At the Park

 

It was rather a grey morning but we headed for the Jephson Gardens in Leamington Spa to enable Theo to run around and play.

He made the most of the opportunities on offer..

 

 

 

 

 

Some of the equipment in the park looked a little daunting at first..

 

 

Theo soon got the hang of it and was then keen to keep practicing..

 

 

Plastic £5 note

 

Today is the first time that I have seen one of the new £5 notes - and I am not sure what I think about it!

 

Just a little smaller than the old £5 note - and with a very different feel.

 

No doubt it will soon seem 'normal'.

'Love and Be Happy'

 

This motto on a pretty antique vase seemed to be apt for today.

 

We visited Andrew and Jan for a lovely lunch and enjoyed the woodburning fire -  complete with 'Northern Lights' pine cone effects.

 

In the garden these wonderful cardoons are ready to share their huge seedheads with the birds - or spread them far and wide.

 

The garden still has lots of colour..

 

 

 

 

Late Summer Colour

 

Mum's garden is colourful at most times of the year and in the sunshine of the last few days the flowers have been beautiful.

 

The bees are still making the most of the flowers - here a cosmos.

 

The bees and butterflies also love the very tall verbena bonarensis.

 

Another cosmos, just basking in the sun.

 

The nasturtiums are always lovely.

 

This dahlia has a history - it came from Dad's parents home before Mum and Dad were married and has been with them therefore for more than 60 years!!

In the Garden

 

The Cox's apples on the tree in Mum's garden are ripe and ready for picking..

Afternoon Walk

 

To further my daily 10,000 step quest (not usually successful) I set off this afternoon to walk some of the roads and paths around Mum & Dads.

 

Despite the familiarity of views and details over many years, the quality of the light and the fact that I don't often walk around this area any more gave everyday images a novelty value.

 

Even the ever present ivy and 'old man's beard' seemed to have a different quality to them..

 

 

Figs - Then and Now

 

For many years the only figs that I had experienced - and those mainly at Christmas - were these fig jellies and the pressed packs of dried figs.

 You either loved them or hated them and as far as the jellied figs were concerned, I loved them - once having acquired the taste that is!

The fig jellies have long ceased to be made after the company was taken over - the dried pressed figs are still part of Christmas, but for the short season that they are available in the UK, the fresh ones are by far the best!

 

At home in Bath, Mum's fig tree is doing well and these fruits caught my eye today.

 

 

The fig is unusual in that there are new fruits developing all the time - but I guess that for all year round ripe fruit, you need all year round sunshine!

Once cut open, the fig looks even more exotic and really a far cry from the dried or jellied version with hard little seeds!