A winter garden

It's difficult to remember the abundance of summer in our garden in the depths of winter...


Our garden is currently looking so dismal, damp and forlorn that we went to find beauty in Abbotsbury gardens instead.


The branches stand out against the sky and lead your eyes upwards.


A glimpse St Catherine's Chapel is revealed through the bare branches.


The contrast between the white bark of the silver birch and the bright green moss was so eye catching.



The first camellias were already in flower.


and the snowdrops here were more advanced than ours back at home.



Parts of Abbotsbury gardens have more of a sub tropical feel.

We returned home through Abbotsbury village. This is the view from the churchyard.


Back home the sun set turned the garden into a spectacular sight!

We also had a special family celebration this weekend. My brother and sister in law celebrated their 40th  Ruby Wedding Anniversary and we had a lovely family get together. This day meant so much to us all as my sister in law had a difficult year in 2013 fighting illness.


Thank you so much for all your lovely comments in the last post.The overwhelming view was to put the 1960's magazine back in the attic with a magazine from 2013. I will also add a paper copy of the blog post including your comments and some pictures of the house and garden too.

I promise the next post will be by the sea!
Sarah x


Comments

  1. What a beautiful garden visit. I love the silver birch trees.

    Despite the warmth in southern California this winter, my garden does not look lovely because of the lack of water. We are expecting rain tomorrow. I need it to water the few plants I planted this morning.

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    1. We will all love to send some of the rain in your direction Carol! Sarah x

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  2. Hello Sarah, I Enjoyed the beautiful photos Abbotsbury Gardens. It is lovely to see nature coming back to life after a long Winter.. NO signs of Spring here yet. Hugs Judy

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  3. Beautiful photos - Abbotsbury looks like a lovely place to visit. Congratulations to your brother and sister in law on their anniversary.

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  4. You have such lovely places to visit.

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  5. Ah! Beautiful Abbotsbury!! Roll on spring, then I can get going on my 'Dorset, places to visit' list!!!

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  6. Hello there lovely friend! As I look out my window at FEET upon FEET of snow, I am excited because I know that under all that tonnage, sleep little seeds and roots and networks of LIFE! Beautiful photos today dearest Sarah! Anita

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  7. Although I love your winterpictures, I realy like the first picture the most! I love summer:)

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  8. Abbotsbury is looking lovely, even at this time of year! Great plan on the magazine, you never know what will happen in the future, perhaps you will someday see it all on the Antiques Roadshow or something!! Congratulations to your brother and sister in law, I hope that they have many more happy years together. xx

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  9. Thanks for sharing and hugs to Daisy and Twinkle!

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  10. Oh, camellias out already. I keep looking at mine in the hope of seeing the tiniest glimpse of pink. It is years since I visited Abbotsbury, it is a beautiful place.

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  11. Thanks for sharing your truly lovely photos, Sarah. I thoroughly enjoyed them...even if they were not of the sea :) xx

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  12. I love your garden posts! Even after all this time reading your blog, I'm still astounded by just how beautiful the area around your home is

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  13. You're grabbing photo opps better than me at present (by far). Have an Abbotsbury Gardens post stored up from before Christmas. Was hoping to go back before posting because the light was bad . . . then I got put off by roadworks. Beginning to feel a bit pathetic. Love the light in the graveyard photo.

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  14. You always take such beautiful photos Sarah. It's been very wet, cold and windy here but I noticed yesterday some bulbs already showing their leaves on a pot outside.

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  15. Lovely idea re the magazine. I do like that photo of the silver birch and moss. Sounds like you had a very special celebration. Wishing you a good week. Juliex

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  16. There was certainly the weather for getting out and about at long last this weekend. Let's hope for some more of the same! :-)

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  17. I loved the reminder of the summer garden - so colourful, so bountiful, so cheering! Abbotsbury looks a treat.

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  18. Thank your for this beautiful impressions from Dorset. I will google Abbotsbury.

    Sigrun

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  19. That looked like a lovely garden visit Sarah and the photos are a breath of fresh air. I've seen several snowdrops around which bring a smile to my face - Spring is almost here :)

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  20. What a beautiful place, and the village looks enchanting too. I loved your top picture, all that green and all that sun! But I think we need winter to make us appreciate it all the more. I hope you have a good week.

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  21. Such a lovely garden and beautiful countryside to enjoy.
    I must have missed your last post, will have a look now.
    Have a lovely week,
    Marian

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  22. Abbotsbury is definitely on our list for a visit this summer. How lovely it looks in winter, with bare branches and early snowdrops.

    Congratulations to your brother and sister in law. Hoping she has a much better year in 2014.

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  23. We are getting snow here in Maryland (USA) once again, but I don't mind because it covers all the brown we usually have here. It will be more than a month before we have any of our Spring bulbs making an appearance so I enjoyed seeing your lovely photos. I especially like the Birch and moss! But all your lovely architecture would make even brown look lovely. It always amazes me to see tropical plants in Britain! I think your island has just about all kinds of climate within a short (relatively speaking) distance. Anniversary congratulations to your brother and sister-in-law. Gabriel update: Yesterday he wouldn't eat until I put some of my turkey sandwich meat on his food. Other days that didn't work. The good news is I'm less uptight about it because I'm accepting it as a way of life with him. I'll just offer him different choices every day. Once he gets hungry enough, he eats. Maybe he'll figure it out for himself: not eating = upset stomach; eating = happy tummy!

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  24. all the lovely green... thank you for the beautiful photos and the tour.

    xox

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  25. It looks like it was a lovely outing. I especially like the churchyard picture. I have a fascination with all the old churchyards you have in the UK, and I have a ton of pictures I have taken at various ones. We don't have old churchyards like that here in Western Canada.

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  26. that looks a lovely place to visit, we've had a couple of sunny days here and I'm so looking forward to Spring!

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  27. Oh, what a beautiful place. I am amazed at the flowers already in bloom there!

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  28. Sarah - what a lovely garden to think that blooms may just be around the corner. It is so cold and dreary. I like the photo with the silver birch and moss and loved the church yard view. Thanks for lifting my spirits.
    Best,
    Kim

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  29. I agree, it is difficult right now to remember how lush and colourful gardens are in summer. But Abbotsbury gardens look worth a visit, even at this time of year. The snowdrops and first camellia flowers are beautiful.
    I'm glad you had such a lovely family gathering get this weekend.

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  30. Even in winter Abbotsbury gardens look beautiful! Congratulations to your brother and sister in laws wedding anniversary!

    Happy week Sarah!

    Madelief x

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  31. Hello Sarah
    I know what you mean about remembering what the garden looks like in summer. Congratulations to your brother and sister in laws anniversary x

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  32. This is why its great having a blog to post photos on. I love looking back on various posts throughout the year to see how things change and you can get a great idea of what doesnt look right and that you need to change. If the top picture is your garden in summer it is beautiful!

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    1. Glad you liked the top picture - yes it is our garden.Sarah x

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  33. Hey Sarah,

    You always find wonderful places to visit. Lovely! My garden is looking rather drab, but the little Camellia is starting to unfurl it's flowers. Very excited.

    Leanne xx

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  34. How nice to see a few flowers coming into bloom, it makes everything feel a little less wintery.
    Congratulations to your brother and sister in law, I hope 2014 is a good year.

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  35. Our garden is looking so burnt and dry from all the summer heat, I'm wishing for cooler weather, your garden wall look so very pretty. Great photos.

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  36. I love that silver birch and moss one best. If we had the sea every time we wouldn't appreciate it so much!

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  37. Must get to Abbotsbury in the spring, it's not too far from here. Lovely to see flowers out already.

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  38. It's just beautiful over there, even in the depths of Winter. Love all that lush green moss. It's Summer here and everything is brown and brittle....I'm almost looking forward to some wintery weather or at least a good drop of rain. Thanks for sharing this lovely piece of countryside with us. Have a lovely week :-). Mel x

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  39. Hello Sarah,
    Lovely photos. It seems you can never take a bad photo where you live. What a gorgeous part of the world you live. Congratulations to your brother and sister-in-law. So sorry to hear about her not feeling well. Hope 2014 will be a much better year for her.
    A time capsule, how neat. : ) Wishing you a lovely day.
    Blessings!

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  40. Hello dear Sarah,
    I am so pleased you put the magazines back in the attic and added last years to the pile along with comments.. what fun for the next person to find them.
    The garden at Abbotsbury looks tropical. The more plants next to each other in those settings they seem to protect and help growth of what is next to them. A beautiful place to visit.
    The photo of the village, looks like a scene from a dickens novel.
    Your weather looks great.
    We have cold ,wet days at the moment.
    wishing you a happy week.
    val xx

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  41. Wouldn't it be amazing if the next owners of your house added a magazine as well. Beautiful photos as usual, especially the silver birch trees, the only thing in our garden that is similar to your photo is the lovely green moss, unfortunately it's supposed to be grass!

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  42. Your post reminded me to look back through so photos of trips out last year and there were lots of blue shy days so thee is hope that the rain will stop and the gales will go and we'll have sunshine - yah! I do like the look of your garden - so lush. The moss at Abbotsbury is so pretty, moss always fascinates me when you get down to eye level with it, it's kind of fairy tale land down there.

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  43. What a beautiful place to visit. Amazing looking at our sad gardens now what they may look like again this summer !
    Snowdrops are so special aren't they ?

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  44. Abbotsbury village looks amazingly beautiful and I love so much this English landscape and architecture! Wonderful tour Sarah, I really enjoyed it and you make me wonder of my next trip in England!

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  45. Beautiful pictures - I must google Abbotsbury to see if it is where I think it is! I also like your very first picture it is calling me to go and sit there with a cuppa.

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  46. What a lovely garden to visit in winter - and how nice that there was so much to see - if only my garden was looking as good.

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  47. What a beautiful garden dear Sarah :) The pictures are lovely! Hope you have a nice weekend my dear friend :) Hugs.

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