May Time

Elvaston Castle

Through May there was a sort of bit of sunshine and the other stuff, but warmth was increasing. By the end of the middle of the month the allotment was well dug, the potatoes were showing and Irene was sowing seed and planting out. The temperature fell towards the end of May.

On the 7th we had an opportunity to take up our friends, Paul and Mary's, invitation to walk from their bungalow in Borrowash to Elvaston Castle. This would be followed by lunch in their home and then to help them with some gardening. The morning was generally bright and so off we set. The gardening never happened as the rain started after lunch.

Elvaston Castle is really only a country house set in parkland.

 We walked through the woods and came across streams. Here is a reflection of a red lichen covered log.

Further on we came to bird life and our first encounter this year of young waterbirds, starting with this photo of a moorhen.

Returning to the castle we came across a bright garden where azaleas and rhododendrons were in bloom. This was our inspiration for next week's visit.

  In the same area were wood carvings where Irene sat to have tea.

This was our inspiration to go on to the castle and find the tea room.

After refreshments we went on through the gardens and out by the lake to see more young waterbirds.

The clouds were gathering, but it still continued to be dry and warm as we walked back along the road to Borrowash, the hedgerows full of colour.

Last of the Summer Wine?

 There was still more signs of spring as we passed a field of cows and calves.

The River Derwent was beautiful at this point and ran close to the railway cutting. This indicates the geography of the area as a through route.

Lea Gardens and Crich Stand

For some unaccountable reason we went out on the following Thursday when the sky was much bluer. This was the follow up to the few rhododendrons at Elveston. It was Paul and Mary's wedding anniversary and we took them with us.

This was the second time we had been to Lea Gardens near Matlock. The first time was in 2012 after our extended stay in NZ. Then we went in June as the blossoms were coming to an end. This time the blossoms were are their best.

After coffee, which was without cake, we entered the garden going through a stone arch in a stone wall that had beautiful flowers growing out of it. Apparently the cakes the ladies had seen were of the most delicious variety, but the ladies had Paul's welfare at heart. 

 Once inside their was a good photo opportunity to produce something for our friend's anniversary.

I printed it and put it in a frame. Paul said that it was the best photograph that he had of himself. In fact I presented it to them the following evening at the dance. I did mean to embarrass them as I called them out to lead everyone in a waltz.

There was so much colour. Even the white blooms were brilliant.

 At one point Paul came across a dog. It looks as if the lady is afraid that Paul is going to hit it with my tripod. We do not get embarrassed when Paul does off-the-wall things.

In the pond we spied newts. This albino one stood out.

 Most of the garden allows for circular walks but one goes up to the highest point were there is a fixed seat and a swing seat. Once again Irene was not too comfortable on the swing seat. I still do not know how she managed the swing bridge over the Buller Gorge.

From this point there is a great view over the top of the garden to the countryside beyond.

Back down it was time to return to the seat that was surrounded by gunnera. Back in 2012 it was the first time that I had been photographed in my Kiwi hat. Now the hat returned with the addition of two friends.

On the way out of the garden we spied a rather dinky mini.

In the same way as we had done 2 years ago we made our way into Crich and to the bakery known as the 'Loaf'. We had enjoyed the salads there before. Paul spied pork pie. There was no pork pie. He ordered something else. That too was off. Eventually we were all able to enjoy a pleasant meal.

Next we made our way to Crich Stand. This is a regimental memorial and this time it was open and we could pay the staggering sum of 20p each to go up. There certainly are commanding views.

One of the pictures shows a tram from the Tramway Museum going by the quarry. Tonight (28th) we discovered that low level nuclear waste is buried there and local villagers are protesting about the plan to build houses on the site.

 After a final picture of the wise three it was time to go home. 

Kedleston Hall

Last year this was the second trip we made as new members of the National Trust. We chose Kedleston as we did not want to be far away. I was expecting to take delivery of the polling booths for the hall in the afternoon.

It was a sunny morning with blue skies but the grass was very wet from the continuing, frequent rain. We arrived too early for refreshments and so we went a walk around the back of the hall until we could see the very symmetrical view of the hall.

 It was getting close to coffee time so we went back to the hall. We came to a courtyard which was beautifully hung with wisteria.

 From here we could see a strange sundial on the church. To it looked as if it could only indicate the time to 11.30 and it was one hour slow.

Checking up I found the following information from another blogger. http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3523834

'All Saints Church in the grounds of Kedleston Hall. A sundial, above which is a carved stone skull,bears the words "Wee Shail", which is said to mean " we shall soon (sun) die (dial), a sort of Memento Mori.'

As we were about to leave a young lady told us that she had just opened the church. It was very much a 'family church'. It had the tombs of passed family members, very private boxed in pews and sunken circular effigies of a type we had not seen before. Actually we still could not see them because of health and safety concerns.

The sun continued to shine and so we sat outside to enjoy our scones with jam and cream.

