A LOVELY BLOG....

This morning I have been off to the UK and found this post about Magic Cochin's visit to a very fascinatingly authentic country house and its kitchen gardens, called Audley End . Here is an excerpt from her blog.....please go and read the rest and see the photos. The rest of the blog, called Purple Podded Peas, is lovely too and I will add it to the link list.......

....We selected Audley End, a large country estate owned by English Heritage; recently the Victorian Service Wing of the house has been opened up to show the 'real life below stairs' as it would have been in 1880.We looked around the kitchens, actors play the part of the kitchen maids and cooks making elaborate pies and pastries. The shelves are stacked high with gleaming copper pots and pans, we loved reading the handwitten recipes and menus. Next door was the scullery and the laundry, where a clever projected film of two laundry maids chatting as they worked set the scene as we looked at wash boards, dollies, irons and mangles.

Outside in the back yard the authenticity continued, wooded crates from deliveries of produce were stacked by the door, mops were propped up to dry, a huge meat safe complete with amazingly realistic pig carcasses has been reconstructed as has the game larder . . .

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