Royal Botanic Gardens of Kew

A couple of years ago I watched a David Attenborough special which was filmed in Kew Gardens and wondered why I had never been there to visit so I popped it on my visit wishlist. The opportunity came while Miss M and I were in London for a few days before heading back home. Getting there is easy peasy....catch a tube on the District line towards Richmond.

It is short walk down a residential street from the station towards the Gardens.  From the minute I got off the train I had that feeling that I wished I lived here.  Gorgeous houses with equally gorgeous gardens and so close to the immense, wonderful gardens of Kew.

There is so much to see here, that is is hard to know where to start but we decided to head to the tropical Palm House first.

Walking into this overlarge greenhouse was like stepping back into Queensland.....muggy, muggy, muggy.  Immediately we had to strip jackets, scarves and push up our sleeves but what a wonderful array of tropical plants....mainly palms.  There was an aquarium in the basement which had tanks of tropical fish, and other creatures, both reef dwellers and mangrove dwellers. A wrought iron spiral staircase took you up to a viewing walk above the plants.

I thought we did really well staying in there for as long as we did.......I was just about ready to strip down to my singlet! How nice it was to step back outside and feel the cold bite into my cheeks again.

We decided to walk towards the treetop walk and even though there was lots that we wouldn't see today because of the time of year, like the rose gardens, the rhodedendrons and the azaleas, there was still plenty of natures beautiful blooms to see along the way.

on the ground

in the trees

The Treetop walk is a 200m long circular walkway, 18m off the ground giving great panoramic views of the park. There were 8 flights of stairs. I counted as I puffed my way up them. It would be lovely in summer when all the trees are lush with leaves but actually I am starting to like these bare trees.

We also got a birdseye view of the Temperate House just below and a view of the Pagoda through the trees.  We didn't get to the Pagoda as it was in the opposite direction of where we were visiting in the park today.  There are 121 hectares of gardens here.  An awful lot to discover in one day.

We decided to stay around the area closest to the Victoria Gate which is where we entered the gardens. The Temperate House was closed for renovations so we could not go in there but we got a surprise very close by near the Greek Garden when we spotted this lovely chap sunning himself.

He was not really interested in showing off those magnificent tail feathers but he did let me get close enough for a lovely head shot.

 We decided to walk towards Kew Palace but got distracted by the lure of orchids on display at the Princess of Wales Conservatory. They were spectacular in all shapes, sizes and colours. One one of the walkways I spotted something unusual.  At first I thought it was fake but it moved and I realised it was a real, live, vibrant green South American iguana living quite happily among these gorgeous blooms and quite undeterred by all the visitors.  We couldn't manage to get a photo of him because of the number of interested people gathered.

Once again, there were aquarium displays of the typical fish and amphibia to be found in areas supporting these kind of plants.  So we saw pirannah, who refused to show us their ferocious pearly whites and even the deadly Poison Dart Frog.  Luckily they were in glass tanks so we were quite safe.

We were feeling rather hungry by now and set off to find the Orangery Restaurant for some lunch. On the way we came across a fairy ring of mushrooms - with a difference.

These mushrooms were giants, most of them taller than we were, and woven out of willow twigs. They were fascinating and we spent a great deal of time here taking photos and wandering amongst them. I just loved the idea for this art installation and what a great spot to install it.

After lunch at the Orangery, we walked towards the Alpine House, which for some reason, was very prominent in my memory from Sir David's programme. It seemed much smaller in real life but I loved seeing the teeny tiny little plants growing here. Those yellow flowers in the middle were incredibly small but oh-so-pretty!

By now we had well and truly walked away from  and forgotten about Kew Palace but we were getting tired and decided to skip that one.  We would  walk through the Woodland Garden instead and make our way back towards Victoria Gate. I was really hoping to see some bluebells. I have a vague memory of picking bluebells in the woods when I was a young child (don't try it these days) and I have always loved them. I didn't see any here today. Just the usual snowdrops, crocuses and daffodils.

I was so glad we came to Kew today.  It was a fabulous day out and we didn't even cover half of what you can see here. I imagine it would be absolutely spectacular in the summer months.  I might not cross it off my wishlist just yet and visit here again if I can manage it in summer.  Imagine the roses!

Oh yes, I dearly would love to live on the street leading up to Victoria Gate, Kew Gardens.  I just have to win the lotto!


 

From Forest to City

One place I have wanted to visit for a long time is Queen Elizabeth's Hunting Lodge. I am talking Queen Elizabeth I of course. To get there we had to travel to a place called Chingford on the edge of Epping Forest.  Chingford was once a rural village but of course it is now part of Greater London and we caught a train from Liverpool Street to the end of the line at Chingford.

