Oh, the joys of a sunny week of school holidays!

As you can probably imagine, not much of note actually got achieved over the last week or so - other than the usual school holiday fine weather stuff - playing tennis and cricket in the garden (mostly umpiring emotional and dramatic falling outs: "Its not fair! He hits it too hard at me!", etc), the odd picnic, visiting friends similarly encumbered, all whilst desperately trying (and failing) and then giving up completely, at keeping the house clean, tidy and the ironing pile from toppling over and crushing innocent passers by...

So I will spare the further details.

Instead I have a nice selection of photos taken on our family picnic day trip to Stourhead, a National Trust property about an hour's drive from us into neighbouring Wiltshire.  It was ridiculously hot for April, and after a suitably sized picnic we just about managed to drag ourselves on the walk around the lake and gardens, but sadly no chance of a route march through the much more extensive estate that also belongs to this property - small person revolution would have occurred!

Small person demonstrating the astounding girth of the sweet chestnut trees lining the carriage drive leading up to the 'big house'.  

Such pretty views across the enormous lakes were to be glimpsed from every where along our walk.  The trees seem late into leaf here too, as well as at home.

I made the Engineer take several close ups and wider angle shots of this lovely shrub - I think it is a Corylus? But the amazing thing was the scent - incredibly strongly scented of lemons as you walked by.  I want one!

Daisy chain fun had by all

The 'classic' view up the lake toward the bridge, taken from inside the grotto

The windows of the Gothic Cottage

A rare shot of me! Totally unawares of this unauthorised camera activity, reading the info sheet about the history of this former cottage-turned-folly

Lots of fun always to be had clambering about amid the undersides of the rhodos

The gem of the old walled productive garden - a pallet tower 'Bug Hotel'. So beautiful and so transferable to the equally higgeldy piggeldy garden environment of Windy Acre...

Hopefully, as the first back to school week rolls on and I manage to catch up with all my chores abandoned to the chaos of holidays, I will soon get back to 'normal' diary service! x