In Mum's Garden

In every season there are plants and flowers to enjoy in Mum's garden.  These scented stocks are true to their name and smell wonderful.

I have missed the cherry blossom but the apple blossom is in full bloom and very beautiful.

There are bluebells too but not as blue as the wild varieties..

In the greenhouse and in sheltered spots near the house there are roses in bloom..

English Strawberries

My first English strawberries of the year at lunchtime today and they were as good as they look!

Bright Landscapes

Driving down the Fosseway yesterday I kept getting glimpses of beautiful views and vibrant yellow fields of oilseed rape in the sunshine. 

Mostly, by the time I had found somewhere that looked safe to park, the view was behind me or obscured by trees.  However, by the Badminton estate  there were rolling fields of yellow and a safe-ish place to pull over.

The fields were spectacular in all directions under the blue sky.

Safely back on the other side of the road I stopped to look at the extraordinarily neat and very long dry stone wall which runs down this side of the estate and the vibrant green of the new leaves in the woods behind.

Waiting for that other baby...

I made a quick stop in Tetbury today on my way to Bath.  

It was looking beautiful in the sunshine and the bunting was up and flags were flying..

In the window of one of the charity shops  was a very patriotic display anticipating the arrival of the royal baby..

The sign at the back of the window explains that none of the items will be for sale until the baby arrives.

In a bakery window, some rather colourful and patriotic cupcakes were on sale.

Home Again

It is great to be home to see Lauren and James who are both looking well and happy.  Not too long now!

It is also a little poignant to be here as this is my first visit home since we lost Sophie two weeks ago.

We all have lots of happy memories of her 17 years with our family.

Double Decker ride home

Very exciting to come home on the A380 and the only advantage of flying alone was that David, from his Virgin Atlantic A330 was able to take this pic!

I had taken a couple of pictures while it was at the gate (or rather gates - one gate to take passengers to the upper deck and one for the lower deck).

I am just in front of the wing, bottom deck!  Interesting experience.  Such a big aircraft that it almost didn't feel like one, except in certain places of course!

It is good to be home and looking forward to seeing everyone.

Morning Sunshine in the Garden

The view out of the kitchen window this morning shows that everything is greening up and the trees bursting into leaf, despite the chilly temperatures at present.

The azaleas will shortly be in bloom, just a few flowers so far..

Other little patches of colour are provided by these little iris..

..and the ubiquitous and almost identically coloured periwinkle ..

Finally there are some tiny white flowers in the grass..

They are not violets but violet sized.  I photographed them last year too so really must find out what they are called!

Chihuly Glass 'Close-Ups'

Today was a day of packing, travelling, unpacking and packing again and no particularly photogenic moments.   Hence I am borrowing some of the close-up shots that David took on Thursday evening of our visit to see the extraordinary Chihuly glass sculptures at the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden.