Mad dogs and english men...

... out in the midday sun! Phew! We've had an arctic Spring so far and then suddenly we're sweltering in mediterranean temperatures with no chance to gradually acclimatise. I've been on the verge of complaining that it's too hot but have caught myself in time and just made the most of it. I'm never more certain that I made the right decision to work for myself than when the sun is shining, I no longer have to commute to work and I can choose to be outside whenever I want. This week I've done several outdoor shoots - watch this space for more on twin boys with a lively puppy and a Weimaraner called Bez who took rather a liking to me! I've also been to three different gardens - 2 in Cheshire for my Picture It in the Garden Challenge - and one in Derbyshire.

If you are a keen gardener or visitor of gardens then you'll know that the flowers of the moment are azaleas, camelias and rhododendrons. Yesterday we went to Lea Rhododendron Gardens with Nana Maggie (the nanas in our family have to adopt the name of their dog to help the children know which one we are refering to and Maggie is a black lab owned by my stepmum Ann). We last visited Lea (nr Matlock) about 10 years ago and Nic has never let me forget that I shoved him (gently!) in the back and caused him to go head over heels down a path. Steep paths wind their way down the hillside through rhodendron bushes as high as single storey buildings and laden with stunning blooms of every hue. The kids really enjoyed exploring, hiding from each other and occasionally calling out "I'm down here, you numpty!"

Back to almost complaining about the weather - it was stinking hot in the gardens with hardly a breath of fresh air but luckily lots of shade under the rhodendron bushes and plenty of little shady benches to sit awhile and drink in the view. Shade was a scarce commodity in the tea gardens though and pensioners are particularly spritely when they spot a table with an umbrella suddenly becoming vacant! I'm usually a champion at elbowing my way over to a free table before anyone else but I was no match for this bunch.

We've enjoyed the sudden arrival of Summer in lots of other ways. The kids have almost lived outside and the hose pipe seemed to be a good substitute for a paddling pool (which fell foul of Daisy's claws last year). We've all had a lot of fun - me especially - with a bubble set which created enormous irridescent bubbles. We've spent ages swinging in the hammocks - until Nic and Daisy somehow put their feet / claws through the big one - it now has a yawning hole and I'm replacing it at Tatton in July (Nic's paying!). And we spent an interesting hour or so at the lake which has become a mecca for people far and wide on sunny afternoons.  The heat did get the better of us by the end of the afternoon and we came back to find shade in the garden. Anyhow, I'm really not complaining and it's not often I can blog outside at 9pm - it's been idyllic this weekend and long may it last (as long as it cools down just a bit!)

By Jane Burkinshaw. Share this post by clicking on one of the Share buttons on the right hand side. I'd love to hear your comments too!

Danger - crocodiles!

Very very busy at the moment but it was too good an opportunity to miss when Nic suggested we nip out to another garden for a couple of hours this afternoon. My pangs of guilt quickly faded as we drove through the Cheshire countryside, air-con and sunglasses on and dog in the boot. I had selected Stonyford Cottage Gardens from the Cheshire Gardens of Distinction leaflet, as it was only a few miles away and quite small (in comparison to, say, Tatton Gardens). We had driven past the brown tourist sign pointing off the A556 many times but had never realised what a beautiful garden lay hidden down a quite unremarkable lane.

The car park gives onto a small grassy area with a few trees (perfect for providing shade for a dog) through which could be glimpsed the brand new timber tea room and patio area. We had come prepared with flask and sandwiches but I could have forced myself into tea and a slice of cake! We paid our £3 entry fee and received a very friendly and informative welcome. The garden is quite quirky and it is obvious that its character has been passionately developed by the owners. It really came home to us how much work goes into creating a garden when we were shown an area which represented what the land was like before work started.

I was really struck with the feeling of being miles from anywhere in this garden, despite the occasional noise of passing cars and trains. A small lake lies at the centre of the garden, with an island reached by wooden bridges. The transition from “mainland” to island is almost un-noticeable and the wooden bridges and walkways linking both provide pleasing curves and contrast beautifully with the plants. So much variety is packed into such a small area. The island is quite untended beyond the immediate vicinity of the paths and the feeling of being in wetlands such as the Everglades is reinforced by the signs warning us about crocodiles! The odd gem of a plant such as the extraordinarily vivid blue Himalayan poppy surprised us as we wandered along the paths through the trees. The rest of the garden is more structured and carefully planted. Purple Candelabra Primulas edge many of the pathways, particularly pleasing against the wooden boardwalks. Grasses, ferns, shrubs and trees provide lots of colour and texture and I can’t wait to see the masses of irises when they come into flower. We sat at the top of the garden on a bench looking across the lake, with the musical sound of water running down through the rockery to our left. Nic was quite happy to sit there awhile with his book and coffee whilst I roamed around with my camera. I also took the time to sit down and just soak up the atmosphere and sunshine and again felt as if we were far away from home and day to day worries.

