Derbyshire 57 - Matlock - Cascades Garden /a Japanese quietness and lots of water/great big doorstops for bread

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"The Drops of dew fall one by one. This world is perfect. Issa Kobayashi.



Well it's not quite dew. In fact it's stormy weather . Storm Ciera has hit our small island and caused havoc. Rivers have broken their banks and overflowed into fields, roads, houses and shops. The high winds have caused structural damage. Trees have been blown down. Cars have floated down the streets which now look like rivers. Closely followed by Storm Dennis . More of the same . Just different parts of the country. The climate is changing and changing fast .

Today is a bit of a shock. We wake to a car covered in frost . The temperature gauge shows zero . By 8.00 it has risen to 3 degrees and it feels like Spring has arrived . What a relief . It may not last long but it is long enough to make us smile and feel good. The sky is an unbelievable blue . Not a cloud anywhere . In fact , it looks like a Mediterranean sky . The sun shines through. The hedges are starting to take on a green tinge as the leaves break through. The winter almonds and cherries are just showing pink . The snowdrops have been out for a while and now past their best. The daffodils are coming out under the hedgerows and in folks gardens. Yellow everywhere you look and it will only get better as the month progresses. There are the colours of the crocus . Small perfectly formed buds in lilac, pale mauve , rich purple , yellows and whites. The buds are bulging on the Magnolias and the early Azaleas have started to flower. The winter heathers are rich purple carpetting the ground here and there .

We are still not out of the woods. March can be vicious . We could still get snow . The nights are getting lighter by the week . The light does not go on now until after 6pm and we are just weeks away from the clocks changing . Now that is something to look forward to . As is the week off work at the end of March. We have much to plan. At the moment we dont have any plan at all. We are not sure where to go yet . Possibly down south .

We had to get out . Cabin fever has set in. We have wanted to go out but the weather has been against us. It has either rained heavily or we have had a touch of snow. High winds . The sort of weather you hunker down and wish for Spring.

And yes we saw plenty of dew as it glistened on the ferns and the mosses .

We were not taking Gabby out . She is sitting outside waiting for a trip out. We have insured her this week so she is good to go. It is hard to credit that we have been motorhoming for the last 8 years . Where has that time gone to ? It hardly seems five minutes since we bought our first motorhome and set off . Most of the years were in Suzy but the last few in our girl Gabby. Suzy was not taxed back end of last year nor MOT'd so we wondered what had happened to her . It seems she has been sold again . The internet is a wonderful thing. We can check anything and everything . Checking the details on Suzy we could see that the V5 document shows a change of owner at the end of November . Where is she ? Who has bought her? Where do they live ? Will they do more mileage than her previous owners? Will they take her abroad or will she be one of these motorhomes that only travels this country . I doubt we will ever find out. We still cannot believe just how enjoyable motorhoming is. We have grown to love it and now love it anew . We have the tunnel booked . Our travel insurance is just coming up for renewal . We wonder how Brexit will affect the health and travel insurance ? Probably will go up to reflect the fact that we out . But not until the end of 2020.

Today though was local . We were only going a few miles up the road to a garden. It is hard sometimes to find things to do so this trip out was to be a garden described as a garden for wellbeing and meditation . We have been to a Japanese garden before . One designed by a Buddhist on Japanese principles .

This one wasnt quite up to that standard . The garden was described as being very beautiful and natural set in 4 acres. Small enough to be interesting and not too large as to be challenging . That was my thought when I picked it . It had been listed by a daily rag as being one of Britains most inspiring Spring gardens which had been designed around a spectacular landscape . Set within a ruined corn mill, old quarry, canal, cliff and stream. They suggested that every season brings new surprises with hellebores, unusual perennial flowers, trees, shrubs and conifers. Inspired by Japanese gardens and Buddhist philosophy Cascades Gardens is a celebration of Nature a perfect place to find peace of mind, to relax and reflect. We needed a bit of peace and relaxation. Refreshments were available. A wide range of plants were available for sale in the nursery.

We parked up and paid our £7 entry . We felt that was a bit excessive. We probably have paid much less for other gardens . So what did we find there. A garden set around water . There was water everywhere . Canals and rills , Water that ran down steps . Winter and early Spring was probably the best time to see the water . So much flowing everywhere . The garden tinkled with the sounds . We were given a leaflet which gave a path around the garden marking out stopping places . A seat was placed at each spot and we were reminded to stop and listen and to stop and look. To think and meditate if we wanted to. We met the owner who was working in the garden . He apologised for being wired up as he had fallen and damaged his spine . We had read that he had the Cascades house and the surrounding land in 1996 with the idea for a meditation garden. He had visited a Buddhist monastery and followed Zen practice . Practices that helped him sleep as he was not able to lie down at the moment and found himself sleeping upright and in pain. He had viewed the formal gardens and woodlands and had been inspired by rocks, racked sand and the calmness of the sites . He wanted to bring the idea to a garden in his home country. So Cascades had been born with its conifer rockeries , Buddhist statues and green . As we walked from seat to seat we saw the simple flowers . The snowdrops and the beauty of the Hellebores . Mum had a white one in her garden. A waxy plant with flowers that went on and on. White , white speckled with pink and red and pinks. The natural cliffs were always there in the backdrop. Ferms grew and they were covered with damp moss. We walked up the cliff to the top for a view over the garden.

Our last stop was the lead mine. A thin narrow passageway lit up which wound its way into the cliff. We only walked so far as it was too wet to carry on into its depths.

Our last stop was the local pub. Glenn ate the Turkey carvery . I chose a Prawn sandwich with chips and salad. The brown bread was full of olives and cut like doorstops. Rather a nice ending to a walk around what turned out to be a pleasant garden .

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