London day out at the museums
London Town!Oh boy, we're such country bumpkins that we rarely get down to town.We do have a tradition of getting out of our little village to London at least twice per year. Once in July to celebrate my birthday and once in winter to celebrate Robert's.I go to Kew and R goes to the museums.The trouble is that R's birthday is late November and we're not usually together till early December, so we pick a random pleasant weather day and go into London.We love to drive into Oxford and take the train into Paddington and then to tube to the museum district.
It's a short walk from the tube past one of the best named little bistros around!(You know what? I really love the look of gloss black doors.)
The Science Museum, the Natural history Museum, and the Victoria and Albert Museum are all in one area and they're all free!Our first museum stop and Robbie's favourite is the Science Museum.
We walk into the great hall and past years and years of scientific breakthroughs, like steam engines and light bulbs, telephones, the first manned space flight module, the first MRI machine, Bakelite, Plastic...computers...it's all here.
Then we go up to the second floor to look at the invention of flight and the various engines.
Together this translates as, "Warning, do not turn the engine at the fan wheel", separately it translates as "warning" "do not turn on" "fan" "go berserk"! We laughed puzzling it out.
This beautiful illuminated clock has a four-story long cable with a pendulum swinging above it measuring time by the rotation of the Earth on its axis.I want this on my ceiling!
Here is the view from our lunch! The cafeteria has some mezzanine seating and we love to have our lunch looking down at all the activity.
After lunch, we decided to see one other museum while we still had time and daylight.In this photo, you see the Natural History Museum on the right and the V&A on the left.When we arrived, 2 hours ago, there was a long queue to get into the Nat. His. Museum and the queue wasn't getting any shorter. It seems that some of the school children don't go back to school till next week and it seems they all chose today to visit, so, not being keen on standing thru the queue or being surrounded by millions of screaming littles, we went to the V&A.
Which is just fine with us. We love the V&A.
It's an amazing Tardis of a building.
The first exhibit we came to was a fashions thru the ages sponsored by the fashion house of Balenciaga.This showed the most exquisite clothing from Edwardian times, thru Victorian times, and on thru the 20thC.Here is a beautiful silk caftan from the 1920s.
Suits to die for (or have a rib removed for...lol) from the 40s.
And the 50's.
And no place to hide the muffin top dresses from the 60's and 70's.
So, after committing to daily yoga and workouts and knocking off the 10 unwanted Christmas pounds, we went on to explore Asian influence in Victorian England.
Here's a peek into the National Art Library.
Next, we came to all things gold and shiny. Buddhism, Renaissance church artifacts, stained glass windows, crowns, crosses...golden heaven.
I was looking at this little statue and said, "she's beautiful."Robbie was reading and said, "She's a he."I read the text and said, "those hips, that tiny waist...damn girl!"
There is a small painting gallery in the V&A.Just four halls, but exquisite works.
I loved these:Charles Robert Leslie 1837
Charles Robert Leslie 1849
The pearls on this alter piece Madonna 16C
Turners!Was there ever a greater master of atmosphere than Turner?
I was fascinated with the brush strokes he made to paint these waves.You can feel the fury of the turbulant waters.
And Constable.King of pastoral paintings.
That's about all the time we had on our day train/tube passes; which run out at 6pm, so we had to make our way back out to the great hall.
I must admit a slight feeling of envy when we passed these art students.I used to do this, and wish I had more time in my life to sit and paint in museums. If I lived in London I'd probably be here every day in the winter and at Kew every day in summer.
So Robbie waited for me under the Dale Chihuly chandelier while I had a quick mooch around the gift shop. I bought a few lovely things...
...and we walked out of the V&A, walked down the block to the Natural History Museum, watched the people for a few minutes, and walked down to the tube, and started our return trip back to Oxford and back home.
My birthday and Royal Botanic Gardens Kew
Hello everyone,I almost want to say, "welcome to my annual RBG Kew post!"
But it's true.On my birthday it's traditional for us to visit Kew and, in all of England, there's no other place I'd rather be.
I get absolutely giddy walking into these gardens. I just can't help it!One tiny problem of a July visit is that Kew holds evening concerts here and so closes the gardens a wee bit early.Tonight All Saints, featuring Mel C Spice Girl, were playing but we're not really fans, so just enjoyed our day and didn't plan on staying for the concert.
