Thursday: Chatsworth
Aug. 13th, 2009 09:55 pmToday's themes, as we wandered around the park and gardens at Chatsworth, were butterflies, dramatic reflections in glass-smooth water, fungi, and weird modern sculpture.
The ancient limes south of the Canal Pond, under which Dr. Johnson is said to have walked, are no more; they were obviously in trouble last year, cordoned off for being unsafe, and now they're gone. The resident sculptures -- an ever-growing collection, given the current duke's interests -- have been reshuffled again, and the annual Sotheby's exhibition is in the process of being set up, with some of the sculptures waiting to be set up in the private bit of the gardens between the Canal Pond and the house. The dahlias by the maze were in fine fettle, and there were some lovely hollyhocks and gladioli -- including purple ones -- in the kitchen gardens, as well as lots of ripening fruit and squash vines with rumpled orange flowers and fruit in all stages of development from golfball-sized to football-sized.
The weather was just about ideal --- dry, bright enough to be cheerful and photogenic, but with interesting clouds to reflect in the lakes and not too sunny to be comfortable walking about. The butterflies were out in force -- peacocks and large whites mostly, and one painted lady.
The ancient limes south of the Canal Pond, under which Dr. Johnson is said to have walked, are no more; they were obviously in trouble last year, cordoned off for being unsafe, and now they're gone. The resident sculptures -- an ever-growing collection, given the current duke's interests -- have been reshuffled again, and the annual Sotheby's exhibition is in the process of being set up, with some of the sculptures waiting to be set up in the private bit of the gardens between the Canal Pond and the house. The dahlias by the maze were in fine fettle, and there were some lovely hollyhocks and gladioli -- including purple ones -- in the kitchen gardens, as well as lots of ripening fruit and squash vines with rumpled orange flowers and fruit in all stages of development from golfball-sized to football-sized.
The weather was just about ideal --- dry, bright enough to be cheerful and photogenic, but with interesting clouds to reflect in the lakes and not too sunny to be comfortable walking about. The butterflies were out in force -- peacocks and large whites mostly, and one painted lady.
