Wednesday was yet another warm sunny day at our cottages (see link).   Guests have been making  the most of the garden area with some having picnics there.  In the  morning we had the boilers serviced.  One departure and one cleaner up with one cottage arriving just after 3pm. They are from the Netherlands.  Another al fresco evening.  Thursday saw the tree surgeon here to remove a tree from the paddock area. We have a tree at the front which also needs some work but he will be coming back to work on that.  As we had a dentist appointment late morning ( for a check up)  we decided to stay for lunch and ate at Tree-line, which we often use when we have the dogs with us.  Back home I changed the linen for a cottage that was staying a second week. One departures. Later in the afternoon we headed to Haddon Hall which we haven’t been to for a while. As local residents there was a special offer for entry and they had also opened up a few more terraces of the garden area that are not normally open to the public.  A school band were playing in the main courtyard that added to the evening’s ambience.  It was a warm evening and we saw Lord Manners enjoying the gardens and music. The gardens at Haddon have always been enjoyed for their roses and delphiniums but the new garden designer has removed most of them in favour of something ‘more natural’.  Not sure I agree with his plans.  Whether it was because it was less crowded than usual but we noticed a few more things we hadn’t spotted before.  We took advantage of the outside seating and had dinner there too. I felt like I was on holiday what with both lunch and dinner out!  As we were leaving a balloon was taking off just across the road from the Hall.  It was the same one that had spooked Blue the previous week!  Back home I took the dogs for a late evening walk after their dinner, it was still warm enough to go out without a jacket but the temperature had just fallen short of last Saturdays one.   Nearly two weeks without rain.  Here is the link to the rest of the photos.