Lincoln Reunion

Just back from a long weekend in Lincoln, catching up with some old friends from school.

Initially not too impressed with the area around our hotel (the Premier Inn), but a walk up towards the cathedral and castle soon revealed some picturesque steep cobbled lanes and old buildings . . .

. . . shown here the so-called 'Norman House', believed to date from c.1170.

Had a day in the sunshine looking round the Cathedral and Castle and old town, before dinner at a pub by the canal that evening (by which time it was raining - good meal and good company though!).

The Castle was an interesting mix - medieval wall walk, a Victorian prison, and an original Magna Carta (the display of which was very impressive, given that the document itself is rather a dull looking thing).

The highlight for me was probably the Cathedral . . .

. . . soaring pillars, stained glass, and fantastically carved masonry . . .

. . . just beautiful!

On the way home we had the opportunity to call into a National Trust property, Moseley Old Hall, an Elizabethan farmhouse, which once hid Charles II from Cromwell's hoards.  The house doesn't look particularly Elizabethan from the outside, but the interior is very atmospheric, especially when taken over by a troop of re-enactors cooking period food, playing contemporary music, etc.



All in all a great weekend - looking forward to next year's meet-up.

Shout Out

A big shout out and thanks to the RNLI Lifeguards and Borth Coastguard for all their help today.

A sunny day up on Borth Cliff all went a bit pear-shaped when a family visitor was taken ill - the lifeguards and coastguard were brilliant though - and the ambulance were there waiting for the coastguard helicopter back in Aberystwyth.

All turned out ok in the end - it was a rather more eventful visit than we'd hoped for mind you.  Very thankful for our emergency services, in all their incarnations, and very impressed with the  RNLI lifeguards in particular - they were real stars!

Further East

From Stratford we moved on to visit family in East Anglia, and celebrate a 'significant' birthday.

Lovely family Sunday dinner out - nice country pub - a fine selection of fowl (chickens and peacocks) in the garden (assume they are there for decorative rather than culinary purposes!).







Next day took the folks on a trip out to Burghley House - another extremely impressive Tudor property.

The interior - which has been remodelled signifcantly over the centuries - features expanses of elaborately painted walls and ceilings depicting mythological scenes - including the so-called 'Hell Staircase'.

The parkland, landscaped by Capability Brown, survives and has been augmented with the addition of a sculpture garden and garden of 'surprises' - was interested to spot the 'bunny' in the sculpture bit!


All in all made for a fascinating day out - the house is magnificent, and there is plenty to see in the gardens too - not least Alan Titchmarsh recording a tv programme on the Lion Bridge!

Avon Days

Couple of weeks holiday - managed to escape from the garden (and the hedges!) for a few days around Stratford upon Avon, and a bit of a National Trust 'tour'.

First stop on our travels - Brockhampton Estate - a charming tudor manor house with a moat, and a tiny timber-framed gatehouse - with lots of swallows and house martins making their homes in the eaves.

On to Stratford itself where we had three nights in the local travelodge - taking in the pubs, curry houses, and other National Trust properties in the area.  

Baddesley Clinton - another Tudor moated property, with lots of Catholic connections, and stories of priest holes and raids.

Packwood House - 'presented' in Tudor style, but actually a C19th remodelling of an older property, with stunning gardens and yew topiary.

Finally, Coughton Court - another Tudor house, with Catholic connections and beautiful gardens.




All in all, a lovely few days - history, cider by the Avon, a curry or two, and the weather even turned out hot and sunny for us - what more could we ask?

Resurfacing the Drive

The next major job on the list was resurfacing the drive, which got underway this afternoon.  They started by cleaning down the old drive surface.

Then it was on with two layers of tar, spread with gravel.







And a couple of hours later we have a nice new drive . . .




It's quite a loose surface, which is probably a good thing if we ever get any snow or ice again (it will give us a bit of grip), but we'll see how it holds up over the coming months.  Looks a lot better anyway.

First Strawberries of the Summer

Wildlife Cam

A small selection of the offerings from my birthday present this year - an infra-red wildlife camera, that can be moved around the garden to different locations.  First shots taken in daylight, caught birds and the local squirrel, cleaning up under the bird feeder: 

Then we have the night-time footage - one cat:

And something a little more intriguing . . .

. . . or it could be just another cat!