Audley End - A Day Out

A beautiful Autumnal morning with a bright blue sky meant one thing...make the most of it!  So off we went to visit Audley End with the dogs.

The river was looking lovely in the sunlight

Flowers as stunning as ever. They are always changing and the last time we went was before the School Summer holidays so there is always something new to see.

So lovely to see butterflies on the buddleia 

Love this shot.

Grapes in the glass house

Yellows alone the length of the glass house.

The formal gardens

A little bird chirruping away.

More butterflies.

Farewell until another day.

Percy update:

He enjoyed his walk today with Stanley and us very much.  He still seems to be doing really well, so hopefully he has turned a corner.  Last night he played with his ball for ages and then settled down to give his antler a chew - something he hasn't done in a long time.

Audley End and SARDS

Another gorgeous day meant we just had to spend it out somewhere, so we chose another favourite place of ours, this time Audley End.

The birds were singing, it was relatively quiet and just simply beautiful.

Some lovely seats dotted round the walled garden.

Having a five minute break.

Beautiful flowers

Stunning gardens.

Majestic House.

Is he a pointer or a chihuahua?!  

Percy really enjoyed his walk again today.  We have been here often with him, and this bank in particular is one where we used to let him off to just run races with my husband.  We didn't let him off, as now he is completely blind, we would be worried he would get disorientated and panic and run off in the wrong direction.  But he did go for a run on the lead.  As did our Sheltie, Stanley.  It was a really enjoyable day.

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So a little bit about Percy and his sudden blindness.  Just over three weeks ago Percy went suddenly blind, literally overnight.  One day he could see, the next he was bumping into things.  He went to the vet and received a diagnosis of SARDS which is Sudden Acquired Retinal Degeneration Syndrome.  He was seen the following day by an Ophthalmic Specialist from the Royal Veterinary College, who confirmed his diagnosis.  There is a definitive test to do, but at £1000, it was deemed unnecessary, as he was almost 100% certain that was what it was, and there is nothing they can do about it anyway.  His pupils are now fully dilated all the time.  There is no reaction to light whatsoever...his little world is now complete darkness.  It is a very unusual disease, and especially unusual in dogs, it is more common in bitches over the age of seven.  Percy had only just turned five years old a couple of weeks earlier.  We were absolutely devastated, still are, but have realised he is a real trouper and just gets on with things.  Stanley misses playing with him and running round together like the used to, as Percy is not keen on doing that anymore, but who knows as he grows more confident perhaps this to will change.   To happen to such a fun loving dog, who used his eyes with such expression and alertness it is really sad.  They are no longer a beautiful brown but black, but appear almost blue opaque in the sunlight.  Taking him out these last few days though has made us realise, that from first impressions many wouldn't notice, he makes full use of his other senses.  He is a brave little dog and we are really proud of him.

The Most Lovely Day.

Last night I reached rock bottom...I felt awful, very depressed and unhappy about all sorts of things...it was a tough night.  Claude summed it quite well.

This morning though...

The day dawned bright and sunny and with a more positive frame of mind...

The garden glistened in the sunlight.

Even the last of the rose just looked spectacular

The sky was blue

The sun shone. 

The temperature cool and crisp, but was soon to warm up to a t shirt wearing sort of day.

It was a good day to go out to visit one of 'our' English Heritage properties.

The dogs were pleased to get out as well.  Just look at the lovely blue sky against the vibrant green grass.

Percy stops to see what is going on.

Sorry about the sun spots in this photo as we get a glimpse of the house.

Afternoon tea!

The leaves on the trees are starting to change colour.

Reflections on the stream.

The waterfall

The arbour gate leading to the  flower and vegetable gardens.

The flowers certainly didn't disappoint.

We sat in front of this little pond and waterfall (that you can't really see) for quite some time, soaking up the sunshine with the sound of running water behind us.  It really was quite something.

I decided to make that first foray into my new little travellers notebook.  I haven't touched my paintbrushes or done any art at all for over two years ago now and decided it was time to start again and what better place to do so.

It was very rough and ready!

Not quite the standard that I used to be, but hopefully I will improve, there is always room for improvement.

More beautiful flowers inside the walled garden.

I loved this row of potted plants.

I'd love to do some of these, but I would imagine they are very heavy!

More smaller indoor plants in the conservatory/glass house.

Around the garden were apple displays.  In fact they were getting ready for their Apple Festival this weekend.

Looking down the vegetable rows, they also plant rows of flowers.

I love this little shelf display - it is always a little different every time we come.

Loved these unusual sunflowers.

Stanley and Percy

A shot of the sky with the light fluffy white clouds.

Berries.

I was surprised to see this duck with her ducklings - they must have been late hatching!

Bundles of fluffy feathery cuteness

Relaxing in the sun.

The gardens in front, (or is it behind?) the house.

There is always someone!

To put it in context...why try and squeeze in when there is fields of parking?  

Such a grand property.

We took the dogs up the hill for a run off the lead.

Racing!

One last look before we headed home.

It really was the most perfect day.