All I know is that this picture was taken in Lower Slaughter, England.   Taken by Chris Duffy

Usually when I take a picture and look at it later, I can remember not only taking the picture, but what was going through my mind when I took it, or what events were happening at the time I took it, but not so in this case.  For the life of me I cannot remember taking this shot.  I don't know whether it's a house, a church or a park or what.  And the only reason I can tell it was taken in Lower Slaughter is because the pictures before it and the pictures after it were all taken in Lower Slaughter, so that's gotta be the place.  It scares me sometimes when I think about how much I'm forgetting things.  IF this is a house, I like their gate and the front entrance. 

Another lovely house in Broadway, Worcestershire, England                                                               Photo & enhancement by Chris Duffy

You know, I've always been told that letting ivy or vines of any kind grow ON your house was bad for the mortar, but I honestly have to rethink that, because so many houses over in England have some sort of vine clinging to them and some of them are 200 years old  and it doesn't seem to have hurt them any, so what's the big deal.   I will have to say it looks kind of scruffy in the "off season", like this one below.

Bibury Court Hotel in Bibury,  England                                                                                                              Photo & enhancement by Chris Duffy

When this vine is not in it's dormant stage it's a firery red and the hotel is really quite breathtaking.  It was really beautiful last time we saw it, back in September of 1996,  but in early April when I took this shot, it's looking pretty unkempt.  But we know the tourists who come later than we did will really enjoy it.  

Another house in the town of Broadway, England . . in the Cotswolds.                                                            Photo/enhancement by Chris Duffy

Here's another of the charming houses in Broadway, only this one looks like a duplex.   I hadn't noticed that until I started enhancing the photo.  Funny how you can be right there and looking at something but not notice a certain thing about it until studying a photo later.   I can see why they take plenty of pictures at a crime scene. 

A house in Broadway in England                      Photo and enhancement by Chris Duffy

Broadway is one of the towns that we didn't get around to visiting last trip and we'd heard it was just as delightful as our favorite, Burford, so we made sure we spent a whole day there this time.  We were not disappointed either.  It had everything a tourist could want; lovely cottages, a church yard with gravestones, and plenty of places to shop and eat. 

The Stable Lodge in Broadway in England                    Photo and enhancement by Chris Duffy

Here we go again with gates and stone walls, but I do like them and they were everywhere.  What could I do?  I had to take pictures of them.  You can barely see in this picture, to the left of the window, a statue of a little girl holding a dog. I do wish that I had noticed it when I was taking this picture, because I would have liked to have gotten a close up of her.  But, there was so much to take in that I couldn't possibly have noticed everything.

This is as good a close up as I'm going to be able to come up with after the fact.  

Vine House in Bourton on the Water - Photo by Chris Duffy and Enhanced in Paint Shop Pro

Vine House in Bourton on the Water - Photo by Chris Duffy and Enhanced in Photo Shop

This is a cottage in the town of Bourton on the Water. I liked it for several reasons. First of all it's made of Cotswold stone, secondly it has a black wroght iron fence and the door has that "aged" look.  I've enhanced it in two different softwares . . . Paint Shop Pro and Photo Shop.  I like some aspects of each enhancement and some things about each that I don't like, and I'm having a devil of a time figuring out which one I like best. 

What are your thoughts?

Unnamed lilies beside my driveway . . . . photo and enhancement by Chris Duffy

These wonderful lilies surprised us last year when they appeared around our circle driveway.  We had no idea they were there since we'd moved into the house late the summer before. They are sturdy fellows, because my hubby has been revamping the front yard ever since we moved in and they came up again this year.  I was a little worried that he might have accidently killed them with all the digging and planting and transplanting that went on, but there they are, in all their glory again this year. 

I planted some tiger lilies in what we lovingly call our meditation garden.  It is a strip about 6 foot wide and the length of the house.  It was a overgrown weed patch when we bought the house a year and a half ago and we're slowly making progress on it.  Slowly because most of our energies have been directed towards the front and back yards which are much more visible.  This side yard strip is only seen by us so it's taken a back seat to the other two yards.  I also planted some purple hyacinth vine and hope it does well.  I just love the green folage with the deep purple undersides and especially the light purple blooms later in the fall. 

Purple Hyacinth Vine . . . . . Photo by Chris Duffy

Here's what the Purple Hyacinth vine looks like. Isn't it beautiful.  I hope mine get enough sunlight over in the side yard to do well.