Wednesday 8 September 2010

Birr Miscellany

Since we leave on holidays at the weekend I'd better finish off with my Birr photos. I mentioned the carpet of colchicum, so here a couple of photos of that. I'd seen it from the near side of the river, and as I thought I still had half an hour till C would be ready for lunch, I crossed the river to get nearer. And then he rang and said he'd be at the café for lunch in 5 minutes and he didn't have very long as the meeting still wasn't over. So I went back after lunch to get some better, less rushed photos.



A lovely sculpture made from oak, commemorating the completed restoration of the Millennium Gardens, which include the hornbeam cloisters.

Derelict greenhouses


By one of the rivers


Another riverside path


Do you remember this ? I left it longer than I should have to strain it, it should only have been a few weeks. But I strained it recently - first through a strainer, then through muslin, then through coffee filters. Even after all that it still as some sediment, but it smells heavenly,  like essence of Christmas cooking - mincemeat, plum-puddings, all those lovely spicy treats. My sister tried it as an aperitif when they were here over the weekend, and enjoyed it.

2 comments:

Lorraine said...

I was going to ask if those were the crocuses that saffron comes from but I looked it up and I guess you wouldn't want to ingest any of that - though they are such a pretty carpet.

That sculpture is very intriguing and the placement in front of the brick opening is wonderful. I see the shape repeated in the base - another wonderful detail.

I hope you have an enjoyable holiday. It's such a beautiful time of the year.

Charlene Merrick (LilLuvsStampin) said...

Ooooo, I love that beautiful colchicum and the sculpture is so unique and fabulous! Beautiful nature photos, Sabrina! Have a wonderful holiday!