This was the week that saw POD don a swimming costume one day and a coat another! Aside from weekend fun in the garden, there was a fleeting visit to Loseley Park where the most enormous poppies were on display. Today saw us explore National Trust owned Headley Heath.
Welcome to Project 365: Week #21.
Day 138
A glorious day that saw POD’s paddling pool out for the first time this year. After lots of water shenanigans, and pretending to mow the lawn with Daddy, there was just time for a spot of drawing.
Day 139
POD learnt to blow bubbles today. It was a lengthy process but she cracked it in the end! Her beloved Summer hat from last year fits much to everyone’s delight!
Day 140
This was the sky at 9pm, such an amazing sight- even more so from the top of POD’s playhouse!
Day 141
Mum brought a beautiful bouquet with her when she visited at the weekend. It was too good an opportunity not to photograph the blooms! I was attempting to take 20 photographs of the same flower but POD made it difficult when she kept jumping on my back!
Day 142
A fleeting visit to Loseley Park today. Its been home to the More-Molyneux family for 500 years and the gardens are wonderful. They have five distinctly different ‘rooms’, each with their own style.
I loved these enormous poppies!
Day 143
Just grabbed a few moments in the garden after the rain before it started again.
Day 144
A strange sight – a snail lying on the decking seemingly basking in sunshine!
Day 145
Today we’ve been exploring National Trust owned Headley Heath. It’s a Site of Special Scientific Interest which comprises of woodland, chalk downland and open heathland. We thought we’d see the Miltary history open day but Mummy got the timing wrong (it’s tomorrow!). Climbing trees was compulsory
although POD did have a sit down to admire the view!
Set in the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is Loseley Park, home to the More-Molyneux family for 500 years. The House has many fascinating features including panels from Nonsuch Palace, magnificent paintings, clocks and cabinets.
The Walled Garden has had many lives since it was laid out formally in the 16th Century, including an organic vegetable garden, orchard and designs by Gertrude Jekyll. The gardens are now five distinctly different ‘rooms’, each with their own style.
The award-winning Rose Garden was a present from Mike More-Molyneaux to his wife Sarah and is planted with over a thousand old fashioned rose bushes. The smell is incredible and it must make for a great sight from the house.
Varieties in the Rose Garden include bourbons, gallicas, rugosas, albas, moss, damask and English. All are framed with perfectly pruned low box hedges.
At the centre of the Rose Garden is a gazebo adorned with white roses.
Up from here are the greenhouses and the herb garden which is divided into culinary, medicinal, household and decorative sections. It contains over 200 herbs, some of which dating back to ancient times. Busy bees collect pollen nearby.
The Flower Garden is a burst of colour combining shrubs and herbaceous plants with annuals and bulbs.
These enormous poppies were certainly the highlight – perhaps a biased view given POD’s name is Poppy.
The White Garden is a tranquil area with white, cream and silver blooms with the Organic Vegetable and Cut Flower Garden nearby.
The South Bank is planted with a variety of perennial waterside plants with the Wildflower Meadow (across from the moat) alive with colour.
It was great to be back at Loseley again, such a wonderful place to visit. And they do very good ice-cream too!
Linking up with Mammasaurus for #HDYGG.
Thank you to everyone that joined the Alphabet Photography Project last week. It was great to see what you’d chosen for your letter A.
Bubbles ended up the preferred option for letter B after POD put in so much effort. She blew with such vigour it almost looked like she might explode!
How to join in
The Alphabet Photography Project runs every Wednesday. A Linky is open from 6am that day until the following Tuesday if you’d like to share a short post (or a link to an image). There’s currently no badge but if you include a link back to PODcast I’ll share your post on Twitter and in the #alphabetphoto Google+ community.
You can share your photo in the Pinterest and Facebook groups or on Instagram (PODcast is here) too. The hashtag to use is #alphabetphoto.
Ideas for letter B
The #alphabetphoto theme can be interpreted in any way your choose. The letter B might be a photograph of a butterfly, an object that resembles the letter B or a photograph of the letter B using props. It could also be an adjective. Have a look at the letter B hints in last week’s post.
