Come away with the raggle taggle gypsy-o
I met some geese
I gave them a call
They waddled over
and said hi
or something like it
I think they liked me
They were inquisitive in their goosey way
But they soon got bored
and waited for someone with more to offer than chat.
I know . . . but I’m rather fond of geese.
Spent Beauty
Flaming acer leaves
now that summer is over
last bright offering
season sends you tumbling
trickling over the fall
This week Celestine Nudanu has joined me and has created a wonderful tanka based on my photo, visit her and have a look. http://readinpleasure.wordpress.com/2013/10/17/a-tanka-autumn/ Join in too if you feel like it!
What could possibly come between asked Christine, commenting on my post yesterday. So, so many things but I’ll try not to overload you all!
The people who discovered this valley by the sea were none other than the D’Oyly-Carte’s, best known for their company that staged Gilbert and Sullian operas and as owners of the Savoy hotel.It was Rupert and his wife Lady Dorothy that built Coleton and planted its beautiful gardens with a mix of rare and exotic plants that wouldn’t usually grow in our English climate.
The house has a stunning art deco interior – sadly photos were not permitted inside the house, but it was gracious, elegant living at its best. A family home in the country with ample space for house guests, each room had a view over the gardens and some of the sea beyond.
Here are some of the vistas and peep betweens that have evolved.
The D’Oyly-Carte’s had two children, Michael who died in a car accident at twenty-one in 1932 and a daughter, Bridget. In 1941, Rupert divorced Dorothy and Bridget took over the house. Dorothy moved to the Bahamas with her new man and Rupert continued to visit the house at weekends until his death in 1948.
The dream ended, Bridget sold the house after her father’s death and a number of years in private ownership, it became a National Trust property in 1982.
So, we can all see it, we can stroll along the paths, gaze out to sea and enjoy the wonderful garden, surely one of the best in the country.
Here are some of the plants, holding up well in mid October.
I hope you enjoyed my day out at Coleton Fishacre, I’ll be going back in the spring to see what’s blooming and for another nice lunch and cake break.
Imagine yourself ninety years ago. You find yourself sailing past one of the loveliest parts of England, an unspoilt valley by the sea in Devon. You decide you have to buy it and have the architect Oswald Milne design your perfect country house.
The house was built so that all the main rooms faced south and once it was complete Milne, who was Sir Edward Lutyens assistant designed the hard landscape.
The stone was quarried on the land and the landscaping even included channeling a stream through a rill, damming to form pools before it returned to its natural state in the lower slopes of the valley.
Stand and enjoy the view,
your own private beach lies below.
and all the while your paradise is being planted with a sheltering belt of Monterey pine and holm oak that will eventually create a micro climate.
One day your paradise will be filled with fragrant and exotic plants, flowers so colourful that everyone will want to see it.
Tomorrow perhaps I’ll show YOU how it turned out.
I spent the day exploring with a friend today and turning right too soon led us to Galmpton Creek, sleepy on a Saturday but a nice diversion. It’s on the river Dart and Dittisham can be seen in the distance.
The last stop was at Shaldon beside the river Teign estuary, more boats and a lovely evening light.
Tomorrow I’ll try to show you the space between!
. . . stretches for 95 miles from East Devon and all along the Dorset coastline. It isn’t just Jurassic, parts are Triassic and Cretaceous, each with different rock types. It’s a fossil hunters paradise, especially after one of the frequent landslides, with Charmouth and Lyme Regis areas the most likely places to find a little gem.
My end of the Jurassic coast is Exmouth, the furthest point West, where we have red sandstone that stretches along past a couple of estuaries and then abruptly changes to chalk at Beer and Lyme Regis. At Lyme you can look one direction and see chalk cliffs and east towards Charmouth, where the fresh landslides reveal fossils, in soft dark, grey, rock that feels almost like clay at times. Chalky stuff returns at Durdle Door and Lulworth.
So this is the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site, a geological walk back through INFINITE time and its my entry for this weeks photo challenge, as well as an excuse to show off the beautiful of South West of England!
Join in at http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/10/11/photo-challenge-infinite/
Seasons End
Frail fingers swaying
your golden prize has fallen
like lost wedding bands
from hands of grieving widows
sinking deep in fallow ground
Last year I took part in Capture the Colour, a competition run by Travel Supermarket. The idea is that you submit a photo that conveys each of five colours. This year Georgia invited me to join in, go check her entries at http://rainbowbakery.wordpress.com/2013/09/20/capture-the-colour/ Georgia’s White photo is my favourite, I wonder which you would choose?
My RED photo was taken at Rosemoor, my favourite Royal Horticultural Society garden, I like the double dose the reflections bring.
For YELLOW I’m still in Devon, this time on the Exe estuary when the tide was so far out you could almost walk to Starcross.
GREEN is Rosemoor’s pristine hedges and borders in late summer.
And for BLUE I’m bringing you Brixham harbour in June.
A bit further afield, this is Mount Etna. It’s peak is shrouded in a mixture of smoke, steam and cloud, each a fluffy WHITE.
I think the competition closes at midnight tonight so if you’re quick you can still enter. http://www.travelsupermarket.com/c/holidays/capture-the-colour/
Lucid Gypsy 