Another brief visit to Winterbourne House and Gardens last Sunday when I had half an hour to wander round whilst waiting for E. I had planned to try and get some photos inside the house this time but D decided to come along so it seemed only fair to let him see some of the gardens.
The light,if anything, was even poorer than on Saturday at Stoneleigh - in fact it started to rain not long after we arrived. Apologies that the photos are of the parts of the garden you've seen recently!
The weather was much cooler than on previous visits and as soon as we stepped inside the lean-too glass-house the camera lens (and my glasses) steamed up.
House Terrace - it would be lovely to sit out here with coffee and cake in the Spring and Summer.
View towards the gardens from the terrace
Nut Walk
Part of the Geographical Collection
The woodland walk towards Edgbaston Pool and the nature reserve
There was still some autumn colour around the gardens.
Japanese Bridge
Fungi in the rock garden
Oops!!!
And a few photos taken by D with the Canon SX50
Instead of making yet more scarves this winter (after all there are only so many you can wear and I have dozens!) and inspired by the blanket CT made of knitted wool squares, I've decided to have a go at making a blanket too.
I treated myself to a new bag for my knitting last year. I went along to Hobbycraft to look at the proper knitting bags but to be honest I didn't like any of the designs and they really were rather over-priced. When E and I were in Leamington a few months later I spotted this bag in one of those lovely little independent shops stuffed with all sorts of treasures. Its not meant to be a knitting bag but it serves the purpose very well and if I ever get fed up of winter knitting it will come in useful as an all-purpose shopping bag.
Some of the squares knitted so far -I am using remnants of wool from all the scarves I have ever made and these colours were from a Doctor Who Tom Baker style scarf which I wear for birdwatching at this time of the year as the colours blend in well with the colour of the autumn leaves!
Sadly, the squares I first made in pastel colours don't really match but we shall see if I can hide the pastel stuff somewhere as the blanket progresses. I am making this one for D who only has a single bed so if necessary I'll keep the pastel type colour squares back for another blanket to be made at a later date. Although as I only knit when I watch tv and there aren't that many programmes I watch I suspect I'll still be making the first blanket this time next year!!
I'm hoping to go birdwatching tomorrow with D - weather permitting - to try out the new camera at a local reserve. Its a reserve I rarely visit on my own as its always rather quiet there and to be honest it just makes me feel very jumpy if I am alone. It does, however, have a hide which overlooks many bird feeders. In fact, its the only place (apart from our garden) where I have ever got close enough to take pictures of birds on feeders with my 70-300 lens. It will be interesting to compare results between the two cameras. On Sunday I'm hoping to make a start on Christmas baking by making the Christmas Puddings and am looking forward to using the "canon-ball" sphere again for one of the puddings - it was a huge success last year.
Have a good weekend everyone :)
8 comments:
What a lovely wander round I have just had with you. Thank you for sharing.
Winter calls for crafts to be made - especially if they warm you afterwards too! I made my eldest daughter a wonderfully bizarre knitted-squares lap blanket when she was at Uni, backed with a piece of fleece I think, and lined with quilt batting. Just what she needed in her freezing student house.
Enjoy your bird watching and I hope you see a rare migrant.
Bovey Belle - Thanks so much :) I do love making things but sadly am not very creative or good at sewing :( I will post a few more photos though in the future with progress! The blanket you made for your daughter sounds beautiful.
Thanks for good wishes re: Bird watching. Rain has finally stopped so hoping to go out a bit later. Have a lovely weekend :)
I remember your cannon ball from last year! Where has that time gone?
Steamed up glasses have been a problem here this week too :o( Loved all the autumnal pictures and SO pleased you are making a blanket :o) I have been more diligent this week and have knitted most nights, so L's single one is coming on well. Hopefully finished by Crimble! Love the colours you are using (I splurged on some new cygnet seriously chunky from ebay last night and now feeling ridiculously excited about it arriving and knitting with it!).
Have a lovely weekend :o)
Countryside Tales - Thank you :) No idea either where the year has gone - it feels like I was only Christmas baking a month ago!!
You are doing well with your blanket - don't forget to post a photo when its finished! I think I am going to buy some more neutral colours like cream in the hope that I can add cream around the autumnal colours and then add some of the other shades. I have a whole box of wool to use up - I know there is claret and blue in there from when I made a Villa scarf and some denim blue type wool with flecks. Knitting can be quite addictive when you start on a project :) Although I still have two scarves to finish ie sew in the ends and add tassles and I bought a kit to knit a reindeer (from memory) for the Christmas Tree! :)
Oh well Strictly is on soon so that will be 90 minutes of knitting time tonight :)
Winterbourne gardens are still looking good with quite a bit of colour so that's nice to see. Have not done much bird watching this year, after coming across two men drinking in the wood early one Sunday morning...! kinda put me of going to far on my own...
Look forward to seeing your blanket, I have just started back crocheting now my hands ok.
Amanda xx
Amanda Peters - Thank you:)
Can empathise with not going birding on your own - its a real pain at times - there are just a couple of places I go where I feel "safe". There are some places I would never go on my own and a few I have visited but felt exceedingly nervous the whole time constantly looking over my shoulder. I used to do several different types of wildlife surveys but gave up eventually as I either had to persuade a member of the family to come with me or I did the surveys any way but felt uneasy.
I am so pleased the operation means you can now do some crocheting. I haven't done any for years - in fact, have completely forgotten how to! I did once crochet a blanket - not sure what happened to it?
Hello there!!!! Have fun with the new camera. Hope you get lots of wonderful pics of all the birds. As a kid growing up in that cooler weather, I would always take it for granted and actually not like it much. Here now in the state of eternal sunshine, I actually look forward to the fog and cold weather. It really creates such a beautiful feel this time of year. Good luck on your projects:) I didn't know you made scarves, etc. Nice!
Chris Rohrer Thanks so much Chris and Hi :) Having seen the temperatures you get - I would look forward to the colder weather too!! You are right though mists etc., can be so atmospheric :) Yes, I used to make a lot of scarves!! :) Luckily at this time of year they come in useful :) The blanket project will be a change and give me something to do whilst watching tv :)
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