Hello everyone,
Welcome to a fine and sunny Tuesday afternoon. Well it is now at 4.30 in the afternoon, better late than never, shame it`s flippin` cold though! Enough about today, apart from Jim being out fishing and me being on my own all day....sigh! I`m going to tell you all about our lovely day out yesterday.
We left the house at 11am and headed out to Reading in search of the River Lodden and St.Patrick`s stream where Jim was told the fishing is really good. We took a very picturesque route which took us through many pretty Berkshire villages, including Sonning, a lovely place by the River Thames. We saw a sign that said Scarecrow Trail, Bank Holiday Monday and then the first scarecrow sitting in a garden. The we saw another, and then another so we found a free car park and went to investigate. It seems that the whole village had participated and had a scarecrow or scarecrows in their gardens and each of them had numbers on them. People were walking round with maps trying to find all the scarecrows. Some were hidden in the church and others were in peoples drives or gardens, and let me tell you that the majority of these gardens were very large indeed and the owners of these beautiful homes must be very understanding people to allow complete strangers to wander around their properties.
Jim and I didn`t follow the trail but we did try to find as many scarecrows as we could so I could photograph them. It looked as though a lot of work had gone into them and the villagers have to be commennded for that. There were refreshments available in the church hall and the home-prepared food looked wonderful, with Ploughman`s lunches, home made pate and freshly baked cakes...it made my mouth water just looking at them We decided to eat there but there tables were full up and there were others waiting so we decided to go to our usual garden centre cafe on the way home.
The country church of St.Andrew was full of scarecrows and while in there I took some photos of the beautiful decor. I`ve always loved churches and this one waslovely with all the brass fittings highly polished and adorned with tea roses and lillies, the scent hung in the air like an expensive perfume, I could have sat in there all day.
We walked along the side of the river to see if we were close to the part that Jim was looking for. It wasn`t but it didn`t matter because we`d found this place quite by chance and we both decided that it had turned out for the best. A scarecrow trail is hardly something we`d do everyday but we were glad that we`d stopped the car. In the past we`ve been driving through some place and there`s been something going on, but we`ve never bothered to stop. I think we will in future because we never know what we might find. By the end of the day we still hadn`t found Jim`s fishing stream, but he really didn`t mind, we had a really nice day out and that`s what mattered. Bye Bye for now. :o)
14 comments:
The photographs are wonderful Sandra. Like you I adore old churches and that one is lovely. I suppose they were holding a best scarecrow competition, what a great idea. I would love to have been there. Never been to Sonning but I guess there is big money in those parts. Glad you had a lovely day
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what fun you had and a good thing you stopped. Our church has those beautiful stained glass windows too and when we build our new church they are going to find a way to put them into the new church.... we are all so pleased about that too. Sandra
What a lovely day out especially as you hadnt planned it the surprise element is exciting ,I loved all the scarecrow pictures ,people do have some wonderful ideas ,,and how lovely the whole village participating ,must have taken some organising ,The church looked lovely too ,with the stained glass windows and flower arrangements.....Jan xx
Sandra how lovely you saw that sign ~ and how lucky for us to see the pics you took ~ I love the scarecrows especially the one in the wheelbarrow he really looked good and the ones in St. Andrews Church are lovely don't the flowers look good ~ Ally
It seems the unexpected surprises are the best, how lovely to have found that little village. The church looked beautiful and I loved the villagers scarecrows! Thanks for sharing it all with us! Jeannette xx http://journals.aol.co.uk/jlocorriere05/Welcometomytravels
What a lovely way to spend the day and so unexpected. The people in the village had mad a real effort to make there scarecrows and had mad a superb job of them all. Take care Love Joan.
What a lovely day you two had. The church and river were both beautiful. I love those stained glass windows. I have never heard of a bunch of scarecrows being on display like that. Another day will come up to find Jim a fishing spot. Helen
What a wonderful day! The church is lovely. The scarecrows were funny! Never saw any like that.
Pam
Sounds like a lovely day out and I like the idea of that scarecrow trail! That's the kind of thing that appeals to me about living in the country, you just wouldn't get that along my High Road .....though, I don't know, there may be one or 2 scarecrow look-alikes.......:0)
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Can I come and visit Sandra??? What a beautiful place!!! Im so glad you got to enjoy yourselves.
scarecrow trail !! that sounds brilliant!! Linda x
I love the sound of that village and I love the photos especially those of the stained glass windows - didn't they come out well?? Glad you had a good time xx
Wish I'd been there, sounds a lovely trip out. Take care.
Sylvia xxx
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It sounded like a really good day seeing all the different scarecrows....Jeanx
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