Getting closer to nature on Route 66?

I always enjoy Summer with the general growth of things, the bright colours that plants and flowers provide and the activity of wildlife as they bring their off spring up. The older I have become seemingly the more Summer means to me. I guess it is a getting old thing! So, today, when Mrs. Woody announced she wanted to go to a local country house to have a look around the house and gardens I was not going to argue - I never disagree with what Mrs. W says anyway! We arrived at the country house to find that it was holding a car show. Now some decades ago I would have thought that this sheer coincidence must make it my lucky day and have driven straight in. However Mrs. W and myself agreed (now that is an unusual occurrence) that it just looked too crowded and we drove off. We did end up back at the tranquility of Easton Walled Gardens where we visited a few weeks ago.

One of the nice things about the garden is that it is always changing as nature goes through the seasons and that you always find something new to look at. The other thing is that the gardens are large enough to leave some areas uncultivated so that nature can take over and the results can be stunning with grasses and wild flowers providing an oasis.

There were a lot of bees, butterflies and wasps and I stretched the capabilities of my camera phone to try to catch a bee and wasp as they hunted for nectar.

 It just hits you that this simple activity by these insects, repeated trillions of times around the World, is the basis of how we all keep alive. Amazing!

There are of course the more cultivated areas where form and order are displayed such as the universe garden where the galaxy and planets are represented in a mix of plant and sculpture form .

Further down the flower beds are dominated by large plants to an amazing effect.

At the moment sweet peas are one of the highlights of the gardens where they are grown for display and then the seeds are taken for the next years plants as well as for selling on through the on site shop.

It is strange how sometimes there can be the most unusual connection but having driven away from a car show to come to the gardens instead I find one of the varieties of sweet pea called Route 66 which from having driven some of it is probably the biggest car show ever!

Anyway a great afternoon and time spent sitting lazily in the sun for me and Mrs. W as well as this robotic lawn mower which had decided to call it a day and had parked up!

There is another reason I like to get close to nature at the walled gardens - they sell amazing cakes some of which came back to WMD HQ!

Back at WMD HQ work on my Last Great Project 00 gauge layout is progressing but would easily be taken over by nature if allowed! I have now finished the track work to extend the loop over the viaduct.

I am now in a position where I can start to fasten track down permanently as well as wiring it up and ballasting it. Or should I just let nature do it?