We were at Darley Abbey Methodist Church last Saturday for their Anniversary celebration. There was an exhibition of photography, and I had been asked to play background music on the piano between 10am to 12pm and again from 2pm to 4pm.
My husband was very thoughtful and had packed a beautiful picnic for us, so that during our lunch break we walked down to Darley Abbey park to eat our lunch. The sun was out, the sky was blue, the grass was a brilliant emerald green, the flowers were in bloom in various vibrant colours. After we finished eating we went for a stroll in the garden, and came across the hydrangea garden. It was enclosed in a brick wall, and there was a fairly large grassed area that one traveller had claimed for his own and was spread out lounging in the sun and reading a book.
We tried to keep our voices down as we talked becuase we didn’t want to disturb his concentration. There were another three or four men sitting at various benches throughout the garden, each with either a book or the newspaper. What a lovely idea I thought, it certainly is a beautiful spot to come to read your book. Just so long as the wind is not strong, the sun is not too strong, or it does not rain, of course! This garden also had a lot of butterflies. At first I thought they were Monarch butterflies that we get a lot at home, but on closer inspection I realised they were something quite different.
Alice Letts 