LITTLE ARTY JOURNEYS: Monday morning (Coombe Wood)

On Monday morning I was meeting friends from the art group I belong to at Coombe Wood. I arrived early for a walk beforehand because I was eager to see what has changed since my last visit (I've been away for a week).

The gardener was walking towards me with a baby robin in his hand. It had been found going up the ramp to the cafe.

The gardener gently placed the young bird on a high rock where it could hop away safely into the bushes (and even provided it with some meal worms which it didn't seem at all interested in

Plumes of bright pink flowers by the pond

These shrubs were green last time I was there - now buddleia and hebe flowers line the path

Multicoloured flowers - purple and white

Little purple flowers with orange centres

Different colours, shapes etc.

Eryngiums at the top of the steps

These blue flowers are about the size of ping pong balls. When my children were small they used to try to hit them over our roof with toy tennis rackets

Bees enjoying plum coloured flower spikes

I was surprised to notice a few more magnolia buds nestling among the green suede-like leaves

Delicate soft lilac coloured round flowers behind chunky vivid pink spiky flowers

A closer look at the tiny lilac bubbles floating on delicate stems

Soft tufty flower spikes

Long legged spider on a bright pink flower

Standing back and looking at the different colours and textures

Rasberry coloured bobbles

Variety of orange and yellow flowers in different stages - tiny bits on the centres open in bands

Strange little flowers turning into seeds

Wild carrot - flowers over, it curls up like a little nest

The flowers on the big leaved mystery plant in the wildflower bed are showing purple tips

Pink rose and purple clematis

Purple clematis

Gorgeous combinations of colours

I'm not usually keen on the orange and yellow for our own garden but this flower bed does look amazing

Sunflowers tower above the marigolds

The antirrinums have shot up above the height of the grasses now

I think these tiny flowers are allyssum - I like the mixture of colours - I find them much more interesting than the plain white ones

Plum coloured crazy flower

How pretty an ordinary fly looks on this wavy edged silvery leaf

Love in a mist pod - so many different coloured pods in various shades of purple, green and brown

Taller red flowers among the marigolds

I heard a voice but couldn't see where it was coming from till I noticed one of my art group friends the other side of the raised bed taking a photo of me (probably looking confused)

Our other friend arrived and we wandered around taking photos and chatting. I kept noticing different things from those I had noticed the first time.

By the pond some of these stems have broken - I like the mass of fadng flowers at an unusual angle

Gardener at work

Hop flowers

Slender purple tube-like flowers

Crazy colour combination - such a bright blue against peachy pink

Looking closer at hebes

Eryngium again - the bees were busy

Looking inside a nasturtium

Empty ornamental grass seed cases

The blue ping pong ball sized flowers

The top of each of the soft tufty flower spikes has a broad flat flower - all sorts of shapes

Golden rain tree flowers

Cornus after the creamy white "petals" have fallen - some beginning to turn red

Teasels - bands of little purple flowers opening

Black bee?

We had a very nice lunch in the Coach House cafe courtyard. Robins and their young hopped about finding crumbs and insects. This one looks a similar age to the one the gardener was holding when I had arrived several hours earlier

One of my friends commented that she could see a little bit of pink in the bushes and she felt someone was watching her - I got up to have a closer look - she hadn't been imagining it

A frothy mixture of pale blue and plum spilled over the edge of the raised beds

Hydrangea - how different the middles are in the various different varieties

It had begun to rain during lunch but we were sheltered under the big gazebo. After lunch, armed with umbrellas, we continued out walk, chatting and taking photos. We found a dry bench under a tree outside the little shelter, where we stopped and did some drawing

Tiny flowers in the alpine trough against the brick wall