Cardigan off!

A perfect bank holiday no?  Blue skies, warm sun, barely a hint of a breeze.  We went to Bowood for a picnic and a gallop round.  There were brimstone butterflies (yellow), pheasants, great crested grebes and a red kite circling overhead, riding the thermals.  I left my coat at home, and by the afternoon I was down to a t-shirt.  First time this year.

A tradition of me racing the boys across the lawn has somehow arisen.  I think I need to start training for it.  We only visit Bowood once every couple of years or so, so I have a while.  You can just about see me sprinting along there.  I likened myself to a cheetah, only able to run at top speed for a few moments.  Someone said something about a hippo.  The photos of me were taken by the littlest boy, who was thrilled to get his hands on the camera while I was running.

I hope you'll forgive all the magnolia photos at the end.  They're pretty much my favourite spring flowers.  The scent was phenomenal, the flowers were breathtaking.  Love, love, love them.  The white one is M. Merill and the deeper pink one and the bud are M. Star Wars.  Not sure about the pale pink one.  They were numbered, so I had to ask a lady with a brochure.  She was a magnolia fan too, I could tell.  We stood immersed in the trees, with our heads in the blooms, soaking up the scent and the light.

I hope the day was good with you too.  The kind of good where you bank the memories against a future rainy day.  Blissful.