A visit to Wrest Park

One of my favourite places to visit locally is Wrest Park, now owned and administered by English Heritage. I have written about it before, but it is a couple of years since I last visited and English Heritage have done a lot of work.  My fondest memories of the park are from the early 80's when it housed the local agricultural college.  The gardens would be open at the weekend and you paid 50p to go through a beautiful gateway into the park which was only minimally maintained.  It was a magic place only really known by locals.  We would take a picnic and spend all day there. In the overgrown woodland part of the park there were little pavilions and summer houses, a dogs cemetery, a Roman 'temple',  two small lakes, hidden statues, a chinese bridge and a 'Roman' bath house.  The park also has extensive croquet lawns. My U3A group went for a tree walk there on Thursday, so it was a good opportunity to visit for free.
The park has undergone many changes and has the hand of Capabilty Brown as well as other landscape designers. But Thomas de Grey built the present house in c1834 in the French style and had a formal garden laid out.

This is a view of the house from the other side of the crochet lawns. Ha ha! I think that should be croquet lawn!  Please click on the photos for a close-up - that ride-on lawn mower is worth a closer look.

The parterres have been restored and beautifully planted.  This is a view from the terrace down to the pavilion at the far end of the main lake.

The pavilion

Another view from the terrace.

This is the restored Italian garden.

Although the formal gardens are beautiful it is the magnificent of the trees in the park which seems to make it serene and tranquil retreat even when it was busy with many visitors as it was on Thursday.

New cones on an ancient Cedar

I kept getting left behind as I wanted to take photographs, must go again so I can linger longer.

The really long needles of the Pinus ponderosa - Western Yellow Pine - I did take in some of the talk.

Another view of the pavilion from the end of the lake.

The sun shining through the leaves of the Indian Bean Tree, which I always assumed came from India, but in fact is a native of North America like the mis-named red Indians.

Here is the Chinese bridge which spans the canal which forms a u shape perimeter to the park.

A red wood

This is a mulberry tree, it had lots of fruit on it.

Don't you just love trees? I could definitely hug them, if I could get my arms round them!

I have been to Wrest Park more times than I can remember but there were still treasures to be found.

I had never seen the Dolls' House before,  I wonder what lucky children played in here.

And below is a stained glass window from the dairy which houses a selection of statues from the garden.

Here are a couple of details from a lead Columbine who I was rather taken with.  It was very busy and I couldn't get any full length shots.

To finish my tour I leave with a few bumble bees.

You can see some of my other photographs taken at Wrest Park on my Fickr site here.

Now that's my advert for English Heritage over with, have a great Bank Holiday Weekend.

Jill

Friday in the garden

I decided to take my camera in the garden. I am using my 50mm 1:1.8 D lens which is brilliant in low light as it has been very dull here today.
Here are a selection of shots - I took lots - over 40, wouldn't have done that with a reel of film.  I would have had to have been a lot more thoughtful before I pressed the shutter. If you click on a photo it should enlarge for you.

I chose some herbs that have gone to seed.

There are a lot of six spot ladybirds around.  This one was enjoying the fennel flowers.

Another ladybird clambering in the fennel.

This is the parsley. If you look carefully there is a strand of web between the seed heads.

Another shot of the parsley

  

This is a close up of coriander flowers which are rather delicate.

 We have plenty of froglets hopping round the pond, but this one was larger - about dessert spoon size I'd say.  It is good to see them as we had a good size dollop of frogspawn which I photographed in the spring.

However I am missing the blue tits, great tits and coal tits which seemed to have totally disappeared since our neighbour cut down their leylandii hedge about three weeks ago.  We are grateful for the light as it seriously shaded our vegetables, but the birds loved it.  Hopefully they have gone on a country holiday to make the most of the natural food available and will be back when the weather turns.  Meanwhile we are enjoying the large flock of house-sparrows that are emptying the feeders as fast as I can fill them.  We saw very few of those for many years, but we counted at least 20 at one point.  Sorry no photos of the bird life.

However I am continuing to enjoy the Creative Sketchbook course.  Here are another couple of pages.

Do have a great weekend - I'm looking forward to doing some more drawing myself.

Jill

Another week

I have had a really busy week again, but I have manage to fit in an hour or two for practising my free machine embroidery skills. By drawing with my needle, I have stitched two butterflies.

