Cotswolds, England; May 2007

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I grew up in Australia but had always had a sense of the English countryside from children’s books such as The Wind in the Willows. I was amazed when I went to the Cotswolds just how familiar everything was, from the quaint villages tucked amid gently rolling hills to the countryside with its black-faced sheep and bluebell woods. It really does look like you’ve always imagined it would.

But there were also a few unexpected pleasures… such as this cheeky gargoyle setting a bad example for children everywhere… and this Buddha in the Batsford Aboretum, the garden of a stately home connected with the infamous Mitford family. The statue was imported from Japan by Algernon Bertram Freeman-Mitford at the turn of the twentieth century.

This post is part of Photo Friday, hosted by Debbie at DeliciousBaby.