Inspiration for letter C
Here are a few ideas to get us thinking about letter C:
Cucumber, cat, CD, cherries, collage, cheese, child, clouds, camping, cars, cityscapes, churches, cathedrals, couples, candid, circles, candles, clocks, cats, celebrations, choise, close-up, clouds, cold, colours, contrasts, computers, critters, culture, curves, chandelier, crazy, curious, childhood, clean, clear, cloudy, colourful, crowded, cute.
There’s also a Pinterest board if you’re on the hunt for inspiration:
Among Chilworth woods, on the course of the Tilling Bourne river, once stood a gunpowder mill. Founded by the East India Company in 1625, it was one of the largest powder works in the country, employing 600 people at its peak, and supplying gunpowder to the government.
The downturn in demand for explosives at the end of the war resulted in amalgamations in the industry, leading to the closure of the last factory in 1920. Many of the buildings were converted into dwellings after that point and a small community known at “Tin Town” lived in the valley until the early 1960’s.
Although many have been demolished, several buildings still exist within the site. Like these old walls of former buildings,
the steam engine bed
and an edge runner stone.
A selection of these old millstones are visible as you walk towards the old mill.
There’s also a swing bridge which helped punts travel up and down the waterways.
By the river and wetlands, a storage hut is nestled in-between the trees.
This area although overgrown for the most part is surrounded by beautiful pathways.
What was once the old mill stood tall in the sunshine, the blue sky its backdrop.
Its remains are classed as a monument
but being exposed to the elements it’s awash with moss and ivy.
I’m not sure this wonderful place would have been discovered if it hadn’t been for wanting an abandoned photo. But what a great find.
Linking up with #whatsthestory here on PODcast.
Hello everyone, welcome to What’s The Story? for w/c 19th May 2014. Thank you to those of you that joined in last week, as always a great selection of posts.
Thank you too if you joined in with the fun new photography Linky – the Alphabet Photography Project.
If you’re new to What’s The Story? it’s a photography based Linky which enables you to share the stories behind your photographs. It’s open from 6am every Monday through to the following Sunday.
To join in all you have to do is share a photograph and the story behind it. You can write as little or much as you like and your photo/s can be from any time. You can link up a old post if it’s relevant.
Feel free to use the What’s The Story? badge or include a link to PODcast in your post – I’m happy to share it in return. Please do take the time to comment on some of your fellow bloggers posts when you can. It’s always worthwhile checking back later in the week too.
There’s a #whatsthestory community on Google Plus so do pop over if you haven’t already. All posts are being shared there each week now. You can find me at Charly Dove or PODcast. Have a great week #whatsthestory.
This week’s highlight was definitely Bocketts Farm where POD fed the animals herself for the first time. We paid Chilworth Gunpowder Mill a quick visit too. Aside from that its been business as usual with a little macro practice thrown in for good measure!
Welcome to Project 365: week #20.
Day 131
Today was amazing. We visited Bocketts Farm where POD fed the animals herself for the first time. As you’d expect once she started there was no stopping her – this is the “look the sheep are feeding from my hand” face!
POD also got to handle a rabbit, a chicken, a guinea pig and a goat. As well as hold a two day old lamb *melts*
Day 132
Monday saw POD back at gymnastics where she was a little overexcited. She refused to nap but did have a pretend sleep in her toy bag.
We saw a rainbow too much to POD’s delight!
Day 133
The usual routine from today although lunchtime saw a fleeting visit to Chilworth Gunpowder Mill. The Alphabet Photography Project kicked off on Wednesday and I wanted an A is for abandoned photograph. This is one of the millstones from the site which closed in 1930.
Day 134
Daddy and POD headed to Suffolk today. I found a little time to check out the rhododendron blooms.
Day 135
It’s always great to discover unexpected gems. This apple-like bud is only 2mm high and barely visible to the human eye.
Daddy and POD traveled back from Suffolk. With accidents on the M11 and then the A12, it was a long journey that took over 8 hours. Daddy’s phone battery died, as did the air con, but they returned in good spirits (much to my relief!).
