pumpkinstrokemarrow

So (2), we started the week with a visit to the woodland gardens at Bushy Park (http://www.royalparks.gov.uk/Bushy-Park.aspx). We came in over Hampton Court Bridge, round past the newly gilded Diana fountain and down the rather splendid chestnut avenue. Many noises off, apparently to do with something called Chestnut Sunday, which might have been a genuinely heritage affair, but which might, on the other hand, easily have been invented more recently by some enterprising showman. Splendid place; a truly pleasure-yielding bit of park design. Lots of families sitting around under the trees with picnics. Cute babies. Families of baby coots. Families of baby ducks. Various fat fishes swimming around. Were they fat enough to snaffle the emerging ducklings? Even the odd rhododendron.

Next stop, a day or two later, was the Isabella Plantation at Richmond Park. I had forgotten how this park is a quite different sort of place from Epsom Common - but also that the trusties who look after the common should not try to compete. They should be playing a different game. The plantation itself good. The rhododendrons a little past their best but there were still some wonderful specimens, particularly a couple of beds of white ones. And the yellow pond irises were spot on. There were also some quite talkative ladies' parties.

Last stop, yesterday, was Hampton Court, now heritage rather than royal. There was the odd rhododendron, but the real reason for being there was the rose garden - which was truly wonderful. I do not think I have ever seen it looking so good. Interestingly, the colour scheme was badly damaged by my sun glasses; whatever the gardeners there had done was badly damped down by brown glass. One had to chance the bright light to get the intended effect.

For once, decided to forego the Tiltyard Café - we had had to park in the station over the river anyway - and to try our luck in Bridge Road. We wound up in the Dish Café where they had some excellent apricot tart, of a sort which I had never come across before. They could even manage a natty little box to take an extra portion home with. Nice staff as well.

And a day for tweeting. First thing, I had seen, for the first time ever, never mind this year, a swallow in Horton Lane. Then then was a small green-grey finch in one of the pond gardens in the Palace and lastly there were swifts swooping over the bridge. Investigation this morning revealed, eventually, that the small finch was probably a female chaffinch - no-one ever having bothered to tell me that the male and the females were rather different in looks. Plus, someone ought to tell the RSPB that for a charity in receipt of billions of widow legacy money, they ought to run to better quality bird pictures on their web site. Do they blow it all on very important charity networking in the Ivy. Or perhaps the newly refurbished Savoy Grill? The colouring of the male chaffinch was terrible. No help at all to a beginner. Tweeting rounded off by a return visit of the suspect redstart to our own garden this morning. See 2nd May.