A Day out at Pump Cottage Weatheroak

Yesterday, my wife and I visited one of the gardens open to the public on the NGS scheme, Pump Cottage at Weatheroak. The first time that we have been there although it is very near to where we live. I was absolutely gobsmacked.

The owners have taken a one acre plot and made it into a wonderland. The use of the space to contain so many small areas joined by meandering paths is amazing. So many different areas, including follys, bog garden, streams, a boating lake ( not sure if that is within the one acre boundary?), formal beds and wild flower areas. It is almost possible to get lost and once you are past the first part of the garden, the cottage is almost iinvisible, you could be miles from anywhere. Definitely one to visit if you like gardens you can explore. I took more photogrpahs than I think I have ever done before at one of these open days.

A small selection of my photos follows:-

I loved the rustic nature of this old outbuilding and the texture on the door where the paint was peeling.

What a wonderful backyard! I could imagine many lazy days out on the pool in this boat.

My wife has some funny ideas of what constitutes a good picture, this is one of the many secluded seating areas around the garden.

A lovely rose, I liked the way that the numerous petals seemed to hide to the stamens, how do the insects find them to pollinate the flower?

Also lots of statuary, mostly small stuff but I do love it as you will know if you have read mnay of my previous posts.

My grateful thanks to the owners for a wonderful afternoon out. And the home-made cakes were delicious.

My new Zazzle store and blog

I have started selling products on Zazzle using photographs I have taken. Zazzle is a Print-on demand site, ie they make a product when it is ordered by the customer, they do not hold stocks. So I can design hundreds of products using my photographic images and hopefully sell a few. For example:-

camellia by artyfax
More Red Mugs

lilies by artyfax
color postcard printing by zazzle.com

Let's Rock and Roll by artyfax
Browse other Guitar Mousepads

You are also welcome at my new blog describing my experiences on Zazzle, hope I will see you there.

A short break at the Red Lion, Addebury

After my recent knee operation, a total knee replacement surgery (TKR) my wife and I were in need of a little rest and relaxation. We chose a hotel which was quite close to home so that I did not have to suffer any problems with travelling as the amount of movement in my knee was still very limited, and this was a hotel which was part of a chain we had used quite extensively, so we thought we knew what to expect.

The hotel was the Red Lion at Addebury, an old coaching inn on the main road right on the village green. A delightful spot just a little spoilt by the volume of traffic although we did not suffer any noise with the windows closed despite looking out over the green. We enjoyed a wonderful 3 day break and spent a very relaxing time there. The hotel as you would expect was a little "olde worlde" with uneven floors and winding corridors and the stairs, well something else.

 

This was the stairway from our floor to the bar and restaurant, quite an issue for me at that time. There was an alternative but I managed by taking it very carefully and slowly. The alternative route took us on a tour through the hotel's first floor and again the age of the building was very apparent. This next image was of a decoration behind a now disused fireplace, I quite literally fell in love with it. The building could make money by opening as a tourist attraction.

I have just noticed the fire extinguisher. Something that I could have claimed as a deliberate mistake to use as an example of how not to compose a photograph, but I will own up to it. After all, I am only taking photographs for fun, LOL.

We spent a little time touring the local shoppong centres ( for my wife!) and bought a load of bargains in the nearby Banbury town centre. It seemed as if everywhere was having sales with massive reductions, something I guess is attributable to the economic situation. Although, other shopping centres in the Cotswolds seemed to be doing much better with the tourist trade, which seemed to be doing quite well.

I took a few photographs but this one of a music shop window is one that I liked, because of the colours and I have to say the subject matter. The widow display seemed to me to have been well composed, no pun intended. I have actually used the photo in an article that I have posted on Squidoo, "How To Write Memorable Song Lyrics"

Thanks for getting this far and allowing me to get this off my chest, back with more "fun" images soon.

If you feel like visiting the cotswolds ( a favourite haunt of mine) then you might like to consider a tourist guide book such as this from Amazon.