It was just a short walk up the hill towards Epping Forest to find Queen Elizabeth's Hunting Lodge. The structure was built for King Henry VIII so he and his guests could view the deer hunt.  It is a three storey building with a kitchen on the first floor and two levels of viewing rooms above.  It was originally called the Great Standing but at some point the name was changed to Queen Elizabeth's Hunting Lodge although it is not known whether she ever spent any time there.

This is a tudor style building but the whole thing has been whitewashed and hides those wonderful characteristic tudor timbers.  There is an interesting cutout at the top of the staircase to see how they built the walls of the structure which I found really fascinating.  I am so incredibly amazed that these really old tudor buildings stand the test of time. The top floor also had a beautiful ceiling.

I envisioned that the building would stand within the trees of Epping Forest but actually it is set on a plain and I took a photo of the view towards the forest.  Did Henry VIII and his fellow Tudors view it like this?

It has possibly changed a lot since the 16th century but I imagine they saw alot more deer than we did.  The only ones we saw were stuffed.  This poor chap was part of a cull done last year which means that there must be a few around if they have to cull them. It made me quite sad as he is such a handsome fellow.

 Across the main road behind the lodge was a public walking track through Epping Forest but once again we were without our wellies so thought it best not to go for a stroll.

It didn't take us long to explore the Hunting Lodge and it was clearly obvious that a walk was out of the question so we headed back to Central London to have lunch.

We lunched near Covent Garden so we could visit the markets there and then we started walking. Leicester Square. Trafalgar Square.  This is the first time I have ever seen those famous Lions at the base of Nelson's Column without a "million" tourists draped all over them and I took the opportunity to take some photos.

Onwards towards and through the Royal Horse Guards parade ground and in to St James' Park to see the daffodils. They were everywhere, all over the grassed area, in great big bunches.

You have to admit, this is a wondrous sight. Here is a rare view of me amongst them.

We walked through St James' Park until we spotted Buckingham Palace and then looped back around towards The Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey.

Buckingham Palace

The clock known as Big Ben

Westminster Abbey

By this stage we realised we had walked for a good 2 hours and had to get back to our hotel as we were meeting my brother and a nephew for dinner and drinks.

Only two days left!
 

FNWF - Best Laid Plans

Oh I had such plans to get sewing on my WIPs for the day. I didn't get much done on my March calendar so with April well and truly here, I decided to have a sewing day at home and extend it through the evening for FNWF.

I got the washing on and started to catch up on reading some blogs for a little while, when Red called to inquire if we could include him for dinner and he would bring my gorgeous puppy girl, Clover, with him and join us on our daily dog walk at 4.  No Problem....that was ages away and I had time to read a few more blogs and write another travel post. It was early afternoon before I got into to the Creation Station and with a trip to the shops in the back of my mind I got on to working on a WIP........just to get to the next stage. Here are some of my choices organised in their respective WIP baskets.

I thought I would start on Arctic Circle as it was already set out on my design sheet. I just needed one more star block to create another row. All good? not really.  Nothing was going smoothly.  I wasn't exactly following the cutting instructions in the magazine and I couldn't quite remember what measurements I had cut my units so first I had to remeasure everything. My Janome was not happy about the humpy seams today and got stuck each and every time I ran over one. I got one of the white units upside down (can you see it in the picture below?), seams were not lining up even with pins and to top it off, I sewed a whole row only to realise, at the end, that I had run out of bobbin thread.  It was taking ages but eventually, I got one block done.

With the block finished, I had enough blocks to join together into two rows. I just wasn't sure it I had the right shade of blue for the sashing.  So I spent another length of time while I auditioned several fabrics from my stash.  Nothing was working so I decided to go back to the original fabric I had set aside and started cutting the sashing.

 Everything was starting to fall into place at this stage and I completed row 1 and just about to start on row 2 when Red and Clover pulled into the drive.  Surely it can't be 4pm already, I will just have to put this away until later and, Oh dear,  I haven't been to the shop yet.

No time now because the puppy girls were all getting over excited about walking together and we set off a little earlier than usual. When we got home I sent Hubby and the boy to the shops to buy some salmon fillets and extra salad veggies while I got some potatoes seasoned and into the oven to roast, fed the dogs and had a quick shower.  They were back from the shops by then but before I got around to cooking the salmon, Miss M phoned from uni and asked if there was the slightest possiblilty anything could be salvaged from dinner for her to heat up later.    Sure! there were 4 salmon fillets and I could always cook another later.

So really, with two dinners to cook and of course I haven't seen her for a few days so we had a bit to catch up on, I didn't get back to the creation station to sew anymore.  I hope you will accept my afternoon sewing as my FNWF contribution.  The Best Laid Plans can sometimes never happen.

