chilling out

Had a tranquil day yesterday. My lurgy is finally on the wane and we have some lovely gardens just down the road from us. It's an old estate with a large lake. There was once a House. As in the kind of House you bequeath to the National Trust once the Family Money has been squandered and you can't afford to pay the gardener anymore. That has long since crumbled but the estate and the gardens have been restored.

I've had mixed feelings about this place. When they first began restoring the estate, it was great. You had to pay for the formal gardens, but walking round the lake was free. And there were a few shops in high class wooden huts selling over priced candles and assorted tat that pensioners visited on coach trips.

Then they built more and more wooden huts and merged the lake with the gardens so you had to pay for walking round it and installed a 'Frankie and Benny's' and a travel lodge. And lots more wooden huts selling things you don't need. There was a protest walk just before they atarted charging for walking round the lake, which I attended. And I hadn't been to the gardens for ages, because you have to pay for them. And having been on the protest, it felt a bit hypocritical to do so.

This year, though, I've treated myself to an annual season ticket, with some of my birthday money, and it is a truly lovely place to go. So I went for a wander yesterday. It's a real oasis. Here are some piccies: