Snowshill Manor & Garden

The weekend before last, on a beautiful Autumn morning, we decided to hop in the car and drive somewhere new.  We ended up in the Cotswold's visiting Snowshill Manor.  

The manor houses the extraordinary collection of Charles Wade.  Comprising of thousands of things, from spinning wheels, keys, and clocks, to musical instruments, Samurai armour and Chinese picnic boxes.  Every room is crammed full of treasures from all over the World.  

The gardens are very pretty too.

On the day we visited, there was also an Apple Festival going on.  Over 400 varieties were on display.

Instead of Apple Bobbing, they held an Apple Fishing competition.

Here are just a few photos of the treasures inside the house.  You'll have to excuse the quality of some of them. Unfortunately, there wasn't that much natural light available.

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Have you ever seen so many spinning wheels all in one place before?  

This is Charles Wade's bedroom. He didn't actually live in the Manor House, but in a quaint little Priest's House with only a few rooms.

This is part of a quilled picture.  It was really hard to photograph as it was behind glass and housed in a very dingy room.  It's absolutely amazing.  I dread to think how many hours of work went into this piece.

Hope you enjoyed that little trip.

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Middleton Lakes

Last week totally ran away with me.  Though I did manage to slow down long enough on Wednesday to celebrate my birthday.

We also visited a beautiful RSPB nature reserve at Middleton Lakes.

We did see lots of birds, including a couple of Woodpeckers, but sadly I don't have a strong enough lens on my camera to capture them.  There were also some sort of reed warblers too, but again they were too far away to get a decent photo.  Perhaps I'll put one on my Christmas list.

Opposite the RSPB site is Middleton Hall.  We didn't visit the Hall itself, but ventured in to the courtyard to sample the coffee and cakes at the little cafe there - it would have been rude not to.

Sorry that I don't have that much to share with you at the moment.

I'd better get back to the various projects that I've got on the agenda for this week:

I have net curtains to make for 4 large windows at Violet's school.

Give Violet's new bedroom another coat of paint - she's opted for a beautiful pale blue called Lupin.  

There's a new carpet and shutters to order.

Two Teacher gifts to make ready for the end of the school year, which will be here before I know it.

Phew!!!  

Don't tell the other half, but I actually forgot that it's our First Wedding Anniversary today.  I'd better pop in to town to pick up a card. Though I suppose I could make him one seeing as the first anniversary is Paper!!!

Wishing you all a lovely sunny week, and I hope to be back with you soon.

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Just popping in to say Hi

Hello everybody.  Hope you are all well.

Violet, her dad and I have been enjoying a lovely week together.

Here are a few photos from our recent trip to Bristol Zoo.

I didn't realise Fruit Bats were so darn BIG!

They were just hanging there, right above our heads too - amazing.

Aren't Gorilla's fantastic? 

Chimps on the other hand, scare the bejesus out of me.

I could have watched the Meerkats for ages.

There was a great playpark for the young-uns.

  As you can see, Violet loved the slide.

Whilst we were looking at the superb Lion they had, Violet asked where the Zebra was. She's obviously watched Madagascar too many times and expected to see Lion and Zebra living in harmony together.

We had a very enjoyable day and I can highly recommed a visit.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we'll be venturing upto York tomorrow.  I'm sooooooo excited.

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Powys Castle and my first trip to Wales

Who's that hiding?

There be dragon's in Wales - but, I'm sure you already knew that.

If I've whetted your appetite for Powys Castle, I can highly recommend a visit, though don't forget to take comfy shoes because there's quite a few steps to be climbing.

My little clan seems to have travelled quite a few miles this week, visiting various attractions, but this doesn't happen every week.  The other half took a weeks holiday from work and it was cheaper than renting a cottage somewhere.  We've all had a lovely time and I hope you've not been too bored with looking at the photos.

Wishing you all a very happy, but hopefully not too hot, weekend.

Jill x

Blenheim Palace

So, today our little clan visited the wonder that is Blenheim Palace.

I've visited a couple of times before, but it was the other half's, and Violet's, very first time.

I expected rain, but the weather was fantastic.

The rose garden smelled gorgeous.

There are 2100 acres of parkland to play in - is that enough for you?

(Yeah, the fat-bottom woman holding Violet, is me).

For those of you who don't know anything about Blenheim Palace, it was gifted to the first Duke of Marlborough by Queen Anne (and the nation) after the Battle of Marlborough in 1704.  Winston Churchill, who was the grandson of the 7th Duke, was also born at the Palace. There's tonnes and tonnes of history to the place, but I won't bore you with it all here.

What I will tell you though, is that the interior is fantastic.  Though considering the size of the place, not that many rooms were open for public view.  Saying that, what you can see really does blow your socks off.  Unfortunately, cameras weren't allowed, so I'm unable to show you just how grand they were.

Whilst we were walking around the Winston Churchill exhibition we came across a bust of Winston's head.  Violet looked at it and said 'grumpy'.  It made some of the other visitors turn around and look at her.  I couldn't contain my mirth - she was only saying what she saw afterall.  We don't tend to do that when we get older do we? But, luckily two year olds can get away with most things.

It is quite expensive to visit (£18 for an adult), but they are doing a fantastic promotion at the moment, whereby you can convert your ticket to a yearly pass for free, so you can visit the palace and gardens, as many times as you want, for an entire year, for only £18.  Brilliant value.

I can highly recommend a visit.

Woburn Abbey

Have you ever been?

(photo courtesy of Wikipedia)

If you haven't you most definitely should.

The interior is beautiful - (though I can't show you just how beautiful, because cameras are a complete no no).

The gardens are lovely to just wonder around. 

And, it's got a great cafe - I can highly recommend their cheese scones and the other half was very praiseworthy about the tea. 

There's an antiques centre in there - not that I could afford to buy anything, but it was worth a ganders.

Hippos in the lake - though not real ones.

Violet making friends with the locals.

How vibrant do these Delphinium's look?  Such an electric Blue.

There were alot of sculptures scattered throughout the grounds, but I liked this one the best. 

I wish I could visit here every Tuesday.