This year the gardens were just spectacular.You know, some years these beautiful deep borders are full of vegetables, or herbs, but this year, it was flowers all the way.
Masses and masses of flowers.
Eight to twelve feet deep!All being well tended to by the gardeners.
My new favourite find this year is this rose. (Are you surprised it's a rose? LOL)It's Rosa Kew Gardens and it might be my new favourite rose.
We walked down the main walk to the Orangerie to have my birthday lunch.
And after lunch, to Kew Palace, the palace medical garden, and then on to the kitchens and the kitchen garden.
The little, walled kitchen garden is one of my favourite garden in the world.This is inside the little garden shed.
I just love walled gardens. Such an amazingly clever way to make your own micro-climate for the best and earliest veggies.
I've wanted to have a few rhubarb cloches for a million years now, but can't think of a practical way to import them to my Vancouver garden.Oh, I just noticed the little black bird sitting on the wheelbarrow. He's probably after the raspberries.
Everywhere you look there are beautiful veggies and fruits, many ready for harvesting like these onions.
This isn't a very big space, but it's big enough for all the veggies and fruit for an entire family.Oh heaven to be able to garden in a space like this.
Inside the palace kitchen is an upstairs where the housekeeper used to sit and keep ledgers.reading these ledgers is something. You can see that they recorded meals which included something like 12 chickens, 24 pheasants, 16 rabbits, and a swan for one meal.Do you like my summer dress? I love it. Bought it in Prague.
On this level is a lockable cold pantry where preserves, cheeses, and smoked meats were kept.
And downstairs are the kitchens.These are the shabby chic rooms of my dreams!I could live here.Just need to add an Aga, a big jug of flowers, and I'm done!
Every year, after lunch and the kitchen garden, I drop Robert off in the nearest gazebo so he can have a rest, and I go thru the water gardens and the big walled garden.
This walled garden is a bee paradise.
In the water garden, one of the gardeners was cleaning out the ponds.
I asked her why the water looked so deep and black, and she told me that Kew has begun testing an organic dye, which darkens the water, doesn't do any harm at all to the plants and creatures, and inhibits some of the algae growth because the algae cannot photosynthesize thru the dark water. Not to mention that the pools look like something out of a fairy tale.How amazing is that?
I tend not to go into the Princess of Wales conservatory very often, and mainly because there are so many other places I love better and time is usually short, but the grasses in front are amazing.
I'm really beginning to love these grass gardens.Wonder how it would look to incorporate some grasses into my urban garden.Wonder if you really need a much bigger space for grasses.
The reason I don't really devote time to the P of W conservatory too often is because it doesn't change very much and it's right beside the walled veggie and Kew student gardens. I love these gardens and always find so much inspiration.This summer had a much warmer start, so most of the roses are bloomed out, but the veggies are well ahead of schedule.
One thing which I always look for, especially for my urban gardens, are the various tricks the gardeners use to grow vertically.
This year, for the first time EVER, the student's were selling off some fo their produce and flowers.How amazing is that?I bought some of the beans, some chard, a cucumber, zucchini, parsley, and those sweet peas. Veggies to feed the body and gotta have the sweet peas to feed the soul!
Then I walked back to where I left Robbie and we carried on past the Hive to the glass houses.
This is the waterlily house.
Inside are tropical vines growing all over the walls and ceiling.
And in the middle is this pool full of black water and aquatic plants.That little yellow blooming plant is Chloe's favourite Mimosa Pudica, the sensitive plant.In Vancouver, she has trouble growing the smallest pot of it and here it's stretching over the pool and half way down the side!So all we need is a warm, humid, tropical waterlily house in the back garden and C can grow her Mimosa all she likes!
The Palm house has remained my favourite glass house for the past several years.Actually, even before the Temperate house shut down four years ago for renovation, the Palm house was still my favourite and even more so now because most of the Temperate house plants had to be relocated to here, so it really is like a thick tropical jungle.
I alway take the time to walk up the old Victorian staircase to the tree top balcony.
The climb up puts you right next to the flowers and tree crowns.And from up high, the view across all of Kew is amazing.
Robbie usually skips this house and waits for me on the other end.
My last stop of the day is always at the Marianne North gallery.She was a Victorian botanist and botanical artist.She was one of those very rare Victorian women with the money and freedom to do as they pleased.She knew Charles Darwin and travelled the world painting plants and scenes and collecting botanical specimens.
