Provenance

Yes, provenance, not Provence, although I'd quite like to chat about Provence if I had the time. Anyway, sorry, where was I? Oh yes, provenance. We all like to know where our food comes from these days, has it been well looked after? Has it had plenty of acres for free-ranging in? Has another been planted in its place etc. etc.

Last weekend I was asked quite possibly the strangest question I've ever been asked... "Is the watercress local?" The lady in question actually was purchasing a free-range egg mayonnaise and cress sandwich so I was unsure as to where the watercress came into the equation. My response? I had to admit I had no idea where the watercress came from. This did, however get me thinking! I could grow cress. It's easy, I did it with the children when they were little. They wouldn't eat it of course because it was green. I laughed out loud this evening as I walked into Morrisons, immediately in front of the door was a stand of seeds and at eye level was, yes you guessed it, cress. So, slightly tongue in cheek, I have purchased some cress seeds with a view to growing it in weekly sowings and using it in the cafe for the egg mayonnaise sandwiches.

I had a lovely walk round the garden earlier this week. It still seems slightly confused with peonies in flower alongside roses. On bottom terrace there are some outrageously beautiful pale pink peonies. I was very taken with Rosa Comte de Chambord in the swimming pool garden. With your back to the house it is on the left hand side, deep cerise pink, very beautiful and smells just like a rose should. Also just starting to look wonderful is the Buttress Border, the delphiniums never fail to delight and it seems I see a new one every year.

That's the beauty of a garden, always something new to see.

Flaming June

Finally, the weather has got its act together and we are enjoying wall to wall sunshine (ssh, no one say it out loud). May was really busy for us all, the Bluebells never fail to attract people and its not difficult to see why is it? This year, as in previous years, for Bluebell Fortnight I wanted to put up my Osbert Sitwell quote about the beauty of Bluebells.  Could I find it? Could I heck. Of course, June 1st comes along, I pick up a notebook and on the first page what is there but the blooming quote. So just so a year doesn't go by with it not being used here it is "To my knowledge their [bluebells] beauty has no rival elsewhere."  I quite agree.

May is now a distant memory and we are well into June which is quite literally bursting out all over in the garden. I don't know what David does to his Alliums but they always stand taller and straighter than mine at home, mind you I reckon my Agapanthus could take his (although not in quantity).


This month to celebrate the arrival of summer we will be serving jugs of Pimms in the cafe, if it proves a hit then it will stay otherwise we'll move it off in favour of something else. The Bradfield Brewery Beers, Farmers Blonde and Brown Cow, are proving popular and I'm pleased to report not only with me! It was a bit of worry that we wouldn't sell any as I have been known to be slightly partial to a Farmers Blonde but I've resisted the temptation.

Renishaw is appearing on Country House Sunday again this morning, ITV at 8.30am or get it on the ITV player at a much more reasonable hour.

Life on the lake

I do love walking round the lake at Renishaw. There is always something to see. Today I've seen the 2 swans a-nesting, seven goslings swimming, 3 lots of fungi, lots of wild flowers and a heron chick sat in a tree.

The speed of growth at the moment is quite breathtaking, suddenly the bluebells are fading and being dwarfed by the beautiful wild garlic that is in flower. I love this time of year, wild garlic dip with everything. Equal parts of natural yoghurt and mayonnaise with a splash of lemon juice and seasoning to taste with finely chopped wild garlic leaves - divine. There are also a pair of Nuthatches dotting around.

Really looking forward to the cygnets hatching particularly after one of the nests was raided earlier this month, presumably by a fox. So watch this space.

Gluten Free Social Media

We are trying to get to grips with the current Century (er, exactly which one are we in?) so we have the Facebook page and we have the Twitter account and now.... drum roll please... we have the website. Its all well and good but in a little company like we are its another full time job. I find myself daily (possibly twice daily if I'm honest) looking at FB to see if we've got more likes. Checking to see if Nigel Slater has replied to my tweets (he does you know) and wondering if there is anything else I can do to the website. Its madness this obsession with social media, but apparently (and I think I've said this before) you are only as good as the number of likes and followers and visitors your social media sites have. Needless to say we're struggling - lol.

