PPA – Page 2 – Travels with Ali

🌼 Enjoying Essex – Hyde Hall Gardens, Chelmsford 🌼

I had been meaning to visit Hyde Hall Gardens for some time but the weather was always against us or we had other plans. So on the first fine day we decided to drive over and have a look. My dear husband seemed aghast when we arrived and found out it wasn’t an old building we were visiting but a vast garden!

Hyde Hall Gardens is owned and managed by The Royal Horticultural Society and covers more than 365 acres of land. It is divided up into different types of gardens ranging from Mediterranean, Australian/New Zealand, Winter, Vegetable and Dry gardens. There is a large nursery from which to buy plants from. There are panoramic views of the rolling hills and the Essex countryside. We had an amazing morning here walking around and marvelling at all kinds of plants, trees and flowers.

Sculptures by David Watkinson

Coppiced Willows
“Allow yourself to bend like a willow in the wind, so that you will not break”

“Daffodils,
That come before the swallow dares, and take
The winds of March with beauty“
~ William Shakespeare ~

“Where flowers bloom, so does hope”
~ Lady Bird Johnson ~

As you can see it was a glorious day, bitterly cold but the sun was shining making the water glisten and the flowers look brighter.

Blooming magnolia tree

**Gabion Wall**
A gabion is a cage, cylinder or box filled with rocks, concrete, or sometimes sand and soil for use in civil engineering, road building, military applications and landscaping. – Source: Wikipedia

Finally time for a rest!

We enjoyed our time at Hyde Hall Gardens, it’s a great place to visit to stretch your legs and get your daily exercise. A place of peace and tranquility with many places to sit and rest and enjoy the magnificent views.

This is the last post for the “Enjoying Essex” series as we are now back in our homeland of Perth, WA. I hope you have enjoyed travelling along with us in Essex.

I’ve linked this post with a few challenges that I’ve enjoyed over the years.

Flower of the Day – FOTD
Pull up a Seat
Photographing Public Art Challenge – PPAC
Restless Jo’s Monday Walks

~ An Oddly Decorated Tree ~

I came upon this tree during our weekend away in Stratford-upon-Avon and thought it very apt for Becky’s Squareodds and also for Marsha’s Public Art Challenge.

Market Murals and Real People

This is the second post showing murals from the town of Basildon. There is a market area with many different stalls and small cafes and dotted around are miniature murals of the various stallholders. They are very cute and I managed to get a couple of photos of the actual people.

Marta and Kay from Marta’s Chimney Cafe. Such a gorgeous little cafe where I enjoyed a delicious home made Chicken and Veg Soup. In the summer they dress up in these cute red dresses.

**A very jolly Watch Repairer – Back and Front view**

I thought these would be appropriate for the Public Art Challenge, Lens-Artist’s Double-Dipping and Thursday Doors. Hoping the pingbacks work!

PPAC – 🐘Herd of Hope Elephants 🐘

For Cee and Marsha’s Public Art Challenge this week I have some elephants from the Herd of Hope. They are bronze sculptures created by acclaimed artists Gillie and Marc, I came across them on our recent day trip to London in Spitalfields.

They are a family of 21 bronze elephants, who were lost when they became orphaned and are now in the care of the Sheldrick Trust.

I would have liked to look at all of them and read the stories but there was not enough time, maybe on another visit.

PPAC – #27 – Murals from my Neighbourhood

For this week’s PPAC I have a few from local outings.

We went out for lunch last week to a nearby suburb and I said to my hubby “I wonder if there are any murals I haven’t seen” and as I turned around there was this beautiful one staring right at me!

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

And here’s a fabulous one by Perth’s very own Stormie Mills

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Surfers at Cottesloe

This is painted onto the side of the Surf Life Saving Club. I like how it blends into the sea and sky.

Cottesloe Sculptures – #PPAC 26

Yesterday evening I thought it would be a good idea to drive to Cottesloe to watch the sunset. My dear hubby did say he didn’t think there would one as it was too cloudy, of course he was right. I’ve never seen such a strange sky. After a 40 degrees the day before the temperature plummeted to 25 degrees bringing the most intense thick clouds and a very nippy wind. Still I managed to capture some shots of sculptures I’ve not seen before.

White alien looking ladies in someone’s front garden

Every Friday Cee or Marsha from Always Write host a challenge – Photographing Public Art. The art should be visible from the street or sidewalk or in any outdoor places. Some suggestions from Cee below.

Seasonal Displays
Graffiti
Statues and Sculptures
Collections
Store Windows
Murals
Transportation
Car Shows
Artistic Construction (Bridge, benches and buildings)
Wall Art

Wish you were here with me

A beautiful spring day in Perth, WA

After playing mahjong last week this sculpture caught my eye, I couldn’t work out what it said at first, it took my friend and I several tries! It sits on the beach promenade at City Beach, WA.

Posted as part of Six Word Saturday and PPAC

Art in the Forest, Northcliffe, WA

The featured image is titled ‘Treecycle’ by Cecile Williams. It is indeed made from recycled books, wood and screws.

These are more artworks that we discovered on our recent tour of Pemberton, WA. It’s an amazing trail of nature and art, cleverly designed to blend in with the natural surroundings of the forest.

‘Written on the Wind’
By Norma MacDonald

‘Whole, You Were Meant To Be Here’
By Lorenna Grant

There is a whole community of artists and sculptors in this small town and you can read there story here.

Posted as part of Cee’s photographing public art

On the trail of Art, Westonia, Western Australia

On our way back to Perth from Kalgoorlie we made a quick stop at Westonia. Just a tiny town off the main highway with a population of under 300. This was a cute little place and I loved the way the people have made the most of the history there.

Established in 1911 by Alfred Weston after the discovery of gold was found in the area. By 1917 there was a population of 2,000. Westonia has won Tidy Towns twice in the last twenty years.

There is a caravan park, a good place for an overnight stay for the “Grey Nomads” travelling around Australia in their camper vans and caravans. Also there is a small gift shop/cafe and Post Office/Supermarket/Cafe.

A very well kept street, so neat and tidy

Where the old Fire and Ambulance Stations once stood

We hoped to have lunch here but unfortunately they were just closing, but the Post Mistress was there delivering their mail and she very kindly offered to make us some rolls at the Post Office. Country town hospitality at its best.