Right now I am heading over to Cheryl's to read about how everyone else spent their FNWF.
 

Our Cantebury Tale

I am back today to recap my trip. We spent a week in Essex with my mum and her partner, Norman, doing some much needed laundry, shopping and going to the movies or just relaxing and spending quality time at their house. During the week we were joined by my brother and my  three nephews for lunch to celebrate mum's 80th birthday.  Miss M and I returned to London for 4 more days of adventure before heading back to Australia.

Miss M wanted to visit Cantebury. I had been there the time before but I had been unwell so I was happy to rediscover this lovely little town. The first step was to find where the trains departed from. There are a great many railway stations in central London and they all head to different parts of the country. I consulted the internet which said you could get to Cantebury from two different stations but Miss M wanted to be double sure so after breakfast we consulted the information desk at our local Euston Station. They sent us to St Pancras, only a short distance away. What we did not know at the time was that the speed train leaves from St Pancras and it costs a bomb! I felt we were given a bum steer and Charing Cross would have been a better option but time was marching on.

We reached Cantebury and first off, I wanted to visit the Norman Castle which was on the opposite side of town. I had checked on the internet and learnt that the castle is open all year round so you can imagine how cranky I felt when we got there only to find the gate locked and a sign up that said the castle was CLOSED. This was going to be one of those times when a photo from the perimeter wall was going to have to do.
We walked the whole way around the structure to take some photos and Miss M tried to console me by stating the obvious.....there probably wasn't much inside anyway.

Walking back towards the centre of town we found a tourist attraction called The Cantebury Tales which is set up in an old church.  The attraction is based around Chaucers tales, a group of pilgrims set out on a journey to Cantebury.  They each have to tell a story to earn a free meal at the Inn when they reach Cantebury.  At the attraction, you travel with them through different scenes as they tell their respective tales.  It is quite dim and shadowy inside and the pilgrims are wax figures but when we got to the final "room" the dummy looked much more life like and I quite jumped out of my skin when she started talking to me!!

Cantebury has alot of similar attractions to York.  There is a city wall with a gate or two still standing, a castle, a cathedral, an abbey ruin and a really quaint town full of really old buildings. We strolled though the town wandering into shops and taking photos of the buildings. And we did go into the Sewing Shop!

Walking down an alley on the way to Cantebury Abbey we found another museum - The Roman Museum. The town of Cantebury has been inhabited since prehistory and at one point, the Romans had a settlement here with grided streets, a forum and Roman baths. After the Romans left Britain, the settlement was abandoned altogether and it all gradually decayed over the next 100 years until another group of settlers took over the area.  Alot of roman artefacts and excavations sites have been discovered after extensive bombing in WW2.  We decided not to visit the Cathedral as it is very much like many other cathedrals and costs a fair bit to get entry (although Edward, The Black Prince is interred here and you can view his original jacket, gauntlet, helmet, shield and scabbard as well) We did visit the the Cathedral Shop and I bought a gorgeous little ceramic cat.

After lunch at the pub in the square across from the Cathedral we continued our walk through town and discovered the other sights.

The Abbey Ruins

the Norman city walls

One of the remaining gates to the city

Apart from a few disappointments, I thoroughly enjoyed the day out in Cantebury.  There is alot to do and see.  Well worth a revisit, I thought.  And we saw our first daffodils in full bloom.

Cantebury Daffodils

 

FQS for March are posted

March is over so I am guessing it is safe to blog what I sent for this months FQ Swap. Let me start with my swap partner Diana. The theme for March was "3" to celebrate the third year of the club but I really wasn't inspired by anything at my local that filled the criteria so I had a surprise brain wave and decided to send Diana 3 FQs instead of the obligatory 2. I went with a colour scheme she said she liked and added a couple of embroidery threads  to the mix. The photo isn't the best as I had already packaged it and then realised I forgot to take a photo, hence, the plastic glare.

No problem getting Diana's fqs to her before the end of the month but I was very tardy with the birthday girls and missed their special days.  Why do I get into this mess?  Oh yes, Fudgy Brain! It has taken me awhile to get back into the swing of things after getting home from my UK trip which is the norm. Usually, it takes me a month to recover.  Eventually, I made it to the post office to mail my parcels and so I apologise once again to all the birthday girls and hope you had a lovely day on your respective special days. 

Here is what I sent

LeAnne

De

Raelene

Wendy

Helen

Of course it was my Birthday this month as well so I decided to add a little extra goodie in with the FQs.  Each birthday girl got a seed packet stitchery from Ella & Skysie Designs too.

 Quite a lot of birthdays this month so I hope I have gotten that all correct and matching what I posted off!! That kind of thing happens when you have fudge for brains!