I've been pretty horrible about some places and justifiably so !
I've named most of them and removed all references to ISLAY and replaced it's name with a '?' after a certain 'negativeness' turned up on the comments and I thought it unfair that ISLAY should be treated so unkindly !
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| CRAGSIDE HOUSE IN EARLY AUTUMN SPLENDOUR |
Whoops, there I go mentioning ISLAY, I mean '?' again !
But Cragside in Rothbury, Northumberland is magnificent, especially in autumn, which is where we went a few weeks ago.
Gemma and her friend Emily and their monstrous children had gone ahead and we'd said that we would meet them them 'later' , which to us meant just before closing time !
So you can imagine the utter horror of parking the car at midday and walking into the beautiful formal gardens only to be instantantly ambushed by your foul small grandchild and his mate who both whooped with delight when they saw the best playmate in the world arrive unexpectedly !
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| OH FOR GOODNESS SAKE SHIRLEY ! I THOUGHT WE WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO MEET THEM 'TIL LATER ! |
Anyway, we never got a chance to visit the house and it's stunning art collection as I was busy playing hide and seek in the fifty acre forest !
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| DANIEL WHO IS MINE AND NATHANIEL WHO THINKS HE'S MINE AND WHO I LOVE AS MUCH AS ANY GRANDCHILD PLANNING A CAMPAIGN OF DESTRUCTION ! |
Unfortunately I didn't manage to lose either of the two horrors and we had to bring them home again !
Here are some of the photos which should make you want to go and see the estate for yourselves .
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| YOU HAVE TO LOOK UP SOMETIMES BUT HOLD ON TO AN OLD CODGER FIRST OR YOU'LL FALL OVER ! |
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| AUTUMN POPPIES |
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| ONLY TWO HUNDRED YEARS OLD AND ALREADY TWENTY MINUTES OUT ! |
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| PERFECT DAHLIAS IN THE FORMAL GARDEN ! |
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| JUST BRING A BOOK ! |
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| AN ABUNDANCE OF RICHES ! |
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| OF COURSE BLUE SKIES HELP ! |
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| ORANGES, LEMONS, FIGS, APPLES AND PEARS, ALL GROW IN PROFUSION IN THIS GLASS PALACE ! |
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So if you have never been, go, because the whole experience is wonderful !
And now on November the 17th on a bright late autumn afternoon we have been back and I captured these following stunning shots ! It's the camera and not really me, though of course a creative eye does help ! It's a £90= Olympus with 16MPS and 12.5 zoom from Jessops.
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| TAKEN FROM THE SURFACE OF THE TOP LAKE RETAINING WALL. |
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| BLINDED BY THE LOW SUN I JUST POINTED AND SHOT AND WOW! |
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| HOW BEAUTIFUL IS THAT ? WET AND COVERED IN FINE WEBS ! |
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| THERE'S GOING TO BE A LOT OF PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD BOOKING TRIPS SO THEY CAN GET TO CRAGSIDE AFTER SEEING THESE PHOTOS ! |
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| AN AMAZING BRACKET FUNGUS ! I JUST POINT THE CAMERA ! NATURE DOES THE REST ! |
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| BLINDED BY THE SUN CAUGHT IN A STREAM ! |
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| WHERE A STREAM GUSHES INTO THE FLUME ! |
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| STUNNING ? I SHOULD SAY SO ! |
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| A SUNLIT MOUNTAIN ASH REFLECTED IN A MUDDY OLD PUDDLE ! |
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| STOP IT ! I CAN'T TAKE ANY MORE ! |
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| NO-ONE'S TOLD THIS RHODODENDRON THAT IT'S NEARLY CHRISTMAS AND THAT IT'S NOT THE TIME FOR IT TO BLOOM ! |
Thanks to Lord Armstrong and his gardeners for having the vision to plant this wonderful place two hundred odd years ago !
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