At Kew, there are 832 of her paintings.A couple years ago Kew bizarrely put up "no photography" signs in this gallery. Yeah, like that's going to stop us.But over the years when photography was allowed I've photographed probably every painting here, so for me, it's not such a great loss.
So there you are my friends. A rather long post of my ideal day.The commute from London to Oxford was twice as long as the commute in courtesy of the rush hour, but we didn't care.With all these lovely Kew veggies, supper was just minutes away.If you have trouble cleaning pool, check out pool service in Orange County to get an excellent service.
My birthday at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and a painted parrot
This year, like every other year...lol... I got to go to the royal botanic gardens, Kew on my birthday.I wonder if you're all bored with seeing Kew every July since I started this blog? Seven years of Kew!!!But I just love traditions and rituals, and my birthday wouldn't be the same without a day out in Kew, so I hope you'll come with me yet again.Each year Kew has a different theme, and this year the focus was on bees and deep, flowering borders.
These borders are planted all along the walk to the Orangery where we always have lunch.
On the way we spied these two young artists and stopped for a chat.
After lunch we walked to the Kew palace and round to the palace kitchens and kitchen garden.
I love the palace kitchens.Situated a safe distance from the palace, (in case of fire), they are my absolute ideal shabby chicness.
Look at this wonderfulness! Really, what more would I need?Ok, maybe an aga and a fridge...but that's all.
Oh, and maybe some chairs too. :D
We thought about not going to see the hive. It just seemed to be a sculpture one could stand inside and listen to a recorded buzzing of bees, but thought that maybe we should anyway, you know, just to say we've been there done that.But on the way up to the sculpture, we were shouted at from the guard at the top telling us we're going up the wrong path!!! Path police!!!The thing is that there were no directional signs and actually the only sign there, a 'please keep off the wildflower meadow' sign, was planted facing the direction we were going!!!We looked at each other and thought, "good feeling's gone."
We turned around, walked out and happily went to find our own buzzing bees.
Then on to the walled garden. I love walled gardens in general because they create the most wonderful microclimate for vegetables.
This one is so full of wonderful ideas.For example, look at these cucumbers being grown up these little trellises. How brilliant is that for keeping them off the ground and away from slugs and maybe even protected a little from mildew because of the air flow.
And these tomatoes grown as cordons in this system.
And here in this walled garden is my favourite rose: Filipes Kiftsgate.
I just love this rose. A village friend gave me a Kiftsgate shoot last year and it's doing really well in my garden here, but hasn't bloomed yet. I can't wait to see this kind of display in the old crab apple tree in a few years.
Out of the walled garden...
...and past the two artists.
Their paintings were really coming on well. If I lived in E full time, I'd paint at Kew too.
I just couldn't get enough of the borders. Can you imagine having the room in your own garden for deep borders?Such a dream.
On to the glass houses.The waterlily house, and the palm house, (which are my favourite), were open, but the temperate house has been closed for repairs for a couple years now. It will reopen next year.
The waterlily house was so warm and humid that my camera lens fogged up almost immediately, so you get very romantic Victorian photos. :DDo you see in the centre there are three buds on the giant Victoria waterlily.
Out of the waterlily house and into the old Victorian palm house.The palm house is really full of plants because so much of the material had to be relocated from the temperate house. I love it like this. It's a jungle.
One more look out and around the garden, a quick stop at the little shop, and home we drove.
When we were walking around we kept hearing raucous squawking from some of the trees and then finally saw the bright flashes of green. We stood still and watched. It was the feral parakeets, the ring-necked parrots, which escaped or were released in Victorian times and found their new homes in the trees of London.So, naturally I painted one for myself. I put him on a piece of Mendelssohn with the term "Presto agitato" and a very repetitive note structure. So fits!
Well I hope I haven't bored you to distraction with my annual post from Kew. :D
The king's kitchens and my birthday supper
At RBG Kew, one of the most charming areas for me are the King's kitchens and the kitchen's garden.On the second floor is a small room with chairs and some lovely reproduction books and menus from King George's era.
One book I was particularly captivated by was The Compleat Housewife 1727!
And, as we were making a roast lamb for my birthday supper, I decided to take some points.On roasting...
...and on roasting lamb.Crikey, didn't learn this in Cordon Bleu. :D
By the time we got home I forgot the lot, so relied on my own methods.But the lamb was amazing.