But all good things have to come to an end and we wandered back along to the nursery at the entrance to the garden. Hens pecking around on the ground and drinking from a small fountain reinforced the informal and home grown feel. We retrieved Daisy from her shady spot under the trees and dragged ourselves away. But we'll be back as I have a feeling those irises will be stunning in a few weeks time and it'll be hard not to pop in when I'm passing by - and I'll definitely sample the tea and cakes next time!

By Jane Burkinshaw. Share this post by clicking on one of the Share buttons on the right hand side. I'd love to hear your comments too!

Jodrell Bank Arboretum

We've been to Jodrell Bank Visitors Centre several times but never to the arboretum. If you don't know about it you could park the car and rush off to admire the staggeringly immense dish, without ever realising that the site also has 35 acres of woodland with over 2000 species of trees. The word arboretum conjures up a vision of an area fairly heavily populated with interesting trees – Jodrell Bank offers this but within much larger grounds and having more green, open spaces than I imagined. The entrance is deceiving – you feel as if you are entering a small woodland, following a path which has several opportunities to explore alternative grassy paths. But suddenly (in the vicinity of Neptune!) you emerge from the trees into a wide open grassy area broken up and edged by trees. I’m no expert and would not like to start trying to identify any of the different species, but the overall impression is of a wide variety of trees, carefully planted to lead the eye and provide contrasting textures, colours and heights. Ornamental crab apple trees are a speciality of the Arboretum, as are cherry trees and there were some wonderful displays of blossom. Another sign of spring was provided by the seven ducklings darting about after their mother on the pond (with me chasing after them on the bank).

I was taken aback several times as I turned to look at the view behind me, back towards the entrance and the Lovell Radio Telescope (the dish!) dwarfed even the tallest of poplars. In the photograph at the top you can get a sense of scale from the wooden bench in the middle towards the bottom.

A visit just to Jodrell Bank Visitors Centre and the awesome telescope is a fascinating day out, but the Arboretum really finishes the day off. It’s an opportunity to get some fresh air and exercise as you walk through woodland, across grassy meadows, always surrounded by the colours, sounds and fragrances of nature. Children will love the Environmental Discovery Centre at the start of the trail, which tells them about the trees and wildlife they can expect to find. They can also become mini space explorers as they discover the planets in our solar system which are laid out in their correct positions along the Planet Path that starts by the telescope. If that isn’t enough to wear them out, they can swing like monkeys on the play area whilst the grownups take a break at the picnic tables (in warm sunshine like we did yesterday – hard to believe when I had to get hat and gloves on to walk the dog today!).

My one small gripe is that dogs weren’t allowed in the Arboretum. I completely support no dog policies in gardens where there are carefully tended flower beds and perfectly manicured lawns, but Daisy would have loved the woodland paths and the open spaces. We are responsible dog owners and would have kept her on a lead and picked up after her. I have to wonder what harm it could do to allow four legged friends to enjoy the Arboretum as well. We had to tie her up outside the car (it was slightly too warm at times to leave her inside) and then worry about her when she barked occasionally. However, that said, we all really enjoyed our visit and I look forward to returning again, perhaps in the Autumn (minus dog).

By Jane Burkinshaw. Share this post by clicking on one of the Share buttons on the right hand side. I'd love to hear your comments too!

Bluebell Cottage Gardens

I have to profess a strong bias towards this garden as I've got to know the owner, Sue Beesley, quite well and some of my photographs are on display in the tea rooms. I've taken lots of pictures over the last three years but I won't cheat - it will be treated just like all the other gardens and photographed this Summer once again. Today's visit was purely to the bluebell woods adjacent to Sue's garden. The bluebells have flowered late this year and I wanted to get them at their best. With the weather looking like it all goes down hill after today I thought I would make the most of a postponed job and some lovely Spring sunshine (typical that it wasn't like this during yesterday's bank holiday).

The bluebell wood is accessed by a path across a field by the carpark. This field becomes a wild flower meadow in early Summer and there are already signs of the pleasures to come, with little yellow buds visible through the grass. The garden and nursery are closed on Monday and Tuesday so I was completely alone in the woods, apart from the sound of boat owners calling to each other as they drifted along the nearby canal. I could just see their heads over the hedges as they floated past - I wonder what they made of me lying face down amongst the bluebells!