Day 136
It’s been really refreshing to get the macro lens out after so much wind recently. No idea what this is but it’s rather fun!
Day 137
Spotted this little gem while Daddy and a neighbour resolved a boiler issue. Thankfully the hot water supply was restored and we had a lovely day chilling in the garden with my mum.
A photograph of an abandoned bridge over a lake recently caught my attention. It would have made an intriguing first capture for this project but it wasn’t to be. The decaying bridge and the conservatory it leads to form part of Witley Park. This private estate is also home to Britain’s most extraordinary folly – a ballroom located 40ft beneath the surface of a lake!
Welcome to The Alphabet Photography Project #alphabetphoto.
Continuing with the abandoned theme, this photograph was taken at the Chilworth Gunpowder Mills in Surrey. Established in 1626, it was one of the largest mills in the country and the most important supplier of gunpowder to the government. These solid millstone rocks were once used for grinding gunpowder. The old mill is now a designated monument having closed nearly a hundred years ago.
How to join in
The Alphabet Photography Project takes place every Wednesday. A Linky opens at 6am that day until the following Tuesday if you’d like to share a short post about your photograph. There is no badge but if you include a link back to PODcast I’ll happily share your post on Twitter and the Google+ page in return.
You can also share your photo in the Pinterest and Facebook groups or on Instagram (PODcast is here). The hashtag to use is #alphabetphoto.
The theme can be interpreted in any way your choose. For example the letter A might be a photograph of an apple, an object that resembles the letter A (like a pattern in a gate) or a photograph of the letter A using props. It could also be an adjective.
Inspiration for letter B
Here are a few ideas to get us thinking about letter B:
Balloon, bowl, banana, berries, bald, birds, bricks, bags, boxes, beaches, bikinis, books, butterflies, balls, baskets, buildings, bicycles, boots, bells, bokeh, bees, black and white, bridge, barns, blue, bronze, brown, bump, bees, beautiful, beer, brandy, biscuits, bread, badminton, bowling, Berlin, Bruges, beetroot, broccoli, blue-eyed, blushing, bright.
There’s also a Pinterest board if you’re on the hunt for inspiration:
Follow PODcast grappling with a box of frogs’s board Photography: The Alphabet Project on Pinterest.
Bocketts Farm is a working family farm set in the Surrey countryside. With a combination of animal and play areas, indoors and out, it’s always a fun day.
Last time we visited POD was a little wary of the animals in the stables at first. On this occasion she wanted to know what each horse was called, what it was doing and what it ate. There were goats nearby and whilst they were a bit to lively for her, we were optimistic this was the day she’d feed animals herself.
In the Big Animal Barn, POD climbed onto a step as she had on our last visit to see a sow and her piglets. Much to her excitement also in the Big Animal Barn were sheep, lambs, alpacas, goats, a kid and cows.
Having seen Daddy and other children feed the animals, POD decided she’d like to have a go too. With animal feed in an outstretched palm, she watched in amazement as a sheep licked it off her hand.
We thought once she’d done it they’d be no stopping her and we were right!
Before long she was more than happy to be surrounded by animals.
Outside there were slides to go down,
brilliant new play areas to explore
and swings to test.
There was just time to bounce on the inflatable jumping pillows
before heading to Little Hoppington. There POD stroked a rabbit, a guinea pig, a chicken and a goat.
After lunch there was fun to be had milking cows, driving tractors and jumping on a trampoline. POD spotted the indoor soft play area too!
We missed seeing the racing pigs in action on this occasion. They were enjoying a doze when we passed them.
POD was excited at the prospect of seeing more goats
and Mummy wanted to have a look at the deer.
Back at the Big Animal Barn, we said hello to all the animals we’d already met.
POD was lucky enough to hold a two day old lamb
and Daddy couldn’t resist either.
This day will be remembered for POD loving the animals and this one keeping a close eye on Mummy!
Linking up with #whatsthestory here on PODcast and #CountryKids at Coombe Mill.
