A Good Friday outing to Waddesdon Manor a nearby National Trust property.

The house isn't very British. In fact I'd say Waddesdon is Marlinspike:

Waddesdon is famous for its formal bedding:

There were some curious caves near the Tulip Garden. I regaled how some Victorian gentry would pay hermits to live in purpose built hermitages to much derision. Phil probably more realistically described how such structures were often used to store ice:

I guess they're simply a folly. Anyway, the kids loved them:

We liked the new gorilla statue by Angus Fairhurst. You're supposed to be puzzled why a herbivore is carrying a salmon. The rugby ball was Phil's addition to this enigma:

Classical statuary abounds:

Sadly the daffodils were just about over:

Anna Pavord is apparently scheduled to give a walk and talk about the Tulips in May, but at £85 a throw i think a day trip to Keukenhof sounds like much better value.

There wasn't much to see in the Tulip Patch itself yet, but the formal display of Tulips at the back of the house should be very impressive:

Into the stables for an ice cream:

This wasn't posed, honest:

The dairy looks just a little too nice to be real:

So homeward bound through the Tree Fern walk: