Escape ...

A mild afternoon and a growing sensation of stir-craziness had me out to Benmore Gardens for an hour or so today, with my actual camera for a change, because I've been lazy about it. This late afternoon scene typifies the serenity of the place and the time of day - the rhododendrons are startling colours in all sorts of quiet corners, and we spotted the first splash of the huge magnolia on the hillside. This area here is near where we often see the red squirrels, but they were all hiding by the time we arrived, presumably because the serenity I mentioned was being broken by the presence of several groups of children who had just arrived for a week at the Centre and were wildly excited by the freedom and the promise of what was to come ...

But earlier we saw a deer the size of a large dog, and all the birds were singing. And I didn't sneeze all the time I was out.