Another new cake coming this week, following hot on the heels of Costa Rican Bread Pudding which we discovered in well... Costa Rica, San Jose to be exact in a little cafe in the central market. Budin is its official name and we now sell my take on this lovely cinnamon flavoured sweet thing. The newby is Chocolate Beetroot Cake and its gluten free! I wanted to add a gluten free cake to the 'main' cake range rather than have a little offering on a cake stand in a corner and this is what is coming. We are going to try it out and see what the response is. It didn't last long at home when I tested it out on my willing volunteers so I await the feedback in whatever form it comes, Facebook twitter etc.etc.

The bluebells have been stunning this year and we were all ready to see a promise of summer after the really cold weather we've been having. The garden is generally looking fantastic and I for one am really looking forward to the new few weeks when summer finally arrives.

See you soon.
Lou x

The whirlwind fortnight

It has been all go at the Café for the last fortnight.  Finally the sun came out and caught us all unawares. The bluebells got their act together and are currently looking divine and we've had hundreds of visitors.

 Bank holiday weekend was a pleasant surprise to all, wall to wall sunshine, not quite what we've become accustomed to. We had a fabulous weekend, Saturday saw the Wolseley Owners Club visit. Some absolute stunning cars all driven by lovely people. One car had only had 2 owners (father and son) from new, quite some provenance. On Sunday we had the Lord Conyers Morris Men dancing in both the courtyard and the garden. Morris and his mates (all called Morris) came to the café for a cream scone and a cup of tea after the event. Lovely people and we're hoping to host their dawn May Day dancing next year.

Last weekend we hosted the Food & Craft Fair on Saturday and the Plant Fair on Sunday. Both days were really busy in spite of the very cool temperatures. Every other drink order was hot chocolate. I don't get hot chocolate as a drink - if I want hot I drink coffee, if I want chocolate I eat well... chocolate. Although I do admit that the big mugs of chocolate topped with cream and marshmallows do look gorgeous.

Renishaw is becoming something of a TV star with recent parts in Countryfile (28th April), Escape to the Country (7th May) and, of course, a starring role in Country House Sunday. Renishaw next features on CHS on 26th May, with David in the wonderful greenhouses in the kitchen garden. Details of when Renishaw is appearing are on the noticeboards.

"All right, Mr. De Mille, I'm ready for my closeup"

Ok, so everybody now knows about Renishaw Hall & Gardens part in the new ITV series 'Country House Sunday'. If you don't you obviously haven't liked our Facebook page (see me later!). The series is 21 episodes featuring 3 country houses. Renishaw is to to be the highlight of 7 of these programmes. The first episode aired on Sunday, 21st April so if you missed it, it was a Renishaw programme and its available on the ITV player for 28 days from broadcast.

The filming took place over 2 separate weeks. The first filming in the cafe happened about 3 days after we got back from holiday and boy were we jet-lagged. It was made really easy by the crew from TwoFour Productions who were fabulous. Very laid back and friendly. Of course it helped that we were feeding them all week.

On the Monday of the second week of filming Lynda Bellingham, the show's presenter, arrived. She is lovely and very good at her job. From the moment we met her she was friendly and reassuring which all went towards making the filming so much easier to do.

When I was young I really thought that Mrs James Herriot had the perfect life and that's what I wanted to be, a vets wife, just like Lynda Bellingham! Strange isn't it how things turn out.

Needless to say we are at work when the show is aired and do not have recording facilities at home. The thing is, I don't need to know how many pounds the camera adds, I can guess - so please be gentle with me.

Here we go again

Hi all, we're back! We opened yesterday for the start of the new season, with the garden opening officially on Saturday, 30th March. It has to be said this is the first time we have been open in Spring with snow on the ground. I had a walk around the garden today and it is looking very beautiful with snow caps on the yew hedges, Hellebores in abundance and some serious winter pruning in evidence on Bottom Terrace.

Do come and visit us soon, we've some delicious new dishes on the menu and we are looking forward to seeing you all.