Saturday 23 April 2016

'Goodbye' Photo


Early this morning the taxi was due to take me to Heathrow and so it was time for my 'Goodbye' photo with Theo.

We have been taking these at the end of each visit for almost a year and Lauren put the individual photos into a collage, charting his growth in this first 11 months..


Friday 22 April 2016

Jephson Gardens


We walked through the Jephson Gardens in Leamington today.  There were several unusual trees bursting into life.


Lots of flowers too.. such as these hellebores..


Wood anemones under a large tree..


Delicate fritillaries..


Bay bush (I think) in the Sensory Garden.


A variety of primula..


It was a disappointing day today after the blue skies and sunshine we had early in the week.  Here it was quite dull and chilly and so we headed into the glasshouse quite quickly to have a look around there.

(I will share those photos another day).

Thursday 21 April 2016

Queen of the Night


Another beautiful tulip growing in a pot on Mum's balcony, 'Queen of the Night' is as dark as 'Angelique' is pale.  


Planted together they make a wonderful bouquet of colour..

Wednesday 20 April 2016

Into the Dolls House


The dolls house that we played with as children is still at our parents home.  Yesterday I opened it up for the first time in many years to have a look.  

It still has its original outdoor and indoor paintwork and In this room it has the original wallpaper.


This dolls house has been played with by several generations of children and the furniture is now rather mixed up.  I didn't re-arrange it but just photographed it where it was.  The rooms are quite deep and a little dark.

In the kitchen the appliances are largely absent - a black range is at the back of this picture and an old gas cooker at the front left.  

Some of the tiniest details of the house were the most fun to play with, such as the pink tea set at the back of this picture, the knives and forks in the cutlery box and various plates of 'food' for the table.


In its heyday, the dolls house had little electric bulbs to light each room and a bulb with a red surround in each fireplace to simulate a real fire in the grate.


In these pictures of the hall and stairs you can see both bulb and light switch.  Hidden in the shadows by the stairs is a pram.


The opening doors of each room into the hall provided the opportunity when playing with the occupants of the house to move them around easily from room to room.


The beds were always a challenge to make up as the covers didn't always fold around the base!


Some of the more delicate wooden furniture is looking a little battered now but most has survived remarkably well.  There are some new additions and new occupants - not all quite to the same scale.


As with many of the older houses in Bath the bathroom is a bit of an afterthought, being on the door, above the front door.  It may need a little refurbishment.


Here is the house ready to be played with and re-organised by the next young visitor.


And finally the front door with its (originally) working doorbell.  The dustbin seems a little small now for the size of the house!

Tuesday 19 April 2016

Mount Fuji


Mum planted a beautiful Japanese spreading cherry tree some 40 years ago and each year at this time it is covered in beautiful double white flowers.


The variety is Prunus Shirotae, also known as Mount Fuji, presumably for its resemblance to the snowy cap of that famous mountain.


When the sun was out today and the sky was blue it seemed a good time to photograph the blossom and the spread of the tree in detail from underneath.  


It is truly at 'peak bloom' at the moment.


Monday 18 April 2016

At the Farm


Yesterday we visited my sister and her family at their farm.  After a wonderful lunch it was time to see a few of the new arrivals.


First stop was some of the lambs needing supplementary feeding..


My elder niece is a competent and confident young farmer - and indeed co-owner with her sister and cousins of a large flock of sheep and lambs.  She was patient with her less than competent aunty!


Next stop, feeding the calves..


They are just babies and once they have had their milk, all they really want to do is nibble and suckle on any available fingers..


Then out to the fields to check on the wellbeing of the sheep and their lambs..


The lambs seemed to be doing just fine and enjoying the sunshine..



The ewes were more interested in their supplementary feed of potatoes.


Last word goes to this little lamb who had a lot to say for himself!

Sunday 17 April 2016

Early Visitor


Looking the picture of innocence, this male roe deer visited the garden early this morning.


He decided against munching the blossom on the cherry tree but soon found something that did appeal to him..