If you hadn't guessed my blog was operating on automatic last week as we spent a lovely week in Suffolk. Any rain fell at the end of the day or overnight and we didn't even need coats when out and about. What's more we also ate outdoors a few times! I don't know how we have managed it this year but each time we have ventured away we have had good weather. I wonder if this will last when we make our planned visit to North Yorkshire next month? Somehow I doubt it.
We stayed in a cottage near a village called Thorpe Morieux.
During the week I took just over 600 photos which I'm going to share here! Only kidding I have restrained myself and chosen just one photo from each place we visited.
Firstly Ickworth where the main feature that impressed me was the collection of fantastic trees. Having a dog with us we didn't go into the house - we're really happier outdoors anyway. When walking along one of the trails we came across a picturesque round house - a bit of a fairytale image.
We visited Flatford which makes the most of it's John Constable connection. It is another very picturesque setting. You can easily appreciate why Constable was inspired to paint here. In hindsight we would avoid a weekend for any future visit to Flatford as the canoes cluttering up the river spoiled the effect. To take a photo I had to quickly snap in between canoes floating past. Martyn has another photo of Flatford on his blog here.
On the same day we visited Kersey
and Lavenham
We went to Sutton Hoo which is the site of a medieval burial ground.
I know the photo isn't very inspiring but it is difficult to make a lump of earth look interesting!
For something completely different we visited the Suffolk Owl Sanctuary. It's name is deceptive as it has many birds of prey other than owls. I took about 200 photos here which I've whittled down to 134 that I'm fairly satisfied with. For some reason they also had a family of meerkats. With all the screeching birds of prey close by, it was no wonder the meerkats were permanently on red alert!
Even though the Owl Sanctuary had more birds the flying display wasn't as good as the one we recently watched in Settle. Although here there was the added bonus of us both taking a turn at flying a barn owl.
Finally if you are ever in the area you just must visit Gooderstone Water Gardens. We picked up a leaflet for this attraction at the Owl Santuary and were glad we did - it was beautiful. I took loads more photos here.
Finally if you are ever in the area you just must visit Gooderstone Water Gardens. We picked up a leaflet for this attraction at the Owl Santuary and were glad we did - it was beautiful. I took loads more photos here.
Our dog was also welcome. The statement "Dogs on leads with well-behaved owners welcome" made me smile. We are restricted from visiting lots of gardens with a dog. I can't understand why a beautiful garden such as this welcomes dogs whereas second rate gardens often don't!
There's also a nature trail and bird hide attached to the water garden - the nature trail was a bit too muddy to explore but we sat in the hide for a while and were rewarded by snatched glimpses of a kingfisher. Unfortunately there was no chance of a photo nor to catch the flash of turquoise and orange on video. Maybe another time!
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It sounds like you had a lovely week away and you certainly visited plenty of places. Your photos are great and it's nice to be able to share your experience a little. Maybe in the horrible winter months to come you'll think of sharing a few more!!
ReplyDeleteP.S. How do you mange to get blogger to publish your posts whilst you're away??
You can schedule posts Tanya. Write the post as usual and then down the right hand side of the post window under Post Settings in orange writing click on Schedule.(If there isn't a list under settings click on the orange arrow to open the list). Click in the radio button next to set date and time so that a calendar opens. Set the time and date that you want the post to appear and click the done button.
DeleteThen back at the top of your post click Publish. On your post list the post will be shown as scheduled. When I first used this I didn't realise that you had to Publish and so it didn't work.
Thanks for that...I don't think I would have hit the publish button if you hadn't told me as I would expect it to publish straight away. I will have to remember this for future reference so thanks.
DeleteIt only just dawned on me what your post title meant...duh!!
At first I didn't use the Publish button as I expected that would send the post straight away. Then I wondered what I was doing wrong. Blogger aren't very good at explaining what you can do are they?
DeleteLovely, scenic photos. Sounds and looks like you had a great time. That little round house is my favourite.
ReplyDeleteWe did Kelli. The little round house was called just that The Roundhouse. It was in a small clearing in the woods away from anywhere else. You could just imagine a story happening there. I don't know whether this will work but this link should take you to a map and I've added a blue marker where the building was!
DeleteI do like your meer cat shot - they are such amazing creatures - I could watch them for hours. Sounds like a lovely break.
ReplyDeleteI felt really sorry for the poor little things, Liz especially during the flying displays. If you like meerkats I've posted all the photos I took of them in a Picasa album which you should be able to browse from this link
DeleteIt's a part of the country which I haven't visited so I enjoyed seeing your photos. We're still getting used to not being allowed in places with a dog, we decide to go somewhere then afterwars remember that we'll be taking Archie, look back at the info and see that dogs aren't allowed. I can understand it with some places but I think that irresponsible dog owners have spoilt it for us responsible types with other places.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, Jo but what is most annoying is that some parents allow their children to run around spoiling things but no-one would dream of banning children on the grounds that some may not be under control. I'd pay extra to be allowed to take in a dog and the money could go towards any provision that needed to be made. Some places actually suggest that you can park your dog outside the restricted area which seems to display a complete ignorance of the potential problem if you do this. Sorry but it's a major bugbear with me - I've even emailed places to ask for reasoning and they can't give me any just say it's because it isn't allowed.
DeleteYour time away looks idyllic and I love the shot of the water gardens - hope you've come back fully refreshed.
ReplyDeleteWe are refreshed Elaine - hope you are too.
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