Tea and the Garden

I went on a little adventure today. Purely indulgent, and I enjoyed every minute of it! I had a nice long ramble through the Botanical Gardens in Fort Worth, and then I popped around the corner to have tea in the Secret Garden. 

The formal gardens are laid on on a slope with a commanding view from above. Just stunning.

I very, very rarely do stuff by myself. I mean, yes, hiking I do all alone. But going out to eat? Not so much. But I was challenged by my boss to take some downtime this weekend, and everyone I talked to about it backed her up... she told me how to find the Secret Garden, and I was very happy with it. Planning to go back with friends and have High Tea someday. 

Iced tea - two hours rambling around the garden left me too warm for a hot pot of tea. And a lovely scone with clotted cream. 

The Rose Garden looks lovely, and smells even better on a warm November afternoon.

These red roses bedded in the asters... I'm smitten.

The remains of someone's high tea, and the informal little teashop.

The really fun thing about the Secret Garden? It's tucked into the middle of a large antique mall. I had so much fun puttering through booths - and getting lost! - after I'd refreshed myself with tea and scone. 

Long halls, but so many little rooms off them, and then there's the big area divided into booths! You could stumble across anything in there.

Sometimes people's idea of 'antique' makes me giggle. None of those pipettes - or, for that matter, the round-bottomed flasks - are very old at all.

I tend to look at kitchen stuff, and books, but old chemistry ware will always catch my eye. And there were some treasures, indeed! None of the glass came home with me. 

If you really must know... a book on Texas history, a book called Mr. Kipling's Army, a cast iron potato ricer, and a flat grater (because we needed one, and that wasn't an antique. Maybe vintage). 

I enjoyed myself thoroughly. Must budget to do this again in a month or two. I also had a lovely chat with a lady who specializes in books, and her booth is full of history books. I'm to get in touch with her for my specific needs for research books and she'll keep an eye out for me.