Sunday Standen

This time last weekend we had a family outing to Standen House & Garden, a National Trust property in West Sussex. We were here at a similar time last year, although a couple of weeks earlier for the tulip festival, this time around we were just slightly too late for the full impact of the 10,000 odd tulips that get planted here every year. It didn't matter as the grounds are just so lovely anyway, with rose gardens, vegetable gardens, fully flowering Rhododendron trees, apple blossom filled orchards, the quarry garden, woodland walks, and fabulous views out over the surrounding countryside.

There were still enough flowering tulips around the main house to photograph and admire- so many different shapes and colours! Some frothy, others pointed, some rounded, six petaled, multiple petaled....

I don't remember the quarry garden from last year as I think it was closed off so it was lovely to explore the uncharted territory, climbing up stone steps to a bridge that looks down over the pond at the centre.

Wouldn't it be lovely to live here and be able to have breakfast on the terrace everyday? Especially on days like it was last weekend with the weather so beautifully warm and sunny. You can almost see people playing croquet on the lawn with the ladies wearing fabulous hats and carrying lace parasols, perhaps wandering off into the pathways around to have secret conversations and assignations.

We are very lucky to have places like this to visit practically on the doorstep!