leaping hare on crescent bell and other such nonsense

The following day was all about hares,  Barry Flanagan's Hares to be precise

and wandering beautifully manicured grounds,

and an amazing maze.

Then the weather turned and began spitting, as is its wont, so we headed indoors

through lavishly decorated halls and elegantly furnished rooms. 

I can't spend too long in such spaces as my allergies start to niggle. And to be honest, I don't much care to know which chair/bedroom/painting was which Lady's favourite but there is a certain pleasure to be had from poking about in other people's homes, however grand and far removed from one's own.

It had been AGES since last I visited Chatsworth and as is often the case with these great estates, everything was just as I left it. The Derbyshire peaks used to be our stomping ground before S and I moved to North America, therefore it was especially nice to revisit our old haunts, call by a few favourites and spend a little time celebrating 10 years together in the places that featured so heavily in the early days.

p.s. you can see the hares at Chatsworth until the 28th of October 2012.