MISS ELAINEOUS VISITS THE KYOTO GARDEN...

This must have been my wackiest appointment ever- the other day I went to the Caspian Hotel in Ealing (of Hotel Inspector fame) to see about some writing work... 

...And ended up in a group photo with the owners and local MP Rupa Huq!!!!

I'm the spotty gal (my clothing, not my face!) and I've already had compliments about my faux-leather jacket (£20 in the New Look sale...)

I had taken along my novel to show the owners and I can appreciate why some of my past feedback has been: 'Divide it into smaller volumes- it's way too big to pop into your handbag!'  It weighs a ton, and is now available both as a tome and a three part series, and also as an eBook (which kind of negates that problem anyway.)

Here is my Amazon link so you can buy it:-

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rejects-Club-Elaine-Rockett/dp/1500563366 

Incidentally, Haven Green, where the Caspian Hotel sits, is where one of the main characters in my novel- Caroline- goes to college, at the fictional Ealing College of Writing.  Her paramour, Gary, also lives in a block of flats the other side of the green.  They are also totally made up and don't actually exist.

As Ealing is a l-o-o-o-n-g way across London for me (the other end of the Central Line), I decided to combine this west London visit with some west London nosey parkering, and decided to pop into Holland Park- to see the Kyoto Garden, in particular- on the way home. 

I entered via the Sun Trap entrance and this is the Sun Trap Garden...

I thought these stairs were really cute and picturesque...

The Kyoto garden is a place for peace and quiet contemplation.  It was opened in 1991 and was a gift from the city of Kyoto to commemorate the long friendship between Japan and Great Britain. 

I wanted to visit after reading about it on a tourist site, some time ago.  I wanted to see it in February, when I was in the area blogging about Leighton House Museum, link below...

http://elainerockett.blogspot.com/2018/02/miss-elaineous-visits-leighton-house_23.html

...And 18 Stafford Terrace, link below...

http://elainerockett.blogspot.com/2018/02/miss-elaineous-visits-18-stafford.html

...but, as I recall, I didn't feel too well, so I did what I had to do and went home.  I used to live up the road, in Hammersmith, but only remember visiting the park once, and briefly at that.

I read Memoirs Of A Geisha, by Arthur Golden (my first ever Amazon purchase, twenty years ago) and saw the film at the cinema.  I also read Geisha, by Liza Dalby, an American anthropologist known as 'the blue-eyed geisha' who was the first western woman to train as a geisha.  I found this ancient, secretive world fascinating and as a result both Kyoto- the home of the geisha- and Tokyo are on my bucket list.

There wasn't much colour around at this time of year, but the garden was really special...

Apparently, there are pretty koi carp living in the pond, but they appeared to be keeping a low profile and I didn't spot any.

There is a beautiful peacock right at the centre of the photo...

The peacocks wander around freely, but this one didn't feel like posing for me...

...And showed me his bum instead!

The length of the garden...

Pathway...

Sculpture...

The banshee on the stone path!

The water was actually quite scummy...

But the waterfall was really lovely , calming and soporific...

Spiny tree...

Pathway exit...

The entrance to the Fukushima Garden.

It was opened in 2012 to commemorate the gratitude of the Japanese people to the British people, for their support following the natural tsunami disaster that struck Fukushima in 2011.

Another cute path!

Walking Man (1998) by Sean Henry is a permanent bronze installation...

Anyone for chess?

There are quite a few sculptures in the park.  This looks down to the Dutch Garden, with Holland House in the background.

This fella sat down for a photo in the Napoleon Garden.  The flower beds were very bare and were winding down for winter...

Fountain pond and the back of the Ice House...

Outside the arches.  I'm almost seeing these in silhouette, as the day was very bright...

Underneath the arches, and their inner paintings...

The central view down the arched walkway...

The Orangery...

I loved the way these tree roots have wound their way around the arches.  nature always wins!

Note to self: come back in the summer!  The Rose Garden was very bare...

Boy With Bear Cubs by J. M. Swan...

Holland House was created in 1605, in the Elizabethan or Jacobean style, for the diplomat, Sir Walter Cope.  Later on, during the 19th century and ownership of the 3rd Baron Holland, it was a glittering social, literary and political centre.

In 1940, the house was hit by twenty-two incendiary bombs and largely destroyed, leaving only the east wing and library standing.  There used to be a youth hostel located in the house but that has, apparently, now closed.

