Yesterday I had an amazing time at Chew Valley Lakes. I discovered an area that provided me with a different view of the lake – a whole new perspective.

A few fishermen were out on the lake, otherwise it was just me, my companion & the wildlife. The stillness & peacefulness in complete contrast to the popular picnic sites that were buzzing with people, children & dogs. I confess I found the noise & dogs encouraged to run off lead intrusive on my day & space. I come here to enjoy the place, scenery. To soak up some sunshine & connect with nature. I left the picnic sites feeling frazzled. I am not fishing so perhaps I am intruding here, but the silence draws me in, I long to linger.

Part of the fun of visiting gardens is to enjoy the flowers & look at them in more detail. It’s not just me that found the flowers here of interest!

It’s a year since I first visited NT Tyntesfield. That was an amazing time of discovery. Today I’m back again simply to take a wander through the grounds, visit the rose garden & enjoy the big blowsy dahlias by the kitchen garden.

Tickets for the house are sold out by the time I reach the entrance point. The girl is most apologetic, but it’s not a problem – the sun is shining  & hopefully so are those dahlias!

Come with me if you will. We shall take the path down to the house & rose garden. The view is breathtaking. The trees provide welcome shade for families & couples sitting on the lawn enjoying picnics or simply the beauty of their surroundings.

Insects adore plants like this & if you look closely the flower top left has a bee sat on the flower! It’s a tall architectural statement plant – it looks at home in the border here, but I confess, as a gardener it’s not something I like. As a keen photographer though I think it makes an excellent subject!

The colours in this border are more to my taste. I love the combination of the pinks & blues. I think it’s a mallow at the back, tall & double pink – I could happily have that one in my garden!

This image is from the rose garden, but I love it for the acer that makes a great focal point. The planting here is softer, with great grasses – I cannot resist tactile plants! Sunlight plays on the grasses, they seem to dance & play in the brightness, swaying gently. I would love to be here early in the day, or perhaps later when visitors are homeward bound & simply enjoy the peace, solitude.

Tomorrow I will continue our walk around the estate, but for now I will linger a while here in the rose garden.

Today it’s a proper summer’s day. Gorgeous wall to wall sunshine & I am stuck indoors after the supermarket shop! But I can still escape & watch the world through my kitchen window. Here in my tiny garden there’s a blackbird, a boy. He’s busy scooping up crumbs. In the top corner of the garden there’s a shadow, a young blackbird. “Dad” pops up & deposits the food store on the grass, then he disappears. It seems we are the bird day care nursery!

It’s fun watching this young bird explore the garden, test the crumbs he’s been left. He’s even ventured to sifting through the soil though I don’t know if he’s too certain of what is treasure & what is worthless in food value!

There’s another bird now on the wall, collecting food. This one is mum, she seems a young, perhaps first time mum. She came yesterday with her youngster. I imagine this is her young bird sat in the corner. She sits quietly, completely still, watching, waiting, but I am uncertain what it is she has seen. Once she has her food, she takes flight across the garden. Clearly this little bird is not her responsibility! While I’m in the kitchen I watch “Dad” blackbird return to his offspring a few times. I wonder how far he goes, does he maintain a watchful eye on junior?

So my trail continues… Everyone tends to associate Westonbirt with autumn colour, but I found plenty of stunning colour on my wander through the old arboretum.  The flower from this tree looks much like honeysuckle. I love the colour, how could I pass by without stopping to enjoy this close up & capture the image to look at again?

Hydrangeas are looking good this summer, maybe because of the damp start to our summer!  Here there’s a good selection in different colours. In my garden they flower pink – the soil isn’t suited to bring out those gorgeous blue shades. I love this one – the way the flower is shedding onto the leaves. I call this my fairy dust bush! The individual flowers are very simple & the colour of the sterile flowers so pretty. I wish I had a garden large enough for a bank of these shade lovers.

I couldn’t resist this tight flower bud! It’s a really vibrant shade that looked even brighter in the mid day sunshine. And when it opens the colour will be so very different – others on this shrub were blue.

