Today, we went down to famous author Rudyard Kipling’s house, which was very exciting. I think I liked it a bit more than expected, with all those lively Indian antiques – for Kipling was particularly fascinated in such things – and clocks and papers. In the entrance hall (for the house was very big), they had a lovely black-and-white cheque floor, a little like you might imagine in an old cook’s kitchen, and a large oak wood table. Lined with shining polished tree bark, there stood in the far corner a large grandfather clock, ticking loudly and strictly, with fine carved designs almost like wooden embrodery up the sides.
There were lots of other rooms we went in, too. One had a large polished birch tape machine, where you turned the dial to listen to some of Rudyard’s clips or poems. There was a small table and an intricately patterned rug and fabric chairs to decorate the rest of the large room. It had outstretched windows across the sides and front and back, with a lovely wooden window seat (but we weren’t allowed to touch it to sit on).
Another was Kipling’s study. It was like three libraries put together! It had old and worn books all standing upright on dozens of shelves, and a desk at the corner by a window, with stacks of more books piled up on it. A sheet of parchment and a quill pen lay on its patterned red board. Delicately woven rugs were spread out on the wooden floor planks and a wolverine skin covered part of it, too, by the sofa. Stretched out on the sofa was a seal skin throw. It looked very hard-working, but still quite cosy. My favourite thing in the room was the old dusty typewriter – I’d love to have one!
There was a great big grandfather clock outside, again enwrought with twisted golden designs, but this time, as the pendulum clicked in the seconds, there was a picture of a lamb on the top, swaying to the sides. Anyone who knows me will know that when I get a house, I will have a splendid grandfather clock like that! There’s one on a film called ‘Whisper of the Heart’ in the antique shop. I think it’s lovely because of the story at the top, showing a beautiful girl in love with a handsome prince, but she can’t see him often because she turns into a sheep at nightfall. I know it sounds completely weird, but you’ll have to watch the film, and then you’ll understand.
The next room was the guest bedroom, which had a lovely four-poster bed and a beautiful dressing table with little cork bottles and things. There was this awesome suitcase (which Mummy seemed to particularly like) where you could hang up your shirts and dresses on one side and have a little set of drawers on the other. Rudyard actually used this in his travels!
There was a very nice lady there who we talked to, and I gave her my website address, so if you’re reading this, nice lady, I have a message for you: “I really liked talking with you! Hope you like my blog!”
There was also John’s bedroom, and a room with all of Rudyard’s own illustrations of the ‘Jungle Book’ and his other stories. There was a little collage in the corner with some carved animals from it, like Arkala (or however you spell it; we don’t have any internet in our caravan..) and Baloo and things. It had the pack of wolves on a rock standing there, looking very important, and Baloo stretched up by a tree, I think I remember.
We did an Easter egg hunt, too, all around the gardens. At the end we got a delicious, pretty huge, chocolate bunny each!
When we got home, we ate some of our bunny (it was too huge to scoff in and so tasty it was hard to let it go from our eyesight) and then changed into our swimsuits. When we got to the swimming pool in the caravan park, it was apparantly ‘below the usual degrees, so may be colder than normal’, but when we got in, it was twenty six and a half swimming pool degree things! (That is meant to be freezing cold, of which it jolly well was! This was very disappointing, but we finished our film and had a rather ‘waste-of-time’ boiling shower, which half helped the point.)
Goodbye!