Day Trips 3 - London

Well, having spent the last two 'holiday at home' posts delighting in heather, bracken and moorland, it's now (in the words of Monty Python) time for something completely different. The big city! I'm not in general a lover of lots of concrete and traffic, but I do enjoy a visit to a lovely city. We don't get to London as a family that often, so we decided that it'd make a nice change to spend two days there. 

On the way we sped past Stonehenge, an amazing heritage site that I haven't actually been to since I was a child. You could actually touch the stones back in those days.

We were staying in lovely, leafy west London and took a train into the centre. After a couple of stressful (for me) tube changes we emerged above ground at Canary Wharf. Oh my goodness, what a culture shock! I'm not a great fan of this sort of urban landscape, but it is amazing. I love the clouds reflected in the glass windows.

Just look at these buildings. I was a bit awestruck, and walked around looking up, trying not to trip over or lose the rest of my family.

A quick trip on the Docklands Light Railway, and we arrived at our destination - Greenwich. 

We've talked about going to Greenwich for years, having 'done' the Tower of London, museums, etc with our children when they were younger, but have been curious to see this famous maritime site. When we turned a corner and the Cutty Sark came into view we were delighted. Such a beautiful ship, and so well preserved. I loved the figurehead, graceful and elegant.

This view shows just how much rigging there is on a ship like this.

After a quick picnic we walked along the river Thames, and it was pretty busy with different kinds of craft.

Here's the Old Royal Naval College, designed by Sir Christopher Wren. In the sunlight the ornate white buildings and Baroque landscape positively sparkled.

The compass dial on this tower reflected a clock on the opposite one.

A great place for following lines of perspective, the sheer size of the grounds and buildings is impressive.

I just loved these ornate gilded gates in front of the Queen's House. With their twirly bits and symmetry, they traced intricate patterns on the sky behind them.

The house itself had gorgeous curving flights of steps at the front entrance, bordered on either side by spiral topiary.

From here we walked up the hill to the Royal Observatory. Lots of people were picnicking lazily on the grass or strolling around admiring the views.

As we climbed the hill we looked back at the view. I really liked the elegant proportions: all of that green space in front of the beautiful 17th century buildings, and then another layer behind of modern London and high-rise Canary Wharf.

Finally we arrived at the Royal Observatory, and my husband and son decided to do the tour which included seeing the famous Meridian line. It was a hot day and we'd done a lot of walking by then so my youngest daughter and I (oldest daughter couldn't come, sadly, as she has a summer job) decided to find somewhere to sit and relax.

We quickly found the very pleasant Pavillion Cafe and sat outside in its gardens. So pretty, I even spotted some gorgeous roses.

An exquisite old rose in a delicate shade somewhere between pink and peach.

These cold drinks were very refreshing in the heat and we recharged our batteries for a bit more walking.

Right on top of the hill, that view just got better and better.

We walked back down to Greenwich town centre and decided to visit the market which is full of stalls selling food, jewellery and crafts of all sorts, a very nice place for a spot of retail therapy.

Back on the train again and at one of our changes I emerged onto the platform to be greeted by this amazing view of the Shard, towering over us - wow! Like me , all the other tourists on the train stopped to take photos there and then on the platform.

We were staying overnight, and the next morning was very wet and windy with the tail-end of hurricane Bertha passing over. We waited for the worst of the rain to subside and headed out to one of our favourite places nearby, Bushy Park. We've been here many times and it's one of London's great parks, such valuable green spaces in a heaving city. Given to Henry VIII as a deer park (the beautiful Hampton Court Palace is nearby), water gardens were then added by Charles I and now it is home to a fantastic array of flora and fauna. Both red and fallow deer roam freely and the park is always full of people walking, cycling and picnicking.

As the rain eased we walked through the beautiful Chestnut Walk and tried to spot deer. 

They were a bit reticent that morning - this rather blurry photo is the best I could do.

After lunch in the very lovely Pheasantry Cafe we went for a gentle wander, first in the Woodland Gardens.

We were delighted to spot this very sweet fluffy duckling.

And this rather lovely Orange Balsam plant.

And this exotic-looking Egyptian Goose.

Back out into the main part of the park again, we walked under trees and through long grass, and I felt my shoulders drop as I began to relax. London is the most wonderful place with so much to see and do, endlessly exciting and new, and it is wonderful to have these green spaces to unwind in.

The sun even came out, making the grass a more golden-yellow.

Look - I even found some brackeny ferns to enjoy!

As we started the drive home we circled the beautiful Diana Fountain, glinting in the sunlight.

