August 2020 - Part One

 The amazing weather continued in August. Trust Britain to have the best summer weather during a pandemic! We made good use of it, and started to do more things as life started to become more normal again, and I began to start feeling more comfortable being in busy places, although I was still refusing to eat out anywhere. We'd been going out for our evening walk, which had started during covid was a nice experience together, chatting as we wandered about Southampton. As we were walking on a monday night, we were surprised to see all the local restaurants full of people taking advantage of the Eat Out to Help Out scheme, designed to get people back in restaurants and cafes. It amazed me, we were still being told to social distance, yet that seemed to have gone out the window in a lot of the places we walked past. It begged the question, what if this causes more cases? There was already concerns about the schools reopening in September, what would happen then? I was trying not to think about it, and focus on other things.

James decided that since we loved feeding the birds so much, he would take me to the Swannery at Abbotsbury. I think he thought you could feed the swans there. That was not the case! There were signs up saying not to feed them, but there was a dedicated time and place where you could take part in a supervised feeding, but we were far too early for that. But we did get to see some beautiful swans and their cygnets. The swannery is situated on the coast, surrounded by a nature reserve. Oh, and it was a rather gloomy day with some spots of rain, the first for a while. And of course, I was only wearing a t-shirt!

Lovely walk through the bamboo. Keep an eye out, there was the occasional swan sat in bushes!

That swan didn't seem too impressed with Anna Pavlova's visit!

This absolutely tickled me, nil by beak!

The nature reserve around the swannery is beautiful, you can just sit for hours and stare over, watching the birds flying in and out. Saying that though, the rain got a bit heavier, so we only stood and watched for a few minutes!

The swannery was built by Benedictine Monks, and the first record of it was in 1393, making it over six hundred years old! Its also the worlds only managed colony of swans. Prices are from £12.95 for adults, and the swannery is currently closed for the winter. But don't worry, it reopens to visitors on the 15th of March, so not long to go. If you like birds, well worth a visit. If you don't like birds, then this is probably not for you!

We then headed up toward Shepton Mallet, where James had booked the night in an apartment. We dropped off the bags, then headed into town. We went to Kilver Court, initially to buy some bits for dinner, before discovering that there was some gardens behind. This next statement I can say with some certainty, they may be the most beautiful gardens I have ever visited. They were brimming with colour & wildlife, and the gardens themselves were focused around a duck filled lake, while an old railway viaduct framed the whole thing. It was incredible there.

This view took my breath away

We then sparked a feeding frenzy, with ducks coming in from all different angles and altitudes to take advantage of the food we were throwing them!

Such an array of colour and texture, it was just utter perfection, made even better by having a large, bright blue dragonfly land on James's finger while we were sat on a bench. Could it get any better than that? Entry is £7.50 per person, which was a steal, considering we have paid more for a lot less before. And the garden has this perfect wildness vibe to it, which I imagine it takes the gardeners a lot of time and effort to create! A must see if you're in Shepton Mallett, or even just passing through. There's a cafe there too where we picked up some cake for dinner, before heading into town to explore a little further. But honestly, one of my favourite gardens that I have visited. (My only side note, the gardens partially close during winter, for more information, head to their website Kilver Court)