Well, last weekend, it was 'daffodil day', that's what. Now daffodil day is an annual tradition upheld by the landed gentry in the locale of my village, Forest Hill. Basically, the Lord of manor invites all the local peasantry (like me) to his stately home for the afternoon to view the amazing displays of Spring daffodils.
Despite the fact that once you have seen one daffodil, the rest are pretty samey, it is still a lovely community event. And it raises a lot of money for the upkeep of the local church, to which the Lord belongs. I'm not a member though, nor am I religious. But I probably would be if being religious didn't involve getting up early on a Sunday. Plus I think hymns are a bit boring. They should maybe introduce some hardcore breaks to mash 'em up a little. Or throw in a bit of darkside jungle to spice up the mix.
Anyway, I digress, back to my afternoon out at Shotover House. As I mentioned, it is a friendly community event and virtually everyone from the villages attends. And here are some pictures for you.
Pic.No.1 The entrance to Shotover House. This is where you get your first glimpse of daffodils (on the right hand side)
Pic.No.2 I have to say that Izzy wasn't particularly interested in the daffodils. Someone had told her that cake was being sold at Shotover House, and she was focussed on the prize. So we made our way to the cake stall at the back of the house (pictured above). I figured that if I plied her with cake, I could bribe her to like daffodils (no flies on me although you can see where they've been)
Pic.No.3 It was £1.50 for a large slice of cake and a cup of tea. Bargain. I ordered 'walnut and coffee' (right) and Izzy predictably ordered chocolate cake. She loves chocolate she does. Where she has got that from, I have no idea. I can't stand the stuff
Pic.No.3 Izzy nicked some of the icing from the top of my cake and it was caught on camera
Pic.No.4 What better way to spend a Sunday afternoon than chilling in the sunshine after scoffing a cake as big as your head? Actually, if they sold 'beer and cake' for £1.50, that would have pipped it to the post
Pic.No.5 A mouldy plantpot
Pic.No.6 Izzy didn't want to lounge around for long because she is a kid, and they have the attention span of a gnat. So I decided that we were going to walk around the grounds of Shotover and that Izzy was going to enjoy it. In the picture above, there is a folly in front of a lake
Pic.No.7 This is Izzy next to the lake and some brown crispy grass
Pic.No.8 Then we happened upon this. It is only a dog's graveyard. And there was a stone with the names of all the dead mutts on it. I fleetingly wondered if I could sneak NG in there, but then the thought passed, so he is safe
Pic.No.9 Totally gnarly dude
Pic.No.10 Given that it was daffodil day, Izzy got totally into taking pictures of daffodils. This one was yellow with a green stalk
Pic.No.11 This one was yellow with an orange middle bit and a green stalk
Pic.No.12 Bet you can't guess what this is?
Pic.No.13 Yup. Another flock of daffodils
Pic.No.14 They sure were pretty ....... drifting through the bare woodland as I wondered lonely as a cloud
Pic.No15 This is Izzy perfecting her skills behind the camera
Pic.No.16 Ooooh looky here. Guess what the bloody hell I found?
Pic.No.17 This dog statue was situated under a tree in the foresty bit of the gardens. I don't know what it's name was, but if it was my dog I would have called it Raggy
Pic.No.18 Woo hoo, cop a load of this if you thought you had already seen a lot of daffs ...... Also as you can imagine, I had to coax Izzy in front of the lens
Pic.No.19 This is Izzy looking all dreamy and interesting. Straight afterwards she said "can I 'ave more cake?" which shattered the illusion somewhat
Pic.No.20 I have a challenge for you - What the bloody hell are these? They were randomly situated throughout the wooded areas of the Shotover grounds
Pic.No.21 They differed in design slightly, but always had three legs, a barrel and a spring hanging down underneath. I was perplexed
All in all, it was a rather lovely afternoon and the sun stayed out for the entire time. Spring is ace - my favourite time of year.
So what have you been up to today dahlink?
Ahhhh I miss Daffodils ...
ReplyDeleteThe daffs are plentiful Pics 18 and 19 are fab! Oh to be that far ahead here. Hope you got the Disqus problem figured out!
