Friday, 19 June 2026

Walk with Us :: Bodnant Gardens (NT)

Hi there everyone 😀

We have visited Bodnant Gardens a couple of times over the years but we have never managed to see the laburnum arch in full flower … and I have to say we still haven’t. We were just a little bit too late.

We weren’t too disappointed though … as another of our primary objectives for this visit was to see the roses … and they were just spectacular.

After parking up we followed the signs for the garden …

… through the tea garden … and the tunnel under the road to the garden entrance, where it really does feel like you are entering a secret garden …
This next photo is our first view after entering the garden … we just couldn’t wait to explore …
We started with the Laburnum Arch …
Whilst it did still look good it was a little past its best and quite dark so when it came to photographs it was a bit tricky …
I must confess to resorting to ChatGPT to see what it might have been like a few weeks previous …
Emerging from the laburnum arch we could see that we had also missed a spectacular display of rhododendrons. We were definitely going to have to visit again 😜

We were feeling very enthusiastic and decided that we wanted to see the whole of the garden, which ended up with us taking about 8000 steps. We started off by heading through the Wildflower Meadow …
It was beautiful and I was very taken with the wild orchids … as you can probably tell …
We walked through the woodland to the Far End of the garden … and yes, that’s literally what it is called … before crossing the river and starting to come back along the other side.

I just noticed this squirrel in the woodland, with the sun shining through the fur on his tail. Sadly my photo is a little blurred, but he looked beautiful backlit by the sunshine …
We also spotted a heron … just generally hanging around …
We continued alongside the river, which was so pretty …
… towards the waterfall bridge and The Poem …
We walked up to The Poem …
… and explored the gardens beyond …
We then followed the path back down to the river and the Old Mill, before heading back up a long drag to the Pin Mill …
The borders alongside the Pin Mill were looking good …
… but it was the roses that we were really looking forward to seeing … and they most definitely did not disappoint …
They were beautiful … and they smelt heavenly … and I'm sorry for the photo overload but we were just a little bit overwhelmed by how lovely they were …
We made our way up to the top of the rose garden and wandered alongside the pond in front of the house …
… and took in the views across to the mountains …
… before heading up to the Terrace … where we we greeted with an abundance of more rose beds … it was just lovely …
Finally we dragged ourselves away and made our way to the exit …
Having had a real wellbeing top up, that always comes from a visit to a beautiful garden, and with aching legs, there was time for a quick stop at the tea room before heading back to The Lodge …


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Monday, 15 June 2026

The Longest Yarn, The Shed, The Monstera & The Sushi

Hi there everyone 😀

After a week or so at home enjoying the sunshine and pretty much living in the garden we were ready for a bit of a day out.

We picked up mum and headed to Lichfield Cathedral …
I wanted to have a look at ‘The Longest Yarn’. It was an 80 metre visual interpretation of the key moments of WW2 through the medium of knitting and crochet. It was one of the last couple of days before the exhibition moved on and was lots busier than we were expecting …
Saying that there were some absolutely fabulous displays. They were quite difficult to photograph as each one metre section was housed in a glass box so there were lots of reflections … but here are a few of my favourite shots …

We pretty much started with the declaration of war …
There was the British Expeditionary Force heading off to France …
The War Room …
The WAAF …
The bombing of Coventry Cathedral …
Cracking the Enigma code at Bletchley Park …
Buckingham Palace at the end of the war …
Street parties …
‘VJ’ Day and ‘The Kiss’ …
Overall it was really good and the detail in some of the exhibits was just amazing. It was definitely worth a visit and I’m glad we got to go.

From the cathedral we decided to opt for a local garden centre visit for lunch and to pick up a few bits.

The following day we were back in the garden and on a mission to finish off clearing out one of our sheds. We’d already been through everything and got rid of all that we didn’t need. The next step was to empty it …
We then got rid of the carpet, swept out all of the cobwebs and spiders and put everything back …
It was a job well done. Need to start in the next one now.

Whilst at the garden centre we’d managed to pick up a new huge pot, saucer, moss pole and some indoor plant compost for the monstera … which was in desperate need of re-potting …
And in a random jump we have had a go at making our own sushi. Bit of a faff for sure …
… but turned out pretty well for our first go …
It tasted pretty good too. I’d never had it before but I think I might be a fan 😀

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