At Clumber Park in Nottinghamshire there is a festive Snowman trail. Each of the twelve snowmen are decorated to represent the song twelve days of Christmas and are based on the favourite character of artist Raymond Briggs.
A Partridge in a Pear Tree
Seven Swans a Swimming
Eight maids a milking
Six geese a laying
Four calling birds
Five Gold Rings
Two turtle doves
As you can see we only found seven of them! We didn't have the time to walk and find all twelve. Also, of the photos above only one, Five Gold Rings, is mine as something happened to my camera and half my photos were lost. Paul took the others. We think it may have been the card rather than the camera.
The other five snowmen were around the lake, it was getting cold and light was fading fast. Time to move on to our hotel for the evening. We were staying over as we had to visit a relative in hospital. She is now being looked after in a special room for end of life care. Her children and sister with her. The evening before our visit they were allowed to take her favourite cat to spend time with her. All very sad. The drive home was horrendous, wind, rain, squall, mist, heavy traffic with bright, distorted lights almost all the way and then less than five minutes from home the road was blocked by blue flashing lights and we had to find another way back to our house in rush hour traffic and pouring rain. We were so happy to be home.
We had a quick walk out this morning and then it was time to batten down the hatches ready for the promised weekend storm.
Locally lots of events are cancelled including Trentham's Winter Light Trail and Biddulph Grange's Festive Lights. I think tomorrow is a day to stay inside and start to write Christmas cards ready for posting next week. We have a butternut squash that will hopefully make warming, nourishing soup.
Here is a - link - to the National Trust's Clumber Park website. I see that they too are closed to visitors due to tomorrow's expected storm.
Stay safe and warm everyone.
How sad but at least you had an opportunity to see them. Love the snowmen. What a fun festive idea. Hatches battened down here too. It’s going to be a wild weekend I gather. Stay cosy. B x
ReplyDeleteThank you B. The snowmen were great fun, much like the snowdogs in Buxton I wrote about a few posts back. It's been very windy not noticed much except the seat at the top of the garden had blow over:)
DeleteSo sorry to hear about your relative but it sounds as if they were in a very caring place. What a time to have to drive through all this awful weather and it sounds as if the camera wants you back at home too! Great to see the colourful snowmen, it's such a shame so many Christmas fayres and activities have had to be cancelled. 😊
ReplyDeleteThank you CK. The drive home was difficult, frustrating and very tiring. The snowmen were wonderful and a good idea for families to find in better weather. They will be popular during school holidays. It's a shame tht so many events have had to be cancelled:)
DeleteI do read all your posts but can't always comment. Sad to hear about your elderly relative. Loved seeing the snowmen, something that is different. Hope the weekend isn't too wild & I'm making a Pumpkin Pie today with a rather large piece of pumpkin I bought earlier this week. Take care & hugs.
ReplyDeleteThank you Susan, the snowmen were great. Weekend here a bit wild so far, enjoy making your pumpkin pie,take care:)
DeleteWhat a fun idea to walk the snowman trail! I'm sorry about your relative. A hard time.
ReplyDeleteHopefully the storm will pass without too much damage.
Thank you Lorrie, it is a hard time for her family, although she has been in bad health for a while it's still a shock for them. Storm is bad this time, many things damaged around and about but fingers crossed it is passing on later today:)
DeleteI'm so sorry to read about your relative. It does sound like they're being well cared for, even so, It must be a difficult time for the whole family. Sending lots of love.
ReplyDeleteThe snowman trail looks like a lot of fun. It's good to have something such as this to tempt us outdoors when the weather is so cold. The weather has been wild here, so I've also been writing cards and making soup, this weekend. Xx
Thank you Jules, her care seems exemplary, I was quite impressed by the thought and care for both her and her close family. The snowmen were great fun, I'm glad we had time to pop in and see them even though it was damp and cold. We made soup yesterday and I got started on my cards, just notes and letters to pop in them now:)
DeleteI am so sorry to hear about your relative Rosie - it is so sad and I am glad she is receiving good care.
ReplyDeleteThe Snowmen are just delightful - what a great idea. I really like the "Five Gold Rings"Snowman. Glad your camera seems ok with a new card. Both my son and I have had issues with camera cards before.
It sounds as though you had a horrid journey home and I hope the storm this weekend hasn't been too bad for you.
Thank you Caroline. Yes, I liked the Five Gold Rings one, it was the first we found. I also liked Four Calling Birds, that was up in the Orangery within the walled garden. I don't like coming home in the dark which is the reason we sometimes stay over and drive the following morning but this time it was unavoidable and it went dark so early on Thursday. It's the lights from other cars, that I find difficult with my double vision (must be the prism glasses), luckily Paul can cope better as he is the driver but he was so tired. The only things that happened in the weekend storm was an empty obelisk from this year's sweet peas and the garden bench being blown over. Hope you have been okay:)
DeleteThe snowman models cheer up a very miserable few days! It is so sad that many events were cancelled over the weekend due to the weather. I am just happy I stayed at home and didn't need to go anywhere. I am sorry to hear about your relative Rosie. The cat visit hopefully gave some comfort to all. x
ReplyDeleteThank you Simone, we need a little cheer whilst the weather is so awful. Glad you were able to stay at home, we were gad to be back home before the storm and spent the weekend indoors. The cat I hope brought comfort, the sufferings of the relative are now over:)
DeleteSorry about your family. I'm glad you all got to see each other. Sorry for such traffic and weather. That makes driving hard. Glad you're home safe and sound, and hope the storm won't be too bad. LOVE the snowmen. How cleaver people are. Maybe you'll have another opportunity to find the rest of them. Good news your camera is ok.
ReplyDeleteThank you Sandy. I think the snowmen will be really popular over the Christmas holidays for families to find and enjoy. Camera seems fine now:)
DeleteThanks for showing the snowmen of Clumber Park. It's less of a problem that you haven't seen everyone, because walking through a park should be fun and not stressful.
ReplyDeleteI particularly like the carousel in your photo with the Ferris wheel.
All good wishes to you all.
Thank you Viola, it was getting dark and cold so we wouldnt have been able to spot all the snowmen, I was happy with the ones we found. When we visited Trentham yesterday the carousel and ferris wheel were still standing after the storm, but many old trees were down:)
Delete