Bank Holiday Beauty - Volume 2

Welcome back!! Thanks for sticking with me through my natural ramblings!

So, at Wisley they have a tropical greenhouse where they grow all sorts of random stuff and today they were growing a hippo!

Just having a casual dip in the greenhouse pool! 

Also, in the greenhouse is a heap of orchids and it's one of my favourite parts of a Wisley trip. As it's kept so lovely and humid in there they grow pretty much all year round and agian, Wisley throw some awesome plant DNA together! 

I always think orchids look like they are about to eat you!

Another green flower - so weird. I can't work out whether I like it.

Love the colour combination of this flower.

Look at it's little pouch. Makes me think of a milk maid for some reason and  I'm not sure why.....

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Mother Nature is so cool - all the stripes and spots. The sheer detail in one flower is incredible.

It's Mushu!  'Dragon, not lizard.... I don't do that tongue thing!'

PINK!

This is my favourite orchid of the bunch tonight. So beautiful.

Dancing ladies, like the flowers from Fanatasia!!

Weird and wacky! A Jade Vine? Looks like the flower equivalent of a Banana plant.

Of course, a purple flower to finish, 'coz I like purple the mostest! 

Here are a selection of other pictures that I was really happy with over the day. I never fail to marvel as what nature can do! It is so impressive and so beautiful.

Hanging hearts. Really sweet.

Makes me think of a cockerel.

How mad is this plant! 

There was a robin flying round the greenhouse and he stopped long enough for me to snap this. 

Having a nap on the bank of the lake.

My 'what I call' classy shot.

So that about sums up my Wisley visit. I went a bit shutter mad - these are only a handful of the 150+ photos I ended up with. I get a bit snappy happy when I get to Wisley as there is so much detail and delicate beauty to work with. If you've read to the end of these two blogs, then thank you! I love getting page views and knowing that people are reading my stuff. Even if it is all a bit rambly and nonsensical. 

Check in soon

M xx

A Sunday Spent A-Romping!

One thing I love about Bank Holiday weekends is how my parents always try and spend the day with me and my sister. We spend a lot of time together anyway, but we make a special effort over the weekend to try and spend some quality time as a family. Today we all went for a walk along the Basingstoke Canal with our gorgeous puppy dog, Jasper. (He's nearly 5 but we still call him a puppy because he is so damn cute!)

Introducing Jasper! Our Springer Spaniel cross Labrador pup. Ain't he adorable! 

Jasper likes cuddles, food and very weirdly, he likes peoples ears. If you are sitting down and bend to tie your shoes, he will try and nibble your ears off - undoubtedly. 

Yes, he is licking my face. He was just resting his head on the back of the seat but when I went to take the picture he went for me! Lovely slobber! He's a sweetie but he does like to try and eat everything he possibly can.

This is my sister! Getting her to smile for a photo is tough so these are rare shots of her beautiful, happy face! We were having a giggle today. Since coming back from uni it's been really great to getting to spend more time together and see more of this brilliant smile! 

Here are Sian and Jasper, ready to set off on our walk. The sun came out, it was lovely and warm and we are ready to go a-wandering. The walk was all along the canal so there was lots of prettiness to look at. Plus, some of the houses along the canal are totally massive! It's a really affluent area and they all have fields for gardens, out houses, verandas etc. As we were walking, we saw and old guy and, I assume, his son building a jetty at the end of their garden into the canal! Colour me jealous. 

No filter - the sky was actually this blue today!

A little way into our walk we came across a little family of ducklings! They were so tiny, they could only have been weeks old. I love their little fluffy bodies and how they constantly cheap to their mothers. It's just so sweet!! 

 My lovely family! Being out in the sunshine was great! Lots of giggling happened as well as just general chit chat that we don't always get time for when we are all going about our busy weeks. I really value the time that I get to spend catching up and just spending time with my family. I consider myself very blessed to be part of such a loving, funny, supportive bunch of loons!

Here is one of the mansions I mentioned earlier! This house was beautiful! When we walked past this house Sian decided that this is where she is going to live. 'That's it.' She said 'That's my house.' It was stunning, it had a swing hanging from an old tree over the river. It would be amazing in the summer to just swing into the canal from it! 

As a family, we've been on 2 narrow boat holidays. It's such a lovely way to relax and as you literally can't go more than 4 miles an hour on the water, you are forced to chill out and watch the world glide by. Whenever I see a narrow boat now I get all nostalgic for a holiday on the water. There is something so peaceful about waking up to the sunrise, moored up on a river with the sound of the birds and the lapping water against the boat. 

One man and his dog! My daddy and his favourite child - Jasper. These two are not easily separated! They are very much 'best buds', Jasper gets all jittery if he thinks Dad isn't coming back which is really funny. I think, as a family, we have raised the most neurotic dog on the planet.

We stopped at the pub for a drink and the toilets had this sign in them. Sian and I thought that it was great! Not necessarily true but it made us giggle none the less. 

After the pub the walk moves away from the river and goes through a load of farm land and rolling hills. There are lots of cute little styles and hidden footpaths among woodland. Felt a little bit like I was discovering the Secret Garden. Now there is a film I really want to see again! Such a beautiful movie.

Don't know what it was about these 'footpath' signs but they were so sweet! I think it's because they actually look like little fingers pointing you in the right direction! So sweet. 

All round a lovely walk, a lovely day with my lovely family!

Check in soon

M xx