The wind sighs into your back. The sun dances across your cheeks. You've found the Garden of Fortune. Time is yours here, to enjoy your peace and explore... Choose your path with intention. First, you want to see... The Gatehouse The Stone Loveseat The Lavender Meadow The Magnolia Tree

Alone in a meadow, clinging with thick roots to the earth, stands an old magnolia tree. It's in bloom, plump round blossoms smattering the blue sky with pink. You approach it, and decide to... Pick one of the magnolia flowers. Carve your name into its trunk. Sit in its shade and read for a while.

You turn the corner of a walled garden and meet a meadow of lavender. The tall flowers sway in neat rows of purple and green. The busy, empty space rolls off down the hillside and your first thought is... Take in the view across the meadow. Pick a bunch of lavender. Lie down and enjoy the scent.

The skies open as you duck under the domed stone cover of the loveseat. The rain hushes and whispers against the grass, the trees, the lake. You look out into the tempest, safe from its spray... Watch the rain run down the stone. Sit and wait for the rain to pass. Step out into the rain.

A dutiful sentry at the garden's entrance, the gatehouse stands out amidst the trees. It's small, inviting you in, a single stone arch outstretched like a welcoming arm over the path ahead. Pass beneath the archway. Admire the architecture. Peer through the window.

The branches and blooms provide cover from the sun's touch. You sit, back pressed to the trunk, and take out your book. Trust moments of support, when the world offers them. After a chapter, you rise, and walk on towards... The Stone Lion Staircase The Vegetable Patch The Rose Garden The Rockery

Drawing a pen knife from your pocket, you carve your name into the soft bark. Sap pools in the wound like blood. We can leave our mark, but we can't control how others find it. Job done, we walk on towards... The Stone Lion Staircase The Vegetable Patch The Rose Garden The Rockery

The bloom breaks off sticky in your hands, sap mixing with morning dew. You tuck it behind an ear. Sometimes the things we want most, don't feel the way we imagined them to. We leave the tree, walking on towards... The Stone Lion Staircase The Vegetable Patch The Rose Garden The Rockery

You lie between two rows and gaze up, greens and purples striking into the blue above. Close your eyes. Breathe. Centre yourself in calm and you won't be shaken by chaos. After a hazy nap, you stand, and walk on towards... The Stone Lion Staircase The Vegetable Patch The Rose Garden The Rockery

The thin stems dent your fingers, and the soft smell smothers the air as you break off more and more. When you stumble onto calm, find ways to carry a piece of it on with you. Bunch in hand, you drift on, towards... The Stone Lion Staircase The Vegetable Patch The Rose Garden The Rockery

Standing, you have the best view of each smattered purple ribbon stretched out ahead, a uniform calm. Take in good things from a distance... but don't forget to hold them close. You take a deep breath, and walk on towards... The Stone Lion Staircase The Vegetable Patch The Rose Garden The Rockery

The downpour is heavy, a fresh glut on your skin. It swells and splashes from your brow. Your clothes soak through. It feels like freedom. Don't shield yourself from the things you need to feel. You press on, towards... The Stone Lion Staircase The Vegetable Patch The Rose Garden The Rockery

You watch with patience as the rain rages, hammers the earth with its fists, weeps and weeps until the clouds run dry, and then, slowly, it clears. Taking no action *is* a kind of action. You walk on, towards... The Stone Lion Staircase The Vegetable Patch The Rose Garden The Rockery

Droplets pool along the stone lip that offers you cover. Turning dusted grey to ink. They swell in the air before bursting at your feet. When life asks you to pause, listen. The rain clears, and you head towards... The Stone Lion Staircase The Vegetable Patch The Rose Garden The Rockery

The gatehouse is empty, and it seems it has been for some time. Its friendly face, wide-eyed windows, are contrasted by the cold, webbed shadows within. Friendly spaces aren't always as they appear. You walk on, towards... The Stone Lion Staircase The Vegetable Patch The Rose Garden The Rockery

