Kew -10k run day (no, not me)

 Well what a glorious day today was at Kew.. the sun was out, big queues before 10 and it was a coat-carrying day (could have left it at home) 

couldn't get right up to the bed for my normal shot as the 10k runners were still finishing the course. 

we headed round beside the Palm House on this side, for the blossom of the Yoshino cherry trees.

looking so much better with today's blue sky

it's going to be a blogger messing with the order day.

but we followed the blossom!

by the side of the lake 

then we went to the woodland.  the blue tits and robins will feed from your hand if you sit still.

but they move fast! 

then Kim got me to sit down 

she got much better ones than I did! 

this is my favourite 

and this is what I was taking! 

as we got up to move on, a girl who'd been doing the run came along and let us have a look at the partial solar eclipse through her eclipse glasses 

we carried on our way..

drifts of daffodils under trees 

towards the Temperate House

we were going to have a cup of tea at the pavilion cafe but the queue was out of the door (and they are sooo slow serving) we carried on

Cheery Walk - coming along

tulips in the grass of Cherry walk - also coming on, there was one lone white one out, but they won't be long...

me inspecting the tulips! 

the queue at the Victoria cafe was tolerable 

I went for this... chiffon cake apparently.

it was disappointing, very dry (more so at the edges, the middle was ok)  

as we went round the pond on our way, we saw the Egyptian geese, they seem to only have 4 of their babies left (unless it's a different pair); last week there were 6. 

the weeping cherry tree still looking good

we took the path along the top of the rock garden because Kim had seen on Wednesday that the Pasque flowers were out 

and you know how I love them!

I did my usual get down on the path for low angles 

near the alpine house 

more blossom 

magnificent magnolia near the Hive

looking fabulous in the warm sunshine 

next we crossed the Broad Walk and headed across to the path between the BW and Kew Palace -  it was glory in the snow time! 

and of course,down on the ground time 

then it was magnolia time!

first, trees along the path

and some daffodils underneath

before crossing the grass to the dell... 

wow, such a change from last week - blue sky for starters - some more fully out,  some of the bigger ones are already fading

I tried for some funky angles 

I got down on the ground again ....

I did check that the ground wasn't too damp before though

then up again

the sun was gorgeous through the petals 

then just beyond, more cherry trees

down on the ground again!  

good view from down there 

round from the magnolias, the snakes head fritillary are coming out, and roped off so so you can't get too close 

another beautiful magnolia on the way back to the palm house

and the other half of the path with the yoshino cherry trees,

no runners now, just lots of visitors 

palm house in background 

I had to get down one last time,  didn't think Kim had taken that one though

then headed across the rose garden 

out of order again!

parterre beds at Palm House

as we headed towards the exit

lots of people, it was very busy now - around 1pm -  and time for us to leave

I noticed  that the urns along the pond have been planted up with tulips - we couldn't walk along this way first thing cos of the run, so will check them out next time!

pausing at the exit for some tulips in big tubs 

loving the light through them.

that's it for today - a glorious walk in the sunshine, thanks for looking, hope you enjoyed the walk

see you next week.