Tuesday 9 June 2015

Days out with the kids: West Green House Gardens in Hampshire

Let me pique your interest with these beauties...
Come for a walk with me. We're going to West Green House Gardens in Hampshire, a third of the way down the M3...
We'll potter along formal garden paths, boxed by hedges and planted with such an array of beauty that your heart will sing, while your children run around excitedly playing hide & seek...
We'll explore woodland paths too, tickled by ferns and sheltered by boughs laden with all the shades of emerald...
We'll find nooks and outdoor rooms, and every now and then a peek at the house we wished we lived in, the chicken coop that is fancier than any we've ever seen, the statues that surprise us...
And if we're there in spring time, the blossom, oh the blossom. And for tulip lovers (like us), every shade, every form, every delight we could imagine. The children will hop over the channels of water while we soak it all in...
We'll take note of the colours we see, the flowers we love, and vow to take our mothers one day, who would love it so much...
We will show the children the flowers they can smell, the insects buzzing around in spoilt gluttony, let them run down the paths and play hide & seek some more...
And every corner we turn will bring us a fresh view of elegance, of artistry, of wonder. We'll imagine sitting by that fountain in the thirties, cocktail in hand, band playing in the distance. Or pushing open those formerly unlocked gates and strolling, Victorian dress swishing around our ankles, with someone we hope likes us back...
Our families will rest by the lake, searching the depths for signs of fish, watching the ripples as they dance away, looking at their reflections...
If we're there in early spring, the magnolias will be out in all their gravity-defying beauty. We will muse on their bold promise of warmth and daylight to come...
We'll grab an ice cream from the cafe, or sit at one of the pretty little tables, adorned with little pots of flowers, and drink coffee from a filter or tea from a teapot - served as it should be, - drunk with birdsong in the air...
If we're there with our husband, we'll hold hands and talk about life and our plans, delight in our children as they play, and think how lucky we are, and how many blessings we can count...
If we're there with our friends, we'll note the hellebores and bluebells hidden in the flower beds, plan our own gardens, tell each other of how our lives are changing and blossoming too...
Perhaps we'll be lucky enough to be local enough to visit again. Perhaps we'll plan trips to the opera there, staged in the summer, or the garden parties with strings. Perhaps though, like my family and I, we'll know that the chances of us ever passing by again are so very small, and instead we'll take photographs, breathe it all in, and then write a little about it to tell you that if you can't come with us, go with your own loved ones instead. It is heavenly.


3 comments:

  1. Beautifully written - you've made me want to visit it!

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    1. Thank you lovely Lizzie! It's a bit nearer you than me. I'll have to check out some nice north Essex gardens next time I'm at my parents' house too.

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  2. This looks so so beautiful, I adore going to such stunning places. It makes you so calm and grateful for the world! Thanks for sharing and thanks so much for linking up with #TwinklyTuesday

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