It's not that easy to get good pictures of bluebells, well I don't think so anyway. Wide angle shots of the woodland carpeted with blue can tend to look a bit messy, as bluebells grow in the wild and all sorts of other plants, weeds, branches and broken twigs litter the ground, unlike a carefully tended flower bed. I decided to select something else of interest in the landscape and show how the clumps of bluebells contrasted and complimented it. The wood has several spectacular fallen tree trunks, which have lain there for some time and have become part of the woodland floor, overgrown with moss. I also had a little play with my lens baby - this mimics the effect of a tilt and shift lens - keeps an area in focus whilst bending and blurring other areas. A bit like squinting your eyes and seeing the world a bit differently!

I find it much easier to shoot close ups of flowers, experimenting with different depths of field and playing around with the shapes, patterns and colours of the fore and backgrounds.

I really enjoyed my hour of escapism and can highly recommend a stroll through the woods at this time of year, with or without a camera. Bluebell Cottage Gardens is hosting a bluebell painting workshop tomorrow - be interesting to see the outcome of that.
Bluebell Cottage Gardens

By Jane Burkinshaw. Share this post by clicking on one of the Share buttons on the right hand side. I'd love to hear your comments too!

"Aren't trees great, mummy!"

As promised we visited the Quinta Arboretum at Swettenham today. It took us a while to find it - DO NOT follow the SatNav - the guide book should definitely carry this warning. For the first time ever I saw a sign reading "SATNAV warning" at the entrance to the narrow, unadopted and, most importantly, dead end lane I was being directed down. Just head for Swettenham and the (eventually) well signposted Swettenham Arms. The Arboretum is equally discreetly signposted but unless you arrive early in the day like us, the steady trickle of visitors would give you a clue as to where to go. Payment is on a trust basis, which is really refreshing and it's very good value at just £2.50 per adult.

This informal approach is evident throughout the garden. There are no signposts to guide you, you just meander around, going wherever the fancy takes you and you're fairly sure to see everything. A map at the beginning would help - there were useful information points about the flora and fauna at key points and a map of the whole garden would ensure that you take everything in. We picked up a booklet about walks in the area in the pub afterwards and its map of the Quinta Arboretum revealed that we had missed out the "39 steps" and the Cockpit at the far reaches of the garden. I probably would have reached them had I been exploring on my own, but Sam's camera battery and his attention span had run out and we turned back just before this part.

Clumps of bluebells (my first of the year) provided splashes of vivid blue, white and pale lilac throughout the woodland. Although I love the traditional drifts of blue that carpet woodland at this time of year, the three colours compliment each other so well against green and the flowers are equally perfectly bell shaped and beautiful whatever their colour. The promised bank of bluebells (in the Cheshire Gardens Guide) was pretty, but hard to access to get any nice shots, so I just enjoyed looking at it instead.

But what really lifted my spirits and caused me time and again to raise my lens was the marvellous array of trees. All sorts of bark, knots, whorls, gnarled shapes, leaves, buds, imposing stance, delicate blossom, fragrance, scale, shape... so much to take in and so much to captivate. Sam, 7, exclaimed, "Aren't trees great, mummy. They help us to live and they are so beautiful!" Now Sam isn't normally given to girlie statements but he really seemed to appreciate all the different trees. We had armed him and Abigail with a compact camera each to keep them occupied and they enjoyed snapping away. The collages at the end are entirely their work. My particular favourite trees were a cherry blossom with bark the colour and sheen of gun metal (prunus Taihaku) and the veteran oak by the pond, with its huge gnarled protruberance the shape of a rhinocerous / cat / dinosaur (depending on your imagination).

The pond itself was a real surprise - perhaps it's nice not to see a map beforehand! It was a treat to suddenly come across this tranquil water edged by tall slender trees which were reflected in rippled lines on the surface of the pond. The sun was in and out of clouds today and the light changed dramatically from one moment to the next. I still haven't decided which shot of the lake I prefer. Both the same but with and without sunlight.

Sometimes I find it hard to step back and view a landscape - my personal photographic style is up close and I have to remind myself to step back and look at the whole picture. This was easy at the viewpoint at the far end of the garden, a wonderful view of the Dane Valley. I like to crop out sky if I can, unless it really adds something to the image, and I found myself drawn to the way the trees overlapped each other, colours and shapes contrasting and complementing each other, when viewed as a vista rather than as individual elements. Another very eyecatching vista was created by the thousands of dandelion flowers in the plantation. Some might say that these "weeds" have no place in a garden, but I personally loved the carpet of yellow heads stretching as far as the eye could see.

As we left the garden a blaze of vivid blue caught my eye - well you'd be hard pressed to miss it. It was a rhodendron augustini and was staggeringly gorgeous.



Our visit to the garden ended predictably in the pub - almost certainly like the majority of visitors - with a glass of wine, a huge plateful of triple decker sandwiches dripping with prawns and marie rose sauce - and a lively discussion about who had taken the best shot. Perfect!

