Henri Matisse

We spent the morning looking at temporary residential care options for my mum who has still not fully recovered from her recent bout of delirium. We have a winner but will check out a few other options before making a decision.

After our visits to care homes it was time for lunch. We hesitated only briefly before deciding to return to Hodnet Hall, one of our favourite places to have lunch. This time I chose humous wraps. After lunch I couldn’t resist the short walk to see the Magnolias again, they are magnificent and the sunshine was showing them off to perfection.

Later we visited mum to find that she was not accepting visitors. She had once again refused to have her hair cut after looking forward to the pampering session for days and was giving the care workers a hard time.

We left…

A couple of weeks ago Hodnet Hall Gardens opened its doors for the 2025 season. We had other plans on the first two Sunday’s that it was open, a Chesterfield overnighter and a small family gathering for mother’s day and my mum’s birthday.

Today was the perfect opportunity for our first visit of the year. The sun was kind to us allowing us to sit outside and enjoy our lunch in the sunshine. Although served differently the smoked mackerel pâté was every bit as good as I remembered it from our previous lunches at Hodnet Hall.

Following lunch we strolled around the gardens, enjoying the spring flowers in the spring sunshine.

A perfect afternoon.

As we arrived at Hodnet Hall it started to rain. This didn’t matter as we intended to have lunch before going for a walk. Lunch, as always was delicious and the rain had stopped by the time we were ready for our walk.

The rain fall had enhanced the vibrancy of the garden colours leading to our walk being especially enjoyable.

Much later in the afternoon the heavens opened which meant we got a bit soggy walking to and from a family visit.

Osho

The sun was out and the Autumn colours of Hodnet gardens were calling me. I had lunch in the afternoon sunshine before a quick walk around the gardens. Due to my time limitation I couldn’t linger as long as would usually which meant I had to miss out parts of the garden but what I saw was wonderful.

And there are still a few more opportunities for me to visit again before the gardens close for the season.

Robb Sagendorph

2021 reviewed in 12 photographs, one from each month of the year.

For some of the months it was difficult to choose only one photograph.

The individual photos can be viewed by clicking on the links below.

1. Leegomery Pool, 2. Local Pathway, 3. All Saints Church, Wellington, 4. Hodnet Hall, 5. Ludlow Castle Walls, 6. Stonehenge, 7. Tasty Treats in Ledbury, 8. Roseway, Wellington, 9. View from Brough Castle, 10. Autumn, 11. Fountains Abbey, 12. The Swan Hotel, Hay-on-Wye