Leonardslee Dolls House Exhibition

What a treat the Dolls House exhibition was. Designed and built by Helen Holland over ten years the exhibition represents a country estate and market town c1900. It began when Helen gave a member of the Loder family a miniature model potting shed and greenhouse in 1/12th scale. Many crafts men and women contributed to the exhibition.

There was a lot of reflection from the glass but also the lighting in the exhibition room was very dim. When I first walked into the room my heart sank as I thought there was no way I was going to get decent photos, but after a bit of colour and exposure editing I'm very pleased with them.

The Manor House

A well stocked allotment

Beautiful interiors

Grand dining room

Kitchen

Washing

And Drying

Most grand homes had a flower room designed for sorting and arranging cut flowers,

fresh flowers were a very important part of the decor.

Cottage in the grounds

Apothecary

I love this artists studio

Art gallery

The village shop and Post Office.

Notice the GPO on the red sack. Years ago the postal and telecommunications

service was known as the General Post Office.

My first job on leaving school was as a GPO telephonist.

Local school

Afternoon tea

The children in the attic were playing a prank on grandma in the room below,

dangling a spider down through an opening in the floor.

I think there was some hanky panky going on here!!

Haberdashers

Love the chamber pot!

I once had a real life red dining room, I loved it

The gamekeepers cottage.

I think the gamekeeper has had a few too many glugs of cider!

If you've made it this far, thank you for reading, looking at the photos

or just skimming through! I hope you have enjoyed the miniatures.

∼ Be safe and well ∼  

Polly x

A Good Read

Always The Children by Anne Watts A Nurse’s Story of Home and War

Anne Watts grew up in a small village in north Wales in the 1940s. Her early life is very interesting. After training as a nurse and midwife she joined the Save the Children Fund and in 1967 was posted to Vietnam where she was faced with a vision of hell that her training at Manchester's Royal Infirmary could not have prepared her for.

Thrown in at the deep end, she witnessed the random cruelty of warfare. Nursing injured and orphaned children and caring for wounded and dying servicemen, she cared for  victims of Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, in Lebanon during the Israeli occupation, and Saudi Arabia during Desert Storm. For over forty-five years Anne gave care and compassion to those most in need of help.

Always The Children is a humbling and shocking story of one woman's selfless courage, devotion and determination to alleviate the suffering of children. It is also an uplifting story of the human spirit to overcome the horrors of war. 

∼ Happy Reading ∼ 

Polly x

Leonardslee Gardens

On Tuesday M and I had a lovely day at the beautiful Leonardslee Gardens. With spectacular rhododendrons and azaleas, flora and fauna it's probably the finest woodland garden in England. AND......... they have a superb dolls house collection, more, much more, about that later.

Feeding time for the resident wallabys. The weather was glorious, they were content to stay in the shade or sleep rather than eat. I took the photos through a gap in the wire fence, the sun was very bright and I couldn't see very well so I was pleased with how they turned out. I think the keeper said there are 11 females and one lucky male in this enclosure. Some youngsters go to other locations and a few are free to roam around the 240 acres.

There are lots of sculptures around the gardens, most of which were very nice,

but we didn't understand the inscriptions with them!

Ducks feeding and preening

Does anyone know what this plant is?

I've told Rufus if he keeps hassling me when he wants his dinner

he can be replaced by one of these 😊 !!

I have so many photos of the dolls house exhibition

I'm going to give them a post of their own next!

∼ Be safe and well ∼  

Polly x