A Trip to Windsor #1 :: Hughenden NT

Hi there everyone 😀

At the time I didn't realise that our trip to Windsor would be the last one that we would be taking for quite some time.

It wasn't really planned and was kind of a last minute thing ... we were caught up in the depths of the January lethargy and I decided enough was enough and booked us a short break in Windsor.

The plan was to shake ourselves out of the doldrums and, as visiting the castle is one of the 50 things I want to do before I’m 60, I thought it might be just the jolt we needed to get us properly into the spirit of the new year.

I went brave and bold and, inspired by a friend of a similar age, found us our first ever Airbnb right in the heart of Windsor, with parking ... to say we were a bit nervous was an understatement.

After a grim weekend at home, hunkering down and listening to the wind and rain of storm Ciara, we headed off on a Monday morning, with plans of a National Trust property visit on the way.

We had planned to visit Upton House and Gardens but Ciara had done her stuff and rendered the site inaccessible with the blocking of the drive by a fallen tree. Unperturbed it was plan B and we ended up at Hughendon in High Wycombe.

It was pretty cold, but dry, as we parked up and we made our first stop the Trust cafe for lunch. Whilst we were tucked up in the stable cafe the rain seriously came down and we ended up having to make a bit of a dash for it for the house.
It was pretty interesting ... having had two lives really ... first as the family home of Benjamin Disraeli, described by the National Trust as 'The most unlikely Victorian Prime Minister' ... and then as Hillside, the secret map making centre for the RAF in World War 2. This was such a secret venture that the story only came to light in 2004, following an appeal to local people for their wartime memories.

Upstairs was just lovely ... the rain had stopped and the sunshine had put in an appearance ... flooding the rooms with light, which we got to enjoy before the National Trust guides all dashed to drop the blinds.

As the rain had blown over we managed a quick wander out back and across the Parterre ...

... before making our way back round to the front of the house, passing the first signs of Spring along the way ...

I'm sure on a better day and maybe a bit later in the season we would have stayed a while longer ... exploring the gardens ... but we opted to catch the buggy back to the car to continue on our way to Windsor to see what delights our first Airbnb would reveal.

We arrived a little earlier than planned but had called ahead and were met by the housekeeper, the owners being away, and we were soon tucked up nice and cosy in our little bolt hole.

We spent the evening unpacking, cooking up a chilli, watching TV and looking through all of the information provided planning our next few days ... starting with plans to head ouy earlyish to catch the changing of the guard, but I'll save all of that for another post 😀

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Random Ramblings :: A Week of Highs & Lows

Hi there everyone 😀

We are still in the midst of our national 'lockdown'. Our initial three weeks of needing to stay at home as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic has been extended by another three weeks, taking us up to the May Bank Holiday weekend.

Last week was a funny old week. There were both highs and lows ... I'm feeling that there were more highs than lows, but let's see ...

Thursday, well every other Thursday to be precise, has turned into our regular shopping day.

Other than my occasional shift at the foodbank it's the only time we've left the house since lockdown began on 30 March ... we keep saying we must go for a walk or a bike ride but, as yet, neither have materialised ... there always being something else that we’d rather be getting on with.

I’m not really sure how I feel about this fortnightly expedition. On the one hand I look forward to it as it's our only real trip out ... on the other it has become a bit of a marathon event. Not only are we shopping for ourselves for two weeks, but our elderly neighbours and my mum and dad too.

Our trip last week also involved dropping off a birthday card to a friend, a visit to the Post Office to send a gift and a stop off at a local chemist to pick up a prescription for mum.

The day started out well ... it was glorious ... again ... and I had a wander round the garden before getting ready to go out ... the raised bed is starting to really come into its own ...

I actually got properly dressed ... with trousers with no elastic at the waist ... I even put on a bra!! Oh and as if that wasn’t enough ... I actually straightened my hair for only the second time since lockdown began.

The car was loaded up with lots of shopping bags and all of the bits and pieces we were dropping off, the lists gathered and we were on our way ...

First there was a quick drop off of a birthday card and some iceberg lettuce seedlings to a friend ...

Then it was off to Aldi, which wasn’t too bad at all. Just a small queue to get in, nice and civilised inside ... with plenty of proper social distancing going on and the shelves pretty well stocked.

