Our England is a garden

Poetry at Easton Farm Park

I like poetry. My children like poetry. Nonsense poems, rhymes, sonnets. We are drawn to them and after today's virtual excursion, Rudyard Kipling's poem certainly came to mind. Of course, to children 1, 2 and 3 Mr. Kipling is famous only for the Jungle Book and perhaps some of his excellent cakes (Translation: English people of my generation saw lots of commericals for a brand of cake called Mr. Kipling - not that we ever bought them because my 'mean' mum insisted on home made!) but in truth the man wrote a mean poem/short story/essay!

This is a long poem so I have picked out our 3 favorite stanzas - sorry Rudyard!

The Glory of the Garden


Our England is a garden that is full of stately views,
Of borders, beds and shrubberies and lawns and avenues,
With statues on the terraces and peacocks strutting by;
But the glory of the garden lies in more than meets the eye.

And some can pot begonias and some can bud a rose,
And some are hardly fit to trust with anything that grows;
But they can roll and trim the lawns and sift the sand and loam,
For the glory of the garden occupieth all who come.


Oh, Adam was a gardener, and God who made him sees
That half a proper gardener's work is done upon his knees,
So when your work is finished, you can wash your hands and pray
For the glory of the garden, that it may not pass away!
And the glory of the garden, it shall never pass away.

Beautiful gardens are everywhere in England - perhaps we are not so much a nation of shopkeepers any more but rather have become a nation of gardeners. Lovely window boxes and hanging baskets everywhere overflow with a profusion of spring flowers, bright green pocket handkerchief gardens in front of houses and of course the gorgeous, manicured, landscaped gardens associated with just about every historical building.

by kind permission of Easton Farm Park

Today we headed to Easton Farm Park, a working farm with its own luscious bright green grass and blooms that caters to family days out. I wish we had places like this in Texas (I haven't found them if they exist so please feel free to tell me if they do!) because we were busy and happy all day long. We petted goats and lambs, saw the gorgeous Suffolk Punch Mares and Highland cattle, trekked down a horse trail, made arts and crafts and even got a chance to see traditional artisans at the blacksmith's forge where they made an array of iron works. Walking by the river we glimpsed herons and kingfishers and smelled the wild garlic and blossom everywhere. What an amazing place. It made me wonder how I could turn my 52-acre ranch into something more productive! When child #3 saw a toy tractor that he could ride on his day was complete and it was with some difficulty that we left the farm. Definitely a place to revisit one day.

Oh - and for you Texans with your love of Longhorn cattle, here is a picture of the Highland cattle at Easton Farm Park. I really love these cows - they have such a friendly fluffy appearance that Longhorns, for all their rugged charm just do not possess! 

After a wee drive home on the left side of the road, we decided to spend the rest of the evening relaxing and letting the children watch some excellent BBC children's TV. As for Mum? Asleep in front of the telly within about 30 seconds!  hope they do room service at this hotel 'cos, as we say on this side of the pond, I'm cream crackered! (Cockney rhyming slang for knackered. Translation: tuckered out!) "And so", as the diarist Samuel Pepys so famously said, "to bed".