Waxwing

Waxwing
"To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour."

From "Auguries of Innocence"

by William Blake

Tuesday 9 August 2022

Trip to Herefordshire - Part 1: Tree, Bird Bath and Burford House Gardens and The Fountain Inn

 

We travelled to Herefordshire last Tuesday and did the usual click and collect in Morrisons, Leominster, in the afternoon. It works well and we can get petrol if we need it at the same time.

Timothy happy to be back on his shelf 😀




Again I picked a rose from the garden. 




The Herefordshire Oak - I wonder if with all the dry weather the leaves will start to turn earlier this year.





Herbs still doing well. The upturned wine bottle with water looks ugly but it drip feeds water into the pot when we are away.





You can't really tell from this photo but the nearby hawthorn berries are starting to ripen.




On Wednesday we went back to Burford House Garden Centre to buy a new bird bath as the one we inherited has gone rusty and is really rather on its last legs.



In the end we didn't buy the bird bath I really liked but picked a smaller narrower one as the garden is really very small and we have also decided initially to place it on the gravel at the front of the caravan which we can see from a window.







As we were there we had a walk again! round the gardens at Burford House. Apologies as I know I have done two posts on these gardens recently but even after a few weeks new plants were flowering.























B spotted a kingfisher first on the River Teme and then I got a brief sighting. We watched for ages and it (we assume the same bird) flew back and perched opposite briefly with a fish in its mouth. We think it was feeding young.


























































On the way back we stopped off at the Fountain Inn and had a drink outside.  We drive past this pub every time we go to Tenbury Wells and I have always wanted to stop off there.  We had a look at the menu and the food looks fairly reasonable so we may go for a meal in the future. There is a big beer garden at the back of the pub where we could sit outside.  I am still not feeling ready to enjoy a drink and meal in a pub surrounded by many others!



















This is the bird bath we bought.




I hope everyone is staying safe and well.

All photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera. (I don't rate most of my photos but if anyone does ever wish to use one I would be grateful for an email first. Many thanks).



12 comments:

Billy Blue Eyes said...

I like the bird bath you bought, very nice. Last nice one we had a Pigeon knock the bath off and broke it. Since then we just use terracotta flowerpot saucers sat in a flower pot. Works well and the birds love them. I've stopped off at that Morrison's many times like you. Those gardens look like some beautiful ones to go around. I just restored on of out bird tables we bought years ago. I'll make a new one over the winder to replace it as it is starting to rot

Ragged Robin said...

Billy Blue Eyes - Thanks so much. Sorry about your bird bath. Yes saucers are fine they just need water. We have a pond at home. Big Morrisons in Leomisnter. Once came to rescue when kids little and we were going to Wales to see Red Kites and 1 of the kids was car sick and I had to go in toilets there to clean them up and change clothes! Bird tables don't last long sadly. We mainly use feeding station with a baffle!

Rustic Pumpkin said...

The roots on that oak must go deep, but it has been so dry. On that note, the gardens seem to be doing rather well. Timothy looks happy enough with his pint. Do make sure you don't accidentally use a new bottle of wine to water with!

Ragged Robin said...

Rustic Pumpkin - Thanks so much. There were a few plants wilting in the garden but most looked ok. Timothy enjoyed immensely. lol! re: the wine bottle :)

Rosie said...

The garden is beautiful, I expect when you visit again in Autumn it will still be beautiful. I like the bird bath you have chosen, I hope it is well used so you can watch the birds through the window, Timothy was certainly enjoying his stay and the pub visit too. I hope you return to The Fountain soon for a meal:)

Ragged Robin said...

Rosie - Thanks so much. Those gardens were a real discovery. Thanks for good wishes re bird table :) I am sure we will return to the Fountain now we've been once! I must admit I am quite taken with the Tenbury Wells area and could live there permanently happily :)

Caroline Gill said...

I don't know how you manage to squeeze so much into a post, RR! You make me wish I had been in those gardens with you. Timothy clearly enjoys his trips to Herefordshire as much as the rest of you! Your birdbath looks perfect; we don't have one as such, though we have little trays of water dotted about ... and two 'barrel ponds'. We were sitting by the ponds a few days ago when Mrs Blackbird hopped in to one of them for a good splash. I hope the pondweed and oxygenator plants had kept the water clean enough for her ... So few butterflies in the garden here these last few days, but we had a Hummingbird Hawkmoth this morning, which was lovely. Your herbs look so healthy unlike mine. I obviously need to adopt your watering technique as I suspect my herbs are either drenched or parched! But our ginger mint smells lovely.

Ragged Robin said...

Caroline Gill - Thanks so much. I do tend to ramble!!!! too much at times. You would love the gardens. Ponds are really good for attracting wildlife. Not many butterflies here either and well done on the Humminghbird Hwkmoth - ahven't seen one this year! B and D water the herbs in pots at home when they water the vegtables. The ones in a border could probably do with a water though!!!!! A bit worried about herbs at the caravan the way it has been this week!!!! Even with the wine bottle!! Filled with water I hasten to add!

CherryPie said...

I love the idea of the upturned wine bottle, I will have to try that out in my garden :-)

Ragged Robin said...

CHerryPie - Thank you - it seems to work :)

Millymollymandy said...

I'm quite surprised the grass is still pretty green, maybe there has been more rain in that part of the country? Seems like every time I see England in the news, the grass is just dead looking (like here) and in the south has been for a long time. Anyway, a good thing, because the garden is still looking beautiful!

Love that pub, so gorgeous! And you chose a lovely bird bath - hope you have plenty of birds using it.

Ragged Robin said...

Millymollymandy - Thanks so much - may have been wetter there not sure unless they water?
Pub was good glad we stopped - nice to do something more "normal" even if we did sit outside! Thanks re: bird bath. Visit from a robin at least!