Wednesday 7 August 2013

Go Get The Green Bin...

...were the words uttered to me on Sunday, by Grim, whilst he was up a ladder trying to get half a tonne of Virginia Creeper down from the side of the house.... personally I would have left it but then again, I am a lazy old bat and it had started to come into the house... so...   Anyways.  I am outside in my official capacity of Ladder Holderer - I will have you know this is a very important job and I take my duties very seriously (even if I had just done my nails and didn't want to actually touch anything in case I scadged them...)  So, Grim says "Can you go and get the green bin please, we needs to put this stuff in there...."   Which I dutifully did.  I fair trotted around the back to get said green bin.   And I very carefully (nails remember?) dragged said empty green bin back around to the side and wrestled it down the slope to where Grim was waiting with several tonnage of green stuff.  Of course, I didn't actually help pick up any of the green stuff as my nails were still a bit tacky (ok, they weren't but I didn't want to chance it!)  The green bin soon filled up and then Grim had to climb up the ladder again to get into the green bin to squash down the contents so we could then put an old rose bush and a mahooosive thistle and a big bundle of brambles into the bin.  Which is what Grim did (bless him!)  Once we had arrived back in the... back garden... Grim decided to make the most of the dry weather and cut the grass... and dumped the cuttings into the green bin.  Anyways.. you get the impression this green bin is full right?  Oh yesh, it was chocker!!!  And then Grim says... "Oh dear! We have used the GREEN bin...."   And I said "yes dear, we always use the green bin...."  And then the dawning and penny dropping that went on was SO loud... yes, I had inadvertantly gone and got the GREEN bin.  Not the BROWN bin that garden waste goes into..... Epic fail Sheridan!!!  And of course, because of my nails (ok, several hours had passed but I still didn't want to take any chances) poor old Grim had to take out all the stuff in the green bin and put them all into the brown bin... brambles, old roses and thistles and all..... bless him, he can't help having a stooopid wife now can he?  Anyways... I am very happy to report that my nails weren't indeedily scadged as I feared and not a scratch did I suffer!  (ahem...)



Anyways... after all the excitement of the wrong bin, yesterday we took a day out to go and visit Lyveden New Bield... which is a National Trust site.   Seriously, if you ever get a chance to go and visit this place... do it!  Not only is it wonderful to see, the clever chaps at the National Trust have put together a little recording, like a personal guided tour, and every person visiting gets one of these little devices... so you can go around the site at your own pace and it is packed full of info.  I am assuming that all NT places do this but being as I haven't been to one before, I was well impressed.  



Sir Thomas Tresham is well known in Northamptonshire for his architecture, the Triangular Lodge at Rushton is one of his other buildings which I used to see everyday as I drove my train past it!  The New Bield was designed to be a summer house in the grounds of his home Lyveden Manor which is known as the Old Bield.  Tresham had an eye for design and the New Bield is built in a shape like a Greek Cross... each wall is perfectly angled and the symmetry is rather amazing for the year that it is thought to have been built, 1604/05.



Tresham was a fanatical Roman Catholic, which landed him in prison during the unrest of Elizabethan times.  And the New Bield was never finished as Tresham died in prison and as soon as news reached the workers, they downed tools and building work halted.   His son inherited the estate but within a year he had become embroiled in the Gunpowder Plot and the result was the New Bield was never finished.  The state the building remains in today is as it was left over 400 years ago but you can really see the whole idea that Tresham had and the religeous iconography on the outer parts of the building are still perfectly preserved now.


One thing that struck me was the beauty of the stone and the symmetry of the building.  Surrounding the whole estate is a moat - again unfinished as work stopped upon news of Tresham's death - and the whole concept that he had really is rather remarkable.  The orchard, the gardens and the four "mounts" that he had built so each one can view the grounds and summer house from different aspects really was visionary.


And, I was amazed by the graffiti - well it goes to show it isn't just something people do today... these dates... wow!








It wasn't me... honest!!!




And the final vista once we had walked around the grounds and gardens... and sampled a few Morello Cherries from the orchard... sour!!!






I shall away now... enough wafflings for one day!  Thanks for looking, have a great day!

TTFN

Hels x

18 comments:

rachel said...

imagine having a green bin thats not for the green stuff? Thats mad! Our green bins are for the green stuff - and we have grey bins for the normal rubbish - much more sensible - its not your fault Hels - its the councils!!! Lol xx

Karen Petitt said...

We've black, blue, green and grey! It's so blooming confusing and you had to keep the nails safe Hels! Blooming councils - I have to check every time our rubbish goes out 'cos I get confused! Karen x

Aquarius said...

just had to smile at your bin saga - green bin around here means green rubbish I.E. garden stuff like leaves and grass and we don't have brown bins apart from the tiny food waste ones. Thanks for sharing the photos and interesting potted history of that lovely NT site. Never had a talking gizmo when visiting NY properties - only officious folks standing guard!!

