Palace

Last week to the Hampton Court Palace, our first visit for around six months. Overcast, but dry and warm and we were able to park without problem in the station car park. We even managed to work the ticket machine, too primitive to take anything but coin of the realm.

First stop, the kitchen garden, which looked to be in good shape.

Pumpkin

Quite a decent pumpkin, slightly split where it joins its umbilical cord. I think I have grown a pumpkin of this size just once, in several years of trying.

Box

The box edging in the kitchen garden was in good condition, with very little sign of the damage we have here in Epsom (see, for example, reference 2). A lady volunteer (with a soft Irish accent) explained that this was maybe because they were watered regularly, with the black pipe visible under the gooseberry bushes doing the necessary, morning and evening.

Pomegranate

Maybe the pomegranates will ripen? They have a few weeks to go get before the weather turns. The first time we have seen fruit, although we have had flowers two years running. See reference 3.

Bedding plant?

There were some rather exuberant bedding plants in the bed leading onto the Tiltyard Café, rather large to have grown in a single season. We poked around the base a bit but could not find any pots, which would have suggested that they had been moved from winter quarters in a greenhouse. Nor could we find the sort of gardener who might have known. Another time.

Second stop, the Café itself, which appeared to have had a décor refresh since we were last there, but which was still selling the splendid, if rather expensive, Maids of Honour tarts. The images offered by Bing are not right at all, so I must try to remember to take a picture of one next time we visit. While Wikipedia talks of puff pasty, which I don't think is right either.

Back round to the main entrance to get into the Palace proper, to be greeted by talking barrels planted in the paving of the Base Court. Sadly, just like Wisley, the place is falling over itself to compete with Disneyland.

Third stop, the young Henry experience. Which was in small, brown wood (probably old oak) panelled rooms (presumably because large rooms were hard to heat in the winter), was tiresomely experiencefull but included some large and interesting paintings. A bit primitive by the standards of the Italy of the time, but interesting.

Fleet off Dover

With the snap above being a sample. Note the treatment of the waves. Onto the Cumberland Gallery to take another look at the flesh which had replaced the Canaletto series of the Grand Canal. Which turned out to be something of a story in pictures, which I had not worked out first time around.

Flesh

The room concerned seems to be a bit off piste, so not many visitors and we were able to enjoy the pictures at our leisure. Giordano's take on the first chapter of Ovid's story about Cupid and Psyche. I think the general idea is that after various trials and torments the couple are allowed to marry after all and live happily ever after. Maybe not an International Grand Master, just a Master - but see references 4 and 5.

Unable to get into the gardens through the Fountain Court, as all the eastern gardens were shut off while they cleared up from some food festival past and started over for some antique car festival to come. Another example of the creeping privatisation of public space by commercial ventures noticed by the Guardian a few days previously. In the olden days, the food festival was held on the common ground across the road from the main entrance, leaving the gardens free for those of us who preferred flowers to foodies. But we were able to make our way through another part of the Palace, to come out near the Great Vine, to access to the Privy Garden, the sunken gardens and the beds around.

Flowery sunken garden

Both the sunken gardens were looking well. See reference 6 for the jigsaw take on it.

The base of the ancient vine

Grapes not particularly big, but plentiful. From there to the café where they sell pies, where I took chicken pie with mash. Quite a substantial lunch, taken sitting next to a young lady with two even younger children who spent the whole time we were there silently interacting with her telephone and leaving the children to amuse themselves - and I have to say they were pretty well behaved considering. Outside another young lady with even younger children who explained that she only had to get through another week of it before normal life resumed.

Sickle

Fourth stop, a luvvie dressed up as a sixteenth or seventeenth century doctor, with a set of appropriate tools, who explained to us the procedure for leg amputation. He told us that speed was of the essence and that the sickle like tool he was holding was just the thing for cutting through the flesh so that the bone inside could be sawed through. A sickle which looked as if it might have been knocked up in the Palace's blacksmith's shop and nothing like any of the amputation knives that Bing turned up. The example above left was the nearest thing to a sickle, with most of the tool bags containing things much more like today's butchers' knives. Whereas the luvvie had something much more like the Asterix version above right. I think I believe Bing.

I associated to Pepys surviving an operation for kidney stone at about this time. Which I find rather hard to believe - the operation sounding rather horrific - but true nonetheless.

Outside to inspect the replica carts and wheelbarrows which were interesting, although I was not convinced by the lack of dishing on the cart wheels. Something to check in Sturt (reference 7) at some point.

Fifth stop, the wine shop - Erik Laan Fine Wines - across the bridge in Bridge Road, where we fell for two bottles. Good patter and we learned that there were four or five branches, two of them in Reigate of all places.

Sixth stop, Bachmann's cakes in Thames Ditton. Two small cakes, brick shaped, maybe two cubic inches, striped trifles involving minced raspberries, cream and such like. Excellent. One larger cake, a Linzer torte, which we had had a couple of times before, although the only notice I can find is that at reference 8. This one taken with one of our bottles of wine that very evening. Another excellent cake, with half of it left for another day. I had completely forgotten about the cinnamon, but otherwise, rather like, but much better than our own Bakewell Tart, less the slab of white icing.

Weak and sweet

A new type of wine for us, very weak, very sweet and, for us, very old. But rather good. Does one call it a Hock, a Riesling or a Mosel? Maybe a cut price version of the stuff offered at reference 9. Actually from reference 10.

Reference 1: https://psmv3.blogspot.com/2018/02/picnic-one.html.

Reference 2: https://psmv3.blogspot.com/2018/09/cheese-hunt.html.

Reference 3: https://psmv3.blogspot.com/2017/06/pomegranate.html.

Reference 4: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luca_Giordano.

Reference 5: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cupid_and_Psyche.

Reference 6: http://pumpkinstrokemarrow.blogspot.com/search?q=hunt+green+hampton.

Reference 7: The Wheelwright's Shop - George Sturt - 1963.

Reference 8: https://pumpkinstrokemarrow.blogspot.com/search?q=linzer+torte.

Reference 9: https://psmv3.blogspot.com/2018/08/premier-league.html.

Reference 10: https://brauneberg.de/cms/front_content.php. I think this is the right place, but my feeble German is not up to effective navigation.

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