Garden spectacular ends the week on a high note

We've had a busy week here - Joe was helping to host Bentley's annual conference in Philadelphia, so stayed there all week, and at home we've had contractors in all week fitting a new air conditioning system in the house. Lucy and I have been doing our usual things, but also avoiding the house as much as we can and going on extra outings.

One trip was very unsuccessful - that of the annual school trip to the zoo yesterday. Lucy and I were psyched and drove over to Wilmington which took us a good hour (I got a little lost!). When we arrived the teachers told me that we wouldn't be going in the zoo after all - it was too busy and the queues too long, we would go to the playground instead. We played on the fun, but rather ordinary, playground for 10 minutes then sat the kids down for their snack. They sat for 5 minutes then ran around across the playing fields. No-one followed so as they seemed to be going a little far near the road, I followed them. I simultaneously entertained and corralled them for about 15 minutes, then took them back to where the adults were standing. The teachers then said that they were going home. The parents did too.

I was furious as it was all such a waste of time. The teachers didn't call ahead to understand about the school groups we would be competing with to get in. They had no Plan B and no interest in entertaining the kids in any other way than watching them climb on the playground and run away from them towards a main road. Lucy and I left and drove the 45 minutes home in time for lunch and nap (some blessing). Next year I won't be going on the annual trip, that's for sure!

A photo of the girls in Lucy's class eating their snack

So in my efforts to make up for yesterday's debacle, I planned a trip for this morning instead. We went to a visitor garden in Wayne (about 30 mins away) called Chanticleer. It was wonderful. I found it online when searching the web for things to do that aren't too far from home for us to cram in before lunch and nap. This was a great choice. It is a 35 acre garden around a home that belonged to a wealthy pharmaceutical businessman in the 1920s and 30s. The garden is now run by a trust and has been wonderfully transformed into a wonderland of cottagey flower beds, woodland, a ruin garden with water features, open lawn areas and formal terraces around the original house.

Lucy and I walked along the pathways that wind through the gardens. We found a stream and a snake skin that a water snake had shed, and waterboatmen gliding on the surface. There was a little seating area tucked under a tree which we sat in for a while and chatted - Lucy sat down and said "Let's have a chat Mummy". We saw a fox boldly run across a bit of open lawn area near the stream. The gardener nearby who saw it was most perturbed and shooed it away! We found the ruin garden - a beautiful, tranquil place that was covered in clematis and climbing hydrangea, rose vines and sedum planters.

Lucy loved the huge water feature there, and met a friend called Leah. I took a photo of Leah and her Mum, Aunt and cousins, all having a picnic under some trees. All of the cousins were girls dressed in fairy skirts...tasteful woodland fairies. It was a lovely sight.

I took lots of photos as it was so lovely, and there were so many ideas I wanted to take away for our own garden. I would recommend this place to anyone who enjoys gardens, but also parents of little ones as there are some fun places to explore and water features to get wet in. They have a really nicely designed children's guide to the gardens which I took a photo of and added to the slide show - it was that impressive! I will definitely be suggesting my Dad and Jeanne visit Chanticleer when they come and stay next month.