Abbotsbury

Today was definitely a going to be a more restful day.  

Seeing it was Friday I took a trip to Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens in search of a floral image.  The gardens were delightfully cool and green. A highlight was a walk up a hill to wonderous views over Chesil Beach. The edges of the walkway had been left to nature. This little blue flower took my eye. It is Heal-all, and is used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat dizziness, red eys, dry cough, dermatitis and boils - very useful!

For the afternoon I headed over to the over side of the village and Abbotsbury Swannery - the home to the world's only managed colony of nesting mute swans.  I've seen large groups of swans at Windsor (traditionally owned by the King), but this colony is significantly larger and they are all wild.  Feeding time (extra) was a sight to behold. The staff and visitors spent about 20mins literally throwing pellets over this sea of white feathers, although this wasn't a feeding frenzy, just organised chaos.

So ends my week in Dorset. Tomorrow I head east and home ... though there may be one last stop on the way!