatrix Potter wrote?  

Q27. Do you think Beatrix grew her 

own produce and 

had lots of animals to supply her 

with eggs, milk, butter

etc at Hilltop? 

Healthy summer crop of onions

Living far from anywhere meant 

a lot of creativity in Beatrix's life.

She worked 

with local farmers 

as people did, being connected 

in theire own community.

Q28. Do you think there were 

any shops in the Village?

Q29. If there was a shop 

what 

do you think it

was called?

 

Marrows growing at Hilltop

Q30. Do you think Beatrix 

was happy to settle here

as she had to move about 

a lot before hand?

Q31. Do you think she 

enjoyed being on her 

own a lot?

Lovely summer colour
at the front of Hilltop

We all need colour to make 

us feel good 

but in a special Garden

 it is an added bonus. 

Nature at its simplest

 

 

Allium and Evening Primrose
 at Hilltop Garden

Hope you are enjoying reading 

my blog and getting
some quiet time out of your busy day.

Has anyone been here recently?
Please share your stories.
Would love to hear what you did here.

Small garden planters and Vegetable experiements

Plant has grown upwards
so it a bit leggy

Veggie Experiment

The flowers have
been dropping off.

I left this veggie to grow in a hanging

basket against the house wall. 

It had little light there, so I have now 

moved it into the sunlight.

So the flowers are starting to open

properly.

Courgette's flowers
ready to open

These Jasmine flowers are from
the plant my courgette was
growing underneath.



Clearly not enough light here
but it was an experiment.

It was not getting enough

water as it was neglected

up there!

All plants especially in

hanging baskets need

to have feed and water.

Cooking tip.

Did you know in Italy they 

eat the flowers. 

You fry them in olive oil and they 

are delicious. Add some fresh 

basil leaves and some parmesan.

See tiny Courgette here!

Well the sun is so intermittent

at the moment.

 

It is getting quite late in the

season so we need more warm 

days to help the little plant grow.

 

My 'mini' Courgette
has lost its flower!

There really is not enough sun for it

 as the summer is so changeable. 

It should be quite hot here bu

t as it is it will not grow well.

Can you see the other
veggies growing?

Hopefully there will be some more 

veggies but  the sun is so unreliable 

here

in the United Kingdom.

Sudden growth on my
 lonely Courgette

It is exciting to see that at last 

this sad little courgette has

finaly put on some growth. 

It sun keeps shining it may well
grow more. Keep reading!

22.8.2015

Experiment No 3.
Courgette I planted from seed.



I have kept this indoors in my potting 

shed but although growing
it is a bit late now to do much more.

Lavender and Marjorum
planted in July/August



Here is a mini garden in a small trough
which is so easy to make with a few plants. 

May be it is me but I think
it has grown a bit more!

A new flower
has appeared!

This morning it was so pretty, 

now this evening

 it is seriously wilting!

Such depressing weather. 

Not much hope now!




Well now in the beginning 

of Septemeber, reality is that
not much more will grow now. 

Just shows that we need the sunshine

 a lot more to grow productively.



We also need a poly tunnel 

or two to have a good crop. 


Light is low and weather 

is damp and cool!

Courgette still trying
to produce veggies!

Brave little courgette!

Ready to remove
and enjoy!

Very sad looking courgette
flower in the rain!

Marrow in ground still
trying to product veggies.

I cut back the leaves and you 

can see it still wants to grow!

Reality is that it is too damp and cold now. 
It still had a flower yesterday 1.9.15.

Results of my experiment  

Both Veggies in my experiment

 did not do that well. 

They need more heat and 

warmth to grow well. 

They could have been fed with a liquid

 seaweed to help
with growth.

They need a contast temperature 

and away from slugs. 

Growing vegetables under  a polytunnel 

is really the best solution to get some 

good results.