A DAY IN SAFFRON WALDEN ..........

The other day, I went to a town about 40 minutes away from me, called Saffron Walden.

When the Doomsday Book was compiled in 1086, Saffron Walden consisted of 120 households. It's a little larger now !

The Saffron crocus was being grown here in the late 1300's and by the early 1500's was the centre of the saffron industry in this country. Saffron was in great demand for the woollen industry and brought wealth to the town.

This is part of the market square. The town market is said to be one of the earliest markets, starting around 1141 and the town grew up around it.

Malt was another commodity which Saffron Walden successfully traded in the 1870's. Conical shaped roofs of the malting's dominated the skyline and there were once as many as 15 pubs in the town of which only a few remain today, the above pub, The King's Arms, being one of them.

The Sun Inn.

Pargeting is the ornamentation of plastered and rendered building facades that would otherwise be smooth. The term was once also used to include internal decoration.

Pargeting ranges from simple geometric surface patterning to exuberant sculptural relief of figures, flowers and sea monsters. English plasterwork became increasingly elaborate in the 16 century and there are some lovely examples in Saffron Walden. The Sun Inn being one of the most elaborate.

The original raw material is called Parge.......... a mixture of sand and lime with a binder like hair. Many additional ingredients are recorded including urine, loam, soot, tallow, road scrapings, cheese, dung, blood and salt !! YUK !!
It's a bit of a worry of how and where they got some of those ingredients from !!!!

A quaint old English town with a great deal of history.... and, I've only just scratched the surface of the history of Saffron Walden.

Jackie

CRYSTAL DROPS and GUSTAVIAN CLOCKS ........

Don't you just love these Gustavian clocks ? I'd have one in any colour.....Oooo , this one just happens to be grey !!

Here's another one in the most wonderful house.

I arranged for the sunbeam to stream in for this photograph !

Some amazing crystal drops and Oh Grandma, what a big sofa you've got !!

.......... beautiful painted cupboard ..........

This is probably the closest I'll get to a gustavian clock. A picture of one. It still looks good though.

I love this room, don't you ?

Oh, maybe I could afford this one...

.............. and finally, a massive, neglected chandelier,

What a delightful combination crystal drops and gustavian clocks make,

Jackie.

TRYING TO MAKE A GREY DAY PRETTY ..........

Skies are very grey and overcast, here in the U.K. and there is another threat of sleet and snow so, here are a few beautiful grey images to get us through these long wintry days.
How about this for a beautiful study in grey ?

That's probably where my brolly will end up when I'm out tomorrow.

A lovely place to be with friends and family on a warm summer's evening.......Oh, that seems a very long way away !!

I always keep my Jimmy Choo's on the sash window, don't you ?

Altogether now .......... Aaaaaahhhhh

Gorgeous...............

.......... more gorgeous ..........

.......... and even more gorgeous !!

Sigh......

The promise of summer..........

.......... and, just before I go.... another Aaaaaahhhhh !!

Well. There we are. Something to lift the mood on this grey , winter's day here in the U.K.

Have a great day everyone, wherever you are.

Jackie

A LITTLE PIECE OF ' HOME ' ..........

As you will see from the following photographs, I have entered my ' grey period ' !! Here you will find some things that are around our ' HOME '. The crown tea light holder was a present sent to me for Christmas, from Luiza @ Feelings. It sits there so nicely with my candlesticks and mercury glass lanterns.

Just before Christmas, I won a giveaway from Michelle @ Petit Coterie . It was the cushion that you see above. I have already got quite a few of her cushions and when I won the cushion I ordered some of her fabric to cover a rocking chair. With what was left over, I covered the cushion on the chair above. I will show you the rocking chair another time.

This is an old shelf that I painted and distressed and, laying next to the jug is a heart that Luiza made and sent with my present. She must have known that I was in my ' grey ' phase.

Here's a closer look. Isn't it pretty ?

This isn't a very good photograph of it but, can you see the gift tag with the cross ? Well, they come from the very talented Magdalena @ Color Sepia. I ordered some Christmas cards from Magdalena and she sent the gift tags and the cross for me. The 'J' and the 'C' are my husband and my initials and are printing blocks.

An old white jug and dried agapanthus, rose and eucalyptus.

A grey metal heart on one of my cupboards.

This is a wax picture that my sister bought me from Hungary.

This is one of the Christmas cards that Magdalena made and a rusty laurel wreath. Our house is called ' The Laurels ' so whenever I see anything to do with laurels, I buy it !

The hand and heart I bought when we were in Carmel. I have quite a few things with the hand and heart theme. I think that it is an Amish saying: 'Put your hands to work and your heart to God '.

These are my pieces of sea glass and shells that Gigi @ The Magpies Fancy gave me when I won her giveaway. She collected them from the beach and put them in the parcel as a little extra. I love them and they are on the mantelpiece in our study.

Well, there's a little look at a few of the things that are around our house. Wishing you all a wonderful weekend.

Jackie