A fun weekend.

This last weekend has been busy but fun. It all started on Friday with emptying the large boot of our family car. We had meant to do a run to the local recycling centre to get rid of some of the unwanted items we had stored in the attic. Some items came from both my parents and John's parents homes after they died. It isn't really a time to be ruthless and get rid of things, especially items with important memories, so we stored them. You need time to decide what to do with things. In our case this has taken over 10 years. Recently we have been sorting the loft and some items now have pride of place around our home, some have gone to other family members, some to the charity shop and some needed to be recycled. The recycle items had got as far as the boot of the car. Whilst our little sports car was having its yearly service I spotted a used car to replace our family car. It has only done 1800 miles and is two years old with full service record. How could I resist. So back to Friday and emptying the boot of our old car prior to collecting the new one. I had already dealt with change of insurance and parking permit but it still took a while to complete the rest of the paperwork. I had two other appointments on Friday and the rest of the day was catching up on household chores so we could enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Saturday morning was an early start as we were going on a bird watching day and were travelling by coach that was leaving Victoria embankment at 7:30. Never mind, I napped on the coach so caught up on my sleep. The trip was to Sandwich Bay Bird Observatory in Kent.  The last bit of the journey into the car park was a little stressful as the lanes were very narrow and the coach was very large. Once there we were given a demonstration of ringing birds. The observatory is on the migration route and there is a lot of research into the birds on route. The birds they were doing were tiny Chiffchaffs on their journey back to Africa. Many were very young with limited fat and poor quality feathers. They will stay a few days to put on fat before crossing the Channel. After that we headed out onto the site. As we started the walk I looked back and saw this tree with beautiful white leaves (middle of photo) I think it is a White Poplar but forgot to go back later and check the bark.

There were several more in the area.

As we were walking through the reserve there were thistles. 

This lovely bush which I can't remember the name of,

and various fungi along the way.

We lifted all the mammal mats that we saw in the hope of seeing a grass snake or a slow worm. Instead we saw a common lizard and a vole. Overhead there were a lot of raptors including about 8 Buzzards, several Kestrels and a Marsh Harrier. Unfortunately you need a long lens to get good photos. We enjoyed seeing the ducks and geese on the lake. There were a lot of Snipe across the lake but also too far away for a good photo. John and I ate our lunch out in the sun watching the dragonflies and butterflies fluttering by. We then headed down to the shore to see what birds we could spot in this area. This picture is looking across Sandwich Bay.

We didn't see any birds on the water but there were a couple of boats and way out in the distance there is a big windfarm.

By now we needed to head back to the main site as our coach was leaving at 4p.m. We decided to walk along the shore and then follow the public footpath across the golf course. On the way we saw a lot of this yellow flower but I'm not sure what it is.

The path across the golf course was very well sign posted. They obviously didn't want us wandering onto the fairway or being hit on the head with a golf ball.

Back at the main site we had a drink and a snack, had a quick visit to the gift shop and I took some photos . I love the different look and texture of tree bark so this was a must.

 

I was very pleased to get a good photo of the Peacock butterfly.

This display of roof lilies was planted in an old sink

The daisy was pretty

The buddleia still had flowers but no butterflies. 

Not only did this plant have the peacock butterfly it also had lots of bees.

Once our coach driver had managed to wriggle the coach out of the car park we had a good journey back to London and even the underground was working in our favour.

Yesterday we had arrange to go to Compton Verney with Older daughter and family.  Compton Verney houses the Art Gallery of the same name. The house and estate is in the village of the same name in Warwickshire. The house is a Grade 1 listed 18th century mansion and is surrounded by 120 acres of parkland which was landscaped by Lancelot 'Capability' Brown. The journey there was a pleasant drive that gave me lots of time to get used to the new car. I had to get used to all the safety features as well as the button 'handbrake'. The drive was very smooth and the car is great to drive.

Looking across the lake we could see the house.

There are sculptures around the grounds. I like the shape of this piece.

Sheep were grazing peacefully in the field on one side of the drive.

The view looking away from the house as we walked up the drive.

Looking back across the lake.

Our reason for the visit was to see the Louise Bourgeois exhibition. We had planned the trip for last weekend but due to being delayed by a puncture we moved our visit to 6 October, the last day of the exhibition. In the grounds was her Spider which she completed in 1996

There were other exhibitions as well so we started in the Naples gallery. This mirror is made with coral, mother of pearly and copper. 

You can read about it here

The casket is made from the same material about 1700-50. It could have been used to store important documents.

Alongside all the beautiful artifacts and art work they had a children's interactive volcano. They load the bricks into the top of the volcano and then pump the handle until the larva (bricks) tumble down the hillside. Little one decided he wanted to build things instead

This was a very beautiful and delicate nativity scene. I've put the information about it below.

Our visit was to see the Louise Bourgeois exhibition and this was very good. I took a few photos but not many. This first picture explains the next few . I didn't take photos of every page

Moving on I found these spirals. I loved the spirals myself but a child of about 8 was transfixed by them and stood for ages looking at them. 

Having enjoyed our day out the drive home was very unpleasant with rain and a lot of fog in places. At least most drivers slowed their speed to match the conditions. 

This post is so long but I wanted to do the whole lot in one go. Now I've finished writing this I can get on with my nothing but sewing day.

Take care

Lyndsey9