Birthday treat

Somehow a birthday outing can feel even more like a treat when it takes place some time after the actual day. There's the anticipation, and the extending of the enjoyment of self-indulgence. Yesterday I met a friend for a great gift of an afternoon at Barrington Court.

By one of those glorious coincidences there was an exhibition for me to visit on the way. Prompted by Meahb Warburton's blog post of 20 April to order the Tapestry 08 catalogue I was reminded of a weaver I'd met and whose work I'd admired some years ago. On looking up Hillu Liebelt's website I saw that she has an exhibition on at Black Swan Arts.


I loved the exhibition. It is a mixture of tapestries and sculptures, most of what is illustrated in the website in fact. There was no-one there at all, so I really enjoyed the light crisp atmosphere, the meditative quality of the work, and drew delight, peace, and inspiration from the whole. I took no photographs - not only because all is done so well on the website, but also because I felt it would break the mood to be clicking away.

I did however take many pictures of the beautiful gardens at Barrington Court.

The place is beautiful, with several building styles,

and the setting is splendid with a wealth of growth all around: garden rooms inspired by the planting style of Gertrude Jekyll,

various picturesque outbuildings,

a walled kitchen garden,


water features,

and so much more.



It really was a treat of a day.