We decided to drop the Aldi shop off back at home before heading to Asda as the boot was pretty full and we didn’t want to leave the fresh stuff in the car for too long ... as the temperature was rising and we had no idea how long we would be.

So a quick unload and it was back off out and on our way to Asda, where the queue outside wasn’t too bad, well spaced out, with plenty of sanitiser for the trolleys.

Once inside it all felt a bit uncomfortable ... most people were just acting as though it was a normal shopping day ... seeming to have forgotten the whole point of why we queued outside, leaving nice  decent sized spaces between us.

There was no real regard for either the arrows on the floor of the store trying to direct the flow, or much awareness of the importance of others' personal space ... it was not a very pleasant experience at all ... I am certainly not looking forward to going again.

From here it was a quick visit to the pharmacy for mum's prescription before heading to mum and dad’s to drop off their shopping before heading for home.

We dropped off next door's shopping, unpacked our own ... squeezing it all in to every last ounce of space before we could finally start to try and relax and start that 7 day count that follows every trip out at the moment ... always wondering whether sore throats or coughs will start to materialise ...

I think we may have overdone it on the treats though 🤯🤯🤯 It seems that the diet has totally gone out of the window ...

There was a bit of a shopping bonus in the fact that we did manage to bag four fuschias, so we are slowly collecting enough bits and bobs to do some hanging baskets in a few weeks time ...

Whilst we were both seriously stressed by now, it was still a lovely day so we opted for BBQ for tea and I have to say that being in the garden was very restorative ...

We sat in the sunshine listening to the birds singing and the splashing of the starlings in the bird bath and watching a solitary buzzy bee searching for open flowers on the blueberry. There were blue tits and sparrows feeding on the fat balls and our friendly robin bobbing in and out of the border. It was just the job.

We enjoyed cumin and paprika salmon kebabs with a herby yoghurt dip ...

... followed by gammon with roasted vegetables and new potatoes and corn on the cob ...
We were ready to head indoors just in time to watch Kirstie's Lockdown Crafting show before heading out front for the weekly clap in appreciation of our NHS, followed by the weekly quiz ... What a day!!

Friday was a totally different day ... the weather glorious again but we went nowhere. We spent the whole day just gently pottering in the garden. Martin finished off the jet washing and I did some potting on in the greenhouse ...

We finished off with another BBQ tea ... this time halloumi, followed by Souvlaki chicken, Greek salad, new potatoes and Tztaziki ... no photos I'm afraid ... but we did sit under the pergola this time ... in the comfy chairs ...

The day was rounded off with a lovely video call with my Goddaughter, who is expecting her first baby in July. She called to confirm that her gift had arrived and she loved it. It was lovely to sit and chat with her and to know that her gift had arrived safely ...

It is very easy to forget about the chaos that is gripping the world when sat in the sunshine in one's own little bit of outdoor space ... I'm really not sure how we would be managing without it.

I spent Saturday morning in the kitchen. I did a bit of a cook off getting some meals made up for next week for the freezer ... trying to make sure that we made the best of the fresh veg as with only shopping every other week that can be a bit of an issue.

Martin popped out to pick up some soil from a friend's neighbour. We did get really lucky here as we have ordered some new raised beds for the garden, which will hopefully be delivered fairly soon. Having mentioned this to our friends and saying that we would have to order some soil, they let us know that their neighbour needed to get rid of a load and didn't really want to have to pay for a skip. 

We couldn't turn the offer down, especially as it was already bagged and ready to collect. So, whilst it could have been considered a bit of a non essential journey, Martin went off to pick it up ... we kind of justified it to ourselves by saying that we were shopping less and we haven't been out for any exercise.

We spent the afternoon sat in the garden, in the sunshine, riddling half of it to get out any stones and break up any clumps, but it's really good stuff and there may be more to come, so we may be able to have saved ourselves a delivery as well as having saved the neighbour having to get a skip delivered, so it's less journeys than there would have been if we hadn't had it.

Sunday was a bit surreal. It was a lovely morning ... we were woke up by clapping and bells ringing in the street. We’d forgotten that one of the neighbours was running the equivalent of the London marathon in lengths of the street and at 9.00am she started off to applause from the neighbours. 

More came out as the day progressed, with deck chairs, sun cream and beers in abundance in front gardens up and down the streeet.

We had a late breakfast in the garden, which was just lovely ...

