Summer's Day outing

Apparently yesterday there was an earthquake in the English Channel and the tremors could be felt in Portsmouth and the rain was falling in the south East but here in Somerset we had one of the best days this year with blue skies and warm sunshine so we decided to go off for an outing.  We intended to go to the Challice Gardens at Glastonbury but we decided after all to visit Wedmore a pretty little town we have been through several times on our way to the airport at Bristol and always thought we'd like to look around.

It is indeed a pretty little town - pity about the traffic though! - and we enjoyed a wander round and a look at the little independent shops.  There was a fishmonger/greengrocer, a butcher (called Baker!), a delicatesen cum cafe, several little shops selling gifts and things for the home and so on and a papershop/bakers where we bought some sandwiches made to our specifications whilst we waited which we ate sitting outside the shop on a bench in the sunshine along with a cup of coffee.

 This chap was enjoying the sun outside a delightful little gallery - I didn't buy anything but I could easily have done so had I had the cash!

 This was also outside the gallery.

 Pretty houses at every turn..

 Now why couldn't my hollyhocks have been content to be this size I wonder!

 After lunch we set off for Wells - England's smallest city and not far from Wedmore.   We had a wander up the main street towards the cathedral and the Bishop's Palace.  This is the moat round the Palace - all very tranquil now but I am guessing that if they needed a moat and crenellated ramparts at the time it was built 800 years ago that it wasn't always so peaceful!  I gather they had permission to pour boiling oil and molten lead from the ramparts on top of any marauders who might be attempting to climb the walls - not very Christian was it?!!

 Nothing like that happening yesterday though of course and all was very peaceful.  The cathedral looking serene in the sunshine from the gardens inside the palace.

This was one of the windows in what had been the Great Hall - only one wall left standing now along with a couple of towers which served to illustrate the immense size of the building when it was built 800 years ago.

 Lovely clematis clambering up the wall....  Oops I have just realised it should have been turned through 90 degrees - as I will ruin the whole post if I mess about now I will just leave it and wonder if you would have noticed!

Hydrangeas everywhere with some beautiful big blooms but nearly all pink.

Under this tranquil pool lie the four wells which gives Wells its name and the calm surface belies the great quantity of water which surges up - the average flow being about 40 gallons a second and the overflow fills the moat. 

This cute little building is the well house the original being built in 1451 by Bishop Beckynton and was perhaps his greatest gift to the people of Wells as it provided them with a supply of fresh water from the stone conduit in the market place which was fed by a run of 255 meters of lead piping.  It was rebuilt in the Victorian period and the dog on top is a Talbot which was apparently a favourite hunting dog of the Bishop - so now you know eh?!

 This is the high street with channels of spring water running along both sides.  Take care where you are putting your feet if you don't want a shoe full!

We'd had a great day out but sadly on our return I received a call from the vet with the results of a blood test Thomas had had on Monday - it seems he has a weak heart and needs to go on medication.  This had been picked up by the vet we saw earlier in the week when both cats went for their yearly check and vaccincations and poor Tom has yet another bald patch - this time under his chin so he looks like a scraggy plucked chicken when he lifts his head and you can see his skin!  It is difficult to imagine life without him after 15 plus years but I guess the time will come when I must.  This photo is very unusal since it shows both Tom (on the right) and Bambi sharing a resting place something they never normally do - do you think Bambi knows she has to be kinder to her brother now and wallop him a little less often?!  Bambi too has her problems as she has harvest mites (no not harvest mice!) in her ears and I am annointing her with some noxious stuff along with giving her her arthritis medicine - it's not only humans for whom "getting old is not for wimps" is it?!

Thank you all for your lovely comments on my previous posts I really do appreciate them all and hope to be able to catch up with you all soon.