Tropical

We spent the afternoon at Berkeley Castle's tropical butterfly farm, a special place that we recently re-discovered when we joined the Historic Houses Association. It's normally a somewhat quiet space, because the castle is the main attraction.

Today, however, was different. I'd forgotten that it was Father's day, and the perfect day for a whole-family outing. Because it was so hot in the tropical house, I figured that the best approach was to find a bench and sit on it, waiting for the butterflies to come to me, rather than chasing them and overheating in the process. I would have liked to build a little hide and dress myself in leaves, but hey.....

Eventually a blue butterfly arrived and sat on my shoulder for several minutes. Other people took photos of it. I think I had to move around to get this shot of what might be a tropical kind of lacewing, but I was by then well rested.Sneaking up on butterflies is fun, but not when several other photographers are also angling themselves for a similar shot!

CleanSteve wasn't finished yet, so I took myself off to the rose walk in the castle grounds, and then, preferring a quiet life, went over to the gardens of the Dr Jenner museum. Dr Edward Jenner, who lived in Berkeley, pioneered vaccination techniques against smallpox, which was then a killer disease. I've visited his museum before, and will try to put in a link. The garden is a calm place, and I stayed there until CleanSteve turned up, whereupon we retired to the car and then to share our flask of coffee and box of macarons on a picnic bench in the castle grounds. The castle is privately owned, and when we first visited with TMLHereandThere in 2002, there were strict notices forbidding picnicking. Happily, times have changed, though I must warn would-be visitors that the opening hours are somewhat peculiar, and nothing is open on Saturdays.

However, this is not tripadvisor! It only remains to announce (with pride) that when we got home, I got out my sewing machine for the first time in years. After the obligatory amount of swearing, and three attempts at joining the top and bottom bobins, I got the hang of it, and made a little organza curtain, before going on to mend some duvet covers that I'd been attempting to get round to for months.

Thank you for reading. You deserve a medal if you've got this far.