What a difference three days makes

Last weekend Brian and I decided that, as the weather was to be dry and a bit warmer, we would take a short break.  On Sunday morning Brian booked us into a small Hotel in Bournemouth on the South Coast for three nights.  We left mid-morning after packing our cases (and I had taken all the plants and cuttings from the conservatory and put them in our Front Room) we set off.  The journey from here to Bournemouth only takes 2 ½ hours so we were there for lunch. We walked into town and passed the balloon waiting for passengers.

The sky and sea were both a bit grey, but there were people on the beach.

This interesting memorial sculpture was at the end of the road - a memorial to Flt. Lt. John Egging who was tragically killed when his Red Arrow crashed.

The next day we went to Christchurch and walked around the small harbour there, and along the path by the river.

We came across this reproduction "Ducking Stool".  The Ducking Stool was used as a punishment for women in medieval times for such crimes as prostitution, witchcraft and for 'scolds'. A scold was a gossip, or bad tempered woman.   In the case of witchcraft, ducking was seen as a foolproof way to establish whether a woman was a witch or not.  If she drowned she was deemed to be innocent, if she floated  then she was assumed to be guilty and further punished.   I have to say that the water did not appear to be very deep here. 

The following day we went into Poole and had a walk around the big harbour there.  I loved these coloured buoys  We also went into Poole Pottery.  Unfortunately Poole Pottery is no longer made there, but they do have a demonstration of decorating the pots by their very talented artists.  We always find this interesting.

Walking back to our hotel after our evening meal this squirrel dashed across the path in front of us with a paper cup in his mouth.  He stopped and proceeded to get the lid of to drink the contents.  How clever is that?

On our journey home on Wednesday we stopped off at a Garden Centre for coffee (and a few purchases) and found this chap guarding the entrance.   He does look very fierce.

What a surprise when we arrived home in the afternoon.  The garden seems to have exploded into colour – well one corner anyway.     The tree behind our summerhouse/shed was covered in blossom, and the camellia next to it had more blossom on it than when we left.   There was a beautiful rainbow behind the tree when I took the picture.  Can you see it?

I forgot to take a photo of my Blue Jug, so will post that picture next time.