After lots of dull weather, we finally had a bright, sunny day today and so, although it was very cold outdoors, Polar and Grizzly decided they would go out for a walk. Polar wanted to take her big camera so said only two Small Bears could go with her and picked Huddlesford and me.
Some of the Christmas decorations were still in place around the formal gardens, but there were teams of people and big "cherry picker" machines starting to take them down. Polar took our picture with the big Christmas tree near the cafe before we started a long walk around the lake.
We usually take the path beside the lake but this time went up towards the fields where the sheep live and into the woodland path that leads to the Witch-Hazel grove. On the way there, we saw several of the pretty fairy sculptures, including one of fairy cubs playing on a dandelion clock.We were sad to see some big oak trees had fallen over during the recent storms but happy to see how much the small magnolia trees had grown, as hopefully there will be lots of lovely flowers to see later in the spring.The Witch-Hazel was already in flower and it looked lovely, with hundreds of spidery yellow blooms. It also has a pleasant and gentle smell, and the little bushes were easy to climb, if you are a Small Bear - they are too small for grown-up humans or human cubs to climb.
There were more opportunities for climbing as we came back to the path around the lake, including a big tree stump with bracket fungi growing on it, and a very mossy log, although some logs and branches were still covered in frost, so we didn't try to climb those.
After our walk, Polar and Grizzly decided to get a hot lunch, and went to the "Pie Minister" pie shop in the shopping village. We were hungry too, so were pleased to be allowed to share!But it was starting to feel very cold on the way back to the car, so we are glad to be back indoors in the warm tonight.And Polar says we can help her and Grizzly finish the last of the Christmas pudding for tea!
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