ReplyDeleteYes, it was definitely daff-tastic.
ReplyDeleteI am totally losing my way with Disqus. I don't know whether to convert everything to Wordpress, or to just ditch Disqus or to find another commenting system! AAAAH. I need help!
_____
They are undoubtably beautiful but they still smell like aged grannies underwear
ReplyDelete_____
Mmmm ... chocolate cake!
ReplyDeleteThe daffodils are beautiful. They are not blooming here yet (especially in our yard which has not been landscaped, but that is another story about which I am sure Brahm has blogged).
Did I mention I love chocolate cake?
Gawd God. So you wax lyrical about chocolate cake too? You and Izzy should become chums or something.
ReplyDeleteHey don't worry about not landscaping your yard - haven't you just recently moved into your house? These things take time.
Have a piece of chocolate cake and chill in front of the TV ;-)
_____
I have to agree with you...when it comes to daffodils they really aren't all that exciting once you've seen the first 2 or 3. However, I love the field of them that Izzy was standing in! Now THAT was kind of cool.
ReplyDeleteAs for the barrels...huh. I would be tempted to say that they look like rain barrels. Especially since you said that they were scattered through the woodlands. Problem is that they don't look like they have the right tops for that to be right. So I don't have the slightest idea what they could be or why the hell there would be a spring on the bottom of them.
Daffs are lovely......As to the barrels? I would hazzard a guess that they are containers for bird feed. The squires game-keeper would fill them up and along would come pheasant or partridge, or any other game bird for that matter, hit the springy thing on the bottom and a handful of seed falls out on the floor......
ReplyDeletePhoto No 6 is beautiful.......I would have that on my wall!
ReplyDeleteWe've got to figure this out for you some how!
ReplyDeleteYour pictures are beautiful...awesomely pretty! Esp. loved 15 and 19. You Izzy is a cutey, for sure.
ReplyDeleteWhat's the deal with the Shotover bunch? Mass dog grave and dog statue...guess they aren't cat people?
I have no idea what the barrel thingys are...I would have thought them "rain barrels for watering those daffodils but the spring on the bottom makes no sense.
I've no idea what those barrels with springs are for. Most odd.
ReplyDeleteThe flowers are very bright aren't they? Glad that you and Izzy had cake. What's with all the dead dogs I wonder?
Dunno about the dead dogs. Maybe some people collect dead pets like others collect thimbles?
ReplyDeleteBloody bright them flowers. Maybe I had the wrong setting on my camera?
_____
Marvellous daffs. We have loads in the Fens. Tulips on their way here now. Ooh, just got an idea for a quick blog! Them there barrels are for feeding the pheasants. I guess if they feed them well they can't fly as fast and then are easier to shoot!
ReplyDeleteThe barrels are for feeding pheasants. Make em nice and fat then blow them to smithereens.
ReplyDeleteLOL - that was well funny! Are you sure that's what they are for? How does the pheasant get the food out? I couldn't work it out and I've been to Uni, so I don't hold out much hope for the pheasant
ReplyDelete_____
The gray dog statue is a work of art. I wish I had one like that. Great pictures!
ReplyDeleteYou think so? I hadn't looked at it like that before! I will see if I can nick it next time I visit.
ReplyDelete_____
Why thank you! The dead dog thing must be something to do with the landed gentry. Maybe they don't like throwing things away?
ReplyDelete_____
Any ideas will be gratefully received! I looked into Wordpress, but it is quite complicated!
ReplyDelete_____
Glad you like me Daffs. Some tulips would've been nice here too, to add a bit of interest!
ReplyDeleteIf they are pheasant feeders, how do the pheasants get the food out?!
_____
Cool thanks. It is because I have got a cool camera rather than skill!
ReplyDelete_____
Apparently the barrels are pheasant feeders, but I am not sure I believe it.
ReplyDeleteAwww, glad you like the pick of Izzy in the field!!
_____
Ahhh Pete, is that how it works? I have heard other people say they are bird feeders, but I couldn't for the life of me see how the bird got the seeds out! Nice one.
ReplyDelete_____