I thought as it was Friday I'd look back at five things that have made me smile over the last few days.
1. Young water birds. The black swans at Trentham Gardens have cygnets. Meanwhile at the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust headquarters at their Wolseley Nature Reserve we saw a moorhen with a chick, mallard ducklings, Canada goose goslings and a nest too, full of eggs, mother goose moved off the nest to stretch her legs and then went back to sit on her eggs.
2. The Tamarisk Tree in the middle of the garden has gone from dark pink to light pink almost overnight.
This coupled with all the pink and mauve aquilegias has made the garden take on a pink hue. I love the tree at this time of year.
3. A visit to the library and three lovely books to read. I'd read about 'Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine' in several places so when I spotted the book on the recommended book shelf I picked it up. The other books I'd had on reserve and both arrived together. I really enjoyed the first Roz Watkins book I read earlier this year so I was pleased to find her second one again set in the Peak District with the same rather accident prone detective DI Meg Dalton. I also enjoyed reading Ali Smith's books 'Autumn' and 'Winter' so I'm looking forward to the third one, 'Spring'.
4. Yesterday we met with three friends from Nottingham, one of whom was celebrating a birthday, at Thornbridge Hall in Derbyshire.
We had lunch in the Carriage House cafe and then a leisurely stroll around the gardens.
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I didn't take a lot of photos as we were all busy chatting and taking everything in, enjoying the views of the Derbyshire countryside and each other's company. I'm hoping to borrow a few of Paul's photos to add to mine so that I can write a post about the visit later next week.
5. Last week we met with my second cousin and his wife in Bakewell, Derbyshire. It was a damp, cool and rainy day. We visited the Old House Museum and then drove out to the village of Great Longstone. After lunch in a pub in the centre of the village we visited the church.
We were looking around in the subdued light when a lovely lady arrived to do the flowers. She switched on all the lights for us and told us a bit about the church and pointed out the main features of interest.
Again I didn't take many photos but somehow the rain added to the beauty of the church building and the lovely cottages and gardens in the village.
I'll be back in a few days with a post about Thornbridge Hall.
2. The Tamarisk Tree in the middle of the garden has gone from dark pink to light pink almost overnight.
This coupled with all the pink and mauve aquilegias has made the garden take on a pink hue. I love the tree at this time of year.
That church is a beauty.
ReplyDeleteThank you William, it was a lovely church:)
DeleteAre Ali Smith's books actually about the seasons?
ReplyDeleteI love all your baby birds there. Very sweet.
Looks a lovely week. :)
Thanks Shazza, I love all the baby birds at the moment. The Ali Smith books are novels set in the present and address the political and social cliamate over the last year or two. Each story is set in a season, Summer will be the last of the quartet. Ali Smith is a brilliant but unusual writer and it takes a while to get used to that. We did have a busy week, we don't usually have so much to do:)
DeleteWhat a joy to see wildlife with their babies, a real delight.
ReplyDeleteThank you, it was lovely to see so many healthy babies, especially the little moorhen chicks and the black swan cygnets:)
DeleteIt looks as if you have had a lovely week. Enjoy your weekend.
ReplyDeleteThank you Linda. It has been a busy but lovely week, back to the gardening now if the weather permits. Have a lovely weekend:)
DeleteLovely post & I was pleased to see the black swan with the cygnets amongst you other bird photos. Your tamarisk is absolutely gorgeous. I find churches fascinating, but we haven't much in the way of large old ones, so love seeing them on blogs. Have a lovely weekend & take care.
ReplyDeleteThank you Susan, I love old churches and churchyards especially at this time of year. It was wonderful to see that the black swans had cygnets - the first time since they appeared at the lake about three years ago. Hope you too have a lovely weekend:)
DeleteLove seeing the bird photos. Whenever I see a Tamarisk tree I think of you Rosie! It is so pretty. Hope you have a lovely weekend. x
ReplyDeleteThank you Simone. The tree is looking lovely at the moment. Hope you too have had a lovely weekend:)
DeleteIt looks as though you have had a lovely week. It is great to see the baby birds around at this time of year. Your tamarisk is just amazing - we have one but really it has never "got going" and is just a few branches! :( The church looks interesting and in such a lovely setting :) I loved the Eleanor Oliphant book and I hope you enjoy it too - it is just totally different from anything I have ever read before. Have a lovely weekend :)
ReplyDeleteThank you RR, have just started to read about Eleanor - okay so far. The tree is in the centre of the garden so has room to spread but does have to be trimmed once or twice as it tends to take over. It was there when we came here over twenty years ago so must be quite old. I want to visit the church again and take more photos if I can, it was very interesting. Hope you hae had a lovely weekend:)
DeleteWhat a great week you've had. It's lovely seeing all the babies swimming about again, I've rather missed my trips to South Hill Park but did see some cygnets when I was in Guildford the other day. I'd like to read Eleanor Oliphant too. Your tamarisk tree is just fabulous. Have a great weekend. 😊
ReplyDeleteThank you Karen, I love to see all the baby ducks, geese etc at this time of year. I'm fond of the tamarisk tree - it is in just the right place in the garden. Hope you have had a lovely weekend:)
DeleteYour tree is gorgeous!!!!!!!! Love to see such flowering trees in spring. :-) But dislike the effects, of all this spring-tiny-seed-bits, floating through the air. :-(
ReplyDeleteThank you WoW, it's a shame that you suffer from pollen etc in the Spring. The tree is very pretty at this time of year:)
DeleteI enjoyed Elinor Oliphant too. I’ve noted down the other titles. Looks like you’ve had a lovely week. B x
ReplyDeleteThank you Barbara, yes we had a busy and interesting week, back to clearing the garden and shed this weekend ready for a skip. Have just started to read Eleanor Oliphant and am liking it so far:)
DeleteThe tree is beautiful, i've not heard the name before!
ReplyDeleteThank you Pam, the tree is lovely and very pretty at this time of year:)
DeleteYou have helped me to give DH the name of the Tamarisk tree, DH commented on one the other day whilst we were out and now I can tell him what its called (get me some brownie points LOL)
ReplyDeleteLovely picture of the birdlife and your outings.
Thank you Julie, glad my post helped in identifying the tree, they are lovely at this time of year:)
DeleteWhat a lovely week, so nice to see your photos.
ReplyDeleteAmanda xx
Thank you Amanda - having a much quieter week this week:)
DeleteLots of lovely things in this post, Rosie. I really enjoyed it. x
ReplyDeleteThank you Mrs T, glad you found things to make you smile:)
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