Palm house.

There was a little - gasp! - sun today, so I persuaded #2S to take me to Sefton Park, where I spent lots of time with the kids when they were young, and later the dogs. First stop was the Palm House, which was lucky as it was due to close 15 minutes later, being prepared for a wedding today. Lots of plants inside which I'm now familiar with in outdoor settings: hibiscus, bougainvillea etc, and the ones in the extra which I've never seen before - the flowers are huge and emerge from a long bud which looks like a furled umbrella with just the frilly tip showing. A quick look at the statuary - see Darwin in extras - then a nice long mooch around the woodland and lake, taking in the adolescent swans, geese and squabbling ducks, often scattered by an exuberant dog of two diving in to scare them. It was lovely to see many young families enjoying the last of the school holidays in the fresh air with nature all around in its full glory - not an ipad in sight. I did finally find my fix of Autumn colour, but will return again to document that, being low on my Extras allowance for this year. It was so good to get out.