Monday 25th was forecast to be sunny and a gentle breeze, so we headed out to enjoy the sun. Emmetts Garden, Sundridge, Kent - a National Trust property -was our first port of call.
This turned out to be a delightful garden, with a woodland walk available as well. It is not the largest place, but really nicely kept and presented by the NT.
After leaving the ticket office, we set off on an uphill walk bordered by Daffodils. reaching the top of the slope, the path levelled off and soon we reached the entrance to the Rock Garden. This was a very well presented garden. Next we entered the Rose Garden, which will be a riot of colour and scent once the roses bloom, and which looked to be a nice area to sit and relax.
A further short walk took us to the Stables Cafe, where we chose from a nice looking selection of cakes and scones plus our coffee.
Refreshed and, having studied the map further, we went for a walk around the South Garden, followed by the North Garden. We skipped the woodland walk this time,as the breeze was quite keen and making my wife feel cold.
The North Garden had a colourful trio of Magnolia in bloom, while the South one includes bushes and trees from a wide variety of origins.
The Bluebells will soon be out on the large banks that run alongside the start of the woodland walk, so we may well return around the right time for those.
With plenty of time available and pleasant weather, we chose to drive to Sheffield Park & Gardens, another NT property and one we enjoy walking around.
It would be fair to say that this place really comes alive in a few weeks time when the Rhododendrons are in full bloom, so we weren't visiting at the best time overall.
A very pleasant stroll around, was punctuated by taking a seat on one of the many benches - choosing to sit in the warm sun and just take a break for a while. I am not great at just sitting, I get restless and particularly so when I have camera in hand on a sunny day. I thought I would try a few floral close-ups, with Primroses and a few Daffs close by. Looking at the location of the flowers, I chose to place camera at ground level and frame the pics by using the 'live view' on the back screen. The results were pleasing, with the Macro settings used so I could isolate the subjects.
Continuing our walk, we came to a bridge that passes between two lakes and looked up the one to our right. At the far end,on the grass banks in front of the house was a wonderful carpet of yellow as their new for this season Daffodils created a welcome splash of colour. Seeing this, I knew I wanted to capture the splendour of the scene in front of me, but from closer to the Daffs.
The end result was again very pleasing, especially once my wife had pointed out a position that allowed me to frame the scene with a couple of trees.
Thereafter,it was time to head home to cook dinner and to download the shots I had taken during the day. They weren't very many this time, but It turned out I had a few very pleasing ones - the success or otherwise of a days' shooting is gauged by how many of the shots I am happy with, so another good day.