I am ashamed to say that I have never visited Ham House before, so the drive up to the impressive entrance was a pleasant suprise. This beautiful stately home backs on to the Thames at Ham near Richmond – it’s a cut above the ordinary – and you sense you are somewhere special by the size of the long drive up to the house, the large stone pineapples that guard the entrance gates and the fabulous walled garden filled with all manner of vegetable gems. My mother told me that you should always judge a place by its toilets – Ham House toilets did not disappoint – fresh flowers placed thoughtfully above the sinks, and delightful fragrant soap to sooth even the roughest, dry hands.
The weather helped – it was a glorious sunny day – our first dry weekend for some time. I’m used to fending for myself at markets so what a treat to be asked whether I wanted tea or coffee by one of the nice National Trust ladies in green. It was all very civilised, a truely British occasion – even the story telling session was ushered in by the green team bringing out ‘old school’ rugs for the children to sit on. The bon homie continued across the afternoon, and people really enjoyed having the sun on their backs, drank in the fresh air, and the children revelled in the abundance of green space to run around in.
I enjoyed talking to people about my cakes, and the whole veg + cake = : ) philosophy was received and understood – I was preaching to the converted, it all made perfect sense and everything I had made had disappeared by 4.30pm! Good day all round….thank you Ham House…
FUTURE EVENTS
I will be at the following venues over the next few months as well as my regular markets:
Diamond Jubilee Street Party Event Parsons Green Mon 4th June
Hanwell Carnival Sat 16th June
Strawberry Hill Music Festival Sat 22nd July
Celestialcakes123's Blog 