Calke Abbey

There's no way I'm going to waste this sunshine. Or my National Trust annual membership.

Glorious day and I set off with my camera to explore the gardens at Calke Abbey. This is a rather run down old treasure (even they talk about it as being "unstately"). There are displays showing what they have "repaired" and what they chose not to "restore".

There is a spectacular formal garden which is in its prime. A couple of odd, more tropical, plants but a wide array of beautiful colour-co-ordinated patterns. Beautiful. And still attractive to butterflies. A couple of Red Admirals, a couple of Small Tortoiseshells, flighty large whites which refused to settle - and quite a few Peacocks. (my choice)

In the peace of the woodland there were some Speckled Woods. I sat for a while and one came and perched on shrivelled leaf - quite well camouflaged.

Another nice thing about Calke Abbey is that they sell local fresh produce (and don't charge ridiculous prices). So I came away with a small piece of Colston Bassett blue...... now, is the bread that I've just taken out of the oven cool enough ?