This is the evocative and somewhat ghostly remains of of the back of Holland House.  I didn't venture round to the front.

I believe this part used to be the youth hostel...

The other end view of the Dutch Garden...

Ice houses, for some strange reason, seem to interest me.  But this one was a locked-up, underwhelming shed!

The side view.  I have read somewhere that it's now used as an art gallery, but I saw absolutely NO evidence of this- a nosey through the window told me I was looking at some kind of store room; that and nothing more.

This fellow did kind of pose, but refused to show me a full fan.  Oh well...

It was a bright day and this photo of a bronze and granite sculpture called Annunciation, by Andrew Burton looks a bit overexposed...

Leaving the park and it's hard to believe that you're in central London...

This little chap did come to greet me...Until he found out I had no food for him, then he soon ran away!

I will return, when the park is in full midsummer bloom- or I'll visit the real Kyoto in Japan.  Or both!

Three months later...

I happened to be in Ealing and took the time to find, and photograph, the house where the late, great Kirsty MacColl lived until her untimely death eighteen years ago.  Having been in the family for over thirty years, it has now been sold on for a cool £3 million.

I have to say, I thought it looked very slightly shabby...

The stairs to the side lead up to a fully-equipped, soundproof recording studio...

 

TTFN

The Miss Elaineous

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THE CROOKED HOUSE by CHRISTOBEL KENT

THE CROOKED HOUSE

BY CHRISTOBEL KENT

THE BLURB:-

Alison is as close to anonymous as she can get: with no ties and a backroom job, hers is a life lived under the radar. But once Alison was someone else: once she was Esme, a teenager whose bedroom sat at the top of a remote house on a bleak estuary. A girl whose family, if not happy, exactly, was no unhappier than anyone else's- or so she thought.

Then one night violence was unleashed in the crooked house, in a nightmare that only Alison survived and from which she's been running ever since. Only when she falls for charismatic Paul does Alison realise that to have any chance of happiness, she must return to her old life and face a closed community full of dark secrets.

THE REALITY:-

Eh? What was that all about? That was my first opinion once I finished this book. Can a book be 'off its head'? Because this book certainly came across that way; with things thrown into the story from left field, too-convenient memories regained and a seemingly motiveless murderer, if indeed that person was actually the murderer and not (spoiler alert) Lucy, his then-girlfriend's mother. I think he was, but there was a certain sense of unreality about the ending that's a tad confusing. I actually had Roger down as the murderer and kind of worked out his involvement with Alison/ Esme's (I've forgotten her name already) mother (I had to trawl through to re-check, and it's Kate.) Some of the characters did seem superfluous to requirements, such as Rosa, although Kay was essential only for drawing the story to its conclusion.

Is this story even plausible? Esme hears her entire family being shot dead (or almost dead, in the case of her father), essentially disappears with a new identity but is then sought out by people who seem to know who she really is. For Paul to do this kind of searching, then form a relationship with Alison, then take her back to Saltleigh (where he knew her from before, in her incarnation as Esme) then try to kill her shows a truly sick and manipulative mind at work. It's a far-fetched idea but it sort of works.

But... I kind of liked this book! One of the questions brought up in the reading notes was is the location important in the context of a thriller and I think it is. I loved the idea of a remote, enclosed community (they do exist in Britain- I have even witnessed it in larger towns) with a mistrust of outsiders and I liked the fact that the book was set far out on the Essex marshes, almost on a causeway. I've seen such locations used in the much-readable works of author Judith Lennox, and I myself fancy visiting cut-off, causeway reachable Mersea. I loved the dark little illustrations of the crooked house, which pepper this novel and define where the story is slipping back into Esme mode.

Paul's actions seem motiveless, unless of course he was having an affair with Lucy as well as squiring her daughter around town (which is certainly hinted at in the book). A bit of a vague novel, but certainly interesting and readable.

MISS ELAINEOUS VISITS EASTBURY MANOR HOUSE...

It's been a Barking and Dagenham kind of week.  After visiting Valence House- which is in this Greater London Borough- only a few days ago, we headed off to Eastbury Manor House, an Elizabethan mansion that sits on land which was once part of the demesne of Barking Abbey.

As part of London's Open House weekend, entry was free.  With over 800 walks, tours, talks and buildings taking part, you have to be selective and we decided to keep it local.  It was only a short bus hop away from my home and they usually charge £5 to get in which, in my opinion, is perfectly reasonable.

