Having problems connecting to the Net

I'm having difficulty maintaining a connection to the Internet so this blog will be short, mainly of photos of Hestercombe Gardens, which I visited Tuesday, August 12th.

The gardens were lovely but the main complaint we had was the admission price 7-80 GBP. Quite steep, especially as a part of the gardens are currently closed. Yesterday I went to Cleeve Abbey, which is a very well preserved Cistercian abbey from the 13th to 15th centuries and the admission was only 3-80 GBP.

So, at that price I took loads of photos; here are a few of them.

Swan settled in the grass. This is such a typically English scene, isn't it? Somerset is such a beautiful county.

The sunlight was so intense that I had to play with the contrast a bit on my iPhoto program. I've come out looking a bit blue but you get the picture (hahahahaahaa).

These terraced gardens were designed by Lutyens/Jekyll. Famous for their gardens. I felt like I was in a Rosemary and Thyme episode and any moment I'd discover a body :)

I always enjoy looking at the play of sunlight down these long cloisters. This one led to the keyhole window below.

I've lightened the photo several notches to give it a more "ethereal" look and to show the detail of the plantings in this little corner.

Two long "alleys" of water border the terraced gardens pictured above; one is pictured below the terraced gardens picture and this is the other. I took one shot looking one way and the other, looking back. It would be interesting to know their symbolism. Eternity? The river in Eden? I noticed, in rereading the blog before posting, that I used the word "long" a few times. They did seem quite long and i think it's a question of perspective--my eyes seem to travel and travel but it was all so restful. These water features are, to me, way more lovely than the so-called water features we have in Las Vegas. These don't seem to be forced or phony; they seem to be so much a part of the natural, well, flow. That's the way I felt, that these gardens flowed and were so tranquil. We've been lucky in our travels that most of the tourists, when it's a nice day, seem to head for the beaches and so the gardens were very quiet. The alleys lead to (or from, depending on which end of the alley you are standing at) two fountains.

This one.

And this one. I thought the carved head was quite beautiful and the way that the fountain curves like a shell with the tracery around it. It all led to a feeling of peace.

There is a house on the grounds, a kind of "stately home" type house. But it's been taken over for Council offices--what a nice place to work in!--and so isn't open to the public. There was of course a shop and small cafe which were also quite expensive.