Isabella Plantation

Today was forecast to be sunny and warm, so we had planned to go visit Isabella Plantation in Richmond Park. From 1 May dogs have to be on leads due to the deer birthing season, which has proven to be rather controversial from what I have read on various social media sites. The reasons in favour of it are obvious, no one wants a dog attacking deer or fawns, but those opposed to this ruling say the deer only give birth when the bracken turns brown and May is far too soon to impose this restriction, and it rules out the best months of the year for walking there. Of course there were no deer to be seen at all but Xena stayed on her lead the entire time. 

The sunny forecast did not happen until we were leaving the park at about 11.30am. It was once again cool and cloudy, and very busy with runners, walkers and cyclists. The azaleas in Isabella Plantation were not nearly as impressive as I have seen in previous years, usually they bloom en masse and it is quite a striking sight as you walk into the gardens. Today the plants seemed to be at different stages, some were not yet in bloom while others were already finished blooming. And then the most annoying thing was the reflection pond had scum floating on it and it looked horrible! You can see in this image that the reflections are not perfectly clear due to the filthy water. 

We went out for a Sunday lunch to a pub in Esher, it was very good. I like it when they put the calories on the menus as it is quite shocking to see just how calorific some dishes are, one meal can exceed a females total calorie allowance for the day. The vegan roast was almost double the calories of the roast chicken meal, which most people would not realise.

It has been lovely and sunny for the rest of the day, but I would not say it is warm despite people wearing shorts and T shirts - this is typical British behaviour after winter, people are desperate to get into their summer clothes again!

Gavin has spent the afternoon servicing the Quooker tap, we tried to book a service for it and the first appointment we can get is in August, so he thought he may as well get on and do it himself.