Kirsten said...

Where is the logic in having a BROWN bin for garden waste??? Thank goodness mine is green - which is as it should be. When I rule the world.......
Thanks for the photos & report, it looks like a terrific place to visit, I must add it to my list.

Lisapmac said...

What a carry on, our "green" garden bin is brown as well :-)

Chris Kelly said...

Yesterday must have been green bin day. We woke to hear water cascading Down the wall from blocked guttering. Hubby borrowed a very long ladder and unblocked the guttering on our very tall house. He worried the life out of me with his antics up the ladder and then informed me that he felt a bit wobbly ( diabetes meds and failure to eat is not a good idea.) then he turned his attention to the ivy which was romping up the neighbours wall, and then to some rampant greenery which is not ours but was about to eat the newly replaced shed roof which had been eaten by a jasmine. We don't have a brown bin so we filled 10 huge green garden waste bags and went to the tip. I had no time to craft so was very grumpy.
X Chris

Carole Z said...

Oh don't get me started on bins! We have a black bin, green bin, little grey bin for food waste, a bag for plastic bottles, a bag for paper, a bag for cans and glass..have I forgotten anything? We had to buy a bin/long box to keep them all in..lol! Love your photos!
Carole Z X

Helen said...

You nutter... I have a green bin for recycling, a brown one for rubbish rubbish and sacks for garden waste, no bin at all.. Don't you just love how every council has to be different.... The photos are gorgeous, what a wonderful place!

janet said...

Had a good laugh at today's ramblings (not just the ones put in the bins!). Bea is our official Ladder Holderer so she knows what an important job you had. And Grim DID ask for the green bin didn't he? Only right he transferred contents to brown bin then. He'd have had to pay for a new manicure if the nails had got chewed up too.
Thanks for the laugh!
Hugs
Janet (and Bea)

Linda Simpson said...

Fabulous photographs and those bins are a testiment to how hard you have worked in the garden. Love that building too.

Hugs
Linda xxx

Marleine said...


Hi Hels,

You did make me laugh with your bin antics. Lucky you having any bin for garden rubbish or household.
We get, very thin black bags and clear plastic bags for recycle, and have regular trips to the local dump for garden waste. Love those trips. Often bring back more bits for 'up cycling'. X

Patricia Howarth said...

Morning Hels, I bet there was a few choice words being used ha ha !! we have a green bin for garden waste, a black bin for general household waste, and a blue bin for recycled waste. I feel it is really strange that you have a green bin but the garden waste one is 'brown' !!!
Your piccies look gorgeous, I especially love the 'water' one near the orchard, it is beautiful.
Lots of love from Patricia xx
PS The display on your Blog page looks different, is that because of the changeover to BT broadband ?? hope the changeover went well xx

nancyd said...

Morning Hels, you are quite mad,
as you we have a brown bin for
garden waste grey for rubbish blue box
for glass and tin large green canvas
sacky thing for plastic and a white sack
for paper and a
small bin for house for food stuff
cooked or not which we have to buy
reclyclible bags for which we then
put in the brown bin it does get very
confusing at times as they all go out
different weeks, but glad your nails
survived you will have to
get gel varnish that you need a lamp
to cure but they last for two weeks
it doesn't matter what you throw at
them it s fantastic.
Nancyd xx

nannapat said...

Fab story Hels, gave me big smiles. Love your photos of the NT property, glad you enjoyed your visit. Pat x

Gail said...

Makes you realise what beautiful buildings and countryside we have here and never fails to amaze me when you look at the quality of how things were built all those years ago without the mechanical aids we have today and the rubbish they build now with all the technology and aids - makes you think!! Anyway I can understand green for green!! you need to move back up North as at least our green bin is for green stuff - black for rubbish - maroon for cardboard/plastic/glass etc - really don't know how the oldies get on with it all (very confusing)!! xx GailT xx

Nan G said...

Well he asked for the green bin. :) Amazing ruins! And in such condition too. Thanks for sharing. Hugs

Unknown said...

We just get to burn our "green stuff" here in my neck of the woods (at least when it's all dry and can burn!). I live far enough out of a "big city" where we have to take care of our own stuff--burn yard debris and take household garbage to the county dump! Country Living is FUN!! (mostly)
Thank you for sharing the gorgeous pics of such a historic place! Just beautiful!

Joanne said...

See if you had been up here gardening you would have been right to use the green bin which is for garden waste, our brown bin is for cardboard. The old house looked amazing, albeit a bit draughty.
xx

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