Devon: Contemplation

One day, our theme was 'Contemplation'. That's not difficult at Lee Abbey. Around the house and on the estate there are many places to sit and contemplate, often with wonderful views of Lee Bay. There are delightful, meandering walks through the woods and a wealth of wildlife, carefully nurtured by the farming and estate management systems used there. These are some of the images that caught my eye that day:

The vantage point known as Upper Jenny's Leap gives a great view down onto the beach. The spot is supposedly named after a sad young woman, Jennefried, who, in the 1600s, was due to marry but then discovered her lover had married someone else. Legend has it that she wandered the estate all night and in the morning her body was discovered by the water's edge. Happily the people by the water's edge when I looked down were alive and frolicking! I loved the patterns the waves were making.

There's an abundance of wildflowers and thus insects and butterflies. The one below is a common Large White but attractive nevertheless.

On top of a hill overlooking the sea there are three wooden crosses, sometimes used as a focus at Christian festivals, always there as a reminder of the sacrifice Jesus made and as a prompt to contemplation.