Monday 30 April 2007

If you go down to the woods today ...



... this is what you'd find. We went on our annual visit to the very aptly named Heaven Farm to look at the bluebells. And bluebells there were aplenty. Heaven Farm is such a very special place in one of my favourite parts of East Sussex, just past Sheffield Park and the Bluebell Railway.


Everything about this place is magical, it reminds me of the film "Fairy Tale" based on the story of the Cottingley Fairy photographs. Such beautiful scenery and, yes, we think we have seen the odd fairy flying around amongst the bluebells over the years.


Wherever you turn there was this blanket of blue offset by the purest of greens and shards of sunlight filtering through the trees. Not just a feast for the eyes either, the scent was heavenly and wherever you went you were accompanied by the sound of birdsong (I heard my first woodpecker!) and the occasional sound of the steam trains over on the Bluebell Railway - it is the perfect place to lose yourself in your thoughts, a bit of a sensory overload!


Back at home, the garden is really coming on leaps and bounds. On Thursday the first buds of Apple Blossom were opening (the tree thankfully having survived the rather radical haircut I'd given it a few months back). But by yesterday morning the whole tree was covered in blossom and if you're looking for fairies there must be the odd Apple Blossom Fairy hiding in those branches!



The bluebells are still blooming and are happily dotted around the front and back gardens. The sticks are in waiting for the sweet peas to be planted, and, if you look very carefully, you can see the snails on the sticks waiting for the sweet peas! Oh well you can't have it all...

26 comments:

Heather ~ Pretty Petals said...

Just beautiful! I just love bluebells! There is something I love so much about flowers that are blue...they are so calming.

Heather

Cape Cod Washashore said...

Beautiful photos! Your photography is just stunning! I have NEVER seen a bluebell before other than in photographs!!! But we have quite an abundance of woodpeckers at my house... so much so that they often peck the side of the house early in the morning and wake everyone up! Thank you for sharing that wonderful forest! =)

AC said...

It's just like a fairy tale. So pretty I'll have to go and see the bluebells in our local woods again this weekend.
Alison x

ShabbyInTheCity said...

My parents used to dig bluebells up in the woods and plant them in the yard! I haven't seen the huge quantity shown in your beautiful photos before though!

Anonymous said...

I live near there and I agree Heaven Farm is great. Its been a really good year for the bluebells hasnt it. Did you go to Trading Boundaries and the Global Village just up the road?

Anonymous said...

Beautiful beautiful pictures! Still loving you posts! xxx

Anonymous said...

What a magical wood! I can imagine walking through the trees surrounded by flowers and listening to the birdsong and the distant whistle of the steam trains. I love the blossom too..

Marie x

Gill said...

Lovely photos,your garden looks very pretty. I must get out to our local woods this weekend too, as always I run out of time and then regret missing bluebell time.

Anonymous said...

Heaven Farm looks (and sounds) enchanting! The bluebells are amazing ... and the apple blossoms!!! I can almost smell them from here. Every garden must have a fairy or two! ♥

Angel Jem said...

Blue and green should never be seen.... that's what my mother got taught as a fashion tip when she was younger, but it is impossible not to love nature's combinations & blue and green are so so wonderful! I must find a bluebell wood nearby!

Primrose Hill said...

Hi Kim,
Those bluebell woods look stunning, it's such a calming feeling walking through them on a sunny day. I'm being totally inspired just now by the lime colours surrounding us, the leaves are just bursting out around us just now. We have a woodpecker that comes into the garden everday and feeds from he peanut feeder, his colours are beautiful, you can tell when he's around as he makes this funny chitting noise!
L x

Liz Harrell said...

I've seen lots of bluebells on the side of Texas freeways, but never like this! I guess there must be different varieties. On the forest floor, so beautiful. These pictures could be from a storybook.

Berber said...

Those bluebells are gorgeous... I have some in the garden as well :)

Anonymous said...

Such pretty pictures! I sent your package off yesterday. The mailman says 3 weeks to England. :o( Good things come to those who wait though! LOL

andsewtosleep said...

Lovely photographs. Bluebells are are my favourite flowers. Mary

ginny said...

What a beautiful post to wake up to. Can really imagine the sensory pleasure of being right there in your lovely bluebell wood. Will hold that feeling with me as my crazily busy day unfolds.
ginny x

Heidi said...

Heaven Farm sounds like a very magical place! Thank you for sharing the photos and bringing back memories of spending time in England and seeing the bluebells blooming in the woods.

Your garden looks so beautiful. I never have been able to get sweet peas to grow and don't know why. I will enjoy seeing yours this year. I only wish I could smell them too.

Victoria May Plum said...

What a lovely post, I love walking through bluebell woods in spring.
Heaven farm sounds, well, heavenly. Victoria x

Betty Jo said...

OMGoodness Kim! What gorgeous, gorgeous photos. I posted forest photos just yesterday on my blog, with blue flowers, but not nearly as beautiful as bluebells. I so wish we had those here in the US. xoxo

Deb said...

Lovely post and photos. Having been born in Sussex the 'bluebell forest' was so nice to see :-)

Darla said...

Your woods full of bluebells are inviting. Looks like the perfect place for a walk.

I want to see those fairies flit by.

Darla

Anonymous said...

Sweet Peas are my favorite! What a clever name for a farm! Wish I was there!

Boxwood Cottage said...

Oh how I'd love to go down the woods with you! And your garden looks gorgeous too! Such lovely pictures!

Amanda and Tim said...

How beautiful! I absolutely adore Bluebells as they remind me of Faeries and woodland scenes!

Natasha Burns said...

Oh I can almost smell them here.... it's all so beautiful!!!

Charlotte said...

oh I just love all the bluebells. oh it makes me miss Kew...

your garden looks simply splendid. i would love to spend just an afternoon pottering about in it admiring all your lovely plants and trees...