Abbey Gardens - Winchester

Sunday 4th August 2013

In conjunction with a bit of shopping we had a walk around Winchester this morning and we managed to find some little nooks and crannies that we haven't come across before.  We walked through Abbey Gardens (we usually walk further up The Broadway and along the River Itchen) which had lovely colourful flower beds together with some funky topiary.  Even at 10.30 in the morning there were plenty of people taking photos of the gardens and there seemed to be a large party of tourists on a guided walk. 

Abbey Gardens

Abbey Gardens

Abbey Gardens (with that washed out sky again!  -  the sky was blue as you can see in the reflection on the river)

This spot was a bit further  along the footpath towards the Cathedral, it was like a secret little garden, a very tranquil and pretty place.  There was no information on it, so I have nothing to share about it but it was a nice surprise to come across before joining the crowds again.

Southampton Attractions and Go Rhinos (part 2)

Thursday 1st August 2013

We walked another part of the Go Rhinos trail in Southampton City Centre this morning.  It was a beautiful hot morning, just right for hunting rhinos!!  It was fairly busy around the trail now that the schools have broken up for the summer holidays but we managed to photograph most of the rhinos without other people in them.  

We realised today that we don't appreciate the lovely parks in the city centre, they are very pleasant, well kept and peaceful so we have decided to come back another day and have a really good look round.  I haven't really been through the parks for years, probably not since I was at the Technical College (as it was then), which was some time ago now!  There are some lovely new areas in the parks, and I think they are well worth a visit.

We passed lots of places of interest on our walk, most of which can be seen in the following photos.

Above Bar/Ogle Road  - this rhino is covered in penguins.

Palmerston Park Bandstand.

East Park

East Park Mosaic Garden

Entrance to East Park opposite the Cenotaph.

In Watts Park, there was work going on to touch up this rhinos paintwork.   I can't believe that vandals have attacked quite a few of the rhinos, I just don't understand some people.

Watts Park

The junction of Commercial Road and Above Bar Street.

Guildhall Square - this rhino has images from plays and musicals painted on it that have been at the Mayflower Theatre over the years.

Outside of the Art Gallery.

At the SeaCity Museum.

And lastly my absolute favourite of the day, this is Glint, who is covered in tiny mosiac mirrors, standing in front of the Guildhall, fab.

To the Pub and a Roe Deer

Monday 29th July 2013

Today brought a surprise that's for sure.  On the spur of the moment my daughter and I decided to walk to the pub for this afternoon's walk - a walk's a walk after all!  It's a mile to the pub from home and after a quick drink we wandered back.  Not far from home is a cut way that we use to get back to our estate, well just opposite this cut way I happened to notice a deer - a roe deer - he or she saw us too so we stood looking at one another across the main road.  It looked at us, decided we were far enough away not to worry about and carried on munching at the hedgerow.  It kept an eye on us but appeared not to care about the traffic going by.  At this point we decided to leave it to it in case we frightened it into the road.  We wanted to take a photo but because we were close to home I didn't bother taking the camera as I didn't think we'd see anything - typical!!  (and it would have been a blob on the horizon if I had taken it with my phone).  You just never know do you?

Stuck in the Mud

Sunday 28th July 2013

I posted a photo in a recent blog of how the ground had dried up considerably since the wet winter and spring.  Well, today I know it has dried up for sure and that it was obviously very wet at one time, how do I know this ................

............. because we came across an abandoned wellie well stuck in the dried up mud, oh how it made us laugh (not so sure the owner of the wellie will have found it so funny) !!!!!!

We had a quick walk at Stoney Cross in the Forest again today and didn't come across any particularly wet ground.

The sky once again looks washed out but in fact it was blue with little white clouds in between. Just after taking this photo we saw a couple of deer mooching around not far from us, apart from that there wasn't much else to report.

Longparish - East of Andover

Friday 26th July 2013

We decided to attempt a circuit of seventeen geocaches at Longparish near Andover today. The walk was just over three and a half miles so with seventeen caches to do we were obviously stopping every few minutes!  It was a really well thought out circuit with very pleasant views and we didn't meet any other people at all.  Todays notes need to include that we saw a hare on the footpath not far away from us, we saw a field of freshly shorn alpacas (and don't they look funny all skinny and bare!) and there were lots of bees on the wild flowers at one point which was good to see.  All along the paths there were masses of butterflies too, and every time I tried to get a photo of one, despite being stealthy, they either closed  their wings or flew away - do I smell or something?

This is a plant we in our family have always called the ball bush, I have no idea what it's really called, but it's covered in lots of sticky little balls that end up stuck to everything if you happen to rub against them  - our cat sometimes used to come in with them stuck to him too - simple things and all that!!!!

View across the fields - looking rather yellow now.

A thatched barn in need of a new roof!

Freshly shorn alpaca (shame it turned away!)

After that very wet winter, it's definitely drying up now.

Sloes coming on nicely.

One of the more unusual cache containers today - a plastic crow well hidden in a tree.

At this very nice spot on the River Test, having completed the circuit with very hot feet, I paddled in the cool clear water - absolute bliss!

This swan was having a fab time splashing, wing flapping and rolling in the river having a proper clean and preen.

As a final note, we found all seventeen of the caches successfully and thoroughly enjoyed the circuit, especially with some more unusual containers which made a change.

Hiltingbury Lakes - Again!

Monday 22nd July 2013

In order to get some steps in today we had a walk at Hiltingbury Lakes - again.  The last time we visited the lake there were several families of ducks with very young ducklings, today there were plenty of young ducks still evident.  Most of the ducks were dozing happily on the various islands around the edge of the lake but they soon perked up and got moving at the first sign of food!  Even the fish splashed and flipped around nibbling at bits of food.  It was far too hot to sit in the sun again and very hot in the shade.

The sky looks totally washed out but it was actually very blue!

This was on the opposite side of the lake from the last photo.

Romsey - Flowers

Sunday 21st February 2013

We had a walk around Romsey this morning and what particularly struck me today was the abundance of hanging baskets and planters.  I don't like to photograph other people's homes, so I was a bit limited as to what I could take, but here are a few;

The Abbey Hotel

The River Test

We walked alongside the River Test for a while, and whilst this heatwave has only lasted for about the last two and a bit weeks, the grass and verges are beginning to look very dry and brown, something we haven't seen for a long time.  We also passed Romsey Abbey, where the side doors as well as the main doors were open with a service in progress and the congregation singing, it was quite atmospheric on an early Sunday morning.