We were blessed with a pleasant day's weather for our trip to Tatton Park. Nick rode with Graham in the sports car while us womenfolk went in the hire car. Being a term-time weekday it was lovely and quiet at the country house, and the adventure playground (first port of call, naturally) was practically deserted. Last year when we went there, Emily had just sustained her wrist sprain and been unable to give it a go, so she made up for it this time. She tried out pretty much every piece of equipment before we carried on to the cafe for lunch. I felt a bit sorry to see one little girl attended by five adults and a pang came over me about being unable to provide her with a sibling - such sentiments are less frequent these days but none the less poignant when they surface.
Unlike the previous visit we were able to eat our delicious lunch in the courtyard without being plagued by wasps; Emily managed to tip over the chair she was standing on and yelled long and hard when she sustained a bump. With calm eventually restored, we continued straight on into the gardens. I think Emily was a bit disappointed at first as she clearly recalled eating big juicy raspberries from the canes last time and also seeing huge pumpkins and melons, but at least the scarecrows were still in the vegetable garden - she liked the ghostly one best. We moved on through the rose garden and past the clipped yew hedging. On the broad walk we discovered a very macabre scarecrow dressed like a tree surgeon and suspended from a large beech tree like one newly-hanged. Luckily Emily was not frightened by it but it was rather curious.
We strolled around the small lake past rhododendron bushes already bedecked with luxuriant flowers
and on to the Japanese garden, which made me a little homesick for some of my favourite Tokyo haunts. There were fine views from the end of the garden over the grassland and lake, with a large herd of deer grazing peacefully. Emily was flagging a bit and we stopped at the African bush hut for a snack.
The others went on ahead and we followed, but diverted to the maze on the way, since Emily really likes them. It took somewhat longer than I'd expected to complete, by which time Nick had gone in search of us, so he was a bit miffed with me for going off unplanned. After running the gauntlet of the gift shop's temptations more or less unscathed we went home.
No comments:
Post a Comment