Last Saturday my wife and I were invited to stay overnight at this lovely country manor house in Surrey to celebrate her recent birthday. We arrived in the early afternoon and as the warm sun shone down on this beautiful landscape.
I decided to spend a bit of my very precious time wandering around the manor's 16 glorious acres of grounds to give you a glimpse of the place.
Hartsfield Manor
As you can see the Manor is quite a substantial building and the grounds were truly amazing and well cared for. It was full of trees from all over the world, bushes and tons of wildlife. Even as we arrived and got out of the car I could hear a Woodpecker pounding away in the distance.
Country walk
I followed the country path for a short while and then turned to cross the large open lawn at the back of the manor and in the distance I spotted this Rabbit trying to stay really still and make itself invisible?
Plump Rabbit
To the right of the Rabbit there was a copse of trees and sneaking along in the dark undergrowth looking for a tasty snack was this Fox.
Hungry Fox
I stopped dead and raised my camera to get the shot of both animals but as soon as I shot the Rabbit the click and whirr of the camera motor spooked the Fox and it ran off. Good news for the Rabbit but not much fun for the hungry Fox.
I carried on with my walk and took a few more photos of other buildings on the land. This house in the trees below looks pretty nice too.
Another country house in the grounds
And this looks like a small hamlet in the grounds with a few houses and barns. Probably for the workers of the estate.
Small Hamlet in the grounds
On the last leg of the walk back to my room I passed loads of schrubs and flowers and here are just a couple of them. It's always nice to see some flowers.
Schrubs and flowers
All in all it was a lovely walk in very pleasant surroundings but watchig the Rabbit and the Fox reminded me of the fragility of life and how things can change in an instant.
In just a few hours time this idylic scene would change drastically as we witnessed the aftermath of...
A MURDER!?
A walk around the lake
A walk along the cliffs in Cornwall
Meet the ancestors
Another great find for @steemitworldmaps I was the first steemian to visit and record this place. That deserves a woo hoo!