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May. 2nd, 2006 07:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
llywelaHad a good day yesterday - we'd decided on Sunday to have a day out as a family on bank holiday Monday, as part of my dad's birthday celebrations, and went to Aberglasney. My mum and I have wanted to go there for years now, so were delighted to finally make it.
And it's an amazing place - hundreds of years old, the house and garden were completely derelict until a few years ago when a massive restoration project got underway. And the results, what they've found beneath the vegetation, is just stunning. The whole place just feels so eerily magical - especially the old yew tunnel, hundreds of years old (the official website says 18th century, but it has actually been dated to much earlier than that). And the cloister garden is amazing - the ramparts surviving where most of their period were swept away by later renovations. There's the hodgepodge gatehouse - part gatehouse, part folly, with that very old ecclesiastical arch purloined from elsewhere and installed for decoration. The portico... But my favourite was the ninfarium. The inside of the house is mostly completely ruined - the walls still stand, and some of the outer rooms are intact, but the interior is just a ruin. So it has been turned into a hothouse garden, with a high glass ceiling replacing the upper level. There's just something really awe-inspiring about wandering along the paved walkways between flower beds inside a house - you can still make out what would have been the kitchen, with a deep well alongside the flowerbed hearth indicating just how old this house is. It's beautiful.
I bought the book about the restoration of the gardens, and am now completely gripped by the story.
On the way home we stopped off at Graig Fawr near Margam - one of the largest and most ancient bluebell woods in the country. The bluebells aren't in full bloom yet, but the woods still look really lovely. It would be nice to get back there next week, when the flowers are out properly - it's family tradition to take Small's photo sitting in the bluebells every year because they bloom just in time for her birthday. But next weekend looks like it's going to be a bit too busy to get there.
Got home and put together the official reviews for the Written, but didn't make the announcement as while working on them I developed a severe headache bordering on migraine - the actual pain (the kind that pounds right behind the eyes) wasn't as bad as it could have been but the queasiness, shivering and disorientation that accompany a migraine were all present and correct. So I had to turn the computer off and take a migraine tablet (which I hate doing - I get so spaced out) and watch some TV while waiting for it to kick in enough to be able to lie down flat.
Watched a couple of episodes of Dark Angel, having invested in the DVD sets recently (less than half price - couldn't resist). Got to the episode where Jensen Ackles first guested - he looked so young! But he had that intense eye thing working for him even then, and stands out from the rank and file of guest characters. You can see why they brought him back as a series regular for the second season.
This morning...feel slightly better, but a little washed out. Migraine sucks.
And it's an amazing place - hundreds of years old, the house and garden were completely derelict until a few years ago when a massive restoration project got underway. And the results, what they've found beneath the vegetation, is just stunning. The whole place just feels so eerily magical - especially the old yew tunnel, hundreds of years old (the official website says 18th century, but it has actually been dated to much earlier than that). And the cloister garden is amazing - the ramparts surviving where most of their period were swept away by later renovations. There's the hodgepodge gatehouse - part gatehouse, part folly, with that very old ecclesiastical arch purloined from elsewhere and installed for decoration. The portico... But my favourite was the ninfarium. The inside of the house is mostly completely ruined - the walls still stand, and some of the outer rooms are intact, but the interior is just a ruin. So it has been turned into a hothouse garden, with a high glass ceiling replacing the upper level. There's just something really awe-inspiring about wandering along the paved walkways between flower beds inside a house - you can still make out what would have been the kitchen, with a deep well alongside the flowerbed hearth indicating just how old this house is. It's beautiful.
I bought the book about the restoration of the gardens, and am now completely gripped by the story.
On the way home we stopped off at Graig Fawr near Margam - one of the largest and most ancient bluebell woods in the country. The bluebells aren't in full bloom yet, but the woods still look really lovely. It would be nice to get back there next week, when the flowers are out properly - it's family tradition to take Small's photo sitting in the bluebells every year because they bloom just in time for her birthday. But next weekend looks like it's going to be a bit too busy to get there.
Got home and put together the official reviews for the Written, but didn't make the announcement as while working on them I developed a severe headache bordering on migraine - the actual pain (the kind that pounds right behind the eyes) wasn't as bad as it could have been but the queasiness, shivering and disorientation that accompany a migraine were all present and correct. So I had to turn the computer off and take a migraine tablet (which I hate doing - I get so spaced out) and watch some TV while waiting for it to kick in enough to be able to lie down flat.
Watched a couple of episodes of Dark Angel, having invested in the DVD sets recently (less than half price - couldn't resist). Got to the episode where Jensen Ackles first guested - he looked so young! But he had that intense eye thing working for him even then, and stands out from the rank and file of guest characters. You can see why they brought him back as a series regular for the second season.
This morning...feel slightly better, but a little washed out. Migraine sucks.