I shall make a note in my diary to return in the Summer and the Autumn to see the changes during the seasons - a good excuse to sample more items on the menu at the pub too!

By Jane Burkinshaw. Share this post by clicking on one of the Share buttons on the right hand side. I'd love to hear your comments too!

Use flash when it's really sunny outside

This might sound like complete madness - why make it brighter when it's already very bright and sunny?

Have you ever taken a picture on a sunny day and wondered why faces are so dark even when they didn't really look that way? With bright sunlight you also get very dark shadows. We don't see the contrast as starkly as our brains are used to reducing the effect. If the person you are photographing is standing against a very bright background - sky, snow, beach, in front of a window - then their faces may be in dark shadow unless you use the flash. I used flash in the picture above to make Abigail stand out against the blue background and to reduce the shadows. This was taken with my Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS12 compact camera.


Depending on what camera you are using you may have to "make" the camera fire the flash. On a compact camera on your flash settings you should be able to select "forced flash on". On a hyrbid or SLR you should be able to pop the flash up.

Try the shot with and without the flash and see which you prefer. Don't forget to put your flash back on AUTO once you have finished.

By Jane Burkinshaw. Share this post by clicking on one of the Share buttons on the right hand side. I'd love to hear your comments too!

TGI March!!

We've done it!! Survived another February, that is! The wintry weather wasn't the problem, nor the depleted post Christmas bank accounts (although they didn't help matters!). I'm talking about emerging relatively unscathed from a month of birthdays, birthday parties and half term holidays. All those years ago Nic and I failed to foresee the chaos which would ensue from deciding to make babies in the Spring. Must have been seeing all those cute lambs skipping about that made us get broody at that time of year. Lambs don't insist on birthday parties for the rest of the flock though! You can see where I'm going with this now.

I was initially filled with trepidation when Sam declared he wanted his party at home this year, but as I got into the swing of planning it with him, I started to warm to the idea. He's quite wise for his age and I think he had realised that he would have more fun with less friends in an environment he could control, as opposed to running about with his whole class at Jungle Gyms. He had some quality male bonding time with his best friends and I think it's helped him day to day at school too. For us it was 2 hours of controlled chaos, as we were besieged by 9 boys and 3 girls (who exercised more than enough girl power to hold their own!). Being a control freak I had organised them into 3 groups doing a kind of game circuit, switching between the Wii, Scalectrix and table football. The time flew by and before we knew it we had parents turning up to witness the battering of the pinata. The day was topped off by the now obligatory sleepover - not all 12 thank goodness - just 2. I've come to the conclusion that boys, although more boisterous (or "boysterous") are much easier to manage than girls. More on that later.

After several years of a less is more attitude from Abigail towards birthday celebrations, I was taken aback when she insisted on a party for her whole class at the community centre. I thought we'd exited that phase and had expected to be taking a few select friends to the cinema, followed by pizza. Somehow I found myself agreeing to a Wild West themed party, with the catering and entertainment to be provided by yours truly. Sorting out the food was the easiest part, although I agonised over whether there would be enough sausage rolls, chocolate fingers, token healthy cucumber etc. The bouncy castle was the star attraction but we had to appoint bouncers to manage the numbers and keep them from maiming each other. The craft activities kept them occupied for all of 5 minutes and I had to do some improvised games for the final 20 minutes, having already run out of prizes. It was actually a great success according to Abigail and her friends, but I never want to put myself (or Nic) through that again. Party organisers and children's entertainers are there for a reason.

In another moment of complete madness I had agreed to 5 girls coming for a sleepover the same evening. In a sado-maschistic way I sort of enjoyed it - watching Abigail as the centre of attention doing all the girlie stuff that I don't remember ever doing (applying make up to each other whilst blind fold?!). And they were, for the most part, self-sufficient, not needing or wanting any adults present (so I resorted to eavesdropping instead). I lost count of the number of little tearful spats, complaints of "it's not fair, I don't have a Go Go pet / lip gloss / Hello Kitty teddy". I also stopped counting spilt drinks, mashed in popcorn, french fries, sticky lolly sticks on the floor. The three fat ladies show was absolutely hillarious - Nic and I were in stitches and have encouraged them to do it for "Wincham's got Talent" at school this month. The only moments I didn't enjoy were at 12.30a.m., 1.30a.m. and 2.30a.m. and I don't think our little house guests were very fond of me then either! Have you ever tried shouting in hushed whispers?!

But as ever, we did have fun, the kids loved it as evidenced by the photos and it's over for another year. In years to come when they are celebrating their birthdays at the pub with their friends, we'll look back with rose tinted glasses and say how wonderful it was.

By Jane Burkinshaw. Share this post by clicking on one of the Share buttons on the right hand side. I'd love to hear your comments too!