National Trust

On Sunday we took the train to Mottisfont Abbey and gardens. It was a lovely destination for a family day out.
S made us laugh whilst on the way when she asked us to close our eye as she had a surprise for us. She decided her piggy backpack would look good in her purple specs!



As we arrived at mid day we decided the first stop should be eating our picnic so we chose a spot next to the stream

which had a perfect view across to the house too.

Once suitable refreshed (and with emptier backpacks!) we made our way round to the gardens. The colours in this cutting garden were stunning.

Old wooden doors set into brickwalls always look inviting.

The smell of lavender in this garden was wonderful and it was alive with insects.

A good spot to sit and soak up the sun.

There were a few reasons for visiting Mottisfont this month. One is it's always interesting to go somewhere new, another it's accessible by public transport, a big plus is this month there is no admission cost forchildren and 2 more reasons (for me in any case) was the Mr McGregor garden they have built and an exhibition of some of Beatrix Potter's orignial artwork.

Mr McGregor's shed

with the gardener snozzing inside!

Lots of healthy produce being grown.

There were lots of places to sit and pose for family photos around the different gardens.

G says it looks like he is being photographed with a strange fly, becuase of the my large sunglasses in case you were wondering!

My 2 boys looking handsome.

General silliness.

An added bonus to the day was meeting the resident cat who was very happy to be tickled behind the ear by T.

And who leapt into action a few minutes later when a mouse scurried from one border to the next!

There were some lovely country scenes to soak in as we walked by the riverside

before we stopped off at the tea shop for a quick refresher before heading home again.

sparkles

It was too cloudy last night for us to be able to see the meteor shower shooting stars but when I popped up to T's room just after 7 o'clock to pop some bits and pieces into his room the sun was streaming in through the window and hit the glitter ball hanging from his lampshade at just the right angle to send loads of tiny reflections across the walls, ceiling and floor.



So sparkly!

Things that have made me smile today

Coming downstairs this morning to find Melvin asleep on the new (to us) sofa in our dining room.



One of my birthday cards sat waiting for me to buy it a frame as it's too pretty not to be displayed.

Finding this book, which was one of my all time childhood favourites, at a car boot sale for 10p.

T spent an hpour this afternoon taking part in a sponsored cycle. As it has been drizzling with rain more or less all day by the time we went out there were plenty of puddles for S to jump in. After a particularly big splash in one she looked at the pattern the water had made on the ground and said 'Look mum I've made fireworks!' What a fab way to describe it.

Seaside

Whilst away we spent a few hours in

This place holds lots of, mostly fond, memories for G as this is where his grandparents lived and so he spent many holidays here.
T, G and me visited for few days a couple of years ago and made some happy family memories of our own too.
Of course in more recent times there was the awful fire on the pier but the new building work is nearing completion and there are lots of changes happening around the sea front.

One change, which S in particular enjoyed, is this very newly opened children's play area and water park. It's really well done with a great variety of play equipment.

Of course some big people couldn't resist having a play too.

Harbourside

Whilst in Bristol we stayed just across the road from the huge Harbourside development.
As we walked across the square I spied this statue and immediately recognised the super suave and handsome Mr Cary Grant. I would love to have met him in his Hollywood heyday.


A few feet away from him is William Tyndale who is well known for something so completely different to film star adoration.

If we go back for another visit with T's brother and the weather isn't so kind to us then at-bristol would be the perfect venue, there seems to be a huge amount on offer there

including a planetarium in this fabulous looking shiny ball.

Happy faces!

Bristol has a lot of water features which had a magnetic like attraction for the children, they had to put their hands in them each time. If you're reading this Sue, do you recognise S's backpack?

The final part of the square I want to share is the vibrant and jolly art work on the designed by Hannah Broadway which are very recent additionsand are covering ugly wooden hoardings.

I love them each for different reasons.

My favourite bit on this one are the different fabrics used for the trees

Polka-dots, who doesn't love polka dots?

Bunting!

This is a close up of the corner which I couldn't photograph because of a street lamp.

2 things I like to do. Plus I would like to be the person in the jeans and red jacket and shoes.

More polka dots.

I think they sum up summer and Bristol really well.