Autumnal Belton

Earlier this week we took heed of the weather forecast which was casting doom and gloom about the temperatures for the next few days and took advantage of the beautiful sunshine to visit our local National Trust property Belton House.  We thought the children would have been back at school after half-term but evidently they had an inset day so it was pretty busy but the beauty of Belton is that it's large enough for everyone.

The colours in the gardens were wonderful so I'll let the photos do the talking.

 The lake with a party of swans looked wonderful and was very peaceful without its usual company of geese.  Presumably they are still on their way.

 The walls of the Orangery were covered in ladybirds, or more accurately ladybeetles that originated in Asia.  Apparently these bugs are becoming a nuisance in America so it seems it might be our turn now.

 One of the offending lady beetles.

 These are the fruits on a Spindle Tree.  I thought they looked a bit like butterflies.  You would think that they were flowers but, no, they are the fruits.

 This fungus was on a trees tump down by the lake.  The fungus ran in a line along the track of the roots too.

Autumn

I thought you might like to see a few of the photos I took today on a very cold but enjoyable walk round the parkland at Belton House.   I think it must be the amount of rain we had earlier in the year that is giving us such a glorious Autumn this year.  With the sun shining beautifully today the colours were stunning!

It's coming to something when you have to apologise for nature!

Experimenting with angles.

Not a clue what these pretty toadstools are but I don't think I'd eat them.

You'd think from that rucksack he was stalking someone but, no, it's just a photo opportunity.

I'm not sure whether this is a handkerchief or a tulip tree but it looked stunning today.

Thanks to some advice from Mark Highton-Ridley I have been experimenting with taking photos on 'Aperture Priority' and I'm liking the results.  Thank you Mark!

Pretty Feet and Beautiful Trees

On the subject of CyberFyber, back in November, Dale of The Thread Studio bought a pair of shoes while in Paris which became the inspiration for her CyberFyber piece. This week I couldn't resist a little browse round our local out of town store that was having a sale and managed to find a pair of evening sandals and a pair of everyday sandals, both at half price. Well, we all love a bargain, don't we? The added bonus came when I turned the shoes over and saw these lovely patterns!

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The shoes above are an Italian shoe and I love the flowers on the sole.

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What about this pattern? It looks a bit space age to me.

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I've already taken an impression of each with Form-a- Foam and before I can wear them I have plans to iron Tyvek over the soles and take casts with plasticine which I can then use to make toilet tissue casts. If I'm very brave I might do toilet tissue embossing directly from the soles. Dale had the idea of making rubbings from her soles with Shiva paintstiks and I plan to try this too. I'll show you all the results and hopefully some prints when I've made them.

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What sort of day have you had weatherwise in your neck of the woods? Despite the forecast we have had a beautiful day today. So beautiful in fact that, once he'd recovered from his Friday-night-boy's-night-out (a tame affair as there's only him and his friend R - aah, bless!) my DH and I walked into town. (When I think about it he could have stayed in town and waited for me to walk down instead of walking home at some unearthly hour! What do men find to talk about for so long in a pub? LOL) On the way to town we pass these beautiful trees:

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I absolutely love Silver Birch and these 4 trees are stunning with their wonderfully reflective trunks. Some of the bark was peeling off and I would have loved to take a little of it but unfortunately noone was in the garden to ask. Doesn't it lift your spirits to see such sparkling trees in the middle of winter?

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(We didn't walk back from town - the bus was very welcome transport.)

Alnwick Garden 2

Above the cascade you come to the walled garden which has many garden rooms within it.

These are espalier apples growing round various parts of the walled garden.

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One of several beautiful peonies.

This pergola will eventually be covered by the climbers growing up it.

Like this!

More Christmas Trees

I meant to post a Christmas Tree every day in lieu of an advent calender but have failed woefully up to now. These trees were at the church festival we went to the other weekend. The tree above has all the ingredients for a Christmas Cake crowned by a slice of said cake.

The angels on this tree were all made on dolly pegs - the old-style pegs that push onto the washing on the line, not the sprung ones.

This pretty tree had ornaments made from patchwork.

We haven't put our tree up yet. I think it will probably be the middle of next week before it goes up as I have to have a serious blitz of the house before my Mum gets here. There's still nowhere for her to sit or sleep at the moment! Mostly because my art stuff is everywhere! Help!

I took my friend out for a shopping trip today (she's had a knee replacement 7 weeks ago) (no this isn't a photo of my friend! ;)) and called in for some lunch when we got back to find Benji bear looking very festive with his coronet! PG obviously approved! These monkeys get everywhere!!! *LOL*