I first painted them onto pelmet weight vilene using Koh-i-nor watercolours.  The top one here, based on a Peacock butterfly, I covered with a piece of 'shot' polyester organza to give it it some shimmer. I then machine stitched using a straight stitch varying the top and bottom threads, often tightening the top tension to bring up the bottom thread to break the colour.

Here I have scanned the two pieces.  I added a bit of hand stitching to the Peacock one.

This is the reverse side which is also quite nice, but the colour is less intense without the painted background.

Here I have photographed them with a packet of machine needles for scale.  Since taking the picture I have cut out the peacock one, using a fine soldering iron which has sealed the edge of the polyester organza.  I am experimenting with making it into a small book. 

 I'll let you know how it goes.

Meanwhile I have done a few tasks in the garden, cutting the the grass always makes such a difference, even if nothing else is done.  I was pleased to see this frog in our little pond guarding her great pile of spawn.  As I was shooting into the sun I used the integral flash to add a little detail and sparkle to her eye.

I was also pleased with this shot of the water iris and its reflection, not looking quite real.

I seem to have yet another busy week coming up, but hopefully I'll manage to fit in a bit of creativity.  I think another week of sunshine is too much to hope for,  but a few more days of fine weather would go down well.

I hope you are having a great weekend, and have a good week.

Time Marches on ...

I am a bit tardy getting my March calendar pages posted, but I have actually started it, I have just had an adversion to going through the process of scanning the pages etc.

 I am glad to say good-bye to February - it has been not only a dreary month, but one of restlessness, especially the last couple of weeks.  Every few months I feel as if I am turning another corner in my creative journey so hopefully March will be the beginning of the next phase.

I rather slopped this page together in my new journal - I love filling in the little squares, but my creative energy has been focussed elsewhere. 

Thanks to everyone who was so encouraging after my last blog, ` I quickly came to a decision after writing it.  I have decided not to registar on a college course, but to try to follow my own path taking part in as many workshops as I can, buy books, build up my  local contacts and set myself goals.  When I began this blog with the sub-heading "chronicles of a mature learner" so that is what I am going be doing.  Watch this space.

I took advantage of the sun this afternoon,  so join me and Marvin in the garden.

Have a great weekend,

Jill

A week in retirement

Dear friends, when I realised it was a week since I last wrote a post I wondered where all the time went so I thought I would share my week with you - well the highlights and the low lights at least.

Monday

I had my appointment at the orthopedic department to collect my new orthotics for my shoes.  I have a Mortons neuroma in my foot which is an enlarging of the nerve between the third and fourth toe.  As I have fallen arches it was thought orthotics would help take the pressure off the neuroma and prevent one forming in my other foot.  I am looking forward to being able to spend a day on my feet without pain.  However the new orthotics have a raised area which is agony ( as bad as the neuroma).  The doctor assured me that I will get used to them! But in the meantime this is what they feel like! 

When I asked if it was possible to order another set so I didn't have to keep changing them from shoe to shoe, I was told they cost £200-£300 a pair, so I had better persevere. I am wearing them an hour extra a day - just round the house to begin with!

Tuesday

A hairdressers appointment at 1.00 meant the morning was spent on domestic bits and pieces, but whilst I was in town I went to the local camera shop where a very helpful gentleman printed up a couple of my photographs on the A3 printer.  My friend got me some frames from IKEA so I spent a while deciding how and what I was going to frame up for the forthcoming exhibition at the Luton Hoo Walled Garden. 

Wednesday

A good chunk of the day was spent at Nutty Knitters, my chat and knit group, although not everyone knits.  Several of the ladies belong to the Artists Network Bedfordshire and the group includes spinners, felters, milliners and jewellery makers, so we always have plenty to talk about in Maxine's lovely farmhouse kitchen - and someone has usually baked cake of some sort - something I never do.

Meanwhile at home we were having our downstairs cloakroom - well as there is no room for cloaks, loo - refurbished.  I do hope the old one does not have to stay out behind the bins for too long!

Thursday

Thursday can easily represented by this photograph of my desk! But some creative inspiration was creeping into my day and I started playing around with some daffodil ideas.  In the garden I saw a bumblebee so spring is definitely in the air.

Friday

We usually hit the supermarket on a Friday. I came home with a bunch of daffs and put them by my desk.

 

which really started the ideas flowing for ....

... another stitched book.

Saturday

So here is what I did on Saturday.

 Please click on the pictures for some details.

Sunday

What did I do on Sunday? Well, I took all these photographs and wrote this post.  Not a bad life, even if my feet are killing me!

I hope you have a great week, and see you soon,

Jill