Kew Gardens 17th Smile – Japanese Festival

As the seasons change – Kew Garden does too. We went to the Japanese Festival in Kew.

Japanese Gateway

God's beauty never ends.
We just need to take time to open our eyes to see it,
to feel it and to experience all it can be. 

Laura D Field

In the Temperate house we saw Art work

‘A thousand Springs’ from Chiharu Shiota.

5000 Haikus – in Japanese – referencing nature – suspended on red threads

while listening to beautiful music by a Japanese composer.

5000 Haiku suspended in a web of red threads

The Chalk Garden was a mixture of chalky English limestone and beautiful Japanese planting.

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We saw colours with Bonsai Trees

I’ll leave you with a Japanese proverb

One who smiles 
rather than rages 
is always stronger.

Wishing everyone a great weekend !

Kew Gardens 16th Smile – shapes

Another trip to Kew Gardens – this time I found lovely different shapes in the plants. We walked through the rainforest, grasses and admired another beautiful open waterlily.

Never lose an opportunity
of seeing something beautiful,
for beauty is God's handwriting.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

God was very creative making wonderful shapes for us to admire.

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  Aloe – spiral

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  soft long thin grass in the wind

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  long – titan arum

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  just amazing….

We saw a fruit in different stages

God gave us eyes
to see the beauty of nature
and hearts 
to see the beauty in each other.

Kew Gardens 15th Smile

This time in Kew Gardens I admired the flowers and learnt some Photography tips from my Photographer friend I went with.

I learnt to focus on the flower with a blurry background. This was even possible with my Mobile phone camera and I was so happy that this worked well.

Please click on the individual picture to enlarge it. I’m proud how the pictures came out.

This little fellow fell on my trousers while we had lunch under an Oak tree.

He was not even 1 cm long.

We passed a fascinating tree, a Maritime Pine which did not grow straight. The bark was smoother on one side and really rugged on the other.

Maritime Pine not growing straight, and view up

We stayed so long we nearly needed a lantern home….

A sweet friendship refreshes the soul. Proverbs 27:9

Outing in nature – part four – Rye

Our next stop was Rye a small English town by the coast in East Sussex. In the centre, cobbled lanes like Mermaid Street are lined with medieval, half-timbered houses. Mermaid Street is most famous where the Mermaid Inn is located which was used by smugglers. The historic houses date back from 15th century – many are 500 and 600 years old. You find also a Castle and the Ypres Tower.

Ypres Tower

Castle

Many of the old houses in the centre have lovely names above the door:

The house with two doors

The house with the seat

The house oppsite

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  The house opposite

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  Mermaid Street

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  The Mermaid Inn, rebuilt 1420

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  The house with two front doors

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Every house is made up beautifully with flowers in the front. I can imagine they are rather quirky inside.

Outer beauty is what the eyes can see,
inner beauty can only be seen through the heart.
~ Cagla Bicer ~ 

Outing in nature – part three – Bateman’s House

We went along to Bateman's, which was Rudyard Kipling's house for 34 years and were he died in 1936. It is a 17th century house, beautiful with vast land around as Rudyard Kipling bought more land during his time there.

Rudyard Kipling's most famous fiction is the Jungle book.

Rudyard Kipling was the most famous author in England,and was earning £5,000 per year; the cost of Bateman's, £9,300, was thus entirely affordable. ( A secretary earned around £80 a year). 
He wrote many stories in this house, his American wife made sure he would not be disturbed uncessessay. 

Bateman’s built 1634

Garden

Outer beauty is what the eyes can see,
inner beauty can only be seen through the heart.
~ Cagla Bicer ~ 

His rather large blue Rolls Royce from the 1920’s was displayed in the garage. He loved that car. It was behind glass and the picture did not come out.

Outings in nature – Part two – Scotney Castle

Next we went to see Scotney Castle with its vast garden and old Castle.

The old Castle is very picturesque, featuring the ruins of a medieval moated manor house – it is on an island on a small lake. The lake is surrounded by sloping gardens with a wonderful collection of Rhodoendrons, Azaleas, Wisterias and Roses.

I have never seen so many blooming Rhododendrons together, it was the perfect time to visit.

There is nothing quite like the pleasure you get from plants and flowers,
they certainly cheer you up.
~Charmain Hussey~

Outings in nature – Part one – Sissinghurst

With the weather so beautiful,

we went to some outings with gardens.

Let me take you with me to enjoy.

First we visited

Sissinghurst Castle in Kent with its garden.

What a beautiful sight it was, in glorious sunshine when

everything was in full bloom.

Beautiful White Wisteria

I smile like a flower
not only with my lips
but with my whole being.
~Rumi~

It is getting warmer

After a cold May with rain, hail, storms and the odd ray of sunshine

the weather realises that is is nearly June and needs to be warmer.

For the last 2 days it has been warmer and

flowers, bushes all really start to bloom.

I love it.

Lilac is in full bloom and smelling amazing.

These are my amazing finds during a walk in a park.

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Can you smell that amazing Lilac?

The earth laughs in flowers

to quote Ralph Waldo Emerson

Kew Garden at home

Kew Gardens is closed.

So I look around and

look:

I found my own ‘Kew’ Gardens right here:

When you enter you find beautiful colours and shapes:

Following through there is the palm garden with

3 different palm ‘trees’

Continuing the path you see different greens

Then we come to the Bonsai Trees Section, there is a Chestnut and a Maw Bonsai in the making.

chestnut

Maw

And finally to the Alpine house, where we find this:

I hope you enjoyed the tour through Ute’s Kew.

 

Wishing you a blessed Easter weekend!

Keep the distance and stay healthy!

All pictures taken by me in my garden.

Click on the individual pictures to enlarge.

Beautiful Sunrises

Dramatic colours on my way to work in the sky

with these amazing sunrises.

Another day more like fire

It is great to start the day with natures’s beauty.