And so were the roasted potatoes and Mediterranean veggies.
I did have a bit of an Olde English flourish with my chocolate cake though and decorated with rose petals and wild flowers. :D
I might need to add that lovely little book to my old cookery book collection. :DDo you collect old books? Actually, I can't resist old gardening books. Love those.
My birthday and RBG Kew
First I wanted to say thank you so much to everyone, over 100 of my friends, for wishing me a Happy Birthday yesterday on my Facebook. I'm absolutely overwhelmed with the outpouring of love. Thank you my friends. I treasure each and every one of you.And second, I'd like to tell you that I had the most fabulous birthday in the world!As usual and traditional for us, Robert took me to RBG Kew for the day.
It was overcast and misty, and, since we usually have hot summer weather at Kew, it was wonderful to walk around in the fresh and cool. We were saying that Paris in April is nothing as romantic as our version of romantic: Kew on a drizzly summer's day. :D
Traditionally we head to the Orangery for tea and lunch, plan our walk...
...and head out to the gardens.
Each year there is a new summer theme at Kew, and this year it was all about spice.Various areas in the garden had self learning booths set up with information about a spice, drawers to open to smell them, and historic examples on display. Did you know that one variety of star anise, a native Japanese variety, is actually highly toxic and often used for incense, and sometimes the spice has been mixed up with culinary star anise resulting in deaths? I never knew that!
We walked around the student gardeners' beds, (good to see that even expert gardeners have weeds, lol)
Love the stick and pot method of keeping the nets up.
We took photos everywhere.
R is very skilled at photobombing! He makes me laugh so much. :D
Then I have to say to him, "Oi, get out of my photos!" And I get the lost little puppy look.
At one point R had a rest in a little pergola while I walked around some more of the garden.
And late into the day, we climbed the 60" up 6 staircases to walk in the Kew treetops.R ran the last couple staricases taking the stairs two by two, and when I got to the top I looked at him and said, "show off! :D " The middle-aged British couple beside us sniggered ever so politely (although they tried not to show it...in that very British way.)
What could have been better for me? I don't know.A day of love, companionship, garden and photos.
Happy day. :D
A whistle-stop visit to London
Oh boy, I feel like such a conflicted mix of local and tourist sometimes. I mean, who goes into London for an hour and half; two at the most? A local? And who goes crazy looking at all the sights and taking it all in? A tourist? Yeah, that's me...a local tourist...a lorist!!! :D
We dropped Catherine off in Soho just about lunch time and R said we had to get out of town before the afternoon rush hour.
So, with a max of two hours, we made our way thru W1 to one of our favourite museums for a little lunch and a brief run around.
I'm always surprised...wait, not surprised...it's more like a mix of horrified and thrilled...horrilled! at the mix of beautiful, treasured, preserved and old, and new, contemporary, tacky and sparkly in this town.That's me, a horrilled lorist. :D
And, what would London be without a sudden deluge? (Yes, we did have the obligatory black umbrella with wooden handle with us.)
We found a parking spot around the block from the Science Museum, and hoofed it in between the rains.You wouldn't tell from this photo, but I think it was about a hundred degrees inside the museum with a million out-of-school kidlets running around.
R went to the main restaurant space to find us a seat and I went to buy us some lunch.
I had to laugh...although I really shouldn't be...I sort of missed with lunch! First, the sandwich we split had a horseradish mayo in it, and, while I love horseradish, R hates it, and, I GOT THE NON-HORSERADISH HALF! He ate the chips...lol. I grabbed a tea for me and a water for R...the water was sparkling not still, and no amount of shaking would take out the bubbles, AND, the chocolate brownie was such death by chocolate that one bite and we both broke out in a sweat. You gotta laugh! :D
We ran around a few of the floors and looked at the exhibits.At the entrance to one room, there was an art installation. A big column and sign which said DO NOT TOUCH! A bit of an anomaly in a risk-free, child friendly museum. We stood there and giggled as hundreds of children completely ignored the sign, rushed up to it and touched, (much to their parent's horror). Apparently the pole in the centre gives off a mild electric shock amplified by sound. But apparently, these kids didn't feel anything. :)Next, we rushed off to see a time exhibition.
I love time pieces and clocks.Then, on to R's favourite area: Engines!
