Ancient Ghosts

Before breakfast, we took a quick excursion to the Recycling Center,

and a short stop at Tesco's for S.A. wine & Guinness 

and then settled in for more whiling away the time in great company, with tons of food.

Eventually we decided we'd better get off our behinds and do something active, so we headed to Croft Castle and Parkland with these 2 sweeties in tow

What a magnificent, majestic and magic experience the Ghost Trees were - mind-blowingly gnarled, twisted and ancient, some trees dated back to around 1580.

These vintage, and dead, sweet chestnuts are left in place as relics of lost woodlands and to provide habitat for wildlife. The patterns on their trunks were breathtakingly fascinating. 

We also visited the chapel and castle, but they were underwhelming compared to the grandeur of these trees.

So many  beautiful sights!

Spring Cottage

Half the family in one house for a few days! A  'busy' time of sitting around reminiscing, discussing, joking, questioning and enlightening each other of our childhood pranks while we ate and drank most of the day away.

What an amazingly sweet little cottage J&M live in, away from the hustle and bustle of city life.

 They've recently added this delightful little patio.

As you might be able to see, the day was dry enough to hang our laundry. They also grow some of their own vegetables in a screened in trug.

We eventually got our act together and went to Queenswood Arboretum and Country Park in Herefordshire to walk, talk, and hug trees together.

There was a little sibling pushing and shoving along the way, though.

This is an old arboretum and has a huge variety of non-native trees. The redwoods were stunning

As was the monkey puzzle tree 

A lovely overlook in the park 

I seem to have shaken off those bird nuts I'd been encountering in the last few days, though it's possible they're 'undercover' in a new guise

Trees, trees, and more trees - wonderful!