I relaxed into the journey, looking forward to returning to our little corner of Somerset and reflected on our visit. London is truly a fabulous place to visit with so much to offer - I'm sure we'll be back again soon

Creativity and Party Rings

Due to it being the summer holidays, most of my posts recently have been about days out or flowers, so I thought it was time for a bit of crafty creativity. I've bought a few of these ceramic hand-made buttons in various places, and enjoy making them into simple pendants which are very easy and quick to make.

The designs on the buttons are floral (of course) and quite intricate, so I like to match them with plain beads and cotton cord in toning colours.

I love these rich aubergine and plum shades.

I also finished my first attempt at Lucy of Attic 24's Bower Bird, and was very pleased with it. I made it as a present for my mum and she thought it was very sweet.

However, I think I'll use a lighter yarn next time and a smaller hook as it turned out to be a bit of a beast! (I used a dk cotton and size 3.5 crochet hook). My next one should turn out a little more dainty, but I must say, it was a very easy pattern to follow.

And so, finally, to the party rings. The youngsters in our house like to have them as a bit of a retro treat, and sometimes buy them to share. I don't really like them, as they're a bit too sweet for my liking, but when I saw these raspberry ripple ones I had to get my camera out - what pretty colours!

I put them on a spotty plate on my hexagon patchwork and admired them, whilst my daughters wondered why their mother was arranging and photographing biscuits.

Funny how blogging makes you look at things differently - I did let them eat them in the end, though :)

Day Trips 2 - Dartmoor

I said in my last post that I would blog about a couple of my favourite days out that we had on our at-home holiday this summer, so here's another one. Last week we got up early and went out to Dartmoor for the day. It's a couple of hours' drive from here, and somewhere that we haven't got to know very well. It was just my husband, son and me - my two girls were busy that day. We arrived just before lunch at Haytor, one of Dartmoor's most famous beauty spots.

Here's the view from the visitor centre. It looked like a good place for a pre-lunch walk.

Off we went up a gentle incline, surrounded by bracken and brambles.

Already the leaves are turning to some gorgeously autumnal shades.

Gradually the huge granite rock formation, or tor, started to hove into view.

On the way the hillside was covered in bright yellow gorse and the more muted shades of pinky purple heather.

I just love moorland at this time of year.

Here we're almost at the rocks themselves. It's a popular place, and despite a few showers, there were a good few visitors at the top.

The granite rocks have been eroded and smoothed over time by wind and the elements into curious shapes.

I sat on a low one and watched as the weather blew over, taking in the dramatic view.

I like the grey stone against the background of grey sky 

Close up, the stone is covered in various lichens, and when the sun came out the tiny pieces of silica sparkled.

There certainly are lots of boulders and rocks which make convenient seats for the weary walker.

There's something very special for me about high places like this. Perhaps it's because we live in the south west of England and I grew up having August holidays in Wales, Scotland and the North. Perhaps it's because it has inspired many writers and artists, such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie and the song-writer Seth Lakeman. It certainly is a place full of legend, superstition and folklore, with its standing stones, bogs, rivers, woods and tors. It does also have a climate all of its own, and can be very wet and inhospitable. I can imagine that you probably wouldn't want to be out alone on Dartmoor in the dark. 

However, it is very exhilarating and inspiring, standing on a high windswept place and looking at the sweeping vista.I watched as the sunlight spread across the moors. Look, there's the visitor centre far away on the right.

I loved the wonderfully dramatic views across the brooding moorland, dotted here and there with some very hardy sheep.

The combination of heather, gorse, bracken and brambles so characterises the flora of this place that at first view seems so barren.

At last we decided that it was lunchtime, so headed to Widecombe-in-the-Moor for refuelling. It's a lovely village on the edge of the moors with a very attractive church, known as the 'cathedral of the moors'.

We found a lovely cafe, as the rain set in and ate pasties followed by a cream tea. Such a treat, and so naughty!

I loved the view up to the hills from the window as we ate.

Finally the rain stopped, and we went for a wander around the pretty village, the plain little cottages, so full of character and homely.

I couldn't resist a bit of souvenir-buying, and treated myself to the new book by Sue Lewington, 'Dartmoor and its Villages'. I've already bought several of her books on holiday in Cornwall, so was delighted to find this one. I love her informal watercolour style and interesting little notes. I also bought a pretty card and some Twool which is a twine made out of wool. I don't know what I'm going to make with it, but couldn't resist.

After our shopping we went for a bit of a drive, and I enjoyed the fabulous dry stone walls on all the hillsides. Their interlocking patterns fascinate me.

Sometimes tiny ferns grow in the cracks between the stones.

Some more inhabitants of the moors are these gorgeous ponies. In many places they roam free and, like the new Forest, visitors must take care when driving near them.

One decided to lick the bonnet of our car as we were about to leave. We were not allowed to feed them, but they do like to be stroked.

And so we said goodbye to beautiful Dartmoor- we hope not to leave it too long before we're back.