19 February 2013

Ham House Afternoon


It was a lovely, sunny (!) day, and it's the half-term holiday, so we headed out to Ham House, where I'd read there was a display of costumes from Anna Karenina on show (part of the film was shot there - something in Vronsky's house). As Ham House is a National Trust property and we are members, free admission!  Always a good thing.




As the exhibition (and related tour of the house) were ticketed events, we had some time to kill - we got there around noon and couldn't go on the tour until 2.15.  So we had some lunch. And then, as it was lovely and sunny, we sat outside at the tables and drank tea. 


And then, we drank some more tea. 


And ate some cake. We originally had planned to have a stroll in the garden, but it was so lovely out and warm (for February) that we ended up just sitting. And drinking tea.


Although the sun is still quite low, it does really make a difference - especially as the weather has been so foul recently and looks likely to get yucky again from tomorrow. 


There were a few - very few - this little anemone was in a very sheltered spot


and of course snowdrops are among the earliest spring flowers - I did spot a few crocuses (croci?) across a lawn, but didn't photograph them. Even the daffs weren't out yet, though they were budding...


After the tour (which was interesting - the house isn't officially open yet for the season, so it was just a tour of a few rooms and a talk) and exhibit (which was good as far as it went, but had fewer costumes than I expected it to - this due to Universal Pictures, not Ham House itself, though), we had a little walk along the river  - not for long as the path was quite shady, so it wasn't as warm as the gardens had been.   Still it was nice to catch some scenic views, 


and to see some other folks enjoying the sunshine!



This is Ham House from the river side.


And this is the view across the river from the car park - not bad for a view from a car park!

No comments: