A few days away.......

Hello. I am not buried under debris here or books or paint. I went away for 2 days and you will be delighted to know, I did almost nothing. Glynis and I reclined on couches and chatted. If the rain had stopped for a while, I am sure we would have done more pottering about the lake, but the rain.....

We will not talk about the weather. It makes me want to screech. 

Glynis and Peter have a time-share cottage (A-frame/log cabin) about an hour from here, and because Peter had work to do, they asked if I would mind staying with Glynis for the last 2 days and nights. So I "reluctantly" abandoned the paintbrush, and headed north. I say reluctantly, because if I had stayed in this house one second longer, the mess would have made me start painting and sorting again, and the OCD-ness would have gotten totally out of hand. Heaven knows I needed to stop. And Heaven provided a break. 

I LOVED this tunnel - it is an orchard. All different fruit trees trained to grow in an arch. I want one. I would need a larger garden though. All the fruit within reach. Sigh. 

So I threw some vital essentials into a couple of bags, and, after returning home 4 times because I had forgotten things, I picked Glynis up and off we went. The rain stayed away for the afternoon - this was Thursday, so we decided to go and see Barnsdale Gardens, which were established by Geoff Hamilton of Gardener's World fame. What a gorgeous place, with 39 little gardens to see and wander through. Just wonderful. There was tea (I drank more tea, believe it or not) and cake involved too. 

Glynis under the gunnera leaves. They are huge! You could easily pop  a child on top of one. HUGE. 

This duck came to observe us on the patio before the rain started again, back at the cottage.....

The view of Rutland Water from the cabin/cottage/large dwelling place....

Yesterday was supposed to be clear in the morning. It was not. But, nothing daunted, we set off around Rutland Water in the pouring rain. 

We are intrepid. We made an odd pair - me hobbling with the stick and Glynis still not healed properly from her op, but doing well. Rain was not going to stop us. 

I did tell you it was raining, didn't I?? I was wet. 

Normanton church in the water. I haven't read all the story about this yet. I will. Glynis said the water is never usually this high around it. 

We stopped at all the waterside parking areas, and walked in the rain to see the church in the water at Normanton, and slopped through mud to see a forest, and then went back to the cottage (which, may I add, is larger than either of our homes) and flopped on the couches for the rest of the day. Well, apart from the trip up to the bar restaurant for a light supper. Then there was more flopping, and finally a lovely bath in a HUGE (avocado) bath. Perfect. Not the avocado, the bath. 

Note the muddy puddles. The forest reminded me of Switzerland. Only they never have muddy puddles.

All along the path, there were these signs - all saying different things, like, how many squirrels can you find?

In Hambleton, the cottages were just SO English and gorgeous!

Glynis was taking photos out of the window - the rain, you see.....

So there you are, you can see where I have been and what I have been doing. Getting wet. Lusting after gardens and plants. I have to get a Mock Orange. I wonder where I could put one - space is at a premium at the moment. 

I am home. Amidst the chaos once again. Home and chaos seem synonymous at the moment. I will not start painting until I have a good few days to get it done. It will need a few coats and one can only keep gloss rollers in cling-wrap for so long. It needs a couple of free days to do it, and that is not until the middle of next week, perhaps. Sigh. Oh well. I can sit here in my organised new study and ignore the rest and practice deep breathing, of course. Maybe the rain will stay away for the rest of the afternoon. I do believe there is a faint shadow falling on the keyboard...could it be the sun??????