I’ll tell you: it isn’t someone who teaches you something, but someone who inspires the student to give of her best in order to discover what she already knows.
Paulo Coelho (from the Witch of Portobello)
In the 1860s Charles Fechter sent Charles Dickens a Christmas present, it arrived in 58 packing cases at Gravesend station. The present was a prefabricated Swiss Chalet which Dickens assembled in the garden at his country home at Gadshill Place. He constructed it in the second part of his garden which was across the Rochester road. In time he built a tunnel under the road so that he could access the chalet without being seen.
A lot of his later writing was done in the upper study of this chalet which was kitted out with all the things he liked to have near him when he was writing. In his studio on the second floor he included a number of mirrors so that the light would reflect around the room and surround him.
The chalet has been preserved and moved to Rochester High Street as a memorial to the writer.
12 Comments CherryPie on Jan 24th 2012
I have now returned from from my second journey (in a month) down south. It is such a long journey (5 hours) that it feels like a trip to the moon. Making the journey by road is less than ideal; it is mostly motorways, which currently have a lot of roadworks that slow down the traffic. Life has been a bit hectic lately so on this occasion I made the journey by train which was far less stressful than a trip in the car.
The leisurely train journey gave me an ideal opportunity to get started on the first Vision and Verb book group read. I arrived home feeling relaxed and ready for dinner which was prepared in my new kitchen. I then had an earlyish night for me and enjoyed my first opportunity for a long lie in since well before Christmas.
My lie in set me up for a day of emptying boxes of kitchen items that are being stored in the dining room. As part of the emptying, the kitchen items had to be washed and suitable places found to store them in the new kitchen.
12 Comments CherryPie on Jan 23rd 2012
In ordinary life we hardly realise that we receive a great deal more than we give, and that it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906 – 1945)
18 Comments CherryPie on Jan 22nd 2012
I invite you to join me at Vision & Verb where I share some facts and folklore about a well known Shropshire landmark.
No Comments CherryPie on Jan 22nd 2012
18 Comments CherryPie on Jan 20th 2012
Wednesday
Yesterday, all stops were pulled out by the kitchen company as they were trying to locate an alternative cooker for our kitchen. The problem was that we wanted a white cooker and there was a four to six week delay for one in that colour, despite their supplier promising that one was available. They caused the same hassle over the fridge freezer too when they told the kitchen company that they could deliver direct before advising that the item was now obsolete so wouldn’t be delivered after all. This caused a mad rush round during the week before Christmas, trying to locate an alternative and get it delivered before the kitchen was due to be installed.
Anyway lets get back to the present… After some searching around, the kitchen company managed to work a little bit of magic and pull a rabbit out of the hat!! They located the model I wanted in the colour I wanted and even had it physically inspected to make sure there was no mistake.
It was delivered and fitted today as were a few other things that needed finishing off. I am very pleased with the finished kitchen and the cooker produced an excellent evening meal 
Thank you to everyone at QA Kitchens 
22 Comments CherryPie on Jan 18th 2012