... and had a few bits to do so dropped in and out. We got to see some of the neighbours' kids running lengths with her ... it was actually all very festive and community spirited ... definitely one of the many silver linings that this virus has brought.

Once we’d finished what we were doing we were drawn back out front, where the street was pretty much lined with neighbours cheering the runner on. Sitting on deckchairs at the side of the road and on front garden walls generally willing her on.

She did have to pause for a bit of a breather very close to the end but we all waited patiently and she soon reappeared to finish off to raucous applause, church bells ringing and lots of cheering as the street was lined with well wishers to clap her back home.

There was just time for us to have another hour or so out back, riddling the rest of the soil and just generally enjoying the garden, which really is starting to show the results of our labours ...

It was a lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon and ended our week on a real high 😁

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November in The Peaks #4 :: Christmas at Chatsworth

Hi there everyone 😀

Firstly, apologies that this post is so late ... I know it must seem a bit odd reading about Chatsworth at Christmas at this time of year, but it might be somewhere for you to put on the list for visiting later this year.
Our main reason for choosing The Peak District for our Autumn break was because I really wanted to visit the Chatsworth at Christmas event, along with the Chatsworth Christmas market.

We had booked ahead and I am so glad that we did. Because of the flooding that had occurred the week before we visited ... both the markets and the event had to be closed to visitors, apart from those who had pre-booked or were able to arrive on foot or via public transport.

It was a really frosty morning for our visit, so different from the previous day when we'd explored Padley Gorge, Owler Tor and the reservoirs. We decided to head out bright and early as we weren't sure what to expect by way of parking, but needn't have worried as all went very smoothly and we were soon parked up fairly close to the market.
The plan was ... quick look round the market, a wander round the garden, lunch, a proper look at the market, look round the house, pick up any purchases from the market and then home.
We were both quite impressed with our first look at the market. It wasn't too busy, there were lots of stalls selling all kinds of things ... there were lots of lovely food stalls, making us wish we hadn't actually booked ourselves in the restaurant for lunch ...
... Beautiful Christmas decorations ...
... and lots of lovely gift ideas ... we could definitely see some Christmas shopping taking place later on ...
It all certainly felt very festive ...
After our quick reconnoiter of the market there was time for a quick wander round the gardens before it would be time to head for lunch. It's been a while since we've visited the gardens and we've certainly never seen them at this time of year and it all looked very different.

We started out by heading alongside the house ...
... and along the Broad Walk ...

... stopping along the way to look back at the house and the very frosty yew hedges ...

The best view though ... had to be from just before the Emperor Fountain ...
From here we headed away from the house and towards the Ring Pond ...
... from where we could look back across at the house through the trees ...
By the Ring Pond I was really taken with this lily-of-the-valley bench ...
... and there was a great view of the Serpentine Hedge snaking away into the distance ...

We weren't planning on walking that far so headed through to the Rock Garden ...

... before heading back towards the bottom of the Cascade ...

... where we managed a quick selfie ...
From here we could really take in the scale of the house ...
We headed round past the greenhouses ...
We were then back into the market for another quick wander ...
... before making our way to The Cavendish Restaurant for, what ended up being a very disappointing lunch ... but the less said about that the better.

Lunch out of the way it was our time slot to visit the house, which was all decked out for Christmas around the World.

I will apologise now for the quality of our photos. For some reason we didn't seem to have much luck with the Canon DSLR or the Lumix ... the best photos probably ended up coming from my phone.

There was plenty to see, with lots of Christmas trees decorated to reflect different countries ... I have just picked out the best of our photos to share with you ... so here you go ... Christmas at Chatsworth 2019 ...

By the time we came out of the house it was starting to get dusky and it was time to pick up the Christmas gifts that we'd spotted earlier on before heading back to Willow Cottage to get warmed up 🔥🔥🔥

So that was our last travels for 2019 and, though we didn't know it then, for the forseeable. So far in 2020 we've had to postpone a trip to Dunkeld in Scotland and a stay in Yorkshire, for our annual meet up with old friends. I am very much hoping that things will be looking a bit more normal in the Autumn and that we get to finally visit Sidmouth on the Devon coast 🤞🤞🤞

I do still have one last impromptu trip to share with you though. We did manage a few days last minute break in Windsor in February, just before the World as we know changed completely ... so look out for that 😀

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