There was a magnificent view of the park from where we sat.

We had been given a list of walks and chose a short walk to the left of the bridge. It was simply a walk to where the water met the road and then back to the bridge along the other side.

On the way to the bridge I stopped to take one of my shots that had a short exposure time. This allows for good depth of focus but a tripod and remote are needed.

The reflections on the lake were stunning.

Our walk was through what is described as idyllic English country side. We passed calves hiding in the long grass, statuesque trees, lambs with their mothers and a large number of duck families.

 The day was a good use of National Trust membership, if only for car parking.

Saturday 24th

It was pouring with rain and we had to make our trip to Nan. We were escorted 35,000 Derby supporters on the M1. Flags and scarves festooned the cars and coaches. Some supporters stood on the motorway bridges waving flags at the vehicles below. I don't think that in all the years of travelling down the M1 we have seen such a site. Holiday traffic also joined the throng. We were only 15 minutes late and Derby lost by one goal scored by QPR in last minute.

Wednesday 28th

Again it poured with rain. I had an afternoon appointment at the hospital. We started our visit with a delicious muffin and coffee at the 'Muffin Break' in Broadmarsh. Then we went up to see the latest exhibition at the Nottingham Contemporary.

The exhibition was a collection of works from the Arts Council Collection and was called 'Somewhat Abstract'. We had several firsts. It was the first time we had seen the same exhibit in two different places. The first time we saw the chandelier flashing out a poem in Morse code was at Tate Modern Liverpool. We also saw our first Yoko Ono and it was the first time that we had seen work by Barbara Hepworth. http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/hepworth-spring-t12278

After this we made our way through the pouring rain roughly in the direction of The Victoria Centre. By some strange coincidence we first came to Gee Dees and I was able to purchase some bits for the model.

Irene was able to purchase what she came for when we got to the centre. After sandwiches we legged it back to the coach station and on to the QMC. The examination showed that I had no retinal damage but was getting the signs of old age.

I had heard that one of my ex-pupils had become a bus driver. I'm not getting on this bus as I looked Reece Dunn in the eye. He actually drove very well and I felt quite proud of him for many reasons.

Its Over - Life Begins Again

Exam marking is over. This time for ever. This time I truly mean it. Life has been mostly on hold for the last month.


At least the weather was right for marking. There was little chance of enjoying days in the sun.


Before settling in to work there were two sunny opportunities. The first was to take a 2012 shot of David the gnome, complete with a plastic monarch butterfly.

The second was on a visit to Milton Keynes when after visiting nan we went on to spend sometime with Tim and family. It was a lovely sunny afternoon when we were able to sit out in the garden and being late home we called in to collect a delicious Chinese take-away which we could have had in our garden, but chose not to.

Loughton Lake.
Notice the clear blue sky on the last weekend of May.
After this we still wait the return to the high temperature and the same blue.

June would arrive, together with the on-line scripts for the tick jockey and the diamond anniversary of our queen. Sadly, the rain and the cold wind came and with others we sympathised about the frozen, wet performers who were in the Thames pageant.


Our one concession was to attend a red, white and blue dance at the New Stapleford Community Centre on Friday night.

Revellers

Laughter

Irene N in red - Irene B in blue

Buffet

 After this the marking kept me busy and the rain helped. But, there was one special concession and that was to visit nan on the occasion of her 92nd birthday. She remains mentally very able, but frustrated at being able to do less and less.

During a break in marking I strolled into our garden and was taken by the site of a a glistening blob of rain caught in the spikes of a bush and grabbed my camera.

On Wednesday 6th June I turned on the computer to find that there were no more items left to mark and that the sky was almost cloudless. This called for a celebration and this was to drive out into our beloved Derbyshire country side.


Our first port of call was to be Lea Gardens. http://www.leagarden.co.uk/Pages/default.aspx. The best of the blooms were finished, but it was still a good place to sit and enjoy a pot of tea and roam around. We were greeted by a young lady who apologised for the fact that the door would not work. But delivered our tea which we took over looking the garden and the bird feeder.

 From here we drove off in the direction that the car faced eventually arriving at Crich Stand. http://www.crich-memorial.org.uk/. This a memorial in honour of the Sherwood Foresters Regiment in both world wars. We arrived on the one day that it closed, but we could still enjoy a walk up to and the views around it.

In Crich village we found a bakery/cafe and sat to enjoy to very filling salads. Each of our plates had three different salads. I had the home made pork pie and Irene had the feta.


As we left the sky began to darken and the best of the day was over. Having a little time to spare we decided to call in on the Nottingham canal at Cossall, but the sky, by then, was very uninspiring and so we went home calling in to water the greenhouse on the way home.

On Thursday we went up to have a session on the allotment between showers and Irene managed to plant the penultimate bed of seedlings while I attacked the weeds on the final bit of ground. We await with little hope for a drier time.