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We aren't far from Painswick, so we decided to enjoy our exercise there yesterday afternoon and see all their daffodils:

Painswick Rococo Gardens )

smallhobbit: (Christmas tree)


Wishing all on my flist best wishes, whether you have a particular celebration at this time of year or not.
Seasons greetings )
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Autumn may have begun, but we still have some flowers, and the acer's leaves have changed colour:

flowers )
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The last of our summer days out (I shall be in London next Friday) we visited Charlecote Park.  This, like the last two places, is owned by the National Trust, and we've had free entrance to them because we hold Art Fund cards.  Charlecote Park is a recent addition to that list.

The land was granted to the Lucy family sometime after the Norman conquest.  The house was built in 1558, but almost entirely updated in the 1840s.

Charlecote Park )
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We headed further afield for this week's visit, to just past Wolverhampton.  The drive took a bit over an hour and a half and coming back we had a break at Stourport-on-Severn to avoid some of the Friday evening traffic.  It was an interesting visit, and the one I'd been looking forward to most, but in fact for me it wasn't as good as Coughton Court - purely personal interests, it all depends what your taste in art and architecture, and historical periods are.

Wightwick Manor was built in 1887, with a further extension which doubled the size built in 1893.  It was built by Theodore Mander, who was a very wealthy Wolverhampton paint manufacturer, who was clearly out to impress.
Wightwick Manor )
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I've been sorting through some of my mother's possessions, prior to the sale of her property, and came across some interesting family photos.  But before I share those, here are a couple of other things I found.

Photos )
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On our second day in Cambridge we spent the morning in the Cambridge University Botanic Garden, including an excellent lunch in their café.  In the afternoon we visited the Fitzwilliam Museum (art and antiquities) which had some interesting special exhibitions, and wandered round until in SM's words, our feet fell off, when we went to their café for a cream tea.  After which we returned to sit by the side of the River Cam and watch people punting.

Botanic Garden )
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Our hotel was about 15 minutes walk from Museumsinsel.  There are five museums on the island in the river.  It is possible to buy a combined ticket to visit all five in one day.  We decided to choose one museum to concentrate on.  Since our preference for art is that of the 19th century, we settled on the Alte Nationalgalerie.  We spent about four and a half hours there, although that included time in the shop and having a drink and some cake.

Day Three )
smallhobbit: (Edel Lion)
Before we went to Germany, one of my friends had recommended we take a river trip.  This was an excellent idea, and we saw a good deal of the city in the hour.

Day two )
smallhobbit: (Edel Lion)
We arrived home yesterday from a short break in Berlin.  It's a wonderful city, we only got to see a few of the many possible sights, and there's plenty more to see another time.  So for the next few days, I shall be posting pics.

Day One )
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As promised, here are some of the flowers we saw at Croft Castle:
flowers )
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And so we come to the last of our days out.  I wanted to see both Berrington Hall and Croft Castle, which are close to each other near Leominster.  Since this is a ninety minute drive SM suggested we do both but stay somewhere overnight, which we leave us enough time to enjoy looking round both places.  It would also feel like a proper end of summer trip.  So we stayed overnight in Leominster.

Croft Castle )

Berrington Hall )
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Yesterday we went to Chipping Camden, which is a traditional (and rather touristy) small Cotswold town:

Chipping Camden and Court Barn )
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A couple of months ago the Art Fund had an offer whereby for £10 you could have a taster card which lasted three months.  This card gives free entry (or half price) to a number of museums, art galleries, and stately homes.  So I thought why not?  This would be a chance to visit a few places I'd not been to, and get in free to things when I'm in London.
Nature in Art and Dyrham Park )

Pansies

Jun. 7th, 2017 09:01 pm
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I had promised the pansies they could have their own post, so here they are, sitting proudly in their pots:
Pansies and more )
smallhobbit: (butterfly)
It's been raining, but I thought I'd take some photos:

May flowers )

 

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It's spring, and the blossom is out:

Happy Easter )
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I can't quite believe I've had three years of blogging about the goals I've set.  Looking back over the past year, it's been interesting - and encouraging - to see what I've done.  So often we don't think we've done much, so it's good to have a record.

Goal No 1 - Write all the things

In the past year I've added 23 [community profile] fan_flashworks  badges, bringing my current total to 88.  Only a couple of new ones since last time, but one was the all important Collector badge, which still pleases me.



Other highlights over the year are my Call The Midwife SmallFandomBang, my first long AU Bilbo Baggins the Baker's Son, and Watson 1918 which is now written and is being edited.  Word count to date for 2017 is 49K, so I'm on target for reaching 165K for the year again.

I shall be continuing with this goal, and continuing to remember the idea is to not just write all the words, but tackle different things as well.


Goal No 2 - Read More and Widely

Definitely achieved.  I've read 29 books this past twelve months and once more covered a wide selection.  I'll do a review later this month, which should bring the total to 30.  I fully intend to continue posting book reviews, but will no longer include reading within my goals as such.  I've added all the books on my 'to read' pile to my Goodreads profile and will be using it to keep track.  I have just updated my 2017 Reading Challenge from 24 to 30 books, to make it a proper challenge.  If you're on Goodreads and want to find me, I'm Small_Hobbit there.


Goal No 3 - Post a purely photographic post each month

Also achieved.  And I shall be posting an Easter post at the end of this week.  I've enjoyed preparing the posts, but don't see myself continuing as regularly.  It has, however, been a really interesting project and I'm glad I did it.


I'll be setting my goals for the coming year later this month.  After some thought I've decided to keep going with the goals - it makes a difference to me, seeing what I'm aiming for and how I'm getting on.  One of my two new goals will be a monthly blog post, the other will be more of a challenge, and I'm hoping my flist will have a role in this (nothing difficult I assure you!)


Added for DreamWidth users: I'm trying to work out how to forward post an entry.  This is dated 11 April - does it make a difference?

smallhobbit: (butterfly)
This is a companion post to the one of the estate I posted a couple of weeks ago.

Once again beginning with this time last year:

The Stream )
smallhobbit: (butterfly)
I've been talking of posting the pictures of our estate through the year, and here it is, beginning with last March:
Photos through the year )

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