Day 8: Our First Really Rainy Day

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Day 8: Our First Really Rainy Day
Max: We sleep in…we really, really unashamedly sleep in. However, once we get to Chatsworth House and Gardens we regret it. There is so much to see and we have not allowed even the closest approximation of enough time. The rain helps: it is not a good day to walk the gardens, view the outdoor sculptures, get lost in the maze, or see the orangery. The house is awash with art: sculptures, paintings, painted ceilings, embossed leather walls (the Duke of Devonshire who now owns the house says that he regrets these…)
Caitlin and I indulge ourselves in a lovely lunch at one of the restaurants on the premises, browse the shops, and then we take a fast trip to the Chatsworth Farm Shop: so many beautiful fruits and vegetables, cheeses, meats, and fish. We are the last to leave and are happy after a more leisurely day to look forward to cooking a dinner and, perhaps, an early night.

Caitlin: I've said before how we've been blessed with beautiful weather & beautiful light, and again today this is true. Nevermind that I LOVE the rain, who wouldn't want to see Chatsworth on a dark and stormy day?! It was truly splendid & dramatic & made the house spooky & cozy at the same time.

Almost as splendid as the Chatsworth House was the Chatsworth Farm Shop. Remember when we had to drag Mom away from paintings in the National Gallery? Well, it was like that only this time, Mom kept having to drag me away from packs of quails eggs and fresh currants (can you eat them fresh? They look too pretty not to eat, which probably means that they're poisonous), shin "chops" and all sort of meat-y things that seem offal-ish to us Yanks, wine jellies and all sorts of desserts and beverages that make me feel like....um....a kid in a candy store, I guess, quite almost literally. I did finally wear Mom down and convince her that we had to have a little bottle of Nettle Cordial - which turned out to be very delicious indeed.

Oh, have I told you that they don't keep their eggs in refrigerator cases here???? Isn't that the neatest thing you've ever heard?!?!

Finally, way more splendid than Chatsworth House is my new hat. Seriously. Pictures to follow.

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Photos

We're Driiiiiii-vin' in the Raaaain
Driving to a manor house in England...what a way to spend a rainy day

The Main Entry
The entire house is kept dark to protect the tapestries, uphosteries, and rugs, But I like this out-of focus slow shutter look myself.

Embossed Leather Wall
!!!!!!!!

Gold Gilded Windows
The original main entrance. The window panes, not painted gold but actually covered in gold leaf, were to impress arriving guests.

The Library.
Even though we weren't allowed to go in, I could still tell it smelled EXACTLY like my Granny Goody's house.

The Devonshire Family Jewels
Oh, look what a Duchess gets to wear. Not pictured: the solid gold dog collar....for the dog.

Oil Paintings
There was a theme thoughout that glorified King William III and proposed similarities with Julius Cesar.

Shoes!!!!
Oh my god, shoes!

Chatwsorth Farm Shop
Food, glorious food!

Did I tell you about my new hat??
And how amazing it is?

Comments

[Richard]

Who for?
I can't help but wonder who all of this is for. Are there that many tourists or other visitors that their own SHOP is warranted? This is an incredible place and would take a heck of a lot of sales of bottles of wine to keep going. The economics--and there must be lots of others places like this in England--is mysterious to me. But for those of us that feel a kinship with English history, I'm glad they are able to keep places like Chatsworth House open to the public, and for Yanks like you to share it with the rest of us!

[Jennifer]

Chatsworth
My mother loved Chatsworth. The Duchess of Devosnhire is Deborah, last survivor of the famous and infamous Mitford sisters (daughters of Lord Redesdale). Nancy Mitford was a famous novelist, Diana married Oswald Moseley, head of the British Fascists (the Black Shirts), Unity also became a Fascist as well (and survived a suicide attempt after England war with Germany). She was a huge admirer of Hitler, who apprently told her she was a perfect model for Aryan womanhood. Jessica Mitford went entirely in the opposite direction, became a communist, and ran off with her cousin Esmond Romilley (Churchill's nephew) to fight in the Spanish Civil War. Romilley was killed, and Jessica and her infant daughter moved to America, where she continued her work with the Communist Party, through which she met her 2nd husband, radical lawyer Robert Treuhaft. She ultimately made name for herself as a muckraker ("The American Way of Death" was her expose of the funeral industry. She and Treuhaft lived in Oakland until her death. Diana Moseley died in Paris during that summer heat wave several years ago. Her granddaughter, Gloria Guinness, is a fashion icon and society doyenne in Britain. Deborah Mitford always wanted to be a duchess, and amrried the younfer son of the Duke of Devonshire. Her husband acceded to the title when his elder brother died.