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.

This is my favourite garden. It’s a level walk & you are free to explore the different areas from kitchen garden to orchard, pond to formal lawn. It’s a lovely quite space that changes as the seasons progress.

The Courts is renowned for its topiary. It’s a high maintenance garden & the grounds do credit to the team that clearly work hard. But today its the colour in the borders that I have come to see & indulge in. It’s been a summer that requires work – roses have needed dead heading frequently, even in my small garden. The rain has been cruel to many blooms, but here there’s oodles of colour.

This NT garden is set out in a style reminiscent of NT Hidcote, with rooms, each a little different. There is a distinct colour theme too in some areas. I love the colour combinations & mix of plants that create bursts of vibrancy or freshness. The picture of the sunflower is brilliant. I had the advantage of the light playing on the lime coloured leaves forming the backdrop. It’s plain to see how the flower got its name!

Our visit coincided with the school holidays so there was a child’s trail around the garden teamed with an Olympic theme. We resisted the temptation to join in with the activities, but the boards were very informative & I learnt something about the trees in the grounds. All except this one…

This one is a bit of a puzzle.  The leaves are huge, the flowers remind me of mimulus, but I’ve no idea what the tree is. Time for a spot of research. I think.

I love the hot colours, the way the pinks, scarlets & orange shades fight of attention. The hot beds attract butterflies & bees. After I’d taken this shot I realised there was a bee sat on the flower cone!

This one was a bonus! The flower is verbena. It’s very much in vogue, popular with garden designers. I love the shade & so it seems do butterflies. This is what I love about the Courts. There is so much to see & enjoy. It’s a super place to wander, take your time & absorb the stillness. A bonus is there are numerous seats well placed around the grounds – in sunshine & shade. It’s a beautiful place to stop & simply be. A meditative place if you like.

It’s amazing the detail that’s there – you simply have to look a little closer… As we were leaving I noticed a board of activities showing butterflies for the Big Butterfly Count. It gave me the chance to put names to the butterflies we’d spotted during our visit. Perhaps next time I should ask for the children’s activity sheet?

I always enjoy a visit to Lacock. Walking through the lovely  abbey grounds  there’s often the chance to spot wildlife. Visitors will most likely be greeted by one of the resident cats, at some point. One popular spot is in the greenhouse next to the botanic garden. This is my first port of call. I love the botanic garden – to see the changes to the border across the seasons.

Look up in the greenhouse & you’ll see nets high above your head – to deter early pickings! Here there is an amazing grape vine that crops well. Visit at the right time & you’ll discover  grapes provided for taster sessions.

Further on we stumbled across one of the cats – this one managed to find a quiet spot off the main path.

Our walk took us close to neighbouring fields & here on the gate  was a little bird. It was only as he moved that I noticed him, so well did he blend into the background. I didn’t want to move towards him & frighten him away, so chanced getting a clear shot of him.Thank goodness for zoom lenses & digital that allows lots of images! Some were too blurry to make out my little bird, but I am childishly pleased with this shot! It shows him quite well….

So what is he? While I was trying to photograph him another bird also popped onto the gate. A robin. So maybe this is a young robin? The wing mark is very distinctive – it’s not a robin. Back home I researched him further, could it be..? No, that’s wishful thinking. I believe my cute little bird is a spotted flycatcher. While I watched he darted off his perch, returning to another spot further along the bar of the gate. My visit was special if only for spotting this gorgeous little bird. If only I had my I Spy book of birds from my childhood! I wonder how many points he would have earned?

I also enjoy wandering around the abbey grounds for the colour, and right now the rose garden is a special place to be. Okay so the weather’s not been kind to roses this summer, but this newly planted area is beginning to take shape. I’m fortunate to live close enough to return & watch the garden develop, compare the condition of roses here to my own garden! Lovely to spot a Munstead Wood rose, but sadly it’s taking a well earned rest from flowering. But I did find this gem…

I love the colour of this. The bloom is just perfect & I like the way the buds are full, red showing little sign of the gorgeous shade of the flower that will burst open.

I saw a photo a few days ago from NT Stourhead of a Tulip tree. Here  in the courtyard there is a huge tree with just a few flowers remaining. This one was quite high up, especially for someone like me at a smidge under 5′! But I’m really pleased with this shot. It shows the petals clearly, thick & waxy & despite the creamy white shade there’s no real sign of the petals being “browned off”! It is also fitting that it’s at Lacock, the home of photography, that I achieved some decent shots to share.

I return to this place many times. I will be back to see the botanic garden border in all its fiery glory when summer burns away to leave an autumn glow.

