Hosepipe ban and Buckingham Palace

I know that the Palace does not have to stick to the hosepipe ban and, probably, has its own water source but I thought you might be interested to know that they are not watering their lawns.

Here are a couple of pictures I took yesterday. The first is the main lawn (Mrs shiney in the foreground) and the second is the area behind the lake.






Unfortunately, they are still watering some of their flower beds by hose. I suppose that it would be difficult to carry water around the 40 acre garden in a watering can.

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shiney

 

It was really hot on the lawn but we sat in the shade for a couple of hours watching a heron sunbathing on an island in the lake and then admiring his reflection in the water.

Photos a little blurred as it was taken on 11 times digital zoom.




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shiney

 

The Palace State Rooms are open to the public from today for 8 weeks and tickets can be booked on line. There is a special exhibition of 80 of HM's dresses and some of her jewellery (diamonds, saphires, emeralds etc) in celebration of her 80th birthday. I couldn't get Mrs shiney away from looking at the detail of the dresses.

Yesterday was the first time they have had a special preview day. This was for members of the Royal Household and for some members of the tourist industry. We were fortunate to have a friend who works at the Palace and we were her guests. The decoration of the building was stunning and there were lots of fantastic paintings and art works (sculptures in the Marble Room - specially designed by Nash).

You get to see some of the garden on your way out but a lot of it is roped off. We had arranged to meet some family for dinner (just round the corner from the Palace) last night so when we had finished viewing the State Rooms we relaxed in the shade of the trees and sat on a bench by the lake for a couple of hours. As it was preview day there were not many people there - just a few hundred instead of thousands.

I'm sure that HM overlooked giving me a gong but I won't complain.

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shiney