With having recently moved and with the weather being pretty awful, it's tempting just to keep working - organising, planning, chores. I know that's a bad idea; I need to take breaks and keep a life balance. So when there was a day recently that promised to be dry, I treated myself to a trip out to my happy place, RHS Harlow Carr Gardens in Harrogate. It did stay dry but, boy, was it cold! I was wearing hat, gloves, boots and as many layers as I do in mid-winter, and I still felt a bit chilly.
Visually though, spring is here and the gardens are a heaven of spring-flowering bulbs and blossom, with rhododendrons beginning to bloom too. Those Grecian-looking columns (above) came from the Cheltenham Rooms, a building in the town that was demolished around 1940. The pediment and columns of its portico were put in storage and eventually donated, in the 1960s, to Harlow Carr Gardens to use as a 'feature'. I had to wait a while for a tiny child, who approached the stone lion as if it were a real one and tentatively stroked it. Sweet, but I decided against making a photo of him.
I took a flask of coffee to avoid the usual queueing at Betty's coffee booth. I sat on a bench, surveyed the scene and relaxed. There was no relaxation for the gardener giving the lawns their first cut of the season. He had to empty the mower's grassbag after every single strip!
The slopes around the Bath House are covered with spring bulbs, though I found it difficult to capture the wonderful tapestry-like effect of the varied colours in a photo.
At the other end of the gardens. the revitalised lake reflected a sky that looks bluer in the picture than it mostly was!
Everyone needs a happy place, Jenny, and glad you were able to make the time to return to this one of yours. hard to believe that winter gear was needed when looking at all those beautiful blooms. Also, thank you for the recent visit to my blog and comment, much appreciated.
ReplyDeleteBefore I forget, I believe you once told me that you use Fuji digital camera, but forgot which model. I recently bought an older Fuji X-3e and will be trying it out for the first time this weekend. It has the 18-55mm kit lens. In future, I may get 1 or 2 other lenses, any recommendations?
I use a Fuji XT-2. The only lens I have is an 18-135mm, which is good enough but not one of their best lenses. I find its short telephoto facility is useful though. A friend has a XF16-55mm F2.8 R LM WR and it is excellent - and expensive! I don't know if it would fit your camera or not.
DeleteThanks for the reply and for sharing your camera and lens models. The 18-55 lens is an adequate lens, but certainly not a distance telephone, but then the weight would be an unwelcome factor. i have heard about the 16-55mm Fuji lens you mentioned and is costly, so will not be on my wish list. I just bought a 3rd party 28mm lens which has received decent ratings for its cost vs the Fuji 28mm which costs $400.
DeleteLooks like a lovely place to enjoy spring.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely spot that is. I would not want to be that gardener.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful happy place. And what a good idea to take a break from chores!
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