I must confess I love the engines too. Robert's been showing me some animated video of how radial engines work and teaching me about them. It's so wonderful that people are making little videos like this one:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJf5v-9ShAII'm such a visual learner that it helps me understand the sequence of the firing/piston action.
And I think they're so sculptural that they could stand as a work of art.
Most of our museum time was spent with the engines, but we did go into the central gallery to look at some more cool cars and boats and also to look at this Bakelite exhibit.
I love Bakelite, especially jewellery from the 30's and my vintage phones, but it's amazing how well the stuff was used.
I also spied a loom and studied it for a few minutes for when I get back to Vancouver and set up the thrift shop loom I bought. Actually, I didn't learn much, but it was lovely to watch it clunk and clang as it wove the cloth.
Well, that was it. Three pm came round way too soon and we headed back to the car and pointed it towards Oxford.It still took us hours to get out of town. :D
One more from RBG Kew: Glasshouses, plus that lotus keeps showing up
If I lived anywhere near Kew, you'd know just where to find me; right in a glasshouse. Every chance I got.This is the famous Palm House constructed in 1844. Beyond it you can see the Waterlily House 1852.
This year the Palm House is fuller and richer than years past because the second giant glasshouse, the Temperate House, is closed for rebuilding and refurbishing for a few years, and, while there's a temporary glasshouse for the Temperate House plants, some have been relocated into the Palm House.
I just caught the watering time of the day. Actually, it's more like the misting time. Isn't it fantastic? Loved the humid, green, fragrant air.
So many weird and wonderful blooms.
Then on to the waterlily house. There's something about this glasshouse that brings about some sort of reverence.
It might be the black water, or the reflected light, or it might be the glorious blossoms, but there were at least a dozen people in the glasshouse with me and no one made a sound.
And just there, there it was, sighing among the grasses. The lotus! A pink one. How beautiful. I have a thing for lotus these days.
You know, I dream of a glasshouse of my own. I dream of a magnificent pavilion as my studio, or a glasshouse to house fifteen massive palm trees, (although in truth I'd settle for a simple little garden variety greenhouse and my own studios are the most wonderful spaces in the world to me, and I feel so lucky to have them. :D ).
But still had to show you one of my most favourite galleries in the world. This is the Marianne North Gallery. Marianne North was a Victorian botanist and artist and world traveller, and here, practically from floor to ceiling, is a collection of her paintings from all over the world.Isn't this the most magnificent space?I used to take loads and loads of photos here, but last year someone put up a no photographs sign."Bah", we say, and even, "stuff that for a game of soldiers."
And sometimes breaking rules is vital, because, here is Marianne's lotus, and we must have a photograph of that!
My week has been incredibly busy and I can't wait to tell you all about visiting Bath, (Wednesday) and Art in Action, (today and tomorrow), taking over the charity book stall on Saturday's village market, and visiting friends on Sunday, and, I'm also looking forward to the days calming a little next week. Big hugs from busy me over here in West Cottage to all of you. Hoping you're having lovely, stress free and creative days.Tell me about your days, leave me links so I can catch up with everyone. :D
Kew Palace
China furniture wholesaleA couple of years ago, Robert and I watched a BBC program about the restoration of this big house. I found it fascinating how a tiny scrap of flocked green and black wallpaper could dictate the whole room scheme and lead to some hand made flocked green and black borders being reproduced exactly the way the Victorians would have made it, and that there was someone in E who actually hand made flocked wallpaper borders!!!
Greeters at the entrance are dressed in Victorian costumes, and, although there have been three Kew Palaces, this one and the interior is a time bubble from King George III (1738-1820) and Queen Charlotte and stretches somewhat into the Victorian times.
And it's a lovely big house to visit. There is a collection of beautiful and important paintings in each room, lovely furniture, views to the formal gardens outside and, it's easy to imagine living there. I was particularly impressed with the furniture. Upon enquiry, I found that it was imported from a China furniture wholesale factory.
The restored parts of the house and the first and second floor. The third floor is still stripped bare and waiting for restoration, but visitors can have a look. The fourth floor is another story though. Temptingly lit staircases and servant's passages abound, but access is restricted and CC cameras are in full view.Darn, I really wanted to sneak around and explore everything, but I think old Queen Charlotte would not have been amused. I did ask about secret passages but was assured there were none. (Do we believe that?...lol...bet I could find one)
R said I was being bad and so we walked back down the staircase to the main floor and looked at some of the treasures.
