Picturesque with a capital P.

Today's post is a continuation of Friday's post and the final instalment of our trip to Devon with Maureen and Jerry.

Sauntering further up the village of Branscombe, the graceful St. Winifred's Church came into view.  According to Wikipedia this church "probably dates back to around 995"!   Happily the church was open, choir practice was about to begin, so we took a quick look inside.

Just along from the church was this pretty hillside garden.  Open to the public and any donations given went toward the upkeep of St. Winifred's.

Down at the bottom of the garden runs this tranquil little stream, frequented by more species of ducks than I've ever seen in one place before.

The view, above, looking back up the garden.  Speaking to the friendly couple who were outside the cottage we were told that the cottage is a holiday rental owned by the lady who lives just across the road...

...in this thatched, whitewashed, dripping in blooms, cottage.   Mrs Owner happened to be out watering all the plants but wasn't too busy to stop and chat.   Easily in her seventies, fully made up and hair immaculately coifed, she wasn't frightened of getting dirt under her fingernails, it turned out she did all the gardening!  I don't know how she does it, just dead-heading all the hanging baskets would be enough for me!

Different view of the same cottage.

Looking back over to the church.  I really like this photo, the church, the countryside around it, gardens in front of it - it just appeals to me.

It's thirsty work all that walking and admiring all that beauty that is Branscombe.  Therefore it was only natural that we would end up at the village pub and have a cold drink while we sat and rested our weary legs. 

The last photo is one I took with Maureen's camera for her and she has emailed back to me.  See she is holding a magazine in her hand.  There's a long story attached to that magazine but I won't go into it here.  However I will say that if anybody reads "501 Life Magazine", a magazine distributed in Greater Central Arkansas, you might just see this photo in there too.

It was a great holiday and we had a wonderful, fun filled time together.  The weather was good too, what more can one ask?

Kathleen.