Building began in 1566, with completion in 1573, for Clement Sisley, a wealthy merchant (I've also seen his surname spelt Sysley.)  It was probably the first brick building in the area at the time, with glass windows and high chimneys indicating the wealth of its owner.  Note that this is a house that gentry would have lived in- not aristocracy.  The area was not densely populated in the way it is today, and there wouldn't have been other homes in the vicinity, leading to an unspoiled view.

There is a story relating to this house in that it has been said that the conspirators who coordinated the Gunpowder Plot held their meetings here.  Others say that it was the residence of Lord Monteagle when he received the letter which led to the said plot's discovery.  Neither rumours have any foundation.

The house fell into dilapidation in the 18th century and fireplaces and wooden floors were removed in the 1830s.  In 1918 the house was bought by the National Trust, restored and leased to Barking borough council in 1934, later opening as the Museum of Barking.  In recent years it has benefited form National Lottery funding.

It was a Sunday that's nice for frogs and fishes- in other words, it was raining persistently and my poor umbrella gave up the ghost at some point!

Here is the front of the house...

To the left of the house and I wonder how many years this tree has stood here?

Entrance door...

We joined a tour group with an extremely knowledgeable guide called Jennifer.  The house is quite bare yet also unspoiled, as it hasn't been added to over the years.  This fireplace is huge and has a modern tapestry over it, and weddings often take place in here (it's why the building is closed on Saturdays; so ceremonies can take place on that favoured day.)

  The SuperDean is standing on the far right...

I stood inside and this view is looking up.  The ledges were for the chimney cleaners to stand on- not a job I'd like!

This is a section of the room itself.  The manor house, nowadays, is used for ceremonies and functions...

In the next room there is an original door, the thickness of two planks of wood.  This area was also once used as a stable!  The house has gone through several changes of hands and this room has been utilised in different manners, including being used as a nursery.

We popped into the walled garden.  By now the rain was starting to ease...

These little niches are bee boles.  The hives were put there at night, as brick heats up during the day and retains its heat at night.  Honey was very important to households such as these, as the cost of sugar was astronomical.

This is actually the fire escape and doesn't go all the way up (the house once contained two staircases, but only one is still complete today) but you can see the marks where the original handrails once were.   These stairs were actually outside the building and were considered about one hundred years out of date during the time the manor was built- rather like building a house today and giving it an outside toilet!

The courtyard is quite compact...

There was once a well in the centre of the courtyard...

View of the chimneys...

The other set of stairs.  These are original.  Looking up...

...and down...

A couple of old chairs which I photographed...

...And a couple of historic fireplaces...

This is the only one in the house with its plaster decoration still in place.

The khazi- very primitive!

These murals in the former Great Chamber are early 17th century, probably painted during the time of James I, to commemorate the new regime.  They were carried out by a 'jobbing artist'- someone who went around knocking on doors looking for work.

Interestingly, this mural depicts features which would have been found on churches in Spain, which would have been Catholic.  Around 1603 the house was rented to a merchant named John Moore, who was married to a Spanish woman, Maria Perez de Recalde.  It's likely that he had Catholic sympathies, although he still attended Anglican service- a requirement at the time, and non-attendance resulted in an individual being fined.

How they got this cabinet into the next room is no-ones business.  All I know is, they can't get it out!

We had to have a Vain Old Tart shot now, didn't we?!

Some views out.  The gardens would have been more interestingly designed in those days as there was nothing else to look at- this area had views as far as the eye could see...

This window had a bit of an Anne Of A Thousand Days feel about it...

Up to the top floor and we're in the Long Hall.  The beams are held together by dovetailing, not by nails...

Back downstairs, and I should have stood back to get a better view of the cafe fireplace.  The cakes looked yummy but the cafe was getting too busy, so we abstained...

Outside seating area...

The herb garden.  None of the plants planted here today were available during Elizabethan times...

We walked outside onto the road to get these shots...

Chimneys...

The garden and bee boles.  I'm sure our guide said there were sixteen of the latter sunk into the walls...

The view back to the door...

Would I go again?  Yes, but when the weather's nicer and when it's quieter (not on a 'free' day!)  Then I'll have a cuppa and a slice of cake and sit outside taking in the relaxing atmosphere.

TTFN

The Miss Elaineous

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