Daffodils
There are a couple of large patches of daffodils just down the road from us, and every spring I thing that I should wander down and taking a few photos. I never have though, until today.
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Devon, June 2012
Just back from a weekend down in Devon - an area I've not really done before.
First up was a visit to Bicton Park, conveniently located only a short distance from our B&B (Lower Pinn Farm - clean, comfortable room, a huge bed and an excellent breakfast). Bicton was quite good - lots of different bits of garden to keep you interested.
The rest of the weekend was spent mainly in Budleigh Salterton, initially to meet up with friends at the BN Beach Day on Saturday, but we gave up on that by 1:30 as it clouded over and the wind got chilly. Better weather on Sunday as it brightened up at lunchtime.
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Bodnant
Having said that the weather on the Friday was awful, it was in parts. Fortunately we had decided to head to the north coast, and ended up at Bodnant Gardens - the weather had cleared up as we passed (we were originally headed for Penryn Castle because some of it was indoors) so we decided to go in. And what a good decision that was - one of the best gardens I've been to. Thoroughly recommended.
It's made up of several levels. At the top, there's a fairly traditional formal flower garden
With more butterflies!
Below that, there's a rose garden, then there's this lily pond
And below that, there's *another* lily pond
And then below all that, there's a path through the woods, with a stream.
And a particularly photogenic waterfall.
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I am not a number…
We managed to visit Portmeirion without seeing anyone in a white-trimmed jacket. We visited there several years ago, and my recollection was that it was much quite an interesting place - at odds with my impression this time...
And no, no balloon chasing people down the estuary either...
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Tyntesfield
In lieu of a "proper" summer holiday this year, I had a couple of weeks off and we pottered about a bit. We had a week in Wales (pics to follow), but started off with a visit to Tyntesfield
The National Trust have done a massive amount of restoration since they acquired the property in 2002, and the whole building is currently covered in a mass of scaffolding. Interestingly, they've built a viewing platform, so you can actually go up and see what's going on. It's fascinating to be able to look out over the roof!
The garden had an excellent array of flowers in bloom, so out came the Panasonic compact camera in macro mode.
I'm told they're dahlias. To me, the natural world consists of lilies, roses, tulips and "flowers".
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