I just happened to be looking out the window. Now what did I see? A bird? A plane? There was no noise, simply something coming up the road… A cat perhaps?

No. At 4.30 on a Sunday afternoon this is what I saw coming up the road….

At last! It seems summer has arrived. Phew! What a scorcher!! The heat is powerful, I feel like I am melting. This morning started with a thick blanket of fog.; not something I would associate with summer.

Maybe it’s all the baths, but the water has evaporated from the bird bath. I seem to replenish this countless times! Just as I am heading out with a litre bottle of water a female blackbird perches on the edge of the bath. I feel like a housemaid from years gone by. Not quite keeping to the time scale of the lady of the manor who is ready to dip  into the bath & requires my attendance!

Once again the bird bath is the centre  of attraction in the garden. Today it played host to a sweet little bird & her friend. I love this shot. These little blackcaps had a lovely time splashing in the bath!  I had the water level quite high so at times the birds disappeared from sight. Perhaps they shared the bath time, keeping an eye out for predators to ensure their mutual safety.

They were a complete joy to watch. We don’t often see them in the garden, certainly not at this time of year. Whilst in the garden one of them decided to taste the berberis berries that are on offer right now. Being small they were able to work their way through the shrub in a more agile way than the blackbird has achieved!

The sun is shining & it is pleasantly warm! We must celebrate! Perhaps this is the start of summer, tomorrow is St Swithuns day remember…

Sometimes you really don’t need to go far to spot something special. We went to Chew Valley Lakes & the picnic site, to take advantage of the fine weather. From the car park we chose, the view of the lake was blocked by lakeside reeds. Did we see any water fowl? The only birds I saw were magpies! It was a disappointing excursion from a wild point of view. But when I returned home I saw something unusual on the house wall.

I don’t know how, but my moth seemed gifted in finding an exact colour match! It’s as if he popped down to Homebase & picked up a colour chart to find the perfect shade he needed. I just got lucky in noticing a raised bump on the wall – that was my moth. Now, I’m not a fan of large moths at night when they are flying, but here in broad daylight, I cannot help but marvel at the detail on the wings. It is stunning.

Today we’re back to the routine of Summer 2016 – dull days & showers, heavy sudden cloud bursts. This may be well for some tees & plants, but most gardeners, while happy to abandon the watering can & put up their feet instead, will despair at bedding plants that may struggle in the damp, dreary conditions. Even our local authority, who pride themselves on their Bath in Bloom wins, have less than brilliant displays this season.

I love watching the way light plays with plants & flowers. A dash of sunlight can change the whole view of a garden, suddenly highlighting a plant. And visiting a garden at different times can create a different picture of that garden.  And it’s not just garden borders that can create interest & colour.

I love the shapes & patterns that show on these gunnera leaves. To me the view looks jungle like. Huge leaves dominate the view, stems like small tree trunks shoot up to huge umbrella sized leaves. The veins of the leaves can be seen, the detail quite clear. I could have spent longer among this amazing foliage, wandering beneath them in wonder. Looking skyward. I like the randomness of the stems shooting upward.

This scene reminds me of visiting Abbotsbury Gardens on the Dorset coast, many years ago. In typical English fashion it rained. We discovered a handful of garden visitors caught like us by the suddenness of the rain, sheltering under a number of giant gunnera leaves.

It’s no good! I cannot resist sharing this photo of my garden visitors today. I just staggered into the kitchen with shopping bagged crammed full. Looking through the window I could clearly see a blackbird perched on the edge of the bath. As I unpacked much splashing began. Okay, the bath wasn’t as full as it could have been, but with overnight rainfall, again, it should have been sufficient for my feathered friend.

As this bird retreated to the safety of the flowering quince at the back of the garden, his place was taken by another blackbird, a girl this time. The day looked a little brighter, so I decided to try line drying today’s wash & hope that showers would hold off. I also checked out the bird bath & carried out a generous can full of fresh water to top up the water level!

Those few moments it took to achieve this were rewarded amply. I heard lots of splashing, the kind you hear by a duck pond, the frantic flapping & splashing of pure indulgence. What was in the bath now?

I’m pleased with the detail in this shot. You can see the moisture on the bird’s feathers. There was much splashing, then a lull, followed by a repeat of the bathing ritual. From the feather colours I guess this is a young blackbird.

Okay this is not a brilliant photo, nor a very elegant shot, but it shows the enthusiasm of my little bird. The bird bath is probably my favourite investment that I made in the garden. It provides so much entertainment & gives my feathered friends the chance to refresh too!