And out thru the dining room with its celebratory supper. Apparently, this was the supper King George had when he recovered from his first bout of madness and was allowed to use a fork and knife again. Apparently he spent most of his time in straight jackets being fed with a spoon. Poor man. Who knew arsenic powders in cosmetics were bad for you!?!
On to the conservatories next. :DAlso, please excuse the tragic lack of comments on my part. These days are just flying past and I'm just trying to catch up, but read every single comment and am so grateful for your friendship. :D
A beautiful kitchen garden plus royal kitchen
Well, I would say this would be just about PERFECT for me! And yes, I'd move in in a heartbeat and live in the little gardener's shed if someone would let me. (I don't take up too much room) :DOf course, 200 yrs ago, the real kitchen gardens, which served Kew Palace and Mad King George were enormous, but thank goodness the land has been given over to the gardeners. Also, thank goodness this little representation remains.Let's have a look, shall we? Then read this blog.
It's a walled garden! Isn't this the absolutely most sensible way to garden in the world?I'm thinking, "where can I get my hands on a few thousand beautiful old bricks to wall in my own garden?"I was also considering to get some professional trimming services. I looked up on the internet to read more about tree services so that I can select the best one in town.
The south wall and the north wall.
How hard can it be to to make a bunch of these charming cloches? I'm going to try to figure them out. A bit of glass, a bit of leaded strips, a bit of solder...
Here's the charming gardener's cottage. The perfect place to have tea.
And now, I suppose all the beautiful produce had to be prepared somewhere. Let's have a look at the royal kitchens.The kitchens are somewhat below ground to keep them cool, but still have light and a view to the garden.
I really would call this shabby chic to the MAX!Lovely old wood burners, lime washed walls, stone floors, old patina on pipes, rustic wood.
These were the food preparation areas...
...and this was the cooking kitchen.This space is two stories tall to get all the heat to rise and vent out.
And what's on the second floor?Accounting offices, chef's offices, and offices where the Kew Palace staff organised meals.Robbie read that the kitchen processed over 300 chickens per month in that ledger.
I suppose this is also the place for a glass of something in the evening.(Related: Check this review of wine bottle openers on the website of Kitchenistic)
Or a cup of tea.
And, further into the kitchens, are larders full of processed seasonal foods stored for the future.
Did you enjoy your visit? I did.Do we all want to run out and build a walled kitchen garden and shabby chic the heck out of our kitchens?Yup, I know the feeling. :D Kew Palace next time :D
My birthday and RBG Kew
If you've known me for any length of time, you know I love the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew. And you probably also know that it's my birthday treat is to visit each year.You would probably not be surprised to know that Kew is a riot of flowers and colours, and that, each year, the Kew world changes. One year there was the most beautiful Dale Chihuly installation here. Hundreds and hundreds of colourful glass sculptures stood in gardens, floating on ponds and lakes, were suspended from trees and ceilings. One year the focus was on vegetables and other edibles, and this year the focus was on comfort, protection, healing and medicinal plants from all around the world.
Robert and I had a ton of unexpected traffic into London and came to RBG Kew later than we wanted but just in time for lunch.We walked past the palm house, past the brilliant flower beds, to the Orangery cafe.
And while the hot reds, purples and yellows were very much on view, exciting and wonderful, what I noticed most were the white flowers. Each time I came on a brilliant white blossom, my heart skipped a beat and I had to stop.It may have been the sunshine, may have been the terrible traffic jam, but I felt that I needed the cool, clear, peaceful white flowers that day, and so, this year, Kew became the year of the white garden for me.
We did the usual tour of the gardens between the palm house and the Orangery, but then decided to walk out into the arboretum to see the Thames.
We walked and walked and eventually made our way back to the Orangery, and R decided he wanted a rest, so he found a shady tree while I went on to explore the walled gardens.
I love Robert, but I loved my alone time.
I held hands with the trees...
I waved with the grasses...
And I captured as much of the peace in my heart as I could.
Eventually, I walked out of the walled gardens to the Princess of Wales conservatory and explored the alpines and cacti.
And made friends with some gardeners working in the grasses.
Found Robbie right where I left him...
And we went on to explore some more. :D
More from Kew tomorrow.