Sunny Monday

As if to try and prove my complaints to be unjustified, this Monday was bright and sunny, in complete contrast to the previous one!
"Shall we go to the Cotswolds?" I suggested.
"How about going to Hidcote?" came the reply. And so we did.
It was a perfect Hidcote sort of day, with plenty of sunshine to showcase the flowers and gently illuminate the autumn foliage.

Having visited reception we crossed the lane to enter the gardens.
My fellow traveller received a phone call.
Fortunately, her mobile had reception in the entrance courtyard.
Unfortunately, one of the guides was trying to give 'a very important talk' in the only place with phone signal, and did NOT appreciate the competition.
Sometimes phone calls are important. Life doesn't stop just because you are visiting a National Trust property.

I missed all that particular drama, as I had continued on and was gazing over a wall and was trying to decide if the mound just inside the line of trees on the left side of the avenue, was a piece of root or a sleeping sheep. It didn't move while I was watching, so I came to the conclusion it was probably just part of the root. If you are trying to work out where I was looking, it was the bit where the leaves lie golden on the ground.



I wandered on into the first section of the garden, taking photos of the foliage, before finding a bench is a sunny spot to sit and appreciate the beauty of this autumn garden.

I didn't have long to wait. Having concluded her guide-annoying conversations, my fellow travellor rejoined me.
We continued our garden explorations, choosing the quieter pathways.






The reflections from the pool were very clear.















We paused close to the viewpoint at the top of the garden, to delight in the view across the adjacent farmland. A panorama of peacefulness.

We toured the gardens. At one point we came back into signal range.
Another failed phone conversation, but there were no guides around to annoy.

We wandered pathways,
found ourselves in dead ends
and retraced our steps.

Another call.
Some issues can be resolved,
others must take their course.
I was just glad to be out in the sunshine.

I wandered on through the wood on the way to the kitchen garden, pausing to take the obligatory tree top shot...

We attempted to beat the lunchtime rush at the cafe, and failed.
Despite choosing to eat indoors, my fellow travellor suffered a painful encounter with a wasp - they take exception at being squashed, even if it was accidental!

After lunch, we returned to the kitchen garden, and then admired the twisted shadows of the apple trees in the orchard.

In the gift shop, I spent the princely sum of £1.25. Sorry, NT, you need to vary the stock more if you want to tempt me to part from more of my money...

As Monday's go, this one was rather perfect. Not sure the grumpy guide would agree though...