Back to leaves & this is one I cannot resist. It’s a rhododendron with the most amazing leaves. The photo doesn’t do justice to the colour. The underside of the leaves is a rusty shade of red with a furry texture. I could happily live with this plant in my garden (if I had the space) just for the architectural leaf pattern. I adore plants that are tactile!

Coming to the end of my trail I found this plant. Again it’s the leaf & stunning colour that caught my attention. It might be exciting to take the new walkway & look down on the trees, have your head up in the clouds, but I like to keep my feet firmly on the forest floor, be down among the trees where I can get up close, really experience being part of the arboretum. I had an amazing time at Westonbirt & came away with lots of photos to enjoy my visit again & again!

It’s forty years ago that I first came to Westonbirt. Like most people I came to see the startling autumn colour. Today there’s still plenty of colour, especially if you stop & look closely. The seasonal info board tells you what plants & trees to look out for & even provides a map reference to help you spot them! Funny, but many of the people on the old arboretum trail don’t seem to be using a map.

I like the unusual, something a little different…

This tree reminds me of Christmas decorations – lots of baubles dangling from the branches. I couldn’t resist reaching up to touch the seeds that felt soft. It’s a bladder nut tree, which spoilt my idea of Christmas a little! But I cannot resist touchy feely trees & shrubs….

This tree looks amazing & it’s huge! This is just a small section of the tree, a smoke bush. With the sun on it I think it adds to the effect. This will always be my candyfloss tree!

Do you remember doing bark rubbings as a child?  I think we used wax crayons to rub over paper to create a copy of the texture. Perhaps it’s my second childhood but I lingered by this tree simply to run my hands over the bark, feel the texture. It felt dry, like it should be brittle, but look up to the amazing height of the branches! Suddenly I felt really tiny standing beside this tree.

I love the colour of these seeds, they are stunning & really stand out against the assorted shades of green all around. How can people walk by & not spot these decorative gems? I think this is a maple, but the seeds resemble sycamore in their shape because the trees are related.

Now this tree isn’t very pretty but I love the outline. Looking up to the tree top it appears to be bent. So what caused it? I like to imagine the tree touched the sky so high has it grown, now it has to bend a little – the sky really is the limit!! Perhaps it’s how the tree grows, maybe the top is so light it simply bends in the breeze, but I like my version best.

For me this is what makes my personal trail through the trees special – spotting the detail, quirky, having fun, but learning too about this amazing place & some of the very special trees that grow here. It always takes us longer than the recommended time allowance to complete our walk. I have a tendency to wander off the path, investigate a shrub, spot  fungi, maybe a blackbird or two. Tomorrow I will share the rest of my trail including pockets of colour.

It’s a few days since I last added to my blog. While I’m out enjoying walking &  gardens, I don’t set aside time for typing! Today’s been fine & dry – ideal to cut the lawn. It’s not a thing of beauty but I like my patch of green & so do the birds. Blackbirds spend an extraordinary amount of time searching the lawn for hidden treasure.

My finds of the day have been weeds, bindweed mostly. It has established itself on one side of the garden & despite my best efforts keeps popping up, twining round my favourite shrubs & roses. I have found bindweed is a great source of therapy! Ideal to pull & tug by the roots when frustrated by what life throws at you!

My front garden is also in need of attention. This is even smaller than my patch of grass! Originally this was a small grassed area, sitting alongside a driveway. Other houses in the terrace now have a gravel or tarmac to replace their front lawn. I have another patch of green – ground cover plants! These probably cost  a good deal less than the gravel that adorns neighbouring gardens.

Today I have added another heather to my patch. This one, unnamed, was a bargain find while doing the weekly grocery shop! My 35p heather spent some time by the kitchen door, where I could keep a watchful eye over it. Now it’s joined its big cousins in the front garden. Come the spring I am hopeful it will have built up the energy to reward me with flowers. This is another bonus of using plants versus gravel I have colour in assorted shades of green plus flowers! I admit some of the gravel does also sport a few random plants… These have arrived on the wing! There’s a few dandelions but also a few tree saplings. The proximity of sycamore trees means we often find these grow in the smallest amount of soil, my front garden & even gravelled areas.