Longwood’s Garden Benches | Photos
by Elouise
The WordPress Prompt for today is Brassy, not one of my favorite words, given its history of being used in negative or derogatory ways. Nonetheless, in the photo above you see a ‘brassy’ cat! Note that she’s gorgeous, beautiful and calm. Also content and independent-minded. With a coat the color of a gleaming brass tuba or trombone. Enough said.
It’s Friday, time for more photos of Longwood’s garden benches. D took most of them over the last few years. In the top photo above, we’re sitting with one of three Garden cats, looking back at the promenade that leads to the Conservatory and Café.
Sturdy, tasteful garden benches line the promenade,
with plenty of room for wheelchairs.
Here’s another angle on the promenade and its benches,
taken in warmer weather from beneath a huge copper beech.
The Meadow Garden is a favorite during late Spring, Summer and Fall. A handful of benches and a few covered pavilions line the edges of the meadow. Here’s an example of a rustic bench, followed by what you might see if you’re sitting on this bench, looking back across the meadow. Notice the cool, shady garden benches at the edge of a wooded area.
Here’s another set of two.
In the first we have a well-behaved gentleman named D
sitting on one of those shaded benches,
along with a photo of the view from this bench in later Spring.
There’s nothing like the café after an hour or two of walking or hiking through the meadow. Below you’ll see outside seating followed by indoor seating in one of three café dining rooms with views of the gardens. You can also be seated in the upper-priced restaurant. We almost always choose the cheaper café with its healthy and unhealthy options. Something for everyone!
The Gardens have public restrooms in three strategic areas–the Visitor’s Center, the Café and Restaurant area, and the Conservatory. Even though you may not be in dire distress, I highly recommend a visit to the Conservatory restrooms. These are by far the most spectacular public restrooms I have ever visited. Imagine restrooms so beautiful you can’t resist taking a photo. And the garden benches? They’re behind the doors, at least one behind each door, plus lots of room, a beautiful sink and mirror. You’ll think you’re royalty!
Following are other indoor options for sitting and enjoying the fragrance, sound of water, an occasional musical concert from the side hall, or happy shrieks from children exploring the Children’s Garden. You might have to look closely to spot the seats.
One last promenade photo taken on my birthday, two years ago. We’d just spent the day exploring the meadow and Conservatory, and are on our way to the Visitor’s Center (far left corner) before heading home.
I hope your weekend brings unexpected beauty and delight!
Elouise ♥
© Elouise Renich Fraser, 2 June 2017
Photos taken by DAFraser, and other family members
I’m not sure if the mushroom soup at the cafe fits into the health or unhealthy category (probably the latter), but it sure is good…
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I remember asking about it once in the restaurant. Unfortunately I can’t remember the answer. It’s possible to make delicious mushroom soup without cream or milk. Which would definitely put it in my healthy category! 😊
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Lovely post! You got me with the brassy cat. She looks pampered beautiful. Lovely pics😊
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We’ve seen her several times in the gardens. Always mellow, with an independent air! Thanks for the comment, Vivian. 😊
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I love the pictures. I could enjoy looking at them all day.
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What a beautiful garden, we don’t get many, like that here, the climates to harsh, Melbourne, Victoria, does have some lovely gardens,
I always think, when I see such places, that it would be a delightful place to take my final breath.
I did get that feeling when I went to Yosemite National Park, but these gardens are so much more serene.
I use to sport a goatee/Van Dyke, complete with a magnificent mo but I was advised by the War Office when we first showed interest in each other, that either the beard went or she would!
I did grow one back in the very late 1990’s after an altercation, I still have the driving licence of that time with the beard. It actually did suit me.
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Thanks for this beautiful, interesting comment! Yosemite is astonishing, though I haven’t been there since the late 1970s.
As fot the goatee, he did it for fun and hasn’t tried it again. I thought it looked rather fine, myself. 😊 Do you have photos of the goatee with mag mo? An historical exposition of your facial and head hair might prove entertaining! 🙀😄
I like your thought about the delightful place to be when you take your final breath….not morbid at all. Rather healthy, actually. 😊
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A bit like me; rather healthy 😀 😈
I’ll see if I can get a copy of the driving licence up/downloaded, the mo doesn’t really show. Back in the late 60s and early 70’s the ends of the mo were so long I could stuff them into my ears 😀
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Yikes! Sounds like a great way to win friends and influence people! 🙂 I’ll be watching for the old driving license, even though the stuffing will be missing from your ears! 🙂
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awesome pics E ❤ and nice to see you and D's smiling faces. Looks like a beautiful place to spend hours in ❤
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Thank you for taking us on the trip with you. That cat is one huge kitty! Also, you are a beautiful woman, Elouise—inside and out.
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Oh wow. Thanks, April. As for the cat–yes, huge! Definitely well fed and pampered. She’s been on my lap several times when we’ve been at the gardens. Seems to love human attention. Who wouldn’t? 🙂
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