Nonsuch

There had been talk of snowdrops, I forget where, so we thought it time to go and see what was going on at Herald Copse. It was still cold and damp and we were not feeling particularly energetic, so, for once, we parked in the car park on the Cheam side, just off the road I used to take to the Cheam baker when I first retired. Not to mention Pinegar's, the Cheam butcher. The baker has been overhauled, but it looks as if Pinegar's is still up and running, even if there is no website, as there are entries in business directories and there was some kind of a transient link to waygu beef - expensive stuff which seems to come in both animal and vegetable versions. See reference 2 for the latter.

Lots of plastic barriers on the road leading from the car park to the big house, presumably because people are prone to park on the grass at busy times, regardless of whether the ground is wet & soft or not. Presumably a more tasteful alternative would have come too expensive for the hard pressed park management team.

There were also signs of activity at the Forest School, seemingly a popular form of pre-school child minding these days. And I imagine Nonsuch Park is ideal, with more than enough trees to entertain pre-schoolers.

Snowdrops just starting to come out, just about visible in the snap above. But, presumably, they can push their way through the leaf fall. Maybe the dead leaves are good, as they slow down the growth of stuff which might crowd out the snowdrops?

A lone Christmas rose, the proper name of which neither of us could bring to mind. It was not until we were back home and my hands were poised over the keyboard, ready to ask Cortana, that the word hellebore popped into mind. Flowers which I rather like and which plenty of gardens, such as Wisley, plant to good effect.

Lots of twittering in the bushes and trees. Lots of crows and squirrels on the ground, these last very plump and tame, despite all the dogs about. Including in the spaces where they were not supposed to be. Mix lot dog owners. Plus the large Wellingtonia in the copse of handsome trees to the south of the big house, previously scored, just about a year ago, at reference 4.

Tea without cake on this occasion. I thought a new presentation of food, snacks as well as cakes, so maybe new people. Plenty of mums and small children, plenty of pensioners. Some couples, like ourselves, some of a more herding disposition complete with Nordic walking poles and so forth. We may get there yet.

PS: last year the snowdrops were going strong when we visited them in the second half of February, as noticed at reference 1, having only just been showing a month before that. Perhaps we are up for a repeat this year.

References

Reference 1: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2022/02/nonsuch-herald.html.

Reference 2: https://mywaygu.com/.

Reference 3: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellebore.

Reference 4: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2022/01/wellingtonia-62.html.