The gatehouse is small but mighty, the herculean child of a grand house nestled somewhere in the grounds. You don't need to be big or imposing to have an impact. You take it in, before walking on, towards... The Stone Lion Staircase The Vegetable Patch The Rose Garden The Rockery

You walk on, the arches' shade briefly crashing over you before the sun batters your eyelids again. The path is cobbled: rounded, worn kernels of stone. Sometimes all you can do is press onwards. You follow the path to... The Stone Lion Staircase The Vegetable Patch The Rose Garden The Rockery

As you walk, rocks begin to rise higher and higher along the sides of the path, cragged faces leaning towards you. There are smaller paths, breaking off like streams, climbing high between the peaked shards. Touch the moss clinging to the stone. Examine the rocks. Climb to the highest point.

The air is thick and heavy with perfume as you reach the rose garden. The plants hoist themselves up their pergola frames with thick, strong, stems, dopey petalled heads bouncing in the breeze. Read the closest label. Stop and smell the roses. Pick a rose.

Just past a small greenhouse, a vegetable patch is pinned out in the soil. A can sits beneath a watering butt, and there are pumpkin seeds waiting on a potting bench. Shining ripe strawberries dangle from a terracotta planter. Water the veggies. Plant the pumpkin seeds. Pick a fresh strawberry.

The path leads to a wide stone staircase, guarded on either side by fierce statued lions. They dominate each end of the banisters, textured in the warm grit of sandstone. Examine the stone lions. Walk up the staircase. Walk down the staircase.

You climb high up into the rock spires. There's a flat spot, santuary to a round of grass, and from it you look across the green stretch, out and beyond. Current worries are only a fraction of our experiences. You walk on towards... The Sundial The Statue of Pan The Danaides Fountain The Koi Pond

You approach the rock face and press a palm to it. It's cool, and damp, and soft, flecks of blue, green and grey bursting forth from the soil. The smallest details can make a dull thing curious. Eventually, you walk on towards... The Sundial The Statue of Pan The Danaides Fountain The Koi Pond

Dabs of moss cling to the cracks of the rock face. You reach out a finger and press gently, savouring the soft squelch. Even in the harshest conditions, life thrives. After a moment, you withdraw your hand and walk off, towards... The Sundial The Statue of Pan The Danaides Fountain The Koi Pond

You spot a bloom close by and try to snap it off at the stem, but a thorn catches your fingers and jolts you back. To appreciate something does not always mean to take it for yourself. Sucking your fingertip, you walk on towards... The Sundial The Statue of Pan The Danaides Fountain The Koi Pond

You cradle a bundle of petals in your palm, as you close your eyes and breathe in the scent. It's more juicy than floral, somewhere between syrup and jam. Unexpected things can still be good. You let go and walk on, towards... The Sundial The Statue of Pan The Danaides Fountain The Koi Pond

A black label hooped around the thickest stem reads "Rosa Hocus Pocus". The blooms burst off it in a deep red, shot through with green. Some things we learn, not to know, but to wonder more. Before long, you move on towards... The Sundial The Statue of Pan The Danaides Fountain The Koi Pond

You pluck the largest strawberry, rich and jewel red. You bite, and the blades of your teeth slide through the soft fruit. The simplest pleasures in life are often the most memorable. You savour the taste as you carry on, towards... The Sundial The Statue of Pan The Danaides Fountain The Koi Pond

You walk along a row of the veggie patch, dipping your thumb into the soil every so often and dropping a seed in after it. Find things that bring you joy. Do them whenever you can. You plant the last seed and continue on towards... The Sundial The Statue of Pan The Danaides Fountain The Koi Pond

You lift the watering can - your wrist strains under the weight. In one swing, you arc your arm across the soil and shower it with water. Kindness is a muscle, a strength to build. You set aside the empty can and walk on towards... The Sundial The Statue of Pan The Danaides Fountain The Koi Pond