SUNDAY THOUGHT - Mount Stewart Conversations Weekend

I (the Lord) will live among you in my sacred Tent,

and I will never turn away from you.

Leviticus 26:11

This is the tent/ marquee where some of the speakers were presenting their talks during the “Conversations” weekend at Mount Stewart.

September 2016

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SATURDAY CRITTERS -Birds at Oxford Island

These are a few more shots I took when we visited Oxford Island on the way to The Argory.  There is a Blackbird sunning himself, a Coot although you can hardly see him but I liked this shot of part of Lough Neagh and thought you  might also and finally Mallard ducks.  I am linking this post with SATURDAY CRITTERS.

 Thank you for visiting and also to all who leave comments.

FRIDAY'S HUNT and WEEKEND REFLECTIONS - The Argory (Part 8 ) and Mount Stewart

This week’s word prompts are the letter M, Favourite and Work and I am joining Friday’s Hunt and Weekend Reflections to this post. Today I cover 2 National Trust Properties, the first images taken at The Argory in the East Hall and at the end of this post, me as I start in my new tee shirt to WORK during the whole weekend at Mount Stewart at a big event called ‘Conversations’.

This room lead off the West Hall and was not very big however there were plenty of MIRRORS with lots of REFLECTIONS as Edith Stafford, our guide gave us a wonderful insight into the history of the families who lived in this home.  Once again,, I leave you to pick a FAVOURITE..

This beautiful blue and white plaster freeze illustrates

‘The Combat of the Amazons’  

This is the view as we look back through the 

archway into the West Hall entrance.

This is a little room like a conservatory off the East Hall where the family came and sat in.

The National Property at Mount Stewart, Newtownards had a MASSIVE and MEMORABLE event over the whole weekend called Conversations where they had a fantastic series of very eminent speakers and performers taking part.  There were over 100 volunteers and all the staff that helped make this event so successful.  We all were asked to wear this tee shirt, with a smile, and a great attitude, we all were ‘Happy To Help’.

These shots above were taken at 8.00 am on MY way into WORK on the second day.  That day I was in the ‘Green Room’ where all the speakers and artists congregated and we looked after them, serving them with refreshments and seeing that they got to the place they were to speak or perform on time.  The first day, I was on a path outside the Coach House and as all visitors, speakers and artists passed on their way into Mount Stewart, my job was to welcome them and direct them to where they had to go.

I hope you enjoyed seeing a bit more from The Argory.

Many thanks for visitng and also to all who leave comments.

GOOD FENCES - The Argory (Part 7)

Although I am not finished showing you all the interior of The Argory, we are stepping outside into the grounds to show you some walls to fit into Tex’s meme – GOOD FENCES. Ryan was our guide on this occasion as he showed some staff and volunteers from Mount Stewart round the grounds,

Let me explain this shot.  I am standing in the middle of dome shaped trained Yew trees and pointing my camera straight up to where I can see the sky at the top.

This was a very interesting tree that Ryan showed us and in a later post I will show you close ups of the trunk.

There are 3 gate lodges, two of which are lived in at present.

I am not sure what this was used for.  Any ideas?

I hope you enjoyed seeing some of the grounds.

Thank you for visiting and also to those who leave comments.

The Argory (Part 6)

These are a few items I photographed as I walked round the National Trust property, The Argory in County Tyrone.

Above is a weighing machine that Captain Shelton bought in 1867 and when he hosted guests he would measure their height and weighed them when they arrived.  Just before they left his home he would weigh them again and hopefully they would weigh heavier as this was, in his opinion a sign of being a very good and generous host!  

I thought this was very pretty and I think it was bought during some of the family’s travels. 

 Captain Shelton had a very distinguished military career and if you wish to know a little more about the history of the family and house, I published a post earlier so CLICK HERE to see it.  This was a canon ball brought back by him.

This was Captain Shelton’s wheelchair and the photograph below showed him sitting in it.  

Thanks for your visit and also your comments

WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY - Mount Stewart Lake

 These are a few birds I photographed at Mount Stewart Lake all over last weekend while I was working at a fantastic event called 'Conversations' which i will tell you about hopefully next week.  The birds were mostly Mallard, some Black headed Gulls, Little Grebe and 2 Mute Swans. I am linking this post with WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY.

I was really going to look for the 3 cygnets that I have shown you before however I only found 2 adult and was a bit worried as to what had happened to the cygnets.

On asked a member of staff, she told me that the 3 cygnets with their parents were chased away by these 2 interloppers.  However the swan family apparently  successfully arrived at Strangford Lough. 

I hope you enjoyed these few images and thanks for visiting.

Many thanks for also leaving any comments on this blog.

THROUGH MY LENS -The Argory Entrance Hall

As one enters The Argory to the West Hall, you realise the interior is a joy compared to the awkward and forbidding exterior. In fact the interior is the epitome of country house life with its accretions and comforts and the marbled walls give the impression of warmth and welcome.

The staircase hall, or west hall, has been described as one of the most exciting interiors of its date in Ireland. It has a theatrical cantilevered staircase with brass banister supports, marbled walls, colza-oil lamp (converted to gas in 1906) and a large cast-iron stove surmounted by a replica of the Warwick vase. The original 1821 drawings of this stove survive; its flue descends beneath the floor to the drawing-room chimney. 

Our large group from the  National Trust property at Mount Stewart was divided into 3 smaller groups and we were the first group to be guided round the house by Edith Stafford who had worked there as a guide for many years and because her mother had worked for the family she was able to tell us very interesting stories about life in The Argory in years gone by.

The room also has an almost life-size bronze cast of a mastiff, one of two bronzes of dogs which date from 1835 and are early examples of the work of the French animalier Charles Fratin.

We went ascended the beautiful staircase I was just in time to photograph the next group that had just entered the West Hall.

I am sorry I was not able to visit any blogs over the past few days as I was working at a very special event at National Trust Property - Mount Stewart House and Gardens.

I am linking to THROUGH MY LENS